Concerns are arising regarding the future of Nvidia’s top graphics cards due to impending delays. Reports suggest that Nvidia has informed its partners of a postponement in the release of its upcoming Blackwell GPUs, now targeting an early 2025 launch instead. The concerning aspect of these delays is the presence of design flaws. How will this impact Nvidia’s RTX 50-series?
The worrying details come from a recent report by The Information, referencing sources involved in the Blackwell chip and server hardware production process. According to Bloomberg, the chips may face a delay of over three months. Nvidia is gearing up B100 and B200 chips for tech giants like Meta, Google, and Microsoft, making these delays potential significant setbacks.
Identifying and rectifying design flaws is a time-consuming process, leading to a substantial delay. Sources indicate that major shipments of Blackwell may now not commence until the first quarter of 2025. While Nvidia stated that production is on track for a later 2024 ramp-up, it still appears likely that the release will spill over into early 2025.
Get your weekly breakdown of the tech behind PC gaming
Presently, these delays seem to primarily impact Nvidia’s enterprise GPUs, mainly the AI accelerators utilized in data centers. However, speculation arises about potential delays in the consumer version of Blackwell, especially considering reports of RTX 50-series delays from various sources.
While Nvidia employs different chips for consumer GPUs than its $70,000 AI graphics cards, the Blackwell architecture applies to both. Depending on the severity of the flaw, we may understand why leaks suggest the RTX 50-series won’t hit the market until 2025.
Initially surprised by the reports of a potential delay in the RTX 50-series, it now appears to align with the situation surrounding enterprise Blackwell GPU delays. A delayed but polished release could ultimately benefit consumers. Amidst a possibly underwhelming 2024 for PC hardware, avoiding issues akin to Intel’s current CPU challenges is a positive outcome.
