Nvidia is taking a step back and “unlaunching” the RTX 4080 12GB. The company had originally planned to launch two RTX 4080 graphics cards (opens in new tab) next month, the RTX 4080 12GB and RTX 4080 16GB, with completely different specs, but has now decided not to release the lower-spec card.
“The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s misnamed. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing,” Nvidia says in a surprisingly concise summary. blog post (opens in new tab).
“So we’re pressing the ‘unlaunch’ button on the 4080 12GB. The RTX 4080 16GB is incredible and is on track to delight gamers everywhere on November 16.”
When Nvidia first announced the RTX 4080, we were a bit surprised to find out that there were two of them on the way. Just from the name, you'd assume they're two models of the same card with different memory configurations, but they're actually two graphics cards with significantly different specs.
After Nvidia's announcement of the cards, many called it confusing and questioned why the RTX 4080 12GB isn't called the RTX 4070 to reflect its lower specs.
Surprisingly, Nvidia took this feedback and did something I really didn't expect them to do. Even Nvidia was pretty convinced it was the right decision until recently.
“It should be intuitive, right? The 16GB, it’s a better GPU, it’s faster. I don’t think anyone is going to think that the 16GB is not better than the 4080 [12GB]. We’re going to work to be very clear with our product pages, with our retail space, and everywhere gamers are looking for GPUs, so that gamers can choose the GPU that’s right for them,” Justin Walker, senior director of product management at Nvidia, said during a pre-briefing about the RTX 40 series cards.
Below is a table of the original RTX 4080 lineup:
| RTX 4080 12GB (“unreleased”) | RTX 4080 16GB | |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | AD104-400 | AD103-300 |
| CUDA Cores | 7.680 | 9.728 |
| Basic clock | 2.310MHz | 2.210MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2.610MHz | 2.510MHz |
| Memory Bus | 192 bits | 256 bits |
| Memory type | 12GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Memory speed | 21 Gbps | 23 Gbps |
| Graphics card power (W) | 285 W | 320 W |
| Required system power (W) | 700 W | 750 W |
| Launch price | $ 899 | $ 1.199 |
| Release date | Now unknown | November 16th |
What this means is that we're now only expecting one graphics card next month, the RTX 4080 16GB, and that will arrive on November 16. Assuming the pricing remains the same for this card, it will launch for $1,199.
After that, it's likely that the card that was once intended to be the RTX 4080 12GB will take on a new guise as the RTX 4070, though we now have no timeframe for that. Assuming again that the price remains the same, this card will launch for $1,899. That would potentially make an xx70 card expensive, so I wonder if that price is changing as well.
Nvidia never planned a Founders Edition for the RTX 4080 12GB, which may have made the decision to cancel and redesign it a little easier. While it's certainly reached a point where some plans are set in stone — Nvidia's GPU partners were likely ramping up their RTX 4080 12GB cards ready for launch next month. Could many of the card's specs now be changed as a result? We'll have to wait and see.
If you want a taste of what else is to come from the RTX 40-series cards, you can sink your teeth into our Nvidia RTX 4090 review (opens in new tab) right now.
