Nvidia’s best graphics cards are regularly out of stock, and if it is in stock, it is more expensive now than it was a few months ago. That’s right – finding an RTX 4090 at the recommended list price of $1,599 is no small feat right now. Does this mean the dreaded GPU shortage is coming back? not enough. It’s too early to panic, but it is true that the RTX 4090 has seen a price increase, and there are a few reasons for that.
The RTX 4090 is expensive, but it’s also good value, as strange as it may sound. According to our own testing of the Monster GPU, it offers an 89% performance increase over the previous generation RTX 3090. It’s simply unmatched in this generation, and will likely remain that way, as AMD has no plans to come out. With RTX 4090 equivalent. It’s also significantly faster than the RTX 4080, and the fact that it’s preferred over the 4080 is reflected in the price.
The RTX 4080, which is probably Nvidia’s worst value GPU, launched with a $1,200 MSRP, but you can now buy it for as low as $1,050. The market, which is currently filled with an abundance of GPUs for all budgets and use cases, corrected Nvidia’s excessively inflated MSRP over time and the price dropped. On the other hand, the RTX 4090 is on an upward trend.
A quick look at Newegg and Amazon largely confirms these suspicions. The RTX 4090 at MSRP is, in fact, a rare sight at the moment. The cheapest option is at Newegg
And all the cheap models are out of stock.
However, there is an option at MSRP. I saw the PNY GeForce RTX 4090 Verto on sale for $1,599
, PNY probably isn’t as well-known as Gigabyte or MSI, which may be beneficial if you’re trying to score an RTX 4090 and stick to the recommended list price.
As noted by Tom Hardware, this current increase in RTX 4090 prices has been going on for the past few months. CamelCamelCamel’s pricing history shows that, on average, the price of GPUs increased by about $100 between mid-June and August. Cards like the Gigabyte Gaming OC have risen by about $75 over the past few months, and some models are now reaching north of $1,800 territory.
Is the rising price of Nvidia’s RTX 4090 a sign of trouble for the GPU market? most likely not. The RTX 4090 is the only card of its kind and is the best choice for those who want to ride the wave of the current AI boom. Other GPUs like the RTX 4080 are still in stock and may also be dropping in price over time. It’s still a good time to be building a PC, and with Black Friday sales coming soon, the RTX 4090 could see a price cut as well if stock levels return to normal.