NVIDIA’s next-generation RTX 4000 series GPUs are slated to launch later this year, bringing more performance and new capabilities. As an NVIDIA enthusiast, I’m excited to see what improvements these new graphics cards will offer. Here is an in-depth look at the rumors and leaks so far about the upcoming RTX 4000 series.
Release Date
NVIDIA typically launches new GPU architectures on a roughly two year cadence. The current RTX 3000 series launched in September 2020, pointing to a late 2022 release for the RTX 4000 series.
Several leaks suggest the new cards will arrive in Q3 or Q4 2022. A fall launch would align with NVIDIA’s previous release timelines. The COVID-19 pandemic did cause some delays with the RTX 3000 series launch, so it’s possible we could see the RTX 4000 series slip into early 2023. But most signs currently point to a launch before the end of this year.
Architectural Changes
The RTX 4000 series is rumored to utilize NVIDIA’s new Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC’s 5nm manufacturing process. This would deliver improved power efficiency and potentially higher clock speeds compared to the 8nm process used for Ampere.
Ada Lovelace will likely retain support for ray tracing and DLSS 3.0 while bringing architectural enhancements to boost performance. Early reports indicate the architecture could deliver up to 50% higher FP32 compute performance compared to Ampere.
NVIDIA may also increase the amount of L2 cache per GPU core and add support for AVX-512 instructions to improve compute performance.
New GPUs
Here are the rumored RTX 4000 series graphics cards we might see later this year:
- RTX 4090 – Flagship GPU, faster than RTX 3090 Ti
- RTX 4080 – Enthusiast card, RTX 3080 Ti performance
- RTX 4070 – Faster than RTX 3070 Ti
- RTX 4060 – Mid-range offering, RTX 3060 Ti competitor
- RTX 4050 – Budget friendly, entry-level ray tracing
NVIDIA is expected to discontinue the non-Ti variants this generation, streamlining the product stack. We should get 16GB or 20GB of GDDR6X memory across the top three tiers for ample VRAM.
Performance
Leaks indicate the RTX 4090 could offer up to 2x the performance of the RTX 3090 Ti. That would be a massive generational jump, even compared to Ampere’s gains over Turing.
The RTX 4080 16GB is rumored to be on par with the RTX 3090 Ti, while the RTX 4070 may land between the 3080 Ti and 3090 in benchmarks. Obviously, take these early leaks with a grain of salt. But Ada Lovelace does appear poised to deliver excellent performance gains.
Power Requirements
Higher performance requires more power. Rumors suggest the RTX 4090 could have a 450W TDP rating, with the RTX 4080 at 420W. For comparison, the RTX 3090 Ti has a 350W TDP.
NVIDIA may offset these higher power demands by utilizing a new 12-pin PCIe power connector capable of delivering 600 watts on some RTX 4000 cards. This new connector would replace the existing 12-pin used for Founders Edition 3000 series cards.
Pricing
With its new architecture and performance capabilities, NVIDIA isn’t expected to lower prices with this generation. Here are rumored prices for RTX 4000 series Founders Edition models:
- RTX 4090 – $1,499
- RTX 4080 – $1,099
- RTX 4070 – $799
The flagship RTX 4090 may end up 20% higher than the RTX 3090 Ti’s $1,199 MSRP. And we could see similar increases down the stack. High demand and low supply at launch may inflate prices further. But expect to pay a premium for the performance on offer.
Should You Wait?
If you’re still running a previous generation card like a GTX 1080 Ti or RTX 2080, the RTX 4000 series looks very enticing for a major upgrade. I’d wait and see just how much faster these new GPUs are in independent benchmarks later this year.
However, if you recently upgraded to a 3000 series card, the generational gains may not justify the cost. For example, if you have an RTX 3080, upgrading to the 4080 may only provide 30-50% higher frame rates for double the price.
Regardless of what you decide, NVIDIA’s upcoming RTX 4000 GPUs look poised to deliver a significant performance leap over existing graphics cards. I’m excited to test them for myself once they become available!
