More powerful, but at what price?
Nvidia is expected to finally announce its next-generation PC desktop graphics cards during Monday night’s CES 2025 keynote. The rumored RTX 5000 series will definitely come with cutting-edge gaming capabilities and AI-powered features. However, PC gamers will also be bracing for potential price increases and even higher power requirements.
Take a closer look at what to expect at tonight’s event, where Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang talks about the company’s vision for gaming graphics.
How to watch Nvidia’s CES keynote
Nvidia is hosting an event at the Mandalay Bay Sports Arena. Those not in Las Vegas can watch the livestream on YouTube or Nvidia’s website. The keynote begins at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT.
What will Nvidia announce at CES 2025?
The company will likely announce the first of its RTX 5000 graphics cards, which will replace the RTX 4000 line in 2022. Gamers are paying close attention to increasing GPU cores and video memory in their products. These have become important to handle the high-resolution textures of today’s PC games.
As of now, leaks suggest that the company is preparing a flagship GPU in the RTX 5090, which will come with a whopping 32GB of GDDR7 memory. This is a significant increase from the older RTX 4090’s 24GB GDDR6X. The RTX 5080 may only have 16 GB of video memory, but this is no change from the RTX 4080 and 4080 Great.
Rumors also suggest that Nvidia plans to debut a new generation of DLSS, the company’s AI-powered feature that boosts frame rates without sacrificing graphics quality.
Should I be worried about my bank account?
It’s no secret that Nvidia GPUs have gotten expensive over the years. So don’t be surprised if the RTX 5000 series launches at an amazing cost. According to a leak from a Chinese vendor, the RTX 5090 will cost $2,600 and the RTX 5080 will cost $1,350. Some say the RTX 5090 will be closer to $1,899 or $1,999. The 2022 RTX 4090 launched for $1,599.
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Another potential issue is that the RTX 5000 series may require higher power requirements. If this were true, PC manufacturers would have to purchase larger power supplies to upgrade to GPUs, which could further increase costs.
What’s different about CES 2025?
In the past, Nvidia has released its latest PC graphics cards in the fall. However, when it comes to the RTX 5000 series, the company has apparently decided to postpone it to the January event. As a result, Nvidia’s event at CES this year is expected to be longer than usual. Nvidia said in a tweet that the presentation will also talk about AI, virtual worlds, and self-driving cars, three areas that are key business markets for GPU vendors.
When will the RTX 5000 series be released?
According to the latest rumors, Nvidia’s RTX 5080 will launch on Tuesday, January 21st, with the RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti expected to arrive later. If you decide to buy one, be prepared for graphics cards to sell out quickly. Eager fans and scalpers often scramble to snap up all the inventory on release day, with sales typically starting at online retailers around 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. Pacific.
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About Michael Kang
senior reporter
