Installation is difficult, and the price of 30 series graphics cards has been high for a long time!
In 2017, the memory tripled. After 2019, graphics cards began to increase steadily. By March 2021, the ridiculous size reached its peak. Until the second half of 2021, there is no hope of returning to the original price. This article provides a concise and comprehensive analysis of the rise and fall of graphics cards, and lists some alternatives for friends who are eager to assemble a desktop computer, hoping to help everyone avoid pitfalls in their systems.
The article has a long word count, but you can click on the corresponding chapter in the table of contents to read it in a targeted manner. You can save notes and find what you need. If it helped you, please like it so that more friends can see it, so that everyone can get the most suitable machine at the most cost-effective cost.
The migrant workers burst into tears. Last year, they were hesitant to wait and see. A new computer was not on the agenda, thinking that there would be a wave of really good prices in the spring. As a result, the work started smoothly, the currency circle soared, and the graphics card turned into a "financial management tool". Card". This is probably what many installers regret the most during 2020~2021.
Let’s talk about the facts - the 3070 that was obtained for less than 4,000 yuan last year was already more than 8,000 yuan in March 2021. Although by the middle of the year, many "mines" were closed in the country, everyone The long-awaited "mining disaster" did not come. What is even more depressing is that the price of graphics cards has not been greatly affected. Even if there is news that "Bitcoin plummets by 10,000 yuan" at the end of 2021, the drop in graphics cards is only 100 yuan, and this price reduction rhythm has almost nothing to do with the "mining disaster."
I just checked e-commerce platforms and small yellow croakers, and 3080 worth 10,000 yuan is everywhere. The civilian team that started the war in the seafood market ushered in a victory without any real meaning. Those JS transactions rarely suffered huge trauma.
During the most uncomfortable period in early 2021, the price of 30 series graphics cards more than doubled, and CCTV news reported it for a full 10 minutes. The 20 series is not resting either. The price of the 2060, which was bought for more than 2,000 yuan in 2020, has risen to 3,600~4,200 yuan in early February 2021; even if your target card is 1660, I'm sorry, you can still get one for 1,600 yuan in October last year, but now This cost will cost an extra 1,000 oceans. Last year, many of my friends who forced themselves to buy 3060s chose Colorful cards. They were cheap, and "satisfied their desires and vanity." After all, buying 1660s at this price probably didn't cost much...
Kidney pain. it hurts.
I have said before that if the 30 series graphics cards were considered "normal price" last year (in fact, there were still many people complaining that the 30 series was too expensive and the 20 series was better), this year it became If you are in a hurry to assemble your computer and buy a graphics card without the "knife neck stand", your wallet will definitely be depleted!
So, if you are not a rich kid who can spend eight or nine thousand dollars without blinking an eye, you must not act recklessly.
The mining boom is so crazy, and many people are quite happy.
Merchants and retail investors who have stocked up on cards will have the happiest days in the first half of 2021. In the past year, as long as you have a low-end personal card, you can almost get affordable 30 series graphics cards and you will make a profit. Retail investors who usually like to mess around with computer installations can make a small profit by selling their unused RTX3070, 3080 or even 20 series graphics cards. The 20 series is also taking advantage of the trend to make some extra money.
However, there are many students who only have one graphics card and are reluctant to sell it. This is like hoarding houses. If you have three or more houses, it is natural to sell one. But if you only have one house, no matter how high the house price rises, you will not be able to cash out. More friends who want to install a new machine are only looking at the single-digit products that JD occasionally releases. They may not be lucky if they grab them with the mouse and click them.
As a computer installation user with real needs, it is really difficult to install a computer this year! Is there any reliable way to crack it?
First of all, don’t be tempted by JS to buy high-priced cards, it’s not cost-effective.
Secondly, don’t be tempted by JS to buy low-priced cards, mining cards are the worst.
Once again, there is no immediate need for a 30 series graphics card, so I might as well sit back and wait.
1. Choose a CPU with built-in core graphics, and use air first for independent graphics.
2. If you can use the old graphics card, don’t buy a new one. It will be no problem for the 1066 to continue fighting for another 5 years;
3. Choose a desktop computer, but be careful that the manufacturer bullies you and you don’t understand. Cut your leeks.
4. If you just need to play games, it is more cost-effective to give up the PC and directly buy a console Switch, PS5, XBOX, etc.
A little explanation so that everyone can understand. For example, if you have to buy a 30 graphics card for a desktop computer, which is basically acceptable for obsolete cards like Begban 3060 or even 1650, try buying a ready-made PC assembly machine. The Lenovo Blade 7000P series can be assembled from Ningbo countries, but before buying it, it is best to ask the manufacturer about the ambiguous graphics card model.
Even with the same high cost, buying a laptop can last for 2 years. Regarding notebook purchase, you can search for this article I wrote before: "Bidian Coolplay-Yang Cong: Special notebook computers for college students. What new products are worth recommending in 2021?" 》
For general student use, if the demand for games is average, it is recommended to choose a notebook with a land price of less than 5,000, and go for a higher price. You can use a good notebook with independent graphics in the price of 7,000~8,000, and the configuration is also much more powerful. Generally speaking, the reliability of laptops during this period is higher than that of desktops, so it is completely feasible as an alternative. The only thing to consider is how many meters the cost should be controlled.
If you want to install a computer just for coding, taking online courses, taking notes, or even doing hand-drawing, then maybe a tablet with a reasonable price is the right answer. If the demand is not high and you do not play games, the budget can be controlled within 2,500. At this price, you can buy the latest Xiaomi Tablet 5Pro, Huawei MatePad 11, or iPad 2021 (iPad 9) 64GB. It is recommended that students who have this kind of urgent need refer to my article "Bidian Coolplay-Yang Cong: A complete guide to tablet computers for students in 2022 (different model prices, advantages and disadvantages, and purchase guide)".
In fact, instead of being greedy for the gaming performance of 30 series graphics cards, it is better to directly buy game consoles, Switch, PS5, and resell them when you get tired of playing without losing the price. In any case, it is much more valuable than buying a graphics card.
The advantage of this type of product is that the price difference between when you buy it and when you sell it second-hand is not too big, which is commonly known as "preservation of value." There will always be a time when you get tired of playing games. When you get tired of your desktop or laptop, its configuration has become outdated, and the market price or second-hand price has also dropped accordingly. Naturally, it cannot be sold at a good price. Consoles do not have this trouble.
A netizen sent me a private message saying that he must install a machine with a 30 series graphics card. The graphics card has been purchased, but other accessories have not been selected yet. When he asked me about the configuration list, I reminded him that the memory and solid state Hard drives are also going to increase in price.
Once you get through the graphics card issue, it’s going to be crazy when the prices of memory sticks and solid-state drives also increase. You know, in 2020, the Guangwei brand launched the "Yi Pro" series of purely domestic memory modules and NVMe SSD solid-state drive products. The quality is recognized by the market, and it forces big brands to engage in price wars. It can be said to have ended the "Yi Pro" series of domestically produced memory modules and NVMe SSD solid-state drive products. "Power outages, fires" and the squeezed history of price increases gave us the opportunity to once again be proud of our 100% domestically produced products. I wrote several articles at that time, you can learn about them, such as "Bidian Cool Play-Yang Cong: 100% Another masterpiece from China Core! Guangweiyi Pro NVMe SSD is released. Will major foreign manufacturers dare to have another power outage or fire? 》.
On February 24, 2021, Jiahe Jinwei’s marketing department issued an “early warning”, talking about the tight supply of wafers and the shortage of DRAM and NANDFLASH chips for manufacturing memory sticks and solid-state drives, resulting in contract prices. Rising, it is speculated that memory prices will continue to increase in the first half of 2021, or there will be no price increases, and there will be no price increase.
However, even such a down-to-earth domestic brand has issued a price increase warning. The price increase of memory and SSD must not be groundless! Some friends in the industry believe that this wave of price increases may be a new "kidney pain" craze following the price increases of the "three major items" of solid-state memory and graphics cards from 2017 to 2018.
Soon in April and May 2021, new methods of "hard disk mining" were exposed, such as Chia coins.
How outrageous is the hard disk mine? Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer value exchange; Ethereum is similar to the next generation of the Internet, everything can be carried, and then graphics card computing power becomes the basis of the mining boom. But what is chia and can it make food? It's nothing more than some people using their money to make money.
What kind of nonsense is this? As the hard drive industry becomes a hot topic, starting from May and June 2021, both large-capacity mechanical hard drives with a capacity of 4TB or more, and SSD solid-state drives with a capacity of 512GB, 1TB or higher will all increase in price. Compared with SSDs, large-capacity mechanical hard drives have seen the most significant growth, and importantly, they are out of stock.
We know the result later. It doesn’t matter whether the people playing with coins were injured or not. The key is that the DIY players were very injured and have not recovered yet.
It’s okay to say that the graphics card is out of stock, but you can’t use the hard drive, right? At present, the price of large-capacity hard disks is still very low, especially HDD warehouse disks. During this period, if there is no demand for warehouse disks, when choosing a new hard drive, try to buy a 1TB or 2TB SSD (512 is also acceptable, but 256 is not recommended).
In short, at this stage of installation, you can’t just look at the graphics card. The hard disk must also be dealt with early (in addition, there is also the increase in memory prices related to the increase in memory chip prices). It is recommended that you wait for the opportunity when there is a good price. Stock up on one or two SSDs or memory, don't wait for JS to come up with new tricks that cause the price of hard drives to increase, and then look at JD and shed tears.
Here I still prefer that everyone supports domestic products, such as Guangwei's SSD and purely domestic memory, and Zhiti's purely domestic SSD.
This is the most frequently asked question in private messages from fans, such as the new toothpaste platform Z690 + 12th generation Core + DDR5. To be fair, the current price of DDR5 is not very affordable, and online reviews are often made by media reviewers and " "Aristocratic players" are required to pay "tax" at this stage. Personally, I think it is better to buy high-end DDR4 4000 frequency memory than to suffer from failure in the future, even if it is an RGF light bar, it is more cost-effective than DDR5. Interested students can search this article for reference: "Bidian Coolplay: Is it better to choose DDR4 or DDR5 when buying Z690 now? 》
As for whether to choose PCIe4 for SSD, there is no rush. DDR4 high-end can last for one or two years without any problem. By the way, I will continue to follow up on the new graphics cards launched by AMD recently and the new CPUs in the future under the Bidian Coolplay column (to be updated in January 2022).
Installation is a technical job.
In an era when the Internet and e-commerce logistics were underdeveloped, JS gathered in Zhongguancun in Beijing, SEG Building in Shenzhen, and Sanhao Street in Shenyang, relying on big scams to make innocent buyers buy low-end and second-hand goods at high prices. . I was cheated by unscrupulous mechanics back then.
After the Internet made hardware prices transparent and complete, Bitcoin came, using crazy and irrational gadgets to make profit-seekers flock to it, making ordinary buyers confused, and making people who thought they could My choice of hardware was ruined.
We are powerless to resist, but we still have the right to choose. At least we can choose not to buy it.
However, when it is urgently needed, we can only "go ahead". At this time, you must do enough homework, avoid minefields, select parts accurately, and be cautious. I hope this article can help everyone understand the principles, learn and apply them, and spend less money to get things done. #assemblePC#