Let’s have a real talk about GPUs for a moment. If you are even thinking about buying a graphics card right now, let me be the annoying friend who yells, “Don’t do it!” from across the room. Seriously, Nvidia and AMD might want to throw a graphics card at my head after this, but someone has to say it. Stop paying these insane prices. Save your hard-earned money, I beg you.
I know, I know, it feels like I have been screaming into the void about this forever. But I cannot help it. The GPU market is a total disaster right now. Honestly, it feels like we are living in a tech-themed soap opera. Every time I check prices, I feel like a character dramatically fainting on a velvet couch. I have never seen anything this bad, and I survived the days of floppy disks and CRT monitors.
Sure, people will blame tariffs, the AI gold rush, and global economic chaos. And while those things are definitely part of the problem, this madness did not start yesterday. It has been brewing for years, long before any president decided to start playing chess with international trade.
Nvidia’s third-party GPU prices are the best example. Their prices have been climbing steadily, like a kid on a sugar high. Remember when the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 launched during the pandemic? Everyone expected high prices because of the global mess, and we gave them a pass. But here we are, years later, and the prices have not dropped. In fact, they have gone even higher. It is almost impressive, in a depressing sort of way.
And just when you thought it could not get any worse, Nvidia drops the RTX 5000 series, and AMD counters with the Radeon RX 9000 series. A Radeon RX 9070 XT, which should be selling at $599, is now wandering dangerously close to the $1000 line. I had to check twice to make sure my glasses were not playing tricks on me.
The MSI Vanguard RTX 5070 Ti is being sold at Newegg for $1399. I wish I was making this up. That is almost double its supposed MSRP of $749. And if that was not bad enough, there is an even “better” deal asking $1645. At this point, they should throw in a free yacht or a weekend getaway just to sweeten the deal.
Now, here is the ugly truth. The problem is not just greedy sellers or manufacturers. It is us, too. Because people are still buying these GPUs. They sell out faster than a concert ticket for a reunion tour. Retailers see that people are willing to pay crazy prices, and they adjust accordingly. It is like feeding a stray cat and being surprised when it brings ten of its friends.
Back during the pandemic, I somehow managed to snag an MSI Ventus 3x RTX 3080 Ti at its launch price. It was like winning the lottery. Scalpers were everywhere, prices were out of control, but AMD cards did not seem to be affected in quite the same way. That made me realize something important. Maybe some companies and retailers were just exploiting people’s desperation for Nvidia GPUs. And maybe we let them.
It is the same kind of frustration I felt when Nintendo suddenly decided that $80 would be the new normal for their Switch 2 games. (Nintendo, please, I love you, but enough is enough.) The principle is the same. If we keep paying outrageous prices, companies will keep charging outrageous prices. It is a basic cause and effect.
So here is my heartfelt, slightly desperate plea. If you have extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, please, for the love of all things digital, do not pay $1399 for a $749 graphics card. Every time someone caves, the situation gets a little bit worse for all of us who just want to build a decent gaming rig without auctioning off a kidney.
There is a tiny bit of hope left. In the UK, places like Overclockers are still selling GPUs at their actual launch prices. It is like spotting a unicorn at this point, but it is happening. Those are the sellers we should be supporting. Not the ones trying to squeeze every last cent out of desperate gamers.
I am not naive. I know by the time you read this, those good deals might already be history. But maybe, just maybe, if enough of us hold out and refuse to pay ridiculous prices, the market might start to correct itself. Or at the very least, we will feel better knowing we did not drop $1600 on a graphics card that will be outdated in two years.
So next time you see a GPU with a price tag that makes you feel faint, do yourself a favor. Close the tab, take a walk, maybe scream into a pillow if you need to. It is cheaper than blowing your savings on a piece of silicon. Trust me.
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