•AMD has reportedly raised the prices it charges its Add-in Board (AIB) partners for the GDDR6 memory used in its graphics cards, adding to a broader memory supply crisis that is pushing up costs across the PC hardware industry.
According to reports circulating on Chinese forum Boardchannels, the price increase took effect October 1. The report was first highlighted by PC Gamer’s editor-in-chief Luke Jones.
We all know RAM and SSD prices have been significantly impacted by the memory supply crisis. But it’s easy for some to forget just how much dedicated memory modern graphics cards rock these days.
Luke Jones, PC Gamer
If AIBs—AMD’s manufacturing partners who build graphics cards—are paying more for AMD GPUs, they will likely raise their own prices and pass the expense on to consumers. That means PC gamers may have to spend more on Radeon products in the near future.
This is not an isolated incident. Back in July, similar reports emerged about memory price increases, with further reports following that added detail to the situation.
In August, Jones advised gamers to hold off on purchases amid the rising costs. And it’s not just memory prices affecting graphics cards—other factors are at play as well, including broader supply chain pressures.
While Nvidia was reportedly involved in discussions earlier this week, rumours also swirled that Nvidia had raised its own memory prices. The AI industry plays a role in the memory supply crisis more broadly, but AMD and Nvidia face price increases for reasons beyond AI demand too.
For instance, various components are going up in price due to the war in Iran, further complicating an already difficult market for PC hardware buyers.
The bottom line is that it’s a tough time to be a PC gamer looking for a reasonably priced upgrade, with RAM and SSD prices among the many factors driving costs higher across the board.
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