4080 12GB is on the same level as 3080 12 /Ti, of course with the speed 50% unplift, the card that is a step up pricewise could be 4080 16GB although I doubt it, more likely 4080/12 will be cheaper. JAy is in damage control mode since his preposterous claims that we should rush and buy the overpriced cards and can't be trusted anymore. And fair enough 3080 12/ Ti haven't budged much but that is because supply is thin while nvidia is secretly converting all remaining GA102 based cards to 3070 Ti in effort to hold the line high but they can't possibly succeed.
... so, you understand that GPUs on shelves or on their way to shelves left Nvidia's (Samsung's, really, plus whoever does their packaging) production lines something like 3-4 months ago, right? If they're "converting all remaining GA102 based cards to 3070 Ti", that would either entail an entirely unprecedented programme of BIOS limiting already produced GPUs (which would of course be a massive problem, as they would have coolers and designs meant for 3080 12/Tis, and they'd have to issue massive refunds to AIB partners), or they would have to recall shipped GPUs to reconfigure them, which ... yeah, not happening. That would cost tens if not hundreds of millions, be a logistics nightmare, require implementing a high tech production line for a process that's never been done before at any type of scale, and cause massive lawsuits from AIB partners. Not to mention the difficulty of reconfiguring a GPU die after it's been packaged and had its model number laser etched onto the die in the first place.
Watch the jay2cents video I posted earlier. It's Jensen's voice. He wants to reduce the sell-in. It obviously means a raise in msrp is coming. He's holding back supply to keep the prices from falling more.
This video
Wow, that is surprisingly candid even for an earnings call. And Jay's analysis (to the degree that he does anything more than just reformulating what was said out of corporate BS bingo-land and into more plain language) seems spot on. That is Nvidia's CEO saying straight out that they're limiting how many 30 series GPUs retailers are currently getting access to in order to keep prices high, in anticipation of the 40 series launch. The
only possible reasons for that being "in anticipation of" that launch is to either make the 40 series look
good - same price, but more performance! - or to make it look
not that bad - 20% more expensive, but you get 20% more performance too! Going by their wording and the overall angle of Jensen's presentation, the latter seems far more likely, as it's clear that they
really don't want lower prices, and are willing to sit on inventory in order to do so.