Here are the official specs - Is it better than a standard RTX 3080?
Published: 11th January 2022 | Source: Nvidia | Author: Mark Campbell
Nvidia's 12GB RTX 3080 has finally arrived - Here are the GPU's specifications
It's official, Nvidia has launched their RTX 3080 12GB graphics card, a new addition to their RTX 30 series family of products that arrives as an alternative to their original 10GB RTX 3080 model.
What's worth noting here is that Nvidia's RTX 3080 12GB is not replacing their original 10GB model. Both SKUs will remain available, with the RTX 3080 12GB will offer purchasers an extra option for those who desire more VRAM or memory bandwidth.
By offering users 256 more CUDA cores, and the same boost clock speeds as a standard RTX 3080, Nvidia's new 12GB model will offer users a moderate boost in gaming performance. That said, and 2.9% increase in CUDA core count isn't huge. That said, workloads that require more than 10GB of VRAM or require additional memory bandwidth will benefit hugely from the RTX 3080 12GB's expanded frame buffer.
With the RTX 3080 12GB, memory bandwidth increases by 20% from 760 GB/s to 912 GB/s given the RTX 3080 12GB's use of 20% more VRAM chips and a large 384-bit frame buffer. Since cryptocurrency mining performance on modern GPUs mostly scales with memory bandwidth, Nvidia's RTX 3080 12GB should offer users the same, or similar, mining performance as an RTX 3080 Ti.
Drivers - Why there are no launch day reviews
Drivers for Nvidia's RTX 3080 12GB are available starting today ( from here ), though it is worth noting that Nvidia did not provide these drivers to the press ahead of the graphics card's official launch. This has prevented any reviews for Nvidia's RTX 3080 12GB from being written before the graphics card's launch.
Nvidia gave RTX 3080 12GB drivers to consumers and reviewers at the same time, and you can guess the reasons why.
| RTX 3080 (10GB) | RTX 3080 (12GB) | RTX 3080 Ti | RTX 3090 | |
| GPU Clusters | 68 | 70 | 80 | 82 |
| CUDA Cores | 8704 | 8960 | 10240 | 10496 |
| RT Cores | 68 | 70 | 80 | 82 |
| Tensor Cores | 272 | 280 | 320 | 328 |
| Base Clock | 1440 MHz | 1260 MHz | 1365 MHz | 1395 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1710 MHz | 1710 MHz | 1665 MHz | 1695 MHz |
| Memory (GDDR6X) | 10 GB | 12 GB | 12 GB | 24 GB |
| Memory Speed | 19 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 19 Gbps | 19.5 Gbps |
| Memory Bus | 320-bit | 384-bit | 384-bit | 384-bit |
| Bandwidth | 760 GB/s | 912 GB/s | 912 GB/s | 936 GB/s |
| TDP | 320W | 350W | 350W | 350W |
| MSRP (Founders Edition) | $699 | ??? | $1,199 | $1,499 |
We hope to test Nvidia's new RTX 3080 12GB graphics card over the coming days. After out testing is complete, we will write reviews for the RTX 3080 Ti graphics cards that we have access to. Currently, Nvidia has released no MSRP pricing for their RTX 3080 12GB graphics card, and has not revealed a Founders Edition model of the card.
You can join the discussion on Nvidia's RTX 3080 12GB graphics card on the OC3D Forums .