We’re still well over six months away from the expected release of Nvidia’s next-gen gaming GPUs based on its new Blackwell GPU architecture. However, it’s being reported that Nvidia graphics card manufacturing partners are already being told that supply of the company’s current RTX 40 GPUs will be reduced in the coming months, to make way for the new launch.
This could mean that those looking to potentially purchase a prime pixel pusher, such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super or RTX 4070 Super, as well as several other options on our best graphics card list, could soon find supply is limited and prices could rise as a result. If this is true, it’s possible we could see the horrendous graphics card price gouging of the COVID pandemic era again, and this time it wouldn’t be the fault of scalpers or cryptocurrency miners, but Nvidia itself.
The report comes from Korean site Quasarzone via WCCFTech, which talked to “Korean industry experts” who claimed they had heard directly from board partners that Nvidia had said there would be limited shipments for its GeForce RTX 40 GPUs, as the launch of Blackwell/RTX 50 GPUs approaches in the second half (2H) of 2024.
Now, while this news is potentially alarming, there are some key reasons to not get too concerned. For a start, whatever reports we’re hearing right now about manufacturing supply, the knock on effects of reduced GPU shipments will inherently take several months to arrive. There will already be orders on the books for these companies, and Nvidia will be aware of (and set to honor) them. By the time supply restriction does kick in, we’re likely to be several months down the line.
Moreover, we aren’t expecting RTX 50 GPUs to arrive until relatively late into the year, with the RTX 5090 release date expected late in 2024 and the RTX 5080 release date pegged for early 2025, so clearly Nvidia won’t want to be restricting supply too soon. We wouldn’t expect there to be any meaningful change from this situation until the second half of this year.
The third point to consider is that, as we get closer to the launch of RTX 50, the more we recommend waiting for the new cards to arrive anyway, before thinking about buying an RTX 40 GPU. In other words, if you’re thinking of snapping up an RTX 40 Super card, you’re better off doing it sooner rather than later, to limit your upgrade envy when Blackwell chips do arrive.
For more PC upgrade recommendations, check out our guide to the best gaming CPU, as well as our best gaming monitor guide, where you can find all the options that best suits your needs if you want to build a gaming PC in the near future.