AMD claims it is working closely with board partners to prevent GPU price hikes

The tech industry is currently dealing with a serious memory crisis. It started with DDR5 RAM prices shooting up, but the impact didn’t stop there. SSDs and GPUs have been feeling the pressure too, and reports suggest that power supplies and CPU coolers could be next in line for price increases. With so many core PC components becoming more expensive at the same time, the coming years are shaping up to be rough for PC builders. Amid all this, AMD appears to be making an effort to keep its graphics card prices as close to MSRP as possible.

In an interview with Gizmodo, AMD’s Ryzen lead, David McAfee, explained that keeping GPU pricing under control in 2026 is a key goal for the company. He said AMD has long-term partnerships with major DRAM manufacturers, which helps secure both enough supply and more manageable pricing for memory. This is important because memory costs play a huge role in how expensive a graphics card ends up being.

"We have very strategic partnerships over many, many years with all the DRAM manufacturers to make sure that both the amount of supply that we need and the economics of what we’re able to buy from them are what we can support in our graphics business."

McAfee also noted that AMD is actively working with its add-in card (AIC) partners to keep real-world prices close to AMD’s suggested MSRPs. However, he admitted that the situation isn’t easy to predict. If memory prices continue to rise, it becomes much harder for board partners to build GPUs that hit the right performance and price balance. In short, without reasonably priced memory, even well-planned GPU pricing strategies can quickly fall apart.

It is, however, important to keep in mind that a couple of months ago, a representative from PowerColor, one of AMD’s major board partners, advised users on Reddit to buy GPUs before the end of 2025, suggesting that price increases are expected. For now, AMD says it’s doing everything it can to keep GPU prices reasonable. Whether that effort will be enough while memory and component costs continue to rise is something only time will tell.