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Product Prices: Graphics Cards (GPUs)
Brief
Tracking prices for graphics cards (GPUs): official manufacturer price lists, major sales, changes due to tariffs/taxes. Not needed: one-off deals from individual stores.
Description
Rising GPU prices are fundamentally a memory supply story, not a GPU manufacturing one — both major vendors are passing costs straight through to consumers, and reported production cuts suggest the squeeze may persist rather than ease soon.
Price Surge
Flagship GPU prices have climbed roughly 50% over launch MSRP in 2026; Nvidia's RTX 5090 has seen retail listings spike to $4,300–$5,000, with some estimates suggesting it could reach $5,000 later in the year.
Root Cause
An AI infrastructure buildout of unprecedented scale has consumed much of the world's memory supply — memory now accounts for over 80% of a GPU's bill of materials, with GDDR6/GDDR7 prices up several hundred percent in months.
Timeline and Production Impact
AMD began adjusting Radeon RX 9000 pricing in January 2026; Nvidia followed with RTX 50-series increases in February, with both companies raising prices roughly monthly since. Nvidia is reportedly weighing a 30–40% output reduction for parts of its midrange lineup, including the RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti.