AMD rumored to hike price of GPUs by 10% due to RAM costs – so Black Friday might be your last chance to get a good price

  • AMD is rumored to be enacting a 10% price hike on all Radeon GPUs
  • Supply issues around VRAM are pushing up the price of memory
  • The cost will be passed on to consumers, so Black Friday might be as cheap as GPUs get for quite a long time

If you’re thinking about buying a graphics card, there have been further whispers from the grapevine that price hikes could be coming due to the spiking cost of video memory – meaning Black Friday may be the best chance to get a good deal on a new GPU for some time.

TechPowerUp highlighted (via VideoCardz) that analyst Dan Nystedt on X flagged a (paywalled) report from UDN, which claims AMD has told its graphics card-making partners that prices are set to rise.

The article suggests that AMD is hiking prices by 10% across its entire Radeon product line due to the rising cost of video RAM (VRAM) modules.

Best picks for you

Obviously, take that with a whole heap of seasoning, but we have seen multiple reports in recent times about the rising cost of memory – for RAM chips and storage alike – being a very real phenomenon. So, it seems like the situation is worsening for graphics cards when it comes to VRAM, at least on AMD’s side.

Analysis: acting with some haste may not be a bad call at this point

An AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT made by Sapphire on a table with its retail packaging

(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

GPUs use VRAM to speed up their performance – it’s much quicker than relying on the PC’s system memory, as VRAM is right there, on the board, and swift to access – and some graphics cards pile a lot of the stuff on.

When AMD sells graphics chips to a board-making partner, the practice is to bundle the video RAM modules with it – these are the two main components in a graphics card, of course. With the cost of RAM increasing by a considerable amount, the price of those bundles is increasing, with AMD charging its partners more.

Of course, that cost won’t be absorbed by the card maker, but will be passed on to the consumer who’s buying the product. Therefore, Radeon GPUs are likely to get around 10% pricier on the shelves as the impact of this filters through the supply and production chain, but obviously, as noted, we need to be careful around rumors and a single report – it might be untrue.

{ window.reliablePageLoad.then(() => { var componentContainer = document.querySelector(“#slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-EFgmL4XwNj36qck78PHnVZ”); if (componentContainer) { var data = {“layout”:”inbodyContent”,”header”:”Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox”,”tagline”:”Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.”,”formFooterText”:”By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.”,”successMessage”:{“body”:”Thank you for signing up. You will receive a confirmation email shortly.”},”failureMessage”:”There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.”,”method”:”POST”,”inputs”:[{“type”:”hidden”,”name”:”NAME”},{“type”:”email”,”name”:”MAIL”,”placeholder”:”Your Email Address”,”required”:true},{“type”:”hidden”,”name”:”NEWSLETTER_CODE”,”value”:”XTR-D”},{“type”:”hidden”,”name”:”LANG”,”value”:”EN”},{“type”:”hidden”,”name”:”SOURCE”,”value”:”60″},{“type”:”hidden”,”name”:”COUNTRY”},{“type”:”checkbox”,”name”:”CONTACT_OTHER_BRANDS”,”label”:{“text”:”Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands”}},{“type”:”checkbox”,”name”:”CONTACT_PARTNERS”,”label”:{“text”:”Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors”}},{“type”:”submit”,”value”:”Sign me up”,”required”:true}],”endpoint”:”https://newsletter-subscribe.futureplc.com/v2/submission/submit”,”analytics”:[{“analyticsType”:”widgetViewed”}],”ariaLabels”:{}}; var triggerHydrate = function() { window.sliceComponents.newsletterForm.hydrate(data, componentContainer); } if (window.lazyObserveElement) { window.lazyObserveElement(componentContainer, triggerHydrate); } else { triggerHydrate(); } } }).catch(err => console.error(‘%c FTE ‘,’background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff’,’Hydration Script has failed for newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-EFgmL4XwNj36qck78PHnVZ Slice’, err)); }).catch(err => console.error(‘%c FTE ‘,’background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff’,’Externals script failed to load’, err)); ]]>

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

That said, given a lot of recent speculation about how GPU prices might rise, the evidence is mounting, and there’s an increasing feeling that if you do want to buy a graphics card in the near – or even middle-term – future, Black Friday could offer the best prices for quite some time. (There’s a tempting Sapphire RX 9060 XT deal on the boil for one thing).

And if you’re thinking that price hikes might apply more to high-end graphics cards with lots of VRAM, think again – this will hit more affordable GPUs just as much. Indeed, there’s even been a suggestion that some cheaper (mid-range) graphics cards are going to be canned, as those models that pack more VRAM relative to their price bracket (principally more affordable 16GB offerings) are set for disproportionate cost increases – hikes that may not make much sense for the product.

I’d take that with even more seasoning, and the same holds true for the rumors about Nvidia delaying RTX 5000 Super refreshes due to VRAM supply issues. But still, all this very much adds to the general vibe of buying now rather than waiting, which is currently gripping the GPU market.

A Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT against a white background

The best graphics cards for all budgets

Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Follow TechRadar on Google News andadd us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Source

Shopping Cart
Shopping cart65
(Refurbished)  ASTRO Gaming A10 Wired Gaming Headset
-
+
(Refurbished) Logitech Wireless Keyboard K360
-
+
eco4life Smart LED light extension strip - LS312
-
+
eco4life Smart Security Starter Kit - EK5HWPT
-
+
(Refurbished) Logitech Wireless Headset H600
-
+
eco4life Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Outlet Plug - DPS5108D
-
+
Aluratek ASHBC01F Eco4life 720p SmartHome Battery-Powered Outdoor Wi-Fi Security Camera
-
+
HGST 8TB 3.5" SATA Recertified HDD W0F23666
-
+
eco4life Smart Wi-Fi LED Light Bulb E26 - DBEQPW30
-
+
eco4life Wi-Fi Smart IP Indoor Camera 1080P - 9C
-
+
Monoprice 12Vdc to 100Vdc 100W Auto Power Invertor with Dual USB Charger (2100mA)
-
+
LiNKe 30W Dual USB Smart Wall Charger
-
+
(Refurbished) Astro A20 Wireless Headset
-
+
WD 3TB 3.5" WD3000F9YZ SATA Recertified HDD
-
+
LiNKe 60W 6-Port Smart Car Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 Port
-
+
Aluratek eco4life Smart Home WiFi Outlet Plug
-
+
GabbaGoods Picture Perfect 4000 mAh Power Bank GG-PBPI-WHT
-
+
eco4life Smart Light Switch - KS602S
-
+
eco4life Smart LED light strip - LS300
-
+
eco4life ASHPS05F SmartHome Wi-Fi Power Surge Strip
-
+
Antec Prizm 120 ARGB 120mm Case Fans w/Fan Controller Single
-
+
(Open Box) Logitech MK360 Full-size Wireless Scissor Keyboard and Mouse - Black
-
+
(Refurbished) Logitech H151 Stereo Headset
-
+
(Refurbished) Logitech Stereo Headset H111
-
+
WD Black SN850X 1 TB Solid State Drive - M.2 2280 Internal - PCI Express NVMe (PCI Express NVMe x4) (Recertified)
-
+
(Refurbished) Logitech G432 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset
-
+
Subtotal
$2,068.32
Total
$2,088.31
Continue shopping
65
Scroll to Top