New Nvidia RTX 5080 rumor suggests late January launch — here’s what we know

Nvidia Geforce RTX
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

A new rumor claims the Nvidia RTX 5080 could arrive soon. According to a now-deleted post on X from Hong Kong media outlet HKEPC (via Tom’s Hardware), the company’s desktop GPU will launch on January 21.

An accidental listing from Zotac (via VideoCardz) suggests the first RTX 50-series cards could be the RTX 5090, RTX 5080 and RTX 5070. Nvidia launched the last-gen RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 simultaneously, but it’s unclear if their rumored next-gen successors will also arrive at the same time. The RTX 5080 could be the very first 50-series card available to purchase, though this is unclear at the moment.

Regarding the Nvidia RTX 5080, the card will allegedly have 16GB of GDDR7 memory, which would be an upgrade over the RTX 4080’s GDDR6-based memory. The GPU reportedly has 10,752 CUDA cores, a 10% bump over its predecessor. The RTX 5080 is based on a 4NP (5nm-class) node and is expected to deliver 30% higher density than 4N with the last-gen card. In other words, expect better performance when playing the best PC games.

Alleged leaked images of the Nvidia RTX 5080 were posted on the Chiphell Forums (via Wccftech). The images reveal MSI’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming Trio OC Edition. The specs show the aforementioned 16GB GDDR7 memory, along with a 256-bit bus interface, three DisplayPorts, and an HDMI port. The card will also feature Nvidia’s DLSS and G-Sync technologies. Design-wise, the card has a triple-fan cooling solution like the previous Tri Frozr 3 RTX 4080 GPU.

The rumors above don’t mention the RTX 5080’s potential price. At launch, the RTX 4080 retailed for $1,199. Now that AMD has bowed out of the high-end GPU race, Nvidia is free to charge whatever it likes since it effectively has no competition in this space. That’s certainly worrying, but hopefully, the company will keep prices relatively reasonable.

Outlook

As always, this latest rumor should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism, as Nvidia has not officially unveiled its next-generation graphics cards.

CES 2025 starts on January 7, and rumors claim Nvidia will unveil the RTX 50 series during a keynote the day before. Perhaps we’ll finally see whether or not all the rumors about the alleged RTX 50 series are true. Stay tuned for more!

More from Tom's Guide

Tony Polanco
Senior Computing Writer

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

Read more
Nvidia Geforce RTX
Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU reportedly set for January 2025 launch — RTX 5090 coming a 'few weeks' later
Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card
Nvidia RTX 50 potentially teased in new video — this could be the next-gen GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card
Massive leak just revealed Nvidia RTX 5090, 5080 and 5070 GPUs ahead of CES 2025 — here's the specs
Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card
Nvidia RTX 5090 reportedly leaked right before CES 2025 debut with killer specs
MSI Nvidia GeForce RTX 50-series cards at CES 2025
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 graphics cards are here — everything you need to know
RTX 50 series GPUs
I was hyped for Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5050 — until I saw these leaked specs
Latest in Computing
MacBook Air M4
MacBook Air M4 teardown reveals familiar repairability pain points
A person plugging a coaxial cable into the wall
I finally added internet to my kitchen and all it took was my old cable TV wiring — here’s how
Chelsea Manning speaking at the NymVPN launch event
Chelsea Manning-backed NymVPN launches in bid to win the "censorship arms race"
A purple Chilkey ND75 LP mechanical keyboard
This low-profile keyboard is what I needed to get me into modding — and it stuns with its performance
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
I love my Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses — but Zuckerberg's plan to create Oakley's my Dad would wear is kind of cringe
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
I'm worried about the latest Nvidia RTX 5060 price leak — but one thing could change my mind
Latest in News
NYTimes Connections
NYT Connections today hints and answers — Monday, March 17 (#645)
iPhone 17 Air render
New leaked iPhone 17 dummy units show off super-thin iPhone 17 Air with this surprising design tweak
Simone Ashley and Hero Fiennes Tiffin in "Picture This" now streaming on Prime Video
Prime Video top 10 has 3 must-watch movies — including a bubbly romcom starring 'Bridgerton's' Simone Ashley
(L-R) Josh Hartnett as Cooper and Ariel Donoghue as Riley in "Trap"
Netflix top 10 movies — here’s the 3 worth watching right now
NYT Strands on a cellphone
NYT Strands today — hints, spangram and answers for game #379 (Monday, March 17 2025)
iOS 19 logo on an iPhone
Apple WWDC 2025: iOS 19 and everything we know so far