There's been hardly any decent GPU deals. I get that the AUD has nosedived, but its been like this before that too. The only decent prices you find for GPUs are the techfast deals, but a lot of people just need to upgrade 1 component. And their parts tend to be low grade anyway.
I really hope new cards from AMD and Nvidia release soon, the pricing in the Australian market is just dire right now.
Agreed, but I would stay clear of ex-mining GPUs as a general rule. You just never know how long they're going to last.
The RX 580 4GB has been as low as $199 (I can still see some international stock on eBay for that price, plus postage of course), and at that price point the performance-per-dollar ratio is still unbeatable compared to anything newer from both AMD and NVidia (and especially now with the weakening AUD and shortages driving up prices worldwide).
It's still plenty capable for gaming at 1920x1080. I'm running a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 4GB currently, with a fairly hefty OC (1480Mhz Core/2000Mhz Memory) and for instance, the latest game I'm playing through, Doom Eternal, runs at 2560x1080 (21:9 Ultrawide monitor) at 60FPS with everything on Ultra settings (and the rest of my PC hardware is ancient).
generally they're super durable and mining cards last a long time, just google it. to give you an idea i bought a card off an ex miner in 2014 and used it since, i even mined it at 85-90c with no fan(ran out of space) for a few month, it was basically paying for itself every month during the craze. it continued to run fine until i killed it recently, a ninja cable snuck in the back and shorted it, really sad with that one.
also it's not a bad idea to get the 400 series, the 500 series are basically just overclocked 400 versions, they use a lot more power and that also affects longevity
I already have a GTX 1070 which I bought 2 years ago for $500. When I look at the new market, the only part that gives a substantial upgrade is the RX 5700 XT which costs about $650 for the low end models.
At the same $500 price point, you can get a 1660 ti, which is the exact same performance as a 1070. So in 2 years, there's been almost no improvement in performance or price.
Prices have been increased over the last few months and even more noticeable over the last two weeks
I was considering getting a RTX2070 but not anymore
Very well related to the AUD/USD relationship. The aussie dollar tanked a few weeks back and that means things from the USA cost more. We have effectively lost 10% of our buying power from the USA in a month (0.67 to 0.6 USD to AUD).
Combine that with the fact people are stuck at home and wanting to build a PC, supply goes down as demand goes up, meaning retailers are probably reducing sales as they know people will pay.
the best value cards are still the rx 470/570/480/580's, and thanks to miners there is a ton of them
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/514997
if you want something faster you just have to cough up the extra cash, the more you spend the less value you get, no amount of deals will save you from a falling AUD