If you’re a multi-GPU proponent who wishes to keep that tradition going with NVIDIA’s latest lineup of graphics cards, it’s going to cost you dearly. A comparison chart on the official site has confirmed that NVIDIA’s new NVLink Bridge peripheral is only compatible with the GeForce RTX 3090, which means that SLI is exclusive to the company’s 8K “BFGPU” for the Ampere generation.
Obviously, this is a big problem for those of us who don’t drive Audis and eat caviar all day. A single GeForce RTX 3090 costs $1,499, while the GeForce RTX NVLink Bridge costs $79.99. Do the math. (The correct answer is “yikes.”)
So, did NVIDIA kill multi-GPU with this decision? That’s what a lot of enthusiasts are claiming, but for the immediate future, those GeForce RTX 3090 SLI benchmarks should be very interesting to look at.
Both the GeForce RTX 3090 and its NVLink Bridge accessory will be available on September 24th for $1,499 and $79.99, respectively.
| GeForce RTX 3090 | GeForce RTX 3080 | GeForce RTX 3070 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU Engine Specs: | NVIDIA CUDA® Cores | 10496 | 8704 | 5888 |
| Boost Clock (GHz) | 1.70 | 1.71 | 1.73 | |
| Memory Specs: | Standard Memory Config | 24 GB GDDR6X | 10 GB GDDR6X | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Interface Width | 384-bit | 320-bit | 256-bit | |
| Technology Support: | Ray Tracing Cores | 2nd Generation | 2nd Generation | 2nd Generation |
| Tensor Cores | 3rd Generation | 3rd Generation | 3rd Generation | |
| NVIDIA Architecture | Ampere | Ampere | Ampere | |
| Microsoft DirectX® 12 Ultimate | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA DLSS | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| PCI Express Gen 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA® GeForce Experience™ | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA Ansel | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA FreeStyle | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA ShadowPlay | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA Highlights | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA G-SYNC® | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Game Ready Drivers | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA Studio Drivers | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA GPU Boost™ | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA NVLink™ (SLI-Ready) | Yes | – | – | |
| Vulkan RT API, OpenGL 4.6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| HDMI 2.1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| DisplayPort 1.4a | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| NVIDIA Encoder | 7th Generation | 7th Generation | 7th Generation | |
| NVIDIA Decoder | 5th Generation | 5th Generation | 5th Generation | |
| VR Ready | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Display Support: | Maximum Digital Resolution (1) | 7680×4320 | 7680×4320 | 7680×4320 |
| Standard Display Connectors | HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | |
| Multi Monitor | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| HDCP | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | |
| Founders Edition Card Dimensions: | Length | 12.3″ (313 mm) | 11.2″ (285 mm) | 9.5″ (242 mm) |
| Width | 5.4″ (138 mm) | 4.4″ (112 mm) | 4.4″ (112 mm) | |
| Slot | 3-Slot | 2-Slot | 2-Slot | |
| Founders Edition Thermal Power Specs: | Maximum GPU Temperature (in C) | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| Graphics Card Power (W) | 350 | 320 | 220 | |
| Required System Power (W) (2) | 750 | 750 | 650 | |
| Supplementary Power Connectors | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 2x PCIe 8-pin | 1x PCIe 8-pin |