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We first started tracking the prices of individual graphics cards on August 14, 2025, and since then we've checked on an almost weekly cadence (we've got to have holidays, y'know). And it's not been a pretty year.

In the interests of full disclosure, the methodology behind this data capture has been to have one editor spend an inordinate amount of their work day tracking down the cheapest available version of each of the current generation of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and yes, even Intel. They must be new in-box, so no refurbs or open box sales, and they must be from reputable sellers—no vendors on Amazon called sdfgwegggggwawfdasfsreqwwqeccccawef, in other words.

This data captures the very cheapest prices these GPUs were available for throughout the year, but what it doesn't capture is the average price, which has often been much higher. Sometimes there might be a good deal on a particular graphics card, while the rest of the market is significantly more expensive. But our idea was to capture what a reader could spend in a particular week to bag the GPU chipset they wanted. And we're carrying that on, with our weekly updates page always housing links to the cheapest cards we can find.

Back in August of last year, things weren't particularly pretty at all. There was a mix of low stock and high demand, which meant that graphics cards from all the various manufacturers were well over their respective MSRPs… and had been since launch. Every GPU launched in 2025 had one thing in common: There was little initial supply and the promised launch prices generally evaporated in a puff of corporate greed.

And that was all before the RAMpocalypse took hold.

There was a beautifully innocent, AI ignorant moment in October, however, when—and I am getting a lump in my throat as I write this—pretty much every GPU except the RTX 5090 was available at or under its MSRP. We've never had it so good…

But then almost as soon as the Black Friday sales wrapped up at the end of November things went—and I hope you'll forgive the technical industry jargon here—utterly tits up.

The memory crisis started to bite into the GPU market, and graphics card prices started to rise back up again, starting with the RTX 5080, which then dragged up almost every GPU up the price ladder into the new year.

Lowest price per GPU

We've been measuring the lowest available price of each current-gen GPU since August 14, 2025.

Lowest pricing (Price, $)

Week

Nvidia RTX 5080Nvidia RTX 5070 TiAMD RX 9070 XTAMD RX 9070Nvidia RTX 5070Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16 GBNvidia RTX 5060 Ti 8 GBAMD RX 9060 XT 16 GBAMD RX 9060 XT 8 GBNvidia RTX 5060Nvidia RTX 5050Intel Arc B580Intel Arc B570AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE

Lowest pricing Data

Timestamp (Week)	Nvidia RTX 5080 (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti (Price, $)	AMD RX 9070 XT (Price, $)	AMD RX 9070 (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5070 (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (Price, $)	AMD RX 9060 XT 16 GB (Price, $)	AMD RX 9060 XT 8 GB (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5060 (Price, $)	Nvidia RTX 5050 (Price, $)	Intel Arc B580 (Price, $)	Intel Arc B570 (Price, $)	AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE (Price, $)
1	1100	780	700	600	550	430	368	370	280	300	250	260	230	N/A
2	1099	750	700	600	550	430	340	370	270	300	250	260	230	N/A
3	1000	750	700	550	524	430	370	370	280	291	250	250	230	N/A
4	1000	750	695	550	546	430	345	370	280	296	250	250	230	N/A
5	1000	749	670	600	481	430	340	350	270	300	250	250	230	N/A
6	929	749	670	600	499	379	340	350	270	289	240	250	230	N/A
7	999	750	650	550	520	430	350	350	270	299	240	250	230	N/A
8	980	749	650	550	500	430	342	350	270	299	250	250	200	N/A
9	999	750	650	560	500	430	323	350	270	299	250	250	220	N/A
10	989	730	600	550	480	430	340	360	270	299	250	250	210	N/A
11	990	699	600	550	489	400	320	340	250	280	230	250	200	N/A
12	989	730	600	530	500	400	320	350	275	279	220	250	200	N/A
13	1000	750	600	530	527	420	342	350	280	279	220	250	200	N/A
14	1000	750	600	530	540	420	313	370	280	279	220	250	202	N/A
15	1000	749	600	530	499	430	350	380	288	279	200	240	202	N/A
16	1100	750	620	530	499	430	350	380	288	270	200	240	202	N/A
17	1230	750	660	580	549	430	330	390	310	260	235	250	200	N/A
18	1268	829	700	580	540	450	330	390	310	290	240	250	200	N/A
19	1380	899	720	580	549	450	330	400	310	299	240	260	200	N/A
20	1350	1000	720	600	620	520	330	440	310	299	240	290	200	N/A
21	1365	950	730	590	620	520	351	440	350	299	260	290	250	N/A
22	1365	950	730	630	620	520	360	400	346	299	260	300	250	N/A
23	1290	950	730	630	630	520	360	440	346	340	260	300	250	N/A
24	1290	950	730	620	625	520	360	440	346	340	260	300	250	N/A
25	1250	950	730	610	630	550	360	440	346	349	260	300	250	N/A
26	1260	950	730	610	604	550	360	440	340	349	290	300	250	N/A
27	1290	950	730	630	640	570	360	440	340	349	290	300	250	N/A
28	1250	900	720	620	630	515	390	440	346	349	290	290	250	N/A
29	1290	990	710	620	636	500	390	449	350	349	290	290	250	N/A
30	1290	990	710	620	630	500	390	440	350	330	290	290	260	N/A
31	1290	990	670	620	599	500	380	440	350	330	290	290	260	N/A
32	1290	990	710	620	599	515	380	430	360	310	290	290	260	N/A
33	1290	980	710	600	599	490	400	430	360	349	290	290	260	N/A
34	1270	980	710	620	599	550	380	440	360	349	290	290	260	N/A
35	1290	900	700	600	599	550	380	430	360	350	290	304	260	N/A
36	1250	980	700	600	599	550	370	440	360	340	290	300	260	550
37	1250	980	700	600	599	570	370	440	350	340	290	304	250	550
38	1250	980	700	600	599	570	370	440	350	340	290	304	250	550
39	1250	920	700	600	599	570	330	400	360	340	290	298	250	500
40	1250	955	700	600	599	565	330	430	360	340	290	291	260	500
41	1250	900	700	600	560	560	330	430	360	339	290	290	250	500
42	1250	950	690	635	550	570	380	450	360	350	290	290	260	550
43	1290	1030	720	650	755	650	420	470	370	359	299	310	260	500

Thankfully we haven't experienced the same sort of exponential price growth that has blighted either the system memory or storage markets with graphics cards. Yes, the RTX 5090 has risen in price by 83% to $4,400, but everything else hit a plateau relatively quickly and we've been living in that new normal more or less happily for most of this year.

Okay, I say 'relatively happily' but the pricing for both the RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti did hit levels that meant they could be more or less ignored by the general PC gaming populace who would never be able to countenance spending that much on a single component. And we did actually stop tracking the RTX 5090 when it hit $3,000 for that same reason: there was just no point recommending it.

And that relative stasis point for GPU pricing—there was individual fluctuation of GPUs, but little of significance—continued until, well, yesterday. I came back from a week away with the family to find Nvidia's mid-range graphics card market determined to wipe itself out. The RTX 5070 had been knocking around its $549 MSRP for a while, but all of a sudden that is over.

Tracking 12 and 16 GB graphics card pricing over 12 months

Boom, prices rocket up to $700, now $755, and largely $800 across the board. For a fourth-tier GPU that was barely an improvement over the RTX 4070 Super of the previous generation once you take out DLSS-related RTX Blackwell luxuries. The RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB card has followed it, like a rat up the ludicrous pricing drainpipe, dragging an increase of 51% up there with it.

So, we're now at a point where I'm recommending that PC Gamer readers do not buy any Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU with more than 8 GB of VRAM, simply because they've priced themselves out of any form of relevance for gamers. Thankfully, the AMD RDNA 4 cards are still priced almost sensibly, though there are hints that will soon change. But for now the 12 and 16 GB Navi 48-based cards—the RX 9070 GRE, RX 9070, and RX 9070 XT—are all priced under the level of the RTX 5070.

But we're still at a point where the top five Nvidia GeForce GPUs are priced at $650 or above and that makes me want to sick up a bit. Y'know, arching my back like a cat at the thought of an RTX 5060 Ti costing that much. Ack. Acccckhh.

And where do we go from here? I'll be continuing to track the pricing of graphics cards most weeks (43 out of 52 ain't bad) so we'll see when the Radeon price bump comes into effect in retail, and then we have to figure out if this generation of graphics cards is then best just left to the datacentres and AI sickos.

What happens to the next generation of GPUs? There's been the expectation of a Super refresh for the RTX Blackwell range, which can only really offer a bump in VRAM given the silicon limitations of each GPU, and then how do you price that? Here's an RTX 5080 Super, that'll be $1,499, thanks. RTX 5070 Ti Super, ma'am? Of course it has a stupid name, but we're still going to charge you $1,200.

Thank you sir, may I have another.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, a WB Games-published 2011 action RPG about a different fellowship that went the other way, recently reappeared on Steam in a polished-up Legacy Edition package. While the modernizations are getting a favorable reception—it's currently enjoying a Very Positive rating on Steam—its original launch 15 didn't earn much attention for something with "The Lord of the Rings" in the title.

War in the North didn't review well, but looking back, there's a certain Bethesda-sized factor that might have stolen some of its thunder: Its original release date was November 1, 2011—just 10 days before The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim came out. On X this week (via IGN), a former Warner Bros. dev said that unfavorable matchup might have been avoided if the publisher had taken his advice back in 2011.

Christian Allen—current design director on Project Zomboid and former design director at WB Games Seattle, which coordinates Warner Bros. development and publishing efforts—responded to the Legacy Edition's reveal to share how he'd tried without success to get the publisher to revise its launch plans.

"Wow this is cool. 15 years ago I argued vociferously not to release this up against Skyrim, as it wouldn't get a fair shake. I got overruled," Allen said. "Nice to see it get a proper release."

In follow-up replies, Allen noted that, in addition to the oppressive cultural gravity of Todd Howard, War in the North also suffered from a strangely thin marketing campaign. Either WB Games "wrote it off," or it "thought hardcore LOTR fans would just know about it, somehow," he said. Unfortunately, even the Lord of the Rings doesn't sell itself.

Not long after War in the North's disappointing launch, its original developer—Snowblind Studios—was merged with Monolith Productions in 2012. There, many former Snowblind studio staff would contribute to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, a production that Allen had initially overseen as WB Games design director. After releasing the sequel, Shadow of War, in 2017 and working for years on a Wonder Woman game, the studio was eventually shuttered by Warner Bros. in 2025 as part of "a strategic change.

As for War in the North, Allen's overall assessment is that it was ultimately a casualty of corporate shortsightedness.

"Quarterly revenue motivations drive more decisions than people realize. It's a big challenge with stock-price driven organizations," he said. "Must be hard to be an exec and go, 'Well, this game will do better if we hold it until March, but my bonus will take a 50% hit.' 🤷"

Maybe the games industry of today isn't all that different from those of previous decades, despite how often it feels otherwise.