Are we seeing the first signs of Nvidia abandoning PC gamers? As the RTX 5090 seemingly disappears from shelves, I’m more concerned about GeForce GPUs
It’s been a theory for quite some time that Nvidia is – what’s the polite way to say this? – let’s say deprioritize PC gamers, perhaps, or more specifically, their gaming graphics cards. But this week has added more evidence to the collective weight that GeForce GPUs are increasingly at risk of being further marginalized by the Green Team.
First I talk about the story that emerged a few days ago, where a leaker claimed that Nvidia is diverting all GB202 (Blackwell) chips to make AI graphics cards (RTX Pro). That’s the graphics processor used in the RTX 5090, but apparently not anymore; We’re told it’s now only for AI boards.
That makes some sense since the RTX 5090 is already disappearing from shelves, certainly in the US, where you can’t buy one for less than $10k (by ripping off third-party sellers, with major retailers not already stocking it). Arguably, this effective discontinuation of the RTX 5090 is already happening.
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On top of that, the latest developments are that Micro Center is reportedly listing Blackwell’s flagship as “unavailable”, and Nvidia itself has removed all mention of the RTX 5090 from its own GPU marketplace (although it’s still mentioned elsewhere on the site). Look for the RTX 5090 in that market and you won’t find it anymore: the highest-end graphics card listed is now the RTX 5080 (tip to Wccftech for spotting this flagged on Reddit).
Short of an actual Nvidia announcement (which probably would never happen anyway), it seems like about as clear an indication as you can get that the RTX 5090 has been kicked out the starting gate, never to return, because Nvidia needs those GB202 chips where they’re most profitable. RTX Pro GPUs offer a much higher premium that Team Green can rack up.
A new Blackwell flagship?
So what does this mean? For starters, if it is true that the RTX 5090 has been scrapped, the RTX 5080 becomes Nvidia GeForce’s flagship GPU. Once existing stock of the RTX 5090 runs out, this could mean the price of the RTX 5080 is inflated. When I say inflated, I mean elevated. even morebecause it has already experienced some unpleasant price increases. Currently, the RTX 5080 costs around $1,800 in the US at Newegg, or £1,450 at Overclockers in the UK, and those are the lowest prices; from there it goes up. It is a very similar story in many other regions.
This is clearly a concern for gamers, as can be seen in the Reddit thread I pointed out above, with comments like: “If you want a 5080, better buy it while you can still afford it.” Really, it’s debatable whether the card is anything like “affordable” relative to its graphics framerate even now.
This is where another rumor comes into play. Elsewhere, there is talk that Nvidia could launch the long-speculated RTX 5080 Super variant. This would be a 24GB graphics card and would essentially replace the discontinued RTX 5090; the theory is that Nvidia would also abandon the base RTX 5080 (16GB). This would leave the rumored RTX 5080 Super as the only high-end GeForce graphics card, well above the RTX 5070 Ti.
If that happens, imagine the pricing concerns here: what MSRP would Nvidia add to the RTX 5080 Super? And then consider the cost inflation that will be added when you take into account that this card will also be sought after for AI use (as seen with the RTX 5090).
If an RTX 5080 Super does indeed arrive by early 2027, that would also suggest that the next-gen RTX 6000 family is further away than some rumors believe, as this Super version would be an interim GPU to keep the Blackwell range running. The AMR crisis may also have a lot to do with this strategy, given that most predictions predict that it will get worse next year (and that the misery will continue until 2028, and perhaps beyond). Of course, launching a new GeForce range with so much memory against it would not be easy.
Focus on software and streaming dreams
All in all, it seems to me as if there is a flow of subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints and rumors that Nvidia is slowing down gaming GPU development a lot (although it doesn’t want to give that impression, naturally). The other part of the equation here is the greater focus on the software side, of course, rather than the hardware. DLSS 5 is now available and Nvidia is already working hard to perfect and refine that neural rendering technology, and something else that happened earlier this week was that Team Green highlighted some big performance gains here. In fact, great progress has been made.
Of course, one could argue that all the development resources being poured into DLSS, including frame-raising, which got a big boost alongside DLSS 5, show Nvidia. it’s not ditch gaming GPUs for PC gamers. And I admit that’s true to some extent, but there’s a strong sense of a major slowdown leading to the dreaded deprioritization of GeForce GPUs, and there’s another angle to consider here too: cloud gaming.
Don’t forget that GeForce Now also benefits from DLSS. Just this week, Nvidia added DLSS 4.5 override controls to the streaming service to help boost frame rates – those on the RTX 5080 (Ultimate) plan can now use dynamic multi-frame generation up to 4x longer. Ray Reconstruction to enhance images with ray tracing is also available, among other options.
Would Nvidia prefer to have subscribed to its cloud gaming service, making monthly payments, rather than purchasing a GeForce GPU for a lump sum? It seems like an obvious direction the company is headed, and with more and more warning signs surrounding Team Green’s gaming GPUs, I’m increasingly convinced that this is where Nvidia’s priorities are shifting for the future of PC gaming.
This isn’t to say that GeForce graphics cards are definitely on the way out, or that an RTX 6000 line won’t be produced (after all, it’s already underway), but beyond the next generation, I’m increasingly doubtful about where GeForce GPUs might fit in the big PC gaming landscape. Between demand for AI and cloud gaming (plus ever-faster internet connections), a contraction is underway that could be painful for the GeForce line, and the current RAM crisis isn’t helping matters either.
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