Prime Day is Amazon’s annual smorgasbord of consumerism, a parade of deals that lasts multiple days. This year it’s scheduled for July 12th and 13th. The last couple of years have been rough for people searching for graphics cards— there were exactly zero Prime Day GPU deals in 2021 — but a crashing cryptocurrency market and recovering chip supply are driving prices down to more sane levels in 2022. You might just be able to find a graphics card deal, though it won’t be as easy as other gadgets or PC parts.
To prep for Prime Day, you’ll want to get subscribed to Amazon Prime, since the premium service is required for all discounts. Luckily it’s possible to get Amazon Prime for free if you’re savvy about it. On top of that, keep an eye on the Lightning Deals for blink-and-you’ll-miss-it discounts.
Prime Day GPU deals: What to expect
From late 2019 onward, the triple whammy of pandemic system building, booming cryptocurrency farms, and a strained global chip supply sent graphics card prices soaring, and secondary market scalpers made them climb even higher. But now that markets are settling back into predictable patterns and the crypto bubble appears to have burst, prices are returning to retail levels. This remains rare enough that you may see GPUs listed at MSRP flagged as deals below. Significant discounts on high-end cards aren’t exactly a daily occurrence, but you don’t need to budget two or three times the list price like you had to just a year ago.
In the lead-up to Prime Day we’re keeping an eye out for Amazon discounts, as well as affordable graphics cards from other major retailers like Newegg and Best Buy. While Amazon tends to make a huge deal out of Prime Day, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to find discounts on what you’re looking for, so it’s worth checking out what the competition has to offer.
Early Prime Day deals on Nvidia GPUs
EVGA GeForce RTX 3050 XC GPU
The RTX 3050 is near the bottom of the mid-range, but with the latest GPU designs and advancements in efficiency and optimization, it’s more than capable of playing even the latest games at 1080p. While not as cheap as it should be, it’s about the least expensive card you can buy for reliable performance and a few years (at least) of service, and now you can finally pick this model up for its MSRP.
MSI Ventus GeForce RTX 3060
The RTX 3060 is a solid step up, allowing for reliable performance at 1080p with more visual options enabled, or for basic 1440p gaming at higher framerates with less visual bling. Formerly the “sweet spot” for deal hunters, the xx60 cards haven’t quite come down to their proper retail price yet, but we’re getting there.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 10GB GPU
The RTX 3080 is a high-end card that should be able to handle almost anything you can throw at it, including ray tracing and 4K resolutions, assuming the rest of your system is up to snuff. After literally years of waiting the prices for cards from secondary manufacturers like Gigabyte are finally approaching retail level. Just make sure you’ve got enough overhead in your power supply to handle the upgrade! This Newegg deal comes with a $40 discount.
Early Prime Day deals on AMD GPUs
XFX Speester Radeon RX 6500XT GPU
AMD’s entry-level gaming card, the Radeon RX 6500XT can handle most games at 1080p without breaking the bank, though you’ll need to use Medium or High graphics settings for the best results. Shockingly, it’s easy to find the card at retail price, and occasionally even below it, like this XFX deal. If you’re building a budget machine, this card is a perfect companion.
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU
The approximate competitor to Nvidia’s RTX 3070, the Radeon RX 6700 XT can smack around any modern game at 1080p and run most of them at 1440p or 4K. This Gigabyte model is being sold at Newegg for $550, which is a hair above MSRP, but it comes with a $100 promo code (VGAGBET252) bringing it down to $450.
Gigabyte Radeon RX 6900XT GPU
One of the most powerful consumer graphics cards on the market, this RX 6900 XT would have fetched a price as high as two grand a year or so ago. Newegg is offering this dream component at $870 with a promo code (VGAGBET249), $50 off the retail price, plus an additional $100 off with a mail-in rebate. With a final price of $760, it’s an absolutely insane deal on a GPU anyone would be proud to have in their gaming PC.
Graphics Cards
