AMD's promise is big and appreciable, but can it actually deliver when the DRAM shortage has caused so much volatility in the current PC market?
AMD Says it's Working With AICs to Keep the GPU Prices Low and That Managing the Memory Ecosystem is a "Core Part" of its Strategy
The GPU price hike is imminent, and it's continuously rising due to the incredible DRAM shortage the current AI boom has created. While some manufacturers have claimed that they are trying their best to absorb the impact of higher sourcing costs, some have quickly raised the prices of their products to gain maximum profits. Pre-built PCs, laptops, smartphones, and GPUs have all been impacted severely due to this ongoing shortage, and a lot of vendors appear to have their focus shifted towards the AI market.
That said, we have been publishing reports on how much of a price increase you can expect on the current-gen graphics cards from NVIDIA and AMD. NVIDIA, which currently has a big lead in the mainstream GPU market, is reportedly having problems in supplying enough GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPUs, and is expected to focus on the 8 GB cards. AMD, on the other hand, hasn't talked much about its supply and pricing strategy.
We have very strategic partnerships over many, many years with all the DRAM manufacturers to make sure that both the amount of supply that we need and the economics of what we’re able to buy from them are what we can support in our graphics business,
- David McAfee, Ryzen VP
In an interview with Gizmodo, the company's VP for Ryzen, David McAfee, spoke about some of its plans and shared bits of insight into the company's current strategy. David said that they have been able to maintain strategic partnerships with the major DRAM manufacturers for years to ensure they receive adequate DRAM supply, but at the moment, they can't predict the future. Securing enough DRAM chips is pretty hard these days, and considering one of the three major memory makers has exited the consumer business, AMD is facing a situation similar to NVIDIA.
Without the memory at the right price, building graphics cards with our add-in-board partners that hit the right price and market, that’s tough math to put together,
So managing that memory ecosystem very closely is absolutely something that is a core part of what we do.
- David McAfee, Ryzen VP
David said that AMD is still trying to keep the GPU costs down as much as possible and is working with its board partners to ensure this. He says that it's the "core part" of AMD's strategy, but it will still be tough to keep the prices around MSRP with memory prices soaring to insanely high levels.
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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