Nvidia has ‘unlaunched’ the RTX 4080 12GB GPU because its name was "confusing"
This decision comes after heavy backlash and criticism from the community about the underwhelming specs of the Nvidia RTX 4080 12GB GPU.
Nvidia has ‘unlaunched’ the RTX 4080 12GB version after heavy backlash from the community. Apparently, the company has pulled back the GPU as its name was too confusing. The 12GB variant shares its name with the RTX 4080 16GB version. The community pushed back when these two RTX 4080s were announced, particularly unimpressed with the 12GB GPU. Fans believe the numbers for RTX 4080 12GB do not justify it sharing the category with the 16GB version, which will be released on November 16.
Nvidia claims the name was confusing
The company announced, "The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right". They added, “Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing. So, we’re pressing the "unlaunch" button on the 4080 12GB."
It was quickly making the rounds on the Internet that the 12GB version is largely different to the 16GB variant. It wasn’t as simple as some CUDA cores being switched off and a reduced clock speed. There are actually a lot fewer CUDA cores in the 12GB variant and it also has a 192-bit memory bus as compared to the 16GB version’s 256-bit memory bus.
There was a 30% performance drop in the 12GB variant when compared to the Nvidia RTX 4080 16GB. These results were found through Nvidia’s own testing of both of these GPUs.
Nvidia RTX 4080 12GB will be rebranded
It looks like the 4080 12GB will now be rebranded and will probably launch in a category that does not carry the same name as that of the 4080 16GB since it’s clearly inferior to that specific GPU.
There’s also a new report which suggests that Nvidia is actually bearing the costs of rebranding for its partners. Two Nvidia board partners have told Gamers Nexus that Nvidia is willing to pay partners for the repackaging costs of RTX 4080 12GB GPUs which has now been cancelled. It’s unclear what the new name for this GPU would be but the reports claim that it can turn out to be a part of the RTX 4070 Ti or 4070 series.