This week in GPU Markets: the price of Bitcoin itself is in flux amidst a host of issues1)- the possible insolvency of Mt Gox and the transaction malleability exploit chief among them. How does this effect the Scrypt mining market, and it turn, the GPU markets?

One of the leading altcoins, the tenacious Dogecoin, has actually gone up contrary to the overall market movement2), gaining over 50% in value in the past few days. Other scrypt coins making gains against the market grain are Feathercoin3), Unobtainium4), and Bitgem5), as well as the non-scrypt altcoin Maxcoin6).

Prices of 7950 GPUs- still the best price/performance ratio GPU given their electrical consumption- seem to be holding at a premium price as the Altcoin markets remain somewhat down in overall average profitability. Spot price checking on eBay for used hardware sees MSI 7950 TF3 Boost Edition going for over $400.00 at auction, Sapphire 7950s going for up to $400.00, and Gigabyte 7950 WF3 in the $300.00 - $400.00 range depending on revision.

Meanwhile, Newegg retains their heightened pricing for their stock of 7950s as well: around $400 after rebate for the two remaining models they have in stock, the Sapphire 3L and the XFX Black Edition. Tigerdirect (accepting Bitcoin directly as a payment method) only has one 7950 in stock, the Sapphire Mac edition, for a whopping $460. This happens to be the only card in stock at BitcoinStore as well, at a slightly lower price of $442.

And, wrapping up the survey of major retailers, the used market on Amazon continues to be on the higher side, with the lowest offer for a quality brand starting at $415 and climbing up from there, with limited supply.

No high-quantity deals on eBay showed up this week, as they did in weeks past with the Sapphire 7950 20G combo from SuperBiiz at $350. That pegs the best overall deals this week with with watching and tracking individual Buy It Nows and auctions, with at least one Sapphire 2L going for as low as $275.00.

Let's remember that the 7950 series was retailing for under $200 just a few months ago, and the used market had dipped as low as $150. Many thought that GPU mining was done for- profitability was creeping towards break-even before the breakout of BTC, LTC, and later, Doge. The market demand for scrypt mining at this time apparently remains huge.