Could This Be NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 Super Ampere Refresh Lineup?
Nobody can go out and actually buy a graphics card at anywhere close to MSRP right now (not without being lucky—GPU street prices are rising again), and that probably will not change in the coming weeks or even months. It stinks, plain and simple. If it comes as any consolation, though, at least the GPU scene is not stagnant. Next-gen GPUs will launch next year, and it also appears as though NVIDIA might refresh its current-generation Ampere lineup with Super models.
This would not be unexpected, if it comes to be, given NVIDIA's history. At present, the GeForce RTX 30 series consists of regular models and upgraded "Ti" variants. Super models would likely fill in the gaps between those two cards (for the most part), at least according to the leaks specifications. For example, the GeForce RTX 3070 Super would squeeze in between the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070.
One of the more reliable leakers in the Twitterspehere, @kopite7kimi, put it out there that each main GeForce 30 series card will be getting a Super refresh, though they're not super confident that NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 will cling to that moniker. They also cast doubt on "the specs of some of them," so those are things to keep in mind.
While the specifications have them wedging in between current models within in each series, Super variants could also effectively replace the regular versions. That's the path NVIDIA took with its GeForce RTX 20 series (Turing), and is probably the path it will take again, if these cards come to fruition.
Comparing Leaked NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Super Specs To Regular And Ti Variants
Here's what we're looking at...
- GeForce RTX 3090 Super: 10,725 CUDA cores, 84 SMs, 24GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3090: 10,496 CUDA cores, 82 SMs, 24GB GDDRD6X
- GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: 10,240 CUDA cores, 80 SMs, 12GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3080 Super: 8,960 CUDA cores, 70 SMs, 12GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3080: 8,704 CUDA cores, 68 SMs, 10GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3070 Ti: 6,144 CUDA cores, 48 SMs, 8GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3070 Super: 5,888 CUDA cores, 46 SMs, 8GB GDDR6X
- GeForce RTX 3070: 5,888 CUDA cores, 46 SMs, 8GB GDDR6
- GeForce RTX 3060 Super: 5,632 CUDA cores, 44 SMs, 12GB GDDR6
- GeForce RTX 3060 Ti: 4,864 CUDA cores, 38 SMs, 8GB GDDR6
- GeForce RTX 3060: 3,584 CUDA cores, 28 SMs, 12GB GDDR6
The GeForce RTX 3060 lineup is the oddball of the bunch, with the Super model supposedly being more powerful than the Ti variant. We wouldn't necessarily rule it out, though, given that NVIDIA had already introduced a curveball by equipping the GeForce RTX 3060 with more memory than the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.
There's no mention of clock speed changes, and assuming that the other specs stay the same, these would mostly be minor upgrades—users would get some additional performance, but nothing out of this world. The GeForce RTX 3070 Super in particular would be a small upgrade, according to the leaked specs, as it would only add GDDR6X memory to the mix.
At this point, we're much concerned with getting a handle on supply, because there are just not enough cards to go around. That's not unique to NVIDIA, the same goes for AMD, and possibly Intel when it launches its Arc Alchemist card next year. Regardless, at least technology has not stalled out, whether we can buy the shiny new products or not.
