According to the latest gossip on the tech grapevine, Nvidia has just called time on producing the AD106 GPU used to make its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti graphics cards. The company is reportedly freeing up production lines so that it can produce as many of its new RTX 5000 GPUs as possible in preparation for the rumored launch in January 2025.
We fully expect the new RTX 5090 to be the best graphics card when it eventually comes out, especially now that AMD has abandoned high-end GPUs for the moment. However, Nvidia is reportedly planning to not only launch this flagship GPU in the first three months of 2025, but also three other GPUs. That’s going to require some serious production capacity, which is why Nvidia is apparently now shutting down production of some of its Ada GPUs.
As always with rumor stories, bear in mind that none of this has come directly from Nvidia, and this news is based on a leak from Chinese tech forum BoardChannels, as spotted by Videocardz and Gazlog, so don’t take it as the gospel truth. According to a translation of the source, “the RTX 40 series has entered the final stage of inventory clearance, with only about two months left,” implying that not only the RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti are being cleared out, but also the RTX 4090, 4080, and 4070.
More specifically, the source also claims that “Nvidia has completely withdrawn the AD106 production line, and the production capacity has been fully transferred to the RTX 50 series production line, with only the AD107 production line temporarily retained.”
The AD106 GPU forms the foundation of many of Nvidia’s key products in its current lineup, including many current RTX 4060 cards and all the RTX 4060 Ti cards on the desktop, as well as the mobile RTX 4070 used in some of the best gaming laptop designs. Meanwhile, the AD107 GPU that’s reportedly still “temporarily retained” has been used to some RTX 4060 desktop cards, including the first models, as well as Nvidia’s mobile RTX 4050 and mobile RTX 4060 laptop GPUs.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 is available in several variants, based on both the AD106 and AD107 GPU, so it could still be produced using the latter. However, if this rumor is true it looks as though even AD107 production is going to be temporary, with Nvidia apparently planning a clean sweep of its Ada inventory to make way for the new RTX 5000 series.
It’s possible an AD107-based RTX 4060 could remain a cheap option, though. After all, you can still buy some RTX 3060 and even RTX 2060 cards now. Current rumors about launch dates say that the RTX 5060 will be coming as soon as March 2025, with the RTX 5070 possibly arriving in February, while the RTX 5080 will reportedly be unveiled with the 5090 in January 2025 at the CES trade show.
Don’t panic if you do want to buy an Ada graphics card before the end of the year. Even if this rumor is true, there’s still plenty of GeForce RTX 4060 stock available at normal prices right now, and it looks as though there will still be inventory available for the next couple of months. After that, Nvidia’s new GPUs will hopefully be out, and you can read more about what we expect from them in our RTX 5000 guide.
