Get Ready: RTX 50 Series Launch This Year?

Recent reports have suggested that Nvidia aims to optimize its inventory management to gradually clear the way for its next-generation graphics cards while maintaining the pricing of the GeForce RTX 40 series lineup. The GeForce cards, based on the Blackwell architecture, will share the manufacturing process with data center products, utilizing TSMC’s 4NP custom process, an enhancement of the existing 4N process.

According to UDN, Nvidia’s partners anticipate the arrival of the GeForce RTX 50 series as early as the fourth quarter of this year. Mirroring the launch strategy of the previous GeForce RTX 30/40 series, the initial focus will be on high-end products, with the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 being among the first to be released. Analysts have expressed optimism, predicting that Nvidia’s biennial significant GPU architecture upgrade will boost the shipment volumes for card manufacturers this year and elevate the average selling price (ASP) of graphics cards.

While the model numbers can be anticipated with a high degree of certainty, finalizing the specific specifications remains a challenge. Given the precedent of the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB model’s cancellation before its launch, it is believed that Nvidia will proceed with increased caution this time around.

The GeForce cards based on the Blackwell architecture are expected to feature five chips: GB202, GB203, GB205, GB206, and GB207, with corresponding memory bus widths of 512/384-bit, 256-bit, 192-bit, 128-bit, and 128-bit, respectively. These next-generation products will support the PCIe 5.0 interface and DisplayPort 2.1 output and are equipped with 16Gb (2GB) GDDR7 modules, with potential support for 24Gb (3GB) modules, boasting a speed of 28 Gbps.