The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is one of the most high-powered graphics cards you can currently get your hands on, and the GPU’s price point has always been big enough to burn holes in even the thickest of pockets. Having all that power in a single GPU doesn’t come cheap, and that’s to be expected, however, what may be unexpected is that the cost of the powerhouse graphics card is slowly on the up.
As far as graphics cards go, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is one of the best in the business, and it’s highly coveted among hardware enthusiasts for its high-end specs and DLSS 3 abilities. All that performance power comes at a price, and although the graphics card already costs more than the total cost of some rigs, it’s about to get even harder to budget in the GPU to your PC gaming setup.
The RTX 4090 price increase has been expected for a while, but over the past month, Tom’s Hardware has identified a 10% uptake among certain trusted retailers in the US. Amazon US, for example, are currently selling some versions of the GPU for over $2,199.99, a whole $600 more than its MSRP of $1,599.
It’s thought that this price increase has been the result of restrictions being put down on the export of advanced technologies to China from the US. As of November 17, a new export ban is to be put into place, bringing tighter restrictions on what can be exported, and the RTX 4090 may have been caught in the crossfires.
A price increase isn’t the last of our worries either, as the availability of the Lovelace GPU is starting to become scarce, despite rumors of RTX 4000 Super series graphics cards. It’s claimed that this refresh will include the RTX 4070 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and the RTX 4080 Super. They’re expected to be officially unveiled during the Nvidia special address at CES 2024.
Black Friday could also be a determining factor, with the market trend of graphics cards, and other PC hardware becoming more expensive in the lead up to the discount extravaganza. However, it appears more likely that the incoming ban effecting the export of GPUs like the RTX 4090, is more to blame. Regardless, if you had plans to get your hands on an RTX 4090, you better grab one now while you still can.
Check out our GeForce RTX 4090 review, if you want an in-depth look at what makes this graphics card the desirable powerhouse that it is. Picking one up, while you still can, will open up a world of upscaling possibilities through DLSS 3, but if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, the RTX 4080 can also give your games a significant the same performance boost.