The cheapest path to a new RTX 50 graphics card in South Korea just got noticeably more expensive, with prices on some models up 30 percent month over month.
ZDNet Korea’s sources point to two culprits: TSMC’s July decision to raise wafer pricing on 7nm and below, and a run-up in GDDR7 memory prices. Because NVIDIA bundles its GPUs with the memory chips it sells to board partners, higher DRAM costs land directly on card pricing. RTX 50 silicon comes off TSMC’s 4nm line.
Supply behavior makes the jump worse. Vendors paused shipments before the August increases, distributors were left with little stock, and several manufacturers moved prices up over the prior weekend, according to the report.
The flagship RTX 5090 with 32GB has gained as much as KRW 1.5M since mid-July and some units now trade near KRW 7.3M, around $5,100. Lower tiers followed: entry RTX 5060 Ti 8GB boards start near KRW 700K after a KRW 100K bump, and RTX 5070 cards sit around KRW 1.1M after rising KRW 200K.
Other markets show the same strain. China’s RTX 5090D has climbed 22.5 percent to more than double its suggested price, while Best Buy lists the Asus ROG Astral RTX 5080 at $2,099.99, about $600 above launch. AMD’s lineup is under pressure too, with RX 9070 XT boards roughly 20 percent over MSRP and RX 9060 XT premiums past 30 percent.
TrendForce sees no quick relief, projecting a DRAM supply deficit of 1 to 2 percent this year and a wider gap in 2027.
