NVIDIA is discontinuing standard RTX 5080 production
According to leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead, NVIDIA may stop shipping the GeForce RTX 5080 with 16 GB of video memory in January 2027. A source with ties to a major retailer claims the company has already set a timeline for phasing the model out.
What will replace it
According to Taiwanese publication BenchLife, NVIDIA plans to unveil an updated GeForce RTX 5080 with 24 GB of GDDR7 video memory in the first quarter of 2027. The new model is expected to replace the existing 16 GB version.
The planned memory increase would come from using eight 3 GB GDDR7 chips instead of the current 2 GB chips. The memory bus will remain unchanged at 256 bits.
The extra 8 GB of video memory could be useful in modern games with high-resolution textures, especially with ray tracing and high graphics settings. However, more memory alone does not guarantee a noticeable performance boost.
The new graphics card will be significantly more expensive
Switching to higher-capacity GDDR7 chips could substantially increase the card’s manufacturing cost. According to TrendForce, a 3 GB memory chip costs around $60-70, compared with about $20 for a 2 GB chip.
As a result, the cost of the eight memory chips could rise from $160 to $480-560. That’s a difference of $320-400, although NVIDIA’s and its partners’ actual purchase prices may vary.
The current RTX 5080 had a launch MSRP of $999. The updated model’s price is not yet known, but the higher memory costs could make it considerably more expensive.
According to preliminary information, the new version is already listed in the internal systems of some retailers. However, NVIDIA has not yet announced the graphics card or revealed its specifications.
Plans for the future
More details are also emerging about NVIDIA’s next generation of gaming graphics cards. According to leaker Kopite7kimi, the GeForce RTX 60 series may not launch until 2028, although a late-2027 release had previously been considered.
The new graphics cards are expected to use the Rubin architecture. However, NVIDIA has not yet confirmed that it will be used in consumer GPUs.
The next generation is expected to deliver better ray-tracing performance and further advances in DLSS upscaling technology. Specific specifications, release dates, and prices for GeForce RTX 60 graphics cards are not yet known.
