Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU could get cheaper with a new version – but don’t get your hopes up
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Nvidia’s RTX 4080 is reportedly getting a new spin on the GPU, which could lower costs, but any price cut is likely to be very minor, if at all, unfortunately.
Tom’s hardware (opens in new tab) signaled this rumor – and treat it with caution, as with all of the ever-turning mill – which comes from HKEPC (opens in new tab) (a Hong Kong tech site), claiming that while the current RTX 4080 graphics card is built on the AD103-300 chip, Nvidia will be using a slightly different GPU in the future, namely AD103-301.
There is now more evidence that this is actually happening, Tom points out, courtesy of a graphics card maker, Galax, who lists the GPU as “AD103-300/301” under its RTX 4080 product details.
Further, video cardz (opens in new tab)who also noticed this informs us that Gainward, another card maker, has also listed the updated GPU variant AD103-301 in its product specs.
With two separate third-party graphics card makers mentioning this new spin on the GPU in their specs, it seems quite likely that this will actually happen; but of course it has yet to be confirmed by Nvidia.
HKEPC further claims that the incoming RTX 4070 (the vanilla version of the RTX 4070 Ti, which has just been released) could also have the approximation of two different chips, which in this case would theoretically be AD104-250 and AD104-. 251. The difference is that the former supposedly uses a comparator circuit, but the latter does not, and would use a different circuit board, potentially lowering the cost of making the map.
The same goes for the RTX 4080 and the new AD103-301, potentially reducing build costs (BOM or BOM as it’s known in the industry). The key question is, if this all works for both or both GPUs, how much cheaper could the second variants actually be?
Analysis: Does this mean cheaper graphics cards – or is that a vain hope?
HKEPC estimates that the cost gap between the supposed different versions of the RTX 4070 could be as small as $1 in terms of the BOM, which is clearly a small amount, and probably wouldn’t make a huge difference to the price consumers pay. A source who tapped VideoCardz also claims that the cost difference would not be significant.
We don’t get a figure for the potential difference in the cost of making the RTX 4080 versions, but the new AD103-301 could cut the bill by a greater degree and perhaps mean the graphics card gets cheaper for consumers. However, it could be just as small a BOM cut, which would no doubt have little impact on the price of the second spin on the RTX 4080.
Time will tell, but given Nvidia’s stance on pricing with Lovelace GPUs in general, it’s hard to be optimistic.
Another question is given the change to the RTX 4080 chip, would it affect performance? The rumor mill is pretty clear in its claim that it wouldn’t, and that the AD103-301 chip won’t outperform the existing AD103-300. That makes sense, as Nvidia would probably be wary of dropping a dose of buyer’s remorse on those who’ve already bought an RTX 4080, and splashed a large amount of money to do so.
The overall result of this is likely to be graphics cards with the same level of performance – or so similar as to be negligible – and small savings for the board makers, which are unlikely to be passed on to consumers. Hopefully a more favorable situation can emerge cost-wise, so keep your fingers crossed if you’re looking for a high-end GPU.