- A new report estimates that GPU prices have increased by 15% globally over the past three months
- High-end Nvidia graphics cards have been hit hardest by price increases
- The United States suffers from some of the most conspicuous price increases
If you needed confirmation that GPU prices are on the rise, a new report shows that graphics cards are definitely getting more expensive across the globe – especially for some Nvidia models.
As VideoCardz highlighted, TechSpot compiled some statistics that involved tracking 14 GPUs (from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia) across 10 regions globally, using local price comparison sites to find the cheapest products from retailers in those countries. Only prices for models in stock and available for purchase were used, as you might imagine (out-of-stock cheap GPUs aren’t good for anyone).
TechSpot collected the first data on prices in November 2025, before graphics card prices started to rise – a side effect of RAM shortages, which of course also affected video memory. The second set of data was collected this month, providing a roughly three-month snapshot of the rising cost of GPUs across the globe.
Overall, there has been a 15% increase across all models and regions on average. To put it another way, a graphics card that was $300 a few months ago now costs $345.
Nvidia graphics cards are clearly the hardest hit by the price increase here. It will probably come as no surprise to you that the RTX 5090 is the worst offender, as we have already observed that the asking price of this flagship Blackwell GPU has gone through the roof since the start of 2026 (and it was already expensive).
TechSpot estimates the overall increase for the RTX 5090 globally to be 31%, though in the US it’s particularly large at 40% (it’s actually 50% or a little over in India and Poland).
The situation with Nvidia’s RTX 5080 is almost as bad, with a 25% increase, the same as the RTX 5070 Ti. Again, in the US the inflation of these two GPUs is around 40%, quite a bit steeper than in many other countries.
Lower-end Nvidia models don’t do quite so badly with inflation. RTX 5060 models are only up 10 to 11%, which isn’t too terrible (especially not compared to the RAM price increases out there, of course). The RTX 5070 is up 14%, but there is one notable outlier: the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is up 22% globally.
Away from Team Green, the increases with AMD GPUs aren’t nearly as bad. The worst offender on the Radeon side of the fence is the RX 9060 XT 16GB, which is up 15% worldwide, certainly an unwelcome jump. However, the RX 9070 models are only up 7 or 8%, which is relatively palatable.
There are some more unpleasant shifts in the US retail market, mind you, with the 9070 XT up 21% in the last three months and the 9060 XT 8GB up 20%. So it’s pretty brutal either way.
As for Intel, the Arc B580 has seen an 11% price increase globally, but the B570 has only seen a 4% inflation.
Analysis: a worrying future?
Theories have been floating around that Nvidia is prioritizing AI GPUs over gaming (GeForce) models since the VRAM supply got shakier, and this evidence seems to support those notions. Obviously, we can’t read too much into this, but no matter how you slice and dice these stats, Nvidia’s graphics cards are very much hit by the worst spikes, especially at the higher end of the GPU scale.
The RTX 5090 remains ridiculously priced in the US, frankly, with the cheapest model at Newegg currently holding an asking price of $3,600. (That means it’s only about 25% more expensive to buy an entire pre-built Alienware PC with an RTX 5090 inside, and you get a whole lot of matching high-end kit for the extra premium, including some seriously expensive RAM, of course).
The rumor that the supply is decreasing with the RTX 5070 Ti – which has 16GB of VRAM – and also the RTX 5060 Ti with the same video memory load, seems to be backed up by what TechSpot observes here. These GPUs are rising sharply in price (25% and 22% respectively), suggesting that inventory could be getting thinner – which would push prices up due to demand.
All of this is grist for the rumor mill theory that Nvidia’s graphics cards with higher VRAM load suffer as AI GPUs (with huge memory pools) need to be prioritized as they earn much more in the way of profit for Team Green.
The concern here is what the future holds and whether this kind of increase will be sustained – or indeed spread more to AMD’s RDNA 4 GPUs. With no sign of the RAM price crisis abating, the spillover effects for graphics card manufacturers will likely continue to be felt, perhaps even more acutely, as this first half of 2026 progresses.
Building a PC has certainly become a lousy business, with the huge increase in the cost of system RAM, along with storage following a similar upward pricing trajectory, and now GPUs are wreaking a little extra havoc in the mix.
The best graphics cards for all budgets
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