Nvidia cancels the controversial RTX 4080 12GB

Ever because the launch of the enormously costly RTX 40-series, that includes the RTX 4090 and each 16GB and 12GB flavors of the RTX 4080, some players have referred to as foul on Nvidia for the final entry in that listing. The 12GB variant of the most recent GeForce RTX 4080 card isn’t only a dip in reminiscence, because the identify implies, it additionally lowers a number of different key specs. Some players (together with yours actually) stated that it will be extra appropriately referred to as the RTX 4070, and priced as such. Nvidia appears to agree on the previous level, if not essentially the latter: The GPU maker is canceling the 12GB model of the cardboard, for now.

“The RTX 4080 12GB is a incredible graphics card, but it surely’s not named proper,” admits Nvidia in a short-but-sweet weblog publish. “Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is complicated.” The corporate is referring obliquely to the truth that the 12GB model of the cardboard has a distinct chip design with markedly fewer CUDA cores and a extra restricted reminiscence interface, plus a really barely boosted base clock. The worth for the 16GB model of the cardboard is $1,199 and appears to be unchanged, whereas the 12GB model was previously set at $899, each significantly greater than their RTX 30-series equivalents.

“So we’re urgent the ‘unlaunch’ button on the 4080 12GB,” says Nvidia. Precisely what it plans to do with presumably 1000’s of ready-to-ship graphics playing cards isn’t specified, although the corporate notes that the 16GB model of the RTX 4080 is able to go for its retail debut on November 16.

No matter its plans, Nvidia definitely isn’t going to throw away enormous batches of pricey graphics playing cards. That is pure hypothesis on our half, however maybe Nvidia will dangle on to them and make the 12GB 4080 the RTX 4070 it ought to have been within the first place. Possibly it would even deign to decrease that worth a bit—with Intel and AMD poised to reap the benefits of Nvidia’s hubristically excessive costs, it couldn’t harm.