Nvidia Ships New RTX 4080 Silicon, Probably Still Too Expensive

News
By Zhiye Liu
published

The RTX 4080's MSRP will probably remain the same.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Although overpriced, the GeForce RTX 4080 is one of the best graphics cards for modern-day gaming. However, Hong Kong news outlet HKEPC claims that Nvidia has prepared a new AD103 die for the GeForce RTX 4080, potentially improving the Ada Lovelace graphics card's bills of material (BOM). Now there's evidence that suggests this is accurate.

The GeForce RTX 4080 currently ships with the AD103-300 silicon; however, HKEPC's sources allege that the graphics card will switch over to AD103-301 soon. Now, Galax has started listing the brand's GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards with the "AD103-300/301," lending credence to HKEPC's claims.

However, the transition from AD103-300 to AD103-301 won't likely benefit the consumer. Despite the difference in silicon, GeForce RTX 4080 GPUs based on the AD103-301 should have an equivalent level of performance to the normal AD103-300 variants. Nvidia's partners are probably the ones that are getting the best deal out of the new silicon.

According to HKEPC, Nvidia's upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 could leverage two different dies: AD104-250 or AD104-251. The former allegedly requires a comparator circuit for the GPU voltage, whereas the latter doesn't need one. As a result, AD104-251 has a lower PCB BOM but would likely use a different PCB.

HKPEC estimates a $1 BOM reduction with AD104-251. In any event, the AD104-250 will probably hit the production line first, with the AD104-251 coming shortly afterward.

Given the version numbers, AD103-301 doesn't represent a significant revision over the current AD103-300 silicon. It's unknown what has changed between the two dies or why Nvidia decided to spin up a new piece of silicon for the GeForce RTX 4080, especially if it requires changes to the PCB design. The current assumption is that the new AD103-301 silicon may help lower the BOM for the GeForce RTX 4080. We don’t the exact amount, though. HKEPC‘s $1 claim is for the AD104 silicon, and the GeForce RTX 4080 uses a different silicon. Still, it’ll be interesting to see whether the cost savings make it to the consumer.

The GeForce RTX 4080 debuted at $1,199, and some premium custom models retail for as much as $1,899. Despite the steep price tag, the GeForce RTX 4080 is still one of the best-selling graphics cards on Newegg.

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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35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Roland Of Gilead
    $1 dollar extra to the BOM!? This equates to about $50 at retail! Greedy......
    Reply
  • umeng2002_2
    I think you mean an extra $1 BOM equates to another $400 in retail.
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    What's the incentive for nVidia to lower the price when their competition is just as ridiculously overpriced as well, they're flying off the shelves, and they can make more profit per card than they could at lower prices?
    Reply
  • CircuitJammer
    Best seller? Flying off the shelves?
    Umm... they are literally gathering dust on the shelves and selling very poorly. Where do you guys get this stuff?
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    CircuitJammer said:
    Best seller? Flying off the shelves?
    Umm... they are literally gathering dust on the shelves and selling very poorly. Where do you guys get this stuff?


    The article itself:

    Despite the steep price tag, the GeForce RTX 4080 is still one of the best-selling graphics cards on Newegg.
    Reply
  • e_fok
    The new revision of the chip probably makes the largest difference to the mobile GPU for laptops should it likely be more efficient at lower power levels. Saving a few watts and using less components matters a lot more for laptops.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Based on my previous analysis, the RTX 4080 should have a list price of about $1049, to be in line with how the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4090 are priced.

    I would like it to be much cheaper than that, of course, as that's still much more than I'd spend on a GPU for mere personal use.
    Reply
  • Papusan
    bit_user said:
    Based on my previous analysis, the RTX 4080 should have a list price of about $1049, to be in line with how the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4090 are priced.

    I would like it to be much cheaper than that, of course, as that's still much more than I'd spend on a GPU for mere personal use.
    Why? 4090 was 100$ above 3090. 3080 was $699, so proper price should be 799$ for 4080. And 4070 Ti was the last one out from nvidia and should be priced... 699$. You take it out in the wrong order. Latest released graphics cards shouldn't determine the price point for the earlier released SKUs. That is to start in the wrong end.

    All new gen cards should've had the same price hike as the 4090 (right below inflation) or rounded up to nearest 100$ spot above previous gen cards.

    Imagine Nvidia had done the same greedy way with 4090. Added 71% on top of 3090 and put MSRP for 4090 at +2500$ 🆒 And if 4090 Ti show up, then it should be priced at +3400$. All to match 4080's disgusting MSRP. The 4080 destroyed the whole pricing from Nvidia.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Papusan said:
    Why?
    Based on $ per mm^2 and $ per GB. The RTX 4080 is an outlier in both dimensions.

    GPUDie Area (mm^2)Memory (GB)MSRPcost/areacost/GBRTX 4070 Ti
    294.5

    12

    $799

    $2.71

    $66.58
    RTX 4080
    378.6

    16

    $1,199

    $3.17

    $74.94
    RTX 4090
    608.5

    24

    $1,599

    $2.63

    $66.63

    To better align with both costs and its relative performance, it should be about $1049.

    Note that I'm not arguing $1049 represents a reasonable value for consumers. Just that it's an outlier within its own family.
    Reply
  • Papusan
    bit_user said:
    Based on $ per mm^2 and $ per GB. The RTX 4080 is an outlier in both dimensions.

    GPUDie Area (mm^2)Memory (GB)MSRPcost/areacost/GBRTX 4070 Ti
    294.5

    12

    $799

    $2.71

    $66.58
    RTX 4080
    378.6

    16

    $1,199

    $3.17

    $74.94
    RTX 4090
    608.5

    24

    $1,599

    $2.63

    $66.63

    To better align with both costs and its relative performance, it should be about $1049.

    Note that I'm not arguing $1049 represents a reasonable value for consumers. Just that it's an outlier within its own family.
    If you count in the die size... 4080 is around 60% smaller than 4090. And have less vram. Then you have the calculus for 3080. Minor differenc in die size vs 3090 but a hell lot cheaper. You can't always calculate this way. And neither did Nvidia. They defended the much higher price due the increased performance.
    Reply