Graphics card prices have reached a 12-month high, with further increases observed in recent weeks. The NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16GB model has become a notable example of this surge, with its price now exceeding that of both the RTX 5070 and AMD's RX 9070 XT. Retailers are listing the MSI Shadow RTX 5060 Ti 16GB for $780, a significant markup from its MSRP. This price point is not only higher than the $763 found for the RTX 5070 but also substantially more than the RX 9070 XT, which is available for $720. The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB variant is also affected, with prices around $430, meaning the 16GB model commands a $350 premium.
Market Trends and Pricing Anomalies
The excessive pricing of the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB makes it an unappealing option for gamers, particularly given its performance relative to cost. While ample VRAM can enhance gaming and AI performance, the current market dictates that certain memory-heavy cards are experiencing disproportionately large price increases, likely driven by the high cost of memory components. This trend has seen NVIDIA GeForce cards hit particularly hard.
In contrast, AMD Radeon cards have generally experienced more moderate price adjustments over the past year. While prices have risen, they have not seen the same dramatic inflation as some NVIDIA counterparts. This could be attributed to a preference for NVIDIA GPUs for local AI tasks, or the introduction of newer GDDR7 chips in the RTX 50-series which may have higher spot prices. As a result, AMD cards have not yet experienced the same runaway pricing.
Current Pricing Landscape
As of August 18, several graphics cards are priced above their MSRP. The Intel Arc B570 10GB is listed at $259.99 against a $220 MSRP, an 18.18% increase. The RTX 5050 8GB sees a 20.08% increase to $299.00 from its $249 MSRP. The Intel Arc B580 12GB is priced at $309.99, a 24.49% rise from $249. The RTX 5060 8GB is up 20.07% to $359.00 from $299.
AMD's RX 9060 XT models are also seeing significant hikes: the 8GB version is $399.99 (a 33.78% increase from $299) and the 16GB version is $469.99 (a 34.67% increase from $349). The RTX 5060 Ti 8GB is currently $429.99, a 13.45% increase over its $379 MSRP. The standout is the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at $779.99, a substantial 81.82% increase from its $429 MSRP. The RX 9070 GRE 12GB is an exception, currently priced below MSRP at $499.99, an 8.93% decrease from $549. Other Radeon cards also show increases: the RX 9070 16GB is $649.99 (18.40% over $549) and the RX 9070 XT 16GB is $719.99 (20.20% over $599).
NVIDIA's higher-tier cards are also significantly marked up. The RTX 5070 12GB is $763.30 (39.03% over $549), the RTX 5070 Ti 16GB is $1,087.99 (45.26% over $749), and the RTX 5080 16GB is $1,478.99 (48.05% over $999). The RTX 5090 32GB has seen the most extreme inflation, more than doubling its price to $4,298.00 from a $1,999 MSRP, a 115.01% increase.