With the un-launch of the RTX 4080 12 GB, Nvidia has caused open mouths. Because the announcement and subsequent discontinuation of a graphics card is probably unprecedented in this way.
My colleague Nils has already put the whole thing into perspective. But now new information is coming to light in the form of leaked benchmarks. They show that the premature end of the RTX 4080 12 GB was probably the right step.
The RTX 4080 12GB in 3DMark and Cyberpunk 2077
Of course, the benchmarks of the RTX 4080 12 GB were not published by Nvidia itself. Instead, the results were in the Chinese Chiphell forum leaked. There are results for various 3DMark benchmarks as well as for Cyberpunk 2077.
The leak does not make it clear which model of the RTX 4080 12 GB it is exactly. However, the card was operated with a maximum clock rate of 2820 MHz and a power consumption of up to 262 watts.
In Cyberpunk, the card peaked at 67.5 frames per second at 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled.
In 3DMark, the RTX 4080 12GB is on or below the level of the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti depending on the benchmark, as shown in the table below. This is based on values from the US side Wccftech
Benchmark | RTX 4080 12 GB | RTX 3090 Ti | RTX 3090 | RX 6800 XT |
---|---|---|---|---|
3DMark Speed Way | 5382 points | 6744 points | 6216 points | – |
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra | 12,772 points | 12,770 points | 12,478 points | 13,472 points |
3DMark Time Spy Extreme | 10,794 points | 11,230 points | 10,062 points | 8583 points |
The benchmark results roughly match the Game performance published by Nvidia itself the now canceled RTX 4080 12 GB. Accordingly, the card would have offered around 11 percent less FPS than an RTX 3090 Ti.
Editor’s opinion
Alana Friedrichs: Mothballing the RTX 4080 12 GB again was the right step. It would have been even nicer if Nvidia had completely avoided the debacle surrounding the card. But such drastic action by the graphics card manufacturer takes courage, and I think that deserves recognition.
The leaked benchmarks once again confirm what was to be expected after the specifications were published: the card was declared too expensive and wrong for what it offers. The RTX 4080 12 GB would have raised expectations in the buyer that could not have been met with these results.
The benchmarks also show how much Nvidia would have created new competition from its own house with the RTX 4080 12 GB. The fact that Nvidia is currently trying to get rid of old RTX 3000 stocks should be an open secret. An RTX 4080 12 GB, which is somewhere between the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti in terms of performance, is of course poison.
My rather lukewarm hot-take: the RTX 4080 12GB is a zombie that we’ll be seeing again soon in a new costume. I’m expecting the map back in a few months with a few minor changes. But then the graphics card will be called 4070 Ti and will be a bit cheaper.
But you should probably not expect too high price reductions. Why Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks graphics card prices will stay high going forward.
According to Nvidia, high prices for RTX 4000 are just the beginning of an unstoppable development
What do you all mean? Was un-launching the RTX 4080 12GB the right decision? Do the benchmark results come as a surprise to you or do they confirm what you already suspected? And do you think the canceled card will return as an RTX 4070 (Ti)? Write us your opinion in the comments!