The AI Tax is Here: Why Micron and Nvidia Just Pok Gai on Gamers
RTX 50 prices are insane and Crucial is dead. Here is the 2026 survival guide.
Total Wipeout: Why Micron and Nvidia Just “Pok Gai” on Us (And How to Survive the AI Tax)
By: Your Neighborhood Pok Gai Gamer
Lau ban (bosses), we are officially in the “GG” phase of PC building. If you thought the crypto-mining days were a headache, 2025 just said, “Hold my thermal paste.” We’ve got two of the biggest “Dai Lo” in the game Micron and Nvidia basically telling us to go pok gai. They aren’t just raising prices; they are leaving the room to hang out with their new billionaire AI friends.
The Micron “Ham Ka Chan” (Total Family Wipeout)
First, let’s pour one out for Crucial. On December 3, 2025, Micron announced they are killing the Crucial brand by February 2026. This is the ultimate betrayal. For decades, Crucial was the “reliable cousin” who sold us RAM and SSDs at prices that didn’t require selling a kidney.
Why? Because the AI giants like Google and Amazon are waving billions for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory). Micron looked at our $80 RAM kits and decided we weren’t worth the factory floor space. Expect RAM prices to jump 30–50% immediately as the remaining players, Samsung and SK Hynix, realize they have a monopoly.
Nvidia: The “Siu Yan” Strategy
Then there’s Nvidia. They aren’t “quitting,” but they are treating us like a side-piece they’re about to ghost. Gaming revenue is now a tiny 8% slice of their pie. They are effectively “starving” the market to feed the AI beast. Rumors say they are cutting RTX 50-series production by 40% to save silicon for $40,000 AI chips. It’s a total pok gai move.
The “AI Tax”: Your Wallet is the Victim
The AI Tax is real. Because AI chips use the same VRAM and factory capacity as gaming cards, we are paying a premium just for the opportunity to buy hardware.
Is there any “Hei Mong” (Hope) left?
It’s not all funeral music, though. While the big boys are leaving, the “underdogs” are smelling blood in the water:
Intel Battlemage: Intel is actually sticking around. Their Arc B-Series is rumored for early 2026. They won’t beat a 5090, but they might be the only cards actually in stock for under $500.
AMD’s Value Play: AMD is reportedly focusing on the mid-range with RDNA 4. They know Nvidia is leaving the $500 market wide open, and they’re ready to pounce.
The Second-Hand Hustle: Get ready to spend a lot of time on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. The used market is going to be the only way for budget gamers to survive the AI-pocalypse.
FAQ: The Pok Gai Guide to Survival
Q: Why is the AI Tax making my gaming PC more expensive? A: Nvidia and Micron would rather sell one $30,000 chip to a data center than thirty $1,000 cards to gamers. We are being outbid by Big Tech.
Q: Should I buy RAM right now? A: YES. Crucial is gone in February. Buy today’s stock before the “AI scarcity” hits the shelves in Q2 2026.
Q: Is there any alternative to Nvidia? A: Look at Intel Battlemage or AMD RX 9000 series. They aren’t chasing the “AI Dragon” as hard, so they might actually care about your wallet.
Love this perspective! Your analysis of Micron and Nvidia's strategic pivot towards AI, effectively abandoning consumer markets, is incredibly sharp. It's a textbook case of how market forces reallocate resources to higher-value sectors. Truly insightful on this evolving economic dinamic, well done.