Nvidia's Blackwell laptop graphics cards are coming in early 2025 (hopefully), and we just spotted a leak about the amount of video memory (VRAM) they'll supposedly run on.
This one is from Moore's Law is Dead (MLID), a regular leaker on YouTube (and one of the most reliable sources of GPU and CPU leaks in our experience).
MLID has the supposed complete details of the VRAM and they are executed as follows. The flagship RTX 5090 is supposed to keep the exact same configuration as the RTX 4090, which some people will no doubt find disappointing. Which means it will run on 16GB of VRAM and a 256-bit memory bus.
In theory, the best news comes with the next model, presumably the RTX 5080, or maybe we'll call it the second-tier Blackwell GPU (you'll see why in a moment), weighing in at the same 16GB. of VRAM (and 256-bit bus). It's a solid increase over the current RTX 4080 laptop GPU which has 12GB.
However, there is something of a problem here. If you remember, the RTX 4080 mobile GPU used a smaller chip than the flagship model: the AD104 chip, instead of the AD103 in the RTX 4090. But with the RTX 5080, a recent rumor (again from MLID) claims that it will use GB203. , same as the flagship 5090, meaning it will potentially be a bit livelier (with that VRAM upgrade too).
What this also means is that Nvidia might want to reflect that and call it the RTX 5080 Ti, rather than just the 5080.
And that could have knock-on effects with the rest of the range, as if that were the plan, then the third-tier GPU (equivalent to RTX 4070) could be the RTX 5080. But if the second-tier Blackwell GPU is the RTX 5080, then The third tier will obviously be the RTX 5070.
Anyway you get the idea, but whatever the name, this third-tier GPU will supposedly have 12GB of VRAM, an increase over the 8GB seen on the RTX 4070.
Finally, with the fourth-tier GPU (likely the RTX 5060, or perhaps the RTX 5070 if Nvidia opts for the 5090/5080 Ti/5080 naming scheme), you'll be left with 8GB of VRAM. (Cues a chorus of boos and whistles.)
Analysis: Good, bad and 8GB ugly
So here's some good and bad news, though add seasoning and plenty of it, remembering this is just talk of the grapevine.
On the more positive front, we could get a powerful RTX 5080 relative to the RTX 4080, to the point that Nvidia could brand it as an RTX 5080 Ti. Either way, the high-end options could be beefed up, and it's nice to see the third-tier GPU end up getting a 4GB increase in video RAM (increased from 8GB to 12GB).
The not-so-good talk here is, of course, not increasing the VRAM of Blackwell's flagship mobile GPU and, even worse, sticking to an 8GB configuration with that fourth-tier GPU (RTX 5060 most likely, or as mentioned, This could even be the RTX 5070.
For gaming in the future (remember, these are next-gen GPUs that will reign for a couple of years, until 2027 (at least), those two loads of VRAM are far from great, and the choice of 8GB on the bottom seems particularly shaky.
Assuming Nvidia goes down this path, of course, we should stress that it may not happen at all, so it's too early to start worrying too much about these prospects.
However, regarding the possible level of accuracy here, MLID says this information comes from some of its best sources. We're talking about people who have already created products with the first GPU photos: in short, properly connected Nvidia leakers. With this in mind, MLID is giving a lot of importance to these forecasts.
As always, let's see if other leaks match MLID's predictions. But if this is true, the top and bottom of Blackwell's GPU spectrum for gaming laptops risks disappointing. In theory, these mobile graphics cards should launch fairly early in 2025, likely with a March launch, according to a previous spill.
