Discussion Nvidia Blackwell in Q1-2025

[Win2012R2]

“Oh hey, nice tech publication you got there. Would be a shame if your viewership took a hit if for some reason you didn’t have pre-release review samples of our graphics cards.” - Nvidia, probably

The real power is when they don't even have to say anything - it's all understood without words, written documents: they've made examples of people who gave them "bad reviews".

Maybe the hard rule should be that if anybody who wants to review can't buy it in store then no reviews done.

 

[GTracing]

Pretty much. Nvidia say that the reviews were not paid for but they think we the consumer are fools by assuming we think that an exchange of money is the only way to exert influence on the reviewers.

C’mon Nvidia, we’re not that dumb. Y’all were called the graphics mafia in the past for good reason. “Oh hey, nice tech publication you got there. Would be a shame if your viewership took a hit if for some reason you didn’t have pre-release review samples of our graphics cards.” - Nvidia, probably

Yeah, this exact thing happened to hardware unboxed after their Ampere reviews didn't focus on Ray Tracing enough. Reviewers have symbiotic relationship with hardware companies. Nvidia doesn't have to pay for good reviews. The threat of losing access to review samples is enough to get positive reviews. And that goes doubly so for the pre-review puff pieces.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1337246983682060289

 

[Jan Olšan]

View attachment 118780


Perfect solution to RTX 50xx series GPU PhysX issue! Requires just single Molex power connector (unaffected by burning issues / not a fire hazard) and it takes only single slot, unlike most RTX 30xx or 40xx series accelerators

PS. GPU for scale

Is this intentional trolling?

Because I'm pretty sure Nvidia cut off support for this from PhysX sooner than you could say VooDoo after acquiring the technology. (Exagerating, I think it took a few years.)

Naw, you dirty cheaters, GeForce cards or go away.

 

[Jan Olšan]

Nvidia; the way you are meant to be played

https://twitter.com/x/status/1896704680501383465

Both outlets glazing the cards are sister sites of Anandtech forums. 🤬

Well, reviews were not paid, but it can easily be something like Nvidia is so happy that the publisher management expects Nvidia will again order a lot of advertisements for good $$$$$$ from them

Not paid for but the GPU was sponsored for free.

I don't see the difference, when your looking at a GPU that expensive.

Oh sure Nvidia send me a GPU for free, and i'll even tell people the MORE you BUY the MORE you can SCALP and EARN!

Giving away review samples isn't exactly rare and would not be unique to Nvidia, note.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Well, reviews were not paid, but it can easily be something like Nvidia is so happy that the publisher management expects Nvidia will again order a lot of advertisements for good $$$$$$ from them

Absolutely. It is just semantics though, or at best, plausible deniability of being directly on the take. Remuneration, regardless of the form it takes, creates the conflict of interest. Nvidia infuses much needed capital into their biz. That in turn puts a great deal of financial pressure on the organization and invariably affects their perceptions and judgements. Which results in the Nvidia human caterpillar marketing material being consumed and pooped out by every outlet attached to their behind.

 

[jpiniero]

Here's a bit of a shocker - the 5070 does manage to get to 4070 Super performance. At least at Compubase.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Big OOF

 

[SolidQ]

Pretty meh

 

[Heartbreaker]

Just a small increase over 4070 Super according to TPUP:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070 comes at highly competitive pricing of $550 yet offers performance that rivals the much more expensive RTX 4070 Ti. In our review we found out that overclocking works extremely well on these cards and you'll be able to push it to the next tier with just some quick OC.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[jpiniero]

Just a small increase over 4070 Super according to TPUP:

At least it manages to do so. Sort of.

 

[techjunkie123]

Sooo 5070 = 4070S to 4070 Ti. With the same 12 GB of VRAM. Smaller die, so Jensen can get more snake skin on his jacket.

The 9070XT is going to slaughter it in value. 9070 should be ahead too but not sure by how much.

If gaymers don't buy AMD this gen, nothing will make them switch.

 

[Heartbreaker]

At least it manages to do so. Sort of.

Practically it's essentially identical. It's technically a bit faster, but not enough to matter at anything. No one could really tell the difference between these cards.

I really wonder what is going on at NVidia. Such negligible upgrades and no stock. It's kind of bizarre.

 

[SolidQ]

Big OOF

for xx6x series he need Helicopter

 

[Thunder 57]

But still 4 stars at Tom's. ROPs may not be included.

 

[SolidQ]

for real 5070 = 4090!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

This generation is the equivalent of paying lip service to gamers. They made no attempt to provide the actual cards or ensure they would be worth buying even at fake MSRP. Tell us you don't need us, but don 't tell us.

Tim told Steve to use Indy to showcase RTX. How's that working out for you Tim? It wasn't even at native 1440 for FSM's sake.

 

[MrTeal]

TBH, I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the 5070 numbers. I thought it would come in behind the 4070S, not halfway between the 4070S and 4070Ti.

Still not impressive, but less bad than I was expecting.

 

[blckgrffn]

TBH, I'm actually pleasantly surprised by the 5070 numbers. I thought it would come in behind the 4070S, not halfway between the 4070S and 4070Ti.

Still not impressive, but less bad than I was expecting.

Increasing the power budget and GDDR7 actually helped but somehow makes it feel like a worse value than the 4070S because you could have had that a year or so ago at MSRP or less if you shopped for it.

4070 and 4070S buyers, you did it right. Excellent work.

 

[gdansk]

I'd just like to point out that, once again, the RTX 5070 has smaller gains in raytracing than raster according to the TPU summaries.

And people will still say raster is dead. Yet the fancy new rendering technology really is scaling even worse with new memory and architecture.

 

[Jan Olšan]

Just a small increase over 4070 Super according to TPUP:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition Review

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5070 comes at highly competitive pricing of $550 yet offers performance that rivals the much more expensive RTX 4070 Ti. In our review we found out that overclocking works extremely well on these cards and you'll be able to push it to the next tier with just some quick OC.

www.techpowerup.com

Awards will be added after the cards go on sale, once we know more about pricing and the supply situation.

Interesting change of methodics by TPU.

 

[GTracing]

Awards will be added after the cards go on sale, once we know more about pricing and the supply situation.

Interesting change of methodics by TPU.

I saw that and I don't know how I feel about it. Fake MSRP is obviously an issue, but prices are always in flux. Are they going to keep shuffling awards around?

I guess in this one instance it makes sense because the 9070 series is launching tomorrow, and in a few days they'll have a much better picture of the MSRP of AIB models. But it could still be out of date in a month.

 

[Saylick]

Yeah, this exact thing happened to hardware unboxed after their Ampere reviews didn't focus on Ray Tracing enough. Reviewers have symbiotic relationship with hardware companies. Nvidia doesn't have to pay for good reviews. The threat of losing access to review samples is enough to get positive reviews. And that goes doubly so for the pre-review puff pieces.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1337246983682060289

Precisely. The only way for reviews to be truly independent is if the reviewer buys the product themselves and tests it.

The fact that Nvidia tried pulling the plug on HWU only for them to get called out, and then publicly backpedaling because they got caught, indicates their real motive all along. Always was and always will be their real motive. Some inept jabroni on Nvidia’s side just happened to spill the beans a little too much.

 

[blckgrffn]

Awards will be added after the cards go on sale, once we know more about pricing and the supply situation.

Interesting change of methodics by TPU.

A definite step in the right direction. This is a big deal.

Excerpt from Ars preview/review, emphasis mine:

"The 5070 usually represents a mid-single-digit performance increase over the 4070 Super despite having fewer CUDA cores. It's about 20 percent faster than the RTX 4070—a comparison Nvidia would probably prefer, since the 5070 is technically replacing the 4070 at $549 and not the 4070 Super at $599. But the launch MSRPs for the 50-series have been mostly imaginary so far due to a combination of supply, demand, and people buying cards just so they can resell them for more money. We'd assume the same will hold true for the RTX 5070 until proven otherwise."

It might seems like a little thing, but I think every crack in the dam is notable because previously we were in "can do no wrong" territory.

Maybe its messy, but its a sign of the times. Why does a card no one can buy get an award? Wait until its on a shelf in more than one place and then what is that price? That's at least representative of now, it'll just look bonkers in a future where we aren't in a shortage.

 

[Tup3x]

Really, really underwhelming.

 

[SolidQ]

NVIDIA says GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition won’t be available at launch​

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-says-geforce-rtx-5070-founders-edition-wont-be-availble-at-launch