Nvidia rumors once again point to a strange new storage strategy for an updated GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, and it sounds equal parts clever and awkward.
According to Wccftech, citing a post from the Chinese Board Channels forums, Nvidia is reportedly preparing a new GeForce RTX 5060 Ti variant with 9GB of GDDR7 memory instead of the current 8GB baseline. According to the same report, the standard RTX 5060 could also get a similar 9GB version.
How Nvidia is doing something strange with the RTX 5060 Ti
The crux of the rumor is Nvidia’s alleged move to 3GB GDDR7 memory modules. According to Wccftech, Samsung and Micron are increasing production of these denser chips, which would allow board partners to increase VRAM capacity without requiring a wider memory bus or a more dramatic board redesign. To put it simply, Nvidia could go from 8GB to 9GB by using three 3GB modules instead of four 2GB modules.
This sounds like a nice little update to the mid-range graphics card, and more memory is easy to market. But there’s a catch.
What is the compromise?
The problem is that this setup would likely feature a narrower 96-bit memory bus instead of the 128-bit interface used by the current RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 models. If Nvidia keeps the memory speed at 28Gbps, Wccftech estimates that total bandwidth would drop to 336GB/s, compared to 448GB/s for the existing 128-bit cards. Even an increase to 30 Gbit/s would still leave the bandwidth well below today’s models.
That’s a pretty big compromise. While the rumor makes it seem like Nvidia is finding a new way to incorporate additional VRAM into mainstream cards, it could also do so by foregoing one of the things these cards really can’t afford to lose.
This could be Nvidia’s response to ongoing VRAM shortages and pricing pressures, with these 3GB modules giving Nvidia and its partners a cheaper path to higher capacities. The report also adds that laptop RTX 5090 configurations have already started using 3GB VRAM modules, although this is part of the same chain of rumors rather than a new Nvidia confirmation.
