NVIDIA introduces GeForce RTX 3080 12GB with 8960 CUDA cores and 350W TDP

NVIDIA announces new RTX 3080 with 12GB memory

The company adds a new SKU to its long list of high-end models. 

The new RTX 3080 is now official. The company launches the updated model of the existing GA102-200 based SKU more than a year after introducing the original 10GB version. What was likely supposed to be a SUPER refresh has ended up as a minor spec upgrade.

NVIDIA RTX 3080 12GB features 2GB more memory than the original model. This seemingly small memory upgrade means that the card now features a full 384-bit memory bus and, as a result, the higher maximum bandwidth of 912 GB/s.

The card has already been added to the latest GeForce 511.17 drivers:

GeForce RTX 3080 12GB in 511.17 driver, Source: NVIDIA

The RTX 3080 12GB is based on GA102-220 GPU with 8960 CUDA cores. This relatively small core upgrade combined with power-hungry memory resulted in a higher TDP of 350W, 30W more than the original.

Although the card is only just being introduced today, it is already available through retailers. Neither they nor the reviewers who have those cards are under any embargo anymore.

Unfortunately, NVIDIA did not announce the MSRP for its new card. We have thus far seen custom models going for around 1700 EUR, around 20% more than RTX 3080 10GB, while EVGA lists the cheapest RTX 3080 12GB model at 1249 USD at its official score.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 High-End SKU Specifications
VideoCardz	RTX 3090 Ti	RTX 3090	RTX 3080 Ti	RTX 3080 12GB	RTX 3080 (10GB)
Picture
GPU	GA102-350	GA102-300	GA102-225	GA102-220	GA102-200
GPU Clusters	84	82	80	70	68
CUDAs	10752	10496	10240	8960	8704
RT Cores	84	82	80	70	68
Tensors/TMUs	336	328	320	280	272
Base Clock	1560 MHz	1395 MHz	1365 MHz	1260 MHz	1440 MHz
Boost Clock	1860 MHz	1695 MHz	1665 MHz	1710 MHz	1710 MHz
Memory	24 GB G6X	24 GB G6X	12 GB G6X	12 GB G6X	10 GB G6X
Bus	384-bit	384-bit	384-bit	384-bit	320-bit
Memory Clock	21 Gbps	19.5 Gbps	19 Gbps	19 Gbps	19 Gbps
Bandwidth	1008 GB/s	936 GB/s	912 GB/s	912 GB/s	760 GB/s
TDP	450W	350W	350W	350W	320W
MSRP	TBC	$1,499	$1,199	TBC	$699
Release Date	January 2022	September 24th, 2020	June 3rd, 2021	January 2022	September 17th, 2020