It is tradition at NVIDIA to release a new generation of graphics cards every two years. Since that period will soon have passed since the launch of the RTX 30 on the market, it is normal that the expectation for the next generation and to know which will be the first models of the RTX 40 makes us bite our nails. The latest information? Well, it could be that those of Jen Hsun Huang had the first representatives of the range already defined. Specifically, the RTX 4090, RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 models. What can we expect from the generational leap?
A range of graphics cards is not only its most powerful model, despite the fact that this is its spearhead, but we can also see configurations based on different energy consumption and memory capacities. Apart from using different chips within the same architecture aimed at different screen resolutions. If the RTX 40 stands out in anything compared to previous generations, it will be in the AD102 chip where the graphics cards will have a higher consumption than the current ones when using the new PCIe Gen 5 connector. Which is already currently used by the top-of-the-range model of the current generation, the RTX 4090.
These would be the first models of the NVIDIA RTX 40
Thanks to one of the most reliable information leakers regarding NVIDIA, we have been able to find out what will be the initial range of products that will be launched on the market and that will consist of the RTX 4090, RTX 4080 and RTX 4070. Repeating the same nomenclature as in previous generations for the initial release.
Apparently NVIDIA will deploy three different models and with three different GPUs as the main chip, although they will not use the complete configurations of each of these chips, which we will expect to see in the Ti versions, which will come out at some specific time in the next two years.
- Thus, the RTX 4090 will make use of a variant of the AD102 with 128 active SMs out of the total of 144 . What added to a consumption of 450 W. At the moment, the initial top of the range will have its VRAM under a 21 Gbps 384-bit bus. And, therefore, with a configuration of 24 GB .
- As for the RTX 4080 , its configuration will be 80 SM , 4 less than the maximum of the AD103 chip . Given that it will not use standard GDDR6 at 18 Gbps and its memory bus is lower at 256 bits for a total of 16 GB , its performance in theory would be a little below or on par with the RTX 3080 Ti .
- To finish, the RTX 4070 will be the most modest of all, with the AD104 chip as master of ceremonies. Its configuration will be 56 SM and it will have a bus of only 160 bits, so it will be limited to 10 GB of VRAM , also of the GDDR6 type at 18 Gbps.
What could be its final price?
The fact that none of the models use the full configurations of each of the chips opens up the possibility of Ti models that could appear sometime in the next two years to complement the saga. It should also be noted that there are two chips left under the Ada Lovelace architecture that are the ones with the lowest specifications. We are talking about the AD106 for the potential RTX 4060 and the AD105 for the RTX 4050. We expect the first one for early 2023. The initial range will apparently have the same starting price as the RTX 3090, RTX 3080 and RTX3070 . Whose prices in our country were €1549, €719 and €519 . Although the final price will depend on the economic situation and the conversion from euros to dollars.
As for the consumption, apparently and given the controversy that we mentioned yesterday between NVIDIA and the source manufacturers, it seems that they are going to maintain the consumption of the RTX 30 for the first models of the RTX 40 for the time being.
