According to hardware outlet ChannelGate, the wholesale spot prices of several RTX 50-series graphics cards are rising once again in China, an ominous sign for consumer pricing worldwide.
The 16 GB RTX 5080 is said to have jumped by around 2,000 CNY (roughly $300), while the RTX 5070 Ti has climbed by about 600 CNY ($90). For the RTX 5080, that puts the current wholesale spot price at around 14,500-15,000 yuan, or a striking $2,171-$2,246 when converted to US dollars.
Retail graphics card pricing has already run wild in recent months, with US prices surging to previously unthinkable levels. The cheapest RTX 5080 we can currently find costs a wallet-aching $1,850, while just $70 separates the RTX 5050, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB on our GPU deals page.
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That means the cheapest RTX 5050 we can currently find is $400—a silly price for Nvidia’s slowest gaming GPU of the current generation.
While the 16 GB RTX 5080 has seen the largest price jump so far (exacerbated by its reported discontinuation in favour of a 24 GB version), ChannelGate also says Asus has just updated its pricing policy across the range.
(Image credit: Future)
This amounts to a 1,000 yuan ($150) increase for the RTX 5080 16 GB, a 200 yuan ($30) increase for the RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5070, and RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB, and a 100-300 yuan increase for all AMD cards.
While some of those increases may seem small, they signal that we could be heading toward an even grimmer winter for anyone hoping to upgrade their graphics card for reasonable money—and, without a major change, a grim 2027 as well.
But ChannelGate does give us some info on the expected wholesale price of the mooted RTX 5080 24 GB. The outlet says it could potentially reach 19,999 yuan, which is, err, just under $3,000 at the current exchange rate.
Well, this is all very depressing news. The global memory crisis continues to bite, working alongside GPU production shortages to create a graphics card market that looks increasingly ridiculous as the months go on. At least gaming monitors are still pretty cheap? Silver linings, and all that.
Best graphics card 2026
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Nvidia RTX 5050
4. Best mid-range: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
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