Nvidia RTX 4090 prices are skyrocketing as stocks run seriously low
The Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card is in short supply, and that’s causing prices to skyrocket at a range of online stores. Is it the start of a new GPU shortage?
MikeTyes
Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?
By
Alex Blake
October 27, 2023 2:44AM 
If you were in the market for a graphics card during the pandemic, you would have noticed that PC component prices – especially those for graphics cards — went through the roof. Now, GPU prices are surging once again, albeit for a very different reason.
It’s bad news if you’re looking to upgrade to one of the best graphics cards, as the high-end Nvidia RTX 4090 is easily the worst affected. That’ll be grim reading if you looking to take your PC build to the next level.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends, prices for a large range of RTX 4090 cards have increased. Take the wordily-named Zotac Gaming AMP Extreme AIRO, for example. According to an archived page, Newegg was selling it for $1,650 in September, yet the price is now $1,930 — an increase of 17%.
It’s not just prices that are looking worrying, but GPU availability too. Check out for RTX 4090 graphics cards and you’ll find that every single model is out of stock, and it’s a . There are simply very few ways to buy one of these cards at these sites, regardless of the price.
Another GPU shortage?
Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsCuriously, many other GPUs — both from Nvidia and AMD — appear to be unaffected, with prices at or below MSRP on a range of websites.
So, what’s causing this dire situation for the RTX 4090? Well, it could be linked to the U.S. government recently banning the export of AI-capable graphics cards to China. While most of the affected cards are Nvidia’s specialist artificial intelligence GPUs like the A100, the RTX 4090 was included in the ban.
That seems to have spawned a frenzy of buying activity in China (according to Wccftech, prices of the RTX 4090 doubled there almost overnight). That appears to have spilled over into other regions, with prices and availability in the U.S. now seriously affected.
With any luck, this will just be a temporary blip and we won’t need to panic amid the kind of mass shortages and price hikes seen during the pandemic (or during the initial AI boom). But with the holiday season fast approaching, we may be in for further struggles for a while longer.
Editors' Recommendations
Nvidia’s RTX Super might be a massive boost at no extra cost Nvidia may launch three new Super GPUs to fight back AMD AMD has another new GPU that it says can beat the RTX 4060 Ti All ray tracing games on PC: AMD Radeon and Nvidia RTX ray tracing There’s only one use for an RTX 4080 Ti, and it’s not what you think
In ancient times, people like Alex would have been shunned for their nerdy ways and strange opinions on cheese. Today, he…
Acer’s new gaming laptop bring Nvidia RTX 40-series GPUs under $1,000
You can find Nvidia's RTX 40-series graphics cards in some of the best gaming laptops, but the downside is that they're all expensive, if not overpriced. Previously, that meant you'd be forced to choose between getting something affordable or getting access to Nvidia's GPU cheat code -- DLSS 3. Now, there's finally some hope on the horizon, as Acer is launching a budget-friendly laptop that can still run modern games. We're talking about the Acer Nitro V 15.
The new laptop will be available in a few different configurations, each equipped with Intel's latest 13th-Gen CPUs, including either Core i5 or Core i7 models. All of them also come with a 15.6-inch 144Hz display. While every configuration also features a Nvidia graphics card, not all of those GPUs are equally thrilling. The cheapest model, priced at $700, features a Core i5-13420H CPU and an RTX 2050 GPU. This comes paired with just 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
This new GPU connector may finally kill the melting 12VHPWR
The 12VHPWR graphics card connector has made a name for itself for all the wrong reasons, with the component frequently melting and causing the death of many a GPU. Now, graphics card manufacturers are apparently testing a replacement that could finally put an end to the sorry saga.
The new version, dubbed 12V-2x6, can reportedly deliver up to 660W of power to a graphics card -- 10% more than the 12VHPWR. Despite that, testing has apparently shown it to be much safer than its predecessor.
Someone tweaked AMD’s RX 7800 XT, and the results may surprise you
AMD’s RX 7800 XT graphics card handily beats Nvidia’s RTX 4070, outperforming it in games and costing less to boot, with the GPU comparison falling firmly in AMD’s favor. The main drawback? Its power consumption is much higher. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as one YouTube channel has shown that undervolting the card could have a notable impact.
When set up right out of the box, AMD’s card has a power draw of 263 watts, while Nvidia’s offering sips just 200 watts. If you’re concerned about your graphics card getting hot and heavy in operation -- and spiking your electricity bill -- the RTX 4070 is probably the better choice.
