Nvidia is reportedly developing an RTX 5050 GPU with 9GB of VRAM, utilizing a narrower 96-bit memory bus but faster GDDR7 modules, resulting in a slight bandwidth increase over previous designs.
The company is also planning a new RTX 5060 variant that would use a cut-down version of the higher-end GB205 GPU, typically used in the RTX 5070, due to a shortage of its intended GB206 dies.
These product adjustments are presented as responses to ongoing component shortages and supply constraints within the consumer graphics card segment.
Main Topics: Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5050 and RTX 5060 GPU specifications, component shortages impacting product design, and memory configuration changes.
Nvidia reportedly working on RTX 5050 with 9GB of VRAM on a 96-bit bus, featuring 28 Gbps GDDR7 modules — RTX 5060 with cut-down GB205 GPU also planned
Moving away from 8GB GDDR6 modules.
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The global component shortage is apparently affecting Nvidia — one of the catalysts of this very crisis — just as hard as other manufacturers, with the consumer segment taking the hit. Memory and chip constraints are leading the company to think of interesting new products — a new RTX 5050 with 9GB of VRAM seems to be in the works, according to leaker @Zed__Wang.
New product: RTX5050 9GB GDDR7 96BitNV knows they can give you a 5050/5060 128-bit 12G with the new 3G GDDR7 dies. But no, you got a 5050 9G💀March 4, 2026
According to the tweet, this new RTX 5050 will adopt 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory chips in favor of the existing 20 Gbps GDDR6 modules. The VRAM capacity will be upped from 8GB to 9GB, but the bus width will be cut down from 128-bit to just 96-bit. The current spec translates to 320 GB/s of bandwidth, and the updated spec will result in 336 GB/s bandwidth, which is a 5% increase.
The leaker goes on to mention that Nvidia could build 12GB variants of the RTX 5050 and 5060 with 3GB GDDR7 chips, but perhaps the company isn't concerned with value maximization like that, especially not in these times. The last time a desktop GPU from Nvidia rocked a 96-bit interface was back in 2024 with the RTX 3050, so it's actually not too distant of a memory.
The rest of the specs should remain identical; the same GB207 die with 2,560 CUDA cores, built on TSMC's 5nm process, rated at 130W. Clock speed differences (if any) will become public knowledge as we near the potential release of this SKU. The RTX 5050 is one of the few GPUs that basically saw no price hikes in the past few months, only going up about $10. The only other card with the same stability was the RTX 5060.
RTX5060 GB205 incomingNV has jammed AIC with 5060Ti 8G, and later realized Oh shit, no GB206 for 5060. And here comes the solution: 5060 based on GB205. Poor AICs need to make a new 5060 PCB design to house the GB205. Basically making a 5070 PCB with an 8-pin connector.March 4, 2026
Speaking of which, @Zed__Wang also talked about a new RTX 5060 in the works with a cut-down version of the GB205 GPU — that's the silicon that powers the RTX 5070. Apparently, Nvidia has told AIBs to focus on the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti, which has led to a shortage of GB206 dies for RTX 5060 SKUs. Since both the RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti use the GB206, the chipmaker is now forced to switch gears.
Defective GB205 dies might be repurposed to fit into new PCB designs for the RTX 5060 with an 8-pin power connector. Otherwise, the RTX 5070 has a 12V-2x6 connector and the GB205 die inside features 6,144 CUDA cores — those would be reduced to 3,840 CUDA cores for an RTX 5060. Moreover, the bus width on the GB205 is 192-bit and that would also go down, to 128-bit, in order to match an RTX 5060.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
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Gururu Very interesting adjustment by nVidia. I have to say that the 5050-5060 cards are positioning themselves for long term domination.Reply -
LordVile Reply
Don’t really see that tbh, they’re better in budget builds for pricing but they’re massively impacted by the x8 configuration in anything that isn’t PCIE 5 which isn’t budget. The 9060 series 8GB cards that has the full x16 lanes is significantly less impacted on systems with PCIE 4 and especially PCIE 3 where the x8 8GB cards are effectively unusable a lot of the time.Gururu said:Very interesting adjustment by nVidia. I have to say that the 5050-5060 cards are positioning themselves for long term domination.
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