January 16, 2026 – At CES 2026, David McAfee, AMD’s vice – president, sat down for an interview with Gizmodo. The conversation centered around AMD’s latest offerings in the PC gaming arena and how the company is tackling the ongoing memory shortage crisis.
McAfee laid out AMD’s clear – cut objective: to make every possible effort to keep GPU prices stable amid the global memory supply crunch and sky – high price hikes.
This year at CES, AMD made quite a splash by introducing a range of new chips. Among them were the R7 9850X3D and several Strix Halo APU models, such as the Ryzen AI Max+ 388 and 382 series.
When it comes to the R7 9850X3D, McAfee pointed out that although its frequency has been increased, enabling hardcore gamers to achieve higher frame rates, the performance gap between the R7 9800X3D and the 9850X3D in modern DirectX 12 games isn’t all that substantial. For the vast majority of users, sticking with their current setup remains a sensible decision.
One of AMD’s key goals at the start of 2026 is to maintain GPU price stability, especially in the face of soaring memory prices. The memory supply shortage has put significant price pressure on the entire PC market. McAfee revealed that AMD has built long – standing strategic partnerships with DRAM manufacturers over the years. These partnerships are crucial as they help AMD secure an adequate memory supply and purchase it at reasonable prices.
However, McAfee also acknowledged that predicting future memory price trends is a tough call. The tight memory supply poses a considerable challenge for GPU manufacturers.
He stressed that AMD is working hand – in – hand with AIC (Add – in – Card) vendors to ensure that GPU product prices stay as close as possible to the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). “Without memory at the right price, it’s a mathematical impossibility to work with our partners to create graphics cards that are reasonably priced and meet market demand. So, closely managing the memory ecosystem is absolutely at the heart of what we do,” McAfee emphasized.
