Mid to low-end graphics cards for gaming seem to have an uncertain future, or will at least be less readily available in the future. Memory shortages have already cast doubt over the upcoming RTX 50 Super cards, with the most recent expectation being a Q3 2026 launch for the Super cards, expected to deliver more VRAM than Nvidia’s current models. And now, a new report suggests that Nvidia and AMD have considered discontinuing cheaper GPUs, which offer less margin for profit.

Cheaper GPUs have long been the most popular choice among PC gamers, with cards like the RTX 3060 and RTX 4060 still dominating Steam’s monthly Hardware survey, and we don’t expect that to change any time soon. Interestingly, the report fails to mention Intel, whose Arc graphics cards are focused on the low to mid-range market.

Slim margins are said to be the reason why mid to low-end GPUs are affected

The first thing to note is that the source of this report, Korea Economic Daily, has since removed the article from its website. However, that’s not before analyst @Jukanlosreve on X could translate it into English. The report primarily focuses on the issue of memory shortages and price hikes for DRAM. We’ve already seen this significantly impact the price of DDR5 and DDR4 RAM for consumers lately. The report reveals that memory prices have “more than doubled in a month”.

“Companies are highly likely to cut back production of low-priced products with slim margins and raise overall prices.”

TrendForce, via Korea Economic Daily [translated]

These inflated memory prices are starting to eat into profitability. As for desktop graphics cards, memory costs account for a significant part of manufacturing, particularly for mid to low-end models. The report names ASUS as one brand that is reviewing plans to reduce memory capacity. If we were to speculate, this may most affect models like the RTX 5060 Ti (16GB) and RX 9060 XT (16GB), though we already know that their respective 8GB variants are much less popular with PC gamers.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.