RTX 5090 pricing is getting ridiculous, bro
If you were still hoping the GeForce RTX 5090 would calm down in price, bad news: it may be heading the other way again.
According to reports cited by Wccftech, NVIDIA is reportedly increasing the cost of its flagship Blackwell GPUs to board partners because of rising VRAM procurement costs. The affected models include the GeForce RTX 5090 and the China-focused RTX 5090 D V2, with the increase expected to be around US$300.
That does not automatically mean NVIDIA has announced a new official retail price. But in the real world, when board partners get hit with higher GPU costs, those costs usually move down the chain — to distributors, retailers, and finally buyers. In other words: gamers, creators, and PC builders kena.
From already expensive to properly absurd
The RTX 5090 launched at US$1,999, which was already the highest official launch price for a consumer GeForce GPU. For Malaysian buyers, that is already roughly RM9,000+ before local availability, brand premiums, taxes, and retailer margin are considered.
But the situation has reportedly gone way beyond MSRP. Wccftech notes that RTX 5090 cards have already been seen selling around US$4,000 or more, and this latest cost increase could push prices closer to the US$4,500–US$5,000 range.
Converted roughly, that is around RM21,000 to RM23,500 territory. At that point, you are no longer comparing it to a normal gaming upgrade. You are comparing it to a full high-end PC setup, a serious creator workstation, or even a used car deposit. Gila.
Why VRAM is the problem
The reported issue is not just GPU demand. The pressure is coming from memory pricing, especially as high-end graphics cards rely on expensive next-gen VRAM. The RTX 5090 uses GDDR7 memory, and if sourcing that memory becomes more expensive, the cost pressure hits the most memory-heavy flagship cards first.
Wccftech says NVIDIA is expected to pass that increase to AIC partners, which are the companies making actual retail cards — brands like ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, Zotac, and others. If their cost rises, they are very unlikely to absorb the whole thing quietly.
There is also a bigger concern here: if GDDR7 procurement costs are rising, other RTX 50-series cards could eventually feel the pain too. That part is still speculation, but it would not be shocking if price pressure spreads beyond the 5090.
What this means for Malaysian PC gamers
For most Malaysian gamers, the RTX 5090 was never going to be a mainstream card. It is built for the ultra-high-end crowd: 4K max settings, heavy ray tracing, AI workloads, 3D rendering, and content creation. But flagship pricing still matters because it sets the tone for the whole GPU stack.
When the top card becomes absurdly expensive, retailers and builders often treat the next tier down as “more reasonable”, even if those cards are also expensive. That can make RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and older high-end cards look artificially attractive, especially during low-stock periods.
For local buyers, the smarter move right now is simple: do not panic-buy. If you are gaming at 1080p or 1440p, an RTX 5090 is massive overkill anyway. If you are building a serious workstation, calculate whether the time saved actually justifies the RM cost. Otherwise, waiting for supply to stabilise — or watching AMD and older RTX 40-series pricing — may make more sense.
The RTX 5090 is still a monster GPU. No doubt. But if it really starts moving toward US$5,000, the performance-per-ringgit argument becomes very hard to defend.
Source: Wccftech Gaming