Oh great, new cryptocurrency gold rush could make buying a new graphics card even harder

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Rise in prices to blame

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It looks like a new cryptocurrency gold rush is happening, and could mean that getting hold of already-scarce new GPUs like the Nvidia RTX 3080 could get even more difficult.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that can be ‘mined’ using a graphics card. With the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum rising sharply in recent months (Bitcoin has tripled in value since October), a rush to buy up GPUs could be on the cards.

Last week we saw a mining rig with 78 Nvidia RTX 3080 GPUs, which was a bitter pill to swallow for many people who have been struggling getting hold of even one of Nvidia’s latest graphics cards.

Hard to get

The last time there was a cryptocurrency gold rush, it became incredibly difficult to get hold of many GPUs due to miners buying most of them up. This was frustrating for anyone who just wanted to upgrade their gaming PC.

With both Nvidia’s and AMD’s latest graphics cards already being extremely hard to get, it looks like GPU shortages could last even longer – which could be bad news for gamers looking to upgrade.

Via Wccftech

Matt Hanson
Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.