NVIDIA has started to reveal more information to the press regarding its GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and the Ampere GPUs that they are based on. The RTX 3000 series cards were revealed in an online event on 1st September and since then, more and more information about the RTX 3000 series has started to appear.
The information comes from NVIDIA themselves who in an NDA session, described both GA102 and GA104 Gaming Ampere GPUs which will land in the gaming market in the coming weeks. NVIDIA also took to Reddit for a Q and A where they detailed the new SM design for their Ampere GPUs.
First, let’s discuss the NVIDIA GA102 GPU which is powering the RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 graphic cards. The NVIDIA GA102 GPU is the flagship gaming chip which features a die size of 628mm2 and a total of 28 Billion transistors. According to NVIDIA, the GA102 GPU consists of 6 GPCs which are the Graphics Processing Clusters, and 6 TPC which are the Texture Processing Clusters.
The GA102 GPU on the RTX 3090 makes use of 41 TPCs or 82 SMs while the GeForce RTX 3080 makes use of 34 TPCs or 68 SMs. Each SM on the Ampere GPU features 128 CUDA cores along with a redesigned structure that provides greater performance. Each SM on the GA102 contains 4 tensor cores and 1 RT core.
The GA102 GPU on the RTX 3090 features a total of 10,496 cores while the one on the RTX 3080 features 8704 cores. It also features a shared L2 cache which is 6 MB for the GeForce RTX 3090 and 5 MB for the RTX 3080.
Image Credit: NVIDIA
While the RTX 3090 and 3080 feature the GA 102 GPU, the RTX 3070 is powered by GA104 GPU. It is the 2nd fastest Ampere chip and measures at 395.2mm2 and features 17.4 Billion transistors. The RTX 3070 features a total of 46 SM units on its flagship which results in a total of 5888 CUDA cores. The GPU features a total of 184 Tensor cores and 46 RT cores. The GA104 GPU features a 4 MB L2 shared cache.
The RTX 3090 and 3080 feature the GDDR6X memory which is the next evolution in graphics memory and has been designed exclusively For NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards. It has been manufactured by Micron and it doubles the I/O data rate as compared to GDDR6 memory. It is also the first to implement PAM4 multi-level signaling in memory dies.
The GDDR6X memory can achieve a bandwidth of up to 1 TB/s which will make it power next-gen gaming experiences at 8K resolutions!
Image Credit: NVIDIA
The RTX 3000 series cards have very high TDP and they will require very good cooling solutions and NVIDIA has come out with one themselves! NVIDIA has developed one of their best and most powerful Founders Edition cooling design to date for the GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards.
The Founders Edition cooling makes use of a full aluminum alloy heatsink which makes use of a hybrid vapor chamber with dual-sided axial-tech based fans. The cooler heatsink is coated with a nano-carbon coating and should do a really good job at keeping the temperatures in control.
NVIDIA has also made big strides in their PCB design. The GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 comes with a unique & compact PCB package which is almost half the size as compared to previous-gen PCBs. GeForce RTX 3000 series Founders Edition cards will also be featuring the 12-pin Micro-Fit 3.0 power connectors.
The RTX 3080 will be the first card to come out on 17th September with the RTX 3090 following on 24th September and RTX 3070 being the last one in October. The graphics cards will retail at prices of $1499 for the RTX 3090, $699 for the RTX 3080, and $499 for the RTX 3070.
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