Due to increased demand for hardware from AI data centers, 2026 was already going to suck for anyone looking to upgrade or build a gaming PC. Now it looks like things are getting even worse, as the RTX 5070 Ti is apparently dead, according to a report from Hardware Unboxed.
According to Hardware Unboxed’s Tim Schiesser, a source at Asus claimed at CES 2026 that the RTX 5070 Ti has essentially reached end of life, with Asus unable to get supply to continue shipping the graphics card. This is reportedly due to the 16GB of VRAM on the card, which is likely driving up the costs of production. And with the more-expensive RTX 5080 also sporting this VRAM allocation, it wouldn’t be surprising for Nvidia to prioritize its production.
Rather than making the 5070 Ti impossible to get, this is instead making the graphics card much more expensive. Already, on Newegg, prices have ballooned since Hardware Unboxed’s video premiered. As of this writing, there are still a handful of listings available below $1,000, but most sellers have already bumped prices up to $1,100 or more – and remember, this is a GPU that’s supposed to retail for $749. These are similar to prices that we saw when the graphics card first came out, and it’s unlikely that it’s going to stop here.
At the moment, it seems like only Nvidia’s highest-end cards are affected. The RTX 5060, RTX 5050, and RTX 5070 are still within range of their starting prices. Though, according to this report, the RTX 5060 Ti, which also has 16GB of VRAM, could be next on the chopping block.
Schiesser also claims the same sources within Nvidia board partners said that the RTX 5080 Super – along with the rest of Nvidia’s mid-generation refresh – have been put on hold or canceled due to RAM supply issues. So, if you’ve been on the fence about upgrading your graphics card, you might want to either jump on it before prices go up further, or wait for the RTX 60-series launch sometime next year.
I reached out to Nvidia and Asus for comment, and Nvidia told me, “Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs is strong, and memory supply is constrained. We continue to ship all GeForce SKUs and are working closely with our suppliers to maximize memory availability.” Even so, Asus abandoning the RTX 5070 Ti suggests costs have gone up enough to severely limit the supply of the graphics card either way. I’ll update this article if I hear back from Asus.
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A big reason behind these supply issues is the state of the memory market. Ever since November, RAM prices have been exploding, with memory kits costing nearly four times as much as they did in October 2025. This is due to large AI models and data centers needing vast quantities of memory, which is driving up demand for RAM. We even reached the point where Crucial, Micron’s consumer RAM brand, has shut its doors.
Just yesterday I reached out to Anshel Sag, Principal Analyst for Moor Insight and Strategy, and he told me that this memory crisis we’ve entered is likely to last into 2027 or even 2028. He said that while past memory shortages were typically cyclical, this one might be different because “with AI we might see a structural change to how memory is consumed.” Until now, the crisis has seemed limited to the actual memory modules, but if the RTX 5070 Ti is effectively discontinued like Hardware Unboxed suggests, the problem has spilled over into mid- to high-end graphics cards.
The most powerful graphics cards were already affected by this shortage, judging by RTX 5090 prices. That graphics card launched for $1,999, but right now will set you back at least $4,500, if you can even buy it at all.
Prebuilt gaming PCs haven’t been hit by these component price jumps yet, as the manufacturers buy product in bulk. But if the market keeps going the way it’s going, it’s a matter of time until the only gaming PC you can reasonably buy is packing an 8GB RTX 5060 or Radeon RX 9060 and 16GB of RAM. So much for Nvidia and AMD pushing 4K gaming as the new normal.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra