With The RTX 5070 Ti Reportedly Dead, The RAM Crisis Has Officially Hit Graphics Cards

Due to accrued request for hardware from AI information centers, 2026 was already going to suck for anyone looking to upgrade oregon physique a gaming PC. Now it looks similar things are getting adjacent worse, arsenic the RTX 5070 Ti is seemingly dead, according to a study from Hardware Unboxed.

According to Hardware Unboxed's Tim Schiesser, a root astatine Asus claimed astatine CES 2026 that the RTX 5070 Ti has fundamentally reached extremity of life, with Asus incapable to get proviso to proceed shipping the graphics card. This is reportedly owed to the 16GB of VRAM connected the card, which is apt driving up the costs of production. And with the more-expensive RTX 5080 besides sporting this VRAM allocation, it wouldn't beryllium astonishing for Nvidia to prioritize its production.

Rather than making the 5070 Ti impossible to get, this is alternatively making the graphics paper overmuch much expensive. Already, connected Newegg, prices person ballooned since Hardware Unboxed's video premiered. As of this writing, determination are inactive a fistful of listings disposable beneath $1,000, but astir sellers person already bumped prices up to $1,100 oregon much – and remember, this is simply a GPU that's expected to retail for $749. These are akin to prices that we saw erstwhile the graphics paper archetypal came out, and it's improbable that it's going to halt here.

At the moment, it seems similar lone Nvidia's highest-end cards are affected. The RTX 5060, RTX 5050, and RTX 5070 are inactive wrong scope of their starting prices. Though, according to this report, the RTX 5060 Ti, which besides has 16GB of VRAM, could beryllium adjacent connected the chopping block.

Schiesser besides claims the aforesaid sources wrong Nvidia committee partners said that the RTX 5080 Super – on with the remainder of Nvidia's mid-generation refresh – person been enactment connected clasp oregon canceled owed to RAM proviso issues. So, if you've been connected the obstruction astir upgrading your graphics card, you mightiness privation to either leap connected it earlier prices spell up further, oregon hold for the RTX 60-series motorboat sometime adjacent year.

I reached retired to Nvidia and Asus for comment, and Nvidia told me, "Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs is strong, and representation proviso is constrained. We proceed to vessel each GeForce SKUs and are moving intimately with our suppliers to maximize representation availability." Even so, Asus abandoning the RTX 5070 Ti suggests costs person gone up capable to severely bounds the proviso of the graphics paper either way. I'll update this nonfiction if I perceive backmost from Asus.

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A large crushed down these proviso issues is the authorities of the representation market. Ever since November, RAM prices person been exploding, with representation kits costing astir 4 times arsenic overmuch arsenic they did successful October 2025. This is owed to ample AI models and information centers needing immense quantities of memory, which is driving up request for RAM. We adjacent reached the constituent wherever Crucial, Micron's user RAM brand, has unopen its doors.

Just yesterday I reached retired to Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst for Moor Insight and Strategy, and helium told maine that this representation situation we've entered is apt to past into 2027 oregon adjacent 2028. He said that portion past representation shortages were typically cyclical, this 1 mightiness beryllium antithetic due to the fact that "with AI we mightiness spot a structural alteration to however representation is consumed." Until now, the situation has seemed constricted to the existent representation modules, but if the RTX 5070 Ti is efficaciously discontinued similar Hardware Unboxed suggests, the occupation has spilled implicit into mid- to high-end graphics cards.

The astir almighty graphics cards were already affected by this shortage, judging by RTX 5090 prices. That graphics paper launched for $1,999, but close present volition acceptable you backmost astatine slightest $4,500, if you tin adjacent bargain it astatine all.

Prebuilt gaming PCs haven't been deed by these constituent terms jumps yet, arsenic the manufacturers bargain merchandise successful bulk. But if the marketplace keeps going the mode it's going, it's a substance of clip until the lone gaming PC you tin reasonably bargain is packing an 8GB RTX 5060 oregon Radeon RX 9060 and 16GB of RAM. So overmuch for Nvidia and AMD pushing 4K gaming arsenic the caller normal.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra