While many are expecting gaming laptops to cut back on their DRAM in 2026, Nvidia has snuck a VRAM upgrade for us in its latest patch notes. A new 12GB RTX 5070 variant will begin shipping alongside regular 8GB RTX 5070 gaming laptops this year.
The boosted GPU was first leaked last month, when Lenovo published listings with the 12GB version specced out. While lighter games aren't going to appreciate the extra headroom too much, the best gaming laptops running the 12GB card will feel the benefits across more demanding titles. This is where the current 8GB card falls short in QHD resolution, generally averaging between 45 and 50fps in Cyberpunk 2077 RT Ultra among the machines I've tested.
