NVIDIA is expected to launch the Ampere-based RTX 30 series this September. In the run-up to the launch, NVIDIA may discontinue the production of several high-end Turing cards, according to a report by Chinese publication ITHome.
The cards that are likely to be discontinued include:
While NVIDIA had already discontinued the non-Super versions of several cards, it is interesting to see that the relatively newer RTX 2070 Super and RTX 2080 Super will also face the axe. The RTX 2080 Ti hasn't seen an upgrade since launch, so it isn't really surprising that it has been considered for delisting. While we have heard sporadic rumors about a possible RTX 2080 Ti Super in the works, it is now becoming increasingly clear that such a card won't make it to market.
ITHome also reports that this delisting process and insufficient chip supply from TSMC can lead to shortage of Turing cards at retailers. Also, there have been indications of increasing demand for these GPUs from cryptocurrency miners. This is expected to create a paucity of Turing GPUs sooner than expected, especially for the RTX 2080 Super and the RTX 2080 Ti, leading to increased prices, which may come to effect as soon as this month. In fact, another Chinese publication MyDrivers had previously reported that NVIDIA had internally informed its Add-in Board (AiB) partners to adjust prices according to demand.
With the current inventory being cleared up, the NVIDIA Ampere GPUs could launch at competitive prices now that AMD is also expected to give a tough fight with Big Navi. While a concrete launch date is not yet known, ITHome expects the RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti to release on September 17. While this is still speculation, the date is likely to be possible given that the RTX 20 series was announced exactly around this time during Gamescom 2018.