Gigabyte 4090 Serial Number
Jayme Bostic
The cards are based on Nvidia's Ada Lovelace architecture and feature Nvidia RTX's third-generation RT cores for hardware-accelerated real-time ray tracing, and fourth-generation deep-learning-focused Tensor Cores.
When the 12GB variant of the RTX 4080 was announced, numerous publications, prominent YouTubers, reviewers, and the community criticized Nvidia for marketing it as an RTX 4080, given the equivalent performance of previous XX80-class cards when compared with other cards of the same series, and the large gap in specifications and performance compared to the 16GB variant.[49][50][51][52] The criticism focussed on Nvidia's naming scheme - two 4080 models were to be offered, an "RTX 4080 12GB" and an "RTX 4080 16GB" - the obvious interpretation was that the only difference between the two products would be a difference in VRAM capacity. However, unlike other examples of Nvidia GPUs with differing memory configurations within the same class which have typically been very close in processing performance, the RTX 4080 12GB uses a completely different processing unit and memory architecture: the 4080 12GB would use the AD104 chip, which features 27% fewer CUDA cores than the 16GB variant's AD103 chip. It would also have a reduced TDP (285W - the 16GB variant was configured to draw up to 320W), and a cut-down 192-bit memory bus. In prior generations (e.g., the GeForce 10, 20 and 30 series), a 192-bit bus width had been reserved for XX60-class cards and below.[49] These changes made the card up to 30% slower than the RTX 4080 16GB in memory-agnostic performance, while being priced significantly higher than previous XX70-class cards ($900 vs. $500 for the RTX 3070, approximately 80% more expensive).
On January 3, 2023, Nvidia reintroduced the RTX 4080 12GB as the RTX 4070 Ti during CES 2023 and reduced its list price by $100.[37] The 4070 Ti's production was stopped with the introduction of the 4070 Ti SUPER.[4]
Some buyers of the Nvidia RTX 4090, the first GPU to use the new connector, reported that the connectors of their RTX 4090 were melting,[53] which sparked several theories to explain it. After investigation, several sources reported that the main cause was the 12VHPWR connector not being fully seated while being put under load that resulted in overheating of the connector's pins, which in turn caused the melting of the plastic housing.[54][55]
A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Nvidia over melting 12VHPWR cables which the lawsuit states is "a dangerous product that should not have been sold in its current state."[57] The plaintiff who brought the suit claims that Nvidia unjustly enriched itself, violated the product's warranty and engaged in fraud and they are demanding that Nvidia pay damages to affected customers as compensation.[58]
Following its own investigation and testing, Nvidia officially offered a statement on the melting connectors. They determined that the melting connectors are a cause of user error from not inserting the 12VHPWR connector properly, causing partial contact. They have offered an expedited RMA process for any RTX 4090 affected by the melting connectors.[59][60][61] PCI-SIG later said in a statement that Nvidia and their partners were still responsible for testing their products to account for user error.[62]
In February 2024 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of 12VHPWR adapters made by Cablemod. According to the recall filing, 272 reports were filed with about 25300 units shipped. The recall covers adapters using both the initial and the revised 12V-2x6 (CEM 5.1) design.[64]
The United States Department of Commerce began enacting restrictions on the Nvidia RTX 4090 for export to certain countries in 2023.[71][72][73] This was targeted mainly towards China as an attempt to halt its AI development. However as a result of this, the market price of the RTX 4090 rose by 25% as China began to stockpile 4090s.[74] This led to Nvidia releasing a China specific model of the RTX 4090 called the RTX 4090D (D standing for "Dragon").[75] The RTX 4090D features a shaved down AD102 die with 14592 CUDA cores, down from 16384 cores of the original 4090.[76]
Upon release, the RTX 4090's performance received praise from reviewers, with Tom's Hardware saying "it now ranks among the best graphics cards".[77] A review by PC Gamer gave it 83/100, calling it "a hell of an introduction to the sort of extreme performance Ada can deliver when given a long leash".[78] Tom Warren in a review for The Verge said that the RTX 4090 is "a beast of a graphics card that marks a new era for PC gaming".[79] John Loeffler from GamesRadar wrote that the RTX 4090 offers "an incredible gen-on-gen performance improvement over the RTX 3090", "even putting the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti to shame" and being "too powerful for a lot of gamers to really take advantage of."[80] German online magazine golem.de described the RTX 4090 as the first GPU capable of native 4K gaming with ray tracing, as with the predecessor "one often preferred to forego ray tracing in favor of native resolution, especially in 4K."[81] Aside from gaming performance, PCWorld's review highlighted the RTX 4090's benefits for content creators and streamers with its 24GB VRAM and AV1 encoding ability and was positive towards the Founders Edition's quiet operation and cooling ability.[82] According to Joanna Nelius from USA Today, "The RTX 4090 drives such high frame rates that it would be a waste to have anything other than a 4K monitor, especially one with a refresh rate under 144Hz."[83]
However, it also received criticism for its value proposition given that it begins at $1,599.[79] Analysis by TechSpot found that the RTX 4090's value at 1440p was worse than the RTX 3090 Ti and that the RTX 4090 did not make much sense for 1440p as it was limited by CPU bottlenecks.[84] Power consumption was another point of criticism for the RTX 4090.[84] The RTX 4090 has a TDP of 450W compared to the 350W of its last generation equivalent. However, Jarred Walton of Tom's Hardware noted that the RTX 4090 has the same 450W TDP as the RTX 3090 Ti while delivering much higher performance with that power consumption.[77]
Aftermarket AIB RTX 4090 variants received criticism in particular for their massive cooler sizes with some models being 4 PCIe slots tall. This made it difficult to fit an RTX 4090 into many mainstream PC cases.[85][86] YouTube reviewer JayzTwoCents showed an Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 model being comparable in size to an entire PlayStation 5 console.[87] Another comparison showed Nvidia's RTX 4090 Founders Edition next to the Xbox Series X for size.[88] It was theorized that a reason for the massive coolers on some models is that the RTX 4090 was originally designed to have a TDP up to 600W before it was reduced to its official 450W TDP.[89]
The RTX 4080 received more mixed reviews when compared to the RTX 4090. TechSpot gave the RTX 4080 score of 80/100.[90] Antony Leather of Forbes found that the RTX 4080 consistently performed better than the RTX 3090 Ti.[91] The GPU's power efficiency was positively received with Digital Trends finding that the GPU had an average power draw of 271W despite its rated 320W TDP.[92]
The RTX 4080's $1199 price received criticism for its dramatic increase from that of the RTX 3080. In his review for RockPaperShotgun, James Archer wrote that the RTX 4080 "produces sizeable gains on the RTX 3080, though they're not exactly proportional to the price rise".[93] In another critique, RockPaperShotgun highlighted that AIB models can significantly exceed the base $1199 Founders Edition price, creating further value considerations. The Asus ROG Strix AIB model they reviewed came in at $1550 which is $50 less than the RTX 4090 Founders Edition.[93] Tom Warren of The Verge recommended waiting to see what AMD could deliver in performance and value with their RDNA 3 GPUs.[94] AMD's direct competitor, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, comes in at $999 compared to the $1199 price of the RTX 4080.
The RTX 4080 received criticism for reusing the RTX 4090's massive 4-slot coolers which are not required to cool the RTX 4080's 320W TDP.[95][96] A smaller cooler would have been sufficient. The RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti with their respective 320W and 350W TDPs maintained 2-slot coolers while the 320W RTX 4080 has a 3-slot cooler on the Founders Edition and 4-slots on many AIB models.[94]
It was reported that RTX 4080 sales were quite weak compared to the RTX 4090, which had shockingly sold out during its launch a month earlier.[97] The global cost of living crisis and the RTX 4080's generational pricing increase have been suggested as major contributing factors for poor sales numbers.[98]
Following its relaunch as the RTX 4070 Ti, the GPU received mixed reviews. While its good thermal, 1080p, and 1440p performance were praised, its 4K performance is considered weak for the high $800 price tag.
Jacob Roach from Digital Trends gave the RTX 4070 Ti a 6/10, criticizing the lower memory bandwidth compared to the RTX 4080, its worse 4K performance, and the lack of a Founder's Edition model, with fears that the board partner cards would sell for over the $800 price tag, although he did praise the thermal performance and efficiency of his unit.[99]
At launch, Jacob Roach from Digital Trends gave the RTX 4070 a 4.5/5, praising its efficiency, the fact the Founder's Edition only took up two slots, and its good GPU performance at 1440p and 4K.[102] However, following the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, AMD's direct competitor to the RTX 4070, Monica J. White from Digital Trends compared the latter to the RTX 4070, and said she would recommend the 7800 XT over the RTX 4070 because of better rasterization performance at 1440p, the fact that the 7800 XT had 16GB of VRAM compared to 12GB on the RTX 4070, and that the 7800 XT had a $100 cheaper price.[103]
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