NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ampere gaming graphics card render. (Image credit: Reddit u / dertpert88)
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 Series Ampere Gaming Graphics Cards are almost here and we’ve got new information about the announcement date for the next generation gaming powers by GamersNexus. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 ‘Ampere’ Gaming graphics cards will replace the lineup of the RTX 20 ‘Turing’ which launched all the way in 2018.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 ‘Ampere’ Gaming Graphics Cards Announced on September 9, to Record High-End GeForce RTX 3080 Ti & RTX 3080 4K Gaming Cards
GamersNexus reports that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards based on the Ampere gaming architecture are already set to announce on September 9th. We’ve heard rumors earlier about September 17, but one thing is confirmed that Ampere is indeed on track for launch next month.
One possibility is that NVIDIA could announce the cards at a digital event on September 9 followed by an official retail launch on September 17. Of course, this is just speculation of my end, but we have seen similar schemes formed for the lineup of the previous generation. The NVIDIA Ampere GeForce RTX 30 Series gaming graphics cards are likely to go on pre-order the same day they are announced.
Steve Burke of GamersNexus (via Videocardz) reports that NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 ‘Ampere’ gaming graphics cards are expected to be announced on September 9th.
Gamers planning to purchase the graphics cards will receive information such as specifications and pricing officially by NVIDIA-independent reviews can only be expected after the launch embargo lifts, which are likely to be a few weeks (1-2 weeks max) after the launch. The Founders Edition base cards will be the first products gamers will have access to, including pre-orders, but we can expect custom AIB variants by the end of September or beginning of October. We have heard from our sources that several AIBs have started planning their allocation of the press sample with the cards that will be shipped in a few weeks.
There will be many users who will surely wait for custom variations on the Founders Edition cards, unless the new design provides a super good reason to go the reference / stock route. Judging by the design of the leaking coolers, the Founders Edition cards seem to offer even more premium components this time around and a unique cooling design that we will definitely check out if we have our hands on the cards ourselves.
As for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Ampere Gaming Graphics Cards, it is stated that the lineup will consist of four graphics cards for 2020, these include:
- NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
- NVIDIA RTX 3080
- NVIDIA RTX 3070
- NVIDIA RTX 3060
All four graphics cards are scheduled for launch in 2020, but will have different launch schedules. The high-end cards will first be prioritized with the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 plan to launch in September, which is about a month away from now. The GeForce RTX 3070 will be launched a month later in October, while the GeForce RTX 3060 mainstream graphics card will hit store shelves in November.
What can we expect from NVIDIA’s high-end GeForce RTX 30 Series Ampere gaming graphics cards, we have speculated / rumored information below:
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti – The Fastest Ampere Graphics Card
According to the details, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti will have the GA102-300-A1 GPU. It is said that the GA102-300-A1 GPU consists of 5248 CUDA cores and 82 SMs. In total, this is a 20% increase in cores over the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. No details like clock speed, TMU / ROP counts are provided and we can not take the Ampere A100 die as a reference because gaming and HPC parts share a different configuration hierarchy.
Going to the memory page, things start to look interesting as it is said that the card will get up to 12 GB of memory with faster GDDR6 pin speeds. Since that is a 384-bit bus that we are looking at, it will be able to offer almost 1 TB / s bandwidth. There is also talk of an improved version of the GDDR6 DRAM known as GDDR6X, however no information is yet available from any graphics DRAM vendor, unlike the previous GDDR6 DRAM which was officially reported months for their integration on the Turing graphics cards.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 – GA102 For High-End Gaming
Passing to the GeForce RTX 3080 reports the rumor that the card with the GA102-200-KD-A1 SKU will be on display. This trimmed SKU will have the same 4352 CUDA cores as the RTX 2080 Ti which will handle a total of 68 SMs. In all likelihood, the card will have 10 GB of memory, which will also be GDDR6X, running at 19 Gbps over a 320-bit bus interface with a bandwidth of 760 GB / s.
The switch to GA102 from TU104 on the RTX 2080 is definitely an interesting one. A high end SKU would also result in higher wattage and thermals, but I believe this could be done to raise the bar on the sub $ 500 segment that should consist of GA104 based RTX 3070 and RTX 3060. The latest performance leaks also show a manly performance improvement over the RTX 2080 and even the RTX 2080 Ti in synthetic benchmarks. If the same could translate to the gaming performance, then Ampere looks like a super attractive product for gamers who have been waiting for almost 2 years now.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 “Amps” Graphics Card Rumor Launch / Specs:
| Name of graphics card | GPU Name | SMs / CUDA cores | Memory capacity | Memory Bus | Start time frame |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | Ampere GA102-300? | 5248 (82)? | 12 GB GDDR6 (X)? | 384-bit | September 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | Ampere GA102-200? | 4352 (68)? | 10 GB GDDR6 (X)? | 320-bit? | September 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 | Ampere GA104-300? | 2944 (46)? | 8 GB GDDR6 (X)? | 256-bit? | October 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | Ampere GA106-300? | TBD | 8 GB GDDR6 (X)? | 256-bit? | November 2020 |
Recent reports have suggested that NVIDIA has halted production of its higher-end GeForce RTX GPU setup to prepare for the Ampere GeForce RTX launch. Only small quantities of the mentioned GPUs are left in the retail channel, which suggests that we are getting closer to the launch. There’s definitely a lot more to talk about on the Ampere GPUs, but we’ll have to wait until more information comes our way.
