Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU prices might soon be on the rise

As a potential export ban to China looms over the RTX 4090, Nvidia is allegedly trying to mitigate its losses at the expense of US stock.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition against an orange background, with a cartoon moneybag sat in front of it
Samuel Willetts's Avatar

Published:

Nvidia PC games hardware 

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is already the most expensive gaming graphics card on the market today, and it’s unfortunately looking as if it’ll only become more costly in the near-future. With the United States of America announcing tighter export restrictions of AI-based GPUs to China, worldwide stocks and prices of the pixel pusher may see a knock-on effect that’s bad news for buyers.

While the GeForce RTX 4090 is undoubtedly the best graphics card you can buy for gaming, it’s also sought after for its deep-learning capabilities too. By no means does it compete with Nvidia‘s more specialist offerings, but it’s good enough and relatively cheap to make it an enticing alternative.

These qualities, however, have caught the eye of the US government, and the GeForce RTX 4090 will now potentially be subject to an export ban, specifically to China. According to MyDrives, this will come into effect on November 17, but Nvidia is understandably already taking steps to soften the blow to its profits and those of its AIB partners.

A screenshot from X, written by Zed__Wang, detailing alleged AD102 shipments

Nvidia has been shipping “tons” of AD102 GPUs this for weeks, according to Zed__Wang. The goal here appears to be to manufacture as many GeForce RTX 4090s as possible before the ban hits, specifically for the Chinese market. This, naturally, could result in stock shortages elsewhere around the globe, resulting in potentially higher prices.

So, if you’re hoping to pick up a GeForce RTX 4090, there’s no better time like the present. That said, we’d strongly recommend checking out the GeForce RTX 4080 or Radeon RX 7900 XTX, as both are much cheaper and offer a large portion of the same performance.

Sam has spent the past two decades tinkering with computers, a tradition he proudly continues as a Hardware Editor for PCGamesN. For all things systems and components, he's your man. You'll regularly find his hands inside a PC, swapping out components from the likes of AMD, Intel, and Nvidia as fast as you can say Windows. Otherwise, you'll find him on the showfloor of CES and Computex, talking the night away about the latest pieces of shiny silicon. You may also know him from outlets such as Custom PC, PC Gamer, Pocket Tactics, T3, and TopTenReviews.