Nvidia has reportedly killed production of all RTX 40 GPUs apart from the 4050 and 4060 as affordable 50-series GPUs could arrive earlier than expected
Nvidia has stopped making almost all its current-gen RTX 40 GPUs. Only the AD107 chip remains in production, the GPU used in the RTX 4050 and 4060 graphics cards, the former a mobile-only model.
At least, so says a report on Board Channels (via Videocardz), claiming "Nvidia has completely shut down the AD106 production line, with all its capacity reallocated to the RTX 50 series lines. Only a single AD107 line is temporarily retained. As a result, the RTX 40 series has entered its final quarter of clearance, with mid-to-high-end RTX 40 GPUs gradually halting production and supply. "
This news follows earlier reports in September of Nvidia's plans to end production of the AD102 chip found inside RTX 4090 and 4090D graphics boards. For the record, the AD106 chip is used for the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070, while the AD107 is for the 4060 desktop and mobile and 4050 mobile.
The implications of all this are clear enough. If Nvidia is winding down the RTX 40-series family, whatever follows it must be nearly ready for launch. If you assume a typical launch schedule, you would indeed expect Nvidia to wind down high-end GPU models like the 4090 first, given the company typically rolls out premium members of any new GPU generation on day one, with more affordable variants emerging over the following months.
If there is anything surprising about this rumour, then, it's not that some Nvidia RTX 40-series GPUs have stopped production, but that quite so many have. Current rumours suggest Nvidia will unleash the new RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards in January, very likely at the CES show in Las Vegas.
Now, if we wind back to the launch of the RTX 40-series, there was a six month gap between the RTX 4090 and the RTX 4070, with a further month for the 4060. However, for that generation, Nvidia released the 4090 and 4080 boards in October, with the 4070 in the following April.
Anyway, the point is that if Nvidia has indeed already knocked RTX 4060 Ti and 4070 production on the head, leaving only RTX 4060 desktop and RTX 4050 and 4060 laptop, then that implies a much compressed launch timetable for the RTX 50 family, with the 5090 in January and the 5070 in February or March and the 5060 and 5060 Ti perhaps a month later.
That would mean some elements of the RTX 50 family will launch later that their respective RTX 40 counterparts, while others arrive earlier. Given most gamers will be looking at the more affordable end of the range, this is all pretty good news.
It means that just because the RTX 5090 and 5080 probably won't appear until January, it doesn't necessarily mean we'll have to wait until July or August next year for the likes of the RTX 5060 and 5070. Hurrah and huzzah, though we'll probably want to see how Nvidia prices all these new cards before we get too excited.
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