Gamers face another crushing blow as Nvidia allegedly slashes GPU supply by 20%, leaker claims
Moving up the stack, the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti contribute the same gross revenue per gigabyte, meaning that the cheaper-to-produce 5070 will likely be favored over its Ti sibling (which uses a bigger, more power-hungry GPU and a more complex board design)—or that both cards are likely to be deprioritized in favor of the more profitable RTX 5060 Ti 8GB.
At the highest end, the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 contribute nearly the same revenue per gig of VRAM, meaning that the RTX 5080 will likely take precedence for allocation of 2GB GDDR7 chips going forward due to its smaller GPU die (half the size of the RTX 5090's) and much less complex board design. It would also mean that the 32GB of VRAM needed to produce one large 5090 GPU would instead create two 16GB RTX 5080s, which would help with overall supply and possibly lead to more margin.
Just for fun, the RTX 5090 and RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell share the same GB202 GPU (albeit with differing SM counts), but even with 96GB of GDDR7 on board, the RTX Pro 6000 contributes a whopping 41% more revenue per GB of GDDR7 on board versus the 5090.
Of course, the RTX Pro 6000 uses 3GB GDDR7 chips in clamshell mode to achieve its memory capacity rather than the 2GB single-side parts on the RTX 5090, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.
But it does make it obvious why Nvidia may have foregone launching the RTX 50-series Super refresh at CES: the margins afforded by using 3GB packages on RTX Pro products are simply much more attractive than they would have been for GeForce cards that presumably would have sold for near the same MSRPs as non-Super cards did at launch.
Going forward, we expect that the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, RTX 5070, and RTX 5080 may be the easiest cards to find on shelves, relatively speaking, while enthusiast favorites like the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and RTX 5070 Ti will be in short supply. The writing is also on the wall for the RTX 5090 — we can already see the supply situation reflected in today's empty e-tail shelves and dramatically inflated prices from third-party sellers. We'll continue to monitor this situation and update our list of the best GPUs for gaming accordingly.
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As the Senior Analyst, Graphics at Tom's Hardware, Jeff Kampman covers everything to do with GPUs, gaming performance, and more. From integrated graphics processors to discrete graphics cards to the hyperscale installations powering our AI future, if it's got a GPU in it, Jeff is on it.\u00a0 ","contributorText":"With contributions from","contributors":[{"name":"Paul Alcorn","role":"Editor-in-Chief","link":{"href":"https:\/\/www.tomshardware.com\/author\/paul-alcorn"}}],"collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-11/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Jeffrey Kampman Senior Analyst, Graphics As the Senior Analyst, Graphics at Tom's Hardware, Jeff Kampman covers everything to do with GPUs, gaming performance, and more. From integrated graphics processors to discrete graphics cards to the hyperscale installations powering our AI future, if it's got a GPU in it, Jeff is on it.
thesyndrome That's a lot of text to say: "richest company in the world wants to be richer, and will gut it's consumer GPU lineup to prioritise businesses, who are spending ludicrous amounts because they've lost touch with how much things are actually worth and will pay whatever Nvidia says they are worth, regardless of development costs or component costs to manufacture" Reply
TerryLaze thesyndrome said: because they've lost touch with how much things are actually worth Supply and demand, it's a story as old as time, the more people want a thing more the more it's gonna cost. Not even the communist countries sell things at cost. Reply
Notton TerryLaze said: Supply and demand, it's a story as old as time, the more people want a thing more the more it's gonna cost. Not even the communist countries sell things at cost. I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that… https://www.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2025/10/2025-10-28-image-32.jpg Nvidia is paying AI companies to artificially inflate demand for their own GPUs. The more Nvidia GPUs gamers buy, the more it goes into AI. Reply
call101010 TerryLaze said: Supply and demand, it's a story as old as time, the more people want a thing more the more it's gonna cost. Not even the communist countries sell things at cost. This supply and demand theory never convinced me… because when prices go too high you will also lose a huge percentage of buyers who will not afford to buy it any more … you take more profit in the right hand and lose that same amount with the left hand. Reply
SomeoneElse23 call101010 said: This supply and demand theory never convinced me… because when prices go too high you will also lose a huge percentage of buyers who will not afford to buy it any more … you take more profit in the right hand and lose that same amount with the left hand. That is precisely how it works. When prices are high, you either do without, or pay more. The net result is the same for the supplier. Some do this artificially, charging exorbitant prices, known they won't get as many sales, but those they do will make up for those they don't. Reply
TerryLaze Notton said: I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that… So other than showing that nvidia works with pretty much everybody what is this picture supposed to show?! They are the mayor provider of GPUs so what did you expect?! Are you annoyed by the fact that nvidia has enough money to invest into the AI market? Notton said: Nvidia is paying AI companies to artificially inflate demand for their own GPUs. How is that supposed to work?! I could understand if the argument was that nvidia makes the AI market bigger by investing themselves into it ,but that is just normal business. Nvidia is paying (investing in) AI companies to increase/keep high demand for their own GPUs. There is nothing artificial about it. call101010 said: because when prices go too high you will also lose a huge percentage of buyers who will not afford to buy it any more … That means that that product isn't in high demand, if you increase the price for something that nobody wants then yes, of course, fewer people will buy it. Reply
magbarn Notton said: I'd agree, if it weren't for the fact that… https://www.techspot.com/images2/news/bigimage/2025/10/2025-10-28-image-32.jpg Nvidia is paying AI companies to artificially inflate demand for their own GPUs. The more Nvidia GPUs gamers buy, the more it goes into AI. This chart is straight up disgusting. There's definitely going to be taxpayer funded bailouts when this blows up. Consumers are taking it in the chin now and will take to the temple later. Reply
ezst036 magbarn said: This chart is straight up disgusting. There's definitely going to be taxpayer funded bailouts when this blows up. Heads they win, tails you lose. But it depends on who the target recipient of the bailout is. People around here loved the CHIPS Act so don't expect all bailouts to be universally hated on pure principles of what a bailout actually is. Some people will tell you with a straight face that money for billionaires is a good thing – when its "their" billionaires and favored industry. Several rounds of bailouts over the years prove this. In a sane reality, when the AI bubble pops Nvidia's time on this earth should be complete and the book will be then closed. I like you think our money will keep the book propped open artificially. Reply
TerryLaze magbarn said: This chart is straight up disgusting. There's definitely going to be taxpayer funded bailouts when this blows up. Consumers are taking it in the chin now and will take to the temple later. This can't blow up completely, whatever your opinions are AI is here to stay, many of the AI companies are not going to make it, for sure, but they will just be absorbed by those that will make it, it will be a slow process the balloon will deflate and not pop. ezst036 said: But it depends on who the target recipient of the bailout is. People around here loved the CHIPS Act so don't expect all bailouts to be universally hated on pure principles of what a bailout actually is. CHIPS wasn't a bailout, it was investing into healthy companies that had no financial problems, to make them prefer building in the US instead of overseas. Reply
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/gigabyte-ceo-explains-nvidias-potential-gpu-supply-strategy-amid-crushing-memory-shortages-gross-revenue-per-gigabyte-of-gddr7-memory-could-decide-what-products-thrive#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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