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TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

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Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#32
Supply shortage is another way of saying demand excess. I don’t see much evidence that TSMC ever really slowed production, at least for their most advanced processes that are in high demand.

This is yet another way we’re all forced to pay the price for cryptocurrency. As long as GPUs are profitable for mining, they will be purchased and put to work. The saddest part is that each additional GPU added to the mining networks only makes the overall system less efficient. Mining difficulty is automatically adjusted upward to cancel out the additional computing power. The networks processed just as many transactions last year as they do now, but countless new GPUs have been added to the mining network due to the incentive structure of mining. It’s a race to the bottom, consuming ever more GPUs and energy until equilibrium is reached.

It’s frustrating to watch so much of the output of our most advanced chip manufacturing be diverted straight into making arbitrary proof-of-work systems less efficient so someone can capture incrementally more coins. And now we must all pay higher prices for everything.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#33
post #7

Starting to get the feeling that the current prices for PC components are here to say.

This might be the start of the end of high-end PC gaming, unless prices get back to a more reasonable level. Consoles (and phones) are very competitive and cost significantly less.

Or perhaps it just causes the games to have lower performance requirements. Is integrated graphics the future of PC gaming?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some reports of collapsing lumber prices, when everyone was talking about the sky falling and prices skyrocketing two months ago. https://financialpost.com/commodities/lumber-prices-collapse... So your idea that semiconductor prices might fall a lot in the future seems reasonable.

I think that lumber storage is much more expensive compared to chips

Do you mean storing already made chips? I imagine that's (often) expensive from a depreciation perspective.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#35
Goodbye dreams of owning an Nvidia GPU in 2022 - I ain't paying cutthroat prices on ebay/amazon. Guess we're buying Intel!

Sidenote: Intel manufacturers their own stuff, and so is Apple right? Their new cool chips are all in-house or are they through TSMC?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#36

My PC is 11 years old this year. I've been waiting to upgrade it for 2 years but held off because GPU prices are utterly ridiculous. I don't know who can afford these inflated prices, I was hoping things would settle but it doesn't appear to be the case.

Why not just purchase a used one on eBay?

My current GPU is a used 980, it's mostly ok but it makes noises when doing certain tasks for some reason (like scrolling a browser window), I'm really not sure what causes it but it's put me off buying second hand cards, if it fails there's not much you can do to fix it

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#37

Supply shortages are the excuse du jour, but so long as TSMC has the kingmaking node I expect it to become expensive. Very expensive. Expensive enough to move margin from the king their node made right back to TSMC.

Silicon OPEC. I flouted the idea 10 years ago, and people were laughing.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#38
1. This is specifically mainstream node, or everything except leading edge 3nm / 5nm.

2. Those price has been like that for sometime since the chip shortage. They just make it official now.

3. The mainstream and social media will and always have been blaming it on TSMC.

4. Everyone wants all the capacity they need, while not paying a cent more. This announcement will "somehow" made it fair for everyone in the industry.

5. The current component price has very little to do with wafer pricing. As with all commodity pricing, they will only swing back once supply catches up.

6. In general I think this is a good, TSMC has been leaving far too much money on the table and benefiting GF and SMIC.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just purchase a used one on eBay?

My current GPU is a used 980, it's mostly ok but it makes noises when doing certain tasks for some reason (like scrolling a browser window), I'm really not sure what causes it but it's put me off buying second hand cards, if it fails there's not much you can do to fix it

I use 980Ti too - i'm lighting 6 candles on the cake this year...It keeps me warm at night and during the winter. I am surprised it's still working after 6 years of daily use with that TDP and heat released.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#40
post #7

Starting to get the feeling that the current prices for PC components are here to say.

That was my assumption - I managed to pick up a 3080 TI FE at MSRP in the UK a couple of weeks back. I would have gone for the 3080, better price/perf, but since the only ones available are AIB for the same price, or more, than the 3080 TI FE that made the decision for me.
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