It is rumored that they could change the NVIDIA RTX 4080 chip a bit, to reduce its cost, but the truth is that it will be a very small reduction, and probably not reflected in the final price for consumers.
The net Tom’s hardware unearthed this rumor, which comes from HKEPC (a Hong Kong technology website), according to which, while the RTX 4080 graphics card currently uses the AD103-300 chip, NVIDIA may use a slightly different GPU chip called the AD103-301 in the future. Of course, this is a rumor, so we can’t assume this information is correct.
Now, the website notes that there’s now more evidence that this will happen: graphics card maker Galax lists the GPU as “AD103-300/301” in its RTX 4080 specs list.
Moreover, VideoCardz Also, in gathering the news, we have been informed that another graphics card maker, Gainward, has also included the updated AD103-301 variant of the GPU in its product specifications.
Considering there are two third-party manufacturers that have mentioned this GPU spec change, it seems quite likely that they’ll be swapping the chip in the RTX 4080, although we won’t know for sure until NVIDIA confirms.
HKEPC also claims that the upcoming RTX 4070 (the “base” version of the RTX 4070 Ti just unveiled) could also have two different chips, which in this case would theoretically be AD104-250 and AD104-251. The difference is that the former presumably uses a comparator circuit, while the latter does not, and would use a different circuit, which may reduce the production cost of the graphics card.
The same goes for the RTX 4080 and the new AD103-301 chip, which could reduce production costs. The key question is if all of this is confirmed for either GPU, how much cheaper could the second variants on the market be? Does this mean that the price of graphics cards could go down or are they just giving us false hope?
HKEPC determines that the cost difference between the purported different versions of the RTX 4070 could be as little as $1, which is a small amount, and probably wouldn’t make any difference to the price paid by the consumer. A source VideoCardz consulted also claims that the difference in cost would not be significant.
We weren’t given any figures for the possible difference in the cost of manufacturing RTX 4080 versions, but the new AD103-301 chip could drive the cost down more dramatically, and perhaps the graphics card could drop in price for the future consumer. However, this could be an equally very small reduction, which would certainly have little effect on the price of the RTX 4080.
Time will tell, but given NVIDIA’s stance on the pricing of new Lovelace GPUs in general, it’s hard to be optimistic.
Whether the change to the RTX 4080 chip will impact performance is another matter. Rumors clearly state that it is not and that the AD103-301 chip will not be more powerful than the existing AD103-300. This makes sense, as presumably, NVIDIA doesn’t want those who have already shelled out a lot of money to buy an RTX 4080 to feel ripped off
Most likely, the result of all this will be graphics cards with the same level of performance, or so similar that in practice the difference is not noticeable, and a slightly lower cost price for motherboard manufacturers, but which probably will not affect the price that consumers have to pay. But hey, let’s not lose hope, let’s hope we’re wrong and that translates into a more favorable situation for consumers as well.
