Nvidia's RTX 5070 performance claims come with some big caveats
Nvidia says its new RTX 5070 can deliver RTX 4090 performance for $549
⚙️ Nvidia announced its latest generation RTX 50-series GPUs at CES 2025
🤑 Nvidia claims the $549 RTX 5070 can rival the outgoing $2,000 RTX 4090
👯♂️ However, those claims rely heavily on the next-generation of DLSS to help boost frame rates and using AI multi-frame generation
📈 DLSS 4 delivers a big increase in frames over DLSS 3.5
Nvidia’s next-generation of graphics cards come with big price tags and impressive performance claims. But it’s the RTX 5070 that has arguably grabbed most of the headlines.
Nvidia claims its new $549 card can deliver the same performance as the Nvidia RTX 4090, a $1,900 GPU. And while technically it can, it uses Nvidia’s new upscaling and frame generation technologies to get there.
Speaking to The Verge, a senior technical product manager at Nvidia explained how a $549 card can match and sometimes surpass the performance of a GPU that costs more than double.
“In games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Alan Wake 2, you can match performance numbers [on an RTX 5070] using DLSS 4 compared to an RTX 4090 using only DLSS 3.5 Frame Generation,” says Lars Weinand. “This is what the claim is based on, you see performance levels that were only before possible with an RTX 4090, but of course, that doesn’t mean that in every single configuration and graphics setting that you might pick that you will have the similar performance.”
Nvidia’s frame generation may seem like a magic bullet on paper, but many gamers believe it’s simply a way of adding “fake frames” to a game, and the inflated frame rate numbers aren’t reflective of what a GPU is actually capable of. The tech also adds additional input lag, which can make a game feel slower and less responsive.
Without DLSS and Frame Generation, the RTX 5070 can’t hold a candle to the raw processing power of the RTX 4090. But for $549, and with many games adopting Nvidia’s new technologies, that might not be an issue for many. For those with an RTX 4090 in their rig, there’s no need to rush out for an upgrade just yet.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.