Massive price hikes loom for AMD and Nvidia GPUs in 2026 – high-end cards could become luxury items.
The year 2026 threatens to be expensive for PC enthusiasts: In the first two months alone, prices for Nvidia and AMD graphics cards are expected to rise significantly. Industry reports, including from the Korean portal Newsis, indicate that Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090 could see an unprecedented price jump. The card, previously priced at around $2,000, could rise to $5,000 – an increase of approximately 250%!
The reason for these drastic price increases lies primarily in the ongoing memory crisis. DRAM demand is skyrocketing, driven in large part by the booming AI sector, and manufacturers cannot keep up. The result: PC components, laptops, and smartphones have been steadily rising in price for months. Memory-intensive GPUs are particularly affected, as the cost of the memory alone has increased by up to 80 percent.
Graphics Cards Getting More Expensive: Mid-Range Also Affected
AMD cards are expected to see the first price hikes as early as January 2026. The Radeon RX 9000 series will likely become more expensive, though not as drastically as Nvidia’s flagships. Nvidia is expected to follow in February, raising prices across the entire RTX 50 series. The RTX 5090 is especially prone to price surges, as it uses 16 memory modules of 2 GB each.
The mid-range segment is not spared either: While production of models like the RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5070 is expected to remain stable, much of the supply is being purchased in China for AI applications. For the average gamer, this means mid-range cards may become difficult to find or only available at significantly higher prices.
Luxury Prices For Gamers
In addition to price adjustments, Nvidia is reportedly planning new “Super” variants of the RTX 5000 series, such as the RTX 5070 Ti Super and RTX 5080 Ti Super. These models were originally expected to come with up to 24 GB of GDDR7 memory. However, due to the memory shortage, they may remain at 16 GB, while GPU performance is slightly increased. AMD remains more conservative with GPUs but focuses on attractive mid-range options like the Radeon RX 9070, which offers more memory at a lower price than comparable Nvidia cards.
AMD’s CPU segment is also interesting: Early 2026 will see the launch of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which will increase gaming performance with slightly higher clock speeds compared to previous models. Additionally, speculation surrounds a new Ryzen 10000 series for the AM5 socket for the mainstream segment.
For gamers, the message is clear: Anyone looking for a high-end GPU in 2026 will have to dig deep into their wallets. The combination of the memory crisis, AI-driven demand, and new hardware releases could push prices far above current levels – potentially turning the RTX 5090 into a true luxury item.
What do you think about this trend? Share your thoughts in the comments!