GPU Prices Are Surging Again in Late 2026: RTX 5070 at $869, RTX 5090 Past $7,000 — What’s Happening and When to Buy

GPU prices surged again in October 2026 — the RTX 5070 now costs $869 against a $549 launch price. (AI-generated illustration)

If you have been waiting for graphics card prices to come back down to earth, October 2026 brought bad news. The cheapest new GeForce RTX 5070 in the United States now costs $869 — $320 over its $549 launch price — and 13 of the 15 GPU models tracked by the Tom's Hardware price index cost more in late October than they did in early September. None cost less. The RTX 5090, Nvidia's flagship, has effectively vanished from normal retail, with the lowest US price sitting above $7,100 against a $1,999 list price.

This is not a blip. Prices were roughly flat from February to July 2026, then a second wave of increases began in late July and accelerated through October. Both Nvidia and AMD cards are affected, new and used markets alike, in the US, Europe, and Asia. This guide breaks down exactly what cards cost right now, why it's happening, and — most importantly — whether you should buy today or wait.

All prices below come from retail tracking published in October 2026 (Tom's Hardware GPU price index, 3DCenter's German market overview, and retail trackers), cross-checked across multiple sources. Where a figure is a single-retailer snapshot rather than a market average, we say so.

The Numbers: What GPUs Actually Cost Right Now

Let's start with the United States, using the Tom's Hardware GPU price index as read on October 26, 2026 (via PCServerandParts' analysis):

Graphics Card	Launch MSRP	Cheapest US Price (Oct 26, 2026)	Premium Over MSRP
GeForce RTX 5090	$1,999	$8,477 (single listing); lowest tracked ~$7,177	~260–325%
GeForce RTX 5080	$999	$1,579	58%
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti	$749	$1,049.99 (Newegg direct)	40%
GeForce RTX 5070	$549	$869	58% ($320 over)
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB	$429	~$680–850 (Germany; US similar trend)	~60–98%
GeForce RTX 5060	$299	~$420–490	~40–64%
GeForce RTX 5050	$249	$419	68%
Radeon RX 9070 XT	$599	~$831 (US)	~39%
Radeon RX 9070	$549	~$635–750	~16–37%
Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB	$349	$599	72%

The pattern is unmistakable: of 15 models priced on both September 3 and October 26, 13 rose and 2 were unchanged — a median increase of 8.8% in less than two months, on top of already-inflated prices. The RX 9060 XT 16GB jumped from $469 to $599; the RTX 5050 from $299 to $419. Even the budget tier, traditionally the refuge of value buyers, is now 40–70% over list price.

Europe Is Hit Even Harder

If you think American buyers have it bad, look at Germany. 3DCenter's October 2026 market overview found RTX 50 prices up 66% overall since November 2025, with the flagship leading the carnage:

Graphics Card	Nov 2025 (Germany)	Oct 2026 (Germany)	Change
GeForce RTX 5090	€2,600–€2,900	€6,000–€6,800	+132%
GeForce RTX 5080	€1,000–€1,140	€1,540–€1,650	+51%
GeForce RTX 5070 Ti	€740–€830	€1,200–€1,290	+60%
GeForce RTX 5070	€520–€560	€800–€900	+56%
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB	€410–€450	€680–€850	+74%
GeForce RTX 5060	€270–€310	€420–€490	+56%

Two things stand out. First, the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB rose 74% while its 8GB sibling rose only 45% — when memory gets expensive, cards with more of it suffer disproportionately. Second, the pain is global: Korea's median RTX 5070 sat around $946 in October (against $799-ish in the US), and the RX 9070 XT around $1,003 in Korea versus $831 in the US. This is a worldwide shortage, not a regional quirk.

The RTX 5090: A $7,000 Ghost

The RTX 5090 deserves its own section because its situation is extreme even by 2026 standards. Nvidia's list price is $1,999, but the lowest US price tracked in October 2026 was $7,177 — and Tom's Hardware's index caught a single listing at $8,477. That is 3.5 to 4.2 times the official price.

At major retailers the card has effectively ceased to exist as a normal product: Micro Center lists it as "Not Carried," and retail trackers reviewed by Tom's Hardware and VideoCardz in mid-October show effectively no legitimate retail stock. What remains is marketplace sellers and scalpers. Nvidia, for its part, says the card is not discontinued — it's simply that every unit that appears sells instantly at whatever price the seller names.

For gamers, the practical advice is blunt: forget the RTX 5090 exists. At $7,000+, it costs more than an entire high-end PC build, and its price-to-performance ratio is the worst in the industry's history. It is a halo product for professionals and the wealthy, not a buying recommendation.

Why Is This Happening? The Memory Crisis

Every credible analysis points to the same culprit: memory — specifically the GDDR memory that graphics cards need, and the broader DRAM/NAND supply crunch driven by AI infrastructure.

The evidence, all on the record:

Nvidia's own CFO said on August 26 that memory prices are "headed even higher into next year," speaking about Nvidia's component costs. Micron said on September 30 that memory supply will be "much tighter in calendar 2027 and 2028." TrendForce reports that RTX 50 models with 16GB or more of VRAM saw price hikes of roughly 15–20% from Nvidia's notifications to board partners, with broader supply-chain increases of 10–15% across AMD and Nvidia depending on memory configuration.

The mechanism is straightforward: AI data centres are consuming enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory, advanced packaging capacity, and silicon fab time. According to IDC, 2026 DRAM and NAND supply growth is expected at just 16% and 17% year-on-year — below historical norms — while demand accelerates. New memory fabrication plants take years and billions of dollars to build. With supply growth constrained and demand surging, price is the only release valve, and it's being pulled hard.

The RTX 50 series is the clearest barometer because it uses GDDR7 — the newest memory class, and the one in shortest supply. Cards with more VRAM get hit hardest, which is why the 16GB models show the steepest premiums. This also explains the cruel irony for buyers: the cards you'd want for future-proofing (more VRAM) are exactly the ones with the worst price inflation.

AI Is Eating the GPU Supply Chain

It's tempting to frame this as "AI companies are stealing gamers' GPUs," but the reality is more structural. AI infrastructure doesn't just buy finished graphics cards — it consumes the underlying ingredients: advanced silicon wafers, chip-packaging capacity, and vast quantities of memory. Every HBM stack that goes into an AI accelerator is memory that doesn't go into a GDDR chip for a gaming card. Every fab slot used for an AI chip is a slot not used for a consumer GPU die.

The numbers tell the story of scale: SK Hynix reported record quarterly revenue of approximately $75.5 billion in October 2026, driven by relentless AI memory demand, and says its production is effectively committed through 2029. When the world's memory makers are sold out for three years, consumer graphics cards — a comparatively small, price-sensitive market — get whatever is left, at whatever price clears.

This is why the shortage feels different from the crypto-mining booms of the past. Mining demand was volatile and could vanish in months; AI infrastructure demand is contracted, growing, and backed by the largest capital expenditures in tech history (Meta alone is raising up to $95 billion for AI infrastructure). Nobody in the supply chain expects this pressure to release quickly.

The Used Market Is No Escape

In past GPU crunches, savvy buyers fled to the used market. Not this time. On eBay (via ResalePrices tracking), 48 of the 50 GeForce models from the GTX 10 series through the RTX 50 series had higher average asking prices on October 28 than on September 4 — and 24 of the 28 RTX 30, 40, and 50 models rose 9–24% in under two months.

The used market dynamics are worth understanding: when new cards get expensive, demand spills into used cards, which lifts their prices too — which in turn removes the "discount" that used cards normally offer over new ones. An RTX 5070 trading at ~$565 used versus $869 new sounds like a deal until you remember its MSRP was $549. You're still paying over list for a card with no warranty.

That said, the used market has one genuine bright spot: older cards like the GTX 10 series rose only a dollar or two — nobody is panic-buying a GTX 1060. If you need something to drive a monitor while you wait out the storm, ancient used cards remain cheap. Just don't expect to game on them.

In an inflated market, comparing street prices across brands is essential. (AI-generated illustration)

Should You Buy a GPU Right Now? A Decision Framework

The honest answer depends on your situation. Here's how to think about it:

Buy now if your current GPU is dead or dying. A PC that can't display anything is not a PC. In this case, buy the cheapest card that meets your needs and stop looking at prices — the stress isn't worth it. Consider the used market's older-but-functional tier (RTX 3060-class) as a stopgap rather than overpaying 60% on a new mid-range card.

Buy now if you earn money with your GPU. For 3D artists, video editors, ML developers, and streamers, a GPU is a business expense, and the cost of waiting (lost work) usually exceeds the premium. Buy the card that pays for itself and get back to work.

Wait if you're upgrading for fun. If your current card still runs your games acceptably, every month you wait is a month closer to normalisation — and a month you didn't pay a 50% premium. The performance you have today doesn't degrade because newer cards exist.

Definitely wait if you're eyeing the RTX 5090, 5080, or 5070 Ti at current prices. Paying $1,579 for a $999 card or $7,000+ for a $1,999 card is not a purchase — it's a donation to scalpers and broken supply chains.

What to Buy at Each Budget (October 2026 Reality Check)

If you must buy today, here's the least-bad option at each tier, judged against street prices — not MSRPs, which are currently fictional for most models:

Budget	Least-Bad Buy	Why
Under $450	Used RTX 3060 12GB or RX 6600	New budget cards (RTX 5050 at $419, RX 9060 XT at $599) are 40–70% over MSRP. A used last-gen card with 12GB VRAM is the value play.
$450–$700	Intel Arc B580 (~$330) or used RTX 3070-class	The B580 dodges the worst of the inflation; our budget GPU guide breaks this tier down fully.
$700–$1,000	Radeon RX 9070 (closest to MSRP of the mid-range)	The RX 9070 held near its $549 sticker longest; even now its premium (~16–37%) beats the RTX 5070's 58%.
$1,000–$1,600	Wait, or buy used RTX 4080	Nothing new in this bracket justifies its price. A used RTX 4080 often beats a new $1,579 RTX 5080 on value.
$1,600+	Don't. Seriously.	Every card above this line is priced for desperation, not value. Wait.

For a deeper dive into the budget tier specifically, see our Graphics Cards hub with all our GPU coverage in one place.

When Will GPU Prices Drop?

The question everyone asks. Here's what the evidence says:

The short term (rest of 2026): don't count on relief. Memory makers are guiding tighter supply into 2027 and 2028, Nvidia's CFO expects component costs to keep rising, and holiday demand will add pressure. If anything, December could be worse than October.

2027: possibly the turn. New memory fab capacity takes years to come online, but capacity announced in 2024–2025 begins contributing through 2027. G2A's market analysis puts it plainly: if you can wait, the second half of 2027 has the clearest chance of paying off. That's a long wait — but it's the first realistic window the data supports.

What could change the timeline: a sharp AI spending slowdown (unlikely given current capex), a major new fab coming online early (possible but rare), or a demand shock like a recession (nobody's hoping for that). The base case is elevated prices through at least mid-2027.

What won't help: waiting for the RTX 60 series or next-gen AMD cards. New generations launch into the same constrained supply chain — history shows new launches at MSRP sell out instantly and the street price immediately detaches. The RTX 50 Super delay to 2027 (covered in our budget GPU guide) means no new-generation relief is coming soon anyway.

How This Compares to Past GPU Crises

Veteran PC builders are having flashbacks, but the 2026 surge is structurally different from the shortages of 2017–2018 and 2020–2022 — and the difference matters for predicting how it ends.

The 2017–2018 crypto boom was demand-driven and narrow: miners bought mid-range cards in bulk, prices spiked, then crashed when crypto prices fell. It lasted about a year and resolved on its own. The 2020–2022 shortage combined crypto mining with pandemic supply-chain chaos and a semiconductor fab shortage; it lasted nearly two years and ended when mining collapsed (Ethereum's merge) and supply caught up.

The 2026 surge is supply-driven at the component level, not demand-driven at the card level. Gamers aren't suddenly buying twice as many GPUs — the memory inside every GPU simply costs far more to make and buy. Crypto-style demand shocks end when the demand fad ends; component cost shocks end only when supply expands or demand structurally falls, both of which take years. That's why analysts are pointing to late 2027 rather than next quarter.

There's one more uncomfortable comparison: each successive crisis has ratcheted the "normal" price floor higher. The GTX 1060's $249 MSRP in 2016 became the RTX 3060's $329 in 2021, became the RTX 4060's $299 (a brief reprieve), became today's reality where $419 buys you an RTX 5050. Even when this surge ends, don't expect 2021 prices to return — the floor keeps rising.

Price Per Frame: The Value Math That Matters

Sticker prices only tell half the story. What matters for buyers is price per frame — how much you pay for each frame-per-second of gaming performance. And by that measure, October 2026 is historically bad.

Consider the RTX 5070: at its $549 MSRP, it was a reasonable upper-mid-range value. At $869, you're paying 58% more money for zero additional performance — the card didn't get faster, the market just got worse. Its price-per-frame is now worse than the previous generation's cards at their launch prices, which is the definition of going backwards.

This is where AMD's current advantage becomes concrete. The RX 9070 at ~$635–750 (16–37% over its $549 MSRP) delivers roughly comparable rasterization performance to the RTX 5070 in many titles — meaning its price-per-frame, while still inflated, is meaningfully better than Nvidia's equivalent. When Tech Insider's testing showed the RX 9070 running 8–15% faster than the RTX 5070 at matched $549 pricing, that was interesting; at today's street prices, the gap in value is far wider than the gap in performance.

The practical takeaway: in an inflated market, rank cards by current street price-per-frame, not by brand loyalty or launch reviews. Launch reviews assumed MSRP pricing that no longer exists. A card that "won" at $549 may lose badly at $869.

What the Manufacturers Are (and Aren't) Saying

How the companies involved talk about the crisis is revealing:

Nvidia's CFO (August 26) acknowledged memory prices are "headed even higher into next year" — speaking about component costs, not graphics cards directly, but the implication for GeForce pricing is obvious. Nvidia has not announced any GeForce-specific relief, and says the RTX 5090 is not discontinued despite its near-total retail absence.

Micron (September 30) told investors memory supply will be "much tighter in calendar 2027 and 2028." SK Hynix reported record quarterly revenue (~$75.5 billion) on AI memory demand and says production is committed through 2029. Neither company has any incentive to rush cheaper memory to the gaming market — their most profitable customers are AI data centres, and gaming GPUs are a secondary priority.

AMD has been quieter, but its actions speak: Radeon prices are rising too, just more slowly than GeForce's — suggesting AMD is absorbing some cost pressure to gain market share, a classic challenger strategy. If you're buying today, you're benefiting from that strategy whether you know it or not.

Intel is the wildcard. With the Arc B580 holding near its intended price while everything else inflates, Intel is accidentally the value king of late 2026. Whether that's sustainable depends on Intel's own memory costs — but for now, it's the only current-generation card you can buy without feeling robbed.

How to Hunt for Deals in a Seller's Market

When the market is against you, tactics matter more than timing. Here's what actually works:

1. Track prices, don't browse prices. Set alerts on price trackers for the specific models you want. Brief dips happen — a retailer clearing old stock, a pricing error, a bundle deal — but they last hours, not days. The buyers getting fair prices right now are the ones with alerts set, not the ones browsing on weekends.

2. Compare the same card across board partners. A Gigabyte RTX 5070 and an ASUS RTX 5070 are the same GPU; the price gap between brands for the identical chip can exceed $100 in this market. The SmartValueLab index specifically notes that same-model cards move very differently by brand. Buy the cheapest reputable brand, not your favourite one.

3. Consider the tier below what you wanted. The RTX 5070 at $869 is a bad buy; the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB at ~$680, while still inflated, may deliver 85% of the experience for 78% of the money. In a normal market you'd buy the best you can afford; in this market, you buy the least-bad value.

4. Check bundles and prebuilts. System integrators buy GPUs at contracted prices and sometimes sell complete PCs for less than the sum of their scalped parts. A prebuilt with an RTX 5070 can occasionally cost less than a standalone RTX 5070 plus the rest of the parts. It feels wrong; the math sometimes works.

5. Don't chase the dip — define your buy price. Decide in advance: "I'll buy the RX 9070 if I see it under $650." Emotional buying in a rising market means always paying tomorrow's higher price; a pre-set target turns you into a disciplined hunter instead of a panicked buyer.

Verdict by Buyer Type

The 1080p competitive gamer: You need high frame rates, not 4K eye candy. Buy the Intel Arc B580 or a used RTX 3060 Ti-class card and stop worrying. At 1080p, these deliver everything you need, and overpaying for a 5070-class card buys you frames your monitor can't display.

The 1440p enthusiast: This is the most painful segment — exactly where the RTX 5070 and RX 9070 live, and exactly where premiums hurt most. The RX 9070 at street prices is the rational pick; the RTX 5070 at $869 is not. If you can wait until mid-2027, wait. If you can't, buy AMD and don't look back.

The 4K gamer: You need serious horsepower, which means the RTX 5080 or 5090 — both catastrophically overpriced right now. Honest advice: lower your resolution target or wait. A used RTX 4080 or 7900 XTX at a sane used price will drive 4K acceptably while you wait for the market to normalise.

The content creator / AI hobbyist: VRAM is your currency, and VRAM is exactly what's expensive. Buy the most VRAM-per-dollar you can find — right now that's often a used RTX 3090 (24GB) rather than any new card. The 3090's age doesn't matter for rendering or local LLMs; its 24GB of memory does.

The "my GPU just died" buyer: You're not shopping, you're rescuing. Buy the cheapest card that gets your PC working today — even a stopgap — and plan the real purchase for later. Crisis buying the perfect card under time pressure is how you end up paying $869 for a $549 GPU.

Key Takeaways

• GPU prices surged again in late 2026: 13 of 15 tracked models rose between September and October; the median increase was 8.8% in under two months.
• The RTX 5070 at $869 ($320 over MSRP) and the RTX 5090 above $7,000 headline a market where almost nothing sells near its launch price.
• The cause is a memory supply crunch driven by AI infrastructure demand — confirmed by Nvidia's CFO, Micron, and TrendForce — not speculation.
• AMD cards currently offer better relative value (16–39% premiums vs 40–60%+ for Nvidia), and Intel's Arc B580 remains fairly priced.
• The used market offers no real escape — 48 of 50 tracked models rose on eBay — but older stopgap cards remain cheap.
• If you can wait, the second half of 2027 is the first realistic window for meaningful price relief.

The Global Picture: Asia Feels It Too

The GPU crisis is not an American or European story — it's global, and some Asian markets have it worse:

South Korea: The median RTX 5070 sat around $946 in October (versus ~$799–869 in the US), and the RX 9070 XT around $1,003 (versus ~$831 in the US). Korean buyers pay a consistent premium over Americans for the same silicon — partly VAT, partly distribution, partly demand. Danawa's weekly records even show a strange one-week anomaly in early September where prices dipped ~30% before snapping back, a reminder that weekly snapshots can mislead.

Japan: The RTX 5070's price multiplier reached ~1.8x over the year — the worst among tracked regions — while the RX 9070 XT stayed calmer at ~1.4x. Japan's market shows the same pattern everywhere else does: Nvidia premiums run hotter than AMD's.

Hong Kong: Street-level data is thin (shops hand-write price tags), but the tracked examples are stark — one shop's Sapphire RX 9070 XT went from HK$5,480 in November 2025 to HK$9,199 in October 2026. That's a 68% increase in under a year at a single retailer.

Pakistan and South Asia: Official retail tracking doesn't cover these markets well, but the dynamics are predictable: imported GPUs carry the global premium plus import duties, currency effects, and thinner retail competition. Buyers in Pakistan should expect street prices at or above the US figures quoted here — and should be especially wary of inflated "new" listings for older cards.

Quick Glossary: The Terms in This Article

MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price): The launch price Nvidia or AMD announces. In a healthy market, cards sell near it; in October 2026, it's best treated as a historical reference, not a price you'll pay.

Street price: What cards actually sell for at retailers right now. This article's tables use street prices — the number that hits your wallet.

VRAM (Video RAM): The memory on the graphics card itself. More VRAM helps at higher resolutions and in AI/creative work — and it's exactly the component driving today's price surge.

GDDR7: The newest graphics memory standard, used by RTX 50-series cards. It's the memory class in shortest supply, which is why RTX 50 prices are hit hardest.

Price per frame: A card's price divided by its gaming performance (frames per second). The single best metric for comparing value across cards in any market.

Board partner (AIB): Companies like ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte that manufacture the actual cards using Nvidia/AMD chips. Same chip + different brand can mean very different prices in this market — always compare.

The Editor's Shortlist: What We'd Actually Buy Today

After all the analysis, here's the short version — the three purchases we'd defend to a reader asking for advice in late October 2026:

1. Intel Arc B580 (~$330) — the rational buy. It's not the fastest card here, but it's the only current-generation GPU still selling near its intended price, it handles 1080p and 1440p gaming competently, and 12GB of VRAM keeps it relevant. In a market this distorted, "fairly priced and good enough" beats "great but 60% overpriced."

2. Radeon RX 9070 (~$635–750 street) — the performance buy. The smallest premium in its class, strong rasterization performance, and 16GB of VRAM. If you need genuine upper-mid-range power today, this is where the value survived.

3. Nothing — the disciplined buy. If your current GPU still works, the highest-value move in October 2026 is patience. Set price alerts, define your buy targets, and wait for the market to come to you. Every previous GPU crisis eventually ended; this one will too — the data just says "late 2027," not "next month."

For the full budget-tier breakdown, our Best Budget GPU guide covers the sub-$400 battlefield in depth, and our Graphics Cards hub collects all our GPU coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are GPU prices so high in October 2026?
The primary cause is a memory supply crunch: AI data centres are consuming enormous amounts of memory and fab capacity, memory makers report supply committed through 2029, and both Nvidia's CFO and Micron have publicly warned that memory costs are rising into 2027–2028. Graphics cards — especially ones with lots of VRAM — are caught in the squeeze.

Is the RTX 5070 worth $869?
No. At $869 it's 58% over its $549 MSRP, and its price-to-performance ratio at that price is poor. Either wait, buy AMD's RX 9070 (closer to its sticker price), or drop a tier to the Intel Arc B580. Paying $869 for a 5070 is paying panic pricing.

Should I buy a used GPU instead?
Carefully. Used prices have risen too — 48 of 50 tracked GeForce models cost more on eBay in late October than in early September. Buy used only if the discount versus new is genuine (20%+), the seller is reputable, and you test the card immediately. Avoid ex-mining cards without verified history.

Will Black Friday / holiday sales fix this?
Unlikely to fix it, though they may soften it. Retailers can't discount what they can't get, and constrained supply means less incentive to run deep sales. You might find 5–10% off inflated prices — better than nothing, but not a return to MSRP.

Is AMD a better value than Nvidia right now?
Generally yes, at this moment. The RX 9070 and 9070 XT carry smaller premiums over MSRP (~16–39%) than their Nvidia counterparts (~40–60%+). AMD cards are also affected by the same memory costs, so this is relative value, not absolute — but relative is what matters when you're buying.

What about Intel Arc?
Intel's Arc B580 (around $330 street) is the standout value story of this crisis — it's one of the few current-generation cards still selling near its intended price. It's not the fastest card, but at these prices, "available at a fair price" beats "faster on paper" for most buyers. See our full budget GPU comparison.

When is the best time to buy a GPU?
If you must buy now, buy now — waiting has a cost too. If you can wait, the data points to the second half of 2027 as the first realistic window for meaningful relief. Watch memory price reports (Micron, SK Hynix earnings) as leading indicators: when memory makers stop warning about tightness, GPU prices will follow within a few quarters.

The Bottom Line

October 2026 is a terrible time to buy a graphics card, and the data says it clearly: 13 of 15 tracked models up in two months, the RTX 5070 at $869 against a $549 MSRP, the RTX 5090 a $7,000 ghost, and the used market offering no refuge. The cause — a memory supply crunch driven by AI infrastructure buildout — is structural, not speculative, which means it won't resolve in weeks.

But it's not hopeless. AMD's cards carry smaller premiums, Intel's Arc B580 remains fairly priced, and the used market still has pockets of sanity for patient hunters. And if you can wait until the second half of 2027, the supply picture should look meaningfully better.

The golden rule of this market: judge every deal against MSRP and recent street prices, not against the inflated price next to it on the shelf. A $50 discount on a card that's $320 over list is not a deal — it's a slightly smaller overpay. Buy what you need, skip what you don't, and let the patient outlast the panic. The buyers who win in 2026's market won't be the ones who found a secret cheap card — they'll be the ones who refused to pay panic prices and bought only when the numbers made sense.

How We Tracked These Prices

Transparency matters when prices move this fast. Every figure in this article comes from a named, dated source — not from memory or estimation:

• US new-card prices: Tom's Hardware GPU price index as read October 26, 2026 (via PCServerandParts' October 28 analysis comparing September 3 and October 26 readings across 15 models).
• German prices: 3DCenter's October 2026 GPU market overview, comparing November 2025 quotation ranges with October 2026 ranges.
• Asian prices: SWArchitect's October 2026 RAM/GPU price tracker (US, Germany, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong).
• Used market: ResalePrices eBay tracking, comparing October 28 with September 4 averages across 50 GeForce models.
• Forecasts: G2A's market analysis (second-half-2027 window), IDC supply-growth figures, and on-the-record statements from Nvidia's CFO (Aug 26) and Micron (Sep 30).

Prices move daily — treat every number here as a snapshot of late October 2026, and verify current listings before spending money. Where we describe a trend (like "13 of 15 models rose"), that's a measured comparison between two dated readings, not a vibe.

Sources

• PCServerandParts — GPU Price Increase 2026: Why, and When Will Prices Drop? (Oct 28, 2026; Tom's Hardware index data)
• Kad8 — GPU Prices Surge in Germany: RTX 50 Up 66%, RTX 5090 Up 132% (3DCenter data, Oct 2026)
• Tech Insider — Gaming GPU Prices 2026: RTX 5090 Tops $5,000
• Tech Insider — RX 9070 vs RTX 5070: 8-15% Faster at the $549 Launch MSRP (2026)
• G2A — When will PC parts prices go down? Market trends, forecasts, and the best time to buy
• SmartValueLab — Tech Price Index October 2026: GPUs Up, Storage Flat
• SWArchitect — RAM prices up about 5x, RTX 5090 up 2–3x by country (Oct 2026)

AI Tech Hub is an independent tech publication. Prices cited are retail tracking snapshots from October 2026 and move daily — always check current listings before buying. Product names belong to their respective owners.