Just when you thought Nvidia couldn't push its GPUs any further, we've finally got our eyes on what's next for PC gamers. Whether you're gaming on a laptop or desktop system, you'll soon have access to the RTX 50 series of graphics cards. The star of the CES show is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, replacing the RTX 4090 as the new king of gaming GPUs with an all-new architecture and more powerful AI processing.

What's new in the RTX 50 series

Blackwell is the GPU architecture powering RTX 50 series GPUs like the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. GDDR7 memory is the most apparent change from the previous generation GPUs with a bandwidth of up to 36 Gb/s. Compared to last-gen cards, we're looking at considerable gains in throughput, which is fantastic for handling higher loads on the GPU, such as ray tracing.

RTX Blackwell will offer up to 4,000 AI TOPS, 380 RT TFLOPS, 125 Shader TFLOPS, and more with the RTX 5090. Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) is a technology Nvidia has been perfecting since its debut in 2018 and with RTX 50 we're now up to DLSS 4. The sheer performance bump offered by Blackwell GPUs will allow technologies such as DLSS to perform better when used in conjunction with ray tracing and other more advanced graphics.

As well as rendering more frames, the latest DLSS version will also attempt to create new frames before the GPU even requires them. It's essentially working the AI to predict the future and handle much of the work DLSS would have done, generating up to three frames per rendered frame. Software will play a large part here and Nvidia will likely work to continue improving DLSS and its AI tech to better utilize the improved hardware.

Which GPUs are launching at CES?

Nvidia is following suit with the launch of the GeForce RTX 5090, showcasing just how powerful this generation of Team Green graphics processing will be. When paired with the latest processors from AMD and Intel, these GPUs will be able to stretch their wings and offer some exceptional gaming experiences at higher resolutions and fidelity settings.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has an impressive 21,760 CUDA cores and 32 GB of RAM. To put this into context, the RTX 4090, which was already powerful enough as it is, has 16,384 CUDA cores and 24 GB of RAM. This beast will have a TDP of 575 watts, which is more than some desktop PCs. Then there's the RTX 5080 with 16 GB of GDDR7 RAM, a slightly lower price tag, and 360 watt power requirement.

Nvidia is relying on AI to push performance further and reduce prices slightly by allowing the RTX 5070 to perform as well as an RTX 4090, according to Nvidia's data. The 5070 Ti, 5080, and 5090 will perform even better, making the 4090 seem like child's play with these new advancements. It's almost bittersweet to see better performance at the same price point.

A drawback for many will inevitably be the pricing. Nvidia has priced its higher-end GPUs out of reach for many gamers with the RTX 30 and RTX 40 series and this trend is only set to continue as the company enjoys heightened profits and increased demand for gaming and AI-heavy work. These are some impressive graphics cards, but AMD and Intel offer more reasonably priced GPUs with excellent 1080p and 1440p performance.

Having the RTX 5070 available for $549 with RTX 4090 performance does make things more interesting, especially as we wait for RDNA 4 cards from AMD. If you are considering the upgrade, you may need to start considering a new power supply. Oh, and Nvidia hasn't forgotten about mobile GPUs either. Availability starts this month for the new Blackwell GPUs and we look forward to putting Nvidia's performance claims to the test.