Nvidia’s RTX 4000 graphics cards may arrive later than previous rumors, at least following the latest speculation from a prominent hardware leaker on YouTube, who also discussed the size of the RTX 4090 Ti GPU (based on a more recent leak). old one).
All this aired in the latest video of the Moore’s law is dead (opens in new tab)who believes that despite some rumors surrounding the flagship Nvidia Lovelace GPU weighing in like a four-slot monster, it could still be a three-slot affair.
You may recall that we’ve previously seen leaked photos (leaked by the Chiphell forums) that allegedly showed parts of the RTX 4090 Ti, pointing out that it was a monster GPU.
Now, these images looked quite convincing, although we obviously need to be careful whether any leaks are genuine, and indeed Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) points out that there are some suspicious elements in the images, and we certainly can’t rule out the falsity.
Anyway, regarding these recent photos, the other possibility that MLID raises is that they might show an engineered sample cooler from the Ampere generation, perhaps crafted as a workaround for a high-end Lovelace board prototype. And indeed, speculative rendered mockups based on the leaked images, provided to MLID, show that it looks pretty much the same as an RTX 3090 cooler.
Would Nvidia keep the same Ampere cooler for Lovelace? Well, that’s certainly possible, as it worked well and was well thought out, and maintaining a reliable design for a second-generation graphics card makes sense (and has in the past).
MLID also uses these newly created renders to argue that while many rumors have indicated a four-slot RTX 4090 Ti, a three-slot solution – or perhaps a touch bigger, perhaps 3.25 slots – could work for a graphics card. of 600W (the rumored power for the 4090 Ti currently). MLID demonstrates that the renders make it look like the latter might be a more likely solution than four slots, and theorizes that 3.25 slots would give enough headroom to make the heatsink 10% to 20% larger, and with design tweaks , this could work for a 600W GPU.
While it’s still possible that the leaked photos show an engineering sample of a 4090 Ti with a makeshift cooler (drafted from Ampere, as we’ve already mentioned), and the final design could be a four-slot affair (with more differences).
This leads to MLID’s new speculation about Lovelace’s release schedule: the leaker notes that Ampere’s cooler leaked a few months before the RTX 3090 appeared, and so given the timing of this Lovelace cooler leak, we’d expect the final version maybe come in August. Indeed, that date has been publicized lately, but MLID has heard from sources that Nvidia’s partners (graphics card makers) don’t expect any real amount of Lovelace cards out there until October.
And if that’s the case, it suggests that the leaked photos of the alleged 4090 Ti we saw in May are in fact more likely to be a sample board, which perhaps isn’t that close to the end. The main Lovelace design we will actually get (in October, if current rumors are correct). This is all speculation, of course, but generally speaking, the leaker seems confident enough in the sources cited here.
Analysis: A lot of noise from the rumor (and maybe from these fans too)
That doesn’t mean we can’t make it something before October, of course; this is just the month that MLID believes (and it’s just that – a belief) that Nvidia’s next-gen GPUs will be available in the proper volume.
We could see a reveal, or even multiple teases, coming before that – that would be expected indeed. But the other key piece of the puzzle here is that MLID notes that sources said Nvidia has a much of excess RTX 3000 stock in action, and as we’ve noted before, any Lovelace announcement could lead gamers to wait for the RTX 4000, interfering with Ampere GPU sales. And with a lot of inventory to go through, Nvidia won’t want that to happen…
So we don’t think we’ll have a reveal until the upcoming launch, or the other scenario could be that Nvidia’s RTX 3000 models start to drop in price as retailers ramp up the gear to try to change that excess inventory, and sales are faster as a result – and if so, we may see a revelation sooner. All of this points to RTX 3000 GPU prices dropping faster, and indeed we are already starting to see more and more evidence of this; all great news for the average consumer.
As for the question of whether the RTX 4090 Ti will be four-slot or three-slot (or some sort of three-and-one-bit compromise), we think it’s too early to call that. Whatever the case, expect a beefy card, although MLID theorizes that perhaps Nvidia is still unsure whether to push 600W for the 4090 Ti (may depend on where the RDNA 3’s performance looks like it’s going to land and how competitive Team Green should be compared).
All we’ll say is that if the 4090 Ti is three-slot or close to it, and a 600W part, keeping that GPU cool might be possible, as described above – but we worry about the fan noise it might be like result.
So not only can an RTX 4090 Ti turn your PC into a tiny space heater, when under full load it can also sound like an aircraft coming out of a hangar, and with that likely huge board size – whether it’s really big, or very, very big – when it all adds up, you have to ask yourself how impractical a proposal can become.
