When Nvidia announced both the RTX 4080 16GB and the RTX 4080 12GB versions, it didn’t make much sense to us. Now, Nvidia has realized its mistake and has revealed it has discontinued the RTX 4080 12GB GPU before it was even launched.
As posted on the Nvidia blog, the company is “pressing the “unlaunch” button on the 4080 12GB.”
The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing.
So, we’re pressing the “unlaunch” button on the 4080 12GB. The RTX 4080 16GB is amazing and on track to delight gamers everywhere on November 16th.
While the RTX 4090 has sold out like crazy, it’s expected that the RTX 4080 will likely do the same. However, it seems as if Nvidia only wants to sell the RTX 4080 16GB GPU, and the 12GB card will become something else.
It’s not just the amount of RAM that makes the RTX 4080 16GB that makes the no longer going to be sold RT 4080 12GB card, different. The 12GB GPU also packed fewer CUDA Cores (7,680 vs. 9,728), a smaller memory bus (192-bit vs. 256-bit), and a slower memory speed at 12Gbps. This is why many had originally thought that the card was originally going to become the RTX 4070/4070 Ti. That is until Nvidia unveiled it as the RTX 4080 12GB.
Upon checking Nvidia’s website, the only version of the RTX 4080 that exists now is the 16GB variant. No doubt, the recent change-up will frustrate gamers who saw the RTX 4080 12GB as a cheaper way to score an RTX 4000 series GPU. Especially since it was the lowered-priced video card, coming in at $999. Now, the only options are the RTX 4080 16GB, starting at $1200, and the RTX 4080, which has been selling at $1600 and above.
Chances are that we’ll hear Nvidia’s official stance on what the card will ultimately become after the launch of the RTX 4080 16GB. Nvidia is likely waiting to see just how well the RTX 4080 16GB will sell and if there’s even any reason to launch another RTX 4000 series card for the time being.
