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Nvidia launches GeForce RTX 3090 Ti video card/space heater
Way back in 2020, Nvidia launched the GeForce RTX 3090. Well, sort of. It was based on GDDR6X memory that was still only sampling, so it was a very soft launch. But they were eventually able to get the memory that they wanted, a little after the miners started buying everything.
Anyway, with a name like Ampere, you know that it was going to use a lot of them. And so it did: the card was rated at 350 W. But apparently that isn't enough, as Nvidia doesn't have anything really new to offer yet, more than a year and a half later. So instead, they're today launching a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. The RTX 3090 disabled part of the chip for the sake of yields, but the 3090 Ti is fully functional. It's also clocked higher.
You know what happens when you take a card and clock it higher, don't you? Power goes up. The RTX 3090 Ti is rated at 450 W, or 29% more than the RTX 3090. For all that extra power, it offers around 10% more performance than the RTX 3090. It also uses the new 16-pin PCI-E connector that is rated at up to 600 W.
And, of course, board partners just have to offer factory overclocked versions of the card that clock it even higher. EVGA and Galax both have custom cards that have not one but two of the 16-pin, 600 W connectors, as if inviting you to overclock it far enough to burn more than 675 W. Don't forget that the PCI Express slot can also deliver 75 W. Or maybe that's just for safety as they expect you to come close to that limit. Galax apparently says that their card is rated at 516 W.
Rumors say that the next generation GeForce RTX 4090 or whatever Nvidia decides to call it could burn as much as 600 W. Internet rumors are often wrong, but after seeing the H100 listed at 700 W, I'm not expecting Nvidia to dial back the power usage unless these new cards don't sell. Speaking of which, if you want to buy one, they're $2000 each. Which is, of course, another reason why they might not sell as well as Nvidia hopes.
This, of course, raises the question of just how much heat you want a video card to kick out. The power usage isn't really a problem for household wiring, or at least not yet--and not unless you do something like putting two of them in SLI in an otherwise very high powered rig. A typical microwave will draw more power than a typical gaming desktop built around even a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and Intel's new Core i9-12900KS.
But you don't keep your microwave, oven, or dryer running all day, and they can heat up the house quite a bit when they do run. Maybe that's okay during a cold winter, but outside of that, I don't want a video card to use more than 300 W or so.
Anyway, with a name like Ampere, you know that it was going to use a lot of them. And so it did: the card was rated at 350 W. But apparently that isn't enough, as Nvidia doesn't have anything really new to offer yet, more than a year and a half later. So instead, they're today launching a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. The RTX 3090 disabled part of the chip for the sake of yields, but the 3090 Ti is fully functional. It's also clocked higher.
You know what happens when you take a card and clock it higher, don't you? Power goes up. The RTX 3090 Ti is rated at 450 W, or 29% more than the RTX 3090. For all that extra power, it offers around 10% more performance than the RTX 3090. It also uses the new 16-pin PCI-E connector that is rated at up to 600 W.
And, of course, board partners just have to offer factory overclocked versions of the card that clock it even higher. EVGA and Galax both have custom cards that have not one but two of the 16-pin, 600 W connectors, as if inviting you to overclock it far enough to burn more than 675 W. Don't forget that the PCI Express slot can also deliver 75 W. Or maybe that's just for safety as they expect you to come close to that limit. Galax apparently says that their card is rated at 516 W.
Rumors say that the next generation GeForce RTX 4090 or whatever Nvidia decides to call it could burn as much as 600 W. Internet rumors are often wrong, but after seeing the H100 listed at 700 W, I'm not expecting Nvidia to dial back the power usage unless these new cards don't sell. Speaking of which, if you want to buy one, they're $2000 each. Which is, of course, another reason why they might not sell as well as Nvidia hopes.
This, of course, raises the question of just how much heat you want a video card to kick out. The power usage isn't really a problem for household wiring, or at least not yet--and not unless you do something like putting two of them in SLI in an otherwise very high powered rig. A typical microwave will draw more power than a typical gaming desktop built around even a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and Intel's new Core i9-12900KS.
But you don't keep your microwave, oven, or dryer running all day, and they can heat up the house quite a bit when they do run. Maybe that's okay during a cold winter, but outside of that, I don't want a video card to use more than 300 W or so.
Comments
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
It's not like the card would be good purchase from practical point of view anyway. It's clearly not meant to be. It's the extra-expensive product for the enthusiasts who want fastest speed at any price, and should be treated as such.
Just like there are a lot of people who can't get the largest TVs due to lack of room, people who can't buy garden furniture because they lack a yards, etc. Not all product are fit for all homes, nor should they be.
The increased price and power requirements are a problem when you've got products like RTX 3070 TI that should go into normal gaming computer costing $800 and using nearly 300W. But RTX 3090 TI is clearly not a mainstream product. It's not intended to fit everyone.
I hate Nvidia, so here I am, qq-ing about something i'll never buy because it runs hot and is expensive..even tho' is the best card available ....in the world.
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy?
Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
The first is, this is obviously a halo product. nVidia doesn't expect to sell a ton of these (although they may, if the miners get involved). As such, if they are hot and loud - well, only a few people will actually experience that. And in the chase for more FPS / better graphics -- the people willing to shuck out $2K+ for just a GPU are also willing to overlook a lot of shortcomings. Like the fact that it's hot, and loud, and has a 3.5 slot cooler that will need support in a giant full sized EATX case.
The second is an extension of the first. Something like this will not go main stream. Regular people will start to push back if the product is too loud, too big, too unwieldy. They may do some TDP game like they do with their Max-Q laptop products (which would let you get some impressive benchmarks until you saturate some entirely inadequate thermal solution) - but yeah, nothing this power hungry will take off main stream without a lot of blow back on a lot of different consumer fronts.,
Not everyone buys the Lamborghini. Just imagine trying to crawl in and out of one every day with a bag of groceries.
The "high end" for me is still the $500 +/- bracket, and those usually come in something right around 200W. So it doesn't look like much has changed in my reality - just the a new tier of super-halo cards exist that doesn't really affect me
The low low end had already been more or less overtaken by IGP, we haven't seen much under 125W that's been worthwhile in a while, and only a very few select products that come in without needing a PCIe power adapter (<= 75W).