We could see the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB GPU as soon as tomorrow

By Zak Islam Published January 10, 2022

Nvidia was reportedly expected to unveil its GeForce RTX 3080 12GB graphics card at CES 2022, but due to an apparent decision to delay the announcement at the 11th hour, it’s now set to be officially revealed tomorrow instead.

According to Wccftech’s sources, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 12GB variant will be introduced at 6 a.m. PT on January 11. Although there’s no indication on the price of the GPU, the sources mention that it would either be available to pre-order starting tomorrow or that it will be sold immediately.

RTX 3080 graphics card on a table. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

This isn’t the first delay for the upgraded GPU. Previously, the RTX 3080 12GB was said to be scheduled for a December 17 unveiling, which was apparently postponed due to the current shortage of components. However, a rumor highlighted how Nvidia had already distributed the card to board partners.

Recommended Videos

As for what improvements the GPU offers over the standard 10GB model, the RTX 3080 12GB is said to be based on the Ampere GA102-220 GPU, which is geared toward the high-end gaming market. It’s also the fastest gaming GPU that Nvidia has manufactured thus far.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming

The 12GB of memory, meanwhile, will be based on the next-generation GDDR6X standard. As a result, Wccftech notes that the new RTX 3080 will be capable of delivering GDDR6X memory speeds of 19Gb per second. The GPU will also see its TDP increase from 320 watts to 350 watts.

The upgraded RTX 3080 12GB will apparently sport 8960 CUDA cores, representing nearly 3% more cores (256 to be exact) than the original. The graphics card will also feature next-generation ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and a wider 384-bit memory bus interface that will supply 912 GB/s of bandwidth (the original provides 760 GB/s of bandwidth).

Graphics cards are in scarce supply due to the current shortage affecting the technology industry, so the RTX 3080 12GB will be an enticing option, especially for enthusiasts. Crypto miners will also be interested in acquiring the GPU. The Lite Hash Rate (LHR) for the upgraded video card is apparently 20% faster at 52 MH/s — the original featured a LHR of 43 MH/s.

Other Nvidia graphics cards that were actually revealed during CES 2022 were the flagship RTX 3090 Ti GPU and the budget $250 RTX 3050. The latter is due for a January 27 release.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…

Computing

Rest in pieces: Nvidia is finally ditching GeForce Experience for good

The Nvidia app on the Windows desktop.

We've had the Nvidia app for a while, but now, it's available officially. About a year ago, Nvidia launched the Nvidia app into beta as a one-stop-shop for managing some of its best graphics cards, including grabbing new drivers, messing around with different features, and optimizing your game settings. Now, it's out of beta, officially replacing the legacy GeForce Experience and Nvidia Control Panel apps, and with some new features in tow.

One of the biggest draws of the Nvidia app initially was driver downloads. It may seem mundane, but you'd previously need to download GeForce Experience and create an Nvidia account for GPU driver updates. If you didn't, you'd have to search and install your drivers manually. The Nvidia app gives you access to new drivers, and notifies you when they're ready, all without an Nvidia login. Now, signing in is optional for "bundles and rewards" offered by Nvidia.

Computing

Nvidia’s RTX 40-series is coming to an end

Three RTX 4080 cards sitting on a pink background.

Out with the old, in with the new. According to Board Channels, Nvidia has now halted production for nearly all of its best graphics cards as it shifts focus to the RTX 50-series. Only one GPU remains in production, and some of the cards that are the most in demand are no longer being produced.

Nvidia hasn't officially announced that it's sunsetting the RTX 40-series, but we've been hearing more and more reports that imply that might be the case. The RTX 4090 was among the first cards to go out of production, and the discontinuation appears to have immediately affected the markets. Nvidia's behemoth flagship was hard to come by at the best of times, and now, as no more new units are being produced, it's safe to assume that this situation won't improve. The cheapest RTX 4090 I could find on Amazon costs nearly $2,000, but you can still snag one for .

Computing

We just got our first hint of the RTX 6090, but it’s not what you think

A hand grabbing MSI's RTX 4090 Suprim X.

As we're all counting down the days to a possible announcement of Nvidia's RTX 50-series, GPU brands are already looking ahead to what comes next. A new trademark filing with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) reveals just how far ahead some manufacturers are thinking, because it mentions not just the Nvidia RTX 5090, but also an RTX 5090 Ti; there's even an RTX 6090 Ti. Still, it'll be a long while before we can count the RTX 60-series among the best graphics cards, so what is this all about?

The trademark registration filing, first spotted by harukaze5719 on X (formerly Twitter) and shared by VideoCardz, comes from a company called Sinotex International Industrial Ltd. This company is responsible for the GPU brand Ninja, which doesn't have much of a market presence in the U.S.