Briefly: 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 latest GPUs maintain the market again, refreshing Nvidia’s older structure with a monstrous VRAM pool may fulfill prospects in search of 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 accessible to avid gamers. It is unclear when the productivity-focused graphics card is perhaps accessible, 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 mentioned 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 might grow to be accessible in China in three or 4 months. One other consumer, Fangyin Cheng, claims to have heard from a Shenzhen vendor that the 96GB card may 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 probably solely acquainted with the 24GB model of the enthusiast-class GPU, which offers loads of VRAM for enjoying video games in 4K with ray tracing. Nevertheless, variants with twice that quantity started showing in China final yr. Designed to facilitate cloud computing and AI, the improved graphics playing cards sometimes value over $2,000, and the 96GB variations might double the associated fee.
The event comes as Nvidia’s newest GPU lineup, the RTX 50 sequence, faces headwinds resulting from low inventory and the specter of tariffs on items imported from China into the US. Retail CEOs predict larger costs, and market evaluation suggests the devoted graphics market might undergo.
Each RTX 50 GPU, together with the RTX 5070 that Nvidia launched this week, immediately disappeared from retailer cabinets on launch day and isn’t – if ever – accessible at MSRP. Reviews recommend that offer might enhance within the coming weeks, however a brand new report from Jon Peddie Analysis warns that tariffs may gradual the market by 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 %. All of that progress got here from laptop computer graphics, which rose by two % whereas discrete AIBs declined by three %.
AMD’s competing merchandise, the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT, may launch with considerably stronger provide whereas beating Nvidia’s mid-range GPUs in early benchmarks. Whether or not Group Pink’s playing cards really seem at MSRP stays to be seen, however Jon Peddie predicts that the corporate will not escape the affect of tariffs.
