Today is a good day to be a PC gamer. An event has happened in the enigmatic world of Cryptocurrency that has the PC Master Race breathing a collective sigh of relief. Ethereum, one of the most prominent currencies has phased out GPU mining completely. And the results are visible across the web.
On Thursday morning, Ethereum, or Ether switched over to a “Proof of Stake” algorithm. In short, this means that it can no longer be obtained using graphics cards. The transition, dubbed “The Merge” also means the currency has cut its power consumption by 99.95%. So it’s good news for the environment, too.
Vitalik Buterin, founder of cryptocurrency Ethereum declares The Merge a success on Twitter
But for gamers, this really is great news. The topic of ditching mining came to the forefront last year as cryptocurrency miners bought up every available graphics card, contributing to the global shortage and broadly encouraging price scalping. Cards were frequently found selling for double MSRP, which in turn led to few being able to find cards, and fewer still being able to afford them
But since then, the GPU market has flipped, leading to an oversupply situation as miners begin to dump their cards. The decision Ether has taken in choosing to prohibit mining has clearly also had an immediate impact. A quick search on eBay reveals a number of RTX 3090s selling for $800, roughly half their original price.
Additionally, with the advent of a new generation of graphics cards hitting our shelves, this is good news for anyone holding out for the NVidia 4000 series. The Merge will undoubtedly put off would-be miners from carrying on the practice of buying up new stock, too. NiceHash, a provider of mining software, said on Thursday,
“The mining community has come to an end of an era. Ethereum was the number one ASIC-resistant coin that most GPU miners mined since 2014.”
Of course, there are other coins available that still rely on mining. But to simplify the situation a little, the cost of mining those coins vs the value of the coins mined is far less profitable than Ether. So less will be attracted to take a position in mining now Ether has made the jump.
Buyers Beware
All that said, we would urge caution before hopping onto eBay to grab yourself a steal. Prolonged cryptocurrency mining can severely impact the performance of a graphics card. If a mining rig is running 24/7 at high temperatures, so above 80 to 90 degrees, the GPU could sustain damage that significantly reduces its lifespan.
Sellers are not obliged to say what they have been doing with their cards, however, so be wary of anything that looks too good to be true. But this of course doesn’t impact new cards, which, all things considered, might even launch at MSRP. Here’s hoping.
But what do you think about the Merge? Will we see the new RTX 400 cards launch at something approaching affordability? Jump onto our Discord and let us know your thoughts!
Source; PC Mag
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