Nvidia Changes How It Sells GPUs To Partners
A recent rumor from leaker Golden Pig Upgrade suggests that Nvidia has made a quiet but important change in how it works with its board partners. According to the leak, Nvidia is no longer bundling video memory, or VRAM, with the GPUs it sells to AIBs. AIB stands for add in board partners, which are companies like Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and others that design and sell custom graphics cards based on Nvidia chips.
In the previous model, Nvidia would typically supply both the GPU chip and the matching VRAM package together. This meant partners could focus on the PCB layout, cooling design and power delivery while relying on Nvidia for the core components. If this leak is accurate, that part of the relationship has changed, and AIBs are now responsible for sourcing VRAM themselves.
This might sound like a small behind the scenes adjustment, but it could have a noticeable impact on pricing, card designs and future availability for gamers and PC builders.
What This Means For VRAM And Graphics Cards
VRAM is critical for gaming performance. It stores textures, frame buffers and other data the GPU needs to render modern games smoothly and at high resolutions. The type, speed and capacity of VRAM can make a big difference in how well a graphics card performs, especially at 1440p and 4K.
If AIB partners are now in charge of buying their own memory chips, several things could happen:
- More flexibility in memory sourcing Partners might choose different memory vendors depending on price and availability. That could help keep production running even when supply is tight.
- Potential variation in VRAM quality Since VRAM would no longer come as a fixed bundle with the GPU, it is possible that different brands or even different models could use slightly different memory chips, speeds or timings.
- Room for more custom models Some partners might experiment with higher capacity or faster VRAM on certain models, creating more specialized cards for high resolution gaming or content creation.
- Exposure to memory price swings Instead of Nvidia absorbing some of the risk of memory price changes, AIBs would deal with it directly. That could affect how often prices move up or down on store shelves.
For gamers, the most immediate concern is usually stable performance and reliable memory. If this shift encourages more variety or better tuned designs, it could be a positive. If it leads to inconsistent memory choices between models, users may need to pay closer attention to detailed specifications when buying a new GPU.
How It Could Affect Prices And Availability
Any change in the supply chain has the potential to influence what you pay for a graphics card. By removing VRAM from the bundle, Nvidia offloads part of the component cost and logistics to its partners. Those partners still need to buy memory from companies like Micron, Samsung or Hynix, and they will price their final cards accordingly.
There are a few possible outcomes for the market:
- More competitive pricing between brands If some AIBs can secure cheaper VRAM or negotiate better deals, they might be able to offer slightly lower prices or better specs at the same price compared to competitors.
- Bigger gap between budget and premium models Higher end custom cards might use faster or more expensive VRAM, widening the difference between entry level and flagship versions of the same GPU.
- Different regions seeing different pricing Since local memory supply and pricing can vary by region, some countries might see better deals than others depending on how easily partners can source VRAM locally.
Availability may also be affected. During times of memory shortages, AIBs that plan well and lock in good supply contracts might continue shipping cards while others face delays. In previous years, both GPUs and VRAM have gone through extreme supply crunches, so decentralizing VRAM sourcing could spread out some of that risk, but it could also create uneven stock levels between brands.
It is important to remember that this information is based on a leak, not an official Nvidia announcement. The company and its partners may also apply this change gradually across different product lines rather than switching everything at once.
What Gamers And PC Builders Should Watch For
If this shift becomes the new normal, there are a few practical things to keep in mind when choosing your next graphics card:
- Check the VRAM specs carefully Look at both capacity and speed. Some models might offer faster memory or better configurations that help with higher resolution gaming.
- Compare brands for the same GPU Since partners may not all be using identical VRAM, it is worth checking reviews and detailed specifications for each brand and model you are considering.
- Follow tech news on memory changes Any big shift in memory standards like a move to faster GDDR generations or new packaging could show up differently across partner cards if each AIB handles its own sourcing.
For now, this reported change mostly affects the business relationship between Nvidia and its board partners, but it can trickle down into the options and prices you see as a gamer. If you build your own PC or plan to upgrade your GPU, keeping an eye on how different models handle VRAM will become even more important.
As more information emerges and if Nvidia or its partners confirm the shift, we are likely to see deeper analysis from reviewers and hardware enthusiasts. That will help clarify which cards benefit from the new flexibility and which ones to avoid. Until then, treat this as a useful early signal of how the GPU market might be evolving behind the scenes.
Original article and image: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/nvidia-reportedly-no-longer-supplying-vram-to-its-gpu-board-partners-in-response-to-memory-crunch-rumor-claims-vendors-will-only-get-the-die-forced-to-source-memory-on-their-own
