Nvidia Blackwell GPU configurations have leaked, showing many more CUDA cores than initially thought. Among these, we also got a squint at Team Green’s mid-range offerings, which supposedly pack just 12GB of VRAM.
According to @harukaze5719 on X, Nvidia’s next-gen GeForce cards will be powered by at least three Blackwell GPUs: GB202, GB203, and GB205. The latter will likely hide inside RTX 5070 cards. All will be interfaced via PCIe 5.0 while taking power from 12V-2×6 connectors. The leaker also notes support for DisplayPort 2.1a 80Gbps video output, which was lacking for current RTX 4000 Series cards.
Rumours suggest GB205 will house 6,400 CUDA cores alongside 12GB of 28Gbps GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus. This results in a total of 672GB/s of bandwidth. Of course, nothing’s official just yet, but if the leak holds water, then RTX 5070 will likely carry a 250W TBP.
It seems that Nvidia isn’t planning to upgrade the VRAM capacity of its upcoming lineup, as the only one said to get an increase is the flagship 5090. An unfortunate decision if correct, especially as games quickly ask for more and more. Hopefully, the choice of GDDR7 won’t expand the price since Nvidia’s mid-range cards are already expensive enough.
Next, we have GB203, a 10,752 CUDA core chip said to be fully unlocked on the RTX 5080. Once more, Nvidia seems to cheap out on what is surely a high-end part by packing only 16GB of VRAM. At least this time it’s 32Gbps GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, which nets 1TB/s of bandwidth. This one is targeting 400W TBP.
Lastly, rocking 24,576 CUDA cores, GB202 is said to power flagship models such as the RTX 5090. Though already expected to offer double the performance of the RTX 5080, the RTX 5090 isn’t even using the entire GB202 chip. To be exact, the new flagship is rumoured to carry only 21,760 CUDA cores which equates to nearly 13% fewer cores. The GPU may be hooked to 32GB of 28Gbps GDDR7 VRAM via a wide 512-bit bus. This combo sits on a 14-layer PCB, with a 600W TBP target on the Founders Edition cards.
Awaited for CES 2025, these GPUs seem aimed to simply replace their predecessors without much fanfare. The only one that seems to shake things up is RTX 5090 and its massive chip. That said, as usual, nothing is real until it’s officially announced, so stay tuned.
