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The graphics card train left the station weeks before CES 2025 began in early January, with the launch of Intel’s $249 Arc B580, the GPU we’ve been clamoring for since the pandemic. But make no mistake: Intel has to release its second-generation Arc in December because CES is shaping up to be a real windfall for graphics card launches.
Nvidia is already announcing the keynote speech of RTX 50 series CEO Jensen Huang, while AMD’s new Radeon cards are rumored to also appear at the show. Yes, my friends, after a few disappointing years for graphics cards, the next generation of gaming products is expected to be unveiled at CES 2025 and Nvidia, AMD, and Intel seem to be ready for battle.
Let’s start with Nvidia’s highly anticipated GeForce RTX 50 series, as the company is already actively teasing it, very sneakily. Then again, who misses the chance to promote their next-gen GPU in the first Witcher 4 trailer?
The new GeForce cards are a no-brainer; The only question is what specific models we will see announced at the Nvidia keynote. But what will feed them?
The specifications of the GeForce RTX 5090, 5080 and 5070 were leaked months ago. (Click this link for more details. ) Normally we wouldn’t give much credence to old rumors, however, they’ve remained consistent ever since, and the timing makes sense given that the “Blackwell” GPUs were reportedly delayed due to production issues.
The RTX 5090 looks to be the most beastly of the bunch (no surprise there), allegedly providing huge buffs to the 4090’s CUDA count, memory capacity and bandwidth (32GB over a 512-bit bus!), and power draw – leaks say this monster of a GPU could draw 600 watts, a humongous 150W increase over its predecessor. And if you thought the RTX 4090’s $1,599 price point was high, prepare to be shocked; I expect the 5090 to cost an astronomical sum given its clear excellence in machine learning tasks if the leaked specs prove true. Button up.
Nvidia is building hype for its new cards with social promotions and a massive “GeForce LAN 50” global LAN party.
NVIDIA
Details are still largely murky about the RTX 5070 (perhaps it won’t be announced at CES?) but the RTX 5080 looks like much less of an upgrade. Rumors put its CUDA core count at 10,752, a mere 10 percent increase over the existing 4080. Memory configuration remains the same, aside from a switch from GDDR6 to GDDR7, while the total graphics power is expected to increase from 320W in the 4070 to 400W in the 5070.
Note that the Blackwell architecture powering the RTX 50 series will have technological differences compared to the Ada Lovelace architecture of the 40 series, so comparing raw CUDA counts is rarely truly apples to apples. Nvidia tinkers with the bones of its GPU architectures to improve functionality in a variety of ways (the RTX 40 series comprises a new optical flow accelerator committed to enabling DLSS 3 symbol generation, as well as a new shader runtime feature of reordering to speed up classic rendering, for example).
The biggest joker here? Software. Nvidia is releasing software features at a frenetic pace, releasing not only DLSS 3 frame generation, but also the RTX 4090’s lifespan DLSS 3. 5 ray reconstruction, as well as useful equipment like RTX Video Super Resolution. With Nvidia reigning at the top of the stock market due to the existing AI frenzy, I’d be surprised if the company doesn’t announce some new AI-based tricks at CES 2025.
Compared to Nvidia, AMD has been silent on its plans for CES, as well as delivering a keynote on Monday, January 6, just hours before Nvidia’s. However, AMD’s head of computing and graphics, Jack Huynh, teased “our next generation of AI innovation for gaming, PC, and enterprise” in reference to the X-talk, so rumors about next-gen Radeon GPUs may turn out to be true.
But what sort of graphics cards does AMD have up its sleeves for the Radeon RX 8000-series (or is that the Radeon RX 9070 XT)? Don’t hold your breath for an RTX 5090 competitor.
In September, Huynh said that seeking to compete for the name “King of the Hill” had traditionally not worked for Radeon. “I want to create the most productive products at the right price. So, think of value in terms of value; we will have leadership. The company hopes to drive greater adoption at conventional price points to convince developers to use Radeon products. Gaming and artificial intelligence are two very popular categories at the moment and while AMD is established in both territories, Nvidia dominates.
Currently, rumors are circulating around the alleged specs of the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which, if true, means that AMD will continue to fight in all spaces unless it’s in the most sensible of GPU rankings. If the leaked specs are leaked and not just “Invented,” the board may see a massive improvement in ray tracing functionality and force efficiency.
But big-iron GPUs aren’t the only potential game in town.
AMD’s Radeon-infused Ryzen Z1 processors power most of the current crop of gaming handhelds, from the Steam Deck to the Asus ROG Ally. The landing page for the company’s keynote says demo areas will include “AMD Ryzen and Radeon gaming from handhelds to laptops.”
Of course, that may mean simply showing off AMD’s existing portfolio of wearables. But we haven’t yet noticed any handhelds with the particularly tougher Ryzen Z2 chip, and AMD has said we can expect to see them in early 2025. Valve has just updated its logo rules to come with a new “Powered Through SteamOS”. Distinctive for third-party third-party hardware, and we’re already seeing leaks of a second-generation Lenovo Legion handheld. (The first one worked with AMD).
Will CES be the Z2 bombing? Fingers crossed.
Intel just unboxed the $249 Arc B580 in December. Expect to see the company showcasing its second-generation Arc graphics cards on display, not just the B580 submodels, but also the Arc B570, cheaper at $129. This GPU was announced alongside the B580, but may not take to the streets until January 16. Intel and its partners will undoubtedly highlight their designs at their booths.
I’d also expect to see at least one gaming laptop powered by the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 “Lunar Lake” computer chip, which features the same Xe 2 graphics cores as the Arc. MSI’s Claw, the first Intel-powered gaming laptop, which was unveiled at CES last year, and the new Lunar Lake-powered Claw AI Plus series is already appearing, with a release date planned for January 15. So it’s a lock for MSI’s booth at CES. Array The only question is whether other portable device vendors will take the plunge along with MSI.
I’ll be at CES 2025 with a crew of my friends at PCWorld, so I can bring you the latest news as it happens and interviews with the other people making all this new PC hardware. The exhibition will officially take place from January 7 to 10, but the big speeches will take place on Monday, January 6, and other data will be released the weekend before to anticipate the deluge. Stay tuned here at PCWorld and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube and TikTok channel so you don’t miss a thing! Also subscribe to our Full Nerd channel to hear our crazy minds in podcast form, live from Las Vegas.
Brad Chacos spends his days digging through desktop PCs and tweeting too much. He specializes in graphics cards and gaming, but covers everything from security to Windows tips and all manner of PC hardware.
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