Reports from the YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed indicate that ASUS has ceased production of the RTX 5070 Ti and the 16GB version of the RTX 5060 Ti, attributing the decision to persistent shortages in memory components. During a recent video discussion, the channel revealed that ASUS directly informed them of a severe supply limitation affecting the RTX 5070 Ti, prompting the manufacturer to classify it as end-of-life and discontinue further manufacturing.
The channel also consulted with Australian retailers, who confirmed that the RTX 5070 Ti is presently unavailable through suppliers and distributors, a situation projected to persist into at least the initial months of the year. Similarly, the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti is nearing depletion, as ASUS has announced intentions to stop producing this variant as well. These models feature 16GB of memory, which elevates their production costs amid today's challenging market conditions. Although there is speculation about a potential reintroduction of the RTX 5070 Ti and 16GB RTX 5060 Ti later in the year, experts from the channel view such a revival as improbable.
Engadget received a statement from a NVIDIA representative noting, 'GeForce RTX GPU demand remains robust, while memory supplies are limited. We are actively distributing all GeForce product lines and collaborating with suppliers to enhance memory procurement.' ASUS has yet to reply to inquiries from Engadget on this matter.
Following the video's release, Hardware Unboxed issued a follow-up explanation. They clarified that ASUS never indicated NVIDIA had officially ended the RTX 5070 Ti line. Instead, ASUS highlighted extremely limited availability of the RTX 5070 Ti, leading to end-of-life designation for their own variants, such as the Prime and TUF Gaming series. Moreover, with no add-in-board partners able to provide RTX 5070 Ti units to retailers, the product is essentially obsolete in practice.
The surge in artificial intelligence applications has fueled enormous appetite for RAM and related hardware among data center operators. Consequently, numerous memory producers have redirected manufacturing efforts toward high-bandwidth memory tailored for these enterprise needs, sidelining standard consumer products and driving up costs for items like GPU memory, consumer RAM, and solid-state drives. Last December, Micron Technology disclosed plans to phase out its consumer-oriented Crucial line, pivoting entirely to AI sector supply.
ASUS marks the initial NVIDIA add-in-board partner to address the ongoing memory supply issues publicly. Add-in-board firms handle the bulk of graphics card production for NVIDIA and AMD offerings. Traditionally, NVIDIA has supplied its partners with both the processor chips and required memory for card assembly. However, circulating reports suggest NVIDIA may now require these partners to independently acquire memory components.
This article includes updates: NVIDIA's response was incorporated at 2:06 PM ET, and the additional clarification from Hardware Unboxed was added at 6:31 PM ET.