Nvidia "Unlaunches" RTX 4080 12GB, Saying Its Name Is "Confusing"

Nvidia "unlaunched" the 12GB RTX 4080 after community backlash concerning the shared name with the 16GB RTX 4080.

In a blog post on the Nvidia website, the company explained, "The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing." The post also confirms that the 16GB model is on track to release on November 16.

The 12GB model was original planned to launch alongside the 16GB model. Despite having the same name, the two GPUS are quite different under the hood, which caused confusion and criticism. The 16GB GDDR6X memory model has 76 RT cores, 9,728 CUDA cores, and a memory with a 22Gbps throughput and 256-bit bus. The 12GB GDDR6X memory model has 60 RT, 7,680 CUDA, and a slower memory with 21Gbps throughput and 192-bit bus. The difference also shows up in price. The 16GB will start at $1199 and the 12GB would have started at $899. Additionally, according to a report from the Hardware Times, the 12GB 4080 only outperformed the 3080 model by 12% and ran slower than the 3090 Ti.

The unlaunch means that there will not be a mid-range graphics card alongside alongside the 16GB 4080. There has been no word as to whether Nvidia will release the 12GB 4080 under a different name.