Wholesale prices for Nvidia's RTX 50-series cards are rising again in China, and the 16 GB RTX 5080 is up the most.
Hardware outlet ChannelGate reported that the 16 GB RTX 5080 spot price (the going rate for immediate wholesale purchases) rose by around 2,000 yuan, roughly $300. That puts it at 14,500-15,000 yuan, or $2,171-$2,246 at current exchange rates. The RTX 5070 Ti rose by around 600 yuan ($90). ChannelGate also said Asus updated its pricing policy: 1,000 yuan ($150) more for the RTX 5080 16 GB, 200 yuan ($30) more for the RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5070 and RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB, and 100-300 yuan more for every AMD card. The 5080's jump comes alongside a reported discontinuation of the 16 GB model in favor of a 24 GB version.
That 24 GB card has not launched, but ChannelGate said its wholesale price could reach 19,999 yuan, just under $3,000.
The US numbers are already steep. The writers who relayed ChannelGate's figures said the cheapest RTX 5080 on their own GPU deals page is $1,850. Only $70 separates the RTX 5050, RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB there, and the cheapest RTX 5050, Nvidia's slowest current-generation gaming card, costs $400.
One detail stands out. The lowest US retail price for the 5080 sits below the converted Chinese wholesale range. Nothing in the source explains the gap, so it is worth treating as an open question rather than a trend line.
The writers pointed to a global memory shortage combined with GPU production shortages as the cause, and said that without a major change 2027 will likely be grim too. That is their forecast, not a measured one. Asus's small increases matter mainly because they cover almost the whole lineup, AMD included, which suggests the pressure is not confined to one Nvidia model.