Nvidia readies RTX 5070 variant using cut-down GB203 silicon to absorb failed cores

Nvidia is reportedly preparing a new GeForce RTX 5070 variant that would use a cut-down GB203 GPU instead of the original GB205.

The plan is to take larger dies that fail to meet the requirements for higher-end cards — such as the RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5080 — and trim them to the RTX 5070’s 6144 CUDA cores. The current RTX 5070 does not use the full GB205 die and is configured with 6144 CUDA cores versus up to 6400 on the full chip.

Nvidia has done similar moves before: the RTX 5060 has a GB205 variant that provided no extra performance or wider memory bus despite using higher-quality silicon. Accordingly, a 5070 built from a larger die is unlikely to be faster.

The practical aim is to repurpose chips that cannot meet higher-tier cuts and bolster RTX 5070 supply in the channel. Prices are unlikely to fall: the RTX 5070 currently retails for around $800, well above its $549 MSRP.

The source also suggests Nvidia could apply the same approach to the RTX 5060 line, possibly producing an RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB using leftover chips from RTX 5070 production.

For context, GB203 is used by the RTX 5080 and typically employs the full die, while Nvidia already uses an RTX 5070 Ti with 8960 CUDA cores to absorb chips that don’t meet RTX 5080 standards. Recasting dies is a way to improve yields from the TSMC 4N process but does not change a card’s specifications unless explicitly stated.