Friday, October 14th 2022
NVIDIA Cancels GeForce RTX 4080 12GB, To Relaunch it With a Different Name
NVIDIA has decided to cancel the November 2022 launch of the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB. The company will relaunch the card under a different name, though it didn't announce the replacement name just yet. The naming of the RTX 4080 12 GB was cause for much controversy. With the RTX 40-series "Ada," NVIDIA debuted three SKUs—the already launched RTX 4090 which is in stores right now; the RTX 4080 16 GB, and the RTX 4080 12 GB. Memory size notwithstanding, the RTX 4080 12 GB is a vastly different graphics card from the RTX 4080 16 GB.
The RTX 4080 12 GB and RTX 4080 16 GB didn't even share the same silicon. While the 16 GB model is based on the larger "AD103" silicon, has 9,728 CUDA cores, and a 256-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus; the RTX 4080 12 GB is based on the smaller "AD104" silicon, has just 7,680 CUDA cores (21% fewer CUDA cores); and a meager 192-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus. This had the potential to confuse buyers, especially given the $900 price. With criticism spanning not just social media but also bad press, NVIDIA decided to pull the plug on the RTX 4080 12 GB. The company will likely re-brand it as a successor to the RTX 3070 Ti, although then it will have a hard time justifying its $900 price-tag. The RTX 4080 16 GB, however, is on track for a November 16 availability date, with a baseline price of $1,200.
Source:
NVIDIA
The RTX 4080 12 GB and RTX 4080 16 GB didn't even share the same silicon. While the 16 GB model is based on the larger "AD103" silicon, has 9,728 CUDA cores, and a 256-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus; the RTX 4080 12 GB is based on the smaller "AD104" silicon, has just 7,680 CUDA cores (21% fewer CUDA cores); and a meager 192-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus. This had the potential to confuse buyers, especially given the $900 price. With criticism spanning not just social media but also bad press, NVIDIA decided to pull the plug on the RTX 4080 12 GB. The company will likely re-brand it as a successor to the RTX 3070 Ti, although then it will have a hard time justifying its $900 price-tag. The RTX 4080 16 GB, however, is on track for a November 16 availability date, with a baseline price of $1,200.
423 Comments on NVIDIA Cancels GeForce RTX 4080 12GB, To Relaunch it With a Different Name
Nvidia continues to push their rtx narrative and also dlss and 4k gaming, 8gb is simply not enough on a high end card. The 3070 with 8bg and even the 3080 with 10gb were already starved by vram, the 4070 would be even more so.
Nvidia diehards probably right now :peace:
Two different concepts.
I admire NVIDIA for their engineering, both their hardware and their software (and I'm not even a developer).
I have a separate opinion about how they run their business however I choose not to provide any more details today. I've already said enough about the topic this week.
This is like launching the RTX 3080 with 8 GB when even 10 GB led to cheating by nvidia, lowering texture resolution and image quality to maintain framerates.
I'm planning to step up to a 4K monitor come christmas but for now on 1440p my 3090 is more than enough.
I have a 3060 Ti 8GB card and for 1440p I don't recall running into VRAM limits apart from maybe one or two titles. 8GB VRAM is a factor for 4K gaming.
Clearly they could debut a 4070 8GB card and later release a 10GB or 12GB variant. It's not like NVIDIA is forced to pick a specific VRAM amount for any given GPU. And consumers will likely buy whatever is offered regardless.
The "it's because 4090 sells so well" comments are even more peculiar. Which GPU flagship wasn't sold out in the first weeks after release.
Per NVs own discovery (was in their slides) they've shockingly discovered that customers stick with series (e.g. 970 => 1070 => 2070) rather than sticking with the price bracket.
4080 losing "80" would be a major hit.
Most consumers will just look at the amount of VRAM printed on the retail box and figure that 12GB is better than 10GB even if the bus width is narrower on the former.
The nvidia excrement show continues...
The delay is an estimation. Fill in whatever timespan you like.
- Pretending there is a scalper/miner shortage on 4090
- "Loyalty program" for buying FE 4090, only for current nvidia owners
- Killing the LHR from 30 series
- And now, cancelling the dumb 4080 12GB.
More "unusual moves" to be expected as Jensen continues to wake up from his hubris enduced coma.
Spot price for 8Gbit GDDR6 is even lower than GDDR5 and there is a chance the 16Gb GDDR6 to be only around 1.5X the 8Gb price.(and Nvidia probably buys lower than the below spot session lows...)
So for example the actual difference between 8 8Gbit GDDR6 ICs (256bit bus case/8GB total) and 6 16Gbit GDDR6 ICs (192bit bus case/12GB) can even be only $5 total depending the 16Gbit GDDR6 IC price.
There is a reason for example ARC A770 8GB has only $20 difference with 16GB version and this could be it (8 x $5 for 8Gbit ICs vs 8 x $7.5 for 16Gbit ICs) (i don't buy Intel just want to push 16GB version)
Anyone with access can enlight us!