Graphics card prices in the Chinese market have increased significantly due to cost increases in GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory technologies. This directly affects the retail prices of both NVIDIA and AMD-based graphics cards.

Graphics card manufacturers were trying to balance increasing DRAM costs due to the ongoing memory shortage for a while. However, as costs increased 10-fold, manufacturers and retailers began to make unexpected updates to product prices.

Price Shock in the Graphics Card Market

These price increases in NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards cover not only new generation models but also old generation products. While the RTX 5090D 32 GB model increased by 22.5 percent compared to its previous price, the price of the RTX 5080 models increased above the $ 1500 level.

While a 15 percent increase was observed across the RTX 5060 series, even the entry-level RTX 5050 models increased by 13.2 percent. AMD Radeon series graphics cards also faced price increases ranging from 14.3 percent to 28.8 percent.

There were also significant price differences ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent in the official distributor prices of major manufacturers such as Colorful and MSI. While some retailers are protecting their stocks due to rising costs, consumers are advised to act quickly to avoid possible new increases.

Stockpiling and Future Expectations

There are circulating in the market that manufacturers are creating an artificial shortage by restricting their inventories. Retailers are reacting to this situation by pulling products from shelves or updating prices daily due to uncertainty in DRAM costs.

Research analysts warn that the increase in DRAM costs will continue by 50 percent in the third quarter of 2026 and 40 percent in the fourth quarter. This situation is expected to lead to a decrease in PC shipments worldwide and negatively affect the graphics card market in the long term.

Even older generation cards are not exempt from these price increases; For example, there were significant increases in the prices of models such as RTX 3050 and GT 1030. According to the notifications sent by NVIDIA to manufacturers in China, there are additional cost increases of around 600 RMB for 8 GB memory cards, 900 RMB for 12 GB cards and 1200 RMB for 16 GB cards.

What do you think about these rapid price changes in the hardware world?