Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Caught On Camera

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (Image credit: GarnetSunset/Twitter)

Twitter user @GarnetSunset has shared two photographs of one of Nvidia's looming Ampere graphics cards. The markings on the backplate are barely visible, but the mysterious graphics card appears to be the GeForce RTX 3090.

It's not the first time that we've seen the peculiar design, but the graphics card is simply massive when compared to the GeForce RTX 2080. According to the images, the GeForce RTX 3090 occupies up to three PCI slots as evidenced by the I/O bracket. It remains to be seen whether aftermarket models will follow suit though. If so, we can see graphic cards with included AIO liquid cooler getting more popular or enthusiasts simply slapping a waterblock on the graphics card and roll with a full liquid cooling system.

The triple-slot design certainly raises the question to whether Ampere will pull a lot of power and, thus, if that's why it has such a beefy heatsink. Early rumors were already floating around that the flagship Ampere graphics card could debut with a 350W TDP (thermal design power). Then the subject of the new 12-pin PCIe power connector emerged and added more fuel to the fire.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (Image credit: GarnetSunset/Twitter)

The specifications for the GeForce RTX 3090 aren't clear yet, but we might be looking at a graphics card that could feature 5,376 to 7,552 CUDA cores and up to 24GB of GDDR6X memory. The GA102 silicon is the rumored die to come inside the GeForce RTX 3090. And unless Micron is pulling our leg, the GeForce RTX 3090's GDDR6X memory will clock up to 21 Gbps. If that's the case, we would be expecting a 384-bit memory interface to go along with the memory.

The leaker who brought us the photographs also shared the alleged pricing for Nvidia's Ampere product stack. We would exercise caution with the prices as manufacturers have gotten smarter over the last few years and would often establish false pricing only to change them just before the product launch. According to the leaker, the GeForce RTX 3090 will reportedly retail for $1,400 while the GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 purportedly sell for $800, $600 and $400, respectively. Again, take those numbers with a huge shovelful of salt. 

Looking back at Nvidia's previous flagships, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti launched at $699. The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti eventually replaced it at $999. The price increased by up to 42.9%, considering Turing's bigger die and the addition of the Tensor and RT cores and whatnot. If the GeForce RTX 3090's $1,400 price tag is legit, the Ampere-based flagship would cost approximately 40.1% more than the existing GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. It's basically the same premium that consumers paid for the Turing flagship.

Nvidia's pricing strategy has never been lenient, and when there's no formidable competition up top, the chipmaker probably could get away selling the GeForce RTX 3090 for whatever its heart desires.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • PCWarrior
    My predictions:The 3090 will be $1400 in the same way the 2080ti was $1000. This means that in reality you should be expecting $200 more for the founders and pretty much all the good AIB cards (except from the "entry-level" ones with the worst coolers) . And higher-end models even more. So we are really looking for $1600.
    The 3090 will definitely not have more CUDA cores than what is currently available with the A100. Yes the A100 WILL have 8192 but at the moment the maximum available configuration is with 6912. So 6912 CUDA cores is the absolute maximum for the 3090.
    The 3080 will have at least half of the 3090’s CUDA cores (i.e. 3456 in case the 3090 sports 6912 CUDA cores) and will cost half the money ($800).
    Reply
  • jkflipflop98
    Dang that's a BIG card. RIP SFF gamers.
    Reply
  • AnimeMania
    Is that a fan on the front and the back? Is that some kind of push-pull wind chamber design?
    Reply
  • Conahl
    a friend sent me a video that, based on what he was able to find, from runours, leaks, and the odd official tidbits, the fan on the back is for a co processor for RT functions. the author of this video, also did one based on big navi, both worth the watch, as both are kind of interesting, even if they are his own opinions and conclusions.
    i537qwchiAwView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i537qwchiAw is on ampre
    h8H_7VguCzgView: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8H_7VguCzg is on big navi

    while interesting, still a good idea to keep some salt beside you :)
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    jkflipflop98 said:
    Dang that's a BIG card. RIP SFF gamers.
    If the leaks are true, this is the FE version which is so large because the pentagon surrounding the fan on the right side has no PCB under it. The PCB only goes from the back plate up to the triangle cutout bordering the right pentagon. Because the PCB is so short, it had to be doubled sided and much taller. There will also reportedly be a traditionally shaped rectangular PCB reference design for AIB's which should work fine in SFF's.
    Reply
  • DookieDraws
    jkflipflop98 said:
    Dang that's a BIG card. RIP SFF gamers.
    Ain't that the truth! And we haven't even seen Big Navi, yet! o_O
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    The specifications for the GeForce RTX 3090 aren't clear yet, but we might be looking at a graphics card that could feature 5,376 to 7,552 CUDA cores and up to 12GB of GDDR6X memory.
    I have yet to see a leak that predicts the 3090 will come with only 12GB. Every current leak says 24GB. The $200 price hike would suck, but if you actually need 24GB of RAM (ie, not gamers), $1400 is a pretty decent deal. What's the cheapest video card up until now that has 24GB RAM?

    https://wccftech.com/nvidia-rtx-3000-series-rumored-pricing-rtx-3090-for-1399-rtx-3080-for-799-rtx-3070-for-599-and-rtx-3060-for-399/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
    Board IDReplacement ClassvRAMBus WidthLaunch SchedulePG132-102080 Ti24 GB384 bit2H Sept.PG132-202080 Super20 GB320 bit1H Oct.PG132-302080 Super10 GB320 bitMid. Sept.PG133*2080 FE (TBC)TBDTBDTBDPG142-02070 Super16 GBTBDTBDPG142-102070 Super8 GB256 bit2H Sept.PG136*2070 FE (TBC)TBDTBDTBDPG190-102060 Super8 GB256 bitTBD* = not confirmed

    Interesting that the "3080" and "3070" are both predicted to have two different memory amounts.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    AnimeMania said:
    Is that a fan on the front and the back? Is that some kind of push-pull wind chamber design?
    The rear part of the card is likely a straight-through heatsink with some heatpipes, which should be far more effective at dissipating heat than blowing air at the PCB and PCIe slot. With a card likely going to draw over 300W based on Nvidia feeling compelled to come up with something beyond dual AUX8/150W for power, it'll need all the cooling efficiency it can get.
    Reply
  • cstokesrodriguez
    I like how the dude says 2080ti released for 999.99, when in reality you could not find the card for less than 1200 anywhere for what, 8 months? Small gripe but I really hate when articles do this, be honest please. There was no 999.99 version at release, if you wanted the card you paid 1200 or more.
    Reply
  • anonymuos
    I hope and wish it has at least AV1 accelerated decoding so the next gen can have AV1 encoding
    Reply