3 Nvidia RTX Super GPUs could go on sale in January – with an RTX 4080 Super priced at $999 in the US
We now have rumored release dates for Nvidia's incoming RTX Super refreshes for Lovelace, and they will apparently get a staggered release over the course of January.
IT home (a Chinese technology site and a regular source of rumors – although one should be treated with a little extra caution on top of the usual teaspoon of doubt) has the information taken from multiple sources that we have been told (hats off VideoCardz).
The theory is that after Nvidia unveils the three new RTX 4070 and 4080 graphics cards on January 8 at a 'special event' for CES 2024, the first innovation to hit shelves on January 17 will be the RTX 4070 Super.
After that, we'll see the RTX 4070 Ti Super a week later on January 24th, and then finally the RTX 4080 Super will arrive on January 31st, right at the end of the month.
So they are spaced a week apart, launching in order of their performance, from least to most powerful. If this chatter from the various sources is correct, of course.
Summarizing previous rumors and theories, IT Home assumes that the RTX 4070 Super (12 GB) will have a performance level close to the current RTX 4070 Ti, and that the price in the US will be around $599 to $649 will be (and in line with that elsewhere, no doubt).
Above that, the new RTX 4070 Ti Super (16 GB) will be about 15% to 20% faster than the RTX 4070 Ti with a price tag of $799 to $849.
Finally, the RTX 4080 Super (16GB) will be slightly faster than the existing RTX 4080, by about 5% to 10%, and is rumored to be priced at $999.
Correct past mistakes?
So it looks like there are three new Super GPUs on the way (as initially believed, including the 'Ti Super' model (we still hate that name)) and not just two as a recent rumor suggested. (Although the latter could still happen, if this bit of speculation goes wrong, of course).
Since there are three graphics cards in preparation, a staggered release makes sense, and we have argued this in the past. That said, we expected the trio to air for perhaps months (or at least until February), rather than arriving week after week in January.
That seems to indicate that Nvidia is eager to refresh its Lovelace lineup quickly, and perhaps that's no surprise given all the talk of dismal RTX 4080 sales. By the way, IT Home repeats the rumor that the existing RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4080 will be scrapped when these new refreshes arrive, which makes sense – this part of the RTX 4000 series would otherwise become far too busy, actually. And it makes particular sense for the RTX 4080, which as mentioned has been performing remarkably dismal in terms of sales.
Indeed, it feels like the RTX 4080 Super is the graphics card that the RTX 4080 should have been in the first place. The refresh is a relatively modest upgrade – only 5% faster under the pessimistic scenario, if the rumors are true – but the price adjustment to $999 in the US will make it considerably more tempting than the RTX 4080's MSRP of $1,199. It will also put Nvidia's GPU in a direct confrontation with AMD's RX 7900 XTX, the flagship RDNA 3 GPU that also costs $999.
We can hope that the price of the new RTX 4070 Super means that Nvidia will drop the price of the RTX 4070 (which remains in the Lovelace lineup, we should clarify) to create some distance – which could possibly be the best news can be especially for PC gamers.
However, when it comes to Nvidia, we've become skeptical about the good things happening on the pricing front. But then again, if these innovations are all about correcting past mistakes and missteps in the mid-to-higher segment, well, you never know…