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Board Partner Variants of RTX 3080 to Feature 20GB VRAM; FE will be Limited to 10GB [Rumor]

As per kopite7kimi, the most consistent and reputed source of info on NVIDIA’s Ampere graphics cards, the board partner variants of the RTX 3080 will feature both 10GB and 20GB of GDDR6X memory. Just yesterday, it was confirmed that the Founders Edition models of the RTX 3080 and 3090 will pack 10GB and 24GB of GDDR6X memory, respectively.

The Founders Edition heatsink design and the 12-pin power connector have also been confirmed in a video teaser released by NVIDIA last night. The main reason why NVIDIA is allowing ASIC partners to sell 20GB variants of the RTX 3080 is that AMD’s Big Navi graphics card is expected to come with 16GB of GDDR6X memory.

It’s very likely that Big Navi will be faster than the RTX 3080 but slower than the RTX 3090, all the while costing the same as the former. In light of that, it may be a good idea for NVIDIA to offer a 20GB variant of the 3080 to make up for the performance deficit when compared to the Navi 2x flagship.

The board partner versions of the Ampere graphics cards are expected to launch just a week after the Founders Edition cards. Looking at the FE heatsink, you can be sure that NVIDIA will charge a hefty premium for it. In light of that, the board partner models with 20GB VRAM might as well cost the same as the FE cards and ought to be a better buy.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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