A $5,000 RTX 5090? New reports warn of steep GPU price hikes

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DragonSlayer101

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WTF?! Launched about a year ago at $1,999, the GeForce RTX 5090's price has skyrocketed in recent weeks, with most SKUs selling between $2,500 and $3,500 on Newegg, Best Buy, and Amazon. A new report paints an even grimmer picture for gamers, claiming the price could go up to as much as $5,000 in 2026 amid the ongoing memory shortage.

According to reports coming from China and South Korea, both AMD and Nvidia are expected to raise prices of their graphics cards in the first quarter of 2026. The initial report surfaced last week, when a user on the Chinese forum Board Channels claimed that AMD is notifying its GPU board partners of a price hike from January, with Nvidia expected to follow suit within weeks.

South Korean news outlet Newsis now claims to have confirmed the bad news. According to unnamed industry insiders quoted by the publication, Nvidia and AMD are planning to increase both consumer graphics cards and data center GPU prices in Q1 2026. Neither report mentions Intel by name, but Team Blue will also likely raise prices of its Arc graphics cards next year.

The reports suggest that the upcoming hikes are not being driven by the rising cost of GDDR7 memory, as contract prices were fixed well before the start of the current crisis. While some graphics card manufacturers increased their prices marginally in December, industry insiders believe a larger hike could follow in the coming weeks.

One manufacturer that has already begun notifying retail partners about a price adjustment is Asus. In its email earlier this week, the company cited AI-driven price volatility in DRAM, NAND, and SSD components as the primary reason for the impending adjustment, adding that upstream supplier capacity shifts and higher investment costs for advanced manufacturing are also responsible for the decision.

The exact timeline for the price changes is unclear, but reports suggest AMD could announce it as early as next month, while Nvidia is planning to do so in February. The hikes will reportedly affect only the current-generation products – Radeon RX 9000 "RDNA 4" and RTX 50 "Blackwell," so older GPUs may remain relatively affordable for now.

The surging demand for high-bandwidth memory from AI data centers has pushed up DRAM prices to astronomical levels in recent months, with many industry observers warning that laptop and smartphone prices could see a significant hike in 2026. The situation has gotten so bad that some high-end server memory kits now cost more than luxury SUVs and sports cars.

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A $5,000 RTX 5090? New reports warn of steep GPU price hikes

 
I got my 5090 on launch day for $1999.
At the same time, my friend was forced to pay $3000 cash to get one out of the back of a scalper's trunk.
In retrospect, the price shot up so high that that $3000 almost looked reasonable. He wasn't willing to wait till prices cooled.

This Black Friday I bought a prebuilt with 5090/285K/64GB DDR5 and 4TB SSD. I also bought a 4TB SSD to add on for just $199 but 2 weeks later the price jumped to $399.

I am done with PC hardware for the time being. I won't buy again till 10 years from now. This is absolutely ridiculous.
 
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I’m somewhat indifferent to all now. We’ve seen it before, and will see it again. Insert new semiconductor technology demand object *here*. Proceed to drive demand for said new technology. Markets go nuts, prices inflate, articles like this generate in mass. Said technology collapses, (or adapt’s) market normalizes and the cycle of causality is complete.

Yah, don’t really care anymore. It will sort itself much quicker than anyone wants to believe.
 
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Megalomaniac said:
I got my 5090 on launch day for $1999.
At the same time, my friend was forced to pay $3000 cash to get one out of the back of a scalper's trunk.
In retrospect, the price shot up so high that that $3000 almost looked reasonable. He wasn't willing to wait till prices cooled.

This Black Friday I bought a prebuilt with 5090/285K/64GB DDR5 and 4TB SSD. I also bought a 4TB SSD to add on for just $199 but 2 weeks later the price jumped to $399.

I am done with PC hardware for the time being. I won't buy again till 10 years from now. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Click to expand...
imho, your friend and you sound like perfect customers, if y'all are just gaming though I don't see why you're angry about the prices when you can afford 2 of em.
 
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Where is Tim denouncing this? He lost his mind denouncing AMD for the 9070XT being 70$ higher than MSRP, but when it comes to Nvidia charging more than 100% over MSRP for the 5090, everything is fine...

Double standards...
 
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Megalomaniac said:
I got my 5090 on launch day for $1999.
At the same time, my friend was forced to pay $3000 cash to get one out of the back of a scalper's trunk.
In retrospect, the price shot up so high that that $3000 almost looked reasonable. He wasn't willing to wait till prices cooled.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, next gen of cards is going to make the 5090 buyers understand how dumb they were to pay that kind of money. I will not be surprised to see 5090 + 25% for 1200$.
 
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redgarl said:
Don't worry, next gen of cards is going to make the 5090 buyers understand how dumb they were to pay that kind of money. I will not be surprised to see 5090 + 25% for 1200$.
Click to expand...
You genuinely believe Ngreedia will release 5090 levels of performance with a 25% uplift gen on gen for just $1200?

They have exactly zero reason to do that because they’re quite happy seeing the current crop of overpriced cards at the high end routinely sell out. As long as demand is there and Ngreedia continue to artificially control limited supply so that stock never exceeds demand, prices will not come down anytime soon.

I predict pricing will actually go the other way given how tightly they create a manufactured supply shortage.
 
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redgarl said:
Where is Tim denouncing this? He lost his mind denouncing AMD for the 9070XT being 70$ higher than MSRP, but when it comes to Nvidia charging more than 100% over MSRP for the 5090, everything is fine...

Double standards...
Click to expand...
Despite the headline, the prices will be raised for AMD and NVIDIA cards… maybe READ the entire article before complaining?
 
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Good. Gamers can only complain about how the 5090 should cost $500. Now you get the market your victim complex demanded.

Now go buy your $500 5050 and sign up for geforce now.
Thatsdisgusting said:
It has been trash since 2017, since titan z and 2080Ti
Click to expand...
2080ti was a massive GPU (754mm2), anyone whining about it outed themselves as knowing nothing about how GPUs are made.

Everyone wants GPU prices from the great financial crisis but nobody wants the horrible economy and lsot jobs that led to those prices.
 
redgarl said:
Don't worry, next gen of cards is going to make the 5090 buyers understand how dumb they were to pay that kind of money. I will not be surprised to see 5090 + 25% for 1200$.
Click to expand...
How do you see that happening? Maybe the jump from 3nm to 2nm gets you the +25% (although I've read that's more likely for efficiency than performance.) But published stories I've seen suggest TSMC 2nm wafers will cost 10%-20% more so the cost/performance is not much changed. Then there's whatever happens with memory, which I hope eventually sorts itself out but in time for launch of the next generation feels optimistic.
 
Like a slow, rolling collapse of Roman Empire, American unregulated free market and It's "maximizing shareholder value" philosophy is jerking like a freshly diseased corpses. Chinese companies rule is coming next and no one be able to change It, Western corporations were killing Western production and moving it to Asia for way too long to have anything to save (or say) now. Prepare for a change of ownership.
 
My 3070 is aging pretty badly with the 8 GB VRAM. Kind of have to go Nvidia with RTX HDR, MFG, and much better upscaler quality. Kills me because I would love to go AMD, but prices are stupid again and they haven't invested in the features I need.
 
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letsgoiowa said:
My 3070 is aging pretty badly with the 8 GB VRAM. Kind of have to go Nvidia with RTX HDR, MFG, and much better upscaler quality. Kills me because I would love to go AMD, but prices are stupid again and they haven't invested in the features I need.
Click to expand...
GPU prices will probably -never- be lower than they are at the moment. If you are waiting, you should buy now.

The reason why the prices will skyrocket is pretty simple. It's not just that GDDR7 will increase in price (it will) - there simply won't be enough of them for the GPU production vs demand. Nvidia has already predicted that they will produce 40% less consumer gpu's next year - as they will lack the components to do so.
So with 40% less Gpu's on the market - that means a massive price hike due to demand.
The RAM situation won't be solved next year, or 2027, or as some has predicted - even in 2028.

The next generation of GPU's will have fantasy prices - which is also why streaming services are both going up in price + getting artificial limits like the 100 hour a month from Geforce Now.
Gamers will keep gaming, but expect a shift in how people interact with media. There will be more people on older devices than ever before in 2027-28. Game developers will have to shift their priority from pushing the latest tech - to making games that work on hardware that will be 7-8 years old.

We're in for a massive upheaval in how the entire consumer market will operate
 
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Subset6 said:
I’m somewhat indifferent to all now. We’ve seen it before, and will see it again. Insert new semiconductor technology demand object *here*. Proceed to drive demand for said new technology. Markets go nuts, prices inflate, articles like this generate in mass. Said technology collapses, (or adapt’s) market normalizes and the cycle of causality is complete.

Yah, don’t really care anymore. It will sort itself much quicker than anyone wants to believe.
Click to expand...
Graphics cards haven't recovered since COVID. That's quite a few years ago at this point.

We're glad nowadays to find a card selling at (a way too high) MSRP months after launch. Back in the day you expected cars to sell at MSRP slowly dropping in price over time with a big drop once the next generation is announced.
Now prices of the old generation jump up because the newer generation has an even worse bang a buck ratio.
 
redgarl said:
Don't worry, next gen of cards is going to make the 5090 buyers understand how dumb they were to pay that kind of money. I will not be surprised to see 5090 + 25% for 1200$.
Click to expand...


Have you seen the trend?

I've been buying these cards since the 2080Ti and the trend is that Nvidia promises more power for less money, prices the xx80 and xx90 higher than before and then lets the scalpers come in and ruin the market by snapping up all the highly desired cards and leaving the crap (anything less than a xx90) for everyone else.

"Paper Launches" where the store only has less than 10 xx90 for hungry lines of upwards of 50 potential buyers.

NO: what will happen is that the 6000 series and 7000 series will be progressively worse.

I myself have always managed to get my card on day one, but I'm backing away from the table for awhile while I watch others wait over night in freezing lines around Microcenter.
 
Megalomaniac said:
Have you seen the trend?

I've been buying these cards since the 2080Ti and the trend is that Nvidia promises more power for less money, prices the xx80 and xx90 higher than before and then lets the scalpers come in and ruin the market by snapping up all the highly desired cards and leaving the crap (anything less than a xx90) for everyone else.

"Paper Launches" where the store only has less than 10 xx90 for hungry lines of upwards of 50 potential buyers.

NO: what will happen is that the 6000 series and 7000 series will be progressively worse.

I myself have always managed to get my card on day one, but I'm backing away from the table for awhile while I watch others wait over night in freezing lines around Microcenter.
Click to expand...
And yet you buy them on day 1… there’s a reason NVIDIA can charge whatever they want for their GPUs…
 
I always like to keep a point of reference. The cheapest 5090 is actually a 360mm rad/liquid cooled by Zotac currently selling for $2799.1000048341.jpg1000048339.jpg
 
My 7900XTX is over 2y old now. 9000 series didn’t bring anything faster and the next gen was reported to come 2026. Looks like I will be running same gpu for 4y, that is a some sort of record for me.

Meanwhile big name gaming companies are releasing uninteresting games that run like turds.

It will be slow years ahead in the gaming space.
 
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