AMD Radeon RX 6000 GPUs Reportedly Set For Another Unfortunate Price Hike

Radeon RX 6800 XT
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The global chip shortage shows no signs of ending anytime soon, which means gaming enthusiasts continue to suffer when securing hardware components. This is readily apparent with the best gaming cards, which have been short on supply and woefully overpriced for well over a year. Unfortunately, things don't appear to be getting any better, according to a report from the Board Channel Forums (via VideoCardz) regarding Radeon RX 6000 GPU in the pipeline from AMD.

As if prices weren't already through the stratosphere, AMD reportedly told its add-in board (AIB) customers that it would raise Radeon RX 6000 GPU prices by roughly 10 percent. Depending on the GPUs that AIBs purchase, that could translate into a $50 to $100 increase in retail prices.

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GPUAvg eBay PriceMSRP
Radeon RX 6900 XT$1,512$999
Radeon RX 6800 XT$1,314$649
Radeon RX 6800$1,260$579
Radeon RX 6700 XT$859$479
Radeon RX 6600 XT$631$379
Radeon RX 6600$559$329

AMD reportedly cited increased foundry costs associated with its chip fab Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for the hike. But we must remember that TSMC passes the increased costs onto AMD, which, in turn, passes the baton to its AIB customers. That means that we, the consumers, will see that increase on the retail side as well. However, it doesn't seem like another $50 to $100 increase in MSRPs will matter much in the grand scheme of things, given how out of whack GPU pricing is now. 

Looking at our more recent GPU Price Index, the pricing on third-party marketplace eBay is far outpacing the MSRP for Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards. For example, the Radeon RX 6800 and Radeon RX 6800 XT sell for over 2x MSRP at $1,260 and $1,314 respectively. Even the recently introduced entry-level Radon RX 6600, which has an MSRP of $329, currently sells for around $559.

We've reached out to AMD for comment and will update as necessary. 

Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware. He has written about PC and Mac tech since the late 1990s with bylines at AnandTech, DailyTech, and Hot Hardware. When he is not consuming copious amounts of tech news, he can be found enjoying the NC mountains or the beach with his wife and two sons.

  • -Fran-
    Wait for black Friday.
    Buy as many GPUs with good discounts as you can.
    Go to eBay.
    Profit.
    Yep, no "..." in there as it's just that easy and straightforward, lol.

    Still, the prices have been going up again little by little. Also, wasn't there a recent report about GPU shipments going down, like a lot?

    Regards.
    Reply
  • renz496
    -Fran- said:
    Also, wasn't there a recent report about GPU shipments going down, like a lot?

    when rounded up from all three major player yes there were a drop. but nvidia shipment actually going up by 8% instead of going down. AMD down by 11% and intel by 26%.

    https://videocardz.com/press-release/jpr-amd-and-intel-gpu-shipment-decreased-by-11-and-26-respectively-from-last-quarter-nvidia-increased-by-8
    Reply
  • ddcservices
    If the GPU and only the GPU price increases by $40 for a 6900XT, then the price of the overall video card shouldn't really go up by more than that. If the price of multiple components goes up, then the price of the video cards may go up. What many people can't seem to wrap their heads around is that the GPU is the only component that comes from AMD or NVIDIA, so the actual video card price won't change all that much based on what AMD or NVIDIA charge. When we are looking at $1000+ for a video CARD, if the price goes up by $40 for the $6900XT(which sells for $1300+), is anyone really going to care all that much? How much is Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Powercolor, XFX, Sapphire, etc. actually selling their cards for when it comes to distributor pricing? For all we know, these $1000+ MSRP cards are selling for $600 from manufacturer to distributor, and the distributor is the source of the price increases.
    Reply
  • JarredWaltonGPU
    ddcservices said:
    If the GPU and only the GPU price increases by $40 for a 6900XT, then the price of the overall video card shouldn't really go up by more than that. If the price of multiple components goes up, then the price of the video cards may go up. What many people can't seem to wrap their heads around is that the GPU is the only component that comes from AMD or NVIDIA, so the actual video card price won't change all that much based on what AMD or NVIDIA charge. When we are looking at $1000+ for a video CARD, if the price goes up by $40 for the $6900XT(which sells for $1300+), is anyone really going to care all that much? How much is Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Powercolor, XFX, Sapphire, etc. actually selling their cards for when it comes to distributor pricing? For all we know, these $1000+ MSRP cards are selling for $600 from manufacturer to distributor, and the distributor is the source of the price increases.
    This is simply not how things work. If the price of the bill of materials goes up 10%, the retail price will go up 10% as well — sometimes more if the company feels it can get away with it. Now, if there weren't demand that would be different, but that's not the case right now.

    So theoretically:
    Bill of materials: Before: $400, after: $440
    Retail price: Before: $700, after: $770

    But in reality it will be more like:
    Before: $1200, after $1500
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    JarredWaltonGPU said:
    This is simply not how things work. If the price of the bill of materials goes up 10%, the retail price will go up 10% as well — sometimes more if the company feels it can get away with it. Now, if there weren't demand that would be different, but that's not the case right now.

    So theoretically:
    Bill of materials: Before: $400, after: $440
    Retail price: Before: $700, after: $770

    But in reality it will be more like:
    Before: $1200, after $1500
    There's really no inherent reason why retail price must change by the same amount, in terms of percentages (or absolute values for that matter), as the change in the BOM price. As you mention though, given the current situation with the graphics card market manufacturers may very well take advantage of the opportunity to increase profit margins.
    Also, based on the info in the article it's just a single item in the BOM that's going up (the GPU). So even if the GPU cost 10% more, the entire BOM has not gone up by 10%. Not to mention all the other costs associated with manufacturing and selling a graphics card other than the price of the base components.
    Reply
  • watzupken
    In my mind, when TSMC passes the 10% cost down to AMD, which subsequently passes it on to the AIB partners, we should only be looking at the GPU itself isn't it? TSMC don't manufacture the entire graphic card. Therefore, it is not justifiable to increase the price of the graphic card by 10% when only 1 of the component price went up.
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    This is insane. I buy AMD GPUs on laptops and desktops because they've open sourced the drivers, but the price gouging might just drive me to integrated AMD GPUs or Intel GPUs.

    I can't believe that registered accounts/1 adapter per account has not been enforced everywhere yet.
    Reply
  • renz496
    according to TPU this is not the first time AMD increase their base MSRP. they already did in novermber (9%). then in december they increase the MSRP by another 10%.
    Reply
  • russell_john
    The prices will rise as much as the market will bear .....

    The real fault lies solely on the Consumers for these high prices because if they wouldn't pay for them the prices would drop .... As long as people buy at these prices then the prices will remain high ......
    Reply
  • renz496
    russell_john said:
    The prices will rise as much as the market will bear .....

    The real fault lies solely on the Consumers for these high prices because if they wouldn't pay for them the prices would drop .... As long as people buy at these prices then the prices will remain high ......

    Majority of them are miners (or gamers that intend to mine to offset the cost). I doubt many gamers that only buy the gpu for gaming only pay those crazy price.
    Reply