A render of NVIDIA’s upcoming GeForce RTX 30 series Ampere gaming graphics cards in its reference Founders Edition design. (Image via Reddit User u/dertpert88)
NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards that include the GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 which are based on the new Ampere architecture are launching next week and the memory specifications of these cards have been confirmed by Videocardz.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Flagship Gets 24 GB GDDR6X Memory, RTX 3080 Gets 10 GB GDDR6X
There have been several rumors regarding the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series memory specs. Now it looks like the flagship GeForce RTX 3090 will be placed in a purely ultra-enthusiast position when compared to the rest of the lineup.
According to Videocardz, the information comes straight from an AIB which has confirmed to them that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 would feature 24 GB of GDDR6X memory while the GeForce RTX 3080 would feature 10 GB of GDDR6X memory. There’s a huge difference between the RTX 3090 & the RTX 3080 when it comes to memory capacity but that’s what the Founders Editon cards will end up holding.
There has been a rumor that AIBs might prepare the GeForce RTX 3080 variants with twice GDDR6X memory capacities. That would give the GeForce RTX 3080 a total of 20 GB VRAM but we cannot say for sure whether that rumor is true or not. It is possible that a SUPER refresh later next year would feature double the memory but that remains to be seen as the main focus is on the cards that are getting announced next week.
Videocardz has also mentioned that the GeForce RTX 3070 is also expected to be announced at the event. The pricing and general specifications of the cards will be provided however more detailed & technical aspects of the cards such as performance, thermals and power numbers will be provided later on when reviews hit the web.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 – The Fastest Ampere Gaming Graphics Card
According to leaked details, the GeForce RTX 3090 will feature the GA102-300-A1 GPU. The GA102-300-A1 GPU is said to be comprised of 5248 CUDA cores or 82 SMs. In total, that’s a 20% increase in cores over the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. No details such as clock speeds, TMU/ROP counts are provided and we can’t take the Ampere A100 die as a reference since gaming & HPC parts share a different configuration hierarchy.
Moving on to the memory side, things start to look interesting as it is stated that the card will get up to 24 GB memory with faster GDDR6X pin speeds. Since that’s a 384-bit bus we are looking at, it will be able to offer nearly 1 TB/s bandwidth.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 – GA102 For High-End Gaming
Moving on to the GeForce RTX 3080, the rumor reports that the card will be featuring the GA102-200-KD-A1 SKU. This cut down SKU will feature the same 4352 CUDA cores as the RTX 2080 Ti that will be arranged in a total of 68 SMs. The card is reportedly going to feature up to 10 GB of memory that is also going to be GDDR6X. Assuming the memory is running at 19 Gbps across a 320-bit bus interface, we can expect a bandwidth of up to 760 GB/s.
The switch to GA102 from TU104 on the RTX 2080 is definitely an interesting one. A high-end SKU would also result in higher wattage and thermals but I believe this could be done to raise the bar up on the sub $500 segment which should comprise of GA104 based RTX 3070 and RTX 3060. The latest performance leaks also show a considerable performance improvement over the RTX 2080 and even the RTX 2080 Ti in synthetic benchmarks. If the same could translate over to the gaming performance, then Ampere does look like a super enticing product for gamers who have waited for almost 2 years now.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 “Ampere’ Graphics Card Rumored Launch/Specs:
| Graphics Card Name | GPU Name | SMs / CUDA Cores | Memory Capacity | Memory Bus | Launch Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX RTX 3090 | Ampere GA102-300? | 5248 (82)? | 24 GB GDDR6X? | 384-bit? | September 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 | Ampere GA102-200? | 4352 (68)? | 10/20 GB GDDR6X? | 320-bit? | September 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti? | Ampere GA104-400? | 2944 (46)? | 8/16 GB GDDR6X? | 256-bit? | October 2020 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 | Ampere GA106-300? | TBD | 6/12 GB GDDR6X? | 192-bit? | November 2020 |
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 ‘Ampere’ Gaming graphics card lineup is expected to be announced on 1st September at a digital event which will be hosted by CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang. We expect at the very least, three new graphics cards during the event which include the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (or RTX 3090), GeForce RTX 3080, and a next-generation Titan. There’s definitely a lot more to talk about regarding the Ampere GPUs but we will have to wait until more information comes our way.
