Nvidia’s RTX 5080 could be the first Blackwell next-generation graphics card later this year – and supplies of the GPU could be plentiful when it arrives.
Those are the latest rumors from YouTube leaker Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID), who claims that a decision has been made at Nvidia to launch the RTX 5080 as soon as possible – before the RTX 5090, which was originally planned as the first Blackwell offering (as the RTX 4090 was with Lovelace).
However, if this happens – sprinkle that salt liberally – the RTX 5080 won’t appear as the first next-gen GPU until later this year, perhaps not until the fourth quarter. MLID notes that graphics card makers haven’t gotten any information at all about the RTX 5080 yet, so that means a launch can’t be anticipated anytime soon (which means Q3 seems less likely as a result).
But the thing is, if the RTX 5080 isn’t here until the fourth quarter, say October or even November, that doesn’t leave much breathing room to squeeze out the RTX 5090 in 2024.
All of this is to say that, as MLID further notes, this potential timeframe adjustment at Nvidia may have to do with delaying the RTX 5090, rather than the RTX 5080 pushing Blackwell’s launch schedule forward.
Good news for consumers
This is all good news for consumers, however, as the RTX 5080 is the more interesting possible candidate for our list of the best graphics cards – it will of course be much more affordable than the flagship. Part (or even a large part) of why Nvidia is prioritizing the RTX 5080 may be so that Team Green can supply it as a GPU for China (with a spec that falls under the graphics card import ban).
MLID also tells us that the RTX 5080 may see some decent production volume in the fourth quarter as well, so that’s another positive bit of talk here. If a big chunk of that stock doesn’t ship to China, take note, as MLID certainly sees supplying new high-end GPUs to that country as a key part of Nvidia’s strategy here. (Of course, the RTX 5090 will be far too powerful a proposition for the Chinese market, since of course the RTX 4090 already is).
The takeaway then is that we could see the RTX 5080 perhaps in early Q4, with solid inventory levels (provided too much production volume isn’t allocated to China).
This is a reversal from an earlier rumor that cast some doubt on the RTX 5080’s arrival in 2024, and MLID also sounded unsure if there would be much stock if the GPU were to arrive this year. In fact, there are broader theories about an initial ‘paper’ (low volume) launch of Nvidia’s next-generation graphics cards, although we shouldn’t get carried away with these rumors – including the current crop.