Think the Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU is hard to buy now? Things could get worse
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Nvidia’s new RTX 4090 graphics card is flying off the shelves despite the hefty price tag attached to it, and the bad news for affluent buyers of the Lovelace flagship GPU is that it could soon be even thinner on the ground.
At least if the rumor mill is right, as rumor has it that Nvidia has told TSMC – the company that makes its Lovelace GPU chips – to move some RTX 4090 orders to instead produce H100 GPUs (a heavyweight chip from the Hopper line, instead of Lovelace).
But we have to be very careful here because the source is the Chinese forum MyDrivers (opens in new tab), which isn’t always the most reliable for rumor mill nuggets. So add a little extra caution on top of the pause for consideration you might take with any bit of speculation surrounding the GPU industry.
Anyway, Tom’s hardware (opens in new tab) (who first saw this) points out that while it couldn’t confirm this rumor, there are reasons it could be true – so let’s dive into what they are next.
The theory is that US sanctions against the Chinese supercomputing sector could play a role here. Those sanctions would disrupt Nvidia’s ability to ship GPUs to China if the company doesn’t get a waiver, and as Tom points out, the cost could potentially reach $400 million.
What that could mean is that Nvidia may want to switch production from AD102 chips (RTX 4090) to H100 to ship more of the latter before that chip ban takes effect.
While RTX 4090 graphics cards come with quite a premium and gain level, of course, the serious computing arena the H100 sits in is a different world in terms of gain levels (we’re talking $10,000 products here, remember). So in the short term, Nvidia would theoretically like to release and sell as many of those H100 chips as possible.
What does this mean for the gamers and PC enthusiasts looking for an RTX 4090 graphics card? Well, it doesn’t take a smart detective to realize that with fewer GPUs coming through, the stock of graphics cards on the ground could be getting thinner – the concern is that it’s scarce enough already. (Especially in the US, where major retailers don’t stock RTX 4090 models at the time of writing).
That would also make the RTX 4090 more of a target for scalpers. Speaking of them, anecdotally, prices for scalped RTX 4090s are falling, which is a hopeful sign that goes against the idea that the stock is drying up further.
Plus, even if this speculation comes and goes, it will take some time for TSMC orders to switch for Nvidia — meaning any impact won’t be noticeable for the foreseeable future. As always, we’ll have to wait and see with this one, and demand for the RTX 4090 is a niche proposition anyway – although clearly not so niche that the GPU can’t sell out, as we’re seeing now.
Those looking to buy Nvidia’s fastest desktop graphics card should keep a close eye on our guide to buying the RTX 4090.