Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30 Super Potential Specs Have Been Leaked

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By Zhiye Liu
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The great Ampere refresh

GeForce RTX 3070
GeForce RTX 3070 (Image credit: Nvidia)

Nvidia's GeForce RTX 30-series (Ampere) products are some of the best graphics cards on the market right now. However, they may get even faster according to the recent rumors of an Ampere refresh.

It's almost a given that Nvidia will give its Ampere graphics cards the same Super treatment as it did with Turing. Now, the question is when will Nvidia unleash the GeForce RTX 30-series Super graphics cards. Word on the street is that we may be looking at a early 2022 launch, however, there is no evidence to back it up.

Hardware leaker kopite7kimi, who has an impeccable track record with Ampere leaks, has shared a summary of the potential specifications for the GeForce RTX 30-series Super lineup. We don't know just how far Nvidia is into the Ampere refresh, and specifications do change over time. In fact, the leaker himself questions some of the specifications, therefore, we recommend you approach the rumored specifications with caution.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-Series Super Specifications

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Header Cell - Column 0 GeForce RTX 3090 Super*GeForce RTX 3090GeForce RTX 3080 Super*GeForce RTX 3080GeForce RTX 3070 Super*GeForce RTX 3070GeForce RTX 3060 Super*GeForce RTX 3060
SM8482706846464428
TMUs336328280272184184176112
CUDA Cores10,75210,4968,9608,7045,8885,8885,6323,584
Tensor Cores336328280272184184176112
RT Cores8482706846464428
Memory24GB GDDR6X24GB GDDR6X12GB GDDR6X10GB GDDR6X8GB GDDR6X8GB GDDR612GB GDDR612GB GDDR6

*Specifications are unconfirmed.

The GeForce RTX 3090 Super may arrive with 10,752 CUDA cores, meaning it'll leverage the full GA102 die. For comparison, the vanilla GeForce RTX 3090 has 82 enabled SMs for 10,496 CUDA cores whereas the Super counterpart comes with 84 SMs or 10,752 CUDA cores. We're basically looking at a 2.4% increase in CUDA core count. Appaently, the memory will remain the same, although kopite7kimi is unsure if Nvidia will roll with the GeForce RTX 3090 Super name.

The GeForce RTX 3080 Super could see a similar improvement as the flagship Ampere SKU. Remember that the GeForce RTX 3080 also utilizes the GA102 silicon but with 68 SMs (8,704 CUDA cores). Two more SMs on the GeForce RTX 3080 Super would bump the total to 8,960 CUDA cores. However, it's plausible that the GeForce RTX 3080 Super may get a memory upgrade as well. The rumor is pointing to 12GB of GDDR6X, 2GB more than the regular GeForce RTX 3080.

As for the GeForce RTX 3070 Super, it would appear that this SKU drew the shortest straw out of the refreshed Ampere models. If the rumored specifications are accurate, the graphics card may retain the same CUDA core count and memory as the GeForce RTX 3070. The upgrade seems to be a simple swap from GDDR6 to GDDR6X memory.

The GeForce RTX 3060 Super, on the other hand, seems to bring the biggest upgrade in terms of performance. The GeForce RTX 3060 Super is rumored to sport 5,632 CUDA cores, which would equal to 44 SMs. As a reminder, the GeForce RTX 3060 is based on the GA106 die, which only has 30 SMs. This means that the GeForce RTX 3060 Super will likely use a different silicon. We suspect it may be the GA104 die that has a total of 48 SMs, which has more wiggle room. Curiously, the GA104 is the same silicon that powers the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.

However, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's GA104 die only has 38 SMs enabled out of the potential 48 SMs. This certainly raises some eyebrows since the GeForce RTX 3060 Super would be faster than the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The GeForce RTX 3060 Super would have 44 SMs, very close to maxing the silicon. That's six SMs or 768 CUDA cores more than the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. Therefore, the GeForce RTX 3060 Super would only make sense if Nvidia is thinking about phasing out the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

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22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • stoicfaux
    So... the only real buying choices will be the 3060 for 1024 gaming, the 3060 Super for 1440 gaming, and the regular 3080 for 4k gaming? +1 to Nvidia for narrowing down the field. Assuming the specs are correct of course.

    IMHO, the 3060 Super specs are so very close to the 3070 and 3070 Super that there's no reason to buy either 3070 unless the price difference is tiny. Even with a tiny price difference, the 3060 cards' 12G of memory will make them more appealing over the 3070 cards. It looks to me like Nvidia just killed the 3070 line. The 3080 and 3080 Super are so close in specs that unless that extra 2G of memory makes a noticeable difference in the benchmarks, then I don't see any reason to pay extra for the 3080 Super over the 3080.
    Reply
  • alceryes
    Normal MO. Come out with the flagship GPUs first then 6-12 months later flood every concievable performance gap with other variation GPUs.
    That 3060 Super does raise some eyebrows though. It the leak is true the 3060 Ti may have just become obsolete.
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    :pfff:
    1080Ti, I need you to hold up another year or so...

    If the Ti models didn't let you know before, the Super refresh is Nvidia increasing their profit margins per die/wafer, since they can't go and contractually change the pricing on the original ones.
    Reply
  • alceryes
    Phaaze88 said:
    :pfff:
    1080Ti, I need you to hold up another year or so...

    If the Ti models didn't let you know before, the Super refresh is Nvidia increasing their profit margins per die/wafer, since they can't go and contractually change the pricing on the original ones.
    :D
    It's a bit of a double-edged sword when you are holding a desirable card though. You could sell the 1080 Ti for good money now. If you just happen to find the right deal for your upgrade the difference in price may be worth it. Once the NVIDIA 3000 and AMD 6000 cards become easily available your 1080 Ti's value will go down significantly.

    I finagled my way into a reference RX 6900 XT at a 'net' cost below MSRP by selling my Titan Xp for $800. Buy low and sell high is the name of the game for the next 6 months (or more). I haven't gotten around to OCing it yet but it's a beast right out of the box so I'm in no hurry.
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    alceryes said:
    It's a bit of a double-edged sword when you are holding a desirable card though. You could sell the 1080 Ti for good money now. If you just happen to find the right deal for your upgrade the difference in price may be worth it. Once the NVIDIA 3000 and AMD 6000 cards become easily available your 1080 Ti's value will go down significantly.
    About that...
    I don't have a backup gpu and the 7820X doesn't have an iGPU.
    The former's my own fault, due to older hardware being used as hand-me-downs to friends and relatives.

    A Corsair AX850 Titanium was purchased before RTX 30's lousy power efficiency curves really spread around. Now I find that even this unit has trouble with them, and I spent around 300 bucks on it - just OOF.
    I would undervolt the gpu, but that's no guarantee to be enough.

    Imma roll with it though - just look at it as a lesson learned.
    It should hold up for some time. With the Kraken G12 on it, the gpu is easier to clean.
    Reply
  • alceryes
    Phaaze88 said:
    A Corsair AX850 Titanium was purchased before RTX 30's lousy power efficiency curves really spread around. Now I find that even this unit has trouble with them, and I spent around 300 bucks on it - just OOF.
    I would undervolt the gpu, but that's no guarantee to be enough.
    Do you think the issues with your old PSU are indicitive of that model in general? It could've just been a slight defect in that one unit.
    Many, many people are running an RTX 3080 with an RM750x and having no issues whatsoever.
    Reply
  • Phaaze88
    No, I don't think so. I also believe the cpu and gpu OC'ing didn't help either - more so the cpu OC'ing. Gpu OC'ing really wasn't that productive in comparison.

    alceryes said:
    Many, many people are running an RTX 3080 with an RM750x and having no issues whatsoever.
    See, the RMXs aren't having any issues with the transients. The Seasonic Primes, and Prime-based units are, unless you at least over-provision on wattage.
    The AX850 is a Prime-based unit.



    Looking forward to Super benchmarks nonetheless, heh.
    Reply
  • VforV
    This Super refresh means goodbye to the only high end GPU from Ampere lineup that actually made sense price/performance wise, the 3080.

    No one will ever be able to buy a new 3080 ever again after 3080 Super comes. It will also be more expensive, because nvidia realized after release what a huge mistake they did with a $700 3080, rofl.

    The 3060 Super might be a great deal for those that want nvidia at a "low-ish" price, not me. 3060Ti and 3070 will be obsolete because of that.

    Now I'm more curious about RDNA2 refresh and how is that gonna look.
    Reply
  • alceryes
    Phaaze88 said:
    See, the RMXs aren't having any issues with the transients. The Seasonic Primes, and Prime-based units are, unless you at least over-provision on wattage.
    The AX850 is a Prime-based unit.
    Ahhhh. Gotcha.
    Reply
  • alceryes
    VforV said:
    No one will ever be able to buy a new 3080 ever again after 3080 Super comes. It will also be more expensive, because nvidia realized after release what a huge mistake they did with a $700 3080, rofl.
    Well, this is actually what that GPU SHOULD cost. Not the inflated, crazy-town GPU prices we see now.

    I don't think NVIDIA, AMD, or the AiB mfgs. will ever go back to normal pricing now.

    I fear that getting the RTX 3080, at MSRP, on Sept. 17th 2020, was the last of normal GPU pricing.
    Reply