The surprising end of the RTX 5070 Ti
The Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti is quietly vanishing from the market far earlier than anyone expected. According to retailer and board partner conversations reported by Hardware Unboxed, the RTX 5070 Ti is effectively end of life. In other words, the cards that are sitting on shelves right now are probably all we are going to get.
Asus has been the most direct so far. It reportedly labeled its Asus RTX 5070 Ti models as end of life because of severe supply shortages. Other manufacturers have not used the same wording but are also said to have almost no stock and no clear sign of more units coming.
This is not just a random production pause. It is tied to a bigger problem that is affecting the entire PC hardware world, especially GPUs.
How the memory crisis killed a great gaming card
The core issue is a huge global crunch in memory production. Data center and AI infrastructure demand has exploded, and that has driven prices up on several key types of memory:
- DRAM for system memory
- NAND for SSD storage
- VRAM used in graphics cards
The RTX 5070 Ti is caught right in the middle of this mess. The card uses 16 GB of fast and expensive GDDR7 memory. On top of that, it is built around the same GB203 GPU that powers the higher tier RTX 5080.
From Nvidia and its partners point of view, this creates a simple but painful choice. The RTX 5080 sells for well over 1200 dollars at retail, while the RTX 5070 Ti, although far from cheap, sits closer to the 800 dollar mark. In a world where VRAM is expensive and GPU wafers are limited, every chip you put on a 5070 Ti is a chip you are not putting on a 5080 that could make more money.
So if supply is tight, it makes sense from a business angle to push most of the available GB203 GPUs and GDDR7 memory into the premium 5080 line instead of the better value 5070 Ti. Unfortunately for gamers, that means the smart value card is the one that gets cut first.
Ironically, that is exactly why many enthusiasts were excited about the RTX 5070 Ti. In testing, it overclocks extremely well without needing crazy power or cooling. A well tuned 5070 Ti can end up within a single digit percentage of RTX 5080 performance, making it a great buy for high end gaming without fully paying flagship prices.
In other words, it was arguably too close to the 5080 in performance for its own good, so in a memory constrained market it is the first one on the chopping block.
What this means for mid range GPUs in 2025
The RTX 5070 Ti is not the only casualty of rising memory costs. The RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB model is also expected to see very limited or no further production if current memory pricing continues. That leaves Nvidia in a strange spot for the rest of 2025.
With 16 GB options disappearing, the GeForce lineup in that mid tier price range will mainly consist of cards with 8 GB of VRAM, plus the RTX 5070 with 12 GB as one of the only somewhat reasonable mid range choices. The RTX 5070 itself is not exactly budget friendly either, hovering around 540 dollars and still feeling a bit rough on value for many gamers.
For modern games that use high resolution textures and heavy ray tracing, 8 GB is already starting to feel cramped at 1440p and above. That makes the loss of affordable 16 GB Nvidia options a serious concern for PC players who want a card that will hold up for several years.
AMD’s RDNA 4 advantage and rising prices
This situation could have opened the door wide for AMD. Its RDNA 4 lineup leans heavily on 16 GB GDDR6 cards like the RX 9070, RX 9070 XT and RX 9060 XT. Right now there is reportedly no end of life concern for those models, and there is still good stock of the 16 GB RX 9060 XT.
Part of the reason is that AMD simply sells far fewer GPUs than Nvidia overall. Retailers do not move as many Radeon cards, so they are not burning through RDNA 4 inventory at the same pace. That leaves them sitting on more 16 GB stock while Nvidia partners run short on comparable memory heavy GeForce models.
However, this is not a pure win for gamers. As soon as it became clear that the RTX 5070 Ti might fade away, pricing pressure kicked in around AMD’s cards as well. The official 599 dollar MSRP for the RX 9070 XT is already slipping toward around 700 dollars in the real world.
If the 5070 Ti truly disappears, the RX 9070 XT will likely be left without a direct Nvidia rival at its price point, which makes it an attractive but more expensive option for players who want 16 GB of VRAM without going full ultra high end.
There is also an open question: if demand suddenly spikes for AMD’s 16 GB models as Nvidia’s options dry up, can AMD and its partners actually keep up? The same memory shortage that hit Nvidia still exists, and sustained heavy demand could strain AMD’s supply too.
What PC gamers should do now
If you have been eyeing a mid to high end GPU upgrade, this situation changes the strategy a bit:
- If you really want an RTX 5070 Ti, you may need to move quickly before remaining stock is gone or prices jump even higher.
- Check 16 GB options on both sides. Nvidia’s supply is shrinking, so AMD’s RDNA 4 cards might become the only relatively accessible 16 GB choices under the true flagship tier.
- Be cautious about paying huge markups. Both Nvidia and AMD partners are clearly testing how high prices can go in this shortage. Compare multiple models and consider whether waiting makes more sense than overpaying.
- Think long term VRAM needs. For modern AAA gaming and future titles, 16 GB is increasingly attractive, especially at 1440p and above with high settings.
The GPU market in 2025 is being shaped less by pure gamer demand and more by the massive appetite for memory from AI and data centers. The quiet death of the RTX 5070 Ti is one of the clearest signs yet of how that battle is spilling over into PC gaming hardware.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/asus-is-killing-off-the-rtx-5070-ti-according-to-fresh-report-the-first-casualty-of-the-memory-crisis-in-the-gpu-world/
