Is Nvidia really about to add to its lineup of top GPUs? All signs point to yes, and now, we have an official Nvidia keynote on the horizon that tells us when we might hear more about the rumored RTX 40 Super. Nvidia revealed that it’s going to deliver a special address on January 8 as part of CES 2024. Although the company hasn’t confirmed what it’s planning to cover, the rumor mill has been buzzing with information about three new desktop GPUs. But will they really be worth the upgrade?
Several reputable leakers have weighed in on the matter of the RTX 40-series refresh, and we’ve been getting updates about the range for a few weeks now. Nvidia doesn’t need to specifically state that it’ll talk about these graphics cards, as that is going to be the expectation anyway. The three GPUs in question are the RTX 4080 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and the RTX 4070 Super.
During its previous keynote at CES 2023, Nvidia talked about the RTX 40 laptop range but also unveiled the RTX 4070 Ti — formerly known as the RTX 4080 12GB. This year, as shared by VideoCardz, it’s likely that we’ll hear about all three new desktop GPUs, but some updates regarding AI are also possible. Although Nvidia might announce all three graphics cards at once, we don’t know whether all three will hit the market simultaneously. Leaks point to the first quarter of the year for all three, though.
Initially, it seemed like Nvidia might deliver a sizeable upgrade with the RTX 40-series refresh. Sources claimed that Nvidia might shake things up, upgrading the RTX 4080 Super to the AD102 GPU (which is the flagship chip found in the RTX 4090). The RTX 4070 Super was said to be getting upgraded to the AD103 chip, which is currently utilized by the RTX 4080. These changes would unlock far more cores, an increase in VRAM, and a larger memory bus for both cards.
However, it’s best not to put much stock in these assumptions. Other leaks suggest that the RTX 40 refresh will be a minor upgrade, with all cards sticking to their respective chips and maxing out the remaining core counts. Some rumors pin the RTX 4080 Super as featuring 10,240 CUDA cores and 16GB of GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit bus. The RTX 4070 Ti Super is said to sport 8,448 CUDA cores and 16GB VRAM, while the RTX 4070 Super might have 7,168 cores and 12GB VRAM.
Those specs mark an increase over the non-Super cards, but not a massive one. The RTX 4070 Ti Super (as a side note, that name’s always going to be a mouthful) would see the greatest boost thanks to the jump from 12GB to 16GB VRAM, while the core count boosts are mostly minor.
Regardless of the specs, the RTX 40 Super lineup might serve one important purpose — it should help the prices of some GPUs go down. Nvidia’s pricing has been on a worrying upward trend, which doesn’t bode well for the next generation of GPUs. If we can see the existing RTX 4070, RTX 4070 Ti, and the RTX 4080 drop in price thanks to the refresh, that alone will be a good thing.
We’ll be covering CES 2024 live as it happens, so stay tuned to make sure you don’t miss Nvidia’s announcement.
Editors’ Recommendations
- Nvidia’s next GPU might follow Apple’s lead — and not in a good way
- Nvidia RTX 4090 prices are skyrocketing as stocks run seriously low
- Nvidia’s RTX Super might be a massive boost at no extra cost
- Why AMD’s biggest competitor is no longer Nvidia
- AMD has another new GPU that it says can beat the RTX 4060 Ti
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the “PC building is just like expensive…
Even older RTX 4090s aren’t safe from melting connector
It’s no news that the power connector on one of Nvidia’s best graphics cards may sometimes melt, and yet, this is still new. Typically, the 12VHPWR connector found in the RTX 4090 would either melt quickly or not at all. Bad news for those who thought they were out of the woods and safe from the problem — it appears that the RTX 4090 can still melt after a year of usage.
Will the saga of RTX 4090 melting connectors never end? It seems not. When the card was initially launched a year ago, the reports of melting cables at the GPU side started cropping up, but then, slowly died down. Now, however, Byogore on Reddit posted a photo of a melted connector on the PCMR subreddit. After working fine for a year, the user started experiencing issues and noticed that the connector had melted.
There’s only one use for an RTX 4080 Ti, and it’s not what you think
According to the latest round of leaks, Nvidia may be readying an RTX 4080 Ti, set to come out in the first few months of 2024. While such a GPU would definitely rank high among the best graphics cards, it’s not exactly necessary right now — there are plenty of high-end GPUs floating around. There is one reason I would like to see an RTX 4080 Ti, though; to push down the price of the RTX 4080.
MEGAsizeGPU, who is a frequent speculator in the graphics card space, shared over the weekend that an RTX 4080 Super, or maybe Ti, will come out in just a few months. Given Nvidia’s current naming convention in this generation, a Ti card seems more likely. As per MEGAsizeGPU, the card will be based on Nvidia’s flagship AD102 chip and will have a power consumption below 450 watts. The other specs are a mystery, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Nvidia added some more VRAM to the card — 20GB seems likely. The bump from AD103 to AD102 should also deliver a decent upgrade in CUDA core counts — dare I say in the 12,000 to 13,000 range?
The worst GPUs of all time: loud, disappointing, uninspired
When you look at some of the best graphics cards of today, it’s easy to forget that Nvidia and AMD (and more recently, Intel) weren’t always the only players in the GPU game. While both AMD and Nvidia have committed their fair share of GPU blunders, they’re not the only two brands behind some of the worst GPUs of all time.
Let’s take a look at some of the graphics cards that will make you appreciate the current GPU landscape, and yes, even including cards that are borderline mistakes. (Hello, RTX 4060 Ti.) Here are the GPUs that did it terribly, terribly wrong, even though each had something interesting or innovative to bring to the table.
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