ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Nvidia RTX 5090 will see the biggest price increase of $500.
- The RTX 5050 will see an annoying but manageable $30-50 increase.
- Graphics cards made by AMD and Intel will not follow suit.
As the AI-driven global memory shortage shakes, Nvidia is noting users that its RTX 50 series of graphics cards will see another significant price increase this week.
Nvidia ratchets up GPU prices
In August, Nvidia gave gamers and content creators a fair warning that the company’s entire line of RTX 50 Series GPUs will receive price increases of up to 15%. The flagship 5090 will be the highest: an increase of almost $500 to an already eye-popping $6,000 price tag at Best Buy. The lower end 5050 and 5060 will receive much more modest, if still bumpy, $50-60 bumps, which will put consumers already caught between market hype and failed expectations.
Earlier iterations of the brand’s graphics cards, such as the RTX 40 and RTX 30 series, are not directly affected by this decision. However, don’t be surprised if you see some dealers taking advantage of the situation by adding their own markups or picking up stock to sell at a markup on the second-hand market.
AMD and Intel won’t be affected – yet
Intel and AMD are silent on the possibility of a price increase on their own graphics cards, and neither company plans any immediate changes in response to Nvidia’s decision. Not yet anyway. As companies like Nvidia continue to absorb the raw resources needed to manufacture AI chips and commit their GPUs and motherboards to future AI data centers rather than the consumer market, it’s possible that both companies will eventually follow with their own strong increases.