Gigabyte is reportedly hiking pricing of its RDNA 2-based graphics cards by up to 6% according to a report from BoardChannels (via VideoCardz). Other makers of graphics boards will likely follow Gigabyte's lead and increase prices, which is bad news for gamers.
Gigabyte allegedly notified its partners that it is following AMD's price increase and passing amplified GPU production costs on to the end-user. Depending on the GPU model, the hike is between 3% and 6% on all Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards models except the top-of-the-range Radeon RX 6900 XT. This translates into a $16 to $31 hike for the Radeon RX 6600/6600 XT/6700 XT, a $47 surge for the Radeon RX 6800, and a $78 jump for the Radeon RX 6800 XT.
It should be noted that Gigabyte's prices are FOB (free on board) prices and do not include shipping costs or taxes. Once those costs are added, actual retail prices of Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards could increase by more than $78.
The average selling prices of graphics cards have set records in the past few quarters as everyone in the supply chain — starting from GPU designers and their contract makers of chips and all the way up to retail stores — have been trying to capitalize on strong demand for PCs in general and graphics cards in particular. Last week we reported that AMD was hiking prices of its GPUs by about 10%, citing increased production costs set by foundries, which could translate into a $50 to $100 increase in retail pricing. Unsurprisingly, AMD's add-in-board (AIB) manufacturing partners are following suit, making today's best gaming graphics cards even more expensive.
It is hard to say whether AMD and/or its AIB partners plan to limit price surges of their graphics cards somehow. However, given the continuing chip shortage, this is highly unlikely, so gamers will continue to suffer from price hikes in the foreseeable future.
