To upgrade your GPU or not to upgrade your GPU, that is the question.
Do you hold on to Nvidia's Ampere generation, or embrace the frame-gen future and upgrade to Blackwell?
Nvidia's RTX 50-series graphics cards launched in January with the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. The high-end GPUs were followed by the more mid-range RTX 5070 and 5070 TI. And the laptop variants of the new Blackwell GPUs are expected to launch later this month.
While Nvidia has not officially confirmed the existence of the lower-end RTX 50-series cards, based on previous graphics card launches, observers expect an RTX 5050, 5060, and possibly a 5060 TI to follow.
On Monday, a new leak revealed the RTX 5050, 5060, and 5060 TI specs. If these figures are similar to those of the launch GPUs, I might have to turn in my RTX 30-series card for a new-generation upgrade.
RTX 5050, 5060, 5060 TI leaked specs
X user @kopite7kimi and VideoCardz may have leaked the second half of Nvidia's new RTX 50-series generation. Thanks to those leaks, we now have specs for what could be the RTX 5050, 5060, and 5060 TI.
If these leaked specs are accurate, then the entire RTX 50-series Blackwell generation will offer a GPU for most budget brackets, with solid specs to match.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | CUDA Cores | VRAM | TGP |
|---|---|---|---|
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 | 21,760 | 32GB | 575W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 | 10,752 | 16GB | 360W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | 8,960 | 16GB | 300W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 | 6,144 | 12GB | 250W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 TI | 4,608 | 16GB/8GB | 180W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 | 3,840 | 8GB | 150W |
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 | 2,560 | 8GB | 130W |
While the RTX 5070 still has a higher TGP and thus a bit more graphics headroom, the leaked 16GB VRAM version of the RTX 5060 TI may make it a more attractive option.
The increased VRAM on the rumored 5060 TI with a lower TGP could make it a competitor with the base RTX 5070 while saving some money on your power bill.
However, we'll have to wait for some benchmarks to know for sure. There is also a pretty solid CUDA core difference between the two GPUs, after all.
Is it worth upgrading this gen?
I had originally gone into the new Nvidia RTX 50-series "Blackwell" generation expecting to upgrade my GPU in another generation or two. My gaming rig still uses an RTX 3080, and I've not hit many snags, even when playing demanding games like Monster Hunter: Wilds on high settings and high resolutions.
After all, we still haven't completely surpassed the power of Nvidia's older GPU architecture. The RTX 50 series is probably more powerful than you'll ever need for gaming.
However, my 30-series GPU is unlikely to benefit from DLSS 4, one of the main upgrades to the RTX 50-series.
While the RTX 5060 TI isn't going to be the 4K gaming card, I don't spend much time using my RTX 3080 for 4K gaming. The 1440p or 1800p sweet spots generally offer a better balance of great visuals and smooth frame rates. This makes downgrading my GPU to an RTX 5070TI or 5060 TI a more reasonable purchase than opting for the RTX 5080.
And considering the silicon tariffs that are expected to hit this year, upgrading my GPU sooner rather than later will be the smarter financial choice.
While the RTX 5050, 5060, and 5060 TI remain rumors for now, it is expected that Nvidia will announce the rest of the RTX 50-series during Computex in Taipei at the end of May.
But since the RTX 5060 TI still doesn't officially exist, I'll be holding off on my final decision for now. However, I do have a few months to think it over, and AMD's new Radeon 9070 XT is making a solid case for switching to Team Red for this year's GPU upgrades.
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