NVIDIA officially launches the GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB without an MSRP and prevents day one reviews
NVIDIA has unveiled the RTX 3080 12 GB, an update on the 10 GB model that it released in 2020. The new card is more than a VRAM increase though, like the RTX 2060 (12 GB) is to the original RTX 2060. As the screenshot below shows, the RTX 3080 12 GB has 8,960 CUDA cores, just under a 3% increase on the 8,704 CUDA cores in the RTX 3080 10 GB.
The RTX 3080 12 GB has the same boost clock as its sibling but a lower base clock. Specifically, the newer model has a 1.26 GHz base clock, 180 MHz lower than the RTX 3080 10 GB. The 12 GB of GDDR6X VRAM switch also brings a wider memory interface. Since the RTX 3080 12 GB has the same volume of VRAM as the RTX 3080 Ti, it should come as no surprise to know that it relies on an identical 384-bit memory interface.
Additionally, the RTX 3080 12 GB, which relies on a GA102-220 GPU, has a 350 W TDP, 30 W higher than the original RTX 3080. Similarly, the card has 70 RT cores, 2 more than the RTX 3080 and 10 fewer than the RTX 3080 Ti. Likewise, the RTX 3080 12 GB has 280 Tensor cores, only 8 more than the RTX 3080. By contrast, the RTX 3080 Ti has 320 Tensor cores.
Several board partners have revealed RTX 3080 12 GB custom cards so far, including EVGA, Inno3D and MSI. However, Hardware Unboxed alleges that NVIDIA has refused to announce an MSRP. In response to the YouTube channel's questions about an MSRP, an NVIDIA representative remarked that the company did not 'have anything to announce at this time'.
Worse still, NVIDIA failed to supply drivers to press or board partners, despite allowing the latter to issue samples to the former. As a result, there are no day one reviews of the RTX 3080 12 GB, as eTeknix and Hardware Unboxed discuss below.
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