VRAM prices are spiking, pushing AMD and NVIDIA to consider halting budget GPUs like the RTX 5060 and RX 9060 XT. What it means for buyers and when to act.
© A. Krivonosov
An unsettling forecast for gamers: AMD and NVIDIA may step back from releasing budget graphics cards as memory prices soar, pushing manufacturing costs higher than expected. The rapid spike, driven by frenzied demand from data centers and AI companies, has already doubled DDR4/DDR5 prices. Now the shock is hitting GPUs as well—especially those aimed at the budget end of the market.
According to The Korea Economic Daily, AMD and NVIDIA are weighing a complete halt to entry-level and mid-range models if VRAM keeps swallowing too much of the bill of materials. In the crosshairs are models such as the RX 9060 XT, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti—the very cards meant to stay affordable.
The squeeze is tighter because GPU memory is getting pricier even faster than consumer RAM. Reports surfaced yesterday that AMD is preparing price increases across the RX 9000 lineup. It’s reasonable to expect NVIDIA to do the same with the RTX 50xx series. High-end cards can absorb the shock, but in the budget tier even a 10–20% jump turns products essentially unprofitable. Unless memory prices cool quickly, the market seems to be drifting toward premium-first releases.
Manufacturers like Asus are reportedly discussing trimming VRAM on certain models to keep costs in check. The upshot could be bleak: affordable graphics cards for a wide audience may once again become scarce—much like during the COVID era.
Experts warn the next few months could be the last chance to buy a graphics card at a sensible price. There are still worthwhile offers—for instance, an ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 at $540 or a PNY RTX 5070 OC at $489. If the trend holds, budget gaming hardware is in for a rough ride.