GoKawiilWe all know the current state of pricing for PC components is through the roof. Looking back, we have the hindsight to see what the prices were a year or two ago, and be thankful that we bought something when it was cheaper or on a really good sale. But for those who didn’t upgrade back then, what does the future look like if you want to upgrade your graphics card?
Currently, we have access to the 50-series range of graphics cards from Nvidia, and the 90-series from AMD, with a couple of entries from Intel. These cards were primarily released in January 2025, with different graphics card SKUs released throughout the year. We’re now more than halfway through 2026, with the rumored release of the next generation of graphics cards not arriving until late 2027, or even 2028, so we’re looking at at least a year before we see any hint of a new GPU release.
Why the delay or extended release cadence? Well, the simple answer is the costs. Just one aspect of the increased costs incurred with any new graphics card release will be the high-speed memory used, and, in the GPU's case, the amount of VRAM. Prices have become exponentially more expensive due to the AI crunch, so adding more memory to a GPU is going to not only increase the production costs of any new graphics card direct from Nvidia or AMD, but also boost the expenses that AIB board partners have to incur to offer the partner GPUs. These manufacturing cost rises will, of course, be passed on to us poor consumers. There might even be reductions in the amount of onboard VRAM for different card SKUs; we will have to wait to find out.
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There are no stock issues with picking up a new GPU; the main issue is just the cost. I keep track of all the current graphics card prices twice weekly in our GPU Price Index, and have seen the prices creep up steadily since release, especially with the higher-end and more popular GPUs, or those deemed the best performance per dollar.
Here are two tables that show the initial MSRP launch prices of Nvidia’s 50-series and AMD’s 90-series graphics cards, along with the current price and the lowest prices that we’ve seen for each card. This generation of cards was released with a higher MSRP, and many GPUs released were well above the announced MSRP prices set by Nvidia and AMD, garnering a lot of criticism from both the press and consumers. What’s also been highly noticeable this generation is the lack of notable below-MSRP discounts in major sales events such as Black Friday or Prime Day.
Swipe to scroll horizontally GPU Model Best US Price Lowest-Ever U.S. Price MSRP Launch Price GeForce RTX 5090 $4,288 $1,999 $1,999 GeForce RTX 5080 $1,256 $929 $999 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti $949 $729 $749 GeForce RTX 5070 $629 $479 $549 GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB $569 $379 $429 GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB $429 $319 $379 GeForce RTX 5060 $339 $279 $299 GeForce RTX 5050 $289 $229 $249
Swipe to scroll horizontally GPU Model Best US Price Lowest-Ever U.S. Price MSRP Launch Price Radeon RX 9070 XT $719 $599 $599 Radeon RX 9070 $639 $494 $549 Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB $449 $349 $349 Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB $359 $259 $299
We can see that, in general, the lowest-ever prices seen are barely below the launch MSRP prices, if at all. With cards such as Nvidia’s flagship GeForce RTX 5090 never dropping below its initial release price. In the case of the RTX 5090, the price of the top-tier GPU that features 32GB of precious VRAM has only ever increased, rising from $1,999 to $4,288, a staggering $2,289 (114.5%) difference.
As I see the cheapest models sell out while I’m checking on the weekly prices, the cost of the GPU just keeps climbing a little higher every time. Although the RTX 5090 is the most extreme example of GPU inflation, it is unfortunately not alone.
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