Is a graphics card price fair? How we work it out

Across the cards the site tracks, faster cards cost more. If you plot each card's performance index at 1440p against its price, the points roughly follow a line. The line is fitted by least squares, the standard way of drawing the best straight line through a set of points.

A card's fair price is where it would sit if it fell exactly on that line. It answers the question: given how fast this card is, what do cards of this speed typically cost on the prices we hold?

The verdict compares the card's price on record with its fair price. At or below 92% of fair, the card is a good buy. Above 112%, it is expensive for what it delivers. Anything in between is fair.

Those bands leave room for the line being an approximation. A card at 98% of fair is not meaningfully better than one at 103%, and the bands keep the labels from pretending otherwise.

The verdict uses the price on record for that card. That is a verified street price, with its source and the date it was checked, where one exists, and the launch MSRP otherwise. The card's page says which one applies.

When the line is calculated from launch prices across the database, the page notes it. A verdict based on MSRP tells you how a card was priced at launch compared with its performance, not what it costs today.

It cannot tell you whether the price will fall, whether the card suits your games or whether a cheaper card would do. A fair-priced card can still be the wrong card, and an expensive one can still be the only choice that meets a requirement.

It also says nothing about memory, features or power, which are not in the line. A card with more memory than its speed suggests can look expensive on the verdict while being the better long-term purchase.

Treat the verdict as a first filter. A card marked good is worth a closer look, and one marked expensive deserves a reason before you pay for it. Then read the rest of the page and check the live listing before you buy.

The method does not use commission rates or retailer relationships, and has no field for either. The affiliate disclosure explains why that cannot influence a verdict.

A price in one country is not directly comparable with a price in another. In the United States, list prices usually exclude sales tax, which is added at checkout. In much of Europe, the displayed price includes value added tax. Shipping, import costs and exchange rates move the figure again.

The site stores every price in US dollars. When you view it in another currency, the figure is converted at a dated reference rate and marked as approximate, so treat it as a guide and let the retailer's page decide what you pay.

Graphics card prices move with supply, demand, new launches and the stock position of each retailer. A verdict reflects the prices on file at one moment and says nothing about next month. Nobody can promise a card will get cheaper.

What a verdict can show is distance from a reference point. A card priced well above its launch MSRP has more room to fall than one close to it, and a card marked good is already priced below what its speed suggests. Neither is a forecast.