NVIDIA’s RTX 50-Series Launch Has Been A Complete Disaster

The launch of the NVIDIA RTX 50-series GPUs has been anything but successful from a consumer standpoint. The melting of the connector cables (again), the lack of supply (again), the increased pricing, and then the lies about how much of a performance boost each card model provides, are all perfect examples of NVIDIA’s continued de-evolution into a company that cares more about its profit margins than the gamers it makes products for.

The very same gamers that have time and again put NVIDIA on a pedestal because, let’s be honest, NVIDIA GPUs can be pretty great. The keywords there are can be. Although you might not know it with the lackluster performance of the RTX 4090 5070. As a consumer, this launch feels so bad that it borders on being a bigger fumble than the famous butt fumble during the Jets vs. Patriots game back in 2012.

A monumental Homer Simpson “D’oh!” moment that makes you wonder why you want to keep giving NVIDIA your money every time you upgrade your GPU.

The NVIDIA RTX 50-series launch feels pretty anti-consumer

“Just don’t buy an NVIDIA GPU,” one might say. Ok, fine. I’ll admit that might be the right path to take. Perhaps it’s the only logical path to take. Maybe if NVIDIA stops selling tons of GPUs every time it releases a new generation, it might start to realize that its marketing strategy of lying to consumers is not the best way to do business.

Here’s the thing, though. NVIDIA’s GPUs generally perform pretty well. Their frame generation and upscaling technology have been ahead of AMD GPUs for years. Not to mention that NVIDIA’s top GPUs often outperform their AMD counterparts. So that leaves you and me (the consumers) with a choice to make. Suck it up and deal with NVIDIA’s dishonest claims about performance increases, while spending the equivalent of 75% to 100% of a month’s rent on a single GPU, or go with AMD and take the hit on performance.

Neither is an ideal scenario. And as a consumer who loves PC gaming, it’s disheartening to see things shake out this way. AMD could help remedy the situation by improving the performance output of its cards. Thankfully, it might have gotten pretty close with the recently released RX 9070 XT and RX 9070. It already has the edge when it comes to cost, too. As AMD GPUs have historically been less costly than what NVIDIA has offered these past few years.

Telling the truth is hard

Here’s a thought – NVIDIA could just not lie about how powerful its new GPUs are. It could set the bar for expectations accordingly so consumers aren’t going into a purchase thinking they’re getting something they’re not. I’m specifically referencing NVIDIA’s claim that the RTX 5070 would provide RTX 4090 performance for the price of $549. It’s bad enough that this wasn’t true (deep down, some part of me knew it wouldn’t be, but I wanted to believe!).

What makes this whole situation worse is that you can’t actually find an RTX 5070 GPU at MSRP. Whatever cards weren’t purchased by actual consumers who wanted to keep the GPU were snapped up by scalpers. They will inevitably proceed to attempt selling them on sites like eBay or Mercari for several hundred dollars more than MSRP. Maybe you’ll get lucky with a restock. Maybe not. Even if you do, you might just pay higher than the announced MSRP anyway, thanks to tariffs.

Securing one also won’t change the fact that the GPU doesn’t perform nearly as well as NVIDIA was claiming. Thanks to a comprehensive gauntlet of tests by Gamers Nexus, it’s clear that the RTX 5070, while a capable new card, is not comparable to the performance of an RTX 4090. The funny thing about this is that NVIDIA could have avoided a lot of this backlash by not making that one ridiculous claim. But just like Gollum searching for his precious, the allure of money from consumers who believed NVIDIA would tell the truth was too great.

AMD has a big opportunity to capture market share

With NVIDIA’s fumble of the RTX 5070 launch, AMD now has a big opportunity here to grab the attention and capture some market share. The launch of the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 have a chance to put the screws to NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti. While NVIDIA’s hardware still wins out in some areas, AMD has seemingly closed the gap by quite a bit. Several reviews comparing AMD’s newest GPUs to NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti show marginal differences.

In quite a few game benchmarks, the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 are “going blow for blow” with NVIDIA’s equivalents, according to tests run by Linus Tech Tips and his team. All while being competitive on the pricing front. MSRP is equal between the RX 9070 and RTX 5070, and the RX 9070 XT’s MSRP is $150 cheaper than that of the RTX 5070 Ti. Making both of AMD’s GPUs compelling choices this generation. This is all assuming, of course, that AMD’s two 9070 series GPUs are able to stick to their announced price points. Even if they end up with price increases, though, NVIDIA’s GPUs have had price increases as well because stock has been low, and what’s available, if anything, has either been increased by the board partners or by scalpers.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that there may still be compromises. NVIDIA’s DLSS has considerably more support compared to AMD’s FSR tech when it comes to games. AMD is also still working on its Ray Reconstruction-like tech, whereas NVIDIA’s is already available. So you’ll need to factor these things in when looking to buy.

You may want to just stick with your old GPU or upgrade to a 40-series model

Depending on what GPU you currently have, it might be fortuitous to do one of two things if you want to stick with NVIDIA. If you’re rocking an RTX 30-series GPU or older, upgrading to an RTX 40-series GPU might be the way to go. That’s especially true if you’re looking to spend the money on an RTX 4090. In several benchmarks run by Gamers Nexus and other reviewers, the RTX 4090 was more or less nipping at the heels of the RTX 5090.

The caveat to this is that there isn’t much out there in the way of RTX 4090 GPU stock. Just like with the RTX 5090, there are few options, if any, from most of the big retailers. What is available is probably priced higher than it should be. This goes for other models like the RTX 4080 as well. If- and that’s a big if- you can find an RTX 40-series GPU for around MSRP, then you’re probably getting a better value than going for a new 50-series GPU. At least until the stock is significantly replenished and prices come down.

In fact, waiting might just be your best bet if you aren’t looking to make a switch to AMD. As realistically, the RTX 40-series equivalents of NVIDIA’s newest GPUs are more than capable of handling your games. Waiting also won’t necessarily reward you with a lower price. However, if you aren’t keen on spending thousands of dollars for a graphics card upgrade, there aren’t a whole lot of alternative avenues.

Will any of NVIDIA’s missteps with the RTX 50-series launch matter in the end?

It’s tough to say this early, but the cynical side of me thinks that it might be unlikely. With NVIDIA’s advantages over AMD in a few key areas, NVIDIA is likely to remain the popular choice. That is, unless AMD can continue closing the gap and provide something that’s just as good or better than what NVIDIA is offering. Until that happens, NVIDIA may remain at the top, and we’ll probably see the company continue to make ridiculous claims about performance boosts.

But hey, maybe NVIDIA will do the right thing and market its products more honestly the next time around.