Ray tracing performance is greatly improved thanks to Ada Lovelace featuring NVIDIA’s new third generation RT cores and the inclusion of a new performance technique called Shader Execution Reordering and DLSS 3.0. In some games, NVIDIA said you can expect two to three times better ray tracing performance than was possible with its Ampere GPUs. The company showed Cyberpunk 2077 running at a near-constant 100 frames per second with all the game’s ray tracing features set to maximum. NVIDIA said rasterization performance is up to twice as fast thanks to the new architecture.
The first of NVIDIA’s new Ada Lovelace GPUs will arrive next month, when the GeForce RTX 4090 goes on sale for $1,599 on October 12. With 24GB of GDDR6X memory, NVIDIA claims its latest flagship is two to four times faster than the 3090 Ti while consuming the same amount of power. It’s also good because it starts at $100 more than its predecessor. Inside the RTX 4090, NVIDIA managed to fit 16,384 CUDA cores clocked at a base speed of 2.23 GHz.
Alongside the 4090, NVIDIA will offer two different variants of the RTX 4080. The base model, which starts at $899, has 12GB of GDDR6X memory, while the 16GB version will set you back $1,199. Both configurations will arrive sometime in November. However, NVIDIA will only sell one Founders Edition model of the more expensive model. For the 12GB version, you’ll have to search the company’s partners, which can make it difficult to find models that actually start at $899.
NVIDIA In terms of performance, the 16GB 3080 has 9,728 Cuda Cores and a base clock of 2.21GHz, with a maximum boost clock of 2.51GHz. Meanwhile, the 12GB model has a more modest 7,680 CUDA cores but 100MHz faster base and boost clocks. Fortunately, you probably won’t need to upgrade your power supply if you plan to upgrade from a 3070 or 3080, with NVIDIA recommending a 700-watt power supply for the 12GB variant and a 750-watt power supply for its more powerful sibling. However, if you decide to buy a new PSU, you’ll want to wait until more ATX 3.0 PSUs arrive later this year. That’s because at least the Founders Edition models will support the new PCIe Gen-5 16-pin connector standard. That said, NVIDIA will also include an 8-pin adapter for those who don’t want to rewire their system.
NVIDIA’s 40-series GPUs arrive at a difficult time for the company. For much of the pandemic, it was impossible to buy the latest GeForce GPUs at MSRP due to demand from both gamers and crypto miners. This has all changed in recent months due to the recent crypto crash and Ethereum’s long-awaited transition to proof-of-stake clipping. As a result of these events, the used market was flooded with 30-series GPUs, making it almost impossible for the company’s AIB partners and retailers to sell new video cards at MSRP. All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at time of publication.