New RTX 60 series rumors claim Nvidia’s upcoming GPU generation could use a 3nm process, with its top-end video card featuring up to 24,000 CUDA cores and 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
It’s alleged by RedGamingTech on YouTube, building on rumors from a credible hardware leaker, Kopite7Kimi, that the RTX 60 series could use a TSMC 3nm process, with clock targets targeting 2-3 GHz.
The RTX 60 series is said to feature twice the path tracing capabilities of the RTX 50 series cards; however, it comes at the (apparent) cost of native capabilities. These sources claim that there’s only a 30-35% bump in rasterization (based on the alleged clock speeds and efficiency).
TechPowerUp collates this information regarding the claimed configurations for the alleged upcoming GPU generation. This includes the RTX 6090 built on the GR202 die, the RTX 6080 forged on the smaller GB2023 die, and the RTX 6070 on the cut-down GR205 silicon.
More specifically, it’s claimed the RTX 6090 will feature a 512-bit memory bus and 32GB GDDR7, whereas the RTX 6080 could have a 320-bit memory bus and 20GB GDDR7, to the RTX 6070’s 256-bit memory bus, and 16GB GDDR7 VRAM.
The continued death of native performance
It’s no secret that Nvidia has been moving away from native performance and is instead banking on AI in gaming. We’ve seen this for years with DLSS’ evolution, including Ray Reconstruction, Frame Generation, Multi-Frame Generation, and the upcoming DLSS 5 neural rendering model.
According to these leaks, it sounds as though the RTX 60 series will be iterative on the RTX 50 series. The new cards sound as though they will be a marginal improvement over native performance, but they could surge when backed by DLSS 5 (and all its AI-powered tools) for higher framerates, better visuals, etc.
This starts up the “fake frames” argument yet again. Yes, Frame Generation and MFG are interlacing frames to artificially bump up the FPS count; similarly, DLSS’ upscaling means you’re also not really getting true 1440p, 4K, or 8K when downsampling.
This is nothing new. However, if the RTX 50 series wasn’t the final nail in the coffin for pure performance, then the upcoming graphics card generation could be. It’s why we’ve seen such poor optimization of PC games over recent years, increased file sizes, and VRAM demands that can push previously capable 70-class cards, too.
None of these RTX 60 series rumors has been validated by Nvidia, and it’s entirely possible that Team Green could go another way. Maybe the next generation of GPUs will be exclusive to GeForce Now, perhaps we’ll all be priced out of the PC gaming market altogether. We now live in a time where PS5 Pro is nearly $1,000, so the future looks truly bleak.
