NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 Series Release Date, Price, Specs

Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs have been released. We are talking about the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080.

To help visualize the potential of the RTX 4000 GPUs, we have considered NVIDIA’s previous GPU lineup, the RTX 3000 series, and the performance improvements over the RTX 2000 series.

Although don’t forget that AMD will soon be releasing the RDNA 3 series in November, so check that out too!

Let’s see what RTX 4000 has to bring to the table!

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Release Date

The RTX 4090 was released on October 12^th with an MSRP of $1599, which is $100 more expensive than its predecessor, the RTX 3090.

The RTX 4080 was released in November 2022 with just one version. Originally, there was supposed to be a 12GB and 16GB RTX 4080.

Note: Because of community backlash, NVIDIA “canceled” the 12GB RTX 4080 and gave it a new name, the RTX 4070 Ti. This card launched in January of 2023.

The RTX 4070 released on April 13, 2023. The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB was released on May 23rd, while the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB will be released in July of 2023.

The RTX 4060 will also release in July of 2023.

There are also rumors circulating regarding RTX 4090 Ti and RTX 4000 Titan GPUs. Whether these GPUs actually exist, we still don’t know for certain.

Laptop GPUs like the RTX 4090, RTX 4080, RTX 4070, RTX 4060, and RTX 4050 released throughout the first quarter of 2023.

If you’re looking for the next generation, by 2024, NVIDIA claims they will have Ampere Next Next ready, which is supposedly the RTX 5000 series.

EVGA Left NVIDIA

We should also mention that as of this generation, EVGA will no longer manufacture graphics cards. This decision is supposedly a consequence of NVIDIA’s years of mistreatment.

EVGA’s spokesperson mentioned that NVIDIA kept EVGA (and probably other partners) in the dark on the GPU’s prices and constantly undercutting them, which reduced their profit margins while NVIDIA’s profit margins shot up.

Price

NVIDIA’s pricing for the RTX 30 was certainly an improvement over the RTX 20 Series. Unfortunately, the RTX 40 GPUs do not follow the same trend and have some of the most expensive GPUs yet.

Here is the pricing:

• RTX 4060 – $299
• RTX 4060 Ti 8GB – $399
• RTX 4060 Ti 16GB – $499
• RTX 4070 – $599
• RTX 4070 Ti– $799
• RTX 4080 16GB – $1,199
• RTX 4090 – $1,599

The RTX 4070 Ti was originally $899 when it was still named RTX 4080 12GB, but now at $799, it’s still too expensive, considering that the 3070 Ti was $599 at launch.

The RTX 4080 is 71% more expensive than the 12GB RTX 3080!

The RTX 4070 is $100 more than its predecessor and follows the trend for expensive mid-range GPUs. Either way, it’s NVIDIA’s best-value RTX 4000 GPU.

The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB at $400 is a ridiculously bad offer from NVIDIA. A mid-range GPU that will face VRAM limitations at its release is not a good deal. More on its performance later.

On the other hand, the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB version is $500, which completely ruins the value of the card.

Specifications

The Ada Lovelace microarchitecture is built on TSMC’s 4N process, a solid leap from the 8nm Ampere (Samsung) chips.

A smaller process node will result in two significant benefits: more performance for less power.

Here are NVIDIA’s claims of Ada Lovelace’s improvements over older generations like Ampere and Turing:

Here’s a table listing the specifications of all RTX 4000 GPUs:

Specifications	RTX 3090	RTX 4090 Ti (The Beast)	RTX 4090	RTX 4080 16GB	RTX 4070 Ti	RTX 4070	RTX 4060 Ti	RTX 4060
GPU Die	GA102	AD102	AD102	AD103	AD103	AD104	AD106	AD106
Process	Samsung 8nm	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)	TSMC 5nm (4N)
Base Clock Speed	1395 MHz	?	2230 MHz	2510 MHz	2610 MHz	1920 MHz	2310 MHz	?
Boost Clock Speed	1695 MHz	?	2520 MHz	2210 MHz	2310 MHz	2475 MHz	2535 MHz	?
CUDA Cores	10496	18176	16384	9728	7680	5888	4352	3072
Bus Width	384-bit	384-bit	384-bit	256-bit	192-bit	192-bit	128-bit	128-bit
Memory	24GB GDDR6X	48GB GDDR6X	24GB GDDR6X	16GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X	8GB - 16GB GDDR6	8GB - 16GB GDDR6
Memory Speed	24Gbps	24Gbps	21Gbps	23Gbps	21Gbps	21Gbps	18Gbps	?
Bandwidth	936.2 GB/s	?	1008 GB/s	736 GB/s	504 GB/s	504 GB/s	288 GB/s	288 GB/s
L2 Cache	6MB	96MB	96MB	64MB	64MB	48MB	48MB	48MB
Total Board Power	350W	800W?	450W	320W	285W	200W	160W-165W	115W
Release Date	September 1st, 2020	TBA 2023	October 12, 2022	November, 2022	January 7th, 2023	April 13, 2023	May, 2023	July 2023

The cheaper RTX 4060 Ti comes with measly 8GB of VRAM which has been proven that it is not enough for modern titles, while the more expensive RTX 4060 Ti has 16GB of VRAM.

On paper, the RTX 4060 Ti looks like a good improvement over the RTX 3060 Ti, but the performance numbers show a different story. More on that below.

Leaks

RTX 4090 Ti/Titan

The leaks on NVIDIA’s “true” flagship are a bit vague. This AD102 chip that’s been referred to as the “The Beast” might be the 4090 Ti, Titan, or maybe even get a completely different name.

Supposedly, this flagship SKU will have 12,432 CUDA cores and 48GB of GDDR6X running at 24 Gbps. Bandwidth will be well over one terabyte, considering that the regular 4090 will have a terabyte of bandwidth.

However, a gaming GPU like the RTX 4090 Ti doesn’t make sense to have 48GB of VRAM, while an RTX (4000) Titan with 48GB GDDR6X makes sense.

News surrounding this GPU has been pretty scarce, but recently, this giant GPU’s heatsink was recently spotted, and certain Titan RTX renders did get leaked.

It’s possible that NVIDIA is preparing a trump card in response to anything AMD might release throughout 2023.

Performance

RTX 4090

The performance gains we see with the RTX 4090 might actually excuse the pretty high price tag.

This might even be one of the biggest generational performance leaps in GPUs. Let’s look at some third-party benchmarks.

First up is Gamers Nexus’ Total War: Warhammer 3 1440p benchmark. Immediately, it is obvious that the RTX 4090 is undoubtedly the fastest gaming GPU in the world right now.

In this game, the new NVIDIA flagship is almost 40% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti. Keep in mind this is without any ray tracing or DLSS options enabled. It’s also 45% faster than the RTX 3090.

In Tomb Raider at 4K, the performance is consistent with the previous benchmark, surpassing the RTX 3090 Ti by around 40%.

To further establish the performance dominance of the RTX 4090, here are two charts by Hardware Unboxed showing a 13-game average in 1440p and 4K.

In 1440p, the RTX 4090 is ~45% better than the RTX 3090 Ti and RX 6950XT. At 4K though, without any CPU bottleneck, the RTX 4090 is almost 60% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti.

When ray tracing is enabled in games though, the RTX 4090 story gets even better.

Hardware Unboxed tested the RTX 3090 Ti, RX 6950 XT and RTX 4090 in Dying Light 2 Stay Human with ray tracing enabled. Without any DLSS upscaling, the RTX 4090 is 117% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti.

With DLSS enabled, the 4090 is around 95% faster than the previous NVIDIA flagship. So, NVIDIA definitely improved the ray tracing capabilities in this new generation of RTX GPUs.

DLSS 3 takes things even further for the new flagship, making it almost 150% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti, but more on this new feature later.

The RTX 4090 also performs pretty well in productivity tasks, cutting down the time needed to export 3D renders and video edits by half.

RTX 4080

There is no doubt that the RTX 4080 is a great graphics card, and these three benchmarks/charts below from Hardware Unboxed prove that.

For this 1080p data, keep in mind that the RTX 4080 is often CPU limited, so it can’t give 100% at this resolution.

Either way, even at 1080p the RTX 4080 is dominating the charts, ending up about 16% faster than the RX 6950 XT and 19% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti.

It’s also 36% faster than its predecessor, the RTX 3080.

When resolution is increase to 1440p, the performance gap widens.

The RTX 4080 is almost 25% faster than the RX 6950 XT and RTX 3090 Ti. It’s also more than 50% faster than the RTX 3080.

At 4K, the performance gap is similar to 1440p, with the RTX 4080 outperforming the RTX 3080 by 52% and the RTX 3090 Ti by 21%.

These are great generation-over-generation performance gains, but here comes the “but”.

The cost per frame at 1440p is one of the worst currently, based on real pricing on Newegg. Still better than the RTX 4090 though.

RTX 4070 Ti

Even though the RTX 4070 Ti is still very expensive at $800, its performance is nothing to scoff at.

Here are some charts for 1080p, 1440p and 4K resolutions:

In 1080p on a 16-game average, the RX 7900 XT and RTX 4070 offer almost identical performance.

In 1440p, there’s a slight gap in performance, with the AMD counterpart overtaking the RTX 4070 Ti by around 3%.

In 4K, the gap increases further, with AMD ending up around 8% faster than NVIDIA.

But, for $100 less, the RTX 4070 Ti is definitely offers much better value, if you manage to find the card at MSRP.

RTX 4070

The RTX 4070 is NVIDIA’s first RTX 4000 “mid-range” GPU, but considering its high price tag, its going to have to impress with its performance.

So, let’s look at some numbers!

In these 13 games tested at 1440p, the RTX 4070 seems to be about 18% slower than its bigger brother, the RTX 4070 Ti and 20% faster than its predecessor, the RTX 4070 Ti.

However, it is identical to the RX 6800 XT, which often sells for less than $600 and is only about 4% faster than the RTX 3080, which is also sold at cheaper than the $700 MSRP.

At 4K, the gap between the GPUs remains mostly the same with the only exception being the RTX 3080 which ends up faster than the 4070.

For ray tracing, the 4070 is 10% faster than the RX 7900 XT and 23% slower than the RTX 4070 Ti.

Furthermore, the power efficiency of this GPU is definitely something to revel about.

Even though it is 20% faster than the 3070, it draws 11% less power!

The RTX 4070 is no doubt a great card. It offers solid performance very efficiently, Frame Generation and various NVIDIA RTX features, but its pricing leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth.

Still, compared to current-gen options on the market, the RTX 4070 still offers good value.

Just check out this cost-per-frame chart by Hardware Unboxed:

Doesn’t seem too bad, but it’s not a good look when cheaper last-gen GPUs are just as fast. In fact, the RX 6900 XT has a similar market price with the RTX 4070 and its about 7% faster.

RTX 4060 Ti 8GB

In 2023 we got a lot of video games that demand more than 8GB of VRAM. Some examples are Resident Evil 4 Remake, Last of Us Part 1, Dead Space Remake, and we expect many more to follow this trend.

And even with such a trend, NVIDIA decides to release the RTX 4060 Ti with just 8GB of VRAM which ruins the FPS in certain titles. Let’s look at some charts.

In this 15-game average, at 1080p, the 8GB RTX 4060 Ti is practically a 3070, and just about 9% faster than the 3060 Ti.

For a new generation of GPUs, the outcome is quite mediocre, especially because of the VRAM limitations. If the 16GB version cost $400, this would’ve been one of the best value cards on the market!

Here are some examples of how the RTX 4060 Ti struggles when games hit the VRAM limit:

When Last of Us Part I is running at 1440p at Ultra Quality, the 1% lows (minimum frame rate) l dip down to unplayable levels, while a much weaker card with 12GB of VRAM, like the RTX 3060, performs substantially better.

Even the RX 6700 XT, a last-gen GPU with a $480 MSRP (now $400 or less) is almost 50% faster than the RTX 4060 Ti.

In the oncoming year, we expect dozens of new games demanding more than 8GB of VRAM, so buying a $400 GPU today for just 8GB of VRAM is not a good idea.

What the RTX 4060 Ti has over these older GPUs is Frame Generation and very low power consumption.

Based on this Hitman 3 test, the RTX 4060 Ti 8GB draws almost 100W less than the RTX 3060 Ti! That is one of the more impressive feats of the RTX 40 Series, which, unfortunately, is shaded by the bad pricing and lack of VRAM.

RTX 4060

The RTX 4060 might be the more lucrative option for $299. It is 15-20% faster than the RTX 3060 and you get access to Frame Generation.

However, again, there is a lack of VRAM problems. The RTX 4060 has only 8GB of VRAM while the RTX 3060 comes with 12GB.

While it won’t be an issue for most games, in VRAM-intensive games, the RTX 4060 will suffer from frame drops, stuttering, crashes, or other issues even though it is a much faster card.

RTX 4000 Laptop GPUs

Like with every NVIDIA GPU generation, the RTX 4000 will also have mobile GPUs for laptops.

Starting from the RTX 4050 and all the way to the RTX 4090. Of course, performance compared to the desktop series will be vastly different. The 4090 alone has about 40% fewer CUDA Cores and 8GB less VRAM.

But, in comparison to previous laptop GPU generations, these laptop graphics cards should be fast.

Based on NVIDIA, with DLSS 3, RTX 4000 laptop GPUs (Ada) may deliver between 2x to 4x more fps in game and productivity workloads than RTX 4000 laptop GPUs (Ampere).

Laptops with RTX 4080s and RTX 4090s will start at $2,000, while laptops with the mid-range RTX 4070, 4060, and 4050 will start at $1,000.

However, third-party benchmarks show that the laptop RTX 4090 is substantially slower than the desktop RTX 4090.

Hardware Unboxed’s comparison in 1440p shows that the desktop 4090 is 36% faster on average. In 4K, the desktop GPU is up to 56% faster.

In Dying Light 2 with ray tracing enabled, it’s obvious that the RTX 4090 laptop simply doesn’t offer performance nearly as fast as the desktop RTX 4090.

While laptop GPUs are generally slower than their desktop counterpart, it is misleading to use the exact same name for both GPUs when it’s obvious that one offers a different level of performance.

The laptop RTX 4090 should at least have the “M” suffix to signal to buyers that it’s a mobile/slower variant.

The best solution is to name laptop GPUs based on their performance counterparts. So, if the mobile RTX 4090 performs closer to the desktop RTX 4070 Ti, it should be named RTX 4070 Ti M, etc.

DLSS 3.0/Frame Generation

DLSS 3.0 is the successor to DLSS 2.0, but not exactly. DLSS 3.0 uses DLSS 2.0 as we know it and then applies NVIDIA’s new Frame Generation technology to boost FPS even further.

Here’s how it works:

With the so-called “Optical Flow Accelerator,” a new part of the RTX GPUs, and by adding Optical Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA brings serious FPS boosts to the table.

Simply put, RTX 4000 GPUs can generate new frames based on “guesses,” artificially increasing the FPS, and improving the player’s experience.

Do note that DLSS 3 will not be available for RTX 3000 and 2000 cards because they lack this Optical Flow Accelerator.

Here’s DLSS 3 or Frame Generation in action:

From this Hardware Unboxed chart, the RTX 4090 is 145% faster than the RTX 3090 Ti. These are some absolutely incredible gains in performance.

But is there a catch?

Well, yes. There is one (or two) related to latency and in-game feel.

Here’s an example. In Cyberpunk 2077, with DLSS 3 enabled, the game shoots up to 112 FPS. That framerate should lead to a substantially smoother experience than 62 FPS.

However, since those extra FPS are generated with DLSS 3, the responsiveness/latency feel is like you are playing the game at 62 FPS

This isn’t a huge problem, but it might be noticeable for some people. Tim from Hardware Unboxed explained this as “smooth motion, but a slow feel.”

If you are interested for a more in-depth analysis, check out the video:

Scalping & Price Increases

Throughout the last couple of years, ever since the release of the RTX 3000 series, scalping has become a huge trend.

This new trend skyrocketed the prices of new GPUs while considerably cutting down the supply. This shortage continues in 2022 as it did in 2021 and 2020.

Even the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, TSMC and Samsung, struggle to keep up with the demand.

Right now, you might be wondering: will this kind of scalping affect the RTX 4000 series? Unfortunately, we cannot know for sure, but at least we know that both TSMC and Samsung are investing in improving their manufacturing capacities.

We’ll know the status of RTX 4000 availability once the GPUs are released.

Until then, you can check back for future developments on the RTX 4000 Series!