- Asus RX 9070 XT GPUs hit by sudden price hike in US
- Framework cautioned that while memory costs have stabilized in some areas, this is likely only a temporary reprieve.
- The laptop maker predicts that “we will continue to see volatility and increased costs through the end of 2026.”
There’s been another round of price hikes for PC components, and that includes price hikes for some Radeon GPUs, as well as more RAM and storage annoyances.
We’ll start with graphics cards. VideoCardz noticed that the Asus RX 9070 XT models have become more expensive in the company’s US store.
For example, the Asus Prime 9070 The new white model of this graphics card has increased by 7% and will now cost you $959.99.
Article continues below
The Asus TUF overclocked version on the 9070 XT is up 16.5%, meaning the GPU now tips the scales at $989.99, almost a grand.
There has been no official announcement from Asus regarding a possible price hike, and these hikes were implemented worryingly overnight.
On top of that, modular laptop and PC maker Framework announced new price increases for RAM and SSDs (hats off to Tom’s Hardware), although these aren’t as painful as the ones we’ve seen previously.
The Framework Laptop saw a price increase for the pre-built model with 64GB of DDR5 RAM, although there is more positive news with a lower CPU price (this returns to its original level for some configurations).
With the Framework Desktop PC, the company notes that it has absorbed increases in the cost of RAM, with the exception of the 128GB model, whose prices have increased.
On the storage front, he says the new SSDs the company is buying have “significantly higher costs” and for starters, that means the 4TB version of the WD SN850X is more expensive – and other drives likely will be soon.
Framework adds: “Our advice here is always that if you need high-capacity storage, you should set up a system with it now while we still have inventory on an older, lower-cost basis.”
Analysis: a temporary reprieve?
Despite the fact that some cost increases have been absorbed and the latest round of hikes is relatively limited, Framework cautions against any notion that things might calm down when it comes to the memory crisis. The manufacturer warns: “We have seen costs stabilize in some areas, but all indications are that this is a temporary reprieve and that we will continue to see volatility and increased costs through the end of 2026.”
There have been glimmers of hope recently for a reprieve from RAM elsewhere – although mainly based on the cost of memory becoming so high that consumer demand is seriously faltering – but these hints have been weighed down by similar caveats.
The Asus GPU price hikes are more alarming here, as they represent quickly implemented increases, pushing the Radeon 9070 XT graphics card above the $900 mark for a base model. That said, this is not representative of the overall market for AMD’s 9070 XT in the US, as you can still get this GPU (at entry level) for no more than $700 (at least for some models).
However, is this an early sign that we might see other card makers also raise their asking prices for the 9070 XT? Maybe – that’s really the concern here, and we shouldn’t forget that a few months ago, at the start of the year in the US, you could still get these AMD GPUs for around $600, which is definitely not the case now.
The best laptops for every budget
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube And TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
