Higher power draw expected for Nvidia RTX 50 series “Blackwell” GPUs

Higher power draw is expected from Nvidia’s next-generation “Blackwell” RTX 50 series GPUs

Kopite7kimi, a reliable GPU leaker, has reported that the RTX 50 series of “Blackwell” GPUs from Nvidia will “have some increase in power consumption”. Furthermore, it is claimed that “higher SKUs [are] increasing more”, suggesting that Nvidia’s RTX 5090 may draw over 450 watts of power.

Currently, it is unknown when Nvidia plans to launch their RTX 50 series. Nvidia’s highest-end RTX 50 series GPUs are rumoured to be launching in Q4 2024 or Q1 2025. However, Nvidia has confirmed nothing about this upcoming product launch.

If Nvidia are increasing the power draw of their RTX 50 series, that means that cooling requirements will also be increasing. Additionally, Nvidia’s higher-end SKUs will need more robust power delivery systems. This will place more strain on PC power supplies. It will also create additional demand for high airflow PC cases. After all, that added heat will need to be removed efficiently to prevent overheating or thermal throttling.

I know you someone got the details of GeForce of Blackwell recently.
Both of them all have some increase in power consumption, with higher SKUs increasing more.

— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) September 3, 2024

In July, Seasonic’s PSU calculator listed a 500W TDP for Nvidia’s RTX 5090. That’s 50 watts higher than Nvidia’s RTX 4090. The Nvidia RTX 5080 was also listed with a 350W TDP, which is 30W more than the RTX 4080.

Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs are expected to be more power-hungry on desktop. That said, they are expected to be much more performant.

You can join the discussion on Nvidia’s rumoured power draw increase for desktop RTX 5o series GPUs on the OC3D Forums.