Beware of extrapolating performance improvements directly from these percentages, though. Our own testing has shown that any real-world performance benefits from these power limit increases are likely to be smaller than those figures would suggest.
As our review of the MSI RTX 5090 Lightning Z showed , the largest performance boosts from higher power limits are likely to be concentrated in ray-traced and path-traced games, whose computational intensity is significantly higher than pure raster titles and is more likely to run the GPU into its power limits.
In any event, we shouldn't expect to see these products any time soon. Nvidia has instead been focused on getting more out of existing Blackwell silicon with software improvements such as DLSS 4.5 upscaling and Multi-Frame Generation multipliers up to 6X.
These technologies enable higher output frame rates and image quality with lower input resolution than past DLSS technologies, and the boost to both performance and image quality from those technologies in tandem has certainly made existing Blackwell products more appealing than they were at launch.
But as monitor refresh rates continue to climb thanks to ongoing improvements to OLED and LCD panels, and next-generation HDMI 2.2 connectors looming over 2027, a hardware update of some kind that boosts baseline performance and potentially implements support for those standards seems practical at some point. Given these primarily consumer-focused improvements, an announcement at CES 2027 or Computex 2027 might make sense. As with any future product rumors, however, only time will truly tell.
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As the Senior Analyst, Graphics at Tom's Hardware, Jeff Kampman covers everything that has to do with graphics cards, gaming performance, and more. From integrated graphics processors to discrete graphics cards to the hyperscale installations powering our AI future, if it's got a GPU in it, Jeff is on it.\u00a0 ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-25/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Jeffrey Kampman Senior Analyst, Graphics As the Senior Analyst, Graphics at Tom's Hardware, Jeff Kampman covers everything that has to do with graphics cards, gaming performance, and more. From integrated graphics processors to discrete graphics cards to the hyperscale installations powering our AI future, if it's got a GPU in it, Jeff is on it.
usertests Previous leaks indicated these higher TDP/TBPs. Also a slightly higher core count for the RTX 5070 Super, I think everything else was the same though. Reply
SkyBill40 I'll believe it when I actually see it. The real question is the price: Are we going to see a starting point below $1800? I doubt it. Given the existing climate of hardware shortages and increased pricing for everything, we're not getting a redux of the 40 series when it comes to price. Reply
usertests SkyBill40 said: I'll believe it when I actually see it. The real question is the price: Are we going to see a starting point below $1800? I doubt it. Given the existing climate of hardware shortages and increased pricing for everything, we're not getting a redux of the 40 series when it comes to price. Well, they need spare 3 GB GDDR7 modules… as well as allocating TSMC 4N wafers to make 50 Super happen. But this could be an easy way for Nvidia to delay the 60 series by a year or more, without completely throwing in the towel on consumer hardware. The price… will not be nice. Reply
JTWrenn Wonder if this is a signal that there is a softening on the ai orders and they are allocating back. Seems like a tiny upgrade so wonder how this works for them strategically Reply
usertests JTWrenn said: Wonder if this is a signal that there is a softening on the ai orders and they are allocating back. Seems like a tiny upgrade so wonder how this works for them strategically Blackwell is made on TSMC 4nm nodes, Rubin on 3nm. Production is shifting to Rubin for a Q3 launch. They may have more 4nm wafers available, assuming they are going to dial down Blackwell datacenter production. They may have accumulated the necessary volume of 3 GB GDDR7 modules. These are used in RTX Pro Blackwell to hit up to 96 GB on 512-bit in workstations, whereas the datacenter cards are using HBM, and DGX/RTX Spark are using LPDDR5X. So most of Nvidia's AI-oriented products don't use GDDR7. The 5090 is basically an AI product, but it uses 2 GB GDDR7 modules to get to 32 GB and there haven't been indications of a 48 GB variant coming. 50 Super series began to leak as early as April 2025, and then in November 2025 it was claimed to be delayed to Q3 2026. So this has been kicked around for a long time. Nvidia can use 50 Super to tide buyers over, so they don't have to release a 60 series (probably Rubin-based on 3nm) for consumers anytime soon. It looks like a relatively small upgrade, but the increased TDPs could boost performance by 5-10%. The 5070 gets ~4% more cores, and 18 GB, which is a nice amount and makes it unambiguously better than the 5060 Ti 16 GB. If Nvidia does release a 5060 12 GB, that card's VRAM problems are fixed. Pricing could sour the deal, but it looks good on paper in these trying times. I think an RTX 5050 9 GB would have been fascinating to see, but it's reportedly cancelled. Oh well. Reply
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/unannounced-nvidia-rtx-50-super-gpus-appear-in-seasonic-psu-calculator-unreleased-graphics-cards-shown-with-10-17-percent-higher-tgp-over-original-models#main
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