Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

What makes sense (and what doesn’t) about the RTX 3080 Super rumors

Jacob Roach
By

In August, two well-known Twitter leakers shared details on a potential RTX 3090 Super, which may provide a boost to the most powerful GPU Nvidia currently offers. One of those leakers, kopite7kimi, has shared more details about the range, and we could see a refresh to the entire Ampere lineup next year.

This Super range reportedly updates the RTX 3060, RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3090. The redesigns are still based on the 8nm architecture and are said to use the GA102 graphics core — the same core available on all released Ampere cards. The top card, the RTX 3090 Super, is said to include the full die with 10,752 CUDA cores, which is a small 2.4% increase over the RTX 3090.

Branding on the RTX 3090.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The RTX 3080 Super could get a similar bump of 2.9%, while the RTX 3070 Super is said to have the same core count as the RTX 3070. The oddball is the RTX 3060. The leaker says the Super version update could come with a 57% increase in core count, moving from 3,584 to 5,632.

Recommended Videos

However, kopite7kimi says they doubt some of the specs, and I agree. Based on this information, the RTX 3060 Super would be theoretically more powerful than the RTX 3060 Ti, while the RTX 3070 Super would be identical to the RTX 3070, just with GDDR6X memory. The bumps to the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 also seem too small to matter.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!
Privacy Policy

It’s not out of character for Nvidia, however. The RTX 2080 Super only offered a 4.3% increase in core count over the RTX 2080, plus a slight bump in clock speed.

The good news is more graphics cards. If Nvidia is working on a Super refresh, that means more opportunities to pick up a card in a time when they’re difficult to find. As the past several GPU launches have shown, though, new products aren’t enough to satisfy the needs of the GPU shortage. If these cards come, they’ll still be hard to find.

The bad news is that the leaked specs don’t say much. Based on core count and memory alone, this Super refresh looks like a way for Nvidia to effectively rebrand most of its range (and provide a needed bump to the RTX 3060). There are a few other critical specs missing, however, including the memory bus size, clock speed, and power draw. Those could change the story.

Right now, I’m not excited for a Super refresh. Below the RTX 3080, Nvidia’s current lineup is tightly grouped at $100 internals down to the RTX 3060 Ti. There’s more room in pricing above that point, but as the RTX 3080 Ti showed, Nvidia isn’t feeling a lot of pressure to meet aggressive price/performance goals.

It’s possible this refresh isn’t targeting the add-in market. A rumor from August suggested RTX Super cards coming to laptops, and HP recently listed the RTX 3080 Super for the upcoming Envy 34 all-in-one PC before removing the reference.

The RTX 30-series Super range is rumored to launch during CES 2022. That time frame makes sense, as the company is rumored to launch its next-gen RTX 40-series cards later in 2022.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
Samsung has a 3D gaming monitor that doesn’t need glasses — and it actually works
Lies of P on Samsung's glasses-free 3D gaming monitor at CES 2024.

I've never been interested in the glasses-free 3D craze that's carried on for years, but Samsung finally sold me. It showed off a new concept for a glasses-free 3D monitor at CES 2024, and I had a chance to try it out. And I'm probably just as shocked as you are that it actually works.

This isn't a product -- not yet, at least -- but a bit of technology that Samsung is showing off early. It's the aptly-named Samsung 2D/3D monitor right now. The monitor works with eye tracking. Two cameras at the top of the display track your eyes, and they can transform any game from a flat 2D image into 3D.

Read more
I hope Nvidia never makes an RTX 5090
A hand grabbing MSI's RTX 4090 Suprim X.

For all the controversies around GPU prices, insane power requirements, and massive coolers, Nvidia's RTX 4090 remains one of the best graphics cards you can buy. It's uncompromising in its power, and it's the perfect halo product to sit on top of the current-gen GPUs. I don't think Nvidia should take another swing at this class of GPU, though.

For as powerful as the RTX 4090 is, it's only become more obvious that it's a problematic GPU. Trying to deliver such a high-end GPU in a consumer PC has some unforeseen consequences, all of which we've seen come to light over the past year. It's hard to imagine that Nvidia will skip making an RTX 5090, but I hope it shows some restraint in the next generation.
Melting connectors
The RTX 4090 isn't really built for gaming. It's a monster gaming GPU -- just read our RTX 4090 review -- but I'm talking about its construction. This is a 450-watt graphics card that has up to 600W of power on tap, and a size that commonly occupies three slots and sometimes even more. It's big, it's heavy, and it's crazy powerful.

Read more
How I conceded to the RTX 4060 Ti
Logo on the RTX 4060 Ti graphics card.

The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB was the most disappointing GPU I reviewed this year. That was true when I reviewed it at launch, and I stand by that statement today.

But recently, I found myself recommending that same GPU to a friend of mine who was building a PC. I wasn't trying to sabotage his PC -- I promise. And so far, he's having a great time playing games with the card. So how can a GPU be both disappointing and something I'd recommend to a friend?

Read more