The graphics card market is expecting a new wave of price increases, affecting models of all price segments from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. The main reason for the price jump was the almost tenfold increase in the cost of DRAM and a significant increase in the prices of GDDR6 and GDDR7 graphics memory, as well as other components for printed circuit boards.
The graphics card market is expecting a new wave of price increases, affecting models of all price segments from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. The main reason for the price jump was the almost tenfold increase in the cost of DRAM and a significant increase in the prices of GDDR6 and GDDR7 graphics memory, as well as other components for printed circuit boards.
This is reported by the Wccftech publication, citing sources in the supply chain.
Due to rising production costs, NVIDIA has already officially notified key partners, including ASUS, MSI, Colorful, and Inno3D, of forced price adjustments. The increase directly depends on the amount of VRAM: video cards with 8 GB of memory have gone up by $90, 12 GB versions by $130, and 16 GB models by $175.
The situation in Asian markets changed overnight, provoking a hype similar to the times of the mining boom. Prices for flagship RTX 5090D V2 graphics cards reached $3500–$4000, and the RTX 5080 now costs $1500–$1900. Mid-range graphics processors RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 have increased in price from 16% to 22%, while the budget segment (RTX 5060 Ti, RTX 5060 and RTX 5050) has increased in price by 13–15%. The price increase has affected even outdated models: the basic GeForce GT 1030 has approached the $100 mark, and the RTX 3050 is sold for more than $350.
Similar dynamics are observed among other developers. AMD Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9060 series have increased in price by 14–29%, and Intel Arc B580 and B570 budget solutions have risen from the initial $200 to almost $300.
In response to the crisis, suppliers, distributors, and retailers have begun to suspend sales and freeze inventory in large numbers. Traders are counting on further deepening shortages to sell GPUs later at a greater profit.
Analysts predict that there will be no relief in the near future. DRAM prices will increase by another 50% in the third quarter of 2026 and an additional 40% in the fourth quarter, which will continue to put pressure on the market for graphics processors and ready-made computer systems.
The market expects the shortage of memory chips to continue beyond 2030, directly impacting the production of computers, smartphones and cars. The main reason for the crisis is the rapid growth in demand for high-bandwidth memory, triggered by the global boom in artificial intelligence technologies.
