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In short: Though Nvidia’s RTX 5090 is technically the brand new efficiency king, it is not a quantum leap over its predecessor, the 4090, which stays top-of-the-line merchandise for gaming and AI workloads. As inadequate shares of recent GPUs maintain the market again, refreshing Nvidia’s older structure with a monstrous VRAM pool would possibly fulfill clients looking for compute efficiency.
An online developer going by “@eisneim” on X (previously Twitter) claims to have seen an RTX 4090 with 96GB of VRAM, quadruple the 24GB usually out there to avid gamers. It is unclear when the productivity-focused graphics card is likely to be out there, however indicators recommend the 5090 hasn’t fully pushed its predecessor out of the market.
Eisneim noticed the 96GB RTX 4090 in a Shenzhen manufacturing unit whereas exchanging his 24GB mannequin for the 48GB variant. An worker stated the improved GPU continues to be present process testing and that mass manufacturing will take a while, however they count on excessive demand. Eisneim predicts it may turn into out there in China in three or 4 months. One other person, Fangyin Cheng, claims to have heard from a Shenzhen vendor that the 96GB card would possibly seem in Could.
RTX 4090 96GB confirmed! I went to the GPU manufacturing unit one final time to promote my final 4090 24GB and purchase a model new 48GB; 24GB was purchased in late 2023 for ￥15k($2059) now promote for ￥18.2k($2498) and purchase 48GB for ￥22300($3061) @bdsqlsz @main_horse pic.twitter.com/U01jQbiY7h
– eisneim (@eisneim) March 3, 2025
Most shoppers are seemingly solely accustomed to the 24GB model of the enthusiast-class GPU, which supplies loads of VRAM for taking part in video games in 4K with ray tracing. Nevertheless, variants with twice that quantity started appearing in China final yr. Designed to facilitate cloud computing and AI, the improved graphics playing cards usually price over $2,000, and the 96GB variations may double the fee.
The event comes as Nvidia’s newest GPU lineup, the RTX 50 sequence, faces headwinds on account of low inventory and the specter of tariffs on items imported from China into the USA. Retail CEOs predict greater costs, and market evaluation suggests the devoted graphics market may endure.
Each RTX 50 GPU, together with the RTX 5070 that Nvidia launched this week, immediately disappeared from retailer cabinets on launch day and is never – if ever – out there at MSRP. Studies recommend that provide may enhance within the coming weeks, however a brand new report from Jon Peddie Analysis warns that tariffs would possibly gradual the market by way of the remainder of 2025.
Weak inventory from Nvidia, the market chief, already dampened GPU market progress within the fourth quarter of 2024, which grew by just one p.c. All of that progress got here from laptop computer graphics, which rose by two p.c whereas discrete AIBs declined by three p.c.
AMD’s competing merchandise, the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, would possibly launch with considerably stronger provide whereas beating Nvidia’s mid-range GPUs in early benchmarks. Whether or not Staff Crimson’s playing cards truly seem at MSRP stays to be seen, however Jon Peddie predicts that the corporate will not escape the affect of tariffs.
