- Nvidia is rumored to be dropping production of RTX 5000 models
- It’s cutting RTX 5000 GPU supply by around 30% to 40%, we’re told
- This is in the first half of 2026, compared to 2025, and it’s related to VRAM supply issues
Want more gloomy news about PC components? Of course, you don’t, but sadly, a new rumor has emerged claiming that Nvidia will make around a third fewer RTX 5000 gaming GPUs in the first half of 2026 than this year.
OC3D flagged up an article from Chinese tech site Benchlife, which in turn highlights a post on the Board Channels forum over in China. That post asserts that Nvidia is drastically reducing the supply of its current-gen GeForce graphics cards for the first half of 2026 by 30% to 40% compared to the same period in 2025.
Obviously, take this report with a couple of fistfuls of seasoning, as the Board Channels is not always the most reliable source to go off – but at the same time, it has been on the money in the past.
The reason for the severe adjustment in production, we’re told, is due to VRAM (video RAM) price hikes and supply woes, which are part of the current overarching memory crisis.
Analysis: video RAM killed the GPU star?
While we must be skeptical, as noted, it does make sense that if VRAM is getting a fair bit thinner on the ground – and this is happening for sure – then Nvidia would prioritize AI graphics cards over gaming GPUs. The former are a lot more profitable by an order of magnitude, after all.
On top of that, we’ve already heard speculation that Nvidia could stop supplying VRAM alongside its GPU chips (in bundles) when providing third-party graphics card makers with that silicon – and this could mean fewer Blackwell graphics cards on shelves. (As smaller partners won’t be able to secure their own video RAM in this turbulent market).
There’s also been speculation that Nvidia (and AMD) could do away with some low-to-mid-range gaming GPUs – those that use a disproportionate amount of video RAM compared to their MSRP.
Benchlife further notes that it has sources from board makers in China, and also those in the GPU supply chain, who are claiming that Nvidia will initially adjust the supply of two Blackwell graphics cards in particular. Apparently, these are the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM, and the latter fully makes sense in light of the previous rumor about GPUs with too heavy a video RAM allocation relative to their price bracket.
It all sounds plausible enough, frankly, but let’s not get carried away at this point. This also throws an increasing amount of doubt on the likelihood of Nvidia’s rumored RTX 5000 Super refreshes, which are theorized to really load up on the VRAM. The possibility that these new Blackwell products could be cancelled was even raised last month, but the consensus of the grapevine has settled on a delay – but maybe a very lengthy postponement (to late in 2026) given what’s happening with the RAM crisis.
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