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Report: Graphics Cards to Receive 10-15% Price Increase

By - Source: DigiTimes | B 57 comments

As a result of increases in the cost of DDR3 memory, a number of graphics card vendors have reportedly increased prices by 10 to 15 percent.

According to a report published by DigiTimes, the recent increases in the price of memory has prompted several graphics card vendors to hike the retail price of products using DDR3 memory by 10 to 15 percent. Given that this price increase seems specific to this form of memory, we expect the impact to be restricted to the budget or entry-level market.

DigitTimes' unnamed sources also noted that they believe that prices are unlikely to return to their previous levels in the next six months unless manufacturers decide to offer promotions for specific models or bring forward the release of next-generation graphics cards.

The report further stated that since PC demand is still comparatively weak, the impact will not "upset consumers or channel retails greatly in the same run" and that the "PC replacement trend" that is expected to follow the release of Intel's Haswell platform in June may be compromised by these increased costs and the expected rise of motherboard ASP.

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Top Comments
  • 37 Hide
    Stimpack , April 7, 2013 3:15 PM
    Way to scare me with that title. Thanks for that.
  • 32 Hide
    Azn Cracker , April 7, 2013 3:14 PM
    Er amd's apus beat a lot of the low end video cards that use DDR3. All of the mid range to high end cards use DDR5
  • 10 Hide
    jcurry23 , April 7, 2013 3:10 PM
    oh yeah people buy them, the gpu on the apu aren't even close to to a discrete video card.
Other Comments
    Display all 57 comments.
  • 10 Hide
    jcurry23 , April 7, 2013 3:10 PM
    oh yeah people buy them, the gpu on the apu aren't even close to to a discrete video card.
  • 1 Hide
    unionoob , April 7, 2013 3:13 PM
    athulajpDo people really buy those all that much? I mean, integrated graphics on an APU is about as good as those cards.


    Yes. Maybe not many home users but mainly companies where you need to connect 2 monitors while many motherboards still only have 1 VGA port. And for presentation PCs where you need something stronger then integrated HD 4000 GPU but nut as strong as gaming GPU.
  • 32 Hide
    Azn Cracker , April 7, 2013 3:14 PM
    Er amd's apus beat a lot of the low end video cards that use DDR3. All of the mid range to high end cards use DDR5
  • 37 Hide
    Stimpack , April 7, 2013 3:15 PM
    Way to scare me with that title. Thanks for that.
  • 5 Hide
    Spooderman , April 7, 2013 3:16 PM
    The article said some products using DDR3 memory receive an increase, right? As long as that statement is correct or I interpreted it correctly (if I didn't feel free to yell at me and call me stupid as is tradition) then it doesn't really apply to most graphics cards.
  • 6 Hide
    bgrt , April 7, 2013 3:28 PM
    I'm pretty sure both GDDR5 and DDR3 cards will go up in price. This article only mentions DDR3 because most of the DRAM being produced is DDR3, making it the biggest factor in overall RAM prices.
  • 8 Hide
    DSpider , April 7, 2013 3:30 PM
    So this article is about DDR3 memory chips?

    Ok, so will RAM in general be receiving this increase, as well???
  • 5 Hide
    smeezekitty , April 7, 2013 3:33 PM
    Why? As memory technology advances, would prices not go down?
  • 5 Hide
    A Bad Day , April 7, 2013 3:35 PM
    DSpiderSo this article is about DDR3 memory chips?Ok, so will RAM in general be receiving this increase, as well???


    All DDDR3 with the exception of embedded ones for tablets and smartphones are expected to cost more, because production is supposedly being cut back.

    A shame, because I planned on buying an 8GB 1866 MHz CL10 RAM for the upcoming Richland laptops. Now it's gone up from around $50 to nearly $70.

    It seems that every laptop manufacturer charges like $50 for 4GB to 8GB upgrade, and I'm not going to kneecap the APU by using 8GB 1333 MHz RAM from my current laptop.
  • 0 Hide
    shikamaru31789 , April 7, 2013 3:37 PM
    Yeah, I noticed when I went to Newegg a few days ago that some DDR3 RAM that had been $40 was up to $50. Looks like it'll be affecting DDR3 video cards like the 6670 which is still the budget recommendation on Tom's Gaming Graphics list.
  • 1 Hide
    warmon6 , April 7, 2013 3:41 PM
    Well according to the article:

    Quote:
    Given that this price increase seems specific to this form of memory, we expect the impact to be restricted to the budget or entry-level market.


    So yes, It's only limited to gpu's with ddr3.
  • 2 Hide
    tomfreak , April 7, 2013 4:01 PM
    bought 2x4GB sticks a month ago b4 the price hike. Now my Sandy bridge system have 16GB RAM. This should be more than enough deal with the entire lifetime of next gen 8GB console.
  • 1 Hide
    shadowfamicom , April 7, 2013 4:24 PM
    shikamaru31789Yeah, I noticed when I went to Newegg a few days ago that some DDR3 RAM that had been $40 was up to $50. Looks like it'll be affecting DDR3 video cards like the 6670 which is still the budget recommendation on Tom's Gaming Graphics list.


    Noticed that as well, a few months ago I could get some 8gb of 1600mhz DDR3 for $40.
  • 0 Hide
    slomo4sho , April 7, 2013 4:45 PM
    GDDR5 is just modified DDR3 ram. I picked up 16GBs of G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600 ram during this holiday season and the cheapest I have seen it since is $75. With the release of DDR4 in the works, one would expect that DDR3 would drop in price but this upward trend in most intriguing.
  • 5 Hide
    InvalidError , April 7, 2013 5:12 PM
    smeezekittyWhy? As memory technology advances, would prices not go down?

    DRAM manufacturers were operating with razor-thin margins if not at a loss so the price hike is very much necessary for them to break even.

    There used to be dozens of DRAM manufacturers but most of them have gone bankrupt due to failing to survive the merciless periodic lows in the DRAM industry. Elpida was one of the newest victims in 2012 and there will likely be more in the future, particularly considering that people's memory requirements are starting to flatten out.
  • 1 Hide
    athulajp , April 7, 2013 5:15 PM
    jcurry23oh yeah people buy them, the gpu on the apu aren't even close to to a discrete video card.

    It's pretty close to the ones that use ddr3
  • 1 Hide
    CaedenV , April 7, 2013 5:17 PM
    athulajpDo people really buy those all that much? I mean, integrated graphics on an APU is about as good as those cards.

    I just redid my computer for work. It is all office workloads, so I only got a Pentium G2020 which is more than enough horsepower to run office, browse the web, and crop/fix the occasional photo. But I needed a discrete GPU for the sake of having proper duel monitor support. I ended up going with a GTX610. Gutless card, but it was the cheapest GPU I could find with 2 DVI ports which was also passively cooled. Works great for what I need it to do, runs cold, silent, and low power, and lets my 2 old apple cinema displays stretch their legs without issue (or adapters).

    Onboard graphics (be it Intel or AMD) are 'good enough' for home users (my wife runs on HD4000 without problems for everything she does), but if you want multiple displays, or to do other specialty things, then you still need a discrete GPU.
  • 0 Hide
    nforce4max , April 7, 2013 6:26 PM
    This isn't good for budget users but in a way it was expected at some point as the low end market is shrinking and the memory type is slowly being phased out. Not good for the consumer as DDR3/GDDR3 is going to become costly.
  • 3 Hide
    godfather666 , April 7, 2013 6:27 PM
    As someone else mentioned, GDDR5 is based on DDR3, so this should affect all GPUs, sadly.
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