Nvidia recently announced its latest RTX 30 series Ampere GPUs which are destined to advance GPU performance with their more powerful specs and new architecture. The first to arrive will be the flagship RTX 3090 card and the RTX 3080 which will drop on September 24 and 17 respectively, followed by the RTX 3070 in October. These three cards are set to dominate the gaming GPU market space, but we shouldn’t discount AMD’s answer just yet.
The RTX 30 series chips are based on a custom Samsung 8nm process and it comes equipped with second-generation Ray Tracing cores plus third-generation Tensor cores. Nvidia claims that this new implementation will boost performance considerably, particularly with Ray Tracing and the brand’s DLSS 2.0 technology. Its also the first Nvidia GPU to have PCIe 4.0 support, which you don’t need yet, but will become necessary when GPUDirect becomes available.
Nvidia RTX 30 Series Ampere Specifications
| GeForce RTX 3090 | GeForce RTX 3080 | GeForce RTX 3070 | GeForce RTX 2080 Ti | RTX Titan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Architecture | Ampere GA102 | Ampere GA102 | ? | Turing TU102 | Turing TU102 |
| CUDA Cores | 10,496 | 8,704 | 5,888 | 4,352 | 4,602 |
| RT Cores | 82 | 68 | 46 | 68 | 72 |
| Tensor Cores | 328 | 272 | 184 | 544 | 576 |
| Texture Units | 328 | 272 | 184 | 272 | 288 |
| Base Clock Rate | 1,400 MHz | 1,440 MHz | 1,500 MHz | 1,350 MHz | 1,350 MHz |
| Boost Clock Rate | 1,700 MHz | 1,710 MHz | 1,730 MHz | 1,545 MHz | 1,770 MHz |
| Memory Capacity | 24GB GDDR6X | 10GB GDDR6X | 8GB GDDR6 | 11GB GDDR6 | 24GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Speed | 19.5 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 14 Gbps | 14 Gbps |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit | 320-bit | 256-bit | 352-bit | 384-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 935.8 GBps | 760 GBps | 512 GBps | 616 GBps | 672 GBps |
| ROPs | 96 | 88 | 64 | 88 | 96 |
| L2 Cache | 6MB | 5MB | 4MB | 5.5MB | 6MB |
| TDP | 350W | 320W | 220W | 250W | 280W |
| Transistor Count | ? | ? | ? | 18.6 billion | 18.6 billion |
| Die Size | ? | ? | ? | 754 mm² | 754 mm² |
| MSRP | $1,499 | $699 | $499 | $999 | $2,499 |
The top of the line $1499 RTX 3090 headlines this series and is the largest GPU based on the initial specs. The 3-slot card measures over a foot long and almost six inches wide, but what’s most impressive is its claimed performance. The card is said to be suitable for 8K 60Hz gaming which would translate that it will be capable of 120Hz 4K easily in single card configurations.
The RTX 3090 offers 10,496 CUDA cores and a boost clock of up to 1.7 GHz, along with 24GB GDDR6X of memory on a 384-bit interface. The card has a 350W TDP and it requires two 8-pin connections to your PSU. Nvidia recommends at least 750-watt PSUs for this card, and it is the only SKU in the lineup that supports NVLink.
The RTX 3080 follows closely as the top of the line consumer card which is still slightly quite big, but comparable to the current 20-cards in size. Nvidia promised that this SKU will provide twice the power compared to the RTX 2080 and will start at the $699 price point. Its touted as the perfect 4K card, and it should also be great for 1440p at 144Hz.
Nvidia’s RTX 3080 sports 8704 CUDA cores that go up to 1.71GHz and 10GB of GDDR6X memory that communicates through a 320-bit memory bus. It will still need two 8-pin connectors from your PSU, but its TDP wattage is slightly lower at 320 watts. However, Nvidia also recommends a 750-watt PSU for the RTX 3080, but we think many can get away with lower output PSUs.
The RTX 3070 which is poised to be the next value king for gamers will start at $499 while delivering higher performance compared to the outgoing 2080 Ti. You get superb QHD performance at high-refresh rates, plus plenty of power for 4K 60Hz gaming at half the price of the last flagship. This isn’t guaranteed yet, but it’s likely to happen if you look at the trend for Nvidia’s GPU releases as the drivers become optimized for the newer cards.
This card is currently the lowest variant in the lineup, but it isn’t a weakling if you take a look at its specs. The RTX 3070 has 5888 CUDA cores and a maximum boost clock of 1.73GHz, along with 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit memory bus. What’s great about it is its considerably lower TDP of 220 Watts, so it will only require a single 8-pin connection and a more modest PSU than the two above.
All of these RTX 30 Series Ampere cards will include three DisplayPort 1.4a slots and a single HDMI 2.1 port. The latter makes them usable for 4K 120Hz TVs like the LG 48 CX and future screens with higher refresh rates. The VirtualLink port found on the 20 series cards has been omitted since they never really got enough exposure and use to catch on.
Thoughts on the RTX 30 Series Ampere Cards
We are only days away from the RTX 30 Series Ampere card’s release dates, and we can’t help but be excited. The massive jump in performance will be great for powering high-resolution high-refresh rate monitors. Let us know in the comments if you are getting one of the three RTX 30 Series Ampere cards or what your thoughts are on this exciting development in the gaming world.