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Something to look forward to: As the unveiling of Nvidia's next-generation graphics cards draws nearer, leaks are beginning to provide details on the entire hardware stack, including the mainstream and laptop models expected to launch in 2025. Laptop manufacturers are telling clients to expect significant efficiency and performance improvements.
Recent comments from the chairman of Chinese PC manufacturer Hasee suggest that a mainstream mobile GPU in Nvidia's upcoming Blackwell lineup will draw significantly less power than its direct predecessor – the notebook GeForce RTX 4060. The efficiency improvements could make next year's mid-range gaming laptops thinner, lighter, and likely faster.
Established leaker Golden Pig Upgrade attended a conference where Hasee chairman Wu Haijun spoke about Nvidia's next-generation laptop graphics cards. According to him, the model likely to be called the RTX 5060 will draw only 115W – a noticeable decrease from the 4060's maximum of 140W. Combined with information from previous leaks, Haijun's comments suggest that the RTX 5060 could perform similarly to the RTX 4070, likely exceeding it in ray-tracing workloads.
Additionally, Haijun confirmed that multiple notebook Blackwell GPUs would see similar energy efficiency improvements. Systems using unnamed high-end next-generation cards might only require 175W or 140W.
A massive leak from a ransomware attack conducted against Taiwanese laptop maker Clevo in June revealed the memory configurations of six upcoming mobile Blackwell GPUs. Three mid-range models, one of which is the 5060, will include 8GB of VRAM. Meanwhile, the flagship 5090 and high-end 5080 will feature 16 GB, and an unnamed model ranked below them will offer 12 GB.
All laptop RTX 5000 graphics cards will use GDDR7 RAM, which will perform significantly faster than the GDDR6 and GDDR6X memory used by the RTX 4000 series. This arrangement contrasts with indications from previous leaks regarding the desktop Blackwell lineup.
The three or four top RTX 5000 GPUs will use GDDR7, but the desktop RTX 5060 will include GDDR6 to lower the price. While the amount of RAM remains unclear, it will likely use a 128-bit memory interface. Meanwhile, the flagship 5090 will feature 28 GB of memory with a 512 or 448-bit interface.
Rumors regarding Blackwell's launch date have bounced between late 2024 and early 2025, but the newest information suggests a CES 2025 debut. Nvidia might release the RTX 5080 before RTX 5090 to show confidence that it outperforms the current flagship – the RTX 4090. Competing next-generation GPUs from AMD and Intel are also expected to emerge between late this year and early next year.