Twitter user @KittyYYuko has leaked what should be the first picture of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 card, although it's not exactly what we'd call a great picture. It's not that it's a blurry phone shot in a dark room or a really low-resolution image, but rather that the card is inside a plastic bag. As such, it's hard to make out any real details, although the post commented in Japanese that it's very similar to a GeForce RTX 3090FE card.

The card is said to be using a three slot design and what can be seen, despite the glossy plastic bag surrounding the card, is that NVIDIA has changed to a different fan-blade design. What makes this look a bit fake, is the logo on the card, as the RTX and 4080 text on the card appears to be using different fonts. However, according to Videocardz, this is a new font that NVIDIA has started using on its website and it might have translated over to their products as well.

NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards are less than two months from the official launch. As we near the final specification draft, we are constantly getting updates from hardware leakers claiming that the specification is ever-changing. Today, @kopite7kimi has updated his GeForce RTX 4080 GPU predictions with some exciting changes. First off, the GPU memory will get an upgrade over the previously believed specification. Before, we thought that the SKU used GDDR6X running at 21 Gbps; however, now, it is assumed that it uses a 23 Gbps variant. Faster memory will definitely result in better overall performance, and we are yet to see what it can achieve with overclocking.

Next, another update for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 comes with the SKU's total board power (TBP). Previously we believed it came with a 420 Watt TBP; however, the sources of kopite7kimi claim that it has a 340 Watt TBP. This 60 Watt reduction is rather significant and could be attributed to NVIDIA's optimization to have the most efficient design possible.

The upcoming generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA look set to feature significantly higher power budgets than their predecessors according to a recent claim from leaker Kopite. The RTX 4090 has been rumored to feature a TDP above 400 W for some time and this latest leak indicates that the RTX 4080 may also ship with an increased power requirement of 420 W. This RTX 4080 (PG139-SKU360) would represent an increase of 100 W compared to the RTX 3080 with power rises also expected with the RTX 4070 and RTX 4060. The RTX 4070 could see a power budget as high as 400 W if NVIDIA chooses to use GDDR6X memory for the card while the RTX 4060 is rumored to see a 50 W increase to 220 W at a minimum. The preliminary rumors indicate a launch date for these cards in late 2022.

In what is a sign that the July 2022 rumored debut of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 "Ada Lovelace" graphics card is on track; the first spy pictures of its Founders Edition cooler surfaced on ChipHell forums. The cooler appears to be an evolution of the Dual-Axial Flow-Through cooling architecture NVIDIA debuted with the RTX 30-series "Ampere" Founders Edition cards, where air is drawn in from one end of the card, flows through the cooling solution that's a series of aluminium fin-stacks skewered by a series of heatpipes; and ventilated through the back of the card, with a second fan in "pull" configuration.

From the looks of it, the aluminium fins on the RTX 4090 Founders Edition cooler appears to have a dark-grey matte finish, which could indicate some form of ceramic surface-treatment that improves heat-dissipation; while the cooler's base making primary contact with the GPU and memory chips, appears to be a vapor-chamber plate with a nickel-plated copper surface. From the location and sizes of the thermal pads for the memory chips, we guess that the GPU is surrounded by 10 memory chips, which could indicate a 320-bit memory interface, making this card a possible successor to the original RTX 3080. The cooler itself is more than 2 slots thick, and appears to be as thick as the RTX 3090 FE cooler.

With the release of Hopper, NVIDIA's cycle of new architecture releases is not yet over. Later this year, we expect to see next-generation gaming architecture codenamed Ada Lovelace. According to a well-known hardware leaker for NVIDIA products, @kopite7kimi, on Twitter, the green team is reportedly testing a potent variant of the upcoming AD102 SKU. As the leak indicates, we could see an Ada Lovelace AD102 SKU with a Total Graphics Power (TGP) of 900 Watts. While we don't know where this SKU is supposed to sit in the Ada Lovelace family, it could be the most powerful, Titan-like design making a comeback. Alternatively, this could be a GeForce RTX 4090 Ti SKU. It carries 48 GB of GDDR6X memory running at 24 Gbps speeds alongside monstrous TGP. Feeding the card are two 16-pin connectors.

Another confirmation from the leaker is that the upcoming RTX 4080 GPU uses the AD103 SKU variant, while the RTX 4090 uses AD102. For further information, we have to wait a few more months and see what NVIDIA decides to launch in the upcoming generation of gaming-oriented graphics cards.

Everyone's favorite GPU-news leaker Kopite7kimi has updated his tweet from April 1 with more specific board part numbers, and suddenly the information contained there—which could have been misinterpreted as an April 1st joke—now all seems to add up with our own posting from last month about memory bus widths. The update seems to indicate the boards will now feature 21 Gbps memory, which is the same as what we saw on the recently made available RTX 3090 Ti cards, and Videocardz goes further to speculate the 3090 Ti could have been a dry run for the upcoming cards, including with a similar 600 W TDP rating to follow. Note also that the leaker is shying away from referring to these as the RTX 4080/4090 series, leaving room in case NVIDIA decides to jump in naming scheme for reasons including marketing and what the competition decides.

After the data center-oriented Hopper architecture launch, NVIDIA is slowly preparing to transition the consumer section to new, gaming-focused designs codenamed Ada Lovelace. For starters, the source claims that NVIDIA is using the upcoming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU as a test run for the next-generation Ada Lovelace AD102 GPU. Thanks to the authorities over at Igor's Lab, we have some additional information about the upcoming lineup. We have a sneak peek of a few features regarding the top-end GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 GPU SKUs. According to Igor's claims, NVIDIA is testing the PCIe Gen5 power connector and wants to see how it fares with the biggest GA102 SKU - GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.

Additionally, we find that the AD102 GPU is supposed to be pin-compatible with GA102. This means that the number of pins located on GA102 is the same as what we are going to see on AD102. There are 12 places for memory modules on the AD102 reference design board, resulting in up to 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. As much as 24 voltage converters surround the GPU, NVIDIA will likely implement uP9512 SKU. It can drive eight phases, resulting in three voltage converters per phase, ensuring proper power delivery. The total board power (TBP) is likely rated at up to 600 Watts, meaning that the GPU, memory, and power delivery combined output 600 Watts of heat. Igor notes that board partners will bundle 12+4 (12VHPWR) to four 8-pin (PCIe old) converters to enable PSU compatibility.