The Rise of the Next-Generation Monster GPU: 7 Facts About Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series
Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 Series, A new generation of graphics cards has emerged two years after the RTX 30 series was released. The GeForce RTX 4090 and two RTX 4080 variants were announced by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during his webcast presentation at the GPU Technology Conference 2022 (GTC 2022).
The GeForce RTX 4090 seems to be capable of outperforming the RTX 3090 Ti in terms of performance. Although the capabilities of the next GeForce GPUs will no doubt astound many people, this introduction offers more than simply impressive performance. We’ve compiled 7 essential facts regarding the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080, ranging from advancements in ray tracing to unexpectedly high costs.
Incredible DLSS 3 and Lovelace performance enhancements
To enhance ray tracing, Nvidia created a new architecture called Ada Lovelace. Ray tracing speed has increased by 2-3 times and game rendering performance has increased by 25% using the new SER (Shader Execution Reordering) technology. The Lovelace design uses the new Opacity Micro-Maps technology to speed up ray tracing performance in addition to SER.
The enhancements don’t stop with ray tracing. NVIDIA’s AI-enhanced upscaling capability, DLSS, which operates on third-generation Tensor Cores, was announced by Huang.
Prior to the GeForce graphics card using machine learning to create new pixels and upscale them to the display’s resolution, the game was rendered in earlier iterations at a lower resolution than the real monitor settings. In contrast, DLSS 3 develops a whole new frame to determine the ideal upscaling quality. Even if your game is CPU-based rather than GPU-based, it may still be substantially faster since there is no need to draw pixels in the background frame (this is, of course, Nvidia’s assertion).
With DLSS 3 enabled, Huang showed a demonstration of Microsoft Flight Simulator operating more than twice as quickly. Ray tracing enabled in the Cyberpunk 2077 demo resulted in a frame rate of roughly 22 fps, however DLSS enabled results in a frame rate of 100 fps.
The RTX 40 series will provide a wonderful experience with real-time ray tracing, but actual performance can only be determined via independent testing.
Extremely quick
Huang didn’t spend a lot of time discussing the gaming performance of the RTX 40 series since GTC is a developer-focused conference. But there are some noteworthy updates. In games like Flight Simulator and the upcoming ray-traced Portal, the RTX 4090 was up to 2x quicker than the RTX 3090 Ti. It was up to four times quicker in a demonstration of Nvidia’s own “Racer X” ray tracing technology (more likely it was optimized to take advantage of Lovelace to be precise).
The wrong GPU for gaming
similarly for the RTX 3090. The RTX 4090 is not a gaming graphics card, despite having the GeForce moniker. It’s an excellent match for prosumers who use the GPU during the day to work and use it for gaming at night thanks to the big 24GB of GDDR6X memory and the $1,599 price tag. When an unbiased evaluation is published, it will be evident, but for the majority of gamers, the RTX 4080 choice will be enough.
What separates the two RTX 4080 versions
The GeForce RTX 4080 is available in two configurations, according to Nvidia. The 12GB RTX 4080 begins at $899, while the 16GB GDDR6X memory variant starts at $1,199 (the same pricing as the RTX 3080 Ti from the previous generation).
There is a significant price difference between the two models. Regarding the technological differences between the two models as well as gaming performance, Huang made no remarks. Typically, the only difference between GPUs with the same name is the amount of memory offered. Early RTX 40 series reports, however, indicate that the 12GB RTX 4080 will perform worse than the 16GB variant and could make use of a totally different GPU. I really hope that this anti-consumer behavior is not true, but considering the price differential, it may be.
Update: The RTX 4080 model’s specifications have been disclosed on the Nvidia website. The GPU speed, memory performance, and memory bandwidth of the 12GB model are significantly different.
Costly compared to the RTX 30 series
It’s time to break the dreadful news now. The exorbitant cost that was mentioned in RTX 40 series speculations is now true. The RTX 4090 is $99 more costly than the RTX 3090, with a starting price of $1,599. The 16GB RTX 4080 costs $1,199, which is $700 more than the 3080 but the same as the 3080 Ti. The 12GB RTX 4080 is $200 more expensive than its predecessor.
The RTX 4080 will not be on sale until October 12, however the GeForce RTX 4090 will.
RTX 30 Series Cost Control
According to Huang, the RTX 40 series would keep the RTX 30 series’ mainstream pricing even after it is introduced. The decline in bitcoin values has resulted in a glut of unused graphics cards in the warehouses of GPU makers. The current state of the market can be detrimental to the upcoming RTX 40 series. A secondhand graphics card and an unused RTX 30-series GPU may be a much better option if the RTX 4080/4090 lacks the necessary firepower.
ADM’s counterattack begins
With the introduction of a new generation of GPUs, Nvidia has already overtaken AMD, but Radeon isn’t far behind. Radeon CEO Scott Herkelman tweeted that AMD’s next-generation RDNA3 Radeon card will be introduced on November 3rd only hours before Huang’s keynote address was published. In his blog article, AMD Technical Architect Sam Naf Zigger extolled the great efficiency improvements of RDNA3. That was required to enable the full performance of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40 series.
PC gamers are now experiencing a tough time. The cost of cryptocurrencies is now down, issues with the supply chain are being fixed, and a robust competition for the title of best next-generation GPU is about to begin. So be cautious and budget your money. The cost of next-generation GPUs will be unaffordable.
