An RTX 5070 18GB GDDR7 version may follow the planned 12GB model, but I have to ask: Nvidia: Is this really necessary?
Could Nvidia be planning to release multiple versions of the upcoming GeForce RTX 5070? Potential, if recent claims are to be believed, but it’s hard to see where it will fit in Nvidia’s RTX 5000 range.
Tom from Moore’s Law is Dead was recently mentioned in a livestream Patreon that he has heard rumors suggesting that Nvidia is planning to release an 18GB version of its highly anticipated RTX 5070 graphics card – with the base version expected to launch with 12GB of VRAM as standard.
Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5070, whose release date may be announced at CES in January, is expected to use GDDR7 memory, one of the first cards to use the latest generation of GPU VRAM. If the rumor is true, Nvidia could be planning to release an 18GB version under the ‘Super’ label, presumably at a later date. This isn’t entirely shocking; it wouldn’t be the first time that Nvidia has released a more powerful or improved version of an existing graphics card with the Super branding.
How valuable is this upgrade really?
You’d be right to think that using GDDR7 memory, which alone is expected to deliver a performance boost of over 30%, offers a worthwhile enough improvement over the current generation of graphics cards. The alleged 18GB version would likely improve this performance further, using faster memory modules.
Still, some customers might be wondering how worth buying this rumored Super variant could be. It will have more VRAM and is expected to improve performance by 5-10%, but is that really necessary?
The 12GB model is expected to cost around $600 to $700, and the RTX 5070 18GB could cost around $800. Would you possibly pay an extra $100-200 for a 5-10% performance increase?
Comparing the RTX 4070 Ti Super to its non-Super variants, the Super offered 5% faster rasterization (how well a GPU handles rendering scenes by converting 3D models into 2D images) and 5-10 % faster ray tracing compared to the non-Super variants. Super variants. As such, it’s reasonable to assume the same will be the case here; winnings of up to 10% may not be worth a hundred dollars or more for many games.
However, there is an important caveat to this. PC games require more and more VRAM as models and textures become more detailed, so if you want to play the very latest games, that extra 6 GB can make a significant difference (at least, in terms of future-proofing your PC). However, 12GB is still a decent amount, so for most games this probably won’t be an issue.
So let’s wait and see if any of these rumors turn out to be true. A Super variant of the RTX 5070 wouldn’t exactly be a shock unless Nvidia decides to launch it alongside the original model – that would be a real curveball from Team Green!