Graphics cards are facing another round of price hikes. According to NUPIAO, multiple vendors in Huaqiangbei reported that major global graphics card manufacturers have issued new price increase notices. As a result, factories for all major brands have fully implemented inventory lockdown policies, temporarily halting bulk shipments to the outside. The spot supply across the entire circulation chain is tightening rapidly.
A computer assembly shop owner in Huaqiangbei shared, “After the procurement notice came in, prices have jumped by about 30% over the past couple of days. The RTX 5070 retailed for around 4,500 to 5,000 yuan last year, but now the latest price is between 6,000 and 6,500 yuan. The RTX 5080 has gone from an average price of 8,000 yuan last year to nearly 12,000 yuan now—it’s basically changing daily.”
We checked on major e-commerce platforms and found that the RTX 5070 is generally priced above 6,000 yuan, while the RTX 5080 is well over 10,000 yuan.
Prior to this, on July 24, NUPIAO reported, citing hardware media BenchLife, that Nvidia has once again issued a price increase notice for GPU bundles (GPU + VRAM chips) to downstream graphics card manufacturers. The core reason remains the continuous rise in memory prices.
It’s understood that this price increase affects both GDDR7 VRAM and the previous generation GDDR6 VRAM. This means that, in addition to most of the 50-series cards based on the Blackwell architecture, models like the RTX 5050 and even older cards will be impacted—for example, the RTX 3060 12GB, which recently returned to the market at its 2022 original suggested retail price.
The report indicates that this round of price increases is the latest adjustment following Nvidia’s May hike for the flagship RTX 5090 (including the China-specific RTX 5090D V2) GPU bundles. In that earlier price increase, other graphics cards were not affected.
Beyond graphics cards, prices for core components like SSDs and RAM have also been climbing recently. According to data from TrendForce, DRAM contract prices are expected to increase by over 90% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, while NAND flash price increases are holding steady at 55% to 90%. The cost of 12GB of mobile phone RAM has surged from 200 yuan to 600 yuan, and the price of a 1TB flash chip has also tripled.
The reason? The massive demand for computing power from AI servers is creating a powerful “sucking” effect. Major memory manufacturers like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are shifting 70% to 90% of their advanced production capacity towards the more profitable HBM high-bandwidth memory. This is continuously squeezing the production capacity for consumer-grade DRAM and NAND flash, widening the supply-demand gap.
As a result, this summer has become what many students and gamers call the “most expensive PC-building season.” According to NUPIAO, one consumer shared, “I originally planned to get a 5070 graphics card, and the whole build was supposed to be around 12,000 yuan. But this week, it’s already over 14,000 yuan.” In previous summer peak seasons, Huaqiangbei vendors mainly relied on “high volume, low prices” and fixed daily price lists to attract customers. But now, with prices for graphics cards, SSDs, and RAM changing every day, many shops have scrapped their morning price sheets and are instead adjusting prices in real-time based on market conditions.
Earlier this month, the topic “laptops under 5,000 yuan are basically gone” sparked widespread discussion. Budget-friendly models that used to cost between 3,000 and 4,000 yuan are now hard to find in mainstream channels. The price of popular gaming laptops has even surged by over 5,000 yuan in just six months, significantly raising the bar for ordinary consumers looking to upgrade their computers. Even with subsidies and discounts, high-end laptops are now generally breaking the 10,000 yuan mark. Many dealers have stated outright that the price increases are expected to last at least a year, advising non-essential users to hold off on making a purchase.
