NVIDIA's RTX 50 Series Cards Start at 8GB Memory and 128-bit Bandwidth, Ignoring Critics

In the RTX 40 series, NVIDIA adopted the practice of starting with 8GB of VRAM and a 128-bit memory bus for mid to low-end devices, a move that even drew criticism from AMD's Dr. Su Zifeng. Dr. Su believes that considering the current demands of games, graphics cards should phase out 8GB of VRAM.

NVIDIA is expected to launch the RTX 50 series graphics cards at the International Consumer Electronics Show in early 2025. Leaks have suggested that the RTX 50 series will still start with 8GB of VRAM and a 128-bit memory bus, clearly ignoring Dr. Su's suggestions.

A specs image posted by a Reddit user shows that the entry-level RTX 5050 and 5060 models both feature 8GB of VRAM and a 128-bit memory bus, with the RTX 5050 even using GDDR6 memory, while other SKUs use GDDR7 memory.

However, this leak isn't particularly surprising, as similar information was circulating online as early as July, indicating that the RTX 50 series would still start with 8GB of VRAM. This rumor now seems to be largely accurate.

Partial Specifications of the RTX 50 Series:

• GeForce RTX 5090: Features a GB202 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 32GB GDDR7 memory, and a 512-bit width.
• GeForce RTX 5080: Features a GB203 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 16GB GDDR7 memory, and a 256-bit width.
• GeForce RTX 5070 Ti: Features a GB203 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 16GB GDDR7 memory, and a 256-bit width.
• GeForce RTX 5070: Features a GB205 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 12GB GDDR7 memory, and a 192-bit width.
• GeForce RTX 5060: Features a GB206 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 8GB GDDR7 memory, and a 128-bit width.
• GeForce RTX 5050: Features a GB207 core, PCIe 5.0 x 16 interface, 8GB GDDR6 memory, and a 128-bit width.

From the specifications, it is evident that the RTX 5050's configuration is quite modest, with only 8GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit memory bus. It is estimated that the GB207 core's performance has been significantly reduced compared to the other cores.

Other leaked information suggests that the RTX 50 series cards, built on the Blackwell architecture, are expected to enhance ray tracing performance and AI-driven graphics technologies. However, for users purchasing the 8GB VRAM SKUs like the RTX 5050 and 5060, the performance improvements may not be very pronounced.