The push to feed AI data centers with ever-larger amounts of memory appears to have claimed another high-profile victim: NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.
According to a report from Hardware Unboxed, the 16GB Blackwell-based GPU — widely viewed as one of the most attractive cards in NVIDIA’s RTX 50-series lineup — is effectively disappearing from the market. While NVIDIA has not formally declared the RTX 5070 Ti’s end-of-life (EOL), multiple add-in-board (AIB) partners and retailers have informed Hardware Unboxed that there is no longer any incoming stock.
One AIB partner, ASUS, reportedly confirmed that it has placed its RTX 5070 Ti models into EOL status due to ongoing supply shortages. In practical terms, that means whatever inventory remains on shelves is the last that consumers will see from ASUS, with no new production planned.
Memory shortages drive tough prioritisation
This situation aligns with rumours circulating since late 2025 that NVIDIA would be forced to cut RTX 50-series production by 30–40% in 2026 due to DRAM constraints. Newer reports suggest the company is now explicitly prioritising GPU production based on memory configurations.
According to Hong Kong outlet HKEPC, NVIDIA is focusing:
- On 8GB cards like the RTX 5060 Ti
- On 16GB cards like the RTX 5080
- Continuing production of the flagship RTX 5090
That leaves awkwardly positioned models — notably the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5070 Ti — deprioritized or effectively abandoned.
Prices spike as availability dries up
Unsurprisingly, retail pricing has reacted fast. The RTX 5070 Ti launched with a $749 MSRP, but current listings show:
- Limited availability around $829–$850
- Many models are climbing to $1,200+
The 16GB RTX 5060 Ti is facing a similar fate, with prices drifting well above its $429 launch MSRP.
For gamers, this is particularly painful. As modern titles continue to scale VRAM usage, 16GB cards were widely viewed as the “safe” choice for 2026 and beyond — and now they’re among the hardest to find.
RTX 50 SUPER cards reportedly postponed
The knock-on effects don’t stop there. Hardware Unboxed also confirmed that NVIDIA’s traditionally mid-cycle SUPER refreshes for the RTX 50-series have been postponed indefinitely. Those variants were rumoured as early as November 2025, but memory shortages appear to have killed the plan for now.
Unless DRAM prices ease significantly — something industry watchers consider unlikely before 2027–2028 — NVIDIA may not revisit those designs anytime soon.
What this means going forward
So far, NVIDIA’s laptop GPUs have avoided the same level of disruption, but on the desktop side, 2026 is shaping up to be a strange year: plenty of low-end and ultra-high-end options, with the mid-range squeezed out by AI-driven supply constraints.
If you already own an RTX 5070 Ti, you may be holding onto one of the last reasonably balanced 16GB gaming GPUs NVIDIA ships for quite some time.
