Nvidia has released a new GPU. It takes the design of the RTX 3080 and adds additional RAM and CUDA cores, and it will almost certainly be impossible to obtain.
The Nvidia RTX 3080 is already one of the strongest GPUs on the market, but there’s now an improved variant with more RAM than ever for those that need even more power. Graphics in PC games have gotten ridiculously excellent in recent years. Developers can fit more elements on the screen at once than ever before, and technologies like ray tracing make these tiles more immersive than they’ve ever been.
However, competent GPUs are required to handle all of these graphics developments. The RTX 3080 has been one of the most popular graphics cards over the last year. The 3080, which was released in September 2020, is still a fantastic component. The $699 card is a performance champ, thanks to Nvidia’s Ampere Architecture, 2nd generation ray tracing, and features like DLSS.
Nvidia is enhancing its 3080 formula with a beefed-up model a little over a year later. Nvidia introduced a new RTX 3080 with improved 12GB of RAM on January 11, 2022, which is two more GBs than the standard RTX 3080. Compared to the 8GB RTX 3080, the higher RAM is accompanied by more CUDA cores (8960 vs. 8704) and a wider 384-bit memory bus, resulting in around 20% more memory bandwidth. Because of the increased horsepower, the new RTX 3080 requires 350W of electricity instead of the previous 320W, while Nvidia still advises utilizing the same 750W power supply.
Another fantastic GPU that no one else has.
However, as has been the case since 2020, any GPU news is accompanied by a large asterisk. Buying a GPU at its usual retail price is nearly impossible right now due to a combination of chip shortages, crypto miners, and internet scalpers. The RTX 3080 8GB is expected to cost $699. However, a short search on eBay reveals that the exact identical card is being sold for far over $1,500.
NVIDIA HAS YET TO DISCLOSE the MSRP for the 12GB RTX 3080, although it’s expected to be between $899 and $999. In theory, that’s a reasonable price, but very few people will ever be able to afford it in practice. Instead, they’ll have to rely on re-sellers who will charge hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars more than what it should cost.
Unfortunately, the GPU industry is now in this state. Nvidia continues launching new GPUs and attempting to pique people’s interest in them. Cards like the 12GB RTX 3080 sound amazing, but when it’s nearly impossible to get one without spending a ridiculous amount of money, the thrill fades quickly. If you have a chance to acquire the 12GB 3080 for its MSRP, it’s a viable contender among Nvidia’s flagship series.
Source: Nvidia
