Nvidia announces new RTX 3080 with 12GB of memory

[Lightwreather]

Summary

Nvidia is launching a new 12GB model of its RTX 3080 today. Revealed initially in Nvidia’s latest GeForce drivers, the new 12GB model goes on sale today from select board partners and offers 2GB more memory than the original 10GB RTX 3080.

 

Quotes

Quote

It also matches the 12GB found on the RTX 3080 Ti. This new RTX 3080 model also includes 8960 CUDA cores, a bump of nearly 3 percent over the original. The upgraded memory also means this GPU has 20 percent more cumulative bandwidth over the original 10GB variant, thanks to a wider 384-bit memory bus.

Nvidia is still recommending a 750W power supply, but this 12GB RTX 3080 draws an extra 30 watts of power, up to 350 watts in total compared to the 320W draw on the original RTX 3080.

It’s a relatively minor upgrade over the original RTX 3080, and it’s guaranteed to be as difficult to purchase in stores.
RTX 3080 12GB pricing will be determined largely by board partners, so we’re waiting to hear more announcements from vendors to determine exactly how this new GPU will be priced. EVGA has priced its own RTX 3080 (12GB) at $1,249.99.

 

My thoughts

Again, who asked for this? I mean, really? I can see this be useful for some but a measly 1 or 2 gig upgrade in terms of VRAM doesn't really seem enough to warrant an entirely new SKU especially since the 3080ti and 3090 are really close in terms of pricing.

 

Sources

TheVerge

EVGA

[Radium_Angel]

Awesome, more cards we can't have.

[SignatureSigner]

nvidia: we need a new card what do we release?

a designer that needs more vram; How about some more vram?

Nvidia: great idea

+2gb

[CT854]

4 minutes ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

RTX 3080 12GB pricing will be determined largely by board partners, so we’re waiting to hear more announcements from vendors to determine exactly how this new GPU will be priced. EVGA has priced its own RTX 3080 (12GB) at $1,249.99.

EVGA's 3080 Ti XC3 is $1209. Their FTW3 model is $1429.

 

I'm preaching to the choir and I'm not saying anything nobody has said already, but this goes beyond satire.

 

Good lord.

 

Also:

 

6 minutes ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

Again, who asked for this? I mean, really?

Apparently 4K Ultra Far Cry 6 convinced enough people that they need 12GB of VRAM.

 

So, I guess that's who asked for this.

 

VRAM marketing just feels like snake oil at this point.

[poochyena]

I'm guessing they made a new sku so they can have a 3080 for a much higher msrp?

[tikker]

22 minutes ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

Again, who asked for this? I mean, really?

Half the internet it felt like going by all the "only 10GB in 2020!? 4k gaming impossible now" bitterness that came when they first launched.

23 minutes ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

I can see this be useful for some but a measly 1 or 2 gig upgrade in terms of VRAM doesn't really seem enough to warrant an entirely new SKU especially since the 3080ti and 3090 are really close in terms of pricing.

Given the CUDA cores also increased and its also 384 bit memory bus perhaps they're just dies that didn't make the cut to become a full blown 3080 Ti? Confusing and maybe needless as be, better have a few more 3080s on the shelf than to throw them away (not sure what else can be done with disregarded dies).

[porina]

22 minutes ago, CT854 said:

VRAM marketing just feels like snake oil at this point.

There are edge cases, but for mainstream gaming it can usually be worked around by adjusting settings appropriately. The "I have to run Ultra" crowd doesn't help, even if a 3080 class GPU should be capable of doing that. So it is as much a problem of software setting expectations.

 

However, by going more capacity in this way, you go wider, you get more bandwidth. That may help in some scenarios.

 

22 minutes ago, poochyena said:

I'm guessing they made a new sku so they can have a 3080 for a much higher msrp?

Kinda this. Feels like we're way past the point where even if mining disappeared overnight, pricing will NOT return to Ampere launch pricing. Near everything in the world is getting more expensive. So it does serve as a pricing reset as "older" models silently fade away.

 

As long as nvidia and others keep pumping out GPUs, there may be some constraint to elevated pricing.

[Deadpool2onBlu-Ray]

1299 on EVGA website. This is a big "Screw you" to gamers from Nvidia. Also, isn't EVGA  supposed to be the "good guys" and be more affordable?

[Jurrunio]

I'm not against this stuff, those who are wont buy a 3080 either so their point don't mean anything to Nvidia

 

[Blademaster91]

Even more cards we can't buy, and less chance that anyone has been waiting to buy a 3080 10GB to actually get one.

 

[Spotty]

10 minutes ago, tikker said:

Given the CUDA cores also increased and its also 384 bit memory bus perhaps they're just dies that didn't make the cut to become a full blown 3080 Ti?

That's my initial thought as well. 

 

I wonder if the 10GB model will continue to be produced or if it'll only be the 12GB 3080 from now on. 

[CT854]

2 minutes ago, Spotty said:

I wonder if the 10GB model will continue to be produced or if it'll only be the 12GB 3080 from now on. 

This is my concern as well, even if the concern isn't too well-founded.

 

Each release that isn't a budget card that's more affordable seems less like product segmentation and more like phased obsolescence of less profitable products.

 

To be sure, I'm not too concerned about a giant conspiracy to drive up prices since AIBs could just hike prices on existing models anyways, but I'm sure everyone can agree that people have a lot of reason to be distrustful of GPU manufacturers at this point.

[porina]

29 minutes ago, Spotty said:

I wonder if the 10GB model will continue to be produced or if it'll only be the 12GB 3080 from now on. 

The same concern was raised when the Ti was released. I'd have to guess they wont try to make 10GB GPUs any more, but if there are enough that don't make the cut for higher models then I wouldn't rule out the occasional smaller batch now and then.

[pas008]

looks like a super version to me

other tiers will follow?

[Blademaster91]

1 hour ago, pas008 said:

looks like a super version to me

other tiers will follow?

I've seen rumors of a 3070 Ti 16GB, if Nvidia releases it then I'd expect them to only produce those, instead of the 3070 8GB and 3070Ti 8GB.

[jones177]

1 hour ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

My thoughts

Again, who asked for this? I mean, really?

Just about everyone that buys high end cards.

The amount of vram was the biggest complaint about the card. 

I had 11gbs with the GTX 1080 ti and RTX 2080 ti so I needed an upgrade. 12gb isn't much more but at least it is in the right direction

1 hour ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

I can see this be useful for some but a measly 1 or 2 gig upgrade in terms of VRAM doesn't really seem enough to warrant an entirely new SKU especially since the 3080ti and 3090 are really close in terms of pricing.

If you have been using 11bs since 2017 like I have it can cause issues.

I am a 4k gamer and I was already dialing it back to stay under 10.5gbs in some games with the 2080 ti. Running the same setups with my Strix 3080 CO was not pleasant. 

For productivity all projects have been on 11gbs since 2017 as well so 10gbs may or may not be an issue. If it is, one of the 3080 tis will disappear from my signature and be replace by the 3080. 

 

Most 3080 tis and 3090s are not close in price to the 3080s.

I paid $1,149 for my ROG Strix 3080 White OC but my MSI Gaming X Trio 3090 cost $2,249, so about double. Both were at the board partners MSRP.

I did get lucky and got a EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti for $1,200 at launch but I have not seen them since. I did get 2 more 3080 tis but they were hundreds more than the 3080.

 

[tikker]

1 minute ago, jones177 said:

If you have been using 11bs since 2017 like I have it can cause issues.

I am a 4k gamer and I was already dialing it back to stay under 10.5gbs in some games with the 2080 ti. Running the same setups with my Strix 3080 CO was not pleasant. 

For productivity all projects have been on 11gbs since 2017 as well so 10gbs may or may not be an issue. If it is, one of the 3080 tis will disappear from my signature and be replace by the 3080. 

The 10 GB GDDR6X is not like-for-like comparable with GDDR5X or GDDR6 though, so were you doing this just because the game told you it would use (and most likely mainly just allocate) more or saw the allocated amount being high, or because you actually saw performance degration? I've had multiple recent games, like the Resident Evil remakes, tell me it would require up to like 2 GB or something more than the 11 GB on my 1080 Ti, yet they didn't seem to actually hit that as I never say problems. I've only read about maybe a handful of games where the actual required VRAM was a possible issue. Nvidia aren't (complete) dumb dumbs, but they likely also want to push DLSS more.

12 minutes ago, jones177 said:

For productivity all projects have been on 11gbs since 2017 as well so 10gbs may or may not be an issue. If it is, one of the 3080 tis will disappear from my signature and be replace by the 3080. 

Unless it's about the money, why would you replace a 12GB 3080 Ti with an, albeit slightly, inferior 12GB 3080?

[jones177]

2 hours ago, tikker said:

The 10 GB GDDR6X is not like-for-like comparable with GDDR5X or GDDR6 though, so were you doing this just because the game told you it would use (and most likely mainly just allocate) more or saw the allocated amount being high, or because you actually saw performance degration? I've had multiple recent games, like the Resident Evil remakes, tell me it would require up to like 2 GB or something more than the 11 GB on my 1080 Ti, yet they didn't seem to actually hit that as I never say problems. I've only read about maybe a handful of games where the actual required VRAM was a possible issue. Nvidia aren't (complete) dumb dumbs, but they likely also want to push DLSS more.

I have modded games that use some 8k textures so there are areas that use more than 10gbs and others less. One of the games is Fallout 4 and it uses just over 10gbs everywhere. It is smooth with a 2080 ti or 3080 ti but not with the 3080. 

 

 One of the vanilla games I tested was SOTTR at 4k with RT on. On the 3080 the vram went up to 9.5gbs but the game was smooth so probably allocated.

This is what I got with the 3080 ti.

2 hours ago, tikker said:

Unless it's about the money, why would you replace a 12GB 3080 Ti with an, albeit slightly, inferior 12GB 3080?

You must of misread.

The Strix 3080 has 10gbs vram. It is in a computer that is mainly used for video recording and sound editing. It replaced a GTX 1080 ti that had 11gbs. If the 1gb less vram became an issue I would have to switch it out with one of the 3080 tis I have in my gaming computers. So far it has not been an issue. 

 

[Moonzy]

7 hours ago, poochyena said:

I'm guessing they made a new sku so they can have a 3080 for a much higher msrp?

i would guess this is the case

they want to stop selling "fake MSRP" GPUs by releasing GPUs that have no MSRP and let free market dictate the price

if you can sell a Die for $1200, why do it for $500?

[poochyena]

10 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

if you can sell a Die for $1200, why do it for $500?

yep. Its the entire reason why scalpers even exist. If nvidia won't sell it for its true market value, then someone else will.

[tikker]

8 hours ago, jones177 said:

I have modded games that use some 8k textures so there are areas that use more than 10gbs and others less. One of the games is Fallout 4 and it uses just over 10gbs everywhere. It is smooth with a 2080 ti or 3080 ti but not with the 3080. 

 

 One of the vanilla games I tested was SOTTR at 4k with RT on. On the 3080 the vram went up to 9.5gbs but the game was smooth so probably allocated.

This is what I got with the 3080 ti.

That's probably just allocated memory. The most recent AfterBurner versions have the option to display the dedicated memory (the actual in use amount) as well. Fallout might be exceeding it depending what "not smooth" entails (IIRC running out of VRAM will be a rather noticeably big penalty). Super high resolution textures like 8k are just impractical due to their size and also not really that important for things other than terrain and maybe other large objects in my opinion. Moreso since this generation is made for 4k gaming and not 8k, apart from maybe the 3090.

8 hours ago, jones177 said:

You must of misread.

The Strix 3080 has 10gbs vram. It is in a computer that is mainly used for video recording and sound editing. It replaced a GTX 1080 ti that had 11gbs. If the 1gb less vram became an issue I would have to switch it out with one of the 3080 tis I have in my gaming computers. So far it has not been an issue. 

It didn't sound to me your 3080 was still in use.

13 hours ago, jones177 said:

I am a 4k gamer and I was already dialing it back to stay under 10.5gbs in some games with the 2080 ti. Running the same setups with my Strix 3080 CO was not pleasant. 
For productivity all projects have been on 11gbs since 2017 as well so 10gbs may or may not be an issue. If it is, one of the 3080 tis will disappear from my signature and be replace by the 3080. 

The first sentence implied to me you had a 3080 in the past, but since upgraded to a 3080 Ti. The second bit only mentions replacing a 3080 Ti with a 3080. Is there a 3080 missing from your signature or maybe did you mean you still have a 3080 PC in addition to the rigs in your signature that'll switch places?

[Mark Kaine]

19 hours ago, porina said:

There are edge cases, but for mainstream gaming it can usually be worked around by adjusting settings appropriately. The "I have to run Ultra" crowd doesn't help, even if a 3080 class GPU should be capable of doing that. So it is as much a problem of software setting expectations.

im running almost anything ultra, but i don't need to, im just kinda annoyed when i have to set textures to "medium" on my $1000+ graphics card in some otherwise not super demanding games,  which is actually a VRAM thing and 16gigs should be kinda standard by now.

 

 

of course that doesn't mean it would stop devs from targeting "17gigs" for shit and giggles like they now do with "probably more than 8" lol.

[SADS]

yawwwn another card variant that I will refuse to pay for, even if it were available.

[porina]

26 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

of course that doesn't mean it would stop devs from targeting "17gigs" for shit and giggles like they now do with "probably more than 8" lol.

As made famous by "can it run Crysis?"

 

We want the best. We might not want to pay for it. I had to settle for a 3070, but it has not really limited my gaming experience in practice even at 4k. Maybe it is for the better, but many differences on the high end are not really noticeable in normal gameplay and only really show if you do side by side comparisons.

[Mark Kaine]

3 hours ago, porina said:

As made famous by "can it run Crysis?"

 

We want the best. We might not want to pay for it. I had to settle for a 3070, but it has not really limited my gaming experience in practice even at 4k. Maybe it is for the better, but many differences on the high end are not really noticeable in normal gameplay and only really show if you do side by side comparisons.

its possible devs with "crysis symptom" yes, but i was basically just saying I wish modern gpus would have more Vram in general,  10 minimum, 16 ideally.

 

 

23 hours ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

Again, who asked for this?

well, me, constantly.  it's often the only gpu limitation i have, and had with a 1070, a 1060... 6 or 8gb is just ridiculous when devs actually provide far better textures and you cant use it because Nvidia got stuck 3 gens behind with their Vram ... 

 

 

of course i can't afford a super duper new and improved super 3080, lol i just bought a 3070 a year ago, which is plenty powerful enough,  its just the low ass vram that kinda suxx tbh.

 

 

15 hours ago, jones177 said:

have modded games that use some 8k

not that i don't believe you, monster hunter world uses easily above 8gb at highest settings at 1080p,  and you can actually see the diff, especially some lighting stuff is really vram intensive, and thats an old game by now... i just wanted to say afterburner can show dedicated vram as well, its a bit more convincing/ accurate than the default,  which is just allocated vram. : )

 

 

(and yes, this is mhw, in the "lobby", but dedicated vram easily shoots up close to ~8gb during a hunt at high'ish/medium settings)