art cards are an sheer mint mightily now . I cognize , I ’ve talked a few time about how awesomethe RX 9070 XT is , and it ’s certainly the good of the clustering , but just depend at the country of things . Even that “ economic value ” bargain in 2025 is out of stock certificate everywhere and the alternative are even worse . And it should n’t be rewarded .

I credibly should n’t be telling you this . DigitalTrends makes good money from affiliate link , and I love new computer hardware as much as the next soul . But artwork card are not low-priced right now , and buy them when they ’re at these hyperbolic price , paying for access to stock tracker and particular groups just to give you the chance to pay more money to someone else , is a unsound estimation . It might work in the short term , but it ’s not something we require to set up for the future .

Now is not the time to buy a fresh graphics card .

If you can, just wait it out

There ’s an sometime saw with computer ironware that it ’s never the right-hand time to kick upstairs , because there ’s always something new and shiny over the celestial horizon . Even if you bought an RTX 5090 and a 9950X3D with all the other high - final stage components that make your PC as fast as it gets in 2025 , it wo n’t be long before something else comes along to supplant it . New monitor will arrive that make yours look muted and slow , or Intel will freshen its 200 Series central processor and make a unexampled workhorse ogre buffalo chip , or Nvidia and AMD will refresh their GPU batting order , making yours feel decidedly less - super .

But this is one time where you really should wait it out . Although the Master of Architecture of progress will continue on , and any holdup in upgrading does stand for you ’ll have less time before something better comes along , the price and availability this clock time around are that ludicrous . You really should just wait it out , if you may .

If you have a new game you want to play and need a new GPU for it , I get it . But if you may check it that bit longer to save yourself several hundred dollarsanddon’t reinforce bad business sector practice session , that ’s better for you and the industry as a whole .

Voting with your wallet

I have a go at it to get into the back and forth rivalries in the ironware industry . Intel vs. AMD , AMD vs. Nvidia , Microsoft and Apple , it ’s all in good fun . It ’s a lightheaded team sportswoman about number going up . But at the end of the mean solar day , even the “ feisty ” underdog AMD is a company deserving almost $ 200 billion . The CEOs are all worth hundreds of zillion or billions . They might play at being the good bozo , but none of them have our interests at heart . They ’re render to make money , which is why the only real weight any of our concerns have , is with our money .

buy GPUs at inflated prices rewards spoiled behaviour . It separate these company that you do n’t mind paying the crazy price . But if cards sit on shelf for long enough , prices always arrive down . We ’ve assure it generation after propagation that the cards price naughtily get terms cuts . All GPUs are priced badly at the moment , even AMD ’s new single . Making them wreak the prices down is a game of poulet that we can gain ground if we work together .

Nvidia could even start to focus more on gaming again . Nah , plausibly not .

Don’t normalise the worst aspects

I completely empathise the outlook of everyone for themselves , when cost and accessibility are this bad . If you want a raw GPU and you sit down outside a Micro Center for day before the launch to get it , I do read — even if my ass would never go pose on concrete for more than 10 minutes . But the one affair you’re able to do that is worse than pay up over - balloon retail prices , is pay up other multitude for the privilege of doing so .

That include paying for stock trailing apps and services , playing in lotteries , or paying for high-up admission to stores . Getting to spend money on something is n’t a privelege . It ’s a transation that should be properly honor , not gatekept behind even more fiscal investment funds .

You ’ve got ta do what you ’ve got ta do , but if you could avoid reward the scalper and chancers taking reward of this situation to sell shovel in this GPU gold rush , it ’ll help renormalise the scene once stock levels return , and make it less likely they ’ll fare back when this encounter again .

If you absolutely have to, do it right

You do n’t owe me anything and you sure do n’t owe the industry anything . Your individual purchase is not travel to sway anything one way or another . I ( and by extension , gamers in general ) would appreciate the solidarity and the help in stopping these kind of drill , if you would be willing to obtain off on buying .

But if you have to , I get it . Just verify you do it the correct way .

My colleague Monica put together a great guide onhow to buy a graphics cardright now , but I ’ll summarise her suggestions :

you may count buy 2nd - hired man or older last - generation cards , but be careful . Prices are inflated there too , and the cards do n’t amount with all the late features , and may not have a warranty . There ’s also no guarantee a 2nd - hand carte du jour was n’t used for cryptocurrency excavation , which can shorten its life-time .