A representative from PowerColor (one of the major AIB board partners for AMD GPUs) has taken to Reddit to warn of GPU prices that are about to “kick up” in 2026, with a recommendation that anyone planning on a GPU purchase should act before the final week of December.
This sort of alert is unusual and is mentioned in the context of PowerColor’s promotional schedule for the US market. Coming straight from a graphics card manufacturers, there is certainly an air of FOMO to the message, but it’s backed by the current market conditions with NAND and VRAM prices skyrocketing.
Background: Memory Market in Turmoil
This pricing guidance isn’t just PowerColor hedging its bets. The warning follows reports from Chinese Board Channels sources indicating that GPU manufacturers face significant cost increases for memory components. Since both NVIDIA and AMD sell GPU-plus-memory bundles to their board partners rather than allowing partners to source memory independently, these increased costs flow directly through to the final products.
GDDR6 memory, which powers AMD’s Radeon RX 9000 series and many current-generation cards, has seen spot pricing climb about 30%. In addition, DDR5 system memory has increased even more dramatically – consumer memory kits that sold for around $90 in July are now sometimes exceeding $180.
The memory shortage plaguing the graphics card market comes from the same source affecting the broader tech industry: explosive growth in AI data center construction. Memory manufacturers have shifted production capacity toward high-margin products like HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) for AI accelerators, and server-grade DDR5 modules. This leaves less manufacturing capacity available for consumer-focused products like GDDR6, GDDR7, and standard DDR5.
What’s the Impact on GPU Pricing?
A 30% increase in GDDR6 costs translates to roughly $25 to $40 in additional expense for a 16 GB graphics card in the mid-range $500 price point, after accounting for manufacturer and retailer margins. For 12 GB configurations, the impact would be somewhat smaller, and budget 8 GB cards would be less affected.
However, if memory prices continue climbing at their current trajectory, the increases could get worse. Some projections suggest that mainstream cards could see price jumps exceeding $100, which would push mid-range GPUs closer to what we’d historically consider high-end pricing.
The timing is particularly frustrating for PC builders. Current-generation GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT had only recently begun selling at or near their official MSRPs after months of inflated pricing. A new wave of memory-driven cost increases would reverse this just as the market appeared to be cooling off. It’s also yet another tiresome disruption in the GPU market since the crypto mining boom and pandemic-era supply chain chaos.
That said, AMD has not officially confirmed any price hikes for its GPU lineup. There’s a possibility that some of the increased memory costs could be absorbed by manufacturers or retailers to maintain market position.
For those planning a GPU upgrade in the near future, it is probably a good idea to act soon. Black Friday sales and end-of-year promotions are often the most favorable pricing window of the year in any event.