THE BEST RTX 4080 LEAKS
– There are two variants of the RTX 4080: the 16GB GDDR6X and the 12GB GDDR6X
– ‘Full-fat’ 16GB model will feature 9728 CUDA cores, 23Gbps memory speed
– Base TGP is 285W/240W, lower than previous predictions
– Max power draw is expected to be 516W
– 12GB model actually has a slightly higher clock speed
The Nvidia GTC stream officially revealed the launch of the RTX 4080, which includes the starting price of the 12GB RTX 4080 being $899 and the 16GB version being $1,199.
Both models will be released in November, a month after the RTX 4090 launches.
Original story below:
The official launch of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 may only be a few hours away, with rumors suggesting that Nvidia’s ‘Lovelace’ RTX 4000 graphics cards could be shown off during the keynote GTC 2022 presentation on September 20 – which is today! As of right now, we’re expecting to see three GPUs properly showcased, with two variants of the RTX 4080, alongside the the RTX 4090, though sadly this doesn’t include the RTX 4070.
Those two different flavors of RTX 4080 apparently include one with 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM, and a full-fat version packing a more powerful 16GB.
Since the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 was such an incredible GPU, introducing 4K gaming to the mainstream PC space, we’ve got high hopes for the RTX 4080. As far as we’re concerned, it has the potential to be one of the best Nvidia graphics cards on the market.
Make sure you check out our Nvidia RTX 4090 launch live blog for all the latest news, including any hints of the RTX 4080, as well as our how to watch the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 announcement at GTC 2022 guide as well.
Until Nvidia officially announces the RTX 4080, much of what we ‘know’ so far is actually based on leaks, rumors, and reasonable logical extrapolation. The information contained within this article could be right on the money, or it could be completely wrong. We don’t have long to wait, at least…
Cut to the chase
- What is it? Nvidia’s next 40-series graphics card
- When is it out? November 2022
- What will it cost? The 12GB model is $899 and the 16GB model is $1,199
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 release date
- According to the Nvidia event, both models are primed to launch November 2022
For months, rumors have been circulating that the RTX 4080 would be arriving sometime in late Fall or even in early 2023. But it seems that those, such as famed Twitter leaker @kopite7kimi and VideoCardz, the former which predicted a bit after the RTX 4090 and the latter nailing the release window, were on the money.
According to the Nvidia event, the two models of the RTX 4080 will be launching sometime in November 2022. This puts it just about two years after the launch of its predecessor, the RTX 3080.
Either way, this was par for the course, as most graphics card generations last for roughly two years before being replaced. The RTX 2080, for instance, launched in September 2018, a little over two years after the May 2016 launch of the GTX 1080. And, of course, the RTX 3080 launched in September 2020, which was almost two years on the dot.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 price
- The RTX 4080 12GB version will start at $899
- The 16GB version is priced at $1,199
The RTX 4080 has been confirmed for a starting MSRP of $899 (£849), which sticks very close to the MSRP of the RTX 3080 of $699 (£649). The 16GB version is a whopping $1,199, which means our initial predictions of the 12GB model being $699 were accurate but the 16GB version being around $800 was completely off the mark.
Back when we originally reviewed the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, we praised it for bringing such a huge improvement in performance at a notably lower price point than the RTX 2080 Super. Of course, the rise of crypto mining saw GPU prices reach some frankly insane prices, so that point feels a bit double-edged in hindsight.
However, the crypto crash happened: chunky mining rigs with multiple graphics cards are being sold off en masse, as the value of cryptocurrencies plummeted and Ethereum’s great ‘Merge’ saw conventional mining become redundant. Most current-gen GPUs are actually now available at (or close to) MSRP once again as the market stabilizes.
(Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 specs
- 16GB model will feature 9728 CUDA cores, 2,505MHz boost clock, 256-bit memory bus and memory bandwidth of 736GB/s
- 12GB model will feature 7680 CUDA cores, 2,610MHz boost clock, 192-bit memory bus and memory bandwidth of 504GB/s
- Power demands won’t be as severe as originally feared
The 12GB model of the RTX 4080 was, in fact, what many leakers had previously referred to as the RTX 4070 or 4070 Ti, since it is believed to use a slightly different central GPU (though still manufactured on Nvidia’s 4nm Ada Lovelace process).
Given that it was previously mistaken for a lower-tier card, it unsurprisingly sits beneath the 16GB version in just about every area, not just VRAM. There isn’t just less memory; it’s less powerful, too, with a smaller bus and a bandwidth of 504GB/s as opposed to the 16GB model’s 736GB/s.
The 16GB 4080 also has faster memory than even the RTX 4090, with a speed of 23Gbps compared to 21Gbps for the other two cards. It’s worth noting that both leaked iterations of the RTX 4080 actually have slightly less memory bandwidth than the original RTX 3080, but the memory is faster across the board and that card only had 10GB of VRAM to start with.
The previous-generation Ampere architecture didn’t allow for as many CUDA cores. With Lovelace, we’re getting 9728 cores (and 7680 for the slimmed-down 12GB model). This means that the 16GB model of the RTX 4080 has more than the 3080 did, but the 12GB model does not. For the uninitiated, ‘CUDA cores’ is just Nvidia’s name for graphics processor cores; naturally, more is better.
When it comes to power requirements, there has been a lot of fear around these cards being seriously power-hungry. Older leaks pointed to power requirements upwards of 650W, but it now looks like the 16GB RTX 4080 will have a much more reasonable base TGP of 340W (285W for the 12GB model). When it comes to overclocking, the ceiling appears to be 516W.
Speaking of overclocking: the factory boost clock for these two GPUs will be 2,505MHz and 2,610MHz. Surprisingly, the faster card is actually the 12GB version, though this is likely because the beefier 16GB model will need to throttle sooner to avoid overheating. Either way, these are massively higher than the original 1710MHz boost clock of the RTX 3080.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 design
- Quad-slot cooling design with three fans as standard
- No leaked images of Founder’s Edition cards yet
- Expected to be larger and heavier than anything we’ve seen yet
It’s impossible to judge at this point which image leaks of purported RTX 4000-series GPUs are real – and so far, they’ve all been focused on the flagship RTX 4090. Our US computing editor John was rather suspicious of the fonts used on some supposed Zotac Gaming RTX 4090 packaging.
Still, we can expect a seriously chunky RTX 4080, which will presumably use the same new quad-slot design seen in leaked RTX 4090 pictures. One leaked RTX 4090 from Galax supposedly uses four fans (a standard three-fan design, with an extra fan attached to the rear) along with a meaty heat sink.
We’ve yet to see Founder’s Edition (FE) versions of these cards leak properly, so the exact design of these is unclear at this point (although various renders have been circulating).
Naturally, every third-party manufacturer will have their own style when it comes to the exterior casing of the card, so if you think Gigabyte GPUs look better than MSI ones, go with your gut. Either way, these new GPUs are going to mean trouble for PC builders, as they’ll be bigger, heavier, and more cumbersome than anything we’ve seen before.
Remember that everything we’ve discussed here is pure conjecture at this point; we’ve collated our most trusted and believable leaks to form this report, but there’s no way of confirming which nuggets of information are true and which are hogwash. We’ll be back to update this page on September 20 once we have all the news from Nvidia!