The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 is reportedly out soon, but the specs look worrying

The new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 is going to be announced soon, according to the latest word from the tech rumor mill. However, this new mid-range gaming GPU looks as though it’s going to suffer from some of the same issues as its predecessor, namely a lack of VRAM and memory bandwidth.

If this latest leak is correct, then the new RTX 5070 is being lined up for a big announcement in January 2025. The mid-range card will reportedly be revealed alongside the flagship RTX 5090, as well as the RTX 5080, with Nvidia reportedly planning to unveil all three new graphics cards at the CES tradeshow.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 specs estimate

The latest Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 specs rumors suggest the GPU will have up to 6,400 CUDA cores and 50 RT cores, but will only have 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM.

This latest specs leak comes from tech site Wccftech, and claims that the RTX 5070 will be based on a different chip from the RTX 5080 and 5090. The new Blackwell GPU inside the RTX 5070 will reportedly be called the GB205. If this chip is fully enabled, it’s rumored to contain 50 streaming multiprocessors (SMs), which works out as 6,400 CUDA cores and 50 RT cores.

That’s more than the 5,888 CUDA cores and 46 SMs found in the RTX 4070 with its AD104 chip, but a fair way behind the 7,680 CUDA cores and 60 SMs in the RTX 4070 Ti, which is based on the same AD104 chip. However, it’s difficult to play a numbers game when you’re comparing GPUs based on two different architectures, as you get very different performance per core between generations. We also don’t know if all the GB205 chip’s SMs will be enabled on the RTX 5070, if that is indeed the chip it uses.

The bigger concern is the memory setup, with the RTX 5070 now rumored to have a 192-bit memory interface and 12GB of VRAM. That was just enough for the RTX 4070 when it launched, even if some gamers complained about it, but it’s going to be hard for Nvidia to justify putting just 12GB on this card in 2025, particularly if it has the same $599 launch price as the RTX 4070. We were hoping the RTX 5070 would have 16GB of VRAM, with 12GB allocated to the lower cards, such as the RTX 5060 Ti.

Then we have that 192-bit memory interface, which is a restriction that can be circumvented to a degree by putting a load more cache in the GPU, making it less likely that there will be a cache miss that forces your GPU to get data from the VRAM.

However, 192-bit is tight for a mid-range graphics card in 2025. On the plus side, it’s rumored to use GDDR7 VRAM, which will at least run at higher clock speed than the GDDR6X VRAM on the RTX 4070. For example, if the VRAM runs at 28Gbps, we could be looking at 672GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Wccftech also claims that the new RTX 5070 will have a total board power (TBP) of 250W, which is 50W higher than the RTX 4070. The site also says the card will come with a 16-pin 12VHPWR cable, though it’s not known if other board manufacturers will choose to kit out their RTX 5070 cards with standard 8-pin PCIe power sockets, as some did with the RTX 4070.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 release date estimate

The RTX 5070 release date window is expected to be January 2025, based on rumor and speculation, as Nvidia hasn’t officially announced a date. 

According to the latest leaks and rumors, Nvidia is planning to unveil the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 at the CES tradeshow in January 2025, when the company will reportedly also be announcing the RTX 5080 and 5090 at the same event.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 price estimate

The RTX 5070 price is expected to be $599, based on the current price of the RTX 4070 Super, as well as the original price of the RTX 4070.

However, there is also expected to be tough competition in this price sector, so Nvidia may choose to price this GPU more competitively. The new AMD RDNA 4 GPU lineup is rumored to be focusing on the mid-range price sector, but with performance in line with the Radeon RX 7900 XT, which could threaten the RTX 5070 if it’s too expensive.

In the meantime, if you’re looking to buy a new GPU right now, check out our guide to the best graphics card, where we take you through all our favorite options to suit your gaming needs at a range of prices.