Well, another week and another round on the roller coaster ride that is the GeForce RTX 50 series launch, and there is no end in sight. Generally speaking, the most exciting thing about a new generational graphics card launch is the improved performance metrics and perhaps better cost (please try not to choke too hard on that idea). Some issues are to be expected, such as a driver issue or perhaps an occasional bug, but this time around, it seems that someone is asleep at the wheel when it comes to Team Green’s gaming GPU division.
GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB
A couple of weeks back, the RTX 5060 series launched with the official announcement of two variants of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti. One with 16 GB GDDR7 memory and the other with 8 GB. However, hardware reviewers were quick to point out that no 8GB models were sampled, and those wanting one would have to purchase out of pocket to get one. Well, it didn’t take long for reviews to show that the lesser memory configuration does indeed hinder the GPU in multiple games. Labeled as “Instantly Obsolete” by TECHSPOT and Hardware Unboxed, not much has been said about this variant since, other than to stay away. However, TechPowerUp did some positive things to say about it.
Tourists flock to Japan to buy . . . graphics cards?
Well, from scalping to post-launch price hikes, limited availability, there’s always some reason folks can’t get their hands on NVIDIA’s flagship GPUs, but how about taking a trip to Japan to get one? It’s been reported by Weibo (via VideoCardz) that Japanese retailers have had to resort to posting signs in their stores letting customers know that the highly sought-after GPUs are only available to domestic residents. This comes after many tourists (primarily reported from China) have flocked to Japan to get GeForce RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs. Another tactic employed, but failed, was removing tax breaks offered to tourists, as it was hoped the higher prices would discourage them.
Another burnt 12V-2×6 power connector
Korean tech site Quasar Zone has posted images showing one of MSI’s yellow colored power connectors turned black. MSI introduced the new design as a way to help ensure users could see if the power connector was fully inserted into the GPU. The graphics card in question is an MSI RTX 5090 SUPRIM ($3,150 MSRP – if you can get one at that price). The user said they’d been playing games for about 2 hours when they experienced blue screens. Power draw at the time was reported to be around 400 Watts.
And yet another GeForce Hotfix (572.26) released
To say that NVIDIA’s post-RTX 50 series driver releases might be a bit of a trainwreck could be closer to the truth than not. Last week, Hotfix 572.15 was released following reports of a potentially hardware-damaging issue with the official 576.02, where GPU temps sensor readings froze, thus preventing cooling monitoring measures from getting accurate readings. NVIDIA did say another driver update was inbound, but some probably expected a new driver and not another hotfix. Well, anyway, 572.26 has been released, which includes the fixes from 572.15 but adds more. It can be downloaded from here, and the newest fixes are listed below.
- [RTX 50 series] [Black Myth]: The game will randomly crash when Wukong transforms [5231902]
- [RTX 50 series] [LG 27GX790A/45GX950A/32GX870A/40WT95UF/27G850A]: Display blank screens when running in DisplayPort 2.1 mode with HDR [5080789]
- [Forza Horizon 5]: Lights flicker at nighttime [5038335]
- [Forza Motorsport]: Track corruption occurs in benchmark or night races. [5201811]
- [RTX 50 series] [Red Dead Redemption 2]: The game crashes shortly after starting in DX12 mode. No issue in Vulkan mode [5137042]
- [RTX 50 series] [Horizon Forbidden West]: The game freezes after loading a save game [5227554]
- [RTX 50 series] Grey screen crashes with multiple monitors [5239138]
- [RTX 50 series] [Dead Island 2]: The game crash after updating to GRD 576.02 [5238676]
- [RTX 50 series] [Resident Evil 4 Remake]: Flickering background textures [5227655]
- [RTX 50 series] Momentary display flicker occurs when running in DisplayPort2.1 mode with a high refresh rate [5009200]
GeForce RTX 50 Series SUPER rumors
While 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for most folks and 8 GB is questionable for many, it hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from constant mutterings about a possible GeForce RTX 5080 24 GB model inbound. It doesn’t help either that some manufacturers have ‘mistakenly’ listed SUPER models on their websites, only to take them down after being discovered. Factor in that the mobile RTX 5090 is a cut-down desktop RTX 5080 but with the aforementioned 24 GB of memory, and it only adds to the belief that NVIDIA is planning on releasing a SUPER version of the RTX 5080. Now, another rumor is claiming that NVIDIA could also release an 18 GB variant (per Chiphell) of the RTX 5070 Ti (which also uses a cut-down version of the RTX 5080 die). One of the thoughts behind these rumors rests on 3 GB memory modules being adopted for them, something currently only used on the RTX 5090 and NVIDIA Pro 6000 series. Rumors aside, it’s a known practice by NVIDIA to do a product refresh around a year or so after launch, so the question is more about when, not if.