Buying a new graphics card in the second half of 2026 is no longer a simple comparison of two models and their recommended MSRP. Memory prices are rising, the availability of certain models is weaker, and the difference between AMD and Nvidia is often not in the number of frames, but in what you actually use the computer for.
The most important thing is this: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti perform almost equally in a large number of classic gaming tests. When Radeon is significantly cheaper, it makes it a more rational purchase for most gamers. Nvidia's premium, on the other hand, may make sense for those for whom ray tracing, path tracing, DLSS, and CUDA work tools are real priorities.
Why are GPU prices rising again?
This time the main push is not cryptocurrency mining. The problem is the wider production chain: DRAM and VRAM memory are becoming more expensive, and advanced chip manufacturing capacities are under greater pressure.
TrendForce estimates that the supply and demand ratio for DRAM during 2026 will be in the negative by approximately 1 to 2 percent, with the possibility of a larger gap in 2027. For the GPU market, this is important because memory makes up a significant part of the cost of each card.
Nvidia is particularly under pressure for GDDR7 in most of the RTX 50 lineup, while the Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT use 16GB of GDDR6 memory. This does not mean that AMD is immune to price increases, but that costs and availability do not move exactly the same for the two companies.
Growth of up to 30 percent is not the world average
Some headlines about price increases of up to 30 percent refer to reports from South Korea from August 2026. TrendForce links them to higher costs of TSMC wafers and GDDR7 memory. This is a serious signal for the market, but it is not proof that every RTX 50 card in Europe has increased in price by the same percentage.
The same applies to Gamers Nexus data that Nvidia cards in their American sample were on average 70 percent above MSRP. It is a valuable indicator of the direction of the market, but it is not a European price list. Local price, delivery, warranty and specific AIB model still decide how good or bad a purchase is.
AI affects indirectly, not by data centers buying gamer cards
AI infrastructure doesn't buy RTX 5070 Ti off the shelves for gamers. The impact is indirect: memory manufacturers and chip factories direct capacity to products with higher demand and higher margins. This changes the economics of the entire memory and semiconductor manufacturing market.
PC Partner Group, the company behind Zotac, Inno3D, and Manli, warned that limitations in GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory could further hit the low-end segment by the end of 2026. So waiting just because "price drops are sure to come" is no longer automatically a good strategy.
RX 9070 XT vs RTX 5070 Ti – where are the real differences?
This is currently the most interesting pair to compare. Both cards have 16GB of memory and target demanding 1440p as well as decent 4K gaming.
TechSpot measured that the RTX 5070 Ti was only 1,4 percent, or two FPS, ahead of the RX 9070 XT on average at 1440p in a test of 52 games. The average 1% low score was 108 FPS for the RTX 5070 Ti and 107 FPS for the RX 9070 XT. At native 4K, the average was 84 to 81 FPS, or about four percent in Nvidia's favor.
That's not enough reason to judge a purchase solely by the logo on the box.
Nvidia doesn't just win on marketing – but the premium has to make sense
Nvidia still has a clear technical advantage in the most difficult ray-tracing and path-tracing scenarios. In TechSpot's Doom: The Dark Ages test with path tracing enabled, the RTX 5070 Ti was 63 percent faster than the RX 9070 XT. An important detail is that even then the result without upscaling was not particularly pleasant for a fast FPS - functions such as DLSS and frame generation become part of the experience, not just an item on the specification.
GeForce also has a concrete advantage for some people who don't buy a card just for games. CUDA is still important in a number of professional and creative applications, while the RTX 5070 Ti consumed approximately 20 percent less power than the RX 9070 XT in TechSpot's measurement.
AMD with RDNA 4 did not remain unanswered. The RX 9070 XT brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, improved ray-tracing accelerators and FSR 4, but Nvidia's advantage in the most demanding RT games and the wider software ecosystem remains real.
Gamers Life attitude - don't buy the brand, buy the usage scenario
In previous hardware comparisons, we stuck to a simple rule: AMD often gives a better raster price-performance ratio, while Nvidia justifies the extra money only when its special advantages are really needed.
This rule applies now more than before. If the RX 9070 XT is 30 to 40 percent cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti, and the computer is primarily used for games without an obsession with path tracing, Radeon is hard to ignore. Paying a huge difference for two to four percent of average classical performance is not a good ratio of investment and gain.
But if the difference is smaller - about 15 or 20 percent - and you really use DLSS, ray tracing, creator tools or CUDA, the RTX 5070 Ti can be a justified choice. This is not a story that AMD is "the same, only cheaper". It is a story that the value depends on the price of that day and on the functions that you will actually use.
What to check before buying
- Compare exact models in the same store and on the same day - not the MSRP from an old review.
- Check the total price with shipping, customs and warranty length, especially when buying from the EU.
- Don't just compare average FPS. Look at the games you actually play and if you use ray tracing.
- Check the power supply, case space, connectors and noise of the specific AIB model.
- If you edit video, do 3D or use AI tools, check if your program requires CUDA before choosing a card.
- Don't wait for a price drop without a plan. If a fair price appears for a model that suits you, the current memory trend doesn't guarantee a cheaper purchase in a few months.
Conclusion
Graphics cards are again expensive due to a combination of memory pressure and higher manufacturing costs. Nvidia is often more expensive at the moment, while AMD has a stronger relationship between price and classic gaming performance in certain realistic offers.
The RX 9070 XT is a great choice when it's significantly cheaper than the RTX 5070 Ti. The RTX 5070 Ti is a better choice when its specific advantages – ray tracing, DLSS, lower consumption and CUDA – have real value for the customer. The real victory is not AMD or Nvidia, but the card that suits your monitor, games, budget and way of use.
