Nvidia may update high-end 40-series GPUs with GDDR6 memory after GDDR6X shortages

You can trust PC Guide: Our team of experts use a combination of independent consumer research, in-depth testing where appropriate - which will be flagged as such, and market analysis when recommending products, software and services. Find out how we test here.

A report on Benchlife has speculated that we could see a shortage of Nvidia 40-series GPUs using GDDR6X memory, particularly the RTX 4070, by August. This is due to GDDR6X reportedly becoming increasingly scarce and could impact the RTX 4070 and up, with the RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti variants using GDDR6. We recently reported on the issue, which has been blamed on a GDDR6X batch quality issue, but it appears that there could be a solution in the works.

Nvidia may start using the older GDDR6 memory in “RTX 4070 and above series graphics card models”, according to a report cited by Benchmark. While Nvidia had already reportedly cut 40 series production in half in preparation for RTX 50-series GPUs, it seems that the video memory shortage may also cause Nvidia to essentially downgrade their GDDR6X 40-series GPUs with GDDR6.

RTX 4070 could be revised thanks to GDDR6X shortage

Benchlife suggests that while the shortage could impact all RTX 40-series utilizing GDDR6X, it is expected that the RTX 4070 is most at risk of being revised. They state that they’d expect Nvidia “to reserve production capacity for high-end models, especially products with good gross margins, such as GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4080”.

The speedy GDDR6X memory is one of the factors behind Nvidia GPUs delivering strong performance in higher resolutions, in comparison with AMD GPUs which use a wider memory bus. This is key in allowing these 40-series GPUs to achieve a higher memory bandwidth. If GDDR6 is rolled out on Nvidia’s mid to high-end GPUs, there would have to be several tweaks to software and hardware, including the GPU die.

In the case of the RTX 4070, featuring a 192-bit memory bus, this could cause performance throttling in higher resolutions. To put this into context, the AMD RX 7800 XT rivals the RTX 4070 and has 16GB of GDDR6 19.5Gbps memory and a 256-bit memory bus.

Final thoughts

So, it’s clear how opting for GDDR6 on RTX 4070 and up GPUs could be problematic for Nvidia. However, it’s worth noting that this information is purely speculative. The disruption should be short-lived and Nvidia may not need to roll out GDDR6 on their GDDR6X 40-series GPUs. The report suggests that the Chinese market will be most affected by the GDDR6X shortage and that Nvidia will deal with the situation via a supply-and-demand strategy.