Nvidia RTX 50 Series Prices Skyrocket in South Korea Amid TSMC Wafer Hikes and GDDR7 Memory Costs

Nvidia's RTX 50 series prices are about to jump in South Korea, with major manufacturers planning to raise prices by up to 30% starting this month. The price hike is due to a combination of factors, including TSMC's recent announcement of wafer price increases and the rising cost of GDDR7 memory.

TSMC has asked its customers to prepare for price increases across its advanced chipmaking portfolio, which includes 3nm, 7nm, and legacy products. This means that Nvidia will have to raise prices for its RTX 50 series GPU packages sold to board partners, who in turn will pass the costs on to consumers.

The flagship RTX 5090 is expected to see the biggest price hike, with some models selling for as much as 7.3 million won (approximately $5,112), an increase of up to 1.5 million won ($1,050) compared to last month. The cheapest RTX 5060 Ti 8GB model now sells for around 700,000 won ($490), while the lowest-priced RTX 5070 model is listed at approximately 1.1 million won ($770).

While some manufacturers are considering a price increase of up to 30%, others may raise prices by as much as 20% compared to existing levels. The increasing production costs, particularly for high-end graphics cards with larger GDDR7 memory configurations, will likely lead to higher retail prices.