Graphics card prices have surged 35 per cent in just three months, leaving PC gamers facing another expensive round of hardware inflation.
According to VideoCardz, GPU prices increased an average of 11 per cent during October, following rises of seven per cent in September and 15 per cent in August. Excluding Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090, October’s increase was still 10 per cent.
The research examined the cheapest available graphics cards across ten countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, India, Poland, Brazil, the Netherlands and the Philippines. Prices were compared against September and February 2026, with only models actually available to purchase included in the survey.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 saw the biggest increase, with prices up an average of 32 per cent in October alone. In the US, the cheapest available card jumped from $6,890 to $9,400, while German prices increased from €5,640 to €8,000. The card originally launched with a recommended US price of $1,999.
The GeForce RTX 5080 is rapidly becoming another luxury item. Its average price increased 22 per cent during October, while the cheapest US model climbed from $1,580 to $2,200. German buyers now face prices around €2,100, with some retailers reporting limited availability.
AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB increased 17 per cent across the surveyed markets, while the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT both climbed 12 per cent. Intel’s Arc B580 joined the feeding frenzy with an increase of approximately 10 per cent, although prices varied considerably between countries.
Interestingly, Radeon cards were increasing in price faster than GeForce models during October when the RTX 5090 was excluded. Nvidia’s products, however, have experienced larger cumulative increases relative to their original recommended prices, particularly at the expensive end of the market.
Across the surveyed markets, graphics cards now sell for an average of 44 per cent more than their original recommended retail prices, excluding the RTX 5090. The calculations account for currency differences and local taxes, making international comparisons more meaningful.
Canada recorded the highest average premium at 58.3 per cent, closely followed by the US at 57.6 per cent. Germany stood at 45.3 per cent, while Poland reached 43.1 per cent, demonstrating how widespread the problem has become.
The increases coincide with semiconductor manufacturers prioritising lucrative AI infrastructure customers and the wider electronics industry struggling with expensive memory and restricted manufacturing capacity. However, the survey does not establish how much of the increase results directly from AI demand, supply constraints or retailer pricing decisions.
Hardware Unboxed tracks the least expensive graphics card actually in stock for each model, avoiding misleading listings for products that cannot be purchased. This provides a clearer indication of what buyers must spend than manufacturers’ increasingly unrealistic recommended prices.
The approaching Black Friday sales period could offer little relief. Hardware Unboxed warned that this year’s discounts could be among the worst in recent memory, particularly for customers hoping to purchase an RTX 5080 or another high-performance gaming card.
