NVIDIA Ampere GA102 variants more or less confirmed, RTX 3090 vs Titan conundrum still remains
NVIDIA RTX 3090 or 2nd Gen Titan RTX? (Image Source: JDSP_ on Reddit)It is now becoming increasingly clear that the purported NVIDIA Ampere GA102 flagship GPU will come in three variants with memory capacities between 10 GB and 24 GB. NVIDIA may launch the flagship GA102-400 variant as an RTX 3090 or a new second gen Titan variant. Also, whether Ampere would actually use GDDR6X VRAM is still anybody’s guess at this point.
Working For NotebookcheckAre you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Especially English native speakers welcome!
Currently wanted: German-English-Translator – Details here
NVIDIA’s upcoming Ampere GPUs have certainly piqued everyone’s interest given that they are expected to bring in new features such as a dedicated raytracing traversal co-processor, up to a 384-bit 24 GB GDDR6X VRAM, and more. The exact specifications of the Ampere lineup are still unclear and NVIDIA is known to make last minute changes. However, well-known leakers such as @KkatCorgi and @kopite7kimi have shared speculative specifications that may very well turn out to be true.
@KkatCorgi indicates three GA102 GPUs in the offing. These include:GA102-400-A1 with 5,376 CUDA cores and 24 GB of 17 Gbps VRAMGA102-300-A1 with 5,248 CUDA cores and 12 GB of 21 Gbps VRAMGA102-200-Kx-A1 with 4,352 CUDA cores and 10 GB of 19 Gbps VRAM@kopite7kimi speculates that the GA102-400 would very well be a Titan card or what is now being thought of as the RTX 3090. The RTX 3090 moniker is less likely to be official given that the 90 series have traditionally been dual-GPU setups. Even @KkatCorgi refers to the GA102-400 as a “2nd gen NVIDIA TITAN”. It may be possible that NVIDIA may christen this variant as the RTX 3080 Ti or go for a new Titan RTX branding altogether.
While several sources point that the above indicated CUDA core and VRAM information is true, there is still no clarity on which type of RAM would be used in these GPUs. Though GDDR6X is a strong possibility, we do not see any information of such a type of memory available in the public domain, which is usually the case before it is incorporated into end-products. That being said, there have been instances in the past such as AMD and SK Hynix developing their complete hardware stack much before HBM actually hit JEDEC standardization.
Leaker @_rogame claims that three GA102 variants with the indicated VRAM capacities are confirmed, though there is still no word on the exact cores and clocks for each variant.
All said and done, it definitely looks like GA102 will turn out to be a monster of a card. Unless we get some more clarity on the specs, it is difficult to predict at this stage how well would NVIDIA Ampere GA102 stack up against AMD’s RDNA2-based Big Navi.[Nvidia Ampere]I’ve got confirmation for 3 GA102 variants being tested GA102 with 24GB of VRAMGA102 with 12GB of VRAMGA102 with 10GB of VRAMNo core/clock information at this point I’ll try to get more soon— _rogame (@_rogame) June 20, 2020
Top 10 LaptopsMultimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks
under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1.000 USD/Euros
Best Displays, for University Students
Top 10 SmartphonesSmartphones, Phablets, ≤5-inch, Camera SmartphonesNotebookcheck’s Top 10 Smartphones under 160 Euros
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2020-06-22 (Update: 2020-06-22)I am a cell and molecular biologist and computers have been an integral part of my life ever since I laid my hands on my first PC which was based on an Intel Celeron 266 MHz processor, 16 MB RAM and a modest 2 GB hard disk. Since then, I’ve seen my passion for technology evolve with the times. From traditional floppy based storage and running DOS commands for every other task, to the connected cloud and shared social experiences we take for granted today, I consider myself fortunate to have witnessed a sea change in the technology landscape. I honestly feel that the best is yet to come, when things like AI and cloud computing mature further. When I am not out finding the next big cure for cancer, I read and write about a lot of technology related stuff or go about ripping and re-assembling PCs and laptops.
