NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards will become more expensive from the beginning of 2026

NVIDIA and AMD partners are preparing for a possible increase in the price of graphics cards in the first quarter of 2026. This is reported by the Board Channels resource with reference to industry sources, which Videocardz also drew attention to. The main reason is the increase in prices for DRAM, which directly affects the cost of producing graphics adapters.

According to the published information, the current price agreements for the supply of graphics chips were fixed until the end of the fourth quarter, so at the end of 2025 there were no significant changes in the cost of graphics cards. At the same time, the fiscal fourth quarter for AMD covers the period from October to December, while for NVIDIA it lasts from November to January. After the end of these terms, previous agreements become invalid, and the companies’ partners expect a review of the pricing conditions for GPUs from the beginning of the new year.

When will prices for NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards increase

According to the source, the first price increases for video cards of individual brands based on AMD solutions may occur as early as January 2026. It is also possible that several waves of price increases are possible in the coming months. For NVIDIA partners, February is called the key period of changes, although some manufacturers made a minor price adjustment in December of this year. At the same time, final decisions on the level of retail prices are made by the video card manufacturers themselves, so the cost may differ significantly depending on the brand and specific model.

The message also notes that in some regions, prices for video cards have already increased, but this is attributed to the independent actions of partners, and not to direct decisions by AMD or NVIDIA. If official announcements from GPU developers about a change in pricing policy appear in early 2026, the market may face a new stage of growth in retail prices.

Although the report does not specifically mention Intel GPUs, analysts suggest that they could be pressured by rising memory costs as they also use GDDR6. Thus, the graphics card market could soon enter a phase of significant price increases regardless of the manufacturer.