# GeForce RTX 50 series

The GeForce 50 series is a series of consumer graphics processing units (GPUs) developed by Nvidia as part of its GeForce line of graphics cards, succeeding the GeForce 40 series. Announced at CES 2025, it debuted with the release of the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 on January 30, 2025. It is based on Nvidia's Blackwell architecture featuring Nvidia RTX's fourth-generation RT cores for hardware-accelerated real-time ray tracing, and fifth-generation deep-learning-focused Tensor Cores. The GPUs are manufactured by TSMC on an improved custom 4NP process node.

## Background

In March 2024, Nvidia announced the Blackwell architecture for its datacenter products. Like Ampere, Blackwell is a shared architecture between both consumer and datacenter products rather than distinct architectures released simultaneously like Ada Lovelace for consumers and Hopper for datacenter.
At the Game Awards in December 2024, a cinematic trailer for The Witcher IV was shown which had been pre-rendered on an "unannounced Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU". This was assumed to be an upcoming GeForce 50 series GPU. Following the RTX 50 series announcement, Nvidia confirmed that the trailer was "pre-rendered in Unreal Engine 5 on a GeForce RTX 5090". Later in the same month, it was reported that Nvidia had begun stockpiling GeForce 50 series units in U.S. warehouses due to a looming 10% import tariff and 60% tariff on Chinese imports that Donald Trump promised in his re-election campaign.

### Announcement

On January 6, 2025, the GeForce 50 series was officially announced for both desktop and mobile devices during Nvidia's CES keynote in Las Vegas. The pricing announcement was met with surprise as the RTX 5080 at $999 was the same price that the RTX 4080 Super released at a year earlier despite the anticipated price increases. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang claimed that the RTX 5070 could reach "RTX 4090 performance at $549" despite a heavy reliance on DLSS 4 upscaling and multi-frame generation rather than raw performance.

## Features

* Up to 21,760 CUDA cores
* Up to 32 GB of GDDR7 VRAM
* PCIe 5.0 interface
* DisplayPort 2.1b and HDMI 2.1a display connectors

### Blackwell architecture

The GeForce 50 series is powered by the Blackwell microarchitecture which continues Ada Lovelace's emphasis on high graphics frequencies and large L2 caches. The Blackwell architecture introduces Nvidia RTX's fourth-generation RT cores for hardware-accelerated real-time ray tracing and fifth-generation Tensor Cores for AI compute and performing floating-point calculations.

### GDDR7

| Bus width | Theoretical bandwidth (GB/s) | Theoretical bandwidth (GB/s) | Theoretical bandwidth (GB/s) |
| Bus width | GDDR6X (21 Gbps) | GDDR7 (28 Gbps) | GDDR7 (32 Gbps) |
| 256-bit | 672 | 896 | 1,024 |
| 384-bit | 1,008 | 1,344 | 1,536 |
| 512-bit | 1,344 | 1,792 | 2,048 |
RTX 50 series GPUs are the first consumer GPUs to feature GDDR7 video memory for greater memory bandwidth over the same bus width compared to the GDDR6 and GDDR6X memory used in the GeForce 40 series. RTX 50 series desktop GPUs use GDDR7 modules from Samsung due to them being available for validation earlier than modules from SK Hynix and Micron.

### 12V2×6 connector

The GeForce 50 series uses the 16-pin 12V2×6 connector which is a revision of the 12VHPWR connector featured on the GeForce 40 series. There were problems with the 12VHPWR connector melting on some RTX 4090 GPUs due to the connector not being fully seated and connector design flaws that did not implement a high enough safety and error tolerance. The 12V2×6 connector revision, published by PCI-SIG in July 2023, addressed this by shortening the four sense pins so the connector will not push any power if it has not been fully seated. The 12VHPWR design would still draw up to 150W of power even if the sense pins were not making full contact. 12V2×6 is backwards compatible with existing 12VHPWR cables and adapters.
Nvidia has mandated to its AIB partners that the 16-pin 12V2×6 connector be used on all RTX 50 series designs. With the GeForce 40 series, the 12VHPWR connector was only mandated on higher power cards such as the RTX 4070 Super, RTX 4070 Ti, RTX 4070 Ti Super, RTX 4080, RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4090 while RTX 4060, RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4070 AIB designs had the option of using 8-pin PCIe connectors. The 600W-capable 12VHPWR connector would not have been necessary on sub-200W cards.

### DLSS 4

The fourth generation of Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) was unveiled alongside the RTX 50 series. DLSS 4 upscaling uses a new vision transformer-based model for enhanced image quality with reduced ghosting and greater image stability in motion compared to the previous convolutional neural network (CNN) model. DLSS 4 also allows a greater number of frames to be generated and interpolated based on a single traditionally rendered frame. This form of frame generation called Multi-Frame Generation is exclusive to the RTX 50 series while the GeForce 40 series is limited to one interpolated frame per traditionally rendered frame. Nvidia claims that DLSS 4's frame generation model uses 30% less video memory with the example of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide using 400MB less memory at 4K resolution with frame generation enabled. Nvidia claims that 75 titles will integrate DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation at launch, including Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Star Wars Outlaws.
* Transformer Model
* 2× Frame Generation
* 3–4× Frame Generation

### Media Engine and I/O

The RTX 50 series includes DisplayPort 2.1b UHBR20 (80Gbps) with higher display output data rates to support high resolution and high refresh rate displays. The GeForce 40 series received criticism for only including DisplayPort 1.4a (32Gbps) while the competing Radeon RX 7000 series included DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR13.5 (54Gbps). At CES 2025, VESA announced a collaboration with Nvidia on the new DP80LL ("low loss") UHBR20 active cable standard. DP80LL allows for 80Gbps DisplayPort 2.1 cables up to 3 meters long as passive DP80 cables are limited in length due to signal integrity concerns.
The RTX 50 series introduces the ninth-generation NVENC encoder and sixth-generation NVDEC video decoder. For the first time in a consumer GeForce GPU, support is adding for encoding and decoding video in the 4:2:2 color format for professional-grade higher color depth.
| | NVENC encoders | NVDEC decoders |
| RTX 5070 | 1 | 1 |
| RTX 5070 Ti | 2 | 1 |
| RTX 5080 | 2 | 2 |
| RTX 5090 | 3 | 2 |

## Products
### Desktop

GeForce 50 series desktop GPUs are the second consumer GPUs to utilize a PCIe 5.0 interface and the first to feature GDDR7 video memory. They are fabricated by TSMC using a further refined custom 5 nm process dubbed 4NP.
| GeForce RTX | GeForce RTX | 5070 | 5070 Ti | 5080 | 5090 |
| Release date | Release date | 5 Mar 2025 | 20 Feb 2025 | 30 Jan 2025 | 30 Jan 2025 |
| Launch MSRP (USD) | Launch MSRP (USD) | 549 | 749 | 999 | 1,999 |
| GPU die | GPU die | GB205-300 | GB203-300 | GB203-400 | GB202-300 |
| Transistors (billion) | Transistors (billion) | 31.1 | 45.6 | 45.6 | 92.2 |
| Die size | Die size | 263 mm$^2$ | 378 mm$^2$ | 378 mm$^2$ | 750 mm$^2$ |
| Core | CUDA cores | 6,144 | 8,960 | 10,752 | 21,760 |
| Core | Texture mapping unit | 192 | 280 | 336 | 680 |
| Core | Render output unit | 80 | 96 | 112 | 176 |
| Core | Ray tracing cores | 48 | 70 | 84 | 170 |
| Core | Tensor cores | 192 | 280 | 336 | 680 |
| Core | Clock speed (GHz) Boost value (GHz) | 2.16 2.51 | 2.30 2.45 | 2.30 2.62 | 2.01 2.41 |
| Streaming multiprocessors | Streaming multiprocessors | 48 | 70 | 84 | 170 |
| Cache | L1 | 6 MB | 8.75 MB | 10 MB | 21.25 MB |
| Cache | L2 | 48 MB | 48 MB | 64 MB | 96 MB |
| Memory | Type | GDDR7 | GDDR7 | GDDR7 | GDDR7 |
| Memory | Size | 12 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB | 32 GB |
| Memory | Clock (Gb/s) | 28 | 28 | 30 | 28 |
| Memory | Bandwidth (GB/s) | 672 | 896 | 960 | 1792 |
| Memory | Bus width | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 512-bit |
| Fillrate | Pixel (Gpx/s) | 240.9 | 343.0 | 440.1 | 819.4 |
| Fillrate | Texture (Gtex/s) | 481.9 | 686.0 | 880.2 | 1638.8 |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | FP16/FP32 | 30.8 | 43.9 | 56.3 | 104.9 |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | FP64 | 0.48 | 0.69 | 0.88 | 1.64 |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | Tensor compute [sparse] | 123.9 [247.8] | 177.4 [354.8] | 225.1 [450.2] | 419.2 [838.4] |
| Interface | Host | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |
| Interface | Power | 1× 12V-2x6 | 1× 12V-2x6 | 1× 12V-2x6 | 1× 12V-2x6 |
| Interface | Displays | 1× HDMI 2.1b and 3× DisplayPort 2.1b | 1× HDMI 2.1b and 3× DisplayPort 2.1b | 1× HDMI 2.1b and 3× DisplayPort 2.1b | 1× HDMI 2.1b and 3× DisplayPort 2.1b |
| TDP | TDP | 250 W | 300 W | 360 W | 575 W |
* ↑ Pixel fillrate is calculated as the number of render output units (ROPs) multiplied by the base (or boost) core clock speed.
* ↑ Texture fillrate is calculated as the number of texture mapping units (TMUs) multiplied by the base (or boost) core clock speed.

### Mobile

Laptops featuring GeForce 50 series laptop GPUs were shown at CES 2025. Laptops with RTX 50 series GPUs were paired with Intel's Arrow Lake-HX and AMD's Strix Point and Fire Range CPUs. Nvidia claims that Blackwell architecture's new Max-Q features can increase battery life by up to 40% over GeForce 40 series laptops. For example, Advanced Power Gating saves power by turning off areas of the GPU that are unused and the paired GDDR7 memory can run in an "ultra" low-voltage state. Initial RTX 50 series laptops will become available in March 2025 starting at $1,299.
| GeForce RTX | GeForce RTX | 5070 Laptop | 5070 Ti Laptop | 5080 Laptop | 5090 Laptop |
| Release date | Release date | Apr 2025 | Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 | Mar 2025 |
| GPU die | GPU die | GB206-300 | GB205-200 | GB203-400 | GB203-400 |
| Transistors (billion) | Transistors (billion) | | 31.1 | 45.6 | 45.6 |
| Die size | Die size | | 263 mm$^2$ | 378 mm$^2$ | 378 mm$^2$ |
| Core | CUDA cores | 4,608 | 5,888 | 7,680 | 10,496 |
| Core | Texture mapping unit | 144 | 184 | 240 | 328 |
| Core | Render output unit | 72 | 92 | 120 | 128 |
| Core | Ray tracing cores | 36 | 46 | 60 | 82 |
| Core | Tensor cores | 144 | 184 | 240 | 328 |
| Core | Clock speed (GHz) Boost value (GHz) | | | | |
| Streaming multiprocessors | Streaming multiprocessors | 36 | 46 | 60 | 82 |
| Cache | L1 | 4.5 MB | 5.75 MB | 7.5 MB | 10.5 MB |
| Cache | L2 | 32 MB | 48 MB | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Memory | Type | GDDR7 | GDDR7 | GDDR7 | GDDR7 |
| Memory | Size | 8 GB | 12 GB | 16 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory | Clock (Gb/s) | 25.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 |
| Memory | Bandwidth (GB/s) | 405.8 | 608.6 | 811.5 | 811.5 |
| Memory | Bus width | 128-bit | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Fillrate | Pixel (Gpx/s) | | | | 423.6 |
| Fillrate | Texture (Gtex/s) | | | | 1637 |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | FP16/FP32 | | | | |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | FP64 | | | | |
| Processing power (TFLOPS) | Tensor compute [sparse] | | | | |
| Interface | Host | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |
| TDP | TDP | 50-100 W | 60-115 W | 80-150 W | 95-150 W |
* ↑ Pixel fillrate is calculated as the number of render output units (ROPs) multiplied by the base (or boost) core clock speed.
* ↑ Texture fillrate is calculated as the number of texture mapping units (TMUs) multiplied by the base (or boost) core clock speed.

## Controversies
### RTX 5090 Founders Edition 12V-2x6 power connector issue

The 12V-2x6 connector used by the RTX 5090 Founders Edition (FE) faces criticism due to a design flaw that can cause the connector to melt and catch fire. The flaw can potentially cause overheating, melting, and fire. These flaws are currently only present on the RTX 5090 FE and RTX 5080 FE and are similar to the failures seen on the RTX 40 series.

### Availability and pricing

The releases of the RTX 5090, 5080 and 5070 Ti were marred by availability issues and pricing well above MSRP.

### CUDA, OpenCL, and PhysX 32-bit support removal

Support for 32-bit PhysX, OpenCL, and CUDA applications was dropped in the GeForce RTX 50 series, which caused a lot of negative reactions from the community. It is estimated that close to fifty games now will not work properly or at all without an additional Nvidia GPU that still supports the tech.

### Incomplete dies

The dies of certain RTX 5090/5090D, 5080, and 5070 Ti cards have been found to be missing eight render output units, resulting in a performance loss in graphics while pure compute and AI workloads are unaffected. In a statement to the press Nvidia confirmed the issue, and said that less than 0.5% of the respective cards are affected and that the "production anomaly" has been rectified.

### The black screen issue

Some RTX 5080 and 5090 users reported an issue where the system would boot into a black screen after installing Nvidia drivers. Nvidia confirmed the issue and said that a new driver update would fix it for people who hadn't received a VBIOS update yet. Released on February 27, 2025 Nvidia drivers version 572.60 claim to have fixed the issue. Consecutively Nvidia released drivers version 572.70 and 572.75 that contain additional fixes for the issue.

## Reception
### RTX 5090

The RTX 5090 received a generally lukewarm reception, citing its reliance on AI, the card requiring 125W more than the RTX 4090 (which is rated at 450W), and being $400 more expensive as was the RTX 3090 Ti launch price ($2000), compared to that of the RTX 4090 ($1600). Many reviewers called the RTX 50 series marketing deceitful, considering that DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation cannot make unplayable games playable, and cannot improve latency. Some reviewers even jokingly referred to it as the "RTX 4090 Ti".

### RTX 5080

Antony Leather from Forbes described the RTX 5080 as "a decent upgrade from anything below or older than the RTX 4080 Super and 4080". However, he criticized that "there's only a 10% uplift over the RTX 4080 Super" in raw performance, with the RTX 4090 still being "quite a bit faster" without Multi Frame Generation, while the RTX 5080 only just overtakes the RTX 4090 with Multi Frame Generation enabled.
Andrew Cunningham from Ars Technica stated that the RTX 5080 "is the third-fastest GPU on the market [behind the RTX 5090 and RTX 4090], but it's far short of the 4090, and it performs more like a second refresh of 2022's RTX 4080". He praised the RTX 5080's MSRP of US$999 and described it as a "good 4K card", but called it "[b]arely an upgrade over the RTX 4080 Super".
IGN praised the RTX 5080's overall performance, modest increase in power demand over its predecessor, and MSRP, though noted that "[i]t's [...] not quite the performance uplift that hardcore enthusiasts who upgrade every generation are going to want to see". Also, while the 16GB of VRAM "should be enough memory for most people", "it would have been nice to see the RTX 5080 adopt the 24GB featured on the RTX 4090, especially since this GPU is being pitched as a 4K graphics card".

### RTX 5070 Ti

The RTX 5070 Ti had a lukewarm reception just like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. While it was generally praised for its competitive performance at 1440P and 4K resolutions relative to previous generation graphics cards, it also received criticism, most commonly for the card normally only being available at $900 or above, despite Nvidia's listed MSRP of $750.
Andrew Cunningham from Ars Technica called the RTX 5070 Ti "essentially an RTX 4080 that also supports DLSS Multi-Frame Generation". While the card was praised for its excellent overall performance and being capable of 4K gaming, it was criticized for its poor price-to-performance and mediocre performance uplift. TechPowerUp's review of the RTX 5070 Ti found large performance gains relative to the RTX 4070 Ti, praising its performance relative to AMD's at-the-time flagship RX 7900 XTX, the new DLSS 4 Frame Generation technology, and its efficiency and performance, although it did also receive criticism for its inflated MSRP. IGN praised the performance of the RTX 5070 Ti and its value relative to the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, stating "Not only is it the first RTX 5000 graphics card that provides a decent uplift over its predecessor, but it does so with a lower price tag than the $799 RTX 4070 Ti".