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The GPU market is built on a broken foundation
By Igor Bonifacic
Published on March 4, 2025
In the past month since NVIDIA’s GeForce 50 series RTX GPUs were revealed at CES 2025, I’ve seen a lot of anger and frustration from readers who are struggling to find affordable options. And rightfully so – buying any of these new cards feels like trying to solve a puzzle blindfolded, with prices skyrocketing and supply limited.
But as I delved deeper into the matter, something became clear: we’re not looking at an isolated incident. Instead, it’s just another symptom of a fundamentally broken system that needs to change.
First off, let’s take a closer look at NVIDIA’s 50 series RTX GPUs. As reported by Digital Foundry, there is little to no difference in performance between the different AIB (add-in board) models available. It’s a stark reminder that these middlemen are nothing but profit-extracting entities that add no value whatsoever.
When you consider that all of these cards will still perform similarly, it’s hard not to see the current GPU market for what it is: an elaborate scheme designed to part consumers from their hard-earned cash. No matter where you buy a 5070 or 5070 Ti, be it directly from NVIDIA or one of its partners, they are all the same product with little to no performance difference.
But let’s not forget about the retailers. We’ve seen some blame the recent Trump administration tariffs on Chinese imports for inflated prices, but even if that were true (which I highly doubt), a 20% price increase is simply unacceptable. The fact that many sellers feel comfortable marking up products by such an enormous margin speaks volumes about their power to dictate prices.
And let’s not forget about NVIDIA itself. Instead of addressing this issue head-on, the company has only offered a half-baked solution in the form of a limited program allowing US customers to buy cards directly from them at some point in the future. A true solution would involve fundamentally changing how the industry operates – and that change needs to start with pricing.
But I’m not here to simply criticize; I want to propose a different path forward. AMD’s new Radeon 9070 and 9070 XT, set to release soon, could be the catalyst for real change in this market. If these cards can deliver on their promised performance at an attractive price point, it will put immense pressure on NVIDIA to rethink its pricing strategy.
It’s time we stop accepting business as usual in the GPU industry. It’s time to demand transparency and honesty from the companies involved. We don’t need AIBs or retailers that are solely focused on maximizing profits at our expense.
