NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090, 4080 And 4070 Lovelace Launch Schedule Is Allegedly Set
Summer is nearly upon us and as the dog days of the hotter months of year begin to dwindle, NVIDIA is expected to heat things back up with a new round of graphics cards based on its next-generation Ada Lovelace graphics architecture. The question is, should you buy a card now as prices trend back towards MSRP levels, or hold off for what's around the bend?
The answer depends on your specific situation and whether or not you're comfortable buying into current-generation tech when new hardware is within view. Generally speaking, we rarely advocate playing the waiting game, because something better is always on the horizon, to some extent.
That said, it's helpful to know when exactly the new cards are arriving. Officially, we don't know because NVIDIA has not announced anything yet. But unofficially, leaks and rumors may give us an idea. Let's started with the rumored launch order for Ada Lovelace...
On Sunday, prominent leaker @kopite7kimi "confirmed" that NVIDIA will kick off its next-gen launch at the top end, starting with the GeForce RTX 4090. That will presumably occupy the flagship space until if and when an eventual GeForce RTX 4090 Ti or Super comes out.
After the GeForce RTX 4090 launches, NVIDIA will introduce the GeForce RTX 4080 and then the GeForce RTX 4070, effectively staggering the roll out, according to unofficial details.
Since the above tweet came to light, the folks at Videocardz claim to obtained information suggesting the GeForce RTX 4090 will arrive in August, followed by the GeForce RTX 4080 in September and the GeForce RTX 4070 in October. All three are said to be formally introduced in July, but the actual product launches (or retail releases, if you prefer) will take place in the back-to-school season and throughout the fall.
This is a different strategy than the one employed for Ampere. NVIDIA likewise announced the GeForce RTX 3090, 3080, and 3070 on the same day, but the GeForce RTX 3080 was the first to land at retail on September 17, 2020, followed by the GeForce RTX 3090 on September 24 and the GeForce RTX 3070 a month later on October 29.
So the staggered roll out is nothing new, but if the leaks are to be believed, NVIDIA will change up the order with the GeForce RTX 40 series.
This muddies the water a bit if you're debating whether to buy now or wait. If you're looking to go all out on a top-end SKU, it might make sense to hold off for a few months and pounce on the GeForce RTX 4090 rather than invest in a GeForce RTX 3090 or 3090 Ti now. But if a lower-tier GPU is more your speed, you could be looking at waiting 4-5 months for an upgrade.
There's no right or wrong answer, by the way, just whatever suits your situation.
