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- Retailers have elevated pricing of Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs
- Prices are virtually double the unique retail pricing
- It seems to be a direct influence from the RAM disaster as a result of AI demand
We’re formally in 2026, and final yr’s rumors concerning GPU worth hikes on Nvidia and AMD GPUs (because of the ongoing RAM disaster) seem like correct, which can show very unlucky for PC avid gamers.
As reported by VideoCardz, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 costs have elevated considerably above the unique retail pricing, with fashions reaching as much as $4,000 throughout a number of retailers. The GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition remains to be priced at $1,999 / £1,799 / AU$4,039, so the worth hikes seem like coming instantly from retailers and personal sellers.
RAM kits have change into a lot pricier over the previous few months, because of the present AI increase, and seem like the explanation behind these GPU worth will increase (since GPUs additionally use VRAM).
It’s doubtless resulted in retailers searching for methods to get prospects to pay extra for PC {hardware} throughout the board as a result of increased demand, and the looming menace of potential worth hikes instantly from Team Green and AMD on RTX and Radeon GPUs, respectively.
A main instance is on Best Buy, with the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 now accessible for a staggering $3,610.78, virtually double the Founders Edition’s MSRP, and a big chunk above the third-party GPU’s normal pricing (round $2,799.99).
The identical worth jumps above MSRP have occurred with AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs long before the RAM crisis, and have continued – the XFX Mercury Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Edition on Best Buy is now at $849.99, up from its $599 retail price.
None of these price hikes come straight from Nvidia or AMD (yet…), and despite recent rumors suggesting that Team Green plans to raise the RTX 5090’s MSRP to $5,000, there’s no confirmation of that – and frankly, it’s unlikely that we’ll see such a ludicrously aggressive price increase.
If there is anything to blame, though, it’s clearly the meteoric rise of AI technology. AI training and operation datacenters have increased the demand for RAM (and some other components) to unprecedented levels, which has ultimately trickled down to impact consumers, and it doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down any time soon.
Analysis: Nvidia isn’t fully absolved from blame, but you should be more mad at AI
While Nvidia does have an indirect part to play in these price hikes due to its heavy involvement in the AI boom, it’s not solely responsible; there’s been a concerted push to develop and use AI from numerous companies around the globe, and they’re all jointly at fault.
Desktop DDR4 and DDR5 RAM play a significant part in PC building, more so than GPUs; basically, you can build a PC without a discrete GPU, but with no RAM, good luck getting your PC to boot.
With the AI boom making RAM far more expensive than it should be for consumers, it’s enough to leave worries that this could become the new normal in 2026 and beyond – effectively killing the custom PC gaming dream for all but the wealthiest gamers.
The heavy reliance on AI is becoming more noticeable as time goes on, and as it continues, I can certainly see prices for all PC hardware increasing from retailers and private sellers. It’s an incredibly problematic situation, not only for high-end PC gaming, but also for those looking to dive into the PC gaming ecosystem for the first time. If you’ve been contemplating building your first gaming PC, I’d do it fast; these prices are likely to keep climbing, at least for now.
The best graphics cards for all budgets
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