NVIDIA has quietly expanded its mobile graphics cards by announcing a new RTX 5070 Laptop GPU configuration with 12GB of VRAM.

The original RTX 5070 mobile with 8GB of VRAM doesn't look to be going anywhere. Instead, this is a play by NVIDIA to give its OEM partners more options to work with while the global RAM crisis rages on.

There's no word yet on which laptops will officially receive the new 12GB RTX 5070 mobile variant, but prior leaks (via Videocardz) suggest it'll arrive at some point in ASUS, Lenovo, and MSI models.

How does adding more VRAM to a GPU help solve memory shortages?

How does adding more VRAM to a GPU help when memory is so hard to come by? It's all about the type of memory used in the new 12GB configurations.

The new RTX 5070 mobile with 12GB of VRAM uses 24Gb GDDR7 memory, whereas the 8GB VRAM model uses 16Gb GDDR7 memory.

The manufacturing process for these types of memory is different. 24Gb uses 3GB memory modules, whereas 16Gb uses 2GB modules. The former modules have seen increased production of late by manufacturers like Samsung and Micron.

Spreading out the memory type should help NVIDIA source components for its mobile cards, allowing it to provide more GPUs to its partners.

It doesn't appear that NVIDIA is changing anything else on its RTX 5070 mobile GPU. Core counts remain the same, as does bandwidth and memory bus.

Windows Central's take

Regardless of a lack of other changes to the RTX 5070, with how memory-hungry modern games have become, getting a 50% boost compared to the original isn't a bad thing.

And if it allows NVIDIA to keep the mobile GPUs flowing to its partners, I'm on board.

(via Videocardz)

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PC gaming in 2026 is increasingly becoming a matter of AI upscaling and frame generation. Assuming you're comfortable with that, good on you. You're going to have a great time with smooth frames and higher framerates than ever before.

If you're not on board with the "fake frames" movement largely spearheaded by NVIDIA, I have some bad news. The use of AI by cutting-edge graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel isn't going anywhere any time soon.

This has never been more evident than in the past day or two. NVIDIA launched the first portion of its DLSS 4.5 update earlier this year at CES 2026. A second-gen Transformer Super Resolution model was immediately available for NVIDIA's RTX cards, promising superior image quality thanks to significantly improved compute power.

The other portion of DLSS 4.5's feature update, Dynamic Multi Frame Generation with up to 6X Multi Frame Generation (MFG), finally launched in beta on March 31.

👉 NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, Intel XeSS, and Microsoft DirectSR explained

NVIDIA's frame multiplier was capped at 4X in DLSS 4, meaning that for each frame created "naturally" by the GPU, there were three other frames being pumped out using AI generation.

With 6X MFG, RTX 50-series graphics cards can now create five AI-generated frames for each natural frame generated in the "old-fashioned" method. In order to better balance display refresh rates and GPU output, NVIDIA's new Dynamic MFG can step in to automatically change the frame generation multiplier.

NVIDIA likens this process to a car's automatic transmission, and it's surprisingly apt. If your GPU is having a hard time matching your display's refresh rate, it raises the multiplier. If your GPU isn't struggling to hit a target framerate, it lowers the multiplier.

Early impressions of NVIDIA's Dynamic MFG 6X are very positive

All of those fake frames being generated by NVIDIA's RTX 50-series GPUs should surely come with some drawbacks, right? As it turns out, everyone who's tested the new DLSS 4.5 features basically has the same positive outlook, with perks heavily outweighing downsides.

Perhaps the biggest news is that NVIDIA managed to push MFG from 4X to 6X without really affecting input latency (the delay between inputs from your mouse or keyboard and the actions showing up on screen) in any serious way.

Our friends at Tom's Hardware tested MFG 6X with Cyberpunk 2077. Input latency without any MFG was at 35ms. At 2X MFG, it climbed to 46.6ms. It only rose to 53.2ms at 4X MFG, and it actually fell to 52.6ms at 6X MFG.

Meanwhile, average framerates rose from 60 FPS all the way to 247.7 FPS using the exact same hardware and in-game settings. All that for just 17.6ms of extra input latency. It's a compromise that I know many PC gamers will gladly make.

Colleagues at PC Gamer discovered largely the same results in their initial testing of Dynamic MFG and MFG 6X, remarking:

This is but a small sample of hands-on reporting, but the response is basically the same everywhere you look. DLSS 4.5's Dynamic MFG and MFG 6X are worthy additions to NVIDIA's RTX toolbox.

That's not to say there aren't some caveats. You still need to have a decent baseline framerate to allow MFG to do its AI-assisted thing, and competitive gamers will still look the other way as they attempt to lower input latency as much as possible.

As PC Gamer points out after its testing, MFG 6X and Dynamic MFG are tools best viewed as capable of pushing good performance into great performance, rather than pushing bad performance into acceptable performance.

The future of PC gaming is all AI all the time, whether you like it or not

There are plenty of arguments to be made against the use of AI in PC gaming. One I hear most often is that developers should be optimizing their games to allow for reliable performance on raw hardware rather than relying on upscaling and frame generation.

I don't disagree, especially in the name of PC gamers who aren't blowing thousands on the latest hardware. Unfortunately, I don't think the industry is going to change any time soon. The AI path will almost certainly be the one we follow for years to come.

PC graphics keep improving as the engines that games are built on evolve, and even the most powerful consumer card, the NVIDIA RTX 5090, has trouble hitting high framerates without some form of AI assistance when path tracing and 4K resolutions are involved.

Whereas GPU hardware clearly has limitations on what it can achieve, software leveraging AI seems limitless in its abilities. Would you rather spend far more on GPU hardware or take advantage of "free" AI tools that boost performance well beyond what's otherwise expected?

I'll bet that in 10 years, the use of AI in PC gaming won't be controversial at all. It will be the accepted norm. Every modern mainstream GPU company is currently chasing some sort of AI upscaling and frame generation, and I don't see those efforts going away.

There are certainly going to be some speed bumps along the way, as is the case with any emerging technology that we're not quite ready to admit is the future.

For example, the outcry against NVIDIA's DLSS 5 reveal from a couple of weeks ago was practically unanimous, causing NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to backpedal a bit as it became clear that gamers aren't comfortable with a complete AI-generated reskin of their favorite games.

I'm certainly not on board with changing the entire look of the games I enjoy, although I also wasn't on board with MFG's initial 4X cap until I tested it myself in DOOM: The Dark Ages. It will be interesting to see how DLSS 5 is shaped by the PC gaming community and its strong opinions.

What do you think about the future of AI and PC gaming?

It might sound like I'm shilling for NVIDIA here, but trust me; I'm not. It's just hard to imagine a future of PC gaming, if we follow the current trajectory, that doesn't involve heavy use of AI to improve performance.

Do you agree that AI upscaling will no longer be a controversial topic in the future? Or could there be enough backlash that the entire momentum of the PC gaming industry changes course?

Will it be a hardware innovation that lets us go back to "real" frames? Let me know in the comments section below!

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NVIDIA's new DLSS 5 tech isn’t quite winning the public over, with many comparing the image-altering technology to some kinds of "AI slop" filters seen in generative AI tools like ChatGPT and other Snapchat.

The CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, had responded to that criticism, telling users they are “completely wrong.” However, despite claims that developers have “direct control,” Insider Gaming reports that may not have been the case.

Developers at Ubisoft and Capcom who agreed to showcase their games at the DLSS 5 reveal say they were not informed in advance. “We found out at the same time as the public,” said one Ubisoft developer.

Developers at Capcom also told Insider Gaming they were shocked by the publisher’s involvement. According to the report, the company has historically been “anti-AI,” and some developers fear DLSS 5 could shift its stance on generative AI and its use in future games.

Back in January 2025, IGN reported that Capcom was experimenting with generative AI tools to help create ideas for in-game environments, so its stance on AI might not be as “anti-AI” as some may believe.

However, AI use cases like this in development are nothing new, and not quite the type of AI people typically take issue with. That criticism is usually aimed at AI-generated art, which can directly negatively impact the artists behind it.

🎮 How do you feel about DLSS 5?

Is DLSS 5 a huge leap in graphical technology and something you’ve always dreamed of, or is it more akin to AI-generated slop that many, myself included, have come to disdain?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and make sure you take part in our poll below:

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DLSS 5 has not landed the way Nvidia likely hoped. Since its reveal, the feature has drawn heavy backlash online, with many comparing it to the kind of AI slop filters that gamers have grown tired of seeing.

Jensen Huang has now responded to that criticism, but rather than acknowledging those concerns, Nvidia’s CEO says gamers are “completely wrong.” So let’s break down his full comments and whether players are really as mistaken as he claims.

Jensen Huang responds to DLSS 5 backlash

For a bit of context, DLSS 5 was revealed recently as what Nvidia sees as the next evolution of its upscaling technology.

Traditionally, DLSS helped games look sharper while being rendered at a lower resolution, improving performance on hardware that could not quite keep up. It used AI to “fill in the gaps,” and was widely seen as one of the more practical uses of the tech.

This time, however, Nvidia appears to have pushed things further, and the response has been far more mixed. Some players say the results resemble the kind of AI slop filters people have grown tired of, or fall into that familiar uncanny valley effect.

That criticism has been loud online, and while Bethesda’s Todd Howard has also defended the tech, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has now responded directly. Speaking to Tom’s Hardware, he said:

Huang went on to stress that control still sits firmly with developers, saying:
“All of that is in the control — direct control — of the game developer. This is very different than generative AI; it’s content-control generative AI. That’s why we call it neural rendering.”

He also elaborated on how DLSS 5 works at a technical level, adding:
“The reason for that is because, as I have explained very carefully, DLSS 5 fuses controllability of the of geometry and textures and everything about the game with generative AI. It’s not post-processing, it’s not post-processing at the frame level, it’s generative control at the geometry level.”

🎮 What are your thoughts on Huang's comments?

It is always interesting to see a CEO of a trillion-dollar company point the finger back at consumers and suggest the criticism is misplaced.

I joke, but it is still surprising to see Huang double down, and it does make me feel better about choosing AMD over Nvidia for my own PC.

With that said, let me know your thoughts. Do you think DLSS 5 is being judged too harshly, or has Nvidia taken things a step too far by pushing this technology and calling out players directly?

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NVIDIA's time at GDC 2026 is all about highlighting new features coming to its products, and alongside new features and games being added to GeForce Now, we now have an official launch date for one of Team Green's most exciting updates.

DLSS 4.5's Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, originally announced at CES earlier this year, is finally set to arrive for RTX 50-series GPUs on March 31, 2026.

Multi Frame Generation (MFG) currently works by locking in a frame multiplier, whether it's 2x, 3x, or 4x. For every one frame generated by the GPU in standard fashion, DLSS 4.5 can then create "fake frames" to fit in between the "real" frames.

Dynamic MFG essentially takes over the multiplier selection, dynamically adjusting it on the go to deliver one target frame rate. If your GPU needs help hitting the target, which in many cases I'm sure will be a monitor's native refresh rate, MFG will kick in. NVIDIA compares it to a car's automatic transmission, where you choose the speed, and the car does the rest.

What NVIDIA's GDC 2026 announcement does not include is the arrival of MFG 6x. The next tier of MFG was also revealed at CES 2026 with a promise of a Spring reveal, but it seems we'll have to wait a bit longer. MFG 6x is expected to unlock 240Hz+ refresh rates at 4K with Path Tracing enabled.

What is NVIDIA's new RTX Mega Geometry foliage system?

NVIDIA took the wraps off its new RTX Mega Geometry feature last year as a way for ray tracing to handle the newfound complexities surrounding geometrics, 3D sculpting, photogrammetry, and the use of generative AI.

Alan Wake 2 was notably the first game to feature NVIDIA's new RTX Mega Geometry feature, demonstrating how higher frame rates can be achieved while simultaneously lowering VRAM. In the case of Alan Wake 2, NVIDIA saw a 5-20% frame rate improvement while cutting out about 300MB of VRAM usage.

NVIDIA used GDC 2026 to show off a new addition called RTX Mega Geometry Foliage, which will be coming to The Witcher 4 whenever it launches. This new foliage rendering system looks mighty impressive based on the video that NVIDIA shared, with photorealistic foliage blowing gently in the breeze.

Windows Central's take on the new NVIDIA RTX features

I was admittedly once skeptical of NVIDIA's AI-generated "fake frames" that were first revealed at CES 2025, but I quickly became a believer after actually testing Multi Frame Generation on an RTX 5070 Ti.

It's frankly an indispensable tool that I've largely been able to set and forget when PC gaming, and the fact that NVIDIA is pushing out meaningful updates fairly quickly comes as no surprise.

It's just a shame that MFG is only available on NVIDIA's latest RTX 50-series cards.

What do you think about NVIDIA's new Dynamic MFG and RTX Mega Geometry Foliage systems?

Are you excited to test out NVIDIA's Dynamic Multi Frame Generation when it launches on March 31? What do you think about the new RTX Mega Geometry Foliage system that's coming to The Witcher 4? Be sure to let me know in the comments section!

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Microsoft and NVIDIA have together turned me into someone I no longer recognize. Months of chaotic Windows 11 patches and NVIDIA GPU driver issues have resulted in me disabling automatic updates and ignoring new patches on my gaming PC.

I know, I know; it's not exactly a controversial take. Despite some security concerns, many PC users do the same, and have done so for a very long time. Why fix something that isn't broken?

What's really getting under my skin lately is the fact that the companies that are supposed to be improving the products they sold me are consistently introducing problems that get in the way of a smooth experience.

I'm talking about two of the most valuable companies in the world: Microsoft and NVIDIA. I should be able to leave automatic updates enabled and not worry about what they're going to do to my PC.

Why has the quality of Windows and NVIDIA updates declined so rapidly?

Is the decline in update quality due to AI taking over coding duties? No idea, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has boasted that up to 30% of Microsoft code is written by AI. Is it because NVIDIA's RTX drivers have become way more complicated with all of the new features? I honestly can't say.

What I do know is that trust in these companies to deliver a stable update is eroding quickly. In the past year or so, Windows 11 has received several broken updates that required an emergency patch.

Most recently on the Windows frontier, there was Windows 11's KB5077181 February update that caused installation failures and several other issues, including those related to NVIDIA GPUs. In January, Windows 11 update KB5078127 was introduced in an emergency out-of-band capacity to address issues with cloud services. I could go on.

On NVIDIA's side, GeForce driver 595.71, released just a couple of days ago, introduced GPU overclocking issues. Right before that, GeForce driver 595.59 broke hardware monitoring, which resulted in GPU fans not spinning properly. Again, I could go on.

How am I handling Windows and NVIDIA updates on my gaming PC?

In my case, NVIDIA driver updates were the first to be disabled on my gaming PC. Sure, I might miss out on some launch drivers for specific games, but I can handle those on a per-game basis. I don't play that many games right when they launch, anyway.

For Windows 11, I've kept updates enabled, but they're on a two-week delay so that I can ensure there's not going to be any unforeseen problems right after they go out.

Until Microsoft and NVIDIA can once again prove that the updates they're pushing out can be trusted, I'll be keeping new versions at arm's length from my gaming PC.

How are you handling updates on your gaming PC?

I know my move to stop allowing automatic updates on my gaming PC isn't exactly controversial. I know a lot of gamers do the same already; please speak up if that's you.

Are you also frustrated that it's basically the only option now that upgrade quality has declined so much? Do you disagree with my take? Please let me know in the comments section!

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NVIDIA's Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta series GPUs no longer receive Game Ready Driver updates as of last year, but that doesn't mean they're being entirely ignored by the company. That's good news since a lot of these cards are still faithfully serving PC gamers and developers.

On January 28, 2026, NVIDIA released a security-focused driver update (version 582.28 WQHL) for its legacy cards with a focus on eliminating five vulnerabilities. The driver release notes oddly don't list the vulnerabilities it fixes, but you can read, in detail, on NVIDIA's Security Bulletin page.

I've listed the descriptions here:

• CVE-2025-33217: NVIDIA Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability where an attacker could trigger a use after free. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, and information disclosure.
• CVE-2025-33218: NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer (nvlddmkm.sys), where an attacker could cause an integer overflow. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, or information disclosure.
• CVE-2025-33219: NVIDIA Display Driver for Linux contains a vulnerability in the NVIDIA kernel module where an attacker could cause an integer overflow or wraparound. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, or information disclosure.
• CVE-2025-33220: NVIDIA vGPU software contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager, where a malicious guest could cause heap memory access after the memory is freed. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, denial of service, or information disclosure.
• CVE-2025-33237: NVIDIA HD Audio Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability where an attacker could exploit a NULL pointer dereference issue. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to a denial of service.

If you were hoping for something other than security patches, I'm afraid you're out of luck. A bug causing distorted text in Counter-Strike 2 when the in-game resolution is lower than a monitor's native resolution persists, as does flickering on some systems running Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

This security update targets NVIDIA's GeForce 10-series, 900-series, 700-series, and Titan-series GPUs. If your hardware is on that list, you can download the security update driver 582.28 directly from NVIDIA's website.

Does this security patch affect your PC? What GPU are you running? Let me know in the comments section!

The update from Hardware Unboxed:

"The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB have not been discontinued or designated as end-of-life (EOL). ASUS has no plans to stop selling these models.

"Current fluctuations in supply for both products are primarily due to memory supply constraints, which have temporarily affected production output and restocking cycles. As a result, availability may appear limited in certain markets, but this should not be interpreted as a production halt or product retirement."

This could be a case of damage control from ASUS PR, and as Hardware Unboxed points out, "the proof will be in the supply."

Original article:

As we're all coming to understand, AI takes precedence over human consumers. The latest casualty, caused by a focus on feeding AI datacenters with as much memory as the world's manufacturers can supply, is NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti graphics card.

Yes, the 16GB Blackwell GPU that was one of the more popular options from the new lineup — thanks mainly to its ample memory allocation and its stellar performance — is seemingly on its last legs as NVIDIA's AIB partners (aka the companies that build GPUs around NVIDIA's chips) struggle to receive a supply of the GPU.

The report comes from Hardware Unboxed, which spoke with "several AIBs and retailers" post-CES 2026 in order to get a clearer view of the current GPU predicament.

Hardware Unboxed notes that retailers have not been explicitly warned that the 5070 Ti has hit end-of-life status. However, speaking with those same retailers, it's clear that there is no stock from AIB partners to buy and sell.

This news aligns with December rumors I covered, suggesting that NVIDIA would cut RTX 50-series production in 2026 to cope with memory shortages. At the time, it looked like production might shrink by 30-40%, but it could be a lot worse.

New, more recent rumors stemming from Board Channels and picked up by Videocardz seemed to indicate that NVIDIA had adjusted its supply chain to focus on 8GB versions of its RTX 50-series GPUs, including the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti. In an update, it appears that this rumor is only partly true.

According to HKEPC, a Hong Kong-based outlet, NVIDIA is now prioritizing its GPU production based on memory allocations. For example, out of the 8GB cards, NVIDIA will focus on the RTX 5060 Ti. For 16GB cards, it will focus on the RTX 5080. There's no information yet about the 12GB RTX 5070, but the RTX 5090 will continue production.

This new prioritization effectively leaves the 16GB RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5070 Ti behind. If you currently have one of these GPUs in your PC, I probably don't need to tell you to protect it at all costs. There's a lot of discussion about VRAM and how much you need to game effectively in 2026, but it essentially boils down to "more is better."

The RTX 5070 Ti, which launched with a $749 MSRP, is indeed seeing price spikes at retailers. Some versions are still available at Newegg for as low as $829.99, but the majority of options have climbed to $1,250 and well beyond.

The 16GB RTX 5060 Ti, which launched at a $429 MSRP, is facing a similar predicament. Some models are still available for as low as $489.99 at Newegg, but the majority have hit or surpassed $530.

NVIDIA's Blackwell SUPER cards have been postponed indefinitely

Traditionally, SUPER variants of NVIDIA's cards are released about a year after the initial cards' launch. Rumors began in November 2025 of memory shortages killing the RTX 50 SUPER cards, and Hardware Unboxed has now confirmed that the SUPER cards have been postponed indefinitely.

Should memory prices calm down later this year, which isn't likely, NVIDIA could revisit its next-gen products that were supposed to debut at CES 2026.

It's worth pointing out that NVIDIA's laptop GPUs have seemingly not yet suffered the same prioritization fate, but I expect that 2026 will see a lot of low- and high-end models rather than a mid-range spread.

NVIDIA focusing on the costly RTX 5080 as its only 16GB GPU is surely going to leave a lot of PC gamers in the lurch. Are you ready to make the jump to AMD or Intel? Let me know in the comments section below!

MSI's Raider A18 HX joins a fairly exclusive club of 18-inch powerhouse gaming laptops, competing directly with the likes of the Razer Blade 18 and ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18, two laptops we also reviewed this year at Windows Central.

Equipped with up to an NVIDIA RTX 5090 Laptop GPU and an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D CPU, MSI's Raider hits the upper limits of power available in a gaming laptop. It's not all about power, though, as MSI has included quite a few premium features to keep you happy while you game or work.

Is this the right 18-inch laptop for you? Let's find out.

MSI Raider A18 HX (2025) review

MSI's Raider A18 HX is not an affordable laptop, but that's expected for a device with so much power.

The most affordable price I found while reviewing the PC is $2,799 at B&H (after a $500 discount) for a model with an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D CPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, 2TB SSD, NVIDIA RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, and a UHD+ mini-LED display at 120Hz.

You can also find the same configuration available at Amazon for $3,399, at Newegg for $3,299, or at Walmart for $3,799.

Models with an RTX 5090 are not recommended due to price and meager performance gains over the RTX 5080. The exception is users who plan to use the Raider A18 HX for creative or AI work, in which case a 5090 might be necessary.

👉 NVIDIA's most expensive laptops are a terrible value — Here's what you should buy instead

This review was made possible thanks to a loaned review unit provided by MSI. The company did not see the contents of this review before publishing.

Design ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As with any 18-inch gaming laptop designed to accommodate the latest and greatest mobile performance hardware, there's a decent amount of bulk involved. Models with all the best internals weigh in at about 7.94 pounds (3.6kg) with about 1.26 inches (32mm) of thickness.

A lot of the chassis is plastic, although MSI uses aluminum for some of the larger panels to add strength. The PC feels sturdy and doesn't have much bend.

The back edge has stylized red and black vent covers, with some space at the center for 2.5Gb Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, and a proprietary charging port. This positioning helps improve cable management. The plastic venting extends to the sides to cover additional exhausting.

On the left, you'll find dual USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2) and a UHS-III SD card reader. On the right are dual USB4 ports, a third USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2), and a 3.5mm audio jack.

It's a decent mix of modern and legacy ports, even if it doesn't officially support Intel's branded Thunderbolt tech (as some of MSI's product notes suggest). Wireless is also as modern as can be, with Wi-Fi 7 support and Bluetooth 5.4.

The gem-cut front corners and display bezels add some distinct flair to the PC, and a customizable LED light bar along the front edge is a nice addition that users can choose to disable in more professional settings.

Above the display, there's a 1080p webcam with an IR sensor for Windows Hello facial recognition. A physical shutter adds some privacy. Overall, picture quality is just OK; if you plan to stream your games, a great standalone webcam will do a lot better.

The top-firing speakers remain unmuffled, and they get plenty loud without distorting. The downside is that there's not a whole lot of body to the audio. I do love the manual shutter on the webcam and the fingerprint reader below the keyboard; many gaming laptops ignore these features.

Getting inside the PC requires the removal of 12 screws on the vented bottom panel. Once removed, you have access to RAM, storage, and the Wi-Fi card for quick and easy upgrades/replacements after purchase.

Display ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Raider A18 HX's 18-inch display hits a 3840x2400 (UHD+) resolution, making for an ultra-crisp look whether you're gaming or working. The use of a mini-LED panel provides deeper blacks, brighter whites, and improved contrast when compared to a standard LCD screen. The difference is immediately noticeable.

Compared to OLED, mini-LED is better suited for HDR content thanks to its higher brightness. Indeed, the display here is certified for VESA DisplayHDR 1000, and I tested for 558 nits of brightness without HDR using my colorimeter.

Also tested was color accuracy, for which the Raider A18 HX scored quite well, hitting 100% sRGB, 94% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3. These results are crucial for creative work.

Combine all of this with a 120Hz refresh rate (quite fast for a 4K display), and you have an impressive screen to work or play with at any time. I also appreciate the matte finish that reduces glare.

Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Running through our standard set of benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D CPU unsurprisingly falls behind Intel's flagship mobile chip for productivity tasks. AMD designed its CPUs to boost gaming performance, and that's evident as soon as you start playing.

Paired with a 3840x2400 (UHD+) display, the performance hardware doesn't have an easy job. However, I clocked a 148.7 FPS average in Cyberpunk 2077 using Multi Frame Gen 4x, high overall settings, and ray tracing lighting set to high.

In Far Cry 6 with Ultra settings and no DLSS, I got back a 100 FPS average. And in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with highest settings and DLSS enabled, I saw a 170 FPS average.

DLSS is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, but that's no different in any other powerhouse gaming laptop. The fact that you can still max out the UHD+ display's 120Hz refresh rate with these demanding titles is mighty impressive.

MSI has also included the fastest M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD we've ever tested in the new Raider. Thanks to its own heat pipe connected to the full cooling system, I didn't find it overheated.

Thermals & fan noise ⭐⭐⭐

I kicked off performance testing with a full-system stress test. The Raider A18 HX showed no signs of throttling under these conditions, and you should find that working normally at the PC won't create a ton of fan noise or heat.

MSI's included control app allows for intelligent balancing of power using AI, but you can also force it into specific performance categories. The GPU is overclockable, though I'm not sure the added fan noise is worth it.

The laptop's fans are not quiet when under gaming duress. I tested about 52 decibels when pushing the system with Cyberpunk 2077. Less demanding titles don't create nearly as much ruckus, but you'll still hear fan noise practically any time you're at the PC.

Battery life ⭐⭐⭐

MSI's Raider A18 HX was not built to be an efficiency superstar. Sporting the most powerful mobile CPU and GPU combo for gaming in the world, it focuses on raw power rather than long runtimes.

A Windows battery report shows that standby lasting power is excellent (lasting a couple of days), but active power is not the same story. You should not attempt to game on this laptop without it being plugged into an AC adapter unless it's a light title and you have a bunch of the Raider's power settings turned down.

Leaving the laptop at full power and going about regular, non-gaming tasks will get you about two or three hours of life, more if you tune the system down. It's the same story for practically any gaming laptop with this much power inside.

Keyboard & touchpad ⭐⭐⭐½

A colorful keyboard isn't exactly a rare sight in the gaming laptop world, but MSI's option isn't just flashy.

It's a SteelSeries board boasting 99 keys thanks to the full number pad, each with separate and customizable RGB lighting. Key travel is deep enough that I didn't experience any discomfort when typing or gaming, and although it's not a mechanical board, it feels snappy and responsive.

I dislike the translucent keycaps on the WASD and arrow keys, but it's overall a quality keyboard.

I'm not as impressed with the mechanical touchpad. There's a lot of movement on the surface that makes some clicks feel spongy, and it seems like MSI could have used up more space on the deck for wider and taller dimensions.

The plastic pad is smooth and tracks well, and in the end, that's what matters most. You might wish it were a glass touchpad if you were using the built-in pointer full-time, but I suspect most gamers are switching to a controller or an external mouse anyway.

MSI Raider A18 HX (2025): Should you buy it?

✅ You should buy this if ...

• You want one of the most powerful gaming laptops on the market today.
• You love a gaming laptop with customizable RGB lighting.
• You want to experience the very best of what AMD and NVIDIA can deliver.

❌ You should not buy this if ...

• You require long battery life to get you from one AC outlet to the other.
• You want a laptop that's easy to carry around.
• You don't plan on tackling demanding local AI tasks or hardware-intensive games.

MSI's Raider A18 HX should be a top choice for anyone who wants the best mobile gaming CPU in the world and a choice of NVIDIA's latest laptop GPUs, including up to an RTX 5090.

Battery life isn't great, and the fans aren't exactly quiet, but these are downsides found in practically any high-performance gaming laptop.

Considering the Raider A18 HX is competitively priced against similar laptops, there's no reason not to consider it unless you particularly value audio and touchpad quality.

• Back to the top ⤴

It's no secret that mini PCs have exploded in popularity in recent years. They can be used for a wide range of purposes, they take up hardly any space on a desk, and they're generally priced competitively, allowing you to get your hands on powerful computing for less.

At least, that's the idea with most mini PCs. ZOTAC's new MAGNUS EN275060TC doesn't yet have a set price, but it will almost certainly cost more than many of what we consider to be the best mini PCs on the market today.

That's all because of its desktop-class RTX 5060 Ti graphics card. It isn't the first mini PC to feature a discrete GPU, but it is one of the few options that offer the full desktop version.

That might not be a notable achievement on its own; it's the new mini PC's size that really drew my attention. The case measures just 8.27 x 7.99 x 2.45 inches with an overall 2.65-liter capacity, with all components stuffed inside.

Considering ZOTAC's Twin Edge RTX 5060 Ti standalone desktop GPU measures 8.7 x 4.7 x 1.6 inches, the company evidently took the NVIDIA GB206 processor and designed a completely new cooling system to fit inside the cramped internals.

NVIDIA's RTX 5060 Ti is one of the company's latest graphics cards, which means it comes with all of the latest Blackwell improvements to ray tracing, AI workloads, and upscaling.

DLSS 4 and its Multi Frame Generation tech — exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs — won me over earlier this year after I tested it extensively on an RTX 5070 Ti. The way it can boost framerates without loss of fidelity is just short of magic.

What other hardware comes in the ZOTAC MAGNUS EN275060TC?

ZOTAC's MAGNUS EN275060TC has a desktop-class GPU, but the rest of the hardware is much more tuned toward a mobile package.

It's centered around an Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX laptop processor with 20 total cores (split between 8 Performance and 12 Efficient), a Turbo frequency up to 5.2GHz, and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capable of 13 TOPS.

ZOTAC offers up to 96GB of DDR5-6400 SODIMM RAM, the same used in gaming laptops. It's replaceable after purchase, as are the dual M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs.

Port selection looks to be quite generous, with three DisplayPort outputs, one HDMI, dual Thunderbolt 4, five USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2), a UHS-II SD card reader, and dual 2.5GbE connections for wired internet.

Wireless internet is also at the cutting edge thanks to Wi-Fi 7 support, which comes bundled with modern Bluetooth 5.4. In typical mini PC fashion, the new MAGNUS has pre-drilled holes ready for mounting.

Why is a desktop GPU better than a laptop GPU?

Why is having a desktop-class GPU important? It's a common misconception that laptop and desktop graphics cards are the same thing. They do, after all, share the same name. Or at least, that's what it looks like at first glance.

NVIDIA doesn't offer a laptop version of the RTX 5060 Ti, so I can't draw a direct comparison. But I can show how the desktop and mobile versions of NVIDIA's GPUs differ using the RTX 5060.

The desktop version uses a GB206 processor, and it has 3,840 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, a 128-bit memory bus, and a Total Graphics Power (TGP) rating of 150W.

The laptop version of the RTX 5060 uses the same GB206 processor (not always the case, especially with NVIDIA's more powerful laptop cards), but it drops the CUDA core count to 3,328 and the TGP to somewhere between 45W and 100W, depending on the laptop.

Clock speeds are also wildly different. The desktop version hits somewhere around a 2,500MHz boost clock, whereas the laptop version tops out at about 1,000MHz less.

Altogether, you can expect somewhere around 15-20% better performance from the desktop-class card, which is no small amount.

ZOTAC's new mini PC is "coming soon"

While ZOTAC has yet to attach a firm release date and price to its new MAGNUS mini PC for US buyers, I spotted it at LASystems.be with a listing price of €1,704.09. Translated directly to USD, that's about $1,978.

Considering that the price is for a barebones kit, lacking RAM and storage, ZOTAC might have a hard time reaching mass appeal when so many great gaming laptops and great gaming handhelds can offer a stellar gaming experience at a cheaper price.

(via Videocardz)

FAQ

Hardcore PC gamers are always on the lookout for affordable GPUs to run games with optimal performance and graphics, while having leftover change to buy more games or pay the bills.

One such GPU is the MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 (12G Shadow 2X OC edition), which has just received its biggest discount since March 2025. For a limited time, you can grab this graphics card for $499.99 at Best Buy, which is $50 cheaper than its usual MSRP of $549.99.

What makes this graphics card worth buying?

While this GPU may not have the most advanced tech compared to its sibling, the RTX 5070 Ti, the NVIDIA MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 (12G Shadow 2X OC edition) has plenty of features that make it a worthwhile purchase for players wanting to experience PC gaming at 1080-1440P resolution.

It's outfitted with DLSS 4, 6144 CUDA Cores, 12GB GDDR7 VRAM, 192 (988 TOPS) Tensor cores, and more technically-advanced components that will enable your PC rig to run games like Battlefield 6, Baldur's Gate 3, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 at high 1440p resolutions and framerates potentially above 80fps (even when Battlefield 6 is on its 'Overkill' graphical preset).

It also includes a TORX Fan 5.0 dual-fan for enhanced air pressure and airflow to safeguard against overheating, and a consolidated design (231mm long) so it can fit snuggly inside compact PC cases.

Aside from its 12GB VRAM, which makes it unsuitable for AI workloads, one of the biggest shortcomings of the MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 is its MSRP of $549.99, which critics argue is too much for this device.

Thankfully, Amazon has come to alleviate that steep price point with a 9% discount, bringing it to $499.99 at Best Buy. Additionally, it's also on sale for $499.99 at Walmart and $499.99 at Amazon (exclusively for Amazon Prime members).

A $50 or higher price drop is exceptionally rare for a GPU outside of peak trading events like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday. Making this a golden opportunity to snag yourself this high-quality GPU at a more appropriate price while it lasts.

FAQ

NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs based on the Blackwell architecture began launching in January 2025, but they arrived with severe stock shortages and rampant scalping.

It has taken nearly a full year for the GPU market to calm down, but I'm happy to report that you can now find a range of RTX cards at or below NVIDIA's MSRP.

The recent price drops are mainly thanks to Walmart's GeForce Week sales event, which sees gaming laptops, desktops, monitors, accessories, and components significantly discounted.

For example, the PNY RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB of VRAM is now down to $379, which is $50 below MSRP. PNY's RTX 5080 is also enjoying a massive discount, coming in at $929 or $70 below MSRP.

There are more options to check out, and I've also added an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D deal for those going for a CPU and GPU upgrade at the same time.

Best NVIDIA GPU deals: Quick links

• Up to $1,500 off gaming hardware at Walmart's GeForce Week
• PNY GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Epic-X: Was $598.50 Now $379 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5070 OC: Was $549 Now $499.99 at Walmart
• MSI GeForce RTX 5070 Ventus 2X OC: Was $599.99 Now $529 at Walmart
• MSI Shadow RTX 5070 3X OC: Was $639 Now $549.99 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5080 OC: Was $1,099 Now $929 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5090 OC: Was $2,799.99 Now $1,999 at Walmart

Best NVIDIA GPU deals at or below MSRP

Bonus CPU deal: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU you can buy right now, and it's currently 10% off at Walmart and Amazon.

While it might be a tad overkill for the lower-end NVIDIA RTX GPUs, it'll make a perfect pairing for the RTX 5070 (or Ti), RTX 5080, or RTX 5090.

Gaming laptops continue to evolve, providing improved cooling, better displays, more powerful performance hardware, and more useful user features.

As laptops change, some interesting models that live outside of general expectations tend to pop up. The latest (via PCWorld) comes from a Kickstarter campaign started by the Shenzen Longgang Manyunke Electronics company, located in Hong Kong.

The Krayzor "dual-screen beast" is certainly something to behold. It's a chunky notebook featuring a main 16-inch display with a 2560x1600 resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. Krayzor says the screen hits 99% DCI-P3 color reproduction and has a 1ms response time.

The primary display is joined by a secondary 12.3-inch touchscreen with a 1920x720 resolution installed just below the hinges.

Like the dual-screen ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo, which debuted in 2020 and was refreshed up until 2023, the Krayzor laptop's secondary display only takes up half of the base of the laptop, leaving room for a keyboard and touchpad.

The keyboard noticeably makes use of mechanical switches and large keycaps, which are hot-swappable and have customizable RGB lighting underneath. Don't like the switches that come with the laptop? Change them anytime.

The touchpad is quite tiny and located off to the right of the keys, but it includes three dials for brightness and volume control. Everything else is essentially screens and performance hardware.

An upgradeable GPU ... in a laptop?

Speaking of power, Krayzor offers a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H CPU with 14 cores and an NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop GPU with 8GB of VRAM. While the CPU isn't replaceable, Krayzor has designed the laptop with an upgradeable GPU.

Having a laptop GPU that can be swapped out is rare, but the MXM standard Krayzor employs should make for relatively easy swaps, at least as long as you aren't afraid to get inside your PC or know where to source a replacement card.

The performance hardware is kept cool by a three-fan setup, and all hot air is exhausted out the back of the PC. Everything runs on an 80Wh battery, and Krayzor includes a 140W AC adapter for charging.

As for ports, the selection is relatively old, just like the CPU. You get RJ45 LAN (no word on the speed), HDMI, a couple of USB-A 3.0, one USB-A 2.0, one USB-C (again, no details about speed), a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 are both on board to handle wireless connectivity.

This price is the most shocking part of the Krayzor gaming laptop

While I've had plenty of experience with gaming laptops over the years spent at Windows Central, I've more recently been very interested in the emerging world of dual-screen laptops.

I went so far as to test out the gaming experience on Lenovo's dual-screen Yoga Book 9i, a laptop certainly created for a life outside of PC gaming.

The Yoga Book 9i, which generally starts somewhere around $2,000, did a decent job of handling games thanks to its integrated Intel Arc graphics. However, it came nowhere close to a gaming laptop's abilities.

The ASUS Zenbook Duo, which I actually prefer over the Yoga Book 9i, is a much more affordable option, with models usually starting at about $1,600. While it does offer two full-size 14-inch displays, it lacks a discrete GPU.

Krayzor's dual-screen gaming laptop, then, has both of those non-gaming PCs beat when it comes to pricing. This is where I start to get suspicious. Especially considering the ASUS ROG Zephyrus Duo cost thousands of dollars when it was new.

For just $851 (or HK$ 6,632), you can pick up a model with the 12th Gen Intel Core CPU, dual displays, and NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. This model doesn't immediately come with RAM or storage, but you can add that at checkout.

A kit with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD adds $109 to the total, coming out at $960. That seems like a crazy deal.

Double both memory and storage, and you're looking at $259 on top of the $851 for a total of $1,110. That's still not bad, and you can always avoid the added costs by supplying your own RAM and SSD after purchase.

So far, the Kickstarter campaign has 37 total backers who have pledged approximately $HK 281,408, crushing the Kickstarter goal of $HK 5,000. And that's with roughly two weeks left until the campaign closes.

Will backers actually receive these laptops, expected to ship in December 2025? That remains to be seen. I certainly hope they do, as I'm incredibly interested in what this PC can actually do in the wild.

The T500 is a gaming PC unlike any I've ever tested. While it comes with a desktop-class graphics card — in the case of my review unit, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti — it relies on a mobile processor and RAM installed on a specialized laptop motherboard.

ASUS designed it as a way to offer "lower power consumption than a typical desktop machine" while avoiding some of the performance drawbacks due to the constraints of laptop hardware design.

It's certainly an interesting idea, although one of my biggest complaints with many prebuilt gaming PCs has always been a lack of upgradeability; the T500 solves none of those issues and, if anything, causes more problems than it solves.

ASUS TUF Gaming T500 Review

Design & build quality ⭐⭐⭐½

I'm no stranger to ASUS TUF Gaming products, and the T500 follows the usual industrial-esque aesthetic that suggests additional durability. Love it or hate it, it certainly makes a bold impression.

Indeed, ASUS says it meets MIL-STD-810H certifications for things like drops, extreme temperatures, and vibrations.

The case is custom-made to fit tightly around the internal hardware. The front panel, with its stylized plastic covering and built-in lighting, has limited air intake vents on either side. There are dual USB-A 3.2 (Gen 1) ports at 5Gbps, one USB-C 3.2 (Gen 1) port also at 5Gbps, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack.

It's nice to have USB-C on the front of the PC, but Gen 1 at 5Gbps seems rather outdated at this point.

The side panel has a raised tempered glass pane that's slightly tinted, surrounded by more of the TUF Gaming branding. Below the pane, there are some cutouts for extra airflow.

Aside from a bit of venting on the bottom of the case for the PSU, there's no other venting for air intake on the PC. It sort of makes sense when you consider the CPU is designed for a thin laptop, but there's still a chunky GPU in there that needs to keep cool.

Unfortunately, the tinted glass panel is the only one that's easily removable with thumb screws. The side panel covering the back of the motherboard is riveted into place.

The back of the PC has four expansion slots, with two used for the RTX 5060 Ti. The custom motherboard features DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 1.4, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, and four USB-A 2.0 ports.

The PC seems like it's built well, with what I'd consider average cable management. The non-modular PSU certainly adds a lot of unnecessary cabling, but it's mostly hidden away below the GPU.

Upgradeability ⭐⭐½

ASUS uses a custom motherboard that accepts a mobile CPU and RAM. While you can easily access the SODIMM RAM — there are two slots available, but ASUS only fills one on the 16GB configs — the CPU is permanent. You'd have to replace the entire motherboard, if that's even possible, should the chip fail.

What would most likely happen if the CPU failed out of warranty is a complete trashing of the PC, aside from the GPU and storage.

Even the CPU's cooler is a custom piece that uses heat pipes to direct CPU heat to an air-cooled block mounted on the back of the PC. Good luck replacing it should it fail.

The 500W 80+ Platinum PSU from LiteOn is classic OEM fare, with a rectangular shape that won't be easily replaced, either.

Basically, you can upgrade or replace the GPU, the SSD (there's a second free M.2 slot on the board), the RAM, and the M.2 Wi-Fi card. I'd consider everything else off the table unless you're an experienced PC builder, and in that case, you already know that this isn't the PC for you.

Performance & cooling ⭐⭐⭐

The compact case and lack of system fans had me worried about the T500's cooling potential. The CPU has a dedicated cooler that exhausts out the back of the PC, but the heat created by the GPU is mostly free to fill the chamber.

I ran a 10-minute system stress test to check heat and power. Unfortunately, the CPU throttled up to 18% while in Turbo mode, dropping to 0-2% throttling after that. So, no matter what, the chip is going to throttle.

The maximum operating temperature for the Core i7-13620H is 100 degrees Celsius — the chip topped out at 96 degrees Celsius but leveled off at about 88 degrees Celsius in my stress test.

I next ran some benchmarks to check performance and system noise. Running DOOM: The Dark Ages resulted in the most noise, at about 55.4dB. That's about the same volume as a quiet office. Testing Black Myth: Wukong, system noise hit 55.3dB. It seems that ASUS has put a cap on fan speeds to keep the PC under a certain level of noise.

However, there's an awful rattle that starts up when the fans reach a certain speed. The ticking is enough to make me want to unplug the PC, and I can't figure out exactly which piece inside is making the noise. Not good.

Here's a look at the results from my benchmark testing. Note that I tested at a 3440x1440 resolution with relatively high in-game settings. There's plenty of room to crank things down to achieve higher frame rates, especially if you're at a more reasonable 1080p resolution.

I also ran Cinebench 2024 to test the CPU's productivity abilities. In multi-core, it hit a score of 858, putting it roughly on par with a Ryzen 7 5800X. In single-core, it hit a score of 107, which again is quite close to the Ryzen CPU.

Elsewhere, Wi-Fi 6 is fast and reliable, and I had no problems connecting accessories with Bluetooth.

Value ⭐⭐⭐

The ASUS TUF Gaming T500 model I tested runs for $1,299.99 at Best Buy. As usual, I put together a similar build on PCPartPicker to see what sort of price I'd pay if I built a system myself.

With an Intel Core i5-13600KF CPU, an MSI B760 Gaming Plus motherboard, 32GB of G.Skill Flare X5 DDR5 RAM, a Crucial P3 Plus 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, and the same ASUS Dual RTX 5060 Ti (16GB) GPU, you're looking at spending about $1,150. Add a case of your choice, and you're close to hitting the same price that ASUS asks.

Of course, the PC you assembled yourself would be upgradeable in the future, and it also wouldn't suffer from the same thermal throttling as the mobile Core i7-13620H.

ASUS also sells a more affordable version of the T500. For $959.99 (at the time of writing, discounted to $899.99), you can get an Intel Core i5-13320H CPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, an NVIDIA RTX 5060 GPU, and 1TB SSD.

Value isn't terrible, but it's not great, either. It's about what I'd expect from a prebuilt system.

ASUS TUF Gaming T500 review: My final thoughts

✅You should buy this if ...

• It's available at a steep discount.

You should not buy this if ...

• You're expecting a PC that's easily upgradeable.
• You want a CPU that doesn't throttle.
• You have some experience with PC building.

ASUS says it designed the T500 for gamers who want lower power consumption than a desktop but better performance than a laptop.

However, with a mobile CPU that throttles, a desktop GPU sucking up just as much power, and a severe lack of upgradeability, the T500 doesn't really offer any benefits over alternatives.

Unless the T500 is seriously discounted, I recommend instead opting for the mobility of a gaming laptop or the true power of a real desktop gaming PC. This sort of hybrid setup is a neat idea, but it's not something I'd ever tell a friend to buy.

Ollama is one of the easiest ways you can experiment with LLMs for local AI tasks on your own PC. But it does require a dedicated GPU.

However, this is where what you use will differ a little from gaming. For example, you may actually have a better time with local AI using an older RTX 3090 than, say, a newer RTX 5080.

For gaming purposes, the newer card will be the better option. But for AI workloads, the old workhorse has one clear edge. It has more memory.

VRAM is king if you want to run LLMs on your PC

While the compute power of the later generation GPUs may well be better, if you don't have the VRAM to back it up, it's wasted on local AI.

An RTX 5060 will be a better GPU for gaming than the old RTX 3060, but with 8GB VRAM on the newer one versus 12GB on the older one, it's less useful for AI.

When you're using Ollama, you want to be able to load the LLM entirely into that pool of deliciously fast VRAM to get the best performance. If it doesn't fit, it'll spill out into your system memory, and the CPU will start to take up some of the load. When that happens, performance starts to dive.

The exact same principle is true also if you're using LM Studio instead of Ollama, even if you're using that with an integrated GPU. You want to have as much memory reserved for the GPU as possible to load up the LLM and keep the CPU from having to kick in.

GPU + GPU memory is the key recipe for maximum performance.

The easiest way to get an idea as to how much VRAM you need is to just see how physically large the model is. On Ollama, gpt-oss:20b, for example, is 13GB installed. You want to have enough memory available to load all of that as a bare minimum.

Ideally, you want to have a buffer, too, as larger tasks and the context windows to fit them will need a buffer to load into as well (the KV cache). Many recommend multiplying the size of the model by 1.2 to get a better ballpark figure as to the VRAM you want to be shooting for.

This same principle applies if you're reserving memory for the iGPU to use in LM Studio, too.

Without enough VRAM, performance will tank

Time for some examples! This is an extremely simple test, but it illustrates the point I'm trying to make. I ran a simple "tell me a short story" prompt on a range of models using my RTX 5080. In each case, all of the models can be loaded entirely into the 16GB VRAM available.

The rest of the system contains an Intel Core i7-14700k and 32GB DDR5 6600 RAM.

However, I increased the context window on each model to force Ollama to have to spread over to the system RAM and CPU as well, to show just how far the performance drops off. So, to the numbers.

• Deepseek-r1 14b (9GB): With a context window of up to 16k GPU usage is 100% at around 70 tokens per second. At 32k there is a split of 21% CPU to 79% GPU, with performance dropping to 19.2 tokens per second.
• gpt-oss 20b (13GB): With a context window of up to 8k GPU usage is 100% at around 128 tokens per second. At 16k there is a split of 7% CPU to 93% GPU with performance dropping to 50.5 tokens per second.
• Gemma 3 12b (8.1GB): With a context window of up to 32k GPU usage is 100% at around 71 tokens per second. At 32k there is a split of 16% CPU to 84% GPU with performance dropping to 39 tokens per second.
• Llama 3.2 Vision (7.8GB): With a context window of up to 16k GPU usage is 100% at around 120 tokens per second. At 32k there is a split of 29% CPU and 71% GPU with performance dropping to 68 tokens per second.

I'll be the first to say this is not the most in-depth scientific testing of these models. It's merely to illustrate a point. When your GPU cannot do all of the work itself and the rest of your PC comes into play, the performance of your LLMs will drop quite dramatically.

This is just a very quick test designed to illustrate the importance of having enough available GPU memory to allow your LLMs to perform at their best. You don't want to have your CPU and RAM picking up the slack wherever possible.

The performance here was still decent when that happened, at least. But that's with some solid hardware to back up the GPU.

The quick recommendation would be to have 16GB VRAM at least if you want to run models up to gpt-oss:20b. 24GB is better if you need space for more intensive workloads, which you could even get with a pair of well-priced RTX 3060s. You just need to work out what's best for you.

NVIDIA is the world's largest AI GPU supplier with roughly 90% of the market, but its AI efforts are not limited to data centers.

NVIDIA's gaming hardware, including RTX graphics cards, includes built-in AI tools that help with upscaling, overall performance, and even game development.

Announced today at Gamescom, NVIDIA's Project G-Assist — an on-device AI helper — has now expanded to all RTX GPUs with 6GB or more VRAM, including laptop graphics cards.

The lower system requirements arrive thanks to "a new, significantly more efficient AI model that's faster and uses 40% less memory while maintaining response accuracy," according to NVIDIA's press release.

NVIDIA says that the updated AI assistant will be available through a Game Ready Driver update within the NVIDIA App on August 19. Just download the G-Assist update on the NVIDIA App's home screen.

With this new update, NVIDIA has also added a collaboration with mod.io that will help discover and deliver G-Assist plugins built by regular users. Anyone can build plugins for G-Assist, just as long as you have an understanding of JSON and Python scripts. A specialized plugin builder is available to download from NVIDIA.

Beyond that, NVIDIA says that another update is expected in September 2025, containing laptop-specific tools to help with NVIDIA BatteryBoost and Battery OPS.

Project G-Assist is a good idea in theory ... not so much in execution. At least not yet. I'm looking forward to giving the updated NVIDIA Project G-Assist a try, as the first attempts at getting it to work were unimpressive (to put it nicely).

What is NVIDIA's Project G-Assist, and should you care?

Announced first at Computex 2024, NVIDIA's Project G-Assist is a free AI assistant built for gamers. It's a Small Language Model (SLM) that runs locally on your PC's RTX graphics card, providing "real-time diagnostics and recommendations to alleviate system bottlenecks, improve power efficiency, optimize game settings, overclock your GPU, and much more," according to NVIDIA's official press release.

The way Project G-Assist is designed allows for "natural language instructions," whether delivered via text or voice. So far, it only understands English, but I expect to see further language support if the project proves popular enough.

As mentioned, users can build their own plugins for Project G-Assist, and they'll now be available directly through the app thanks to a newfound collaboration with mod.io.

When Project G-Assist initially launched, NVIDIA slapped some hefty system requirements on the AI assistant. It required an RTX 30, 40, or 50-series desktop GPU with at least 12GB of VRAM, which excluded even the latest Blackwell RTX 5000 cards like the 8GB RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060. It also lacked support for laptop GPUs and NVIDIA RTX PRO GPUs.

That's all changed, and I'm happy to see Project G-Assist become available for more RTX gamers and developers.

Early issues with NVIDIA's Project G-Assist

Since its inception, NVIDIA's AI assistant has been sitting on a Version 0.1 release. It's an experimental release, but Project G-Assist was a lot worse than any of us expected when we tested it in March 2025.

Yes, it works fine for some, but my colleague Richard Devine had a terrible time attempting to use G-Assist with an RTX 5080 Founders Edition GPU — you know, the first-party cards that NVIDIA makes — with 16GB of VRAM.

Devine's testing revealed that G-Assist didn't do much more than tank framerates (often from triple digits to single digits) or completely lock up the system. Devine tested G-Assist with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Atomfall, and Avowed, and the results were the same across each title.

It's not like Devine was attempting to crash the system. Asking something as simple as "Is G-Sync enabled?" nearly crashed games, and that was despite having 4GB of VRAM more than the previously recommended 12GB.

With NVIDIA introducing a lighter AI model and a new, lower 6GB of VRAM requirement, I'm eager to see how it actually performs on desktop PCs and gaming laptops.

Should you be using NVIDIA's Project G-Assist while PC gaming?

In theory, Project G-Assist could be a useful tool for gamers. Want to make a quick adjustment to system settings without leaving your game? Ask AI to do it for you.

However, as it stands now, G-Assist still has a long way to go. Version 0.2 could solve a lot of the aforementioned issues, and you might find it particularly useful for your specific needs.

👉 Related: The NVIDIA app on Windows 11 could be sapping performance out of your PC games

Project G-Assist is certainly not something I recommend every RTX owner install immediately, but you can test it out with relative ease straight from the official NVIDIA App.

If it's not right for you — or if it continues to flat-out not function properly — you can always uninstall it without harming (as far as we can tell) any other functionality in NVIDIA's app.

Are there privacy concerns related to NVIDIA's Project G-Assist?

Having an AI agent comb through your PC for information might not sit well with everyone, and I don't blame you for being wary.

In the fine print on NVIDIA's main G-Assist page, there are some disclaimers that might make you think twice before installing the feature.

"G-Assist is a pre-release feature and may not be fully functional, may contain errors or design flaws, and may have reduced or different security, privacy, availability and reliability standards relative to commercial versions of NVIDIA offerings."

Below this line is another that basically states that NVIDIA isn't responsible for any damages the AI agent could cause if it gives wrong information or decides to go rogue and tune your PC outside of its operating boundaries.

"AI models generate responses and outputs based on complex algorithms and machine learning techniques, and those responses or outputs may be inaccurate, harmful, biased or indecent. By using G-Assist, you assume the risk of any harm caused by any response or output from it. NVIDIA will not be responsible for any actions, losses, or damages suffered as a result of use of G-Assist or its output. We recommend that you verify the information before relying on it."

Bottom line? Don't take what G-Assist says too seriously, and always put your best common sense before what AI tells you.

I can't believe it. You can't believe it. But here we are, knocking on the door of August as summer gives way to back-to-school season. As usual, the stress of prepping for a new year of classes, labs, and lectures is being felt by students everywhere.

I have some good news for those who require a new Windows laptop for a fresh year of school, especially if you need a powerful (but pricier) system with a discrete GPU.

Many NVIDIA RTX laptops made for gamers, professionals, enthusiasts, and students are currently on sale, and I've handpicked the best deals available so far.

Back-to-school laptop deals: Quick Links

• Up to $800 off with back-to-school laptop deals at Best Buy
• Up to $600 off with back-to-school laptop deals at B&H
• Up to 50% off laptops at Newegg's back-to-school sale
• Rotating laptop deals available now at Amazon

Best NVIDIA RTX back-to-school laptop deals I've found so far

Back-to-school laptop shopping: FAQ

I've been covering back-to-school season for nine years, and I've given plenty of advice when it comes to buying a new laptop for the occasion.

👉 Best Surface for students 2025: Which one should you choose before heading back to school?

Here are some quick answers to popular questions surrounding back-to-school laptop shopping.

Newegg just launched its anti-Prime Day sales event, and it looks to be the best place to buy a new NVIDIA RTX 50-series and AMD Radeon RX 9000 GPUs.

The 4th of July Sale at Newegg runs officially from June 30 through July 6, and it's expected to give way to the company's 11th annual FantasTech event that runs until July 13.

Buying ahead of official sales events usually comes with some risk — what if prices drop again after you buy? — but Newegg's FantasTech price protection is in place on many items. Best part? You'll get an automatic refund if prices drop again at Newegg.

That's not all. Newegg is currently selling $100 digital gift card for $85, which is free money in your pocket to put toward a new GPU.

Here are the best graphics card deals I've spotted so far at Newegg, and I'll be sure to keep prices updated and new discounts flowing as we head into Prime Day week.

How to get free money from Newegg for a new GPU

Newegg's $100 digital gift card can currently be purchased for $85 when using the promo code "FTTNEGC85" at checkout.

Not only should the gift card arrive in your inbox within minutes, but it can be immediately put towards a new GPU. Judging by the reviews, you can stack gift cards to further expand your savings.

I don't expect this deal to last long, so take advantage while you still can.

Best NVIDIA RTX 50-series GPU anti-Prime Day deals

Best AMD Radeon RX 9000 GPU anti-Prime Day deals

More Prime Day and anti-Prime Day deals are live

Amazon Prime Day officially kicks off on July 8, and this year it runs for four days until July 11.

Amazon is far from the only retailer offering deep discounts on some of our favorite tech, with Newegg, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, B&H, and more cooking up their own summer deal events.

Be sure to have a look at the other deal roundups I've put together for a better look at all of the best tech discounts.

• Early Prime Day PC build deals are live — Major savings on NVIDIA RTX GPUs, AMD Ryzen CPUs, fast storage, and more
• Forget Amazon — Best Buy's early anti-Prime Day deals are live, with huge savings on some of our favorite tech
• Early Prime Day laptop deals can't be missed — 70% off ThinkPads, cheap Surface bundles, prices from $429

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5050 Laptop GPU is here, and laptops from major brands with the new card are appearing online.

NVIDIA has so far released laptop versions of its Blackwell GPUs for the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5070, and RTX 5060. The new RTX 5050 Laptop GPU is the least powerful card so far from NVIDIA, but that doesn't mean it won't be popular.

Laptop makers are undoubtedly going to use the new RTX 5050 as often as possible in new gaming laptops, if only for the opportunity to keep gaming PC prices as low as possible.

But how much of a decrease in performance does the RTX 5050 Laptop GPU have compared to the RTX 5060?

There's not a whole lot of info to work with yet, as no one has had a chance to actually test the new laptop GPU, but NVIDIA lists some specs on its website.

The RTX 5050 Laptop GPU has 2,560 CUDA cores, a significant drop compared to the 3,328 CUDA cores in the RTX 5060 Laptop. It does, however, have a higher boost clock.

Just like the 5060, the RTX 5050 Laptop card has 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, a 128-bit memory bus, and a power draw up to 100W with an additional 15W from Dynamic Boost.

Compared to its RTX 4050 Laptop GPU predecessor, the new 5050 comes with the same number of CUDA cores, a higher maximum boost clock, more (and faster) VRAM, a wider memory bus, and far more AI TOPS.

Being from the Blackwell generation, the RTX 5050 Laptop GPU supports all of NVIDIA's latest features, including DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, the latest ray tracing cores, and the latest Tensor cores. This is a major advantage over the RTX 4050.

X user @realVictor_M shared a screenshot of RTX 5050 Laptop GPU power compared to the RTX 5060 and 5070 mobile cards, pulled from Chinese launch documents.

Using 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme, Time Spy, and Port Royal tests, it appears that the RTX 5050 Laptop GPU is roughly 18% to 22% slower than the mobile RTX 5060, depending on the test.

Performance will differ depending on the specific laptop's cooling capabilities and power allowance, and it'll likely be more crucial than ever to ensure the RTX 5050 in your laptop of choice is capable of hitting its full potential.

The most affordable RTX 5050 gaming laptop I've spotted so far comes from Acer, which just introduced new Nitro V 16 AI, Nitro V 16, and Nitro V 15 models starting at $899.99. They're expected to go on sale later this year, starting late July and August. MSI's Katana 15 with an RTX 5050 mobile GPU is also now listed at Walmart for $999.99.

In a follow-up post on X, user @realVictor_M noted that MECHREVO's RTX 5050 laptops launched at 240 yuan less than the RTX 5060 version; that equates to about $33 USD, so not a big difference.

It'll be interesting to see the average price difference in US markets once all of the new RTX 5050 laptops have launched.

An NVIDIA RTX 5050 for desktop PCs arrives in July

Alongside its new mobile RTX 5050 GPU for laptops, NVIDIA also unveiled a desktop version.

It's set to debut at an attractive $249 price point in the "second-half of July" according to NVIDIA, but rumors from reliable X user @Zed__Wang suggest it could arrive instead as early as July 1.

While the RTX 5050 Laptop GPU had a predecessor in the RTX 4050 Laptop hardware, the new desktop version of the RTX 5050 has nothing comparable from the RTX 40-series generation.

NVIDIA has shared some specs for the desktop RTX 5050, and I've included the RTX 3050's specs to compare.

The new desktop RTX 5050 runs on a single 8-pin power connector, and it includes three DisplayPort and one HDMI output along the back.

There's no news so far regarding a review program for the new desktop RTX 5050, and if rumors are true about a surprise July 1 launch, there will be many buyers going in completely blind.

That won't be the first time NVIDIA has pulled the same stunt, as the RTX 5060 launched in May without any reviews to read.

Memorial Day weekend is here, and major retailers all have savings events on the go for the occasion.

Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, Newegg, and more have Memorial Day promotions live now, and I'm finding a bunch of significant discounts on great gaming laptops with NVIDIA RTX GPUs inside.

The big brands, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, Gigabyte, HP, Lenovo, and MSI, have all shown up, and I've curated a list of the best Memorial Day RTX gaming laptop deals that are already live.

👉 Memorial Day deals are LIVE on Windows PCs, gaming accessories, and more

🔥Hottest RTX gaming laptop deal of the day🔥

Best Memorial Day RTX gaming laptop deals

Memorial Day Deals: Frequently Asked Questions

Memorial Day isn't supposed to be about retailer discounts, but it usually falls that way over the preceding weekend. Here's what we know about this year's sales event.

NVIDIA has received a lot of flak lately, much of it landing around the RTX 50-series launch and supporting drivers.

I've covered a lot of the NVIDIA news since the new Blackwell cards were announced, and adopters certainly have valid complaints regarding the support they're receiving for their new RTX 5000 cards.

👉 See our in-depth DOOM: The Dark Ages review

There are also many PC gamers who remain skeptical regarding DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation (MFG), which uses AI to create "fake" frames from those assembled with raw power.

Is the image quality as good? Is there too much latency? Is the performance trade-off worth it?

After playing DOOM: The Dark Ages on PC with my RTX 5070 Ti, I can confidently say I've become a true believer in NVIDIA's DLSS 4 and MFG.

DOOM: The Dark Ages — Multi Frame Gen tested on an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti

DOOM: The Dark Ages launched for all players on May 14, and it's received a fair share of positive feedback from players and reviewers alike.

I dropped into the Slayer's new boots for the first time last night after receiving access via Game Pass to play on PC, and I spent about four hours creating a brutal mess with the arsenal of new weaponry.

I'm a big fan of the previous two modern DOOM games, and setting the gameplay aside, I'm in awe of developer id Software's new id Tech 8 game engine.

From fully ray-traced lighting to massive battles with advanced physics, the new engine delivers as promised. But those new heights don't come without a cost on PC.

DOOM: The Dark Ages has some lofty system requirements. If you want to play at 1440p at 60 FPS with High in-game settings, it's recommended you have a GPU with at least 10GB of RAM and with ray-tracing capabilities.

Push that to Ultra 4K? You'll want a GPU capable of ray tracing with at least 16GB of VRAM. In my case, an NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti makes the cut for my ultrawide 3440x1440 screen.

With ray tracing always enabled and a long list of available in-game graphics settings, I was eager to see how far I could push the game.

Here's how my PC is set up:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 5070 Ti OC
• RAM: 32GB DDR5
• Mobo: MSI B650 Tomahawk WiFi
• NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 576.40

With in-game graphics set to Nightmare, I took the following screenshots first using DLSS 4's DLAA (which doesn't scale resolution) and 4x Multi Frame Generation.

I then took a screenshot in the same spot with DLSS 4 disabled, instead relying on the id Tech 8 engine's Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA).

Running on TAA, the game was indeed able to hit ~60-90 FPS consistently, even during frantic action.

Enabling MFG 4x, however, pushed frame rates consistently beyond 200 FPS.

Does having Multi Frame Gen cranked all the way up really affect visual fidelity? You can see for yourself in the screenshots below.

Be sure to click through each one for a fullscreen look with magnification available.

I spent some time analyzing the screenshot comparisons with heavy magnification, and I'd go so far as to say the game looks better with MFG 4x enabled.

Yes, latency does suffer a bit, but it's not nearly enough to mar the experience. Going from sub-100 FPS to beyond 200 FPS is incredible, especially when the game doesn't really suffer visually.

Developer id Software has stated that full Path Tracing is expected to arrive in a later patch, which will further improve the game's lighting.

Are you playing DOOM: The Dark Ages on PC?

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with my NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti's capabilities when MFG 4x is enabled.

I'm also in awe of the id Tech 8 engine. At a time when a lot of high-profile games are using Unreal Engine 5 (with all of its issues), it's great to see something else get the spotlight.

What do you think? Are you playing DOOM: The Dark Ages on PC with DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Gen enabled? How has it performed so far? Let me know in the comments section below!

NVIDIA's RTX 5080 is back in stock, but it's not all good news.

Despite finding a couple of Gigabyte RTX 5080s being sold straight from Newegg — no third-party seller that may or may not be legitimate — you'll need some extra dough to pick one of these up.

I've known for a while that the $999 MSRP that NVIDIA roughly set for its RTX 5080 Founders Edition GPUs does not apply to cards from third-party builders like Gigabyte, and the proof is in these prices stretching beyond $1,500.

Gigabyte's Gaming OC RTX 5080 comes in at $1,539.99 at Newegg, while the Gigabyte AORUS Master Ice RTX 5080 in a sleek white finish tops out at $1,629.99.

I suggest buying your RTX 5080 straight from an established retailer

There are several NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs for sale online at any given time, but most come from third-party sellers that may or may not be legit.

That's not to say that official retailers don't sometimes slip up and ship something erroneously, but you have far less of a chance of running into some sort of scam when buying straight from Newegg.

👉 Related: Where to buy NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080

With these Gigabyte GPUs, you're paying way above MSRP despite buying from a reputable seller, but that's not exactly Newegg's fault.

Third-party builders like Gigabyte are free to set prices as far beyond MSRP as they'd like, which is how we've arrived at these two RTX 5080s costing half again as much as you'd expect.

Do I recommend spending large on one of these RTX 5080s? No, unless you have money to burn.

👉 Related: Don't buy an RTX 5000 GPU before reading this

The current GPU landscape with severe stock shortages, looming tariff complications, and free rein from AIBs to jack up the prices as they see fit has unsurprisingly led us here.

While I don't doubt there will once again be cheaper RTX 5080s available at some point, if you want one now, you're not going to get a good deal.

What's the difference between these Gigabyte RTX 5080 GPUs?

NVIDIA's Founders Edition RTX 5080 reviewed by Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson can be seen as the reference card that third-party builders use as a guideline when designing custom GPUs.

Builders like Gigabyte take the chip and build a GPU around it, which is how we get cards like the AORUS Master Ice and the Gaming OC that are, at the time of writing, available at Newegg.

The biggest difference aside from aesthetics is the cooling hardware. Both of these Gigabyte GPUs have a dual-fan setup, allowing the card to run a bit faster than the Founders Edition version.

For example, the RTX 5080's baseline boost clock is about 2.62GHz. The GIGABYTE Gaming OC pushes that to 2.73GHz, while the AORUS Master Ice goes up to 2.8GHz.

Overall performance isn't going to differ much compared to the RTX 5080 that Wilson reviewed, so I urge you to use it as a guideline to determine whether or not it's the GPU for you.

The RTX 5080 Gaming OC for $1,539 and the RTX 5080 AORUS Master Ice for $1,629 aren't going to last long despite the high pricing, so don't miss out if you've been waiting for any stock to return.

GOOD NEWS! NVIDIA has cut the price of the RTX 50 series Founders Edition cards. At least, if you're in the UK and EU markets, anyway.

The bad news, of course, is that it's a pretty moot point because they're rarer than a Unicorn dancing the Tango. After the launch debacle where retailers had, in some cases, single digit units in stock, it hasn't yet recovered.

Nevertheless, Founders Editions are now a little cheaper, and as pointed out by Videocardz, likely follows the fall in the Dollar as it relates to exchange rates with the Pound and the Euro.

The new recommended retail prices in the UK are:

• RTX 5070: From £529 (was £539)
• RTX 5080: From £949 (was £979)
• RTX 5090: From £1,889 (was £1,939)

Considering the price of these graphics cards, it's not a huge saving, but money in your pocket rather than Jensen's leather jacket is certainly a move we'll always appreciate. Too often, in the UK and mainland Europe, we get a rough deal compared to our U.S. pals.

You may also notice the RTX 5070 Ti isn't mentioned. There is no Founders Edition version of this card, as such, no discount.

It is hard to get too excited about anything RTX 50 series right now, because months on from their reveal at CES, most people who want one still can't get one.

It's a shame, too. I'm lucky in that I'm able to use our RTX 5080 Founders Edition right now, and it's utterly superb. It has the same sort of wow factor I had when I first touched the RTX 4090, except it actually fits inside my PC properly.

NVIDIA needs to double down and get these things out there. All the new features these graphics cards can utilize are fruitless if nobody can own one.

NVIDIA's RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards (GPU) have both officially launched, and you might be wondering which one is better suited for your gaming PC.

While stock availability for both GPUs at the time of writing is essentially non-existent, it doesn't hurt to know exactly which card is right for you should you find something available at a reasonable price.

Let's take a look at how the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti compare in terms of actual real-world pricing as well as how each performs at the common 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions.

NVIDIA RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5070 Ti: Specs

Before taking a look at real-world performance numbers, it's worth noting the raw specs available in the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti.

A higher number is better in almost all cases — excluding TGP and PSU requirements — and it's no surprise that the 5070 Ti comes out ahead of its sibling.

👉 Related: Super, Ti, XT, XTX — Explaining the differences between GPU models

One notable difference involves the onboard VRAM. The RTX 5070 Ti hits 16GB, while the 5070 sits back on 12GB GDDR7.

Thanks to DLSS 4 improvements, NVIDIA says its GPUs no longer require as much VRAM; however, I know some enthusiasts won't want to dip below 16GB in 2025.

Here's how the two GPUs compare.

NVIDIA RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5070 Ti: Price and availability

The biggest obstacle to overcome, at least at the time of writing, is availability for NVIDIA's 50-series GPUs.

The issue isn't exclusive to the XX70 cards; everything that NVIDIA has launched so far, including the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090, is almost impossible to find at a reasonable price.

Sure, you might be able to grab a new NVIDIA GPU from a scalper, but you'll be paying far above an acceptable price.

It gets worse: NVIDIA's MSRP isn't exactly being followed by third-party GPU makers, so if you don't manage to land a Founders Edition card — of which there is none for the RTX 5070 Ti — you can still expect to pay more off the shelf.

A quick look at Newegg's RTX 5070 listings shows prices ranging from the $549.99 MSRP up to $739.99, with plenty of prices in between.

Best Buy's RTX 5070 listings offer a similar price range for various GPUs from third-party makers.

👉 Related: Where to buy NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti

The RTX 5070 Ti naturally costs more than the standard 5070, Newegg's listings range from the $749.99 MSRP up to $999.99.

Again, Best Buy offers roughly the same, with some cards sitting at $749.99 through about $999.99. These prices might be listed, but that doesn't mean they're in stock.

If you can't hold off any longer and need a major upgrade anyway, you might want to check out some pre-built desktop gaming PCs with the RTX 5070 Ti inside.

NVIDIA RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5070 Ti: 1080p, 1440p, and 4K performance

From a general standpoint, the RTX 5070 Ti is the card you want for superior performance. It's a step up from the standard RTX 5070, but how big is the gap?

Our friends at Tom's Hardware did an excellent job of testing both the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti in a number of scenarios, and the results are mostly unsurprising.

I'm starting with rasterization performance to get an idea of the raw power these cards offer.

👉 Related: NVIDIA RTX 5070 review roundup

At 1080p Ultra, the RTX 5070 managed a 105.8 FPS average across 16 games. At 1440p Ultra, the RTX 5070 drops to an 80.4 FPS average across the same 16 titles.

Those are decent numbers, and you have space to lower in-game settings to boost frame rates in some games with which the RTX 5070 struggles.

The RTX 5070 will struggle with 4K Ultra, with the 16-game average dropping to 46.7 FPS.

Still looking at rasterization performance, the RTX 5070 Ti unsurprisingly pulls ahead of the RTX 5070.

In the same tests across 16 games, it managed averages of 124.9 FPS at 1080p Ultra, 100.3 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and 61.2 FPS at 4K Ultra.

It's clear from these results that the RTX 5070 Ti is your only real choice if you have a 4K display, though at 1440p, you can definitely get away with spending less on the RTX 5070.

Rasterization performance is half the equation; how do these cards handle ray tracing?

The RTX 5070 hit a 97.4 FPS average at 1080p Ultra, a 69.8 FPS average at 1440p Ultra, and a 36.4 FPS average at 4K Ultra. Six games were tested to get the averages.

If you're a fan of enabling ray tracing in your games, it's clear that the RTX 5070 Ti will be the better choice at 1440p and 4K, with the RTX 5070 holding fairly strong at 1080p.

Tom's Hardware compiled the results with rasterization and ray tracing to give a better idea of overall performance expected from these cards across 22 games.

Nothing really changes in the overall averages across 22 games, with the RTX 5070 Ti remaining the better choice if you have a 1440p or 4K monitor.

On the other hand, for roughly $150 less than its sibling, the RTX 5070 offers decent 1440p performance and strong 1080p performance.

These numbers come without the addition of DLSS 4, which plays a bigger part than ever in boosting NVIDIA's frame rates.

NVIDIA RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5070 Ti: DLSS 4

DLSS 4 was announced alongside the new NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs, and it's the most advanced upscaling tech available for gamers.

It's made up of a few different parts, and GPU compatibility varies.

Enhanced Frame Generation is offered on RTX 40- and 50-series GPUs, while older NVIDIA hardware gets access to Ray Reconstruction, Super Resolution, and Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing (DLAA).

The major addition to DLSS 4, known as Multi Frame Generation (MFG), is exclusive to the latest "Blackwell" GPUs, including the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti, due to their advanced AI Tensor cores.

As the name implies, MFG is capable of generating multiple frames rather than just one, significantly boosting frame rates.

MFG has three modes: 2X (one extra frame is generated), 3X (two extra frames), and 4X (three extra frames). There are currently more than 75 games compatible with MFG, with more on the way.

Because of DLSS 4's reliance on Tensor cores, the RTX 5070 Ti naturally has an advantage with its 280 count (the 5070 has 192).

That equates to about 1,406 TOPS of AI power in the 5070 Ti compared to about 988 TOPS in the standard 5070.

Bottom line? The RTX 5070 Ti will better handle DLSS 4 features, but that doesn't mean the RTX 5070 won't get a solid boost as well.

I still wouldn't buy an RTX 5070 for 4K gaming, but MFG will be able to boost those 1080p and 1440p numbers I laid out above in compatible titles.

NVIDIA RTX 5070 vs. RTX 5070 Ti: Which should you buy?

Choosing between the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti might be easy if you just want to spend the least possible.

The RTX 5070, coming in at roughly $150 less than its Ti sibling, can handle 1080p and 1440p, especially when you add NVIDIA's DLSS 4.

However, the RTX 5070 Ti should be the right choice for anyone who wants a more impressive 1440p experience and the ability to jump up to 4K without sacrificing too many frames

It's roughly $150 more expensive than the 5070, but the added cost for the "Ti" badge isn't for nothing.

👉 Related: Where to buy AMD Radeon RX 9000 GPUs

You can, of course, completely skip NVIDIA's midrange cards and instead check out AMD's Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT competition.

RX 9000 reviews have been quite positive, thanks to a combination of competitive pricing and performance.

NVIDIA just released a Game Ready Driver that is required to run a PC powered by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. That update also adds support for FragPunk, a game that supports DLSS 4 with multi frame generation.

There's a lot to uncover here, at least when compared to a normal Game Ready Driver release.

The RTX 5070 just launched, recent updates from NVIDIA fix a black screen issue, and the latest Game Ready Driver prepares your PC for FragPunk.

The release notes for the Game Ready Driver break down the biggest changes and highlight what's added to newly supported titles.

Why is my RTX PC showing a black screen when using DisplayPort?

Before I dive into the RTX 5070 and FragPunk, it's worth highlighting a bug fix in recent NVIDIA drivers.

Diving deep into the full release notes for Release 570 Driver for Windows, Version 572.70, shows a fix for a black screen bug.

An issue could cause a PC to boot to a black screen when connected through DisplayPort to certain monitors. That bug is now fixed.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reviews

RTX 5070 review scores are not promising. Generally speaking, the card is fine for 1440p gaming, but it's certainly not the best value card out there with performance falling behind similar cards from the previous generation.

Those scores come on the heels of various NVIDIA GPUs reportedly having stock shortages, missing ROPs, melting power cables, and faulty drivers. Those issues dropped expectations for the RTX 5070.

Perhaps the biggest issue the RTX 5070 faces is its competition. A launch delay brought the release of the card to the same week as AMD's RX 9070 XT and RX 9070.

Those cards from AMD are why our Cale Hunt is skipping the latest RTX GPUs when upgrading his PC.

RX 9000 reviews are already live, and it looks like bad news for NVIDIA.

FragPunk and other games and updates

FragPunk is a 5v5 shooter with gameplay broken up into 2.5-minute rounds. FragPunk launches on March 6, 2025, so if you grab the latest Game Ready Driver, your system will be ready for the game.

Several titles have received updates as well, such as Star Wars Outlaws, Grand Theft Auto V, Deadlock, and Rise of the Ronin. Vector Strike and Dragonkin: The Banished have also received updates.

NVIDIA outlines all those updates and shows off some clips of the games in action. The company also shared the following summary about the game updates:

• FragPunk: Bad Guitar Studio’s fast-paced 5v5 hero shooter launches tomorrow, March 6th. You can activate an array of ray-traced effects, accelerate performance using DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, DLSS Frame Generation, and DLSS Super Resolution, leveraging our newest transformer AI model. Using DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, performance on GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs multiplies by 4.6X on average at 4K, with every setting maxed out, and ray tracing enabled. When NVIDIA Reflex is enabled, PC latency is reduced by up to 60%, improving responsiveness and aim precision. In FragPunk, choose your lancer, your weapons, and pick from a selection of cards that dramatically break the rules of engagement. No two rounds of FragPunk are ever the same. Discover over 150 Shard Cards with an activatable selection that changes every round creating new and unique combinations that create infinite possibilities. 
• Star Wars Outlaws: The game is now even better on all GeForce RTX PCs with the addition of DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, an upgraded DLSS Frame Generation model for improved performance and reduced VRAM usage, and the new DLSS transformer AI model for DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, and DLAA. Using the new transformer AI model for DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and DLAA, surface detail is noticeably enhanced, shadows are more refined and accurate, reflection clarity is increased, and lighting is more refined, improving virtually every scene on your adventures with Kay Vess and Nix. Check out DLSS 4 enhancements in our new RTX trailer.
• Grand Theft Auto V: A new, free update features a series of enhancements for both Story Mode and GTA Online. For GeForce RTX gamers, DLSS Super Resolution and NVIDIA Reflex are introduced, accelerating performance, and increasing responsiveness. Additionally, users can enable ray-traced ambient occlusion, ray-traced global illumination lighting, ray-traced shadows, and ray-traced reflections, increasing image quality substantially.
• Deadlock: Valve’s in-development 6v6 third-person MOBA allows players to choose from a diverse selection of heroes and battle others across three lanes and a large map. As Valve gets closer to Deadlock’s official launch, its technology and features continue to evolve. In a recent update, Valve added support for DLSS Super Resolution, DLAA, and NVIDIA Reflex. Reflex reduces PC latency by up to 45% in Deadlock, making gameplay even more responsive, helping you secure victory in each and every match. Meanwhile, using DLSS Super Resolution’s new transformer AI model, image quality is enhanced, and performance accelerated.
• Rise of the Ronin: As a nameless warrior, a ronin, your destiny evolves based on the choices you make in KOEI TECMO GAMES’ Rise of the Ronin. You’ll face significant decisions while playing, such as whether to assassinate or protect key figures like Naosuke Ii, and craft your own history through a multi-ending system. When Rise of the Ronin launches on PC March 11th, you can accelerate frame rates with DLSS Frame Generation and DLSS Super Resolution, and enhance image quality with ray tracing.
• Vector Strike: Chamo Games’ Vector Strike combines first-person shooting and sports in a fast-paced, physics-based 4v4 arena. Master precision shooting, movement, and teamwork to outplay opponents and score goals. Vector Strike entered Early Access yesterday, with day-one support for DLSS Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, DLAA, and Reflex, giving GeForce RTX gamers the best possible experience, with the highest frame rates and most responsive controls.
• Dragonkin: The Banished: Nacon and Eko Software’s Dragonkin: The Banished enters Early Access tomorrow, March 6th, and GeForce RTX gamers can accelerate performance with DLSS Frame Generation and DLSS Super Resolution. The game features a world corrupted by the blood of dragons, where evil creatures rise from the entrails of the earth. Choose one of the legendary hero classes, each with a single mission: hunt down and kill the draconic creatures. Each battle brings you closer to your ultimate goal: finding and eliminating the terrifying Dragon Lords. 

NVIDIA RTX 5070 reviews are in, and the reception for the delayed midrange graphics card is much more negative than I expected.

With the official launch date set as March 5, 2025, a day ahead of AMD's competing Radeon RX 9000 launch, it's clear that NVIDIA wanted to get information about the new card before Team Red could make its debut.

That strategy, however, has seemingly backfired, with negative reviews piling up for the $549 GPU that NVIDIA promised could perform at the same level as an RTX 4090.

At this point, after weeks of negative press surrounding NVIDIA's iffy performance claims, extreme stock shortages, missing ROPs, melting power cables, and faulty drivers — am I missing anything? — many were expecting the RTX 5070 to fall flat.

And indeed, most reviews make it seem like NVIDIA saved the worst for last.

Here's a roundup of RTX 5070 opinions from around the internet to give you a clear idea of what to expect when the GPU launches on March 5.

• Tom's Hardware (80%): "If the RTX 5070 is available at its MSRP, it's a modest generational upgrade that we would happily recommend. That's about the best we can say or hope for. We'll discuss tomorrow how it stacks up against AMD's RX 9070 that has the same $549 MSRP. In normal times, there would be heated debates about which one is better, whether DLSS beats FSR, and if AMD or Nvidia makes better drivers. The winner this round, however, is going to be the company that produces more GPUs to sell to consumers."
• PC Gamer (61%): "At this price, and with this competition looming large, I just don't know how I can recommend the RTX 5070 as a genuine purchase for any PC gamer without major caveats. The GPU at its heart feels like it should be the basis for an RTX 5060 and now the rest of market might just force that upon Nvidia."
• The Verge: "It’s about 20 percent faster than the RTX 4070 and a bare 4 percent faster than last year’s RTX 4070 Super. It’s a solid card for 1440p gaming, just like the RTX 4070, but as with the rest of the 50-series cards, Nvidia’s performance claims rely on Frame Generation rather than meaningful improvements to rendering."
• Eurogamer: "However, in the real world where the RTX 4070 Super will be (sparingly) available for less money, the argument here is relatively meagre. There are performance regressions versus the 4070 Super in a handful of games, frame generation requires more judicious settings choices to ensure playable latency, and of course we can't forget that AMD's RX 9070 and 9070 XT are set to arrive very soon indeed - with potentially much greater price to performance ratios."
• PCWorld (50%): "Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070 offers no performance increase over its predecessor, and the 12GB memory capacity is too skimpy for a $550 graphics card in 2025. It’s still a solid 1440p graphics card, and DLSS 4’s Multi-Frame Gen delivers transformative visual smoothness in supported games."
• TechPowerUp: "While the RTX 5070 is definitely a great card for 1440p, it's a little bit weak for 4K gaming without upscaling, that's why we recommend the card for a resolution of 1440p, especially when you consider that future games will have higher hardware requirements."

• Hardware Unboxed: "I'm personally not a fan of the GeForce RTX 5070. It's a compromised product that will struggle to leverage the RTX feature set due to its limited 12GB VRAM buffer. Although that may not be a significant issue right now, I expect it will be within the realistic lifespan of this product."

• Hardware Canucks: "I know what some people are going to be saying. They're going to be saying, 'Hey, you know what? The RTX 5070 ... it is nothing more than a slightly overclocked 4070 Super,' and I'd actually argue against that. I would say that because of its current positioning, where it is actually beaten by that [RTX 4070] Super in a bunch of situations, this thing isn't even that."

• Gamers Nexus: "NVIDIA is selling lies, and reviewers shouldn't be afraid to mince words about it. That is precisely what the RTX 5080 is. It is marketed on the back of lies. [...] That's right. NVIDIA says that AI can make a 5070, which has 12GB of VRAM, equal a 4090, which has 24."

Should you buy an NVIDIA RTX 5070?

Despite the wave of negative and middling reviews, the RTX 5070 will undoubtedly sell out when it goes on sale on March 5. There's that much demand.

NVIDIA has struggled to provide retailers with more than the bare minimum of stock, and that's not expected to change with the 5070.

That might not be bad, especially since the GPU seems to be a miss.

Echoing most of the reviewers I've quoted here, I urge you to hold off on buying any of NVIDIA's cards until we see what AMD has cooked up with its Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, set to launch on March 6.

If AMD can provide stock at or close to MSRP — and if performance claims turn out to be true — the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 could prove to be a far better investment.

You may not be able to buy an NVIDIA RTX 5080 right now, which is poor, but that doesn't change just how good it is. I've just installed our RTX 5080 Founders Edition into my gaming PC, replacing a much loved, but struggling (in some titles) ASRock Intel Arc A770.

I've read our review of the RTX 5080, of course, but from the first second, I was amazed by something I wasn't expecting; The size.

It's a complete reversal of my thoughts when the RTX 40 series came out, and I first opened the obscenely large RTX 4090. I am actually shocked. Probably more shocked that it's smaller, even, than my outgoing Arc A770.

Wait, it's smaller than an Arc A770?!

I should point out that the ASRock Phantom Gaming Arc A770 to give the full title is not the same as the Intel-released Arc A770 Limited Edition. While the latter was a sleek, compact design, ASRock went bananas and stacked an absurdly large heatsink and three fans on top of their version. It's still a two slot card, at least, but it's HUGE. Especially considering the mediocre performance compared to what's replacing it.

I simply couldn't believe that the RTX 5080 Founders Edition is a hair shorter and a decent amount thinner than this significantly less powerful graphics card. But it is, and while it's still a snug fit in my fairly small case, it fits well, and there's even a little more clearance for the other PCIe cards I have in there compared to before.

I'm also pleasantly surprised by how rigid it is. It's a heavy graphics card, but there's absolutely no sign of sag. I'm not brave enough yet to remove my GPU support, but I don't think it's needed.

It's a shame that the OEM cards won't be as small, with gigantic heatsinks and extra fans and let's not forget about the RGB! Smaller PCs are increasingly desirable, and I'm impressed that with the 50 Series NVIDIA has made positive strides. I couldn't even put the side on my PC case when I had to review the RTX 4090, and the case I had then was larger than the one I use now.

I also want to shout out the decision to flip the power connector from horizontal to vertical. It has made it so much easier to connect without worrying whether the power cable is bent too much, or under stress, because, you know, I don't want it to catch fire.

NVIDIA needs to get these things back on store shelves

I've only had 24 hours with the RTX 5080 so far, but it's only taken that time to know that NVIDIA has really screwed up by not having a healthy supply of these things. I jokingly sent a message to a friend earlier saying that I'd figured out how to make Monster Hunter: Wilds look better — using an RTX 5080.

I still don't love that game developers are relying on upscaling technology way too much, but the truth is that the RTX 5080 is an absolute beast. Not only that, but it's fairly quiet while doing it.

DLSS is still the best of the upscalers out there, but at least with the horsepower on tap here, the quality setting can be used and still get some crazy high frame rates and great looking games. The new Dune: Awakening benchmark looks phenomenal, giving me a nice 140 FPS average maxed out at 1440p, and I can finally play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone without turning all the settings down to preserve those valuable frames.

It's almost like looking at a different game with all the graphics settings turned back up. I think I'm now finally equipped to play Spider-Man 2 and Indiana Jones, as well, because I'd been holding off convinced that my Arc A770 would start to choke, and I want to enjoy those titles at their best.

NVIDIA also needs to worry about AMD, with the newest Radeon cards finally becoming available soon, and at some pretty eyebrow raising prices. For all I love about the RTX 5080, I do not like the price. Sure, it's crazy powerful, but it's a little insulting how expensive these graphics cards are getting.

But the Founders Edition at least gets a big thumbs up. It's an outlier, but it's the best design of them all in my eyes, and a marvel that this much performance has been squeezed inside a normal-sized graphics card.

The first of NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs launched on January 30, with the RTX 5070 Ti following up on February 20. As I await the delayed launch of the RTX 5070, I sat back to take a look at all of the issues plaguing NVIDIA's launch.

I'm not here to convince you not to buy an RTX 5000 GPU. You can spend your money any way you want. I am, however, attempting to quell some of the demand by laying out some very good reasons why you shouldn't invest in NVIDIA's latest hardware, at least right now.

For those who have their money ready and can't wait to land the latest RTX 5000 hardware, I've also included some positive points to help you convince yourself that your $1,000+ is better off going towards a new leather jacket for NVIDIA's CEO.

5 reasons not to buy an NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPU

Trying to convince yourself that you don't need one of NVIDIA's latest RTX 5000 GPUs? The reasons are, frankly, low-hanging fruit. NVIDIA hasn't done itself any favors with its early 2025 launch, and there are some big considerations to make before buying.

1. NVIDIA's pricing — What happened to MSRP?

NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs — or at least everything except the RTX 5090 — were introduced with tempting MSRPs.

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090: $1,999 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080: $999 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: $749 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070: $549 MSRP

Unfortunately, it has quickly become apparent that buying an RTX 5000 GPU at MSRP is but a dream achieved by a lucky few people.

Poor stock availability — I've seen it blamed on a lack of notice from NVIDIA to its manufacturers, as well as poor timing due to the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival — is the main culprit.

While NVIDIA's Founders Edition cards stick to the company's suggested pricing, many third-party cards launched with a higher price. That in itself is not out of the ordinary; traditionally, third-party cards from NVIDIA's partners have offered a range of features and pricing.

However, the effect seems to be a lot more pronounced this time around. If you do happen to find an RTX 5000 GPU in stock at a trusted retailer, chances are it's not going to sell for the MSRP.

A quick look at Newegg's selection of RTX 5080 GPUs — with that $999 MSRP — has prices beyond $1,600. Looking at Best Buy for the $749 RTX 5070 Ti (which has no Founders Edition) shows prices at up to $980.

Scalpers aren't making the situation any better, and you can be sure to overpay the most by finding a private sale.

2. Melting power cables — Worth the risk?

It didn't take long after the RTX 5090's launch for early adopters to report melted 12VHPWR cables. It's an issue NVIDIA has had in the past with its RTX 4090, so it's not like the company was taken off guard.

Not only does the problem pose a risk to your PC hardware — cables, GPUs, and PSUs have all been spotted with melted plastic and worse — it's also a major fire risk and a threat to your well-being.

Youtuber der8auer made a great analysis video that highlights the issue. In the video, he comes to the conclusion that only NVIDIA is to blame, stating, "RTX 40 and RTX 50 cards have no way to tell how much current is flowing across which of the pins."

This leads to too much power being sent across certain pins, which aren't rated high enough to handle the load. Things start to melt down.

So far there's not really an answer as to what can be done to safeguard against melted hardware and a major fire risk. Even high-quality power cables have been spotted melting. If you want to avoid the problem entirely, skip the RTX 5090 until NVIDIA figures out a solution.

3. No 32-bit PhysX support — Do you enjoy certain well-aged games?

NVIDIA dropping 32-bit PhysX support in its RTX 50-series GPUs isn't a big deal for most people. That doesn't mean it isn't a big deal for some people.

The lack of anything by way of a PhysX translation layer (if that's possible at all) for the reworked Blackwell CUDA cores means you won't be able to properly enjoy all that certain well-aged games have to offer.

Without a compatible GPU, the PhysX workload is shuttled to the CPU, which is unequipped to properly deal with the task. Performance suffers significantly, to the point where it's better to disable the effects. Yes, you can continue to play the games, albeit without the added PhysX features.

Standout titles with PhysX effects include Borderlands 2, Batman: Arkham games, the original Metro games, and Mirror's Edge.

This won't be a dealbreaker for everyone, but if your favorite game is impaired when using an RTX 5000 card, it only makes sense to go for an older NVIDIA GPU (40-series and back still handles 32-bit PhysX).

4. Missing ROPs — Is your RTX 5000 GPU complete?

NVIDIA was quick to address reports of missing ROPs in a small number of its RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti models — all Blackwell GPUs so far released — and it has stated that affected buyers must contact board manufacturers for a replacement.

However, it remains to be seen how smooth the process will be as seemingly every board manufacturer is already struggling to put any GPUs at all on shelves.

ROPs — aka Render Output Units or Raster Operations Pipeline — are a crucial part of the GPU, and it's a number that should not fluctuate at all between cards. I wonder how many people will never spot the defect.

NVIDIA claims it has solved the chip manufacturing issue that led to the missing ROPs, but there are bound to still be some cards en route with a similar issue. What happened to quality control?

5. Mild performance gains — Is it worth it if you have an RTX 40-series GPU?

NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs are more powerful than their direct predecessors. If that's all you need to know, go forth and attempt to buy. However, the new GPUs aren't suited for everyone.

Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson reviewed the RTX 5090, in which he notes:

Wilson also reviewed the RTX 5080, stating:

The RTX 5080 ultimately performs at about the same rate as the RTX 4080 Super, which has the same $999 MSRP (if you can find it). The RTX 5070 Ti, which we didn't receive for review, performs at about the same rate as an RTX 4080.

What I'm hinting at is that you don't necessarily need to buy an RTX 5000 GPU to get the same level of performance. RTX 4000 GPUs are getting hard to find, especially at a reasonable price, but you might get lucky with some savvy shopping.

NVIDIA is hoping to draw enthusiasts in with DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation (MFG), a feature (so far) exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs. It's rumored that MFG will arrive on older cards at some point, further reducing the appeal of the newer hardware.

Keep in mind that AMD is expected to reveal its Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs on February 28, 2025, with an "early March" launch in the works. If the cards can compete with NVIDIA's mid-range offerings, the RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 won't look nearly as appealing as they do right now.

3 ways an RTX 5000 GPU makes sense

My goal here isn't to convince you not to buy an RTX 5000 GPU. I'm simply pointing out reasons why you should save your hard-earned money until the market settles down and NVIDIA irons out some of the issues seen at launch.

👉 Where to buy NVIDIA's RTX 5090 and RTX 5080

👉 Where to buy NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti

I know some enthusiasts don't want to wait any longer, no matter the price or the struggle to find availability. If that sounds like you, I have three reasons why it makes sense to buy an RTX 5000 GPU to help convince you that you're making the right decision.

1. You're more than a few generations between upgrades

No matter how close RTX 5000 performance comes to older RTX 4000 GPUs, the reality is that the newest hardware is the most powerful stuff on the market right now.

I'm currently working with an AMD Radeon RX 6800, and the gains from an RTX 5000 GPU are very tempting. The same goes, I'm sure, for anyone who has an RTX 30-series or older NVIDIA card in their gaming PC.

Considering RTX 4000 prices don't seem to be getting any lower, especially as stock thins out, the RTX 5000 lineup no doubt makes sense for a lot of people. You'll have to come to terms with the high costs, but if you have the dough you should be setting yourself up nicely for years to come.

2. You want as many frames as possible and don't care how they're made

NVIDIA's DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation (MFG) is kind of a big deal in the gaming world. It's a major breakthrough that allows the updated "Blackwell" CUDA cores to rely more heavily on AI-created frames than ever before.

Where your GPU has to work to create one frame, MFG can then create multiple extra frames. This can significantly improve frame rates in games that support the feature.

MFG is the main reason why NVIDIA was allowed to claim the RTX 5070 performs as well as the RTX 4090 at its CES 2025 presentation. It wasn't lying, either. It just wasn't upfront with what was going on behind the claim.

As tested in our RTX 5080 review, the average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077 — without MFG enabled — hit about 64 FPS. With MFG enabled, performance climbed to 228 FPS. That's frankly incredible, and I applaud the NVIDIA engineers who cooked it up.

There's been plenty of pushback on the subject, with lots of people calling these "fake frames." But, as Ben Wilson discovered, "Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't exhibit any noticeable input delay with NVIDIA Reflex enabled."

If there's no major drawback, does it matter how the frames are created? DLSS 4's MFG feature is, so far, only available on RTX 5000 GPUs, but that could change in the future. For now, you'll need the latest hardware to see those triple-digit frame rates.

3. You want the most powerful GPU on the market ... period

I'm eagerly awaiting the official announcement of AMD's Radeon RX 9000 GPUs. The RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 could come out of the gates matching (or outperforming) the mid-range NVIDIA cards, which would only benefit the GPU market as a whole.

However, AMD's new Radeon RDNA 4 hardware isn't expected to compete with the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090. In the same vein, Intel is focused on the low end of the market with its impressive "Battlemage" cards designed for 1440p gaming.

If you want to have the most powerful GPU on the market, you'll have to stick with NVIDIA's RTX 5090.

NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPU launch isn't finished disappointing the Team Green faithful. The RTX 5070, NVIDIA's delayed mid-range "Blackwell" GPU, is expected to launch on March 5, and a small bit of performance info has leaked out as reviewers are busy testing the GPUs.

The news comes from Videocardz, which spotted a Geekbench metric involving the RTX 5070, an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and an X870E motherboard. Geekbench is but a small part of the full picture, but it gives an idea of what to expect from the final piece of NVIDIA's initial RTX 5000 launch run.

The RTX 5070 scored 187,414 using OpenCL and 188,712 using Vulkan in Geekbench 6. Looking at average scores for the RTX 5070 Ti (which are published on Geekbench's website), the RTX 5070 appears to offer about 20% less performance than its Ti sibling.

As mentioned, this is far from a complete look at what the RTX 5070 can offer in terms of real-world gameplay performance, but it's not sitting well with NVIDIA's supporters.

NVIDIA's launch issues deepen with missing ROPs

As was discovered over the weekend and reported on by Tom's Hardware, some of NVIDIA's RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 Ti GPUs are missing ROPs.

ROPs — also known as Render Output Units or Raster Operations Pipeline — are critical to a GPU's performance, and they're not something you should see fluctuate between different cards from different manufacturers as they're a part of the actual GPU chip. It suggests a problem with the actual GB202 and GB203 NVIDIA chips used in the new Blackwell cards.

👉 Read our NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition review

With users spotting up to 8 absent ROPs in their GPUs, it's not an insignificant issue. Tom's Hardware received an answer from an NVIDIA representative on the subject:

NVIDIA's answer to Tom's Hardware suggests that GPUs only have one missing ROP, but that's clearly not the case for all users. Some have demonstrated a higher number.

NVIDIA fessed up to the issue immediately and has offered a clear way for affected customers to exchange their faulty cards. However, this will only serve to deepen stock shortages that are already severe.

Now, with the RTX 5070's leaked performance, people are piling on with some seriously funny quotes. One NVIDIA subreddit user joked, "So it's like a 5070 Ti with 8 missing ROPs." Can't argue with that.

👉 Read our NVIDIA RTX 5080 Founders Edition review

It's expected that the RTX 5070 will have lesser performance than its RTX 5070 Ti sibling, but I don't think anyone was expecting a 20% difference. We'll have to wait for full reviews to get a better idea of the situation, but those CES promises of RTX 4090 performance from the $549 RTX 5070 aren't holding up well.

Mix this news with melting power cables, high prices, faulty NVIDIA drivers, lack of availability, and dropped 32-bit PhysX support (am I missing anything?) and you can see why NVIDIA is receiving so much flak.

Can AMD save the GPU market with RDNA 4?

AMD's decision to delay the official announcement and launch of its new RDNA 4 GPUs keeps looking better. It's done practically nothing save for teasing launch dates, allowing NVIDIA to harm itself entirely on its own.

AMD is expected to finally reveal its Radeon RX 9000 GPUs on February 28, and they should finally launch to the public in early March.

AMD still has plenty of opportunity to muck up its unveil and launch. If it hopes to succeed — even ignoring all of NVIDIA's current issues — there must be stock to buy, competitive pricing, and solid performance to compete with NVIDIA's mid-range GPUs.

As reported by Videocardz, AMD is targeting a 42% performance uplift in its Radeon RX 9070 XT compared to the last-gen RX 7900 GRE. That should place it above the RTX 5070, though some Geekbench performance leaks suggest otherwise.

Like the 5070 Ti, Radeon RX 9070 XT Geekbench results have also appeared. The GPU hits 179,178 in OpenCL and 177,395 in Vulkan, both scores lower than those seen in the RTX 5070 leak.

There's ultimately too much left up in the air to confirm anything. Once final Radeon drivers are in place and AMD has officially unveiled its new GPUs, we'll all have a much better idea of what the PC gaming landscape will look like for the next couple of years.

Until then, I can only hope that NVIDIA gets its act together and AMD comes out with some true competition.

After months of RTX 5090 speculation around NVIDIA and endless memes of its next-gen graphics cards showing air conditioning-sized cooling fans, I finally have proof that the latest flagship GeForce GPU opts for the contrary. Measuring around 50% the width of its RTX 4090 Founders Edition predecessor, the new RTX 5090 FE shrinks to a two-slot configuration but retains the exact edge-to-edge shape.

Of course, one of the most glaringly obvious changes to the RTX 50 Series reference card design is NVIDIA's introduction of its "Double Flow Through" cooling design, with twin fans mounted on the same side of the card. The heatsink fin pattern is still here, albeit in more of a cut-back design, alongside a huge reduction in branding sizes as the printed 'RTX 5090' logo is tucked away on the reverse side.

Overwhelmingly, my thoughts go to how this slim redesign will affect the cooling potential of NVIDIA's new fan system alongside the beefed-up internals. I'll have to keep you in the dark on that matter, at least for a while, because a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) only allows for today's unboxing tease. Nevertheless, I'm instantly enamored by this refreshing design for the RTX 5090, finishing its metallic casing with a smooth coating.

It's also 16.51% lighter than the RTX 40 Series flagship, weighing 1.82 kg (4.01 lbs) compared to the 2.18 kg (4.80 lbs) of the RTX 4090 FE. That's still heavy enough to warrant a sag mount for your PC case and save your motherboard's PCIe slot from unnecessary stress, but the 600W power 12V2x6 cable at least connects at an angle now, reducing the risk of damage from over-bending.

RTX 5090 vs. RTX 4090 side-by side

Sure enough, the RTX 5090 FE looks good on its own, but the improvements are abundantly clear with generational comparisons. Stacked next to the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition, the two-slot RTX 5090 FE looks almost unrecognizable from above. Here, you can see the angled power connector and its flipped video-out ports on the rear mounting side. Still, more than anything else, there's a huge reduction in ventilation alongside the DisplayPort and HDMI connections.

There are two undeniable elephants in the RTX 5090 room, one named "price tag" and the other "power draw," and it's not surprising to see a monstrous PCIe adapter in the box demanding a four-split hookup with some of the most power supply units on the market today. I already have a melt-free 450W 12VHPWR cable for my 1300W unit, but that's not going to cut it with NVIDIA's latest beast. 600W or bust, I'll need to dig out my big bag of cables.

Speaking of the box, everything is made from paper and cardboard in an Apple-esque fashion. It's great to see, though I'll miss having a spare anti-static bag to store other GPUs while I'm testing the RTX 5090. Sustainability is the name of the game for packaging in 2025, something we even handed out an award for at CES 2025, and it's great to see NVIDIA adapting.

While I could pretend to speculate performance metrics, I'd rather keep you in legally sound suspense for just a little longer. For now, consider me a fan of the GeForce RTX 50 Series design. My electric bill, on the other hand, is beginning to sweat. Whether it's worth upgrading from my usual RTX 3060 12GB daily driver remains to be seen, but this slick design is certainly tempting me away from uglier GPUs built by third-party brands.

You may want to start saving up now if you are looking to upgrade your gaming PC with a new GPU from the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 50-series video cards. Two Acer Predator Orion gaming PCs featuring the NVIDIA RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards with lofty price tags were previously spotted by Videocardz after they were erroneously posted by a German retailer. The listings have since been removed.

The retailer, Otto.de, featured two high-end Acer Predator Orion line gaming PCs that paired NVIDIA's Blackwell GPUs with the recently released Intel Arrow Lake CPUs. The most expensive of the pair packed a Core Ultra 9 285K, 128 GB of DDR5 RAM, a 2 TB SSD, and the NVIDIA RTX 5090 32 GB for €5999. Our sister site, Tom's Hardware, went so far as to figure out taxes and conversion for this rig, including VAT, estimating a $7539 price tag.

The second Orion 7000 listing matches up the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF with a more modest 32 GB of DDR5, a 1 TB SSD, and the NVIDIA RTX 5080 16 GB for €3499. Tom's Hardware did the math here, also including VAT, putting an estimated price tag of $4399 on this "mid-range" system.

Increased power comes at an increased price

After their premature reveal, the Orion 7000 PCs were quickly delisted from Otto.de. It's difficult to know whether the prices listed at the time of the leak are what we can expect for these prebuilt gaming PCs or if they are simply placeholders.

NVIDIA has yet to give the Blackwell their time in the spotlight with a proper announcement. At this point, we're all still basically gleaning what little information from leaks we can until NVIDIA CEO Jason Huang takes the stage during CES 2025 to formally reveal the cards. What we can assume here, however, is that there is likely to be a hefty price difference between the 5080 and 5090 at launch. We are also likely to see the prices of the new cards clock in a couple of hundred bucks higher than their 40-series equivalents.

Previous leaks of 5080 and 5090 specs suggested the cards would have significant upticks in CUDA cores and VRAM over 40-series cards but with a sizable increase in power draw. If you're planning to upgrade your GPU, you may also consider upgrading your power supply to keep up. Waiting for the latest in graphics cards may have come with increased costs beyond just the still-veiled price of the unit itself.

That also doesn't take into consideration the overall heft of the cards themselves, which are likely to be even chunkier than the 40-series we have now. If you're lucky enough not to need a brand-new case to fit the 50-series cards, you will probably need to consider investing in a sag bracket to keep the card level, at the very least.

Of course, any speculation about the costs and value of Blackwell cards should also be peppered with concern for what scalpers could do to the early days of resell markets. When even the mid-range GPUs are rumored to cost $1000 and up, it certainly reopens the still-fresh wounds of those of us who were trying to secure 30-series cards during pandemic-era pricing and launch shortages.

Recent game releases are making my 3070 TI feel more obsolete by the day (I'm looking at you, Indiana Jones, and the Great Circle), but it's hard to know just how much the market can bear for increased GPU prices. AMD has effectively dropped out of the high-end gaming GPU market. Intel's Battlemage GPUs are still yet to show any promise in the space, and it feels a lot like NVIDIA has both its hands in my wallet this generation.

NVIDIA's RTX 50-series GPUs from the new "Blackwell" era have launched, and so far there are four options: RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070.

These cards succeed the RTX 4000 "Ada" generation that's been around since 2022, with NVIDIA placing more focus than ever on AI for the RTX 5000 lineup.

NVIDIA's new cards were revealed at CES 2025 alongside some impressive claims — an RTX 5070 can outperform an RTX 4090?! — and some less impressive price tags.

Now that we've moved beyond the initial four cards with some reviews in tow, I have news to share about RTX PRO models and rumors regarding the RTX 5060.

NVIDIA announces RTX PRO workstation GPUs

The latest GPU news from NVIDIA comes from its GTC 2025 AI conference, at which Team Green announced new RTX PRO "Blackwell" graphics cards designed for workstations and servers.

Focusing on the Blackwell desktop hardware, NVIDIA lists RTX PRO 6000, RTX PRO 5000, RTX PRO 4500, and RTX PRO 4000 GPUs.

Laptops aren't ignored, with NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000, RTX PRO 4000, RTX PRO 3000, RTX PRO 2000, RTX PRO 1000, and RTX Pro 500 Blackwell mobile GPUs.

These new PRO Blackwell cards are designed for the future of generative, agentic, and physical AI realms, with significant upgrades to AI Tensor cores.

The desktop RTX PRO Blackwell GPUs are expected this summer, while the laptop versions are expected later this year.

NVIDIA officially announces its new RTX 5000 GPUs

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang officially kickstarted CES 2025 with a keynote speech on January 6, where he revealed the company's next generation of "Blackwell" RTX 5000 graphics cards.

Huang made a bold claim, stating that the RTX 5070 can achieve RTX 4090 performance, all for well less than half the price. However, he followed that statement by saying it's all impossible without AI, which isn't too surprising.

All-new DLSS 4 (now with Multi Frame Generation) and Reflex 2 with Frame Warp were revealed to be the main drivers behind the massive performance boost.

Together, they push the capabilities of these GPUs far beyond what the physical hardware can do.

NVIDIA RTX 5000 specifications

NVIDIA has announced the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5070 GPUs for both desktop and laptop PCs.

The flagship RTX 5090 card unsurprisingly has the most impressive specs, arriving with 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM with 1.792TB/s memory bandwidth. That's nearly twice as much bandwidth as the RTX 4090, with more and faster GDDR76 VRAM.

Here's a look at the four cards so far announced by NVIDIA.

NVIDIA RTX 50-series reviewed by Windows Central

Windows Central Senior Editor reviewed the RTX 5090, a GPU that's best reserved for professional workflows due to its enormous power and price.

Testing the new Multi Frame Generation (MFG) feature in Cyberpunk 2077, Wilson discovered a boost from 68 FPS to 228 FPS with 'Ray Tracing Overdrive' enabled in the game.

Wilson also reviewed the RTX 5080 favorably and again tested DLSS 4's MFG in Cyberpunk 2077. This time, frame rates jumped from about 45 FPS up to 150 FPS.

Multi Frame Generation was cause for worry for many gamers, as it was unclear how the tech would deal with latency and quality when AI is creating up to three frames from one raw frame.

Now that I've seen what MFG can really do — boost frame rates substantially without much harm to the game's overall feel — I don't think there's much cause for worry.

👉 Related: NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti vs. RTX 5070

In his RTX 5080 review, Wilson remarked:

"If you want to crank all of the visuals in your favorite titles to their upper limits, you'll need a powerful GPU like the RTX 5080. While not the top-end card, this will still provide a smooth experience at 4K if you utilize DLSS 4 and MFG x4."

The RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti launched after the 5080/5090, and although we didn't personally review them, I put together some review roundups.

Reviewers were particularly harsh on the RTX 5070, with many calling out NVIDIA's claims of "RTX 4090" performance. That, combined with high prices and limited stock, didn't sit well.

How much do NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs cost?

NVIDIA's pricing is a big part of the negativity surrounding these GPUs. Here's the MSRP as set by NVIDIA.

The RTX 5090 is unsurprisingly the most expensive at a $1,999 MSRP. The RTX 5080 drops to half that at $999, with the RTX 5070 Ti following up at $749.

The RTX 5070, which NVIDIA claims can match the performance of an RTX 4090 in part thanks to all the new AI advancements, comes in at $549.

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090: $1,999 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080: $999 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: $749 MSRP
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070: $549 MSRP

Anyone who's been paying attention to major GPU retailers understands that these prices are not realistic.

NVIDIA's MSRP has largely been ignored by AIB manufacturers, causing prices to jump by hundreds of dollars in many cases.

👉 Related: Where to buy NVIDIA RTX 5090 and RTX 5080

Worse, extremely limited stock has created a playground for scalpers, who vacuum up any stock only to immediately repost it elsewhere at a higher price.

I still don't know at what price points the RTX 5060 models will start, but you realistically expect to pay as much as the 5070's MSRP for a lesser card. At least until the market calms.

👉 Related: Where to buy NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti

When do NVIDIA RTX 5000 GPUs launch?

The RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launched first on January 30, 2025. That included NVIDIA's Founders Edition reference cards and custom cards from partners like ASUS, Colorful, Gainward, GALAX, Gigabyte, INNO3D, KFA2, MSI, Palit, PNY, and ZOTAC.

The RTX 5070 Ti launched next on February 20, 2025. It did not have a Founders Edition version, instead relying on third-party cards.

The delayed RTX 5070 eventually launched on March 5, 2025, a day ahead of AMD's Radeon RX 9000 launch.

Laptop versions of these GPUs with Max-Q tunings are headed our way in the near future.

Where's the RTX 5060?

So far there's nothing more than leaks and rumors regarding the RTX 5060 lineup, which is expected to include the standard card and a Ti version.

Current leaks put the RTX 5060 at 8GB or 12GB of VRAM, with the RTX 5060 Ti climbing to 16GB.

I'm waiting for official confirmation from NVIDIA, as there seems to be some discrepancy between leakers regarding VRAM and final specs.

NVIDIA RTX 5000 launch issues

Aside from severe stock shortages, price gouging, and absent MSRPs, NVIDIA's RTX 5000 GPUs have seen some issues since their launch.

In February I wrote about adopters experiencing black screens, BSODs, and crashes, which were blamed on a faulty NVIDIA driver that's since been remedied.

Then came reports of RTX 5090 GPUs melting power cables, a situation seen before with the RTX 4090.

There's still no definitive fix for this problem, as it's said to be caused by NVIDIA's power setup that does not monitor power loads for each pin.

If you have an RTX 5090, you'll no doubt want to keep a close eye on it even if you have the best 12VHPWR cable.

Those who purchase any of NVIDIA's GPUs should also watch out for missing ROPs.

Users have proven that some cards are shipping with fewer Render Output Units than usual, which is grounds for immediate refund or replacement. Don't hold on to a GPU with less performance!

What is NVIDIA's DLSS 4?

NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) technology has been around since the launch of the first RTX GPUs in 2018, and as the name suggests, it's been learning and improving the whole time. DLSS 4 is available to any users of RTX 20-series through 50-series cards, but the available features differ due to hardware performance.

For example, the latest RTX 5000 GPUs are the only ones to get the new DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation. Enhanced DLSS Frame Generation will also be available for RTX 50- and 40-series GPUs only. Older cards get access to enhanced DLSS Ray Reconstruction, DLSS Super Resolution, and Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing (DLAA).

So what exactly is the new DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation? It's an improvement on the DLSS Frame Generation tech first accompanying DLSS 3, relying on the Blackwell GPU's specialized architecture to boost neural rendering abilities. Thanks to a new AI model, Multi Frame Generation takes the single generated frame and multiplies it.

NVIDIA says this results in "consistent and optimal frame pacing" despite the extra frames being generated. This new tech relies heavily on the fifth-gen Tensor cores found in the Blackwell GPUs, which is why the feature isn't coming to RTX 4000 cards. The tool also lowers VRAM usage, which should be a good thing considering NVIDIA didn't wow anyone with VRAM amounts.

NVIDIA used Cyberpunk 2077 running with full ray tracing to highlight the improvements. The game sits around 25-30 FPS with DLSS disabled. With DLSS 4 enabled, the frame rate climbs to 235 and beyond, even with ray tracing enabled.

More than 75 games and apps that are already compatible with NVIDIA's frame generation will be compatible with DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation on launch day, with "many more on the way."

What is NVIDIA Reflex 2 with Frame Warp?

NVIDIA's Reflex technology was introduced in 2020 as a tool to reduce latency. In general, it works by syncing the CPU and GPU, resulting in your input actions being recognized faster. That's especially important in competitive games, but it can benefit any gamers. NVIDIA says that more than 90% of gamers use Reflex (when available).

New for 2025 is NVIDIA Reflex 2. It takes a different approach to lowering latency, which NVIDIA calls Frame Warp. Here's an explanation of how it works from NVIDIA itself:

"Reflex 2 Frame Warp takes this concept from research to reality. As a frame is being rendered by the GPU, the CPU calculates the camera position of the next frame in the pipeline, based on the latest mouse or controller input. Frame Warp samples the new camera position from the CPU, and warps the frame just rendered by the GPU to this newer camera position. The warp is conducted as late as possible, just before the rendered frame is sent to the display, ensuring the most recent mouse input is reflected on screen."

Shifting and warping a frame thus results in missing pixels, which are filled in with a "latency-optimized predictive rendering algorithm." A lot of the technical stuff starts to go over my head, but the bottom line? You should expect an easier time aiming and tracking enemies in competitive play.

What is RTX Remix?

Announced ahead of GDC 2025, NVIDIA's RTX Remix is exiting its beta stage for a full release.

RTX Remix is a free set of modding tools that enables users to remaster their favorite old games with new lighting, models, textures, effects, and more.

While Remix works with any RTX card, the full release adds tools (like Multi Frame Generation) that make it worth picking up an RTX 5000 GPU, especially if you want to take a stab at modding.

NVIDIA also announced new tools in the full Remix release that can reskin models to the same fidelity that's available in full scenes.

If you have an RTX card — especially an RTX 5000 card — you can see what Remix is all about with the free Half-Life 2 RTX demo available on Steam.

NVIDIA's graphics cards always garner a lot of attention on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and this year it seems like everyone is talking about the Zotac Gaming AMP RTX 4080 Super. It's sitting at $1,019.99 $1,059.99 at Newegg, and despite the $60 price drop, it remains out of the price range of many gamers.

My original alternatives, MSI's Ventus 2X E1 OC and 3X E1 OC RTX 4070s have now returned to full price, but I found a great Cyber Monday deal on an RTX 4060 Ti. It's down to $450 at Amazon, which is the lowest price I've seen in its history.

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Why I recommend the RTX 4070 rather than the RTX 4080 Super

NVIDIA's RTX 4080 and the Super variant are out of my price range, but that doesn't keep me from salivating over the specs. It's a GPU that is rightfully at the top of many Black Friday shopping lists, with the ability to run your favorite games at a 4K resolution with relatively smooth framerates.

👉 See the top Black Friday deals according to our readers

If you've already earmarked $1,000+ for a GPU, the Zotac Gaming AMP RTX 4080 Super is currently the best Black Friday deal I've found on this level of performance. It's down to $1,019.99 at Newegg, with a free copy of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle thrown in to sweeten the deal.

However, the deal that's going to make sense for most people will be a lot easier on the wallet. Most gamers aren't playing at a 4K resolution or need 1440p framerates beyond 200Hz, in which case an RTX 4080 Super starts to seem like expensive overkill.

In steps the RTX 4070. Its performance is similar to the RTX 3080, but it adds DLSS 3 Frame Generation and improves on the 30-series efficiency. While I'd usually say something like the RTX 4060 Ti is the sweet spot for most gamers, this RTX 4070 deal at Newegg is too good to pass up.

MSI's Ventus 3X E1 OC RTX 4070 is a compact card with a dual-fan setup, 5,888 CUDA cores, boost clock up to 2,505MHz, and a 200W power draw. It's from the same series as the awesome RTX 2060 I used to have in my personal gaming PC, which gave me no problems in terms of cooling or reliability.

The GPU's 12GB of VRAM is an improvement over the bare minimum 8GB I'd recommend in 2024, and as mentioned you get access to all of the latest NVIDIA advancements that boost performance in games. Working with 1080p or 1440p? You'll love its capabilities.

Pricing history shows this GPU rarely dips below $500, and that milestone has been shattered with Newegg's deal. Right now you can pick it up for $479.99, and Newegg adds a $15 Uber gift card and a copy of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle for free. Newegg is showing it as backordered on Black Friday proper, but you can still nab the deal before it goes out of stock for good.

If you do decide to grab the discounted MSI GPU, be sure to have a look at my recommendations for the perfect CPU to pair with the RTX 4070. I already wrote about why the Ryzen 7 7800X3D isn't the best CPU to buy on Black Friday, with some discounted recommendations in tow.

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What you need to know

• The specs for NVIDIA's upcoming and unrevealed RTX 5080 and 5090 cards have possibly leaked. 
• The leak comes via @kopite7kimi on X (Twitter), who has a reliable track record of leaking NVIDIA and AMD hardware. 
• According to the leak, the RTX 5080 will sport 16GB of RAM, while the RTX 5090 weighs in with 32GB of RAM and a colossal 600 watt power draw.

If you're building a new Windows gaming PC, considering giving it the heftiest power supply possible. 

That's because details on NVIDIA's unrevealed RTX 5080 and 5090 graphics cards have leaked thanks to @kopite7kimi on X (Twitter)(via Videocardz) In two separate posts, the long time and repeatedly reliable hardware leaker shared details on what users can expect from NVIDIA's next set of GPUs. 

For the 5080, we can expect 16GB of VRAM, with a notable 400 watt power draw. Meanwhile, the 5090 weighs in at 32GB of VRAM, requiring a staggering 600 watts. To provide a comparison, the $1000 RTX 4080 also has 16GB of VRAM, and requires 320 watts of power. Meanwhile, the $1600 RTX 4090 provides 24GB of VRAM while needing 450 watts. 

In exchange, you get a substantial bump in CUDA cores. The RTX 5090 runs up to 21760 CUDA cores, compared to the 4090's 16384. For comparison, the RTX 4080 runs 9728 CUDA cores, with the 5080 running 10752.  

NVIDIA continues to go hefty with its high-end cards

The RTX line-up looks set to continue its dominance on the high end, both in terms of power, and likely in terms of wallet-busting. In a recent interview with our colleagues over at Tom's Hardware, AMD revealed that it is stepping away from the high-end GPU race, essentially clearing the stage for NVIDIA to solidify a monopoly (as the U.S. DOJ investigates them on antitrust concerns, ahem). Intel's struggles in the space are fairly well documented at this point, although they're pushing ahead with their Battlemage GPU line-up. 

Either way, the next-gen RTX leaks seem to suggest a huge leap up for both cards, but especially for the RTX 5090. If this is one you'll be eyeing, I recommend double and triple-checking your cooling system and your power supply. 

The lack of a significant VRAM increase for the 5080 is also notable, especially considering the implications for the 5070 and the vast increase in VRAM that many games now have at 4K with high settings enabled. 

We'll have to wait and see how things pan out. NVIDIA has been the cutting-edge of graphics technology for a while, pioneering advanced AI improvements like DLSS 2 and 3, including frame generation, with technology that power path tracing in games like Alan Wake 2.

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NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4080 SUPER remain popular graphics cards (GPU) for PC gamers, designers, and creators despite the launch of newer RTX 50-series cards.

To get the most out of these high-performance GPUs, they should be paired with a powerful processor to avoid bottlenecks that unnecessarily tank performance.

In that regard, my top pick is the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is usually found for about $470. It's easily the best gaming CPU on the market today.

The Windows Central team has spent hundreds of hours testing all of the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, and I've included five other top picks for a range of budgets and uses.

Best CPUs for your NVIDIA RTX 4080 in 2025

Honorable Mentions

Don't see the right CPU in the collection above to pair up with your RTX 4080? Some of these honorable mentions might pique your interest.

• Intel Core Ultra 5 245K: Like the Ryzen 5 9600X, the Core Ultra 5 245K is on the low end of what I recommend pairing with the RTX 4080 or 4080 SUPER. Nevertheless, it brings excellent productivity performance and an NPU for AI tasks. 👉 Read our full Core Ultra 5 245K review
• AMD Ryzen 7 9700X: The Ryzen 7 9700X is one of AMD's latest Zen 5 chips. It lacks the 3D V-Cache that makes my top two picks so great for gaming, but it also costs quite a bit less for those who blew their budget on the NVIDIA RTX 4080 or 4080 SUPER. 👉 Read our full Ryzen 7 9700X review

How to choose the best CPU for your NVIDIA RTX 4080 or 4080 SUPER

AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an easy top recommendation to pair with NVIDIA's RTX 4080 or RTX 4080 SUPER.

It's the most powerful CPU you can buy if PC gaming is your main focus, all thanks to AMD's unique 3D V-Cache that expands and stacks the cache. Pick it up for about $470 at Amazon.

Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson reviewed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, remarking:

"AMD continues the theme with its second generation of 3D V-Cache to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and middling productivity. Thankfully, most gamers do not care about the benchmark-breaking number crunching as long as they get their framerate boosts, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers that sweet extra FPS."

Considering the 9800X3D's immense popularity, you might have better luck finding the Ryzen 7 7800X3D predecessor for sale.

It's more affordable, it offers nearly the same level of gaming performance thanks to its own 3D V-Cache, and it's rarely sold out. You can usually find it for about $359.

Ben Wilson also reviewed the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, stating:

"Given how much outrageous raw gaming performance is on offer from this processor, it's not an unreasonable request for an upgrade. You'll benefit from the opposition if you rely on productivity apps, but AMD isn't pretending to appeal to that crowd."

If you are, indeed, aiming for huge productivity performance, I again turn to AMD with its Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

It has the 3D V-Cache that benefits gaming, but compared to the 9800X3D, it doubles the core and thread count.

Windows Central Editor Harish Jonnalagadda reviewed the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, saying:

"On the productivity and creative side, AMD is crushing benchmarks and dominating the scene entirely, so this multi-function chip has its place, but it's an expensive place to be. Nevertheless, if you can harness all this chip has to offer, there is nothing better to recommend."

The 9950X3D is the most expensive chip on this list at about $671, so I only recommend it if you plan on doing some heavy creative and design tasks with your PC.

Best CPUs for NVIDIA's RTX 4080: FAQ

Here are some answers to the pressing questions surrounding the RTX 4080 GPU.

AI is changing the game when it comes to the specifications we consider when determining how fast a PC is. Sure, things like GHz, Gbps, and MT/s are going to remain important for general use of the system, but with AI features on board, some new metrics are coming into play. You’ll hear about TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second), tokens, and even image generation speed, and NVIDIA RTX AI PCs are leading the charge to show you what you can do with all those TOPS. Let’s dig into what all that means for you.

In order to take advantage of AI, whether it’s image generation, text summarization, or any of the many new features rolling out at a blistering pace, you need a certain level of performance. That’s just the performance that TOPS is there to measure. Those TOPS are integer math operations processed by chips on the system. That speed can come from a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit), CPU, GPU, or a combination of components working together to process the math operations. NVIDIA RTX AI PCs already have a huge leg up here, as they offer substantial speeds in that department. 

At a speed of 40 TOPS, a  system that meets the speed threshold to handle the text generation and analysis features of Microsoft’s new Copilot+. If a system offered significantly lower TOPS, the user experience could be hampered by incredibly slow responses from the AI assistants tools, which should feel as quick as interacting with another human. 

This is where we encounter tokens. All those trillions of operations are going toward AI inference with the goal of producing tokens, which are the characters, words, and phrases an LLM (large language model) produces. When you get a plain language answer from a chatbot, what it’s returning is tokens. For a given LLM, the more TOPS your system can achieve, the more tokens you can get each second, and therefore the more responsive using the LLM will feel. Fast enough, and it’ll feel instantaneous.  With chatbots, for example, a high enough token-per-second rate will effectively produce text as fast as most people can read it. NVIDIA’s RTX AI PCs are already well into the territory of handling LLMs quickly.

See, 40 trillion operations per second might sound like a lot, that’s just scratching the surface of what RTX AI PCs can do. There are a lot more AI applications beyond creating text, such as the image and video generation capabilities of Stable Diffusion, object recognition for video software, or even AI upscaling of video content as gamers have see for several years with the likes of NVIDIA’s DLSS technology on RTX GPUs. 

These tasks can benefit from far more computational power. After all, if it takes even one second to generate an image, you won’t be able to generate fluid video in real time. That’s where the extra power of NVIDIA’s RTX GPUs can really shine. Whether it’s text or image generation, AI-assisted content creation, supersampling in PC games, or querying LLMs, NVIDIA’s RTX GPUs provide serious performance. The GeForce RTX 4090, for example, can hit 1,700 TOPS. Even the NVIDIA’s most economical mobile GPU variant achieves 194 TOPS. At this level of performance, NVIDIA RTX AI PCs are not only able to do things like answer user queries with natural language responses but can do so in a virtual environment with a fully-animated 3D character voicing that response, as we’ve seen with NVIDIA ACE. 

A lot of this performance is coming from the Tensor Cores included on NVIDIA’s RTX GPUs. These are dedicated AI accelerators specifically designed to speed up AI tasks, making them a helpful partner for generative AI applications.

The performance headroom lifts even higher when using NVIDIA TensorRT software, which is available to the millions of Windows PCs and workstations using RTX GPUs. TensorRT helps optimize AI workflows to leverage NVIDIA’s RTX hardware so you’re getting the most out of the processing power of your components. With Stable Diffusion’s Automatic1111 interface, TensorRT worked to boost image generation speeds up to 2x. It also recently received support from the popular Stable Diffusion ComfyUI, where it boosted image generation speed by up to 60% and image-to-video conversion speed in Stable Video Diffusion by 70%. These advantages are even available in the freshly launched Stable Diffusion 3.

With AI racing along at a staggering pace. Keeping up with all the latest developments and new terminology can be daunting. To help you keep pace and more easily approach the many complex topics, NVIDIA has launched the AI Decoded blog series. You can follow it to get the latest news and discover helpful tools to let you tap into AI capabilities on your own system.

NVIDIA's RTX 4060 is one of the most popular GPUs for gamers worldwide, coming in at the top of Steam's hardware survey with a 4.85% user share.

Why is it so popular? It delivers a premium 1080p experience that can also handle 1440p, adding DLSS and ray tracing support without breaking the bank.

If you've chosen the RTX 4060 (or the 4060 Ti) as the centerpiece for your gaming rig, you want to be sure you have the perfect CPU that won't cause bottlenecks.

While my top pick is the mighty Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it's probably overkill for most people. That's why I've added five other top processor options to consider — including high-end, mid-range, and budget chips — for your RTX 4060 build.

Getting the best CPU for NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 GPU

Those building a new PC have some tough choices to make, especially when it comes to pairing hardware.

If you've already settled on an NVIDIA RTX 4060 to handle the graphics workload, you're no doubt also looking for a processor (CPU) that can keep up with the GPU to prevent bottlenecks. You also don't want to overspend on a CPU unnecessarily.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 was released in 2023 as a successor to the RTX 3060. It remains a popular option for PC gamers who use a 1080p resolution with high framerates, but it's also capable of quality 1440p as long as you don't mind tweaking some in-game settings here and there to land a smoother experience.

I'm recommending the Ryzen 7 9800X3D as the ultimate choice for your RTX 4060 and any GPU that comes after. It's an exceptional chip that particularly shines while gaming, thanks to the inclusion of AMD's unique 3D V-Cache technology.

👉 Related: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs. 7800X3D

Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson reviewed the 9800X3D, remarking:

"AMD continues the theme with its second generation of 3D V-Cache to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and middling productivity. Thankfully, most gamers do not care about the benchmark-breaking number crunching as long as they get their framerate boosts, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers that sweet extra FPS."

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D can usually be found for about $475. If you'd like to spend less and retain 3D V-Cache, I highly recommend the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. It's not quite as powerful as the newer chip, but at about $359, it'll make a massive difference for less.

And if you'd like to spend less than $200 on one of AMD's latest Zen 5 CPUs, the Ryzen 5 9600X should be seriously considered. It lacks 3D V-Cache, but it nevertheless has more than enough power to keep up with the RTX 4060.

My colleague Ben Wilson also reviewed the 9600X, stating:

"In a masterclass of performance-per-watt efficiency, AMD offers incredible single-core performance scores that beat its intended 14600K rival and even challenge the 14700K."

I'd also like to call out the Ryzen 5 7600X. It's a Zen 4 CPU, but it's still a perfect pairing for your RTX 4060. In our Ryzen 5 7600X review, former Windows Central Senior Editor Rich Edmonds said:

"If you're looking to build a new gaming PC or a machine for doing some work and browsing websites, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X offers more than enough performance headroom. Even more demanding PC games and software will be able to take advantage of the higher clock speeds, so long as you have adequate cooling."

You can usually find the Ryzen 5 7600X for about $177, making it one of the more affordable options in this list.

Is NVIDIA's RTX 4060 good for 1440p gaming?

NVIDIA launched its RTX 4060 as a GPU focused on 1080p gaming, and that's where it excels. However, that doesn't mean you can't use it with a 1440p display.

My previous build had an RTX 3060 that I used nearly every day for 1440p gaming, and I really had no complaints aside from not being able to max out in-game settings in all titles.

The RTX 4060 has improved on the RTX 3060, and DLSS 4 does a lot of heavy lifting to make up for the card's shortcomings in terms of raw performance at 1440p.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU remains a popular card for PC gamers, offering near-RTX 3080 performance at a far more efficient pace. Extra goodies like DLSS and strong ray tracing support keep it relevant in 2025.

As with any graphics card, to get the most out of it, you need to pair it with the right processor.

👉 Related: Early Prime Day PC build deals are live — Major savings on NVIDIA RTX GPUs, AMD Ryzen CPUs, fast storage, and more

My top pick is AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which at the time of my most recent update is down to the lowest price of the year at $369.97 as we head into Prime Day week. Buying from Newegg will also land you a free 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, which is a $70 value on its own.

If you'd like to land AMD's 3D V-Cache tech in a newer CPU, I recommend the Ryzen 7 9800X3D at about $472.02 at Newegg. Once again, a free 1TB SSD is included.

Want to spend less? No problem — I have four other top picks that will work perfectly with your NVIDIA RTX 4070, RTX 4070 Super, or RTX 4070 Ti Super.

Choosing the best CPU for NVIDIA's RTX 4070 GPU

If you aren't building an entirely new PC, there's a good chance that you're upgrading one or two parts at a time. Let's say you've already decided on the RTX 4070, 4070 Super, or 4070 Ti Super GPU as your next upgrade, or it's already in your system.

If you're looking to pair the RTX 4070 with a capable CPU, any of the options I've listed above will do the trick. However, there is some nuance to be aware of.

AMD's latest Ryzen 7 9800X3D and last-gen Ryzen 7 7800X3D are the modern picks for enthusiasts who need more cores, higher clocks, and overall stronger performance for CPU-heavy games. While both chips run on the AM5 socket and won't work with AM4 motherboards, it's a worthwhile upgrade for gamers. This collection of high-performance AM5 motherboards might have what you need.

In Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson's Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, he noted that he "could see it outlasting its two siblings and remaining a popular choice for years, assuming no sudden failures or future issues." Wilson also reviewed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, stating:

"AMD continues the theme with its second generation of 3D V-Cache to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and middling productivity. Thankfully, most gamers do not care about the benchmark-breaking number crunching as long as they get their framerate boosts, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers that sweet extra FPS. It's not a big enough jump to tempt those happy with a previous-gen Ryzen 7 7800X3D, but anyone on Ryzen 5000 chips or jumping ship from Intel will love it if the $30 MSRP hike and AM5 overhauls don't sour the temptation."

With Amazon Prime Day (July 8 - July 11) and competing sales events on the horizon, I'm already seeing some great deals on CPUs. For example, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is down to its lowest price of the year at $369.97, and Newegg is throwing in a free 1TB SSD with each purchase.

Those sticking with Intel should check out the Core i5-14600K. Until recently when I upgraded to a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, I'd never used anything beyond a Core i5/Ryzen 5 for my own PC builds, having no problems gaming at 1440p on an ultrawide display.

The mid-range chip is more affordable than its Core i7 siblings, making it even more desirable for an RTX 4070 PC build. Yes, Intel's new Core Ultra desktop chips have entered the market, but gaming performance changes are so minor that I recommend sticking with an older CPU to save money.

Intel's Core i5-14600K is also deeply discounted ahead of Prime Day. At the time of my most recent update, you can find it for $164 at Newegg, which is 50% off the usual price. A free 1TB SSD and free copies of Civilization 7 and Dying Light: The Beast are included.

Is NVIDIA's RTX 4070 GPU good for 4K gaming?

NVIDIA designed its RTX 4070 to target 1440p PC gaming, and that's where it excels. You'll be able to enjoy high framerates in modern, demanding titles, all for quite a bit less than NVIDIA's stronger GPUs. Sure, it will also crush a 1080p resolution, but you could buy a cheaper GPU that's still well-suited to FHD gaming.

On the other hand, the RTX 4070 can run games at a 4K resolution but is not recommended as the go-to card for the extra pixels. You'd be much better off buying a high-end GPU with a wider bus and more VRAM; something like the RTX 4080 Super or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX immediately comes to mind, but NVIDIA's RTX 5000 cards are also launching soon.

Should you be worried about Intel's 13th and 14th Gen instability issues?

I'm still recommending some Intel hardware to pair with the RTX 4070, but you should be — at the bare minimum — aware of what went on with Intel's 13th Gen "Raptor Lake" and 14th Gen "Raptor Lake Refresh" desktop processors.

Since 2022, a growing number of users reported BSODs and crashes when using the CPUs, and Intel finally acknowledged the issue. Intel's Thomas Hannaford posted on the Intel community board that a fix was expected to roll out in mid-August.

The fix, which is now available via motherboard BIOS updates, stops a microcode bug that caused the CPUs to draw too high of a voltage, leading to instability. However, it was also revealed that previous damage to the Intel chips is most likely irreversible and that it can happen to any of the 13th and 14th Gen desktop chips running at 65W or higher.

Intel didn't issue a recall, and it instead urged affected users to reach out to its customer support team for help. That applies even if you've had an RMA attempt denied in the past. In the meantime, those already using the Intel chips should stick with Intel Default Settings and keep the motherboard BIOS current. Unsure if your CPU is affected? This insightful Robeytech YouTube video should be able to help.

I expect that as long as you have the latest BIOS you'll be OK, but you can avoid the entire situation by going with an AMD chip. And since the Ryzen X3D CPUs are easily the best chips on the market for gamers, your decision shouldn't be too tough.

NVIDIA's beastly RTX 3080 brought our lofty dreams of gaming at 4K with smooth framerates to reality for the first time when it launched in late 2020, cementing its legacy as one of the best high-end graphics cards that money could buy.

Though NVIDIA has launched a couple of newer generations since then, the RTX 3080 remains a popular GPU for gamers and creators.

Like any card, the RTX 3080 needs a strong CPU to fuel it with processing power. My top pick right now is the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but the 7800X3D is a more affordable alternative.

There are plenty of other options from which to choose, including picks from Intel that focus more on productivity than gaming.

Choosing the best CPU for NVIDIA's RTX 3080

Although it's nearly five years old at this point, NVIDIA's RTX 3080 is still a fantastic graphics card for gaming in 1440p and 4K at a smooth 60 FPS, even with settings turned up. It's also awesome for driving high-performance 1440p gameplay, as well as for use with ultrawide monitors.

All of the processors I listed above are some of the best CPUs you can pair with an RTX 3080, but I urge any gamers to check out the Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Ryzen 7 9800X3D. These two chips are the best you can buy for gaming.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D can be found at Best Buy for about $479, while the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is currently cheapest at Walmart for about $359.

Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson reviewed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, remarking:

"AMD continues the theme with its second generation of 3D V-Cache to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and middling productivity. Thankfully, most gamers do not care about the benchmark-breaking number crunching as long as they get their framerate boosts, and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers that sweet extra FPS."

Intel vs. AMD: Which to choose?

Looking at our Intel Core Ultra 5 245K review and Core Ultra 9 285K review, it's clear that Intel has focused more on efficiency and productivity performance than gaming for its latest chips.

Worsening the situation were five major issues affecting Arrow Lake-S chips, as discovered by Intel. When I wrote about these issues in December 2024, Intel claimed it had resolved four of the major issues. How much these fixes affected performance remains to be seen, as many users claim there are no changes.

That's not to say something like the Core Ultra 5 245K I recommend won't be able to handle gaming. It's just that AMD's X3D chips remain far ahead of Intel in terms of the best CPUs for gamers.

You might also be a bit hesitant to buy a 13th or 14th Gen Intel desktop CPU after its microcode fiasco, which was causing chips to fail. The issue was identified by Intel, and a fix via BIOS updates to motherboards began rolling out in early August 2024.

You should be alright buying one of these CPUs as long as you have the latest motherboard BIOS installed, but you can avoid the whole thing by going with AMD.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 is the GPU that just won't quit, and it remains a top option in mid-range desktop gaming PCs thanks to its 1080p and 1440p capabilities.

To get the most out of your RTX 3060, you want to pair it with a capable CPU that isn't too overkill or too expensive. With those points in mind, I recommend AMD's Ryzen 5 7600X as a top pick.

The Ryzen 5 7600X might not quite be what you're looking for, and I've also included five other options from Intel and AMD — many of which we've reviewed here at Windows Central — with different levels of performance, hardware compatibility, and pricing.

Choosing the best CPU for NVIDIA RTX 3060

I specifically built a modest gaming desktop with NVIDIA's RTX 3060 graphics card because I don't play anything too demanding. My monitors don't exceed 1440p resolutions, though they can reach up to 240Hz. While I paired my RTX 3060 with a Ryzen 5 5600X, AMD's next-gen Ryzen 5 7600X is now the go-to chip for most people.

In our AMD Ryzen 5 7600X review, former Windows Central Senior Editor Rich Edmonds remarked:

"If you're looking to build a new gaming PC or a machine for doing some work and browsing websites, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X offers more than enough performance headroom. Even more demanding PC games and software will be able to take advantage of the higher clock speeds, so long as you have adequate cooling."

The chip might run a bit hot and it requires an AM5 motherboard — an upgrade if you're coming from a Ryzen 5000 CPU — but it's currently on sale for about $177 at Amazon at the time of my latest update.

AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X is a step up if you want more processing power than the Ryzen 5 7600X, and it adds a couple of cores, four threads, and a slightly higher boost frequency. We reviewed the Ryzen 7 7700X, with Edmonds noting:

"If you do take the plunge and pick up the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, you won't be disappointed. The performance is amazing. Pair it up with a capable AIO and a 240mm radiator and you'll have one impressive gaming machine."

Be sure to pair the Ryzen 7 7700X with some proper RAM for the best results. It's currently discounted down to $248 at Amazon.

The Ryzen 5 5600X and the Ryzen 5 9600X are also on the list, and they lean toward different users. The former is great if you want to spend as little as possible and don't mind sticking with an older AM4 platform. On the other hand, the Ryzen 5 9600X is one of the latest AM5 CPUs from AMD, setting you up well for the future.

Best CPUs for NVIDIA's RTX 3060: FAQ

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NVIDIA's RTX 3070 is about five years old, but it's still an awesome GPU for affordable gaming at 1440p.

Considering how much power the RTX 3070 continues to offer, you don't want to hold it back with the wrong processor. You certainly don't need the latest chip, but you do want to be sure it won't cause any bottlenecks.

With that in mind, I recommend the Ryzen 5 9600X to most people with an RTX 3070, especially since it usually only costs about $190.

I've included alternate AMD options for those who want to spend less or want more power, and I've also added an Intel chip for fans of Team Blue.

How to choose the best CPU for your NVIDIA RTX 3070

Despite its age, the RTX 3070 still supports ray-tracing technology for advanced real-time lighting in modern games and DLSS to push for extra framerates by upscaling a lower internal resolution.

The GPU itself pulls 220W TDP, so bear that in mind when choosing a CPU with higher power requirements. Budget options like AMD's $159 Ryzen 5 5600X won't cause any significant performance bottlenecks, either, so don't worry about dragging the RTX 3070 down.

My top CPU choice for the RTX 3070 is AMD's Ryzen 5 9600X. It's surprisingly only a little more expensive than the 5600X at about $190, yet it brings with it the latest Zen 5 architecture enhancements and performance.

In Senior Editor Ben Wilson's Ryzen 5 9600X review, he stated:

"In a masterclass of performance-per-watt efficiency, AMD offers incredible single-core performance scores that beat its intended 14600K rival and even challenge the 14700K."

If you'd like to future-proof your CPU choice as best as possible, I recommend checking out the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It's the CPU I have in my PC, and I expect it to remain that way for years to come. Even if it's overkill for the 3070, it's nice to have for whenever you want to upgrade your GPU.

Then there's the Ryzen 7 7700X. No, it's not the latest hardware from AMD — its Zen 4 architecture is one generation behind — but it uses the modern AM5 socket, it has PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support, and it's relatively affordable.

The cheapest price I spotted at the time of the most recent update is $262 at Amazon. Former Windows Central Senior Editor Rich Edmonds reviewed the Ryzen 7 7700X, stating:

"AMD's Zen 4 architecture promised considerable uplifts in performance and the company has delivered with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. This processor is a fantastic upgrade for those on older AMD hardware, though it does require a new AM5 motherboard."

Intel vs. AMD: Which to choose?

Whereas the rivalry between Intel and AMD was, at the time of the RTX 3070's launch, quite fierce, recent Intel setbacks have propelled AMD to the top of most enthusiast's shopping lists.

That's why I'm recommending AMD in the top slots — I've been an AMD user for nearly a decade, and I've yet to experience a hiccup. If you're starting fresh with a new build, including motherboard and RAM, I definitely suggest checking out AMD's desktop CPUs.

Unless you're looking at the Ryzen 7 5800X, the newer generations all use an AM5 socket. That makes your upgrade path easier in the future. On Intel's side, its LGA 1700 socket used for 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen chips has now been changed over for Core Ultra.

You'll also want to keep an eye on memory compatibility. Intel's 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen chips can operate with DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, whereas AMD's newer CPUs are strictly intended for DDR5 RAM.