Nvidia graphics cards are experiencing a significant price increase, with models featuring more than 8GB of VRAM becoming particularly difficult to justify from a cost perspective. Retailers have begun raising prices on existing stock, a trend that appears to be escalating beyond initial predictions of a 30% hike.
For instance, the Nvidia RTX 5070, previously available near its Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $550, has surged to approximately $700. Currently, the cheapest available RTX 5070 is listed at $755, with many others priced around the $800 mark. This represents an increase of roughly 37% from its previous price point. This pricing strategy places a mid-range GPU, which was already considered less powerful than its predecessor, the RTX 4070 Super, at a cost typically associated with high-end cards.
Even the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB card, which was previously an oddity for being priced higher than the RTX 5070, is now listed at a considerable $650. These price hikes are reportedly driven by a combination of factors, including strong demand from data centers for AI development and increasing interest from AI enthusiasts seeking GPUs with substantial VRAM for local model experimentation. This dual demand appears to be straining the supply of VRAM for gaming GPUs, consequently driving up their costs.
Amidst these rising prices, alternative options from AMD are presenting better value. The Radeon RX 9070 GRE, a 12GB GPU, is available for around $500 and offers gaming performance comparable to the RTX 5070, especially when utilizing AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR4). The Radeon RX 9070, priced at $650—the same as the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB—provides similar VRAM capacity and superior performance in benchmarks. Given the current market conditions, the article advises PC gamers to be wary of the inflated prices of Nvidia cards with more than 8GB of VRAM, suggesting that many of these GPUs have become disproportionately expensive.