Nvidia could be setting the stage for another difficult year for PC gamers, following reports that the company has significantly reduced graphics card supply to its manufacturing partners.
According to the latest leak, Nvidia has reportedly cut shipments to its add-in-board partners by between 15 and 20 percent, a move that would further constrain availability across its current graphics card lineup.
The graphics card market is already under strain, with limited stock and elevated prices making upgrades difficult for gamers and system builders across multiple performance tiers.
If the reported supply reduction is accurate, basic supply-and-demand dynamics suggest prices are likely to rise further, especially for Nvidia models that are already selling above their recommended retail prices.
Recent pricing trends indicate the situation is already worsening, particularly for Nvidia’s latest Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards.
Over the past three months, the GeForce RTX 5080 has seen price increases of up to 35 percent, while the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 has reportedly surged by as much as 79 percent.
Those increases significantly outpace broader inflation and reflect how quickly scarcity can impact high-end components when supply fails to meet sustained demand.
The price pressure is not limited to Nvidia alone, although its products appear to be experiencing the most extreme increases in the current market.
AMD’s RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9700 series has also seen rising prices, though the increases remain more moderate compared with Nvidia’s Blackwell lineup.
The Radeon RX 9070 XT has climbed by up to 17 percent over the same three-month period, while the standard Radeon RX 9070 is up by around 15 percent.
In contrast, Intel’s Arc Battlemage graphics cards have moved in the opposite direction, with prices for the Arc B580 and Arc B570 falling by roughly 4 percent and 9 percent.
That makes Intel the only major GPU vendor currently offering improved affordability, even as overall market conditions remain challenging.
The leak also suggests Nvidia does not plan to launch any new GeForce graphics cards until 2027, potentially extending the current generation’s lifespan longer than usual.
It remains unclear whether that timeline refers to a refresh of the RTX 50 series or the next-generation RTX 60 family, which is expected to be based on Nvidia’s Rubin architecture.
For now, gamers facing a failing graphics card may need to consider alternatives, with AMD and Intel offering comparatively more accessible options while Nvidia pricing continues to climb.
If you are weighing an upgrade in the current market or exploring alternatives to Nvidia, our list of the best graphics cards provides a snapshot of performance and pricing across all major vendors.
