Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 specs and release date estimate

With the RTX 4090’s market dominance nearing its second anniversary, it’s only a question of when, not if, a new challenger emerges to supplant it as the premier choice for consumers seeking the fastest graphics card available. As the release of a cutting-edge graphics card draws near, a steady stream of whispers and hints has been building momentum over the past few months.

While anticipation builds for Nvidia’s latest and most anticipated graphics card release, it’s likely to set a new standard in terms of performance, leaving competitors scrambling to keep up with its impressive capabilities. Here’s everything we currently know about this highly anticipated powerhouse.

Rumors surrounding Nvidia’s next-generation RTX 5090 Blackwell GPU are circulating, sparking excitement among gaming enthusiasts. According to insiders, this powerful graphics processing unit is expected to boast a substantial performance boost, thanks to its cutting-edge architecture and innovative cooling system.

The whispers hint at a potential 20% increase in computing power compared to the previous generation’s RTX 3080 Ti. This could translate into smoother gameplay, higher frame rates, and improved visuals for demanding games and applications.

The GPU expected to anchor the RTX 5090 is the Blackwell GB202, a behemoth chip built upon Nvidia’s latest Blackwell architecture, also showcased in its high-performance AI-server processors.

The highly anticipated structure upgrade is expected to yield a substantial boost in CUDA cores and processing capabilities, with one credible Blackwell specs leak hinting that the RTX 5090’s GB202 GPU will feature 192 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), a notable increase from the 126 found in the RTX 4090.

The term “SMs” refers to a cluster of CUDA cores located within a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), each containing a significant number of processing cores. If we extrapolate from the RTX 4090’s example, with its 16,394 CUDA cores, and assume the RTX 5090 maintains the same number of CUDA cores per Streaming Multiprocessor (SM) as its predecessor, it could potentially pack in a staggering 24,567.

According to rumors, the upcoming graphics card is expected to incorporate a cutting-edge 512-bit memory interface, seamlessly connecting to the latest high-performance GDDR7 VRAM technology. This potential upgrade may significantly boost uncooked memory speed and overall bandwidth when pairing the RTX 4090 with a 384-bit interface leveraging faster GDDR6X VRAM.

It appears there is no official information on a GeForce RTX 5090 product. However, according to industry rumors and leaks, the next generation of NVIDIA graphics cards is expected to arrive sometime in 2024 or later, but an exact release date for a hypothetical RTX 5090 remains unknown?

Initially, it was expected that the RTX 5090 would debut in autumn 2024 alongside the RTX 5080, approximately two years following the October 22 release of the RTX 4090. Despite recent speculation, some reports suggest the RTX 5080 might debut ahead of the RTX 5090, while other whispers propose both graphics cards will hit the market simultaneously. Rumors persist that Nvidia may delay the launch indefinitely.

Without the need to constantly innovate and outdo rivals, Nvidia may have allowed its lead to erode due to complacency. The NVIDIA RTX 4090 stands out as the fastest graphics card available, hands down – while the AMD RX 7900 XTX might match or surpass it in some games, its ray tracing capabilities can’t hold a candle to the RTX 4090’s prowess, and AMD’s upcoming RDNA 4 GPUs aren’t expected until next year, according to recent rumors. Nvidia can afford to maintain momentum by steadily promoting the 4000 series before unveiling its highly anticipated 5000 series offerings.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090’s performance and value are debatable, as its actual release date remains unknown.

Compared to current options, the GeForce RTX 50 series may incur higher costs due to the rise in manufacturing expenses from TSMC. While it’s possible that Nvidia might absorb this increased cost without passing it on to customers, there is no guarantee.

While the new card’s hefty price tag may be a concern, it’s still significantly more affordable than the initial $2,499 pricetag of the Titan RTX; let’s hope Nvidia doesn’t intend to repeat this costly mistake.

As Nvidia’s GeForce GPU sales dwindle, accounting for just one-sixth of the company’s revenue, the information middle segment takes center stage, driving a shift in pricing strategy; it seems that Nvidia aims to appease gamers with more attractive prices while reaping greater rewards from its lucrative AI products.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is a powerful graphics processing unit that boasts impressive specifications. With a CUDA core count of 3840 and a memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s, this GPU excels in demanding games and applications. Its 16 GB GDDR6 memory capacity allows for seamless performance with high-resolution textures and detailed graphics. Clocking in at 1.3 GHz base frequency and 1.8 GHz boost frequency, the RTX 5090 delivers exceptional rendering speeds. Additionally, it supports up to 6 displays simultaneously, making it an ideal choice for gamers and content creators alike.

The upcoming RTX 5090 is expected to build upon a novel architecture, with its performance fueled by one of several new GeForce RTX 50 series GPU dies. As the pinnacle of its product line, the flagship will prominently feature the most powerful component, anticipated to be dubbed the GB202.

The forthcoming RTX 5090 is poised to be one of the initial graphics cards to leverage the benefits of GDDR7 VRAM, thereby providing a significant boost in memory bandwidth compared to its predecessor, the RTX 4090. According to leaks, the upcoming GPU spec bump could potentially bring about a significant generational boost, featuring approximately 50% more RTX 5090 CUDA cores compared to the RTX 4090, accompanied by increased clock speeds and expanded cache capabilities for the RTX 5090.

New whispers suggest that the RTX 5090’s memory bus boasts a remarkable 512-bit width, significantly broader than its predecessor, the RTX 4090’s 384-bit interface. The RTX 5090’s reminiscence bandwidth could potentially exceed 1.5 TB/s, possibly even surpassing a staggering 1,792 GB/s concurrently.

The graphics card features RTX 5090 DisplayPort 2.1 outputs, allowing seamless support for high-resolution gaming displays with advanced refresh rates, such as 240Hz and 4K OLED screens. While some may debate this point, it appears that the RTX 5090’s power connector will indeed retain the same 12VHPWR interface as its predecessor in the RTX 4000 series, albeit with a sleeker aesthetic.

Estimated performance of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090:

* Ray tracing (RT): Up to 2.5x faster than the previous generation’s RT capabilities
* AI-enhanced graphics: Boosts frame rates by up to 30% in supported games and applications
* Graphics processing unit (GPU) compute: Improves performance by approximately 25%
* Memory bandwidth: Increases data transfer rates by about 40%, allowing for smoother gaming experiences

While it’s reasonable to assume the GPU will be the fastest in the round, we won’t fully understand how much better it will be compared to its peers until its release? Despite initial whispers surrounding its CUDA core and enhanced memory capabilities, the device was reportedly poised to deliver a performance boost of over 50%.

While some rumor-mongers speculate that the RTX 5090’s efficiency could be a staggering 60-70% faster than the RTX 4090, it remains unclear whether this purported boost applies when ray tracing is enabled or disabled. With the added complexity of enabling or unannounced DLSS 3 features and Nvidia’s propensity for releasing proprietary benchmark numbers, additional factors come into play.

If Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 has piqued your interest in learning more about the inner workings of its graphics processing units (GPUs), explore our in-depth look at the Nvidia Ada Lovelace architecture, providing a comprehensive overview of how its latest GPUs operate.