AMD plans to raise prices on select GPUs next month as AI demand squeezes memory costs

AMD is preparing to bump prices on select Radeon GPUs and memory kits by approximately 10% in August 2026. The increase, originally slated for July before being pushed back, is a direct response to skyrocketing GDDR6 VRAM costs, which have been driven by AI sector demand. The price adjustments will hit add-in-board partners including Sapphire, ASUS, Vastarmor, and XFX, all of whom have reportedly been notified. The Radeon RX 9000 series is the primary target. Memory costs now account for over 80% of manufacturing expenses on certain GPUs. The component that stores your frames is now more expensive than basically everything else in the card combined. The AI tax on everything with a chip Reports from late 2025 had already flagged that both AMD and Nvidia were planning phased GPU price increases starting as early as January 2026. What we’re seeing now is the continuation of that trend, not an isolated event. AI training and inference workloads require enormous quantities of high-bandwidth memory. That demand has created a squeeze on GDDR6 supply, pushing costs higher for everyone, including companies building consumer-grade graphics cards. AMD hasn’t officially confirmed the price hik...