The Nvidia RTX 5000 series has been the subject of numerous rumors over the past year, and there have been numerous leaks revealing performance and specifications. Thanks to a new rumor, we may also have some interesting information on the RTX 5060’s power consumption.
A new statement by Chairman Wu Haijun of Shenzen Hasee Computer Co. (maker of desktops, mini PCs and laptops) reported VideoCardzrevealed that the RTX 5060 laptop GPU may require less power than its predecessor, the Nvidia RTX 4060. The statement said that the 5060 will only require 115W of power, compared to the 4000 series’ 140W. The chairman also stated that the 5060 will use GDDR7 memory, which isn’t particularly surprising considering previous leaks have more or less pointed to that specification.
This new information contradicts an earlier rumor that the 5000 series, especially the 5060, would consume much more electricity than the previous generation of cards. That leak said the 5060 would have 55W more power than its 4000 series counterpart, 170W, which if true would be a huge increase. Hopefully this latest report is more accurate, because that 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 limitations. It looks like the next generation GN22 X11 and X9 SKUs are expected to run at a Total Graphics Power (TGP) of 175W. For reference, the current generation is codenamed GN21. However, the X7, X6, X4, and X2 will be limited to 115W power. Apparently, the X7 is a new model with no older generation counterpart, which could mean even more card options are coming.
However, there also seems to be a downside to this lower power consumption, as I other rumors leaked out before. The RTX 5090 graphics card may offer 16GB of VRAM, while the RTX 5060 will only have 8GB of VRAM. Additionally, the 5060 will most likely be limited to a 128-bit wide memory bus, which is consistent with the lower VRAM. If these reports are correct, it will have 8GB of GDDR7 memory.
So the 5060 may consume significantly less power, but it does not offer any significant improvements over the 4060.
Nvidia is expected to use the GB203, GB205, GB206, and GB207 GPUs for its mobile RTX 50 series. Also in development is the GB202 with a 512-bit memory bus, which sounds great unless you’re a laptop gamer, because it’s unlikely to be used for anything other than a desktop.
