Rumors suggest that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB might be on its way out. Modern games and demanding players are increasingly seeking graphics cards with substantial VRAM, making the 8GB on this more affordable RTX 5060 Ti less appealing. This perceived lack of interest has reportedly prompted Nvidia to introduce a “selective supply” strategy for the card.
While the core GPU within this Nvidia card is quite powerful, as evidenced by the success of the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, its 8GB counterpart tells a different story. This 8GB version, notably absent from reviewer testing, appears significantly hampered by its VRAM capacity. Extensive testing has consistently shown that graphics cards with 8GB of VRAM or less can deliver surprisingly poor performance in certain demanding AAA titles, like ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,’ a major deterrent for many potential buyers.
This significant reluctance from gamers to invest over $350 in an 8GB RTX 5060 Ti has reportedly prompted Nvidia to instruct its manufacturing partners to cut down on supply. A recent report from the Chinese tech site BoardChannels, citing “multiple sources,” indicates that Nvidia is executing a “precise strategy control” for the RTX 5060 Ti, specifically targeting a reduction in the availability of the 8GB variant. This strategy directly impacts the board partners responsible for producing these graphics cards from Nvidia-supplied GPUs.
The report further clarifies that this “selective supply” directive isn’t due to any production challenges on Nvidia’s part, but rather a direct response to weak consumer demand. Instead of overstocking retailers with cards that might not sell, Nvidia aims to maintain an 8GB supply that aligns with its intended Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The article even mentions that Nvidia is “prohibiting low-price sales,” indicating a desire to prevent a surplus of heavily discounted RTX 5060 Ti 8GB cards from flooding the market.
Furthermore, the report speculates that Nvidia intends to gradually phase out the 8GB card, asserting that the company is “controlling 8GB supply to accelerate the market migration to the 16GB version,” effectively pushing consumers towards the higher VRAM model.
It’s important to remember that Nvidia has not officially confirmed any of these details, so this information should be treated as speculation for now. However, these claims align with earlier rumors from approximately six weeks prior, which also suggested Nvidia was limiting the supply of both the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB and the RTX 5060 GPUs, citing similar reasons for the decision.
This VRAM bottleneck is not exclusive to Nvidia; comparable cards like AMD’s Radeon RX 7600 and the newer RX 9060 XT also experience significant performance drops in demanding AAA games. However, these AMD models, along with Nvidia’s RTX 5060, have consistently retailed for under $300, a price point where gamers might be more forgiving of VRAM limitations. In contrast, the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, with an MSRP of $379, has faced considerable criticism due to this exact issue.
Have you hesitated to purchase a new AMD or Nvidia GPU because of insufficient VRAM? If so, which card did you choose, or did you decide against upgrading altogether? Share your experiences with us!