Nvidia Officially Cancels RTX 4080 12GB

While the launch of the new RTX 40 series was well-received by the tech community, there was criticism and controversy surrounding the naming of RTX 4080, which Nvidia decided to release as two models, one with a 16GB memory, the other with 12GB.

However, these weren’t just two models of the same GPU with one having less memory than the other, in fact, the 12GB model utilizing the AD104-400 GPU unlike it bigger sibling with the new AD103-300. The 12GB also had less CUDA cores and less bandwidth as well, in essence the two graphics cards were vastly different in terms of specs, and the 12GB was just the RTX 4070 in disguise.

The vast difference in specs between the two models was indeed reflected in reviews as well, with the 12GB model being on average over 30% slower than its big brother.

Nvidia Cancels “Confusing” RTX 4080 12GB. Likely to be Rebranded as RTX 4070

In a surprising, yet welcome news, Nvidia’s response to the criticism is a positive one, the company acknowledged that the naming scheme was indeed confusing, and decided to scrap its plans and officially “unlaunch” the RTX 4080 12GB altogether.

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.

If the lines around the block and enthusiasm for the 4090 is any indication, the reception for the 4080 will be awesome.

Nvidia Official Statement

Still yet to be seen what Nvidia will do next, however, it is widely speculated that the tech giant will just launch the scraped graphics card as the RTX 4070 / 4070 Ti, but the question remains, by how much is Nvidia willing to cut the original price of $899?