Radeon R9 290X Retail Prices Hit $900
by Ryan Smith on February 14, 2014 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Radeon 200
Though we keep track of video card pricing regularly on an internal basis, it’s not something we normally publish outside of our semi-regular buyer’s guides. More often than not video card pricing is slow to move (if it moves at all), as big price shifts come in concert with either scheduled price cuts or new product introductions. But in a process that has defied our expectations for more than a month now, even we can’t fail to notice what Radeon prices are quite literally up to.
In a sign of the daffy times we live in, Radeon R9 290X prices have hit $900 this week at Newegg. Every card, from the reference models to the water block model, is now at $899, with Newegg apparently doing brisk enough business to be sold out of more than half of their different 290X SKUs. This of course is some $350 over the 290X’s original launch price of $550, a 64% price bump. Meanwhile the Radeon R9 290 has been similarly affected, with 290 cards starting at $600, $200 (50%) over MSRP.
The culprit, as has been the case since the start, continues to be the strong demand for the cards from cryptocoin miners, who are willing to pay a premium for the cards in anticipation of still being able to turn a profit off of them in the long run. Interestingly this also comes right as Chinese New Year comes to a close. Chinese New Year doesn’t typically affect video card prices for cards that are already released and on shelves, but the lack of production for the roughly 2 week span certainly isn’t doing the 290X market any favors given the strong demand for the cards. In the meantime however this does mean that 290X cards are unfortunately priced out of the hands of gamers more than ever before; at $900, we’d be just $10 short of a GTX 780 Ti and a Core i5-4670K to go with it.
Finally, it’s interesting to note that this phenomena remains almost entirely limited to North America. Our own Ian Cutress quickly checked a couple of UK retailers, Scan.co.uk and Overclockers.co.uk, and found that both of them had 290 series cards in stock at pre-VAT prices that were only marginally above the North American MSRPs. A PowerColor R9 290 OC can be found for £275 (~$460 USD) and an XFX R9 290X for £334 (~$560 USD). The European market of course has its own idiosyncrasies, but ultimately it’s clear that UK pricing has gone largely unaffected by the forces that have driven up North American pricing, making this one of those rare occasions where hardware is more expensive in North America than in Europe, even after taxes.
| Radeon R9 290 Series Prices | ||||
| North America | UK (excluding VAT) | |||
| Radeon R9 290X | $899 | £334 (~$560 USD) | ||
| Radeon R9 290 | $599 | £275 (~$460 USD) | ||
Update (11:30 PM): It’s interesting just how greatly things can shift in only half a day. This morning 290X prices were $899 with Newegg having 5 models in stock. But as of late this evening prices have dropped rather quickly by $200, bringing them down to $699 (just $150 over MSRP). All the while however, Newegg’s selection has dwindled to just two models, showcasing just how high the demand for these cards is and how quickly buyers will snatch them up even when they’re still well over MSRP.
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Krysto - Sunday, February 16, 2014 - link
Most of what they said is ignorant FUD combined with fantasies they probably got from the crime novels they've been reading.None of the current crypto-coins are anymore anonymous than saying visiting Anandtech is doing it "anonymously". The only way transactions are "anonymous" is if you use Tor, but then you can say that about visiting Anandtech under Tor or anything else, too. There's nothing inherently "anonymous" about cryptocoins.
3DVagabond - Monday, February 17, 2014 - link
lol! What? So they are going to laundry millions of dollars one video card at a time in order to make it back mining. Also, how are they getting this dirty money to the etailers? From Swiss bank accounts? You've got to be joking.sphigel - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
I don't have a problem with people using cryptomining to hide money from the government. Considering that they probably earned that money in a market that was made lucrative by our governments own ridiculous drug policies.Criminals aside, from an individual liberty standpoint I think any technology that allows us to make large money transactions without government involvement is a good thing.
Sunburn74 - Saturday, February 15, 2014 - link
I disagree. The reason we all have clean water, safety in the form of police protection, excellent roads, excellent hospitals is because of taxes. Cryptomining allows people to hide their money and thus enjoy public benefits without their input.Sunburn74 - Saturday, February 15, 2014 - link
I realize criminals don't pay taxes but why leave the avenue open for them? In addition, non-criminal individuals who are cryptomining and turning a profit are also not paying taxes on it.The Von Matrices - Saturday, February 15, 2014 - link
The issue has existed for much longer than cryptocurrency has existed. The U.S. secret service said it perfectly in the Senate hearings a few months ago. If someone wants to hide financial transactions, cash is still much better than cryptocurrency, and they have been dealing with cash based transactions for centuries.twtech - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
I bought two of the 290x when they first came out @ $550 each. I had a feeling there might be a shortage if I waited - as that has been the case with most flagship video card releases lately - but I didn't expect them to nearly double in price.beginner99 - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
lo. I think this is the first tiem in history a GPU is significantly cheaper in my country than in USr3loaded - Friday, February 14, 2014 - link
Why's this only happening in North America? Maybe it's because they have really cheap electricity?chizow - Saturday, February 15, 2014 - link
Yes, and we have all the grey/black market industries where the anonymous nature cryptocoin payments make it really appealing to use, like buying drugs, online gambling purses, escort service payments, money laundering, buying guns etc. When mixed in with the users/miners who use it only for legit reasons, it all becomes part of the laundering/anonymous nature of cryptocoin transactions.