NVIDIA Cancels GeForce RTX 4080 12GB, To Relaunch it With a Different Name

[btarunr]

NVIDIA has decided to cancel the November 2022 launch of the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB. The company will relaunch the card under a different name, though it didn't announce the replacement name just yet. The naming of the RTX 4080 12 GB was cause for much controversy. With the RTX 40-series "Ada," NVIDIA debuted three SKUs—the already launched RTX 4090 which is in stores right now; the RTX 4080 16 GB, and the RTX 4080 12 GB. Memory size notwithstanding, the RTX 4080 12 GB is a vastly different graphics card from the RTX 4080 16 GB.

The RTX 4080 12 GB and RTX 4080 16 GB didn't even share the same silicon. While the 16 GB model is based on the larger "AD103" silicon, has 9,728 CUDA cores, and a 256-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus; the RTX 4080 12 GB is based on the smaller "AD104" silicon, has just 7,680 CUDA cores (21% fewer CUDA cores); and a meager 192-bit wide GDDR6X memory bus. This had the potential to confuse buyers, especially given the $900 price. With criticism spanning not just social media but also bad press, NVIDIA decided to pull the plug on the RTX 4080 12 GB. The company will likely re-brand it as a successor to the RTX 3070 Ti, although then it will have a hard time justifying its $900 price-tag. The RTX 4080 16 GB, however, is on track for a November 16 availability date, with a baseline price of $1,200.



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[P4-630]

Great, now what to do with my $900....

 

[JalleR]

Just an idea Nvidia...... You could call it the RTX 4080 MX...............................................

 

[the54thvoid]

Great, now what to do with my $900....

Buy the same card but now it'll be called a 4070Ti (maybe even just a vanilla 4070).

This shows how much Nvidia are taking the piss. You can see the marketing boardroom with folk giggling about what they were going to release. They knew it was a 4070 in spec but thought, "hey, let's just try and pretend its another 4080 model, even though it's way inferior."

I don't normally get annoyed at Nvidia (up until now) - they are after all a business with shareholders but when they pull this sort of shit, it's just a symptom of a disconnect with consumer reality.

 

[Tuvok]

I think they realised there's very high demand for the 4090 and the same will be true for 4080, so no need to rush the lower end parts.

Those can come next year when AMD gpus are available, 3000 series are depleted and they will have to rescale prices anyway, so they also avoid the embarassment of launching a 70 class card at $900

 

[swirl09]

Um... can I make a suggestion? ...

How about, the 4070!!

 

[cvaldes]

Or maybe the RTX 4080 WTF?

Jokes aside, my guess is that they'll end up calling it the 4070 Super or Ti (12GB) above a vanilla 4070 (8GB).

This really makes their marketing department look clueless.

 

[Chrispy_]

The reason they didn't want to call it a 4070 is because the price they want for an xx70 card is obscene.

Perhaps now it will be a 4070 after all, but they're going to have to explain why it's $900 instead of $500. If I had to guess, the explanation from Nvidia will be "F*CK YOU ALL, GIVE US YOUR MONEY"

 

[Vayra86]

Oh wow. So there goes any hopes of there being some higher strategic plan we didn't know about.

They really are fucking idiots.... I can't shake that feeling that RT was the trigger for all this bull. Forget inflation, war, shortages or mining. They invested heavily on something that, like many recent tech developments, is way too expensive for normality, and inspired primarily by greed by creating a new artificial problem for GPUs to solve on the fly.

I mean the marketing strategy supports it, the way it was launched supports it, the overall respect to gamers and game content supports it, and the specs of every gen in succession support it, along with their pricing. Things get ugly fast.

 

[Dirt Chip]

Big LOL.
Now get you renamed 4080-12GB at the same cost and feel much better about it...

Remind me of good old Rage Against the Machine - killing in the name of
Rock on, bitches

 

[trsttte]

Or maybe the RTX 4080 WTF?

Jokes aside, my guess is that they'll end up calling it the 4070 Super or Ti (12GB) above a vanilla 4070 (8GB).

This really makes their marketing department look clueless.

We're past the point where a 4070 can have 8gb of vram, that would be doa quite simply. They'll probably just name what it should always have been named - 4070 - and wait to launch until they can price it lower after getting rid of all the 30 series cards they still have pilled up.

They can do a 4070 super ti with 4080 dies later on depending how the market evolves (availability, competition, 5000 series timing, etc..)

 

[Vayra86]

The reason they didn't want to call it a 4070 is because the price they want for an xx70 card is obscene.

Perhaps now it will be a 4070 after all, but they're going to have to explain why it's $900 instead of $500. If I had to guess, the explanation from Nvidia will be "F*CK YOU ALL, GIVE US YOUR MONEY"

Oh yeah, I mean in terms of popcorn I have boxes full stored for all the great moments to come.

 

[Dyatlov A]

Great news, but It is not even 4070, it is just 4060ti.

 

[JalleR]

Nvidia: but it is not named right READ: 4090 is selling like crazy so we dont need a "cheaper" card yet...

 

[Dirt Chip]

Man, EVGA got their crystal ball up and running pretty good- Pulled the trigger spot on.
So many 4080-12GB carton boxes with wrong letters on it in a snap.
What a shitstorm.

 

[AnotherReader]

Um... can I make a suggestion? ...

How about, the 4070!!

I have a suggestion: 4060 Ti. The 4080 16 GB should be the 4070 Ti.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Wow....look how much influence just bad press had... imagine how much the GPU market would improve for consumers if they actually had the willpower to follow through with their threats and abstain from buying Nvidia's products.....Nvidia just might be forced to actually lower its prices

 

[Tuvok]

Launching Ti/Super versions before or alongside vanilla is stupid in itself

 

[Niceumemu]

Nvidia: but it is not named right READ: 4090 is selling like crazy so we dont need a "cheaper" card yet...

Except it isn't selling well, microcenter had a few stores where stock didn't sell out on first day and most stores still have stock right now

 

[AnotherReader]

Except it isn't selling well, microcenter had a few stores where stock didn't sell out on first day and most stores still have stock right now

Strange. It's the only reasonably priced card in the Ada stack.

 

[Tuvok]

Except it isn't selling well, microcenter had a few stores where stock didn't sell out on first day and most stores still have stock right now

they have stock because they made boatloads of them, stop applying shortage-time logic

also, current stock pricing is inflated because of shops trying to capitalize on fomo

 

[Vayra86]

Strange. It's the only reasonably priced card in the Ada stack.

Lol we call this a 'stack'? Two slices of bread and a burger... no cheese or bacon or lettuce, forget about sauce... and the bottom slice of bread just went missing.

 

[Nanochip]

Good. There’s no reason to have an unforced error and deliberately deplete good will amongst gamers. The 4090 is a beast. Rdna3, if as powerful as rumors claim, would have eaten the 4080 12 GB, I mean the 4070, for lunch. Hopefully nvidia drops the price of the 4070 too.

What they should do is call the 4080 12 GB the 4060, the 16 GB the 4070, release the real 4080 with 16 or 20 GB in between the current 4080 16 GB and the 4090. Price the new 4080 at $900 max, the 4070 at 700 and the 4060 at 500. That would be a strong offense against the Radeon onslaught that’s coming.

 

[Vayra86]

Good. There’s no reason to have an unforced error and deliberately deplete good will amongst gamers. The 4090 is a beast. Rdna3, if as powerful as rumors claim, would have eaten the 4080 12 GB, I mean the 4070, for lunch. Hopefully nvidia drops the price of the 4070 too.

Pfeww. You just made a very interesting point. AMD said itself I believe, top end performance isn't going to reach 4090 levels. Perhaps this also influenced Nvidia's move to lower this GPU down the stack in the future. Now AMD can't compete with any x80 with a bigger part of the stack.

 

[Nanochip]

Pfeww. You just made a very interesting point. AMD said itself I believe, top end performance isn't going to reach 4090 levels. Perhaps this also influenced Nvidia's move to lower this GPU down the stack in the future. Now AMD can't compete with any x80 with a bigger part of the stack.

We’ll have to wait and see even if top rdna3 isn’t as powerful in ray tracing, if it is in roughly the same ballpark in rasterization at 4K and 1440p while consuming less power and at a lower cost, it would’ve sold very well and earned good will with gamers many of whom groaned about the 4090’s price.