Earlier this year, NVIDIA was reportedly preparing to launch a 9 GB variant of its GeForce RTX 5050 graphics card to address memory shortages in the budget segment. However, the company has now canceled the project entirely, according to reports from MEGAsizeGPU. The cancellation appears tied to NVIDIA's decision to relaunch its own GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB edition, which would directly compete with the planned RTX 5050 9 GB model.

The canceled RTX 5050 9 GB was designed with three 3 GB GDDR7 memory modules rather than four 2 GB GDDR6 modules, reducing component count while increasing VRAM capacity by 12.5%. This configuration would have delivered 9 GB across a 96-bit bus running at 28 Gbps, achieving 336 GB/s bandwidth compared to the existing 8 GB RTX 5050's 320 GB/s. Despite using the GB206 GPU die instead of the GB207 in current RTX 5050 models, the 9 GB version maintained the same 2,560 CUDA cores.

With the RTX 3060 12 GB revival already underway, launching a competing mid-tier product would create internal market confusion and cannibalize sales. This cancellation signals NVIDIA's strategy to consolidate its budget GPU lineup around refreshed older architectures rather than introducing new variants. Consumers seeking more VRAM at lower price points may need to wait for future generations or consider used RTX 3060 12 GB cards when they become available.