In a troubling sign, Nvidia RTX 50 series prices jump up to 30% in South Korea — TSMC wafer hikes and $20 GDDR7 modules push RTX 5090 past $5,100

A GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics card — (Image credit: Future)

GPU prices are set to increase in South Korea starting this month, specifically Nvidia’s desktop GeForce RTX 50 series. According to a recent report, the price increase is primarily due to the recent increase in price for advanced process wafers from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), along with the rising price for GDDR7 memory. Perhaps most troubling is that, due to global market dynamics, pricing doesn't exist in a vacuum for any single region, suggesting that price hikes could be in store for other areas in the future.

For context, TSMC recently asked its customers to prepare for price increases across its advanced chipmaking portfolio. This hike was extended beyond the newer 3nm process to include 7nm and other legacy products. ZDnet Korea’s report additionally cites market research firm TrendForce, claiming that GDDR7 2GB modules used in the RTX 50 series GPUs have increased to $20 per unit. As fabrication and memory costs have increased, Nvidia has raised the prices of the RTX 50 series GPU packages it sells to board partners. These board partners, thus, have little choice but to pass those higher costs on to consumers.

Multiple officials from domestic importers and distributors in the region have reportedly confirmed the price rise and have announced that major graphics card manufacturers plan to raise the prices of RTX 50 series models by up to 30% starting this month.

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According to a manufacturing company official, "Major manufacturers have temporarily suspended shipments ahead of the August price hike, and to my knowledge, few companies have secured inventory prior to the price increase." Similarly, a local distributor said, "One manufacturer with a low domestic market share is considering a price increase of about 20% compared to existing levels, and other manufacturers are also preparing for price increases of up to around 30%."

High-end graphics cards with larger GDDR7 memory configurations are expected to see the biggest increase in production costs, leading to higher retail prices. According to Danawa, a South Korean price comparison website, the cheapest RTX 5060 Ti 8GB model now sells for around 700,000 won (about $490), up roughly 100,000 won (about $70). Meanwhile, the lowest-priced RTX 5070 model is listed at around 1.1 million won (about $770), an increase of approximately 200,000 won (about $140).

The flagship RTX 5090 has seen the biggest price hike. Depending on the model and manufacturer, it is currently selling for up to 7.3 million won (around $5,112), an increase of as much as 1.5 million won (around $1,050) compared to last month.

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Kunal Khullar is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. He is a long time technology journalist and reviewer specializing in PC components and peripherals, and welcomes any and every question around building a PC.

11 Comments Comment from the forums

3ogdy

That's got a very simple solution.
Stop buying GPUs.
See the market fall. Game developers depend on it, AIBs will feel it to a certain extent, retailers will be stuck with stock on the shelves etc.

Then, the pressure to live in reality becomes real. As long as we've got people paying these crazy prices, this will be the path these companies will follow.

Gamers can take various markets down by simply withholding the money they earned and putting it to better use.

Until then, spend $350 on 60-class GPUs like it's "the new normal".
Reply
Gururu

Can't be done without the help of the tech sites. Even alarmists like Gamers Nexus can't stop covering the 5090 as enthusiast hardware. I say drop it from all testing. Let's stop comparing everything to what is pretty much a professional standard now.
Reply
usertests

3ogdy said:
That's got a very simple solution.
Stop buying GPUs.
See the market fall. Game developers depend on it, AIBs will feel it to a certain extent, retailers will be stuck with stock on the shelves etc.

Gamers can take various markets down by simply withholding the money they earned and putting it to better use.

Until then, spend $350 on 60-class GPUs like it's "the new normal".
The invisible hand of the free market will decide if $350 for 60-class is the new normal or not. Some gamers are holding out, others are paying the toll. More will hold out if memory pricing takes the GPUs to unrealistic heights.

If we're looking at apocalyptic market conditions lasting 5+ years, game developers can adjust the targets for their games that are entering development, optimizing them as much as possible or sacrificing graphics if needed. People like how Skyrim or GTA V look, and those games ran on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Gururu said:
Can't be done without the help of the tech sites. Even alarmists like Gamers Nexus can't stop covering the 5090 as enthusiast hardware. I say drop it from all testing. Let's stop comparing everything to what is pretty much a professional standard now.
Nah, they should keep using it for the purpose of eliminating the GPU bottleneck.

Although it's a bad day if a reviewer's 5090 breaks.
Reply
Gururu

usertests said:
Nah, they should keep using it for the purpose of eliminating the GPU bottleneck.

Although it's a bad day if a reviewer's 5090 breaks.
If there was a $40,000 GPU that could beat a 5090 at gaming, do you think they'd be using that for more realistic resolutions? I really doubt it because they'd call it a "professional" device. Thus, the complicity in nVidia price gouging is perpetuated.
Reply
usertests

Gururu said:
If there was a $40,000 GPU that could beat a 5090 at gaming, do you think they'd be using that for more realistic resolutions? I really doubt it because they'd call it a "professional" device. Thus, the complicity in nVidia price gouging is perpetuated.
Although it's been at or above the $2k MSRP for the entirety of its life, many people managed to get it below $3000, such as in the period between July 2025 and December 2025. Probably more than a few users of this forum have one.

2x pricing of the 5090 vs. the 5080 is understandable since it's basically double the die area and memory. Now it's more like 3x (on Newegg US). But some people managed to get a 5090 for less than 2x the current 5080 pricing (~$1400).

The 5090 is thought of as a "prosumer" card, but it uses the GeForce Game Ready drivers, not the professional drivers. It was positioned as a (rich) consumer card.

I don't think anyone is going to care about such a crusade, nor should they. I don't see anyone of prominence leading the charge and denouncing Gamers Nexus for doing CPU reviews with 5090s while making consumer rights content. Reviewers should use the 5090 for CPUs if they have it. There's nothing stopping them from running gaming benchmarks on an RTX PRO 6000 either.

Tom's is guilty, RIP.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Founder’s Edition

Reply
Gururu

usertests said:
Although it's been at or above the $2k MSRP for the entirety of its life, many people managed to get it below $3000, such as in the period between July 2025 and December 2025. Probably more than a few users of this forum have one.

2x pricing of the 5090 vs. the 5080 is understandable since it's basically double the die area and memory. Now it's more like 3x (on Newegg US). But some people managed to get a 5090 for less than 2x the current 5080 pricing (~$1400).

The 5090 is thought of as a "prosumer" card, but it uses the GeForce Game Ready drivers, not the professional drivers. It was positioned as a (rich) consumer card.

I don't think anyone is going to care about such a crusade, nor should they. I don't see anyone of prominence leading the charge and denouncing Gamers Nexus for doing CPU reviews with 5090s while making consumer rights content. Reviewers should use the 5090 for CPUs if they have it. There's nothing stopping them from running gaming benchmarks on an RTX PRO 6000 either.

Tom's is guilty, RIP.
And the consumer will consume it until the provider moves on to a bigger more lucrative consumer, leaving the consumers that built it to find new hobbies. So thus must the daily headlines each morning lament the state of the hardware industry for the DIY builder.
Reply
beyondlogic

Behold another crash on the horizon when they financially push to hard and it all falls like a pile of dominoes.

All it will do is push out consumers and business consumers will find another way or grow a new company to challenge it.
Reply
onigami

3ogdy said:
That's got a very simple solution.
Stop buying GPUs.
See the market fall. Game developers depend on it, AIBs will feel it to a certain extent, retailers will be stuck with stock on the shelves etc.

Then, the pressure to live in reality becomes real. As long as we've got people paying these crazy prices, this will be the path these companies will follow.

Gamers can take various markets down by simply withholding the money they earned and putting it to better use.

Until then, spend $350 on 60-class GPUs like it's "the new normal".

Good lord, do you know how naive you sound?

Sure, it will hit the devs, retailers, and the AIB manufacturers. Won't change shit though. Because you know what it won't hit? nVidia and AMD, who are the ones actually setting the prices.

And why would it? Diminished demand from gamers would simply free up supply for data centers, which is where the money is for nVidia/AMD now. Last I checked, data centers account for something like 85% of nVidia's revenue, while the GPU market accounts for 15% and is falling. (Five years ago, it was something like 40% and 55%, respectively.) If anything, a boycott would simply accelerate the process that has been ongoing since OpenAI made ChatGPT 3 public in which GPUs are being repurposed solely for AI. AI companies and nVidia/AMD would love a boycott (especially one they're not blamed on), simply because that means more chips go to the former, who will pay more than consumers at scale.

Even if gamers were to organize collectively and put up an effective boycott — big motherfucking ask, since only time they get riled up enough to get organized is over culture war BS and the occasional quality control — they have extremely little leverage. Certainly far less leverage than they did five or so years ago. The impact might be harsh for devs, for PC retailers, for AIBs...but it would scarcely hurt nVidia or AMD. Might miss a market guidance, take a few licks on the stock markets, but it would pass, and then they score another big AI deal and it's all water under the bridge.

That's the thing about "free markets:" They always favor the big spenders. And businesses are always far more reliable big spenders than consumers ever will be at scale. A consumer boycott can be recouped by a multi-billion dollar contract from Anthropic or Perplexity. Gamers, having accomplished nothing, are left with fewer scraps and a (probably) dying medium.

That is the reality we live in. Not some fantasy where antisocial gamers are somehow able to cripple an industry.
Reply
3ogdy

onigami, don't you think that, at that point someone might find it interesting enough to provide hardware and then offer gamers a good deal? Asian manufacturers, maybe...
Unless gamers really are a dying breed.
Reply
Eximo

Gaming industry does seems to be deflating. Fewer and fewer expensive and flagship mainstream titles. All competing with subscription and cheap indie titles, mobile gaming. $80-90 video game with no box, accessories, etc. Just not the same incentive to spend the money.

I've mostly spent money on expansions for older games. The few that still do that.
Reply

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