NVIDIA has officially announced their highly-anticipated generational update – the RTX 5000 series GPUs, which were unveiled during CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote speech at CES 2025. This new lineup includes the RTX 5090, 5080, 5070 Ti, and 5070, showcasing significant performance improvements and bringing several cutting-edge technologies to the gaming world.
The new RTX 5000 series is set to feature Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, which promises substantial enhancements over the previous RTX 4000 series. Highlights of the new technology include Fifth-Gen Tensor cores, advanced neural shaders, 4th-Gen Ray Tracing cores, and the introduction of DLSS 4, which is expected to boost frame rates drastically across over 200 games at launch.
According to NVIDIA, the RTX 5070 model is anticipated to outperform the previous flagship RTX 4090 by doubling the performance in popular games. For example, during demonstrations, the RTX 5070 exhibited a staggering 2X improvement in frame rates for titles like Black Myth Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, and Alan Wake 2. These statistics were backed up with real-time gameplay footage, showing Cyberpunk 2077 running natively at 4K with maximum detail, achieving just 28 fps without DLSS. With DLSS 4 activated, this number soared to an impressive 242 fps with ray tracing enabled.
NVIDIA's Reflex technology has also seen improvements with the new release, introducing Reflex 2 which syncs the graphical pipeline with mouse input to reduce latency, significantly enhancing the gaming experience. While some features, like the Frame Warp technology, are currently marked as “coming soon,” excitement builds around its potential impact on competitive gaming.
Pricing for the RTX 5000 series has raised eyebrows, as the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 is set to retail at $1,999, the RTX 5080 at $999, the RTX 5070 Ti at $749, and the RTX 5070 at $549. This pricing is largely considered reasonable, especially when compared to previous speculation of considerably higher prices.
Alongside desktop GPUs, NVIDIA has introduced the RTX 5000 mobile series, which will be integrated across many gaming laptops from top manufacturers such as HP, MSI, Alienware, and Asus. These mobile GPUs include the RTX 5090 and extend down to the RTX 5060. Initial benchmarks suggest these new laptops could significantly outperform those with previous generation GPUs.
Among the notable laptops announced, Asus unveiled six new systems powered by the RTX 5000 series. The Strix Scar 16 and 18 models come equipped with up to the RTX 5090 and are optimized for high performance, featuring mini LED panels and powerful cooling systems. They boast impressive specs such as new Intel Core Ultra 9 processors, and additional user-friendly features, including easily upgradeable SSDs.
For more mainstream consumers, the Strix G16 and G18 are positioned with specs matching up to the RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti, respectively. These models highlight versatility and accessibility for everyday gaming needs.
Across the board, expectations are high for the new NVIDIA RTX 5000 series as they promise to redefine gaming performance and visual fidelity for both desktop and mobile platforms. The advancements, coupled with competitive pricing, suggest NVIDIA is geared up for another groundbreaking generation. With all eyes on testing and real-world performance, benchmarks are eagerly awaited as these new GPUs start shipping.