NVIDIA Reportedly Steering AICs Toward RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, Restricting 8GB Model Shipments

It seems NVIDIA has quietly shifted gears in how it wants the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti lineup to be perceived on the market. According to a new report, the company is nudging its board partners to focus on the 16GB model while limiting the distribution of the less desirable 8GB edition. The reasoning behind this strategic move is fairly straightforward – the 8GB cards are not selling well, while gamers appear to be gravitating heavily toward the higher VRAM variant.

A report originating from the Chinese hardware forum Board Channels indicates that NVIDIA is managing its supply chain more tightly this time around. AIBs (add-in board partners) are said to have accumulated a surplus of RTX 5060 Ti 8GB units sitting in inventory, while the 16GB edition has been performing strongly at retail. In response, NVIDIA is now advising partners to slow down shipments of the 8GB version to distributors and retailers, preventing shelves from being clogged with unsold stock.

Currently, the RTX 50-series has reached a stable price zone, with the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti now commonly available at its MSRP. The problem, however, is that the difference between the two models is only around $70 – a gap that most buyers consider negligible for double the VRAM. To make matters worse for NVIDIA’s cheaper SKU, AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB is available at roughly the same price as the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, giving buyers even less reason to pick the smaller-memory card.

In a market where modern games regularly chew through more than 8GB of VRAM at 1440p or even 1080p with ultra textures, the 8GB 5060 Ti seems like a relic of past product segmentation strategies. Many players and reviewers have been vocal about the importance of memory capacity for future-proofing, and this sentiment is clearly reflected in consumer trends. Gamers are voting with their wallets – and they’re choosing the 16GB card.

From a business perspective, NVIDIA’s approach makes sense. By limiting the 8GB stock, the company keeps its pricing stable while encouraging gamers to invest just a bit more for a model that actually meets modern expectations. This strategy could also indirectly pressure AMD, whose 8GB RX 9060 XT models are reportedly suffering from the same disinterest despite attractive sub-$300 offers.

Ultimately, while this remains an unconfirmed report, the rumor carries a fair amount of weight given how the market has behaved since launch. With a 65% probability rating – categorized as “Probable” – this aligns with NVIDIA’s broader pattern of steering consumers toward more premium SKUs without cutting prices. The days of affordable mid-range GPUs might be fading, as even the so-called ‘budget’ RTX 5060 Ti now sits comfortably in the $400 bracket once the memory bump is considered.

As one hardware enthusiast bluntly put it online: “NVIDIA doesn’t want you buying the cheaper card – they want to teach you that $400 is the new normal for midrange.” Whether that’s cynical business or smart market alignment depends on who you ask, but the message from NVIDIA is clear: 8GB is over, and 16GB is the baseline for the future.