Weekly Recap: DLSS 5 Arrives, the RTX 5090 Hits $5,000, and DDR5 Keeps Punching Us in the Wallet
Saturday, September 5, 2026 — Ryan here with everything that mattered in PC hardware this week.
Grab your coffee — this week had a little bit of everything. Nvidia shipped a brand-new DLSS generation, the RTX 5090 somehow got even more expensive, AMD spent its IFA keynote talking about AI chips that can run 125-billion-parameter models, and DDR5 pricing continued its best impression of a runaway train. But here's the twist: buried under all the doom was a genuinely great week for CPU and SSD deals. Let's get into it.
🎮 The Big One: DLSS 5 Officially Launched
- Nvidia launched DLSS 5 on September 3 in NBA 2K27, with support rolling out across the entire RTX 50 series — desktops, laptops, and GeForce NOW included. (Tom's Hardware)
- The headline feature everyone's arguing about: 6X frame generation. Before launch, Tom's Hardware tested it via community mods on an RTX 5090 and measured a real performance hit plus noticeably extra power draw. Translation: your "free frames" cost actual watts.
- Hardware Unboxed already has the definitive numbers — "I Tested DLSS 5's Real Performance (No 6X Frame Gen)" dropped September 4 and is absolutely worth your lunch break:
- Paul's Hardware kicked the week off right with his "DLSS 5 Unleashed" news roundup on August 30:
💸 The GPU Market Went Full Clown Mode
- The RTX 5090 is now reportedly hitting $5,000+ in retail markets. Blackwell supply remains so constrained that flagship pricing has fully decoupled from sanity. If you bought one at MSRP at launch — congratulations, you're basically a day trader now.
- The silver lining for normal humans: rumors continue to firm up on RTX 50 Super refreshes, alongside AMD Zen 6 CPUs and Intel's X3D-series CPUs. The next 12 months look stacked.
🖥️ AMD at IFA: Less Gaming, More Agents
- AMD's IFA 2026 keynote (September 4) pitched "The Era of Personal & Agentic AI" — the shift from computers that execute commands to machines that understand your goals.
- The stars of the show: Strix Halo and Gorgon Halo, with AMD demoing hardware running 125-billion-parameter models locally. That's not a typo. CNET has the full supercut:
- For desktop builders, the quiet MVP news of the week: AMD reaffirmed AM5 support through 2029. Buy a board this year, drop in CPUs for years to come. In this economy, upgrade paths matter.
🏭 Chip Intel: Intel's Monster and Nvidia's Weird One
- Intel disclosed more on Xeon "Diamond Rapids" — up to 256 P-cores, 1.28GB of cache, and 1.6 TB/s memory bandwidth — but it slipped to 2027. Server nerds, mourn quietly.
- Meanwhile Intel's Arc G3 and G3 Extreme chips for gaming handhelds continued making the rounds from their Computex reveal. The handheld arms race is very much on.
- Nvidia's RTX Spark consumer SoC — an Arm-based N1X "superchip" with up to 20 Grace CPU cores and 6,188 Blackwell GPU cores — kept generating buzz for laptops and mini PCs. (PC Gamer)
📈 The Memory Crisis Corner (Pour One Out)
- 32GB DDR5-6000 kits sat near $400 on Tom's Hardware's RAM price index in August — and my live checks this week show the market hasn't blinked. A mainstream Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 32GB kit is $489.99 USD / $659.99 CAD on Amazon right now. In 2023, that kit was $100. (Tom's Hardware RAM index)
- The WSJ reports PC makers are now selling fewer PCs at higher prices — and it's working — because memory shortages from the AI buildout are inflating every single BOM. (WSJ)
- Micron is reportedly doubling down on AI memory production — great for $MU holders (memory stocks led Friday's top performers), rough for anyone building a PC this fall. (MarketWatch)
- Phison's CEO warned the NAND shortage could last for years — so no, SSD prices aren't dipping meaningfully before 2027. Buy storage when you see a deal, not when you need it.
- The market is so distorted that fake "$43 DDR5 kits" — literal dummy novelty modules — made headlines this week. Peak timeline.
🔥 The Deals That Actually Slapped
This is where the week redeems itself. CPUs and SSDs are on fire sale while RAM burns:
- Ryzen 7 7800X3D at $329.99 USD (Amazon US, down from $449.00) — that's the legendary gaming chip at a two-year low. It's also $489.98 CAD on Amazon Canada, and Windows Central flags it $100 off at Best Buy too. (Windows Central deals)
- Ryzen 7 7700X at $234.59 USD — $224.00 after coupon. Absurd value for a still-excellent 8-core.
- Kingston NV3 1TB Gen4 SSD at $156.77 USD / $216.50 CAD — matching Tom's/Newegg's $156.99 deal. 6,000MB/s for a coffee-and-lunch price.
- MSI PRO A850PL 850W 80+ Platinum PSU at $99.99 USD on Amazon US (was $159.99) — fully modular, native 12V-2x6, a steal for any RTX 50-series build.
- Micro Center CPU+RAM+mobo bundle: Intel Ultra 5 250K Plus + 32GB DDR5-6000 + Gigabyte B860 board for $499.99 (was $779.97) — the single smartest way around the RAM tax right now. (Slickdeals)
- Newegg ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I + T-Force 16GB + Samsung 990 PRO 1TB bundle: $469.99 (was $659.97).
Deal of the week — the 7800X3D at $329.99:
The RAM tax in the flesh — Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 32GB:
Cheapest 1TB of decent Gen4 storage right now:
🇨🇦🇺🇸 The nxpc Dual-Market Price Board (live Sep 5, 2026)
| Product |
🇺🇸 USD |
🇨🇦 CAD |
Notes |
| AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
$329.99 |
$489.98 |
Was $449 USD; 2K+ sold/mo on Amazon US |
| AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D |
$449.00 |
$569.99 |
Was $479 / $619.98 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 7700X |
$234.59 |
$334.99 |
$224 w/ coupon (US) |
| Kingston NV3 1TB (Gen4) |
$156.77 |
$216.50 |
Was $215.99 US; 4K+ sold/mo |
| Samsung 990 PRO 1TB |
$239.99 |
$379.99 |
Was $319.99 US |
| Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 32GB CL36 |
$489.99 |
$659.99 |
📈 The RAM tax is real |
| MSI PRO A850PL 850W Platinum |
$99.99 |
$239.99 |
US deal of the week |
🎬 What to Watch This Weekend
- Hardware Unboxed's DLSS 5 deep-dive (above) — the honest numbers.
- TechoReme's MSI Codex R2 prebuilt review (RTX 5070 + i5-14400F) — relevant if you'd rather not build during the RAM crisis:
🧠 Ryan's Verdict
This was a "spend on silicon, skip the sticks" week. DLSS 5 launching day-and-date on every RTX 50 card is genuinely great for owners, the 7800X3D at $329.99 is the best pure gaming-CPU deal of the year, and a $99.99 Platinum PSU proves not everything got expensive. But DDR5 at $489.99/$659.99 for 32GB is legitimately painful, and with Micron pivoting capacity to AI and Phison warning the NAND crunch runs for years, it's not getting better soon. Strategy: buy CPU/PSU/SSD deals now, pray for RAM Black Friday miracles, and watch the RTX 50 Super / Zen 6 rumors closely before committing to a full build.
What caught your eye this week? Hit the nxpc channel and let's argue about it.
Sources
x/nxpc · 