The GeForce RTX 4080 12GB won’t arrive – NVIDIA admits the name was wrong

Twist: NVIDIA has decided not to market the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB. The US company made this decision after complaints from fans and the press, including us, about the name of the card, quite similar to the 16 GB model despite the decidedly different specifications and performance. The more correct name for the card should have been GeForce RTX 4070.

“The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic video card, but it doesn’t have the correct name. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing. Therefore, we pressed the ‘do not launch’ button for the RTX 4080 12 GB. The 16GB RTX 4080 is incredible and is on track to delight gamers around the world on November 16th, “said the company. in a note.

NVIDIA originally defended the name GeForce RTX 4080 12GB stating that it was “similar to the name of the two versions of RTX 3080 we had in the last generation and others before that. There is one RTX 4080 configuration with 16 GB of memory and a different configuration with 12 GB. A product name, two configurations “. The company added that the 12GB RTX 4080 was an “incredible” GPU, adding that it believed it was “a great class 80 GPU”.

“We know that many gamers may want a premium option, so the 16GB RTX 4080 is equipped with more memory and even greater performance. The two versions will be clearly identified on the packaging, product details and in stores so that gamers and creators can easily choose the best GPU for themselves. “

The explanation had not convinced the fans and so this decision was reached. If the GeForce RTX 4080 12 GB will return identical later, but with the name GeForce RTX 4070 or 4070 Ti / SUPER, we still do not know for sure but it is very likely given that the production of the product has probably already started.

It is good to remember that between the RTX 4080 16 GB and the former 12 GB there were far more marked differences of only 4 GB. Hence the general skepticism. The GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB is based on a GPU AD103 con 9728 CUDA core and foresees 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on 256-bit bus. The TGP, on the other hand, is equal to 320W. The former younger sister, on the other hand, was designed around a GPU AD104 con 7680 CUDA core and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on 192-bit bus. As for the TGP, the indicated value was 285W.

Such differences, as we have seen in recent days, would have created a performance gap between the two proposals of approximately 25-30%a gap that justifies the concerns about the name RTX 4080 12 GB and reinforces the supporters of the GeForce RTX 4070 brand.