NVIDIA canceled the GeForce RTX 4080 12GB unprecedentedly after being panned for essentially being an overpriced 4070. While it is true that the intense criticism from the press and gamers contributed to the cancelation, there was another reason: Excess Ampere inventory. As already reported earlier, the RTX 4080 12GB fell short of the 3090 Ti in rasterized workloads, performing roughly on par with the RTX 3080 Ti:
Since there are still very few titles with DLSS 3 on the market, so the RTX 4080 12GB would be competing with NVIDIA’s Ampere offerings. As retailers are already dealing with excess RTX 30-series stock, this would further worsen things for everyone.
According to Tom from MLID, the RTX 4080 12GB production was just about to start when it was “unlaunched.” As such, no one had to face any significant losses. This particular SKU is probably gone for good, and only a cut-down variant may be launched as the RTX 4070.
The YouTuber further states that NVIDIA will be keeping the supply of the RTX 4090 in check, letting stocks dry now and then. To encourage gamers to buy the older Ampere offerings, we should keep seeing regular discounts across the board until the bulk of the inventory is depleted, which won’t be until the holiday season, at the very least.
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