Shortages in RAM and storage are dominating recent reports, yet the market for graphics cards remains equally challenging. Data center demands are consuming available production resources, leaving Nvidia and AMD uninterested in launching new desktop models at least through the current year. However, AMD might introduce a single newcomer: an entry-level model positioned under the Radeon RX 9060, based on emerging rumors.
A leak reported by VideoCardz describes the Radeon RX 9050 as an 8GB graphics processor utilizing the Navi 44 architecture, identical to that in the RX 9060 XT and the RX 9060, the latter available only through pre-assembled systems from manufacturers without a standard retail cost. Featuring 2,048 cores, it exceeds the core count of the existing entry-level option, though its base clock runs at 1,920MHz and boost at 2,600MHz, marking a notable reduction in speed. It shares the 128-bit memory interface with the RX 9060 series. The RX 9060 debuted in August of the previous year exclusively via OEMs, while the RX 9060 XT arrived in June, nearly 12 months prior.
These specifications closely mirror those of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5050, launched in July with a suggested price of $250, though current street prices approach $300. The 8GB variant of the RX 9060 XT carries an expected price near $300 but often sells for more, whereas the 16GB edition sees greater demand among desktop gaming enthusiasts.
Typically, updates to desktop graphics hardware would appear a couple of months back or spark summer speculation. That hasn't happened in 2026, with Nvidia skipping Super editions of its RTX 50 series and Intel offering no fresh Arc cards for consumers since the B570 in January. The sole graphics release since last summer has been the 12GB RTX 5070 for mobile devices. Graphics cards are readily stocked in stores—likely due to declining interest in custom desktop builds—yet costs stay high amid constrained GDDR memory supplies.
AMD shows no signs of distress, posting more than $10 billion in first-quarter earnings this year, with over 50% as net profit, driven largely by data center contributions. Nvidia's performance was even stronger, hitting $44 billion in the same period, up 69% from the prior year, and building on solid 2025 results, predominantly from data center revenue. Such figures position Nvidia's anticipated 2026 earnings above the annual output of numerous nations worldwide.
In contrast, AMD's gaming segment generated just $720 million in the first quarter, compared to Nvidia's $3.8 billion. This disparity explains the deprioritization of consumer-grade graphics processors.