- Nvidia is rumored to drop production of RTX 5000 models
- That cuts the RTX 5000 GPU supply by around 30% to 40%, we’re told
- This is in the first half of 2026 compared to 2025 and is related to VRAM supply issues
Want more grim PC component news? Of course you don’t, but unfortunately a new rumor has surfaced claiming that Nvidia will make about a third fewer RTX 5000 gaming GPUs in the first half of 2026 than this year.
OC3D announced an article from Chinese tech site Benchlife, which in turn highlights a post on the Board Channels forum in China. This post claims that Nvidia is drastically reducing the supply of its current GeForce graphics cards for the first half of 2026 by 30% to 40% compared to the same period in 2025.
Of course, take this report with a few pinches of spice, as the board channels are not always the most reliable source to go off of – 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 increases and supply issues, which are part of the current overall memory crisis.
Analysis: video RAM killed the GPU star?
Although we have to be skeptical, as mentioned, it makes sense that if VRAM gets a lot thinner on the ground – and it certainly will – then Nvidia would prioritize AI graphics cards over gaming GPUs. The former are one 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 along with its GPU chips (in bundles) when supplying third-party graphics card manufacturers with that silicon – and that could mean fewer Blackwell graphics cards on the shelves. (As smaller partners will not 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 motherboard manufacturers in China, and also those in the GPU supply chain, who claim that Nvidia will initially adjust the supply of two Blackwell graphics cards in particular. It’s apparently the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM, and the latter makes perfect sense in light of the previous rumor of GPUs with too heavy a video RAM allocation for their price range.
It all sounds plausible enough, honestly, but let’s not get carried away at this point. This also casts increasing doubt on the likelihood of Nvidia’s rumored RTX 5000 Super updates, which are theorized to really be loaded up on VRAM. The possibility that these new Blackwell products could be canceled was even raised last month, but consensus on the grapevine has settled on a delay – but perhaps a very long delay (eventually in 2026) given what’s happening with the RAM crisis.
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