NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Rumored to Feature 24 GB of 21 Gbps GDDR6X Memory

[Tsing]

NVIDIA fans who have been speculating that green team's next flagship gaming graphics card would feature a similar memory configuration as the current champion might be correct after all.

Go to post

 

[Elf_Boy]

Are we now in the days where the GPU has more ram then the CPU?

A few games I play:
Elder Scrolls Online 85gb on disk
New World 47 gb on disk
Black Desert 49 gb on disk
Secret World 13gb

I have wondered at times how much of the data is textures and other files for the gpu.

I would hope having most/all of the textures in the gpu ready to go would solve latency moving around the world, stutter, and zone teleports in MMOs among other things.

Of course there is the issue of will I be able to afford this new gpu, without selling both kidneys that is.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Of course there is the issue of will I be able to afford this new gpu, without selling both kidneys that is.

Exactly. That's my biggest fear for this one as well. The rumors, and past release history of NV cards, suggest it could be an extremely impressive card but the cost could be even more insane. Factor in all those who held out because of the jacked prices over the last two+ years and they could easily end up being scalped just like the last batch. Even if mining is of no concern or relevance for these the demand could still be high enough that scalpers will screw it up all over again.

 

[Grimlakin]

Exactly. That's my biggest fear for this one as well. The rumors, and past release history of NV cards, suggest it could be an extremely impressive card but the cost could be even more insane. Factor in all those who held out because of the jacked prices over the last two+ years and they could easily end up being scalped just like the last batch. Even if mining is of no concern or relevance for these the demand could still be high enough that scalpers will screw it up all over again.

At least then it will be a more 'normal' scalper curve and people will have learned to wait.

 

[LazyGamer]

Are we now in the days where the GPU has more ram then the CPU?

Sort of?

As it's actually somewhat of a challenge to get a fast gaming CPU (i.e. not just 'fast' in terms of monster Epycs / Xeons) and 64GB of the fastest memory in the same system, a 24GB GPU does seem to bring some limits into question.

Thing is, the RTX3090 is already basically on the edge of 'HEDT', more of a 'Threadripper' or Intel 'XE' class (the ones with more than two memory channels) than a desktop gaming SKU. The analogy obviously breaks down when we consider that neither AMD nor Intel actually keep their HEDT platforms up to date, while the RTX3090 and presumably the RTX4090 are the pinnacle of their consumer-accessible lineups, but the idea that these are parts designed to transcend the pure consumer and also commercial workstation spaces holds well enough.

Mostly, like the RTX3090, the RTX4090 isn't likely to be a 'good buy' for gaming alone. That's not what the memory is for, generally speaking.

I would hope having most/all of the textures in the gpu ready to go would solve latency moving around the world, stutter, and zone teleports in MMOs among other things.

That's actually rather uneconomical - it's why say AMD releasing the 5800X3D with 96MB of cache is so out of the ordinary, because such feats are usually reserved for servers, where having tons of memory (and cache) can be economical.

More to the point, local storage is fast enough that assets can be streamed rather than held in expensive VRAM.

 

[Niner51]

Exactly. That's my biggest fear for this one as well. The rumors, and past release history of NV cards, suggest it could be an extremely impressive card but the cost could be even more insane. Factor in all those who held out because of the jacked prices over the last two+ years and they could easily end up being scalped just like the last batch. Even if mining is of no concern or relevance for these the demand could still be high enough that scalpers will screw it up all over again.

My thinking is the same as yours. I think it's going to be the same issue with these new cards as it was with the 3000 series cards at launch. Plus I think they'll be even more expensive. This is why I decided on getting a 3090 TI through the step up as I won't have to through that process again anytime soon.

 

[gustaveriksson1496]

Exactly. That's my biggest fear for this one as well. The rumors, and past release history of NV cards, suggest it could be an extremely impressive card but the cost could be even more insane. Factor in all those who held out because of the jacked prices over the last two+ years and they could easily end up being scalped just like the last batch. Even if mining is of no concern or relevance for these the demand could still be high enough that scalpers will screw it up all over again.

It might not be by the time that the card is released, but I do believe that the pricing will return to normal. NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel all want pricing to return to their MSRP. Remember, they license their stuff to OEMs like EVGA who turn them into products for the rest of us. I do not believe NVIDIA/AMD/Intel are profiting all that much from the huge increases of street pricing. Those increases are due to a supply/demand issue. I don't even think the OEMs are really benefiting from that. I believe the people benefiting are the direct sellers, like NewEgg, Amazon stores, etc who are comfortable selling at MSRP or higher.

 

[Grimlakin]

It might not be by the time that the card is released, but I do believe that the pricing will return to normal. NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel all want pricing to return to their MSRP. Remember, they license their stuff to OEMs like EVGA who turn them into products for the rest of us. I do not believe NVIDIA/AMD/Intel are profiting all that much from the huge increases of street pricing. Those increases are due to a supply/demand issue. I don't even think the OEMs are really benefiting from that. I believe the people benefiting are the direct sellers, like NewEgg, Amazon stores, etc who are comfortable selling at MSRP or higher.

You do realize the msrps were raised due to the extreme street prices right?

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

My thinking is the same as yours. I think it's going to be same issue with these new cards as it was with the 3000 series cards at launch. Plus I think they'll be even more expensive. This is why I decided on getting a 3090 TI through the step up as I won't have to through that process again anytime soon.

I literally just did the same (step-up). I have a 3090 in my older rig in the cave and figured why not. It'll give me time to sit and let things play out when they do launch.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

It might not be by the time that the card is released, but I do believe that the pricing will return to normal. NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel all want pricing to return to their MSRP. Remember, they license their stuff to OEMs like EVGA who turn them into products for the rest of us. I do not believe NVIDIA/AMD/Intel are profiting all that much from the huge increases of street pricing. Those increases are due to a supply/demand issue. I don't even think the OEMs are really benefiting from that. I believe the people benefiting are the direct sellers, like NewEgg, Amazon stores, etc who are comfortable selling at MSRP or higher.

Yes and no. NVIDIA has been steadily raising prices on their top-tier cards for over 3 gens now. The 980 Ti was the last card that seemed even close to affordable but was still up there for the time, and that was mainly by comparison to the Titan of the time. MSRP with Ampere looked great but it's still a bit of a trick to get a 3090 FE from NV/Bestbuy. Not saying impossible but most will still have to resort to AIB cards if they want to avoid bot-wars and AIB partners were the first to raise prices even further after release. It wasn't long after that the retailers succumbed to scalpers when their supply chains ran dry.

I think we'd all agree that things should be better with the next round but it is looking like these cards could launch with at least an $1800-$2200 MSRP now that NV knows there is a market. The other random factor that could affect pricing tiers is the Titan. Early on we did stories on how the 3090 basically took over its slot in the lineup. As NVIDIA continues to diversify its product stack it and the 3090 Ti is the new king, who knows if the Titan will return next round causing more price adjustments. After all, we saw both Ti and Super during Pascal, it was unknown if both would co-exist again with Ampere, and NVIDIA has occasionally retired branding only to bring it back again with another gen later on.

Of course, how Intel and AMD play their respective hands will have a significant role in what NVIDIA does with pricing as well. One thing is for sure, things are getting interesting for the next round.

edit: Had to rethink what I said about 3090 FE MSRP looking great. No, it didn't. Most people were mad at the price of the 1080 Ti when it was around $1K, they got even madder when the 2080 Ti was over $1K which made the $1499 for the 3090 look even worse. The only reason it still looks appealing is because of price hikes and scalping. On that note, I saw scalping listed as generating billions during the pandemic. Not sure if that's true but what is true is that it greatly affected just about anything electronic, or not, during the pandemic, even if it had nothing to do with crypto. At the moment, unless NVIDIA can manage enough to oversupply would-be scalpers and their bots, it could still easily be another disastrous launch for the consumer. I hope I'm wrong though.