Nvidia Hikes RTX Prices for the Third Time in 2026

Nvidia is preparing to raise the prices of its GeForce RTX graphics cards for the third time in 2026, with an announced increase of 20% to 30% depending on the model. This new wave hits the entire lineup, from entry-level cards using GDDR6 memory to the high-end Blackwell architecture models in GDDR7, unlike previous hikes that spared part of the catalog. The culprit: a surge in DRAM memory prices at Samsung, which is passing on roughly a 20% increase on its memory chips for the third quarter of 2026.

The direct consequence for gamers and content creators: the already steep prices of consumer graphics cards are about to climb further in the coming weeks, adding to the cost of building or upgrading a gaming PC or workstation.

A third hike in a year, and the broadest one yet

Nvidia had already raised prices once in January 2026, by around 10 to 15%, then again in May, though that second hike only applied to the RTX 5090, its flagship model. This third increase is different in nature: it applies to the entire RTX catalog, including older generations still on sale that use GDDR6 memory, previously left mostly untouched.

On the ground, the impact is already visible. An Asus RTX 5080, for instance, reportedly jumped from $1,199 to $1,595 on some US online stores, according to early price tracking. In China, the 16GB GDDR7 RTX 5070 Ti went from 9,299 to 10,700 yuan (roughly $1,374 to $1,581) in barely a week. As for the RTX 5090, street prices are already hovering around $4,300 for Founders Edition units, with some premium board-partner variants topping $5,000.

The DRAM memory shortage, the root cause

This surge in graphics card prices is only a symptom of a bigger problem: the global DRAM memory crisis. Samsung, one of the world’s largest memory chip suppliers, has announced a roughly 20% price increase for the third quarter of 2026. That increase affects both GDDR6, used in older or entry-level cards, and GDDR7, used in Nvidia’s current Blackwell generation.

According to several industry analysts, this memory supply crisis isn’t expected to ease before 2028 at the earliest. Explosive demand for memory chips from AI data centers is soaking up a growing share of global production, at the expense of the consumer market. Nvidia’s board partners, such as Asus, MSI or Gigabyte, are now paying nearly a third more for kits combining the graphics chip and memory, a cost they inevitably pass on in final retail prices.

Panic among distributors

The news has stirred some panic among computer hardware resellers and distributors. Several Chinese platforms have even temporarily pulled certain Nvidia cards from sale, taking time to reassess their pricing in the face of unstable supply costs. Nvidia has already informed its board partners of the upcoming increase, without releasing an exact timeline or official figures — the 20-30% estimates come from sources close to the matter and several trade outlets.

Looking back at a year of successive hikes

To grasp the scale of this, it helps to line up all three increases. In January 2026, Nvidia had already raised prices by 10 to 15% across the RTX line, an early response to emerging supply pressures. In May, a more targeted second hike hit only the RTX 5090, likely testing market reaction on the most premium segment before extending the move. This third wave, in July, isn’t holding back: it covers the entire catalog, entry-level cards included, suggesting Nvidia no longer views the situation as temporary but as a new, lasting price floor.

Stacked together, these increases represent, for some models, a cumulative jump that can exceed 50% compared to late-2025 launch pricing — an unprecedented pace in the recent history of consumer graphics cards, which had already seen memorable spikes during the cryptocurrency mining boom and the pandemic-era component shortage.

What alternatives exist for budget-conscious gamers?

Faced with this price surge on the Nvidia side, some gamers might be tempted to turn to AMD or Intel graphics cards, in theory less exposed to the AI-driven data center demand weighing specifically on Nvidia GPUs. In practice, since the DRAM shortage affects the entire semiconductor industry, these alternatives aren’t fully spared either, even if the scale of price hikes there currently looks less severe than at Nvidia.

Another option is to scale back ambitions on resolution or frame rate by opting for a graphics card one or two generations behind the latest release, at the cost of some ray-tracing capabilities or the newest DLSS features.

What this means for your next purchase

If you were planning to build or upgrade a gaming PC in the coming months, timing clearly works against you: waiting is likely to cost more, given the firmly upward price trend since the start of the year. Conversely, if you’ve spotted a graphics card at a still-reasonable price, it may be worth acting before the new pricing takes hold at retailers.

For price-sensitive buyers, the used market remains an option, as do previous-generation models, which are also affected by the hike but to a lesser extent in absolute terms. Console gamers, less directly exposed to these PC component price swings, could also see some demand shift toward their segment in the coming months.

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A trend that goes beyond Nvidia

This broad memory price surge isn’t limited to Nvidia, either. The same trend is already visible in memory-linked stocks: shares of manufacturers like Sandisk and chip designers like Arm and AMD posted sharp declines this week, as investors worry about the ripple effects of this supply crisis across the entire semiconductor value chain, from AI infrastructure to consumer gaming.

The bottom line

The third RTX price hike of 2026 shows just how much the gaming PC market remains hostage to memory supply tensions, largely soaked up by AI-driven demand. For gamers, the bill keeps getting heavier, with no clear relief in sight for several years according to current industry forecasts.