Wait, What?
Instead, Nvidia has become greedy, and that’s what we will be exploring in this article.
We looked at the hardware configurations in each class and compared them relative to the flagship of the era.
Spoiler alert:it doesn’t stack up well at all.
Historically, this is quite a weak hardware configuration, even for the RTX 5080.
That said, in general, the 5080 would usually fit between a 60 Ti and 70-class product.
Evaluating VRAM
Things don’t look much better when examining memory bandwidth.
VRAM capacity varies a lot between generations, and there have been some funky configurations over the years.
Evaluating GPU Prices
Lastly, we can take a look at pricing.
This is the only metric where Blackwell is sitting more favorably than the average generation since 2013.
But it is a little better than average.
Similarly, the RTX 5070 is actually cheaper than the historical relative average price of a 70-class GPU.
With the flagship now costing $2,000, the 70-class GPU would be more like $750.
Nvidia GPU Configuration Summary
This summary of the six-generation average Nvidia GPU configuration shows the issue perfectly.
The RTX 5070 has a similar problem.
The first is to adjust the configurations.
For the RTX 5080, this would have required a larger GPU die that slots between GB202 and GB203.
This would also allow for a configuration with more VRAM.
But let’s just go with lowering the price to make things simple.
Is a Better Configuration or Price Possible?
The obvious caveat is that it’s become more expensive to produce a graphics card in 2025.
There is also general inflation to deal with over the last decade.
This is Nvidia’s primary defense when asked about the rising cost of graphics cards over the years.
First, let’s explore die sizes.
The problem Nvidia has faced is that TSMC wafers have become significantly more expensive.
To be clear, this is a rough estimate, not the factual cost of the die.
Our rough estimate for that die is a cost of $40.
Adjusted for inflation, those prices today would be more like $780 and $500.
Does Nvidia want to sell an RTX 5080 at a price more in line with 70-class hardware?
Could they do so if they really wanted to?
Yeah, and probably quite comfortably.
We can look to other parts of the GPU market to see whether this is reasonable too.
But Intel has priced their GPU at $250, compared to $550 for the RTX 5070.
The other factor in all of this is competition.
Nvidia is selling gamers a 70-class configuration for $1,000 because they have no competition.
