Anyone hoping to upgrade their pc it could be a rough ride as Nvidia 5090 GPU prices have skyrocketed. RTX 50 series graphics cards have never been cheap, but even their sky-high retail prices look affordable compared to where they are headed now with the global RAM shortage. It's a tough time for PC gaming, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon.
Nvidia introduced the 50 series early last year, and as you'd expect from the fastest consumer GPU on the market, the most powerful of the lineup came with a hefty price tag. The RTX 5090 has an MSRP of $1,999, making this one component roughly the same price as two PlayStation 5 consoles. That's a lot of money, but it allows a whopping 32GB of DDR7 VRAM for those who can afford it. Unfortunately, this memory is now facing global supply constraints, so things are quickly becoming even more expensive.
The RAM shortage is only going to get worse as Micron ditches consumers for AI
Micron is ending its popular Crucial brand of consumer PC products as the company turns its attention to AI amid continued RAM price increases.
Retailers are offering RTX 5090 GPUs for over $3,000
As noted by VideoCardz, the cheapest 5090 GPUs currently listed at Nvidia's recommended retailers are around $2,500, roughly 25% above MSRP. However, many of these options are either sold out or only available for pick-up at a physical location. Most listings, especially those available to ship, now start around $3,000, with some approaching $4,000. The price hike comes on the heels of rumors that Nvidia may cut production of its 50-series GPUs to conserve dwindling DDR7 supplies. Nvidia still hasn't confirmed whether it's actually rolling out such a strategy, but concerns about how the lack of RAM could affect availability have already caused retailers to raise prices in anticipation.
Nvidia isn't the only company showing massive price increases amid the ongoing RAM crisis. The trend began in late 2025, when consumer RAM kit prices tripled after SK Hynix and Samsung agreed to shift much of their memory production to AI data centers. Things got worse when Micron dropped out of consumer RAM altogether, and when the laws of supply and demand kicked in, things inevitably got tougher for manufacturers. Now, companies like Nvidia, which typically don't run their own semiconductor factories but buy components like RAM from outside suppliers, are facing supply bottlenecks and higher manufacturing costs, ultimately leading to higher prices for end users.
While it didn't take long for prices to jump, it will most likely take some time for the market to cool down. As more people rush to buy GPUs and other PC components, this will further limit the supply available. On the production side, manufacturers will also take a long time to catch up with current demand as they need to build new specialized equipment to create more RAM. These obstacles are why Micron estimates that the RAM crisis will continue beyond 2026, and if AI-driven demand grows even more, it could stretch even further. Of course, it's impossible to predict exactly how things will develop in the future, but things aren't looking great for PC gamers at the moment.
Depending on how things go from here, PC gamers may not be the only ones feeling the effects of a lack of RAM. Rumor has it that Sony and Xbox may delay their next-gen consoles to release them at a lower price, rather than having to charge more for them to match higher production costs. These rumors are as yet unconfirmed, as is any response from Nvidia, but with the market looking as volatile as it is, nothing is necessarily off the table. PC gaming isn't very affordable these days, and it might not be for some time.
Source: VideoCardz
