Nvidia has announced its new line of GPUs, the RTX 50-series — and the first two are almost here, ready to rival the best graphics cards. We were already able to get our hands on the RTX 5090, which is why we now have a better idea of what these cards are capable of.
While we’re still waiting for the RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070, we know that Nvidia is promising some huge leaps in performance, thanks to the new AI powers of DLSS 4. Here’s everything you need to know about Nvidia’s RTX 50-series.
RTX 50-series: pricing and release date
To say there was speculation about the price of the RTX 50-series is a serious understatement. Well, the leaks and rumors can finally come to an end. Here are the prices of upcoming GPUs:
- RTX 5090: $1,999
- RTX 5080: $999
- RTX 5070 Ti: $749
- RTX 5070: $549
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That’s a $400 increase on the top end, up from the $1,599 for the RTX 4090, which was already the most expensive Nvidia GPU ever made. That price jump is definitely an eyebrow-raiser, but further down the stack, the pricing actually isn’t bad.
The RTX 5080 matches the price of the RTX 4080 (or RTX 4080 Super), for example. Meanwhile, the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 are actually $50 cheaper than the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070. How’s that for a surprise?
Of course, cards made by Nvidia’s partners may push these prices to new heights. They’re not in stock yet, so we can’t confirm what we’ll get, but some early leaks show the RTX 5090 being sold for as much as $2,700. We’ll have to wait and see the prices once the cards are in stock.
The RTX 5090 and 5080 both launch on January 30. The RTX 5070 Ti and 5070, meanwhile, will follow sometime in February.
RTX 50-series: specs
| RTX 5090 | RTX 5080 | RTX 5070 Ti | RTX 5070 | |
| Architecture | Blackwell GB202 | Blackwell GB203 | Blackwell GB203 | Blackwell GB205 |
| CUDA cores | 21760 | 10752 | 8960 | 6140 |
| Tensor cores | 5th-gen 3352 TOPS | 5th-gen 1801 TOPS | 5th-gen 1406 TOPS | 5th-gen 988 TOPS |
| Ray tracing cores | 4th-gen 318 TFLOPS | 4th-gen 171 TFLOPS | 4th-gen 133 TFLOPS | 4th-gen 94 TFLOPS |
| Boost clock (GHz) | 2.41 | 2.62 | 2.45 | 2.51 |
| Base clock (GHz) | 2.01 | 2.30 | 2.30 | 2.16 |
| Max resolution | 4K at 480Hz or 8K at 120Hz | 4K at 480Hz or 8K at 120Hz | 4K at 480Hz or 8K at 120Hz | 4K at 480Hz or 8K at 120Hz |
| Memory interface width | 512-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory | 32GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR7 | 16GB GDDR7 | 12GB GDDR7 |
| Memory speed | 28Gbps | 30Gbps | 28Gbps | 28Gbps |
| TOPS | 3,400 | 1,800 | 1,400 | 1,000 |
| TGP (watts) | 575 | 360 | 300 | 250 |
| Required system power (watts) | 1,000 | 850 | 750 | 650 |
| Price | $1,999 | $999 | $749 | $549 |
There’s a lot to take in here. We also know that the cards will all use a 16-pin connector and DisplayPort 2.1, which is where the support for 8K resolutions at 120Hz comes from. The cards are also using the 12V-2×6 power connector. This can almost be considered overkill for most of the lineup, but the 575-watt RTX 5090 may not have a lot of overclocking headroom with a single 600-watt power connector.
Fortunately, Nvidia claims that melting power connectors won’t be coming back. The 12VHPWR connector that used to melt on the RTX 4090 has been replaced with the 12V-2×6, which, according to Nvidia, will be a safer option.
While we have the official specs, there’s a few more details that we likely won’t have confirmed until reviewers get their hands on the cards.
The initial announcement didn’t deliver some key information, including memory speed and process node, which Nvidia has since supplied. As a result, we know that the RTX 5080 will have faster memory modules than any of the other GPUs. This has long been a subject of speculation, and has now been confirmed by Nvidia.
Overall, we’re looking at gains all across the board here in many specs, but not in all of them. Unsurprisingly, the RTX 5090 scores the biggest wins, with a huge memory increase (to a whopping 32GB, no less) and a boost to CUDA cores. The other cards can’t enjoy the same kind of treatment, with all three retaining the same VRAM and bus configuration. However, the entirety of the RTX 50-series uses much faster GDDR7 memory, which is an upgrade in itself.
RTX 50-series: mobile GPUs
Somewhat unexpectedly, Nvidia’s keynote wasn’t solely focused on desktop GPUs. In fact, gaming laptops played a big part in the presentation, and there’s a lot for notebook gamers to get excited about.
Nvidia and its partners are readying up laptops with almost the full range of RTX 50-series cards, including the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and the RTX 5070. The RTX 5060 Ti, RTX 5060, and the RTX 5050 haven’t been mentioned yet, but in all likelihood, some (if not all) will be coming at a later date.
The only thing we know about these new laptop GPUs is the AI tera operations per second (TOPS) count for each, starting with 1,850 TOPS for the RTX 5090 (which is comparable to the desktop RTX 5080) and ending with 800 AI TOPS for the RTX 5070. That laptop is meant to be mighty impressive, though, as Huang claims that it’ll rival the performance of an RTX 4090. Desktop or laptop version? It’s unclear right now, but I’m guessing laptop.
Nvidia has also shared the starting prices for each laptop. The RTX 5070 models start at $1,299, followed by $1,599 and up for the RTX 5070 Ti and $2,199 for the RTX 5080. Laptops equipped with the RTX 5090 get really expensive, with the cheapest models priced at $2,899.
Many of these laptops will become available in March. Nvidia’s partners, such as MSI, have already teased some of their upcoming offerings.
RTX 50-series: design
| RTX 5090 | RTX 5080 | RTX 5070 Ti | RTX 5070 | |
| Length | 304mm | 304mm | Varies | 242mm |
| Width | 137mm | 137mm | Varies | 112mm |
| Slot | 2-slot | 2-slot | Varies | 2-slot |
| Power connector | 4x PCIe 8-pin cables or 1x 600 W PCIe Gen 5 cable | 3x PCIe 8-pin cables or 1x 450 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable | 2x PCIe 8-pin cables or 300 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable | 2x PCIe 8-pin cables or 300 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable |
The Founders Edition RTX 5090 might be the biggest surprise with its 2-slot design. In fact, the RTX 5090 and 5080 are the exact same size, much like the bigger RTX 4080 and 4090. The new design still uses two fans, but they’re now on the same side, unlike the previous generation, which used a dual axial flow design. Make sure to check out our unboxing of the RTX 5090 to learn more about Nvidia’s latest halo card.
The RTX 5090 sports a stunning design, and the fact that it’s a dual-slot GPU means that it looks shockingly thin when compared to the RTX 4090. The one downside we’ve found is that the 16-pin power connector is angled, which can create an issue in some builds, especially if you’re running a small form factor build.
The rest of the GPUs aren’t out yet, but I expect that they’ll be similar design-wise in their Founders Edition variants. Like in prior years, there is no Founders Edition of the RTX 5070 Ti.
Of course, board partners will no doubt make much larger versions of these cards that take up more than two slots. In fact, so far, the Founders Edition of the RTX 5090 is the only one that’s ready for Nvidia’s SFF program, implying that partner cards are going to be significantly larger.
RTX 50-series: architecture
We know for a fact that the follow-up to Ada Lovelace is called Blackwell, honoring American mathematician David Blackwell. The new consumer GPUs are manufactured based on TSMC’s 4NP process, which is a 4nm node. Early leaks about the cards suggested that Nvidia would switch to a 3nm process, but that didn’t pan out.
The lineup includes chips starting from the high-end GB202 through the GB203, GB205, GB206, and entry-level GB207. We haven’t seen the GB207 yet, though. The RTX 5070 runs on the GB205 architecture, so presumably, the RTX 5060 will use GB207, but Nvidia has yet to announce the budget part of the lineup.
Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture brings a lot of improvements. Unsurprisingly, the RTX 5090 is Nvidia’s crowning achievement, and that’s the one GPU that gets a lot of deep dives. As an example, Nvidia spoke to Digital Foundry about the architectural improvements in Blackwell.
The tech giant had to completely redefine the printed circuit board (PCB) to support the kind of power consumption (and just overall power, really) that the new architecture can provide. The GPU that Nvidia talked about was, of course, the RTX 5090 with the GB202 chip.
The PCB is split into three parts, with the main PCB equipped with the massive 30-phase VRM, the copious amounts of VRAM, and the GB202 chip. This is the only part of the PCB that Nvidia unveiled during the presentation, which — although small — still houses a powerful 92-billion-transistor GPU. The missing pieces include display outputs, the PCIe grid, and power connectors for fans. It’s truly a design we have never seen before.
Considering that even the monstrous RTX 5090 is just a dual-slot card, Nvidia had to do more than just implement a new PCB design. It also gave the cooling system a bit of an overhaul, using a liquid metal thermal interface material (TIM) instead of thermal paste.
Nvidia also introduced RTX Neural Shaders that bring AI to programmable shaders. This, in turn, will boost lighting and other quality-related features in games, all in real-time.
Although Blackwell is still so new, it’s already seen its fair share of troubles. A recent report from The Information tells us that Nvidia’s data center GPUs are running into problems with overheating, which has resulted in delays in the deployment of server racks used for AI training. Let’s hope that with the wildly different form factor and the considerate approach to cooling, these problems will never make it to consumer GPUs.
RTX 50-series: DLSS 4
Jensen Huang says that Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling 4 can “see into the future.” It’s a bold claim, but based on early information, the updated upscaling and frame generation tech sounds like it’ll play a large role in the success of this new generation of GPUs.
DLSS 4, and its neural rendering capabilities, is how Huang can explain the fact that the $550 RTX 5070 can reportedly rival the $1,600 RTX 4090. During the keynote, Huang explained that most of the pixels are generated using Nvidia’s Tensor cores, and as a result, only the required pixels are rendered, while the majority is generated with AI.
“The future of computer graphics is neural rendering,” Huang said.
DLSS 4 takes the frame generation we’ve grown to know (and mostly enjoy) with DLSS 3 and kicks it up a couple of notches. The latest update introduces Multi Frame Generation, which, as Nvidia says, will boost gaming performance by generating up to three frames for each rendered frame.
This is said to boost frames per second (fps) by up to eight times, and Nvidia’s example benchmarks show that. The RTX 5090 is said to be able to hit an impressive 240 fps at 4K with full ray tracing, which presumably also includes path tracing.
Nvidia first introduced frame generation with DLSS 3, but DLSS 4 comes with a new, significantly faster AI model that cuts back on the computational cost to deliver better performance. The model is said to be up to 40% faster while also being up to 30% less VRAM-intensive. Nvidia also got rid of the hardware-based optical flow we’ve seen in the RTX 40-series and replaced it with an AI model.
DLSS 4 is still a taxing thing for the GPU to run, but Nvidia is tackling the challenge with hardware improvements, too. It introduced fifth-gen Tensor cores, which are said to deliver up to 2.5x the AI processing power of the previous generation. There’s also hardware Flip Metering and an improved display engine.
Overall, DLSS 4 will generate 15 out of every 16 pixels.
DLSS 4 will see decent adoption from the get-go. Around 75 games will support DLSS 4, and this includes some of the AAA titles that will benefit from it the most, such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Cyberpunk 2077.
The Multi Frame Generation aspect of DLSS 4 is limited to RTX 50-series graphics cards, but the rest of DLSS 4 is available on older RTX GPUs.
DLSS 4: our impressions
Having covered what DLSS 4 really is, let’s get into how it performs. In our review of the RTX 5090, our very own Jacob Roach put the card through its paces, including DLSS 4. And on paper, it’s nothing short of amazing.
As you can see in the above benchmark, DLSS 4 with 4x frame generation achieved the unthinkable. The RTX 5090, previously struggling to run Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings with path tracing enabled at 4K, skyrocketed to a whopping 239 frames per second (fps) with DLSS Auto and 4x frame generation. It did that while cutting latency nearly in half, too.
Whether the RTX 5090 should be able to run an AAA game at max settings at above 30 fps is another story. What matters here is that DLSS 4 clearly takes the game from an unplayable state to something that can make the most of a 4k 240Hz monitor, and that’s something — but looking at visuals reveals some imperfections.
While the frame rates remain silky smooth, the game itself doesn’t feel that way. There are cases of motion blur, artifacts, and objects that don’t really look natural.
Fortunately, Cyberpunk 2077 might be an outlier, because DLSS 4 looks better in other titles. Check it out above in Marvel Rivals. It seems that when the base frame rate is at an acceptable level, DLSS 4 does a solid job, even though it’s not completely free from artifacts.
Playing Alan Wake 2 shows similar results. Sure, there are some artifacts, but none of them feel quite as unnatural as they did in Cyberpunk 2077 — even though the base frame rate here also hovers at around 30 fps.
DLSS 4, while impressive in its own right, may not quite be the showstopper that DLSS 3 was. Multi Frame Generation on its own doesn’t always produce the results that DLSS 3 did, where you’d just toggle it on and start playing. It’s fantastic, but it might end up being more situational than the previous iteration.
RTX 50-series: performance
Nvidia made some significant claims about the performance of these new 50-series cards, saying they double the performance of their predecessors. As you can see in the slides above, that includes games, yes, but also AI and creative applications. The only direct comparison Nvidia made was for the RTX 5070, which it claims is now on par with the RTX 4090.
That sounds like quite a leap, but remember: it’s done on the back of DLSS 4’s multi-frame generation feature. Most of Nvidia’s performance claims and graphs include DLSS 4, so it’s difficult to know exactly what the performance delta is when it comes to pure rendering.
Fortunately, with the RTX 5090 in the hands of reviewers, we can now put Nvidia’s claims to the test with our own benchmarks of the RTX 5090.
It turns out that “twice as fast” was an overstatement when it comes to the RTX 5090 versus the RTX 4090. Many expected outstanding performance from the new Nvidia flagship, especially given that the RTX 4090 was roughly 80% faster than the RTX 3090. But, while the RTX 5090 is undoubtedly by far the fastest consumer GPU, it’s definitely not twice as fast as its predecessor.
Take a look at our 4K gaming benchmarks above, which showcase the average fps based on a series of thorough tests in 13 AAA titles. The RTX 5090 turned out to be around 30% faster than the 4090 at 4K, but that’s without Multi Frame Generation. We’re talking about real frames here, and without DLSS 4, the generational uplift isn’t quite as jaw-dropping.
That doesn’t mean that the RTX 5090 is bad, however, and the average is brought down by some games where the card fails to deliver a meaningful improvement, such as Assassin’s Creed Mirage with a mere 17% boost. Meanwhile, in Cyberpunk 2077, the RTX 5090 comfortably clears 100 fps and is around 54% faster. This is on ultra settings. We’re seeing similarly significant wins in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and Dying Light 2.
Overall, there’s no question: The RTX 5090 is faster, but it doesn’t offer double the performance of the RTX 4090 — not even close.
Scaling down to 1440p reveals just how much you need a 4K monitor for a GPU like the RTX 5090. There’s no way to make the most of its potential without CPU bottlenecks, and it shows, as the 5090 now only holds a 22% lead over the RTX 4090.
It’s highly unlikely that anyone will use an RTX 5090 with a 1080p monitor, but we’ve tested it just in case. Unsurprisingly, the bottleneck is real here, with just a 15% lead for the RTX 5090.
As far as ray tracing goes, the RTX 5090 only serves to confirm the long-standing fact that Nvidia is king here. Sure, it’s faster than the RTX 4090, but no one expected anything else. This is yet another generation where Nvidia is bound to rule the ray tracing game.
The RTX 5090 runs Dying Light 2 at 4K, with ray tracing and maximum settings, at 90 fps — and that’s without the Multi Frame Generation crutch provided by DLSS 4. Similar results can be seen across every title we’ve tested, apart from extremes like Cyberpunk 2077 with path tracing enabled.
Overall, the RTX 5090 is a strong start to Nvidia’s newest generation of graphics cards, but it doesn’t quite have the “wow” factor that the RTX 4090 came with. It’s faster, but not worth upgrading to from an RTX 4090. We’ll have to wait and see how the RTX 5080 fares to see whether it serves up a solid generational leap.