We now have midrange GPUs launching at almost $1000 - PowerColor takes the Radeon RX 9070 XT to an absurd price point, and it's an ill omen of times to come

• PowerColor has launched a new Radeon RX 9070 XT Red Devil Spectral White GPU at $899.99
• Its Hellhound model is available at $849.99
• Best Buy features even older RDNA 3 GPUs at high prices above their MSRP

If you thought the GPU market would get any better after recent pricing issues, think again: unfortunately, there's yet another huge price hike on, this time on an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT partner card.

As reported by VideoCardz, PowerColor has launched an overclocked Radeon RX 9070 XT Red Devil Spectral White GPU, with a price point at $899.99 - which is a ridiculous $300.99 more than the card's $599 MSRP. This is featured alongside PowerColor's Hellhound variant on Micro Center, priced at $849.99.

It's a similar move to another board partner of AMD's: I've previously highlighted the XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT on Best Buy, which was being sold for up to $939.99 at the time, and we're now seeing a similar pattern with PowerColor models. The same applies to older RDNA 3 GPUs, with prices above MSRP despite being more than two years old.

While there are currently tariffs on imported goods in the US - which could make prices even more absurd in the near future - these price increases were happening long before Trump kicked off his tariff war. From the moment Nvidia's RTX 5000 series launched, price hikes across multiple retailers came into effect.

It's also worth noting that AMD's Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs were originally being sold at retail price (at least during the launch), and now that's changed entirely within the span of just a few weeks. It can be argued that this issue stems from a lack of availability and a shortage of GPU dies (especially with such a high GPU demand from consumers, and the new hunger for silicon from the burgeoning AI industry), but this isn't the first time retailers and AIBs have raised prices to ridiculous amounts.

Is the GPU market on the verge of a major crash?

Since the 2020 pandemic, average prices for GPUs have soared immensely, with multiple PC gamers tempted to overspend - so this isn't exactly a new occurrence. This current state of the GPU market is quite literally the worst I've seen, as I've stated before, and with tariffs now involved, it could be the start of a graphics market crash.

That's a big could be, though, as there is clearly still a large number of consumers willing to buy these inflated GPUs, as most are sold out across most retailers. Regardless, given how matters are now, I can only see prices continuously rising and leaving more and more PC gamers unable to purchase new hardware.

The RTX 5080 is already expensive at its retail price ($999 / £939 / AU$2,019), and partner cards take this up to $1,500 (based on Best Buy listings). As great as the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 are, I'd argue that there are very few gamers who would be willing to spend these sorts of figures just for an enhanced experience with better performance.

I'd hate to see it, but we could soon reach a point where consumers opt out of any GPU upgrades: with Nvidia and AMD's focus on AI now very clear, we could witness a slow and painful dwindle in priority for gaming GPUs for both Team Green and Team Red...

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