GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GPUs Are Still In Stock Amid Rumors Of A Production Pause
A shortage of memory chips caused by a surge in demand in the data center to fuel artificial intelligence (AI) workloads is wreaking havoc on the consumer market, and especially in the realm of home computers where DDR5 DRAM kits have shot up in price. The ramifications run even deeper than overpriced DRAM, however, and could impact the availability of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards equipped with 16GB of VRAM.
As you may recall, NVIDIA launched two versions of its mid-range GeForce RTX 5060 Ti based on Blackwell, one with 8GB of GDDR7 and one with 16GB of GDDR7, both of which are linked to a 128-bit bus for up to around 448GB/s of memory bandwidth. To cope with the sudden spike in demand for memory chips, rumor has it NVIDIA may hit pause on the latter variant.
"Due to the significant increase in memory chip prices, the RTX 5060 Ti series product strategy may be adjusted, with rumors suggesting that the 16GB model may be temporarily discontinued," a post on Board Channels states.
The post goes on to claim that larger memory modules are under greater pressure, and as a result, the GeForce RTX 5060 16GB is at risk of being "discontinued altogether." In that scenario, it's said NVIDIA's partners would retain just the 8GB model as an entry-level option, with the GeForce RTX 5070 series being the next step up.
It's important to note that rumors of a temporary pause in production (as spotted by Videocardz) have not been confirmed, and even the Board Channels post is hesitant to say it's a done deal. However, it's not hard to imagine a pause taking place. One thing to note is that the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB uses eight GDDR7 memory chips to arrive at that capacity, whereas the 8GB model uses four. More over, the GeForce RTX 5070 is equipped with six GDDR7 memory chips—two less than the GeForce RX 5060 Ti 16GB—to arrive at its 12GB of VRAM.
Although it's certainly feasible that a pause could take place, we're not seeing any signs in the retail space, at least not yet. Over on Best Buy, for example, there are several in-stock partner models selling at or near NVIDIA's baseline $429 MSRP for the 16GB variant. Here are a few...
- PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC: $429.99
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB Windforce OC: $449.99
- Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB Windforce Max OC: $449.99
- Zotac Twin Edge OC GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB: $455.99
- ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB OC Edition: $479.99
We don't necessarily recommend spending too much past the baseline MSRP, but there are options out there, including some that top $500. The bigger takeaway is that if a production pause is going to happen, it hasn't yet affected retail availability.
We'll have to see what next year brings, though. In addition to DRAM suddenly becoming cost prohibitive, several system builders and hardware partners have warned that PC price hikes are coming.
