Nvidia’s new RTX 4090 graphics card has been flying off the cabinets, regardless of the weighty price ticket hooked up to it, and the unhealthy information for well-off would-be consumers of the flagship Lovelace GPU is that it may quickly be even thinner on the bottom.

No less than if the rumor mill is true, as a result of phrase is that Nvidia has advised TSMC – the corporate that makes its Lovelace GPU chips – to shift some RTX 4090 orders over to provide H100 GPUs as an alternative (a heavyweight chip from the Hopper line, moderately than Lovelace).

However we should be very cautious right here, because the supply is Chinese language discussion board MyDrivers (opens in new tab), which isn’t at all times probably the most dependable for nuggets from the rumor mill. So add a bit of additional warning on high of the pause for consideration you may take with each piece of hypothesis across the GPU business.

At any fee, Tom’s {Hardware} (opens in new tab) (which first noticed this) factors out that whereas it couldn’t verify this rumor, there are explanation why it may maintain true – so let’s dive into what they’re subsequent.

Evaluation: A profit-related pickle, maybe?

The speculation is that US sanctions towards the Chinese language supercomputer sector could possibly be coming into play right here. These sanctions would intervene with Nvidia’s potential to ship GPUs to China if the corporate doesn’t get a waiver, and as Tom’s notes, the price of that could possibly be $400 million doubtlessly.

What that may imply is that Nvidia could wish to swap manufacturing from AD102 chips (RTX 4090) to H100 to get extra of the latter shipped earlier than that chip ban kicks in.

Whereas RTX 4090 graphics playing cards do, in fact, carry fairly a premium and revenue stage therein, the intense computing area the place the H100 sits is a unique world by way of the revenue ranges (we’re speaking $10,000 merchandise right here, bear in mind). So, within the short-term Nvidia would theoretically wish to get as a lot of these H100 chips out and offered as is feasible.

What does this imply for the avid gamers and PC fans who want to fork out for an RTX 4090 graphics card? Nicely, it doesn’t take a shrewd detective to comprehend that with much less GPUs coming by, graphics card inventory may turn out to be thinner on the bottom – the concern being that it’s already scarce sufficient. (Actually within the US, the place main retailers are out of inventory of RTX 4090 fashions on the time of writing).

That may make the RTX 4090 extra of a goal for scalpers, too. Talking of them, although, anecdotally, costs are dropping for scalped RTX 4090s, which is a hopeful signal that runs towards the thought of inventory drying up additional.

And moreover, even when this hypothesis does pan out and are available true, it’ll take a while for TSMC orders to be switched round for Nvidia – which means that any influence received’t be felt within the close to future. As ever, we’ll have to attend and see with this one, and demand for the RTX 4090 is one thing of a distinct segment proposition anyway – although clearly not so area of interest that the GPU can’t promote out, as we’re seeing proper now.

These searching for to purchase Nvidia’s quickest desktop graphics card ought to maintain an in depth eye on our information on the place to purchase the RTX 4090.

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