Graphics Cards

The new MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z isn't just another GeForce RTX 5090; it's a brand-new liquid-cooled GPU and design from the company that is built for extreme overclocking and unmatched PC gaming performance. And with that, it's a limited-edition release of 1,300 units worldwide, shipping with a default 800W OC profile and a 1000W Extreme Mode for serious overclockers, drawing power from two 16-pin power connectors.

For those who have been tracking GeForce RTX 50 Series pricing over the past year, you've probably noticed that not many cards have been made available at the $1,999 USD MSRP. And with shortages, the AI boom, and the current memory crisis, the 32GB graphics card has seen its price in the US climb to well over $3,000 in recent months.

As a custom GPU, the MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z is in a class of its own in build quality, engineering, power delivery, and thermal performance, so a premium price is to be expected. Still, it almost feels like a meme when a GeForce RTX 5090 is being sold for $5,090. Or, $5090.99 to be exact.

When building a new gaming rig or upgrading a PC, that moment you press the power button for the first time is always a little stressful. Will it turn on? Will there be an error code? These are probably the main concerns, with 'Will my GPU spark and catch on fire?' likely far down the list as a true nightmare scenario.

When it comes to modern high-end enthusiast and flagship PC gaming GPUs, specifically the GeForce RTX 4090 and the GeForce RTX 5090, you can add 16-pin power connector issues to the list based on ongoing reports and cases of cables and connectors melting. However, this report (via Videocardz) of a Chinese gamer's MSI-branded GeForce RTX 5090 catching fire the moment they fired up their upgraded rig for the first time is a little different.

According to the report, the issue appears to be with the GPU itself and is not related to the power connector or the 12V-2x6 PCIe 5.0 cable. The user posted a five-second clip on the Chinese social media platform BiliBili, which quickly gained nearly 100,000 views. And yes, it's an alarming thing to see a GPU on fire.

MSI Afterburner, the free graphics card utility for monitoring performance and overclocking settings, has been the go-to app for PC gamers for years. With the release of the insanely powerful MSI GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z, check out our full review here, MSI has also released a new Beta build for its Afterburner software that adds new features.

MSI Afterburner 4.6.7 Beta 2 not only adds official support for the GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z, a GPU with a default 800W OC and a 1000W Extreme Mode, but it also expands its power, voltage, and monitoring support to integrate MSI's new GPU Safeguard+ technology, which is a key part of its new MSI MEG Ai and MPG Ai power supplies.

These PSUs include per-pin current monitoring with firmware-level alarm sensors, so they're not software-dependent. These protections were developed to resolve the rare overheating and 'cable meltings' associated with modern 12VHPWR and 12V-2x6 power connectors for GPUs. In this new MSI Afterburner release, GPU Safeguard+ can trigger an alarm and load a safe GPU profile with a customizable reduced power limit and Boost Clock speed.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.2.1 is a new optional or beta driver release for Radeon and RDNA users, primarily focused on adding day-one support for new games. 'New Game Support' arrives for three titles: Yakuza Kiwami 3, Dark Ties, and Nioh 3. The update also fixes an issue in Arc Raiders for Radeon RX 9000 Series owners, so for those regularly jumping into the popular extraction adventure, this release is for you.

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.2.1 Optional Update also fixes an issue for Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios' other multiplayer shooter, The Finals. This time it's for Radeon RX 7000 Series users, with the fix resolving a game crash when ray tracing is enabled on RDNA 3 graphics cards like the Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7900 XTX.

Elsewhere, the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.2.1 Optional Update Release Notes list a number of Known Issues that the Radeon team is looking to resolve, including crashes when playing Cyberpunk 2077 with Path Tracing and Battlefield 6 on AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, and FSR Upscaling and FSR Frame Generation issues on a couple of titles. Here are the full details.

NVIDIA's new RTX 6000D is tweaked workstation GPU for China, with a cut-down 84GB of GDDR7 memory, recently receiving the teardown experience in China. Check it out:

A company called "GINNSOD" has done the teardown video, a server-focused model of the passive thermal solution -- the RTX 6000D -- for the Chinese market. This model ships without any fans, fully relying on the airflow in the chassis for its cooling. NVIDIA says that the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition thermal solution is "passive" but has air and liquid cooling options.

NVIDIA's new RTX 6000D features 84GB of GDDR7 -- down from the full 96GB on the RTX PRO 6000 -- with 28 VRAM memory packages onboard: each 3GB, for a total of 84GB. It sits on a 448-bit memory bus using a clamshell layout, down from the 96GB on a 512-bit bus on the full-fat RTX PRO 6000.

Sapphire has unveiled a new custom graphics card, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ Crimson Desert Edition, created in collaboration with AMD and Pearl Abyss. This custom version of RDNA 4's flagship features artwork from the highly anticipated Crimson Desert game on the magnetic backplate, with the rest of the design looking identical to the flagship NITRO+ model released last year.

As a premium RDNA 4 GPU, the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ features a unique, stylish design with a hidden power cable design, and is one of the few Radeon RX 9000 Series cards to adopt the new 12V-2x6 power connector standard. We reviewed the original Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ last year and were impressed with its physical design, thermal performance, and 4K gaming capabilities powered by AMD's new AI FSR upscaling.

Although looks are subjective when it comes to PC hardware, especially in the age of RGB lighting and cases with panoramic views, SAPPHIRE's NITRO+ design, which blends brushed metal with industrial venting and a subtle RGB lightbar, is among the most striking of all RDNA 4 cards.

With the arrival of the Radeon RX 9000 Series of desktop graphics cards in 2025, AMD's RDNA 4-powered GPUs also launched with the company's new AI-powered FSR 4 rendering technology that has recently expanded to include Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction as part of the company's FSR Redstone initiative.

Requiring the more advanced FP8-capable AI hardware found in RDNA 4 GPUs, FSR 4 quickly became a highlight of the Radeon RX 9070 XT's launch, as the new and improved FSR Super Resolution finally caught up, or closed the gap, in image quality to NVIDIA's DLSS.

However, being exclusive to three desktop GPUs bucks the historical trend of AMD's FSR being open-source and platform agnostic, giving RDNA 3 gamers the sense that they've been left behind. Not only on desktops but also on AMD's gaming handhelds, which still run RDNA 3.5 Radeon technology, FSR 4 has yet to reach a platform where it could make the most significant impact.

NVIDIA is rumored to be working on an even higher-end RTX 50 series graphics card, with new rumors that it's gearing for a Q3 2026 release, and could be a long-rumored GeForce RTX 5090 Ti or TITAN Blackwell GPU.

Overclocking.com reports: "A very high-end RTX 50 series card is reportedly in development, with its release even scheduled for the Back to School period (early Q3 of this year). The manufacturing process has apparently already begun (design and other aspects). The arrival of this card is said to be unrelated to the "SUPER" series (which are no longer on the 2026 release schedule)".

The new reports suggest a Q3 2026 release, and would act as an ultra-high-end RTX 5090 Ti or TITAN-class Blackwell GPU, scheduled for the Back to School period. Overclocking.com reports that they've been told that manufacturing is underway with board-level work on the table now.

ASUS has its new ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 5090D V2 graphics card up for pre-order in China, with a price of 29,999 RMB (which works out to around $4300 USD).

The new ASUS ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 5090D V2 features a cut-down 24GB of GDDR7 memory on a 384-bit memory bus with the VRAM clocked at 28Gbps, with it being virtually identical to the full ROG Matrix RTX 5090 (which has 32GB GDDR7). It retains its full 21,760 CUDA cores and GPU boost clocks of up to 2760MHz in OC mode, with dual HDMI 2.1b outputs, and 3 x DisplayPort 2.1b ports.

ASUS has crafted its ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 5090D V2 graphics card with a dual 16-pin power connector design that works with its in-house BTF ecosystem, with ASUS stating it can use up to 800W of power when used with a BTF motherboard and 12V-2x6 power cable.

MSI's powerful new GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z graphics card will cost over $5000, with users in Taiwan needing to join a lottery just for their chance to buy the card in the end.

MSI announced a global giveaway of its new RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z graphics card a few weeks ago, after its monster unveiling at CES 2026 where we had a chance to scope the card out in the flesh (and it looks amazing, so does the unboxing experience alone).

The company has announced its lottery event for the chance to purchase a single MSI GeForce RTX 5090 32G LIGHTNING Z graphics card, where if you "win" the lottery, you'll have the chance to pay NT$165,000 which works out to around $5220 USD or so. This makes MSI's new monster GeForce RTX 5090 LIGHTNING Z graphics card the most expensive RTX 5090 on the planet, excluding the made-from-real-gold ASUS ROG RTX 5090 Dhabab Edition GPUs.

NVIDIA has reportedly ripped up its plans to launch an upgraded GeForce RTX 50 SUPER series this year, as well as push back its original 2027 schedule for its next-gen RTX 60 "Rubin" GPU family... and it's because of the DRAM crisis, sigh.

In a new report from The Information, the outlet reports that NVIDIA has "no plans" to launch any new GPUs this year, and that it is slashing production of its RTX 50 series GPUs, which corroborates recent rumors that the RTX 50 series GPU could be EOL (end of life).

The outlet also says that NVIDIA has also delayed its next-gen GeForce RTX 60 series "Rubin" GPUs which were meant to launch in 2027, have "been delayed". Some were expecting NVIDIA to unveil new RTX 50 SUPER series graphics cards at CES 2026, but that has come and gone and no new GeForce RTX GPUs were unveiled.

Even though it looks like Intel's highly anticipated Arc B770 graphics card for PC gaming has effectively been canceled, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has confirmed that the company isn't backing out of the GPU market anytime soon. In fact, the company has hired a new Chief GPU Architect, and the segment is "very important" to Team Blue.

During the company's recent AI Summit, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan was asked the straightforward question, 'Does Intel build GPUs in the future?' The answer was also a simple 'Yes,' with Lip-Bu Tan adding that they've hired a new Chief GPU Architect.

"I'm very delighted he joined, and it took some persuasion," Lip-Bu Tan said. "I told him that it's not just CPUs, GPUs are also very important for different application workloads. And you have to really optimize." According to Reuters, the new GPU lead at Intel is former Qualcomm executive Eric Demmers, and the focus will be on data centers.

NVIDIA has said that it's now looking into problems with its GeForce GPUs caused by the most recent update for Windows 11.

Windows Latest reports that the January update for Windows 11 is visiting a bunch of glitches on gamers with NVIDIA graphics cards, which includes nasty instances of screen flickering, and being treated to black screen stalls before the desktop eventually appears on boot (or when games are loading).

There's also evidence of visual corruption in some games (Forza Horizon 5 being an example), and other reports point to stuttering in games, and frame rate drops to the tune of 10 to 20 FPS.

According to new information from the China-based Board Channels forums (via Videocardz), a regular source of gaming GPU news on supply and pricing, AMD is shifting its Radeon GPU focus toward 8GB graphics cards. For the company's new RDNA 4 generation, that's a single model, the mainstream Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB.

At the time of the Radeon RX 9060 XT's launch in 2025, the focus was on the 16GB model, with the 8GB cards primarily reserved for system integrators. This is why our review coverage only includes Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB models, which consistently outperformed NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 8GB GPU, especially for 1440p gaming.

This new report mirrors similar reporting on the GeForce RTX 50 Series, where unprecedented DRAM price increases are disrupting the PC gaming GPU market. Specifically, models with 16GB or more of VRAM.

Recent rumors indicate that Intel's next discrete GPU launch will be the workstation-focused Intel Arc Pro B70, which will reportedly ship with 32GB of VRAM sometime in Q1 2026. As a workstation card with a decent chunk of memory, the Intel Arc Pro B70 will undoubtedly be positioned as an affordable AI solution along the lines of the current Intel Arc Pro B60.

For those that need a refresher, the Arc Pro B60 shares the same GPU chip as the gaming-focused Intel Arc B580. Released at the tail end of 2024, the Intel Arc B580, with its second-generation Arc Battlemage architecture, 12GB of VRAM, a $250 price, and performance better than the GeForce RTX 4060, was something of a disruptor. Which is why many have been wanting to see an Intel Arc B770 follow-up, aka Big Battlemage.

The Intel Arc B770, built on the more powerful BMG-31 GPU with 32 Xe Cores and 16GB of VRAM, has been rumored to launch for a while, with the latest reports pointing to a potential Q1 2026 release. Well, it seems that's no longer happening: a new report indicates that the Intel Arc B770 PC gaming graphics card has been canceled due to the memory crisis and the AI boom.

The Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for January 2026 are in, and even though the memory crisis will most likely slow the adoption of GeForce RTX 50 and Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards as prices increase and stock becomes harder to find, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series is shaping up to be one of the company's most popular to date.

Well, at least for now, as what we're seeing here could be a surge in GeForce RTX 50 Series cards based on the fact that during the final months of 2025, several models could be found close to or even slightly below MSRP. Case in point: the GeForce RTX 5070 is one of the best bang-for-your-buck 1440p PC gaming GPUs, and it's proving to be the most popular card in the GeForce RTX 50 Series lineup.

So much so that when looking at discrete GPUs for desktop and laptops, the GeForce RTX 5070 is currently the fifth most popular graphics card on Steam, sitting below the GeForce RTX 4060 (and its laptop variant), the GeForce RTX 3060, and the GeForce RTX 3050. And the GeForce RTX 5060 isn't far behind, as it's cracked the Top 10, sitting in the number nine spot for most popular GPU on Steam.

The memory crisis is causing havoc across the consumer hardware market, and for PC gaming graphics cards, that brief period when GPUs were sold at near-MSRP in late 2025 now feels like a distant memory. As we head into 2026, higher-end GeForce RTX 50 Series cards like the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 are seeing the most significant price increases.

Looking at the current U.S. retail market, most new GeForce RTX 5080 GPUs with 16GB of fast GDDR7 memory are priced 45% or more above the $999 MSRP. Things are worse for the flagship GeForce RTX 5090, with its 32GB of GDDR7 memory, which is now so scarce that models are priced at 75% or more above the $1999 MSRP.

Of course, as the AI boom has led us to this point, cards like the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090, even at inflated prices, are highly sought after by AI enthusiasts and AI companies alike. And in many regions, such as Europe, this leaves NVIDIA's Founders Edition models as the only way to get either of these GPUs at a reasonable price. The only problem? They're selling out in minutes.

NVIDIA ended official GeForce Game Ready Driver support for its Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta architectures in October 2025, marking the end of an era (or two) for some of the most iconic PC gaming graphics cards of the 2010s. From the GeForce GTX 980 to the GeForce GTX 1080 and GeForce GTX 1060, NVIDIA finally put these GPUs to rest after a decade of support, including game optimizations for new releases.

Announced several months before official support was set to end, NVIDIA did confirm that GPUs from these older architectures would "transition to receiving quarterly security updates for the next three years (through October 2028)."

And that's what we've got with the GeForce Security Update Driver 582.28, a new security update for Maxwell, Volta, and Pascal-series GeForce GPUs. Basically, you're looking at drivers that lack game-specific support but still receive the latest security updates. NVIDIA points to its NVIDIA GPU Display Drivers - January 2026 security bulletin for details on what has been addressed.

If the RTX 5070 isn't enough for you - and it isn't for many gamers, especially with that 12GB of VRAM - you're looking at a seriously pricey GPU above that tier.

NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti is getting seriously pricey, which would appear to back up the idea that this graphics card is now in scarce supply.

If you recall, there were even recent rumblings on the grapevine that the RTX 5070 Ti was effectively at the end of the line, with production having been halted - rumors NVIDIA quickly clarified weren't true.

The Intel Arc B580, with its second-generation Battlemage architecture and 12GB of VRAM, is an affordable mainstream GPU that can still be purchased for around $300 in the US. Although it's a notable increase over its original $249 MSRP, with performance that beats the GeForce RTX 4060 in most titles, it's a definite option given how the current memory crisis is affecting GeForce RTX and Radeon RX pricing.

And the Intel Arc B580 is set to get a feature next month that was previously exclusive to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50 Series in the desktop space. Speaking with Tom's Guide, Intel has confirmed that the Arc B580 is getting Xess 3 with Multi-Frame Generation support next month. Like with DLSS, Intel's frame generation is AI-powered, and Xess 3 with Multi-Frame Generation is already available and supported by Intel's new Panther Lake processors.

Like DLSS 4's Multi Frame Generation, the XeSS version leverages AI to create and insert up to three additional frames alongside the XeSS Super Resolution frame. In supported games, this can increase the overall performance (or smoothness) from 60 FPS to 200+ FPS.