At CES 2024, NVIDIA unveiled its new GeForce RTX 40 “Super” series graphics cards, led by the flagship RTX 4080 Super. This new GPU aims to deliver significantly improved performance and greater value compared to the existing RTX 4080 model that launched last year.
RTX 4080 Super Specs and Pricing
The RTX 4080 Super features 7680 CUDA cores and 16GB of G6X memory with a 256-bit interface, delivering up to 25% higher performance than the original RTX 4080 in games and creative applications [1].
More importantly, NVIDIA has priced the 4080 Super at $999, a full $500 less than the previous $1499 MSRP of the standard RTX 4080. This pricing puts it much closer to its AMD rival, the Radeon 7900 XTX, which is priced at $899 [2].
| Specification | RTX 4080 Super | RTX 4080 | Radeon 7900 XTX |
|---|---|---|---|
| CUDA Cores | 7,680 | 9,728 | 5,120 |
| Boost Clock | 2.61GHz | 2.51GHz | 2.3GHz |
| Memory | 16GB G6X | 16GB G6X | 24GB G6 |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit | 256-bit | 384-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 716GB/s | 716GB/s | 960GB/s |
| TDP | 320W | 320W | 355W |
| Price | $999 | $1,499 | $899 |
This massive $500 price cut on the 4080 Super seems primarily aimed at competing more effectively with AMD’s high-end Radeon offerings [3]. It also suggests NVIDIA may have misjudged demand at the $1499 price point for the vanilla RTX 4080.
Additional RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4070 Ti Super Cards
Alongside the flagship RTX 4080 Super, NVIDIA also announced two slightly lower-spec Super variants at more mainstream price points:
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GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super – Will retail for $799 and features 7,024 CUDA cores with 12GB of G6X memory. Delivers up to 10% faster performance than the existing RTX 4070 Ti.
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GeForce RTX 4070 Super – At just $599, this card has 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB G6 memory bandwidth. Around 15-25% faster than the standard RTX 4070 for the same price point.
These new Super GPUs will take on AMD’s recently announced Radeon RX 7800 XT ($699) and RX 7900 ($549) graphics cards. The refreshed NVIDIA lineup provides better price-to-performance across the board.
All three new Super cards will be available from NVIDIA’s board partners starting January 17.
Why NVIDIA Lowered Prices substantially
The substantial price cuts indicate NVIDIA is taking AMD’s threat in the high-end gaming GPU market seriously this generation [4].
AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics cards have proven extremely competitive on both raw performance and power efficiency. And AMD has been steadily gaining discrete GPU market share over the past couple of years, now up to over 30% unit share according to analysts [5].
The new RTX 40 Super series cards address NVIDIA’s key disadvantage this generation – poor price-to-performance value compared to equivalent AMD offerings. The massive $500 price cut on the RTX 4080 Super in particular brings it much closer in line with the AMD Radeon 7900 XTX’s $899 MSRP.
This price adjustment was likely necessary to spur mainstream adoption of the 4080-class card. At $1499, the vanilla RTX 4080 simply wasn’t providing enough additional performance uplift to justify its high cost for most gamers.
What This Means for Gamers and Creators
The arrival of NVIDIA’s Super GPU refresh is great news for PC gamers and creators looking to upgrade to higher resolutions and frame rates.
Raw performance is excellent across the board – the RTX 4080 Super is nearly as fast as NVIDIA’s $1600 flagship RTX 4090, for $600 less. And pricing is now generally better aligned with the performance tier of each card [6].
For high-end 1440p or 4K gaming, the 4080 Super is now a much more appealing option at this new $999 price point. It should reliably deliver well over 100 FPS in most titles at max settings.
Meanwhile the new RTX 4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super cards offer terrific value for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming. These GPUs can easily drive 144Hz gameplay while maxing game settings.
On the content creation front, NVIDIA is touting major performance and efficiency improvements for AI-accelerated tools like the CUDA neural network library, NVIDIA Omniverse, and NVIDIA Canvas thanks to the enhanced RT and Tensor core architecture [7]. This will let creators build apps and experiences with more complex 3D models and physics simulation much faster.
Outlook Going Forward
With its new Super lineup now priced much more competitively, NVIDIA appears well-positioned to fight for Discrete GPU market share in 2024 and beyond [8].
However, AMD won’t cede ground easily. Team Red is rumored to be preparing its own next-generation RDNA 4 graphics architecture for launch later this year, likely bringing another big performance leap over RDNA 3 [9].
Additionally, Intel plans to flesh out its initial Arc Alchemist lineup with more powerful Battlemage and Celestial GPUs over the next couple years. Though still unproven, Intel has the resources to become a legitimate third player in the discrete graphics space long-term [10].
For now, the PC gaming hardware industry hasn’t seen competition this fierce at the high-end in close to a decade. This upgraded GeForce vs. Radeon battle promises to deliver outstanding performance and value across next-gen GPUs releasing over 2024 and beyond. Gamers and creators have a lot be excited about.
To err is human, but AI does it too. Whilst factual data is used in the production of these articles, the content is written entirely by AI. Double check any facts you intend to rely on with another source.
