Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5000 memory interface boost might be exclusive to (very expensive)...

[Daniel Sims]

Recap: Leaks and rumors over the past year have constructed a changing picture of Nvidia's next-generation graphics cards, indicating that the company's plans remain in flux. While performance predictions have remained relatively stable for months, the flagship model's release date has shifted, and new reports raise questions about the lineup's memory interface.

Known leaker @kopite7kimi recently stated that the top-end RTX 50 series GPU would upgrade to a 512-bit memory interface but doesn't expect the bus improvements to trickle down the hardware stack. The memory configurations of the other upcoming Blackwell products might resemble their Ada Lovelace predecessors instead.

Since late last year, leaks suggested that the Blackwell flagship – likely named the GeForce RTX 5090 – move from GDDR6X to the faster GDDR7, providing the primary VRAM improvement, but wouldn't exceed the RTX 4090's 24 GB 384-bit memory interface. However, new information indicates a 512-bit bus for the 5090, which, combined with other rumors, could make the card significantly faster than its predecessor.

Unfortunately, Kopite doesn't expect the other Blackwell cards to receive a similar uplift. The GB203 and GB205 GPUs will be 256-bit and 192-bit, respectively, matching the 16 GB RTX 4080 Super's AD103 and the 12 GB RTX 4070 Super's AD104.

Thanks as always. GB203 is 256-bit and GB205 is 192-bit.

– kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) March 12, 2024

Nvidia has faced criticism for skimping on VRAM in its recent mid-range and mainstream products. Cards like the RTX 3070 and 4060 only include 8 GB of memory, while the 3060 has 12 GB. The new rumors regarding Blackwell don't mention its mainstream variant, but they could stoke concerns over another VRAM-starved 128-bit product.

Memory type is another critical yet unconfirmed detail worthy of note. The RTX 4070 Super, 4080 Super, and 4090 all feature GDDR6X VRAM, so some other Blackwell cards could shift to GDDR7 like the 5090.

Although performance improvements in the non-enthusiast RTX 5000 GPUs remain unknown, the 5090 should see a 60 - 70 percent boost over the 4090 due to having 50 percent more cores, 78 percent more L2 cache, and a 15 percent frequency increase. Based on TSMC's 3nm node, it will support DisplayPort 2.1 and PCIe 5.0.

Whether Nvidia will launch Blackwell in late 2024 or early 2025 is unclear, but the most recent information leans toward the former. We also expect Intel and AMD to release new generations of GPUs this year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/102253-nvidia-blackwell-rtx-5000-memory-interface-boost-might.html

 

[daffy duck]

5090 is a testament to Huang's gigantic ego. No need for the product at all and certainly not with a 512 bit bus and ludicrous price. They do it because they can, just to brag, not because they need to. Media then joins in and trashes AMD for not having 5090 rival. The turns around and says price of current cards is a disgrace.

 

[Beerfloat]

5090 is a testament to Huang's gigantic ego. No need for the product at all and certainly not with a 512 bit bus and ludicrous price.

This is Techspot, Techspit is that way ->

GB202 is shaping up to be the basis for a peerless gaming experience, just like AD102. It's not gonna be for everyone but it doesn't have to be.

 

[emmzo]

Wouldn't it be funny to see 5060s with 8GB Vram at 600 bucks? You can do it Nvidia, the way it's meant to be paid!

 

[Disiw]

5090 is a testament to Huang's gigantic ego. No need for the product at all and certainly not with a 512 bit bus and ludicrous price. They do it because they can, just to brag, not because they need to. Media then joins in and trashes AMD for not having 5090 rival. The turns around and says price of current cards is a disgrace.

No need? Yes there is big need. Alot of people will be buying this on day one. An actual GPU that will feed all those new 4K/UHD 240 Hz OLED monitors properly. 4090 is generally too slow and AMD has nothing that even comes close to 4090 in 4K and they won't have for some years. RDNA5 in 2026 maybe.

5090 will be king of the hill for 2 years just like 4090 was.

So speak for yourself please. Just because you can't afford one, does not mean others can't. Buying a GPU, even in this bracket, is "nothing" for many people. 4090 sold very well.

 

[Watzupken]

This is Techspot, Techspit is that way ->

GB202 is shaping up to be the basis for a peerless gaming experience, just like AD102. It's not gonna be for everyone but it doesn't have to be.

Peerless? We shall see how long that will last. It took about 6 months after the launch of RTX 4090 before it started running below 60FPS @ 4K in some games in 2023. I am skeptical that Blackwell will be a substantial step up in performance as Ada was when it replaced Ampere. The increase in memory bandwidth may not be the bottleneck either as demonstrated by comparing the RTX 4070 Ti Super and non-Super performance.

 

[Disiw]

Peerless? We shall see how long that will last. It took about 6 months after the launch of RTX 4090 before it started running below 60FPS @ 4K in some games in 2023. I am skeptical that Blackwell will be a substantial step up in performance as Ada was when it replaced Ampere. The increase in memory bandwidth may not be the bottleneck either as demonstrated by comparing the RTX 4070 Ti Super and non-Super performance.

Which games ran sub 60 fps avg with a 4090 just 6 months after release, unless you enabled RT?

Even Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty and Alan Wake 2 runs at ~75 fps at UHD native maxed out and they both launched much later than 6 months after 4090 release. More like 1 year and you can easily tweak both to run 100+ while retaining (or even improving graphics) by removing DoF, blur and other crap effects. These two games are pretty much the most demanding games right now, unless you include unoptimized titles.

4K+ native will continue pushing GPUs but DLSS and Frame Gen exist.
Most 4K gamers are using upscaling in demanding AAA games, thats just reality. Buying a 4K monitor or TV is not that expensive but buying a 4K capable card is, unless you use upscaling then tons of GPUs will do it just fine, while still delivering impressive image quality.

DLSS often beats native when it comes to detail - https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/outriders-dlss-performance
DLSS is not only about performance. It can easily improve on native image quality on top.
However DLAA is what people will use for maximum fidelity and this will beat native any day.

If people have the choice to play at 80-100 fps instead of 40-50 then most will just enable DLSS. Smoothness is king for many PC gamers using high refresh rate monitors.

1440p with DLAA looks just as good if not better than 4K Native and is much less demanding.

5090 will deliver a massive performance increase for 4K+ gamers, and price will be high. The performance king always has a premium price. Many are willing to pay this price, as we saw with 3090 Ti, 4090 etc.

 

[envirovore]

5090 is a testament to Huang's gigantic ego. No need for the product at all and certainly not with a 512 bit bus and ludicrous price. They do it because they can, just to brag, not because they need to. Media then joins in and trashes AMD for not having 5090 rival. The turns around and says price of current cards is a disgrace.

There's no need for advancing hardware?
So, should we all still just be using 486's with a TNT RIVA?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Peerless? We shall see how long that will last. It took about 6 months after the launch of RTX 4090 before it started running below 60FPS @ 4K in some games in 2023. I am skeptical that Blackwell will be a substantial step up in performance as Ada was when it replaced Ampere. The increase in memory bandwidth may not be the bottleneck either as demonstrated by comparing the RTX 4070 Ti Super and non-Super performance.

OK, now how fast was the 7900xtx in those tests?

Oh, significantly slower?

Then the 4090 was peerless.

peer·less
/ˈpirləs/
adjective
unequaled; unrivaled.

Grammar R hard.

There's no need for advancing hardware?
So, should we all still just be using 486's with a TNT RIVA?

If you asked the consumer of a model T what they wanted, they'd say a faster horse.

some people seem to think innovation is scawy uWu. Same people who still pine about nokia dumb phones while typing on their phone 15 pro max.

 

[themastergoose]

5090 is a testament to Huang's gigantic ego. No need for the product at all and certainly not with a 512 bit bus and ludicrous price. They do it because they can, just to brag, not because they need to. Media then joins in and trashes AMD for not having 5090 rival. The turns around and says price of current cards is a disgrace.

The media bias towards Nvidia on this site and others has been as such for many years now. I miss the days of non-biased journalism where the reviewer or publication would recommend the (objectively) best product for the money rather than brand loyalty or how much the sponsor cheque was for.

RX 6950XT beats the RTX 3090 and equals the 3090Ti in most benches (even compute) at half the price. Almost every single review site including this one backed spending almost double and just getting Nvidia for the DLSS and RT. Last gen the 6950XT should have been the obvious go-to at the high end for the money.

RX 7900 XTX equals the RTX 4080 in most benches, and in RT is loosing around 30% on average at 4K. It's around £200 cheaper here over a RTX 4080/Super with slightly stronger raster. It's not the home run for performance the 6950XT was over Nvidia's then current flagship, but it's still the better value overall.

Again, it's not recommended anywhere with articles and videos largely concluding with "it's worth spending the extra £200-300 for the Nvidia card". It is what it is at this point and I doubt AMD will be able to make any meaningful inroads into Nvidia's dominant position now. They seem to get an unhealthy amount of criticism, especially for driver stability (which was left behind many years ago with the arrival of RDNA yet people still kick that can down the road).

Nvidia card pricing below their flagships mentioned above are actually terrible value at several price points relative to the performance over not only their own last gen parts, but also the competition from AMD. Their brand is in everyone's mindshare though, so even if they release expensive and terrible value parts nobody will care as they sell anyway.

 

[SirDigby]

At one point I understood the significance of memory bus width but I've long since forgotten. I'm hoping the 5080 has GDDR7 and hoping it gets the memory bus that compliments it.

 

[themastergoose]

At one point I understood the significance of memory bus width but I've long since forgotten. I'm hoping the 5080 has GDDR7 and hoping it gets the memory bus that compliments it.

Wider bus width to the memory historically was used to increase bandwidth, and in turn allow faster swap into and out of VRAM for the GPU.

Still very much important today, as wider memory bus has direct correlation to memory bandwidth. Couple that with Rebar and DirectStorage, you then realise the need to go even faster is as strong as ever at the high end.

 

[daffy duck]

This is Techspot, Techspit is that way ->

GB202 is shaping up to be the basis for a peerless gaming experience, just like AD102. It's not gonna be for everyone but it doesn't have to be.

Thanks for proving my point. 99.999% of forum posts about buying 4090 and soon 5090 will be by people still using a 1060.

 

[SirDigby]

Wider bus width to the memory historically was used to increase bandwidth, and in turn allow faster swap into and out of VRAM for the GPU.

Still very much important today, as wider memory bus has direct correlation to memory bandwidth. Couple that with Rebar and DirectStorage, you then realise the need to go even faster is as strong as ever at the high end.

Thanks, I knew at one point I promise but if you don't use knowledge you lose it!

 

[Disiw]

The media bias towards Nvidia on this site and others has been as such for many years now. I miss the days of non-biased journalism where the reviewer or publication would recommend the (objectively) best product for the money rather than brand loyalty or how much the sponsor cheque was for.

RX 6950XT beats the RTX 3090 and equals the 3090Ti in most benches (even compute) at half the price. Almost every single review site including this one backed spending almost double and just getting Nvidia for the DLSS and RT. Last gen the 6950XT should have been the obvious go-to at the high end for the money.

RX 7900 XTX equals the RTX 4080 in most benches, and in RT is loosing around 30% on average at 4K. It's around £200 cheaper here over a RTX 4080/Super with slightly stronger raster. It's not the home run for performance the 6950XT was over Nvidia's then current flagship, but it's still the better value overall.

Again, it's not recommended anywhere with articles and videos largely concluding with "it's worth spending the extra £200-300 for the Nvidia card". It is what it is at this point and I doubt AMD will be able to make any meaningful inroads into Nvidia's dominant position now. They seem to get an unhealthy amount of criticism, especially for driver stability (which was left behind many years ago with the arrival of RDNA yet people still kick that can down the road).

Nvidia card pricing below their flagships mentioned above are actually terrible value at several price points relative to the performance over not only their own last gen parts, but also the competition from AMD. Their brand is in everyone's mindshare though, so even if they release expensive and terrible value parts nobody will care as they sell anyway.

6900XT was losing to 3090 and 6950XT was loosing to 3090 Ti. 4090 and 4080 launched shortly after 6950XT/3090Ti.

6950XT was nothing but an overclocked 6900XT. Identical chip.

Why are you talking about last generation tho?


https://www.neowin.net/news/amd-con...-drivers-can-brick-your-windows-installation/

People buy Nvidia of various reason. RT performance, RTX features, DLSS/DLAA, DLDSR, Reflex, Shadowplay, CUDA and Nvidia is doing MUCH better in early access games, betas, emulators etc.

AMD is cheaper for a reason and still don't sell well. Why? Because the entire package is just worse. Worse drivers. Worse features. Worse performance overall. Just more hassle. And this is why AMD is cheaper.

More and more games uses forced RT at this point too, Avatar to name one:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/avatar-fop-performance-benchmark/5.html

And AMD is not even close.

Future is not looking bright for AMD GPUs. And they gave up in the high-end space completely. Radeon 8000 series will target low to mid-end only.

5090 and 5080 will face no competition from AMD before 2026 (hopefully) and then RTX 6000 series launches. AMD is just years behind on everything at this point.

I don't blame them tho, AMD is mostly doing CPUs and APUs. It is their primary focus and this won't change anytime soon, Nvidia is on fire right now. Dominating all markets; Gaming, including Cloud Gaming, AI and Enterprise.

All those AI money will drip down into other sectors going forward. AMD has no chance of beating Nvidia in the coming years - https://wccftech.com/nvidia-gains-a...rnings-and-a-cascade-of-stock-price-upgrades/