The Nvidia RTX 5000-series has been the subject of many rumors over the last year, with plenty of leaks teasing performance and specs. Thanks to a new rumor, we may have some interesting information concerning the RTX 5060’s power consumption as well.
A new statement from Chairman Wu Haijun of Shenzen Hasee Computer Co. (which manufacturers desktops, mini-PCs, and laptops), reported on by VideoCardz, reveals that the RTX 5060 laptop GPU may require less power than its predecessor, the Nvidia RTX 4060. The statement asserts that the 5060 will only need 115W of power compared to the 4000-series' 140W. The Chairman also stated that the 5060 will use GDDR7 memory, which is not particularly surprising considering prior leaks more or less hint at that spec.
This new information contradicts a previous rumor that the 5000-series, especially the 5060, would use far more power than the earlier generation of cards. That leak stated that the 5060 would have a 55W increase to 170W over its 4000-series counterpart, which would have been a massive climb if true. Hopefully, this current report is more accurate, as it would be incredible news for gamers.
Lower power consumption, but at what cost?
While the 115W power consumption is indeed excellent news, there are some caveats. It seems that the next generation of GN22-X11 and X9 SKUs are expected to run at 175W Total Graphics Power (TGP). For reference, the current generation is codenamed GN21. However, the X7, X6, X4, and X2 will be limited to 115W of power. Apparently, the X7 is a new model without an older-generation counterpart, so this could mean that there will be even more card options coming.
There also seems to be a downside to this lower power consumption, I gather from other rumors leaked before. The RTX 5090 graphics card might offer 16GB of VRAM, while the RTX 5060 will only have 8GB of VRAM. Further, the 5060 will most likely remain limited to a 128-bit width memory bus, consistent with the lower VRAM. It’ll have 8GB of GDDR7 memory if these reports are true.
So, the 5060 may use far less power, but it comes with a measured lack of improvement compared to the 4060.
Nvidia is expected to use the GB203, GB205, GB206, and GB207 GPUs for its mobile RTX 50 series. There’s also the GB202 in development with a memory bus of 512 bit, which sounds great, unless you’re a laptop gamer, because it’s unlikely it’ll be used for anything other than a desktop.
