The upcoming jump in GPU prices isn’t being caused by the chip responsible for rendering your games. The culprit is the memory sitting right beside it.
Fresh reports indicate that Nvidia has already notified its board partners — the likes of ASUS, MSI and GIGABYTE, which design their own takes on RTX cards — that the price of the GPU kits it sells to them is going up. Once the underlying parts cost more, the card that lands in your hands follows suit.
Here’s what’s useful to know if you’ve never purchased a custom card before. Nvidia doesn’t simply pass along a chip and step back. It also provides the components those third-party firms rely on to put together the custom models you’ll find in stores. It’s precisely those components that are becoming more expensive.
Why RAM is pulling GPUs upward
Anyone who has recently shopped for a memory upgrade won’t be shocked by the reason. RAM prices have been on the rise for some time, and the climb has been steep. Graphics cards depend on their own dedicated memory, which is drawn from that very same squeezed supply.
These increases are specifically anticipated to affect cards built around GDDR6 and GDDR7 memory. That combination is what’s fueling the entire situation.
Which cards take the hit
According to the reporting, the RTX 5000 series sits squarely in the line of fire, given that those cards run on GDDR7. Yet it isn’t only the latest silicon at risk. The recent GeForce RTX 3060 also makes the list, since it continues to rely on the older GDDR6 standard.
In other words, this isn’t strictly a next-generation issue. An older model that’s still on sale gets caught up in the same memory arithmetic.
The entry-level squeeze
There’s a ripple effect here that may prove more significant than the headline prices. As Tweaktown reports, rising costs for parts — cooling solutions and boards among them — could nudge manufacturers toward producing fewer budget-friendly entry-level cards while focusing on costlier premium options.
Give that a second read if you’re shopping on a tight budget. Once margins on cheap cards get thin, those cheap cards are the first products partners quietly stop producing.
What’s actually confirmed
Very little, and it’s worth stating that outright. Everything remains unsettled for the moment, and whether the price hike sticks is still an open question. Nvidia has reportedly cautioned its partners, but a heads-up to board makers is a far cry from a fresh price tag showing up in your cart.
If you’ve been holding off on a GPU purchase in hopes of a bargain, consider this your cue to stop holding out. The trajectory points upward, and the least expensive cards are the most vulnerable. Grab the one you’re after before the entry-level tier gets thinner.
Source: Benchlife, VideoCardz, Tweaktown