If you’ve been following our recent Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series coverage, you may have noticed that most of the rumors are centered around the flagship RTX 4090. Today, a new leak explains why that might be the case.
It seems that Nvidia may only be planning to release a single new graphics card this year, with all the other models to follow in 2023. This brings us to the question: Is it really worth it to wait for the RTX 40-series at this point?
https://twitter.com/greymon55/status/1551585774235435008
The information comes from Greymon55, a well-known Twitter leaker who has been commenting on the status of various hardware releases for months now. Greymon previously speculated that Nvidia is only readying the flagship AD102 GPU for a 2022 release, with the AD103, AD104, and AD106 to follow in 2023. Now, the tipster claims that it’s not just a single GPU, but a single graphics card that will make it to market this year.
To clarify, the AD102 GPU could refer to more than one graphics card. The full-fledged GPU is rumored to be found inside the high-end RTX 4090 Ti, although the name is yet to be confirmed — some sources say that Nvidia might want to resurrect the Titan RTX for this model. Cut-down versions of AD102 could be found inside the RTX 4090 and the RTX 4080 Ti.
However, according to Greymon55, we can only expect to see the RTX 4090 this year, and the Ti models — if they are more than just a rumor — won’t appear on the market until sometime in 2023. An earlier source based on the Chiphell forum suggests that the 450-watt version of the RTX 4090 will be the first card to be released, and the 600-watt version is still up in the air.
Nvidia itself still remains quite tight-lipped about its next-gen “Ada Lovelace” generation of GPUs, so everything we know about the AD102 graphics processor is mostly the result of piecing together various rumors. The rumored AD102-300-A1, which translates to RTX 4090, is said to come with 24GB of memory and a clock speed of up to 2.8GHz.
Much has been said about the alleged performance of the card, with some leaks implying that the lineup might even reach 3GHz when overclocked, while others report on the massive performance boost versus the RTX 3090. Recent whispers indicate that the RTX 4090 may bring twice the performance of the RTX 3090 in a 4K gaming scenario. Of course, all of this also means that the GPU may be exceptionally power-hungry.
Piecing all of the rumors together reveals that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is undoubtedly going to be a remarkable GPU, capable of tackling just about any title on ultra settings. However, two important factors are still yet to be determined: Power consumption and price. Let’s be real — no matter what happens, the GPU won’t be cheap, which is why the fact that Nvidia may only release its beastly flagship in 2022 is a significant concern for PC builders.
Should you really wait for the RTX 40-series?
After a long GPU shortage, the prices of graphics cards are finally normalizing, and the problem is now on the retailers’ end — there’s an oversupply of GPUs combined with a reduced interest in them. Although this is pure speculation, the state of the GPU market likely plays a part in why Nvidia is allegedly only releasing a single graphics card this year.
The mid-range RTX 40 GPUs will face a lot of competition from current-gen flagships as the prices will continue to drop. Nvidia hasn’t said anything about the pricing of the RTX 4090, but it will likely not be the first choice for many users. If this is you, and you’re wondering whether you should be waiting for next year’s RTX 4080/4070/4060, you’re not alone in these considerations.
The problem with waiting for the other RTX 40 graphics cards is that we don’t even know when they might be released. Saying that they will arrive in 2023 is quite vague, and it might as well be the first quarter as the second. In any case, the launch might be months away. In the meantime, current-gen GPUs have never been cheaper.
Some RTX 3080 models are now as cheap as . On the other hand, you can grab an RTX 3080 Ti for anywhere between . The flagships are more expensive, but they’ve also seen the biggest price cuts, with some models priced down by up to 30%. Custom versions of the RTX 3090 can be picked up for around .
Seeing as the release dates and the pricing of next-gen Nvidia GPUs are so up in the air right now, if you want to build a PC, the advice is simple — just do it. There’s no need to wait for months for something uncertain when the current prices are as they are. If you’re in no rush and you’re not particularly attached to Team Green, you might also wait for the upcoming AMD RDNA 3 graphics cards, still said to release later this year.
