RTX 5090 Could Get Even More Expensive as Memory Shortage Bites
The GPU market really said: you thought 2026 was going to be cheaper? Think again, bro.
According to reports cited by PC Gamer, Nvidia’s already wallet-destroying GeForce RTX 5090 could be facing another price increase, with add-in-card partners in China reportedly warned about a 2,000 RMB bump. That works out to around US$300, or roughly RM1,400 before any Malaysia-side retailer markup, tax, shipping, or the usual “limited stock” nonsense enters the chat.
Important note first: Nvidia has not officially announced a consumer price hike. This is not a confirmed new MSRP for Malaysia, the US, or anywhere else. The report comes from Board Channels, with VideoCardz also picking it up, and it appears to involve AIC partners in China. Still, if board partners are paying more, that pressure can easily travel downstream to retail pricing.
And that is bad news because the RTX 5090 was never exactly a “value buy” to begin with.
Why the RTX 5090 is getting hit
The issue here is memory. Specifically, high-end graphics memory is getting more expensive and harder to secure because the wider tech industry is fighting over supply. AI companies are swallowing up huge amounts of memory capacity, and that demand is making life harder for everyone else — including PC gamers.
The RTX 5090 sold in markets like the US and UK comes with 32GB of GDDR7 memory. The reported China-exclusive RTX 5090D V2 variant has 24GB of GDDR7. Either way, this is a lot of cutting-edge memory sitting on one graphics card, so when memory pricing goes up, flagship GPUs are exposed first.
PC Gamer also notes that the memory crunch is not just affecting GPUs. The PlayStation 5 has already seen a notable price increase linked to similar supply pressures, while the Nintendo Switch 2 is also expected to become more expensive later this year. Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine is still targeting a launch this year too, but pricing that kind of hardware during a memory shortage sounds like a headache.
What this means for Malaysian PC gamers
For Malaysia, the RTX 5090 is already a niche flex-tier card. At its US$1,999 MSRP, you are talking roughly RM9,400 before local pricing realities. PC Gamer says the card has been drifting closer to US$3,500 in some markets since the start of the year, which is around RM16,500. Add another possible US$300 and suddenly the “dream build” becomes even more ridiculous.
That matters even if you were not planning to buy a 5090. Flagship pricing affects the whole stack psychologically. Retailers see high-end demand, distributors manage scarce supply, and suddenly mid-range cards do not feel as cheap as they should. For gamers building PCs for titles like Monster Hunter, Cyberpunk, competitive shooters, or heavy creator workloads, the sweet spot may shift even harder toward last-gen deals, AMD alternatives, or waiting out the madness.
The slightly good news? There is currently no word of similar price increases for other Nvidia RTX 50-series cards. So if you are eyeing something below the 5090, don’t panic-buy yet. Just track prices properly and avoid getting baited by “promo” listings that are basically normal inflated prices wearing a discount sticker.
The bigger problem is not going away soon
Memory makers like SK hynix are working on expanding capacity, but PC Gamer notes that meaningful relief may not arrive until 2028 at the earliest. HP has also warned that memory can now make up around 35% of the cost of its PCs. That is wild.
So yeah, if your current rig is still holding up, maybe give it a clean, repaste the CPU, upgrade storage if needed, and chill for a bit. The RTX 5090 is powerful, no doubt. But at these prices, Malaysian gamers need to ask the real question: is the FPS worth the monthly instalment pain?
Source: PC Gamer
