Bad news for AMD? Nvidia might fast-track the RTX 50-series

By Monica J. White Published October 16, 2024

Things are finally about to start heating up for some of the best graphics cards. Although we’re still in the dark about final release dates, both AMD and Nvidia are said to be launching new GPUs in the first quarter of 2025. However, a new leak tells us that Nvidia might try out a different approach with the RTX 50-series, and that’s bound to put some pressure on AMD at the worst possible time.

What’s new? We’ve already heard that Nvidia is likely to announce the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 at CES 2025, with its CEO Jensen Huang scheduled to hold a keynote during the event. However, the release dates for the rest of the lineup remained a mystery. Now, a previously reliable source sheds some light on the matter with potential details about the planned launch dates for the RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti.

According to Board Channels (shared by VideoCardz), the two high-end Nvidia GPUs — the RTX 5090 and the RTX 5080 — will hit the shelves in January 2025, followed by the RTX 5070 and the RTX 5070 Ti in February, and then the last two cards in March. That means that the majority (or even the entirety) of the RTX 50-series might be out in the first quarter of the year.

Keep in mind that all of the above is still unconfirmed, and we’ve heard a lot of back-and-forth on the release dates of these next-gen GPUs already. Moreover, we’ve scarcely heard any leaks about the RTX 5060, so everything needs to be taken with some skepticism. However, this does open the door to some delightful speculation.

Getting the vast majority of the lineup out the door in just three months would certainly be a new approach for Nvidia, and a contrast to the RTX 40-series. The RTX 4090 launched in October 2022, but those who wanted a more mainstream GPU had to wait until the end of June 2023 to snag an RTX 4060. It took Nvidia a total of eight months to go from the high-end to a more budget-friendly GPU.

While this fast-paced strategy would be great news for gamers, it’s less of a happy development for AMD. Seeing as AMD is said not to be competing at the high-end in this generation, we’re unlikely to see it launch a GPU that could punch above the RTX 5080, or even the RTX 5070 Ti. As such, the rivals to AMD’s RDNA 4 will be cards along the likes of the RTX 5060 and the RTX 5070.

If Nvidia were to adopt the same release cadence as it did in the RTX 40-series, that could mean that AMD would have a bit of a window in which it would have the only next-gen GPUs that don’t cost an arm and a leg to buy. With only the high-end cards launching in January, AMD could swoop in with an affordable GPU and steal some of Nvidia’s thunder at just the right time. However, if Nvidia really launches most of the lineup within three months, AMD will face its direct competition every step of the way.