NVIDIA raises RTX GPU prices 20–30% in third hike of 2026; GDDR shortage expected to persist until 2028

NVIDIA implemented its third GPU price increase of 2026, raising GeForce RTX graphics card costs by 20–30% across all models, reported Taiwan's Economic Daily News on July 27. The increase follows a 10–15% hike in January and a more targeted May increase on flagship RTX 5090 models. Board partners are now paying nearly a third more for GPU bundles—the graphics chip plus GDDR video memory—than they did months earlier, with retail prices reflecting the pressure: an ASUS RTX 5080 jumped from $1,199 to $1,595 on Amazon.

The root cause traces directly to the memory crisis. Samsung raised DRAM prices by roughly 20% for the current quarter, and memory manufacturers have reallocated wafer capacity away from gaming-grade GDDR6 and GDDR7 toward higher-margin HBM (high-bandwidth memory) for AI data-center GPUs. With hyperscalers placing open-ended orders for AI chips at near-unlimited budgets, memory fabs optimize for margin, not consumer bit volume. GDDR graphics memory has climbed in price in lockstep, leaving gaming cards stranded without available components.

Critically, the shortage is expected to persist until at least 2028, meaning relief is not on the horizon. TrendForce projects DRAM contract prices will rise another 13–18% in Q3 2026 alone, though at a decelerating pace as consumer affordability ceilings kick in. NVIDIA cut RTX 50-series production by 30–40% in early 2026 to preserve margins on higher-margin AI chips, and no new consumer GeForce generation is shipping in 2026—the first such year since the late 1990s. AMD, Intel, and console makers Sony and Nintendo have also raised prices, leaving consumers with few affordable options at any tier.