Nvidia officially launches RTX 5070 laptop GPU with 12GB VRAM, but the 8GB models won’t be going anywhere
It was a couple of weeks ago when MSI seemingly leaked a previously unannounced RTX 5070 12GB laptop spec by revealing that its new RTX 5070-powered Crosshair 16 MAX HX gaming laptop would ship with 12GB of VRAM, rather than the usual 8GB. While the desktop version of the 5070 does indeed offer 12GB GDDR7 RAM, the laptop GPU is cut back – until now.
Nvidia has officially announced RTX 5070 laptops with 12GB of VRAM. The company says it had made this decision “in order to maximize memory availability,” and confirms a switch to a 4x3GB design to alleviate the demand for regular 2GB GDDR7 modules. Nvidia lists it as 24Gb (Gigabit), which translates to 3GB (Gigabyte), remaining at the GDDR7 standard.
RTX 5070 laptops with 12GB VRAM
These new 12GB RTX 5070 laptops will use the same Blackwell GPU configuration as their 8GB counterparts, featuring 4,609 CUDA cores (down from the 6,144 found in the desktop variant). Currently, the 8GB RTX 5070 laptop GPU offers 384 GB/s bandwidth and a 128-bit memory bus. While not confirmed by Nvidia, the bus width is reportedly the same, meaning the 12GB model offers 50% more memory capacity despite not shifting to a wider 192-bit bus, as you’d find on the 12GB desktop card.
Demand for GeForce RTX GPUs remains strong, and memory supply is constrained. In order to maximize memory availability, we are releasing the GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU 12GB configuration with 24Gb G7 memory. This gives our partners access to an additional pool of memory to complement the 16Gb G7 supply that currently ships with most GeForce GPUs. The 12GB configuration will exist alongside the current 8GB configuration, and allows our partners to bring a broader range of GeForce RTX 5070 laptops to consumers.
Source: Nvidia
RTX 5070 laptops are positioned to be a solid mid-range option for the latest generation of Nvidia graphics on the go. We remember Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang proudly proclaiming that RTX 5070 laptops would offer 4090 performance for half the power, and now, with additional VRAM, they should be able to better utilize the likes of upscaling and frame generation. With the 8GB options remaining in production, this may mean a couple of different price points to consider moving forward, too.
