The ongoing impact of artificial intelligence’s growth could be felt even more acutely by PC gamers in 2026, according to a new rumor. It has been claimed that next year, NVIDIA will increase the prices of the RTX 5090 GPU to as much as $5,000 for a single unit. It has been suggested that price increases will start rolling out from January onwards.
NVIDIA isn’t alone in the pricing boom. In a recent report from a South Korean outlet, it was claimed that sources close to the technology have stressed AMD will also be boosting price tags on its highest-tier GPUs.
GPU Prices Are About To Get Ridiculous
It’s easy to see the cost of top-tier GPUs soaring through 2026 when you look at how much RAM costs have skyrocketed through 2025. The construction of AI-fed data centers and the technology backbone to support the growing vertical have absolutely shattered the hardware market in the last few months, but we’re not out of the woods yet.
In a recent claim from Newsis, a South Korean outlet, it was stressed that we’re just seeing the beginning of monumental and borderline ridiculous price hikes in the GPU space.
The report explained that sources have suggested a climb in the RTX 5090 stakes from $1,999 at launch this year to as much as $5,000 later in 2026. AMD’s RX 9000 series is apparently set to mimic that ticket growth, but not as steeply.
It was written:
Both companies are reportedly planning to continue raising GPU prices every month going forward. It’s highly likely that the price increases will extend across their entire product lineup, encompassing not only consumer GPUs but also GPUs for AI data centers and servers.
The report then noted a quote from an ‘insider’:
The average proportion of memory in the overall GPU manufacturing cost has recently exceeded 80%.
Unfortunately, this situation is having an impact on all areas of technology. Recent concerns surfaced regarding the development of the PlayStation 6, the cellphone space is getting shaky, and RAM prices reached an all-time high in 2025.
It’s likely going to get worse before it gets better.
Have you been impacted by the rising prices of PC hardware? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Valve recently ended production of the cheapest Steam Deck
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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