Things are finally heating up for some of the best graphics cards. Although we still don’t know the final release dates, both AMD and Nvidia are rumored to be launching new graphics processing units in the first quarter of 2025. However, a new leak tells us that Nvidia may be taking a different approach with the RTX 50 series, putting pressure on AMD at the worst possible time.
What’s new? We’ve already heard that Nvidia is likely to announce the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 at CES 2025, with its CEO Jensen Huang scheduled to deliver a keynote address during the event. However, release dates for the rest of the lineup remained a mystery. Now, a reliable source sheds some light on the possible launch dates for the RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti.
According to Board Channels (shared by VideoCardz), Nvidia’s two advanced GPUs – RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 – are expected to hit the shelves in January 2025, followed by RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti in February, and then the final two cards in March. This means that the majority (or even all) of the RTX 50 series could be available in the first quarter of the year.
Keep in mind that all of the above is still unconfirmed, and we have already heard a lot of debate about the release dates of next-gen GPUs. Furthermore, leaks about the RTX 5060 are rare, so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. However, this opens the door to some exciting speculations.
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Releasing the majority of the lineup in just three months will be a new approach for Nvidia, contrary to the RTX 40 series. The RTX 4090 was launched in October 2022, but those looking for a more common graphics card had to wait until the end of June 2023 to get the RTX 4060. It took Nvidia a total of eight months to transition from the advanced class to a larger budget-friendly GPU.
While this fast-paced strategy will be great news for gamers, it’s not a happy development for AMD. Since AMD is said to not compete in the advanced hardware market in this generation, it’s unlikely that we’ll see them launch a GPU that can outperform the RTX 5080, or even the RTX 5070 Ti. As a result, AMD’s RDNA 4 competitors will likely be cards like the RTX 5060 and RTX 5070.
If Nvidia follows the same release pace as it did with the RTX 40 series, this could mean that AMD will have a small window where they have the only next-gen GPUs that don’t cost an arm and a leg to purchase. With advanced cards only being launched in January, AMD could enter with a reasonably priced GPU and steal some of Nvidia’s success at just the right time. However, if Nvidia already releases most of the lineup within three months, AMD will face direct competition every step of the way.
