Board partners have confirmed that NVIDIA has informed them of new SKU variants for the GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4070. A post from HKEPC (via VideoCardz) shows that there are two variants for each card and some manufacturers have already confirmed that they have already begun to receive the new AD103-301 SKU (previously AD103-300) for the GeForce RTX 4080.
AD104-250 / 251 = GeForce RTX 4070
— HKEPC (@hkepcmedia) January 9, 2023
AD104-250 requires an comparator circuit , AD104-251 no need , GeForce RTX 4080 will change to AD103-301 soon. @VideoCardz
The difference with the new SKUs is that something called a “kicker” or “comparator circuit” is no longer needed. It has been estimated that by longer having this on the PCB that the BOM cost could be reduced by as much as $1 and in turn potentially mean lower manufacturing costs for both cards. Many are hoping that if the profit margins for AIBs improve that it could mean a drop in price for consumers since the $1,199 MSRP for GeForce RTX 4080 has been widely criticized as being too high and led many potential buyers to opt for the higher priced GeForce RTX 4090 instead. When asked what the comparator circuit is HKEPC replied that they were told it was for GPU voltage.
someone told me for GPU voltage
— HKEPC (@hkepcmedia) January 9, 2023
AD103, AD104, and Beyond
Both variants are expected to perform identically. Gainward and Galax are the first two companies known to already have the AD103-301 silicon in use with their GeForce RTX 4080 cards. The GeForce RTX 4070 is expected to ship with the AD104-250 SKU initially, presumably because partners already have it in hand, and then the AD104-251 is expected to enter mass production a few weeks after.
Since NVIDIA has informed partners of these new variants some are wondering if a similar revision for the GeForce RTX 4090 that uses an AD102-300 GPU is in the works. So far there has been no word of any forthcoming changes for the current $1,599 flagship card but that could be due to this new design getting incorporated into whatever is planned to succeed the GeForce RTX 4090. However, it is also common for NVIDIA to do product refreshes down the road as newer and more efficient technology becomes available so an alternate SKU is possible.
Discussion (11 replies)
Join Discussion →Can you say 4080 Ti?
Lower there costs by $1?
Oh, dang, I can finally afford that lambo now that my GPU will be $1 cheaper.
Sure, they informed them of this, but also that what they pay to nvidia is going up by 10, and msrp down by 25, with a 50 rebate mandatory.
Lol thsts almost convoluted enough to be Nvidia policy.
According to the "videocardz" link, at least one manufacturer (Gainward) confirmed that their existing RTX 4080 models are shipping with either AD103-300 or AD103-301 GPUs, but they aren't releasing new card revisions. If that is typical, the changes should be transparent to the consumer.
Right now the reference RTX4080 on Nvidia site is 1.399€ if they can drop it by 400 ish € I'll think about it.
It's not like 7900XTX cards are going to be available anytime soon after the cooler fiasco.
The AMD fiasco only deals with AMD supplied reference cards. AIB partner cards were not effected. Then again, we haven't been seeing those cards come back in stock anywhere. AMD needs to get on the ball with production. This whole "they'll be in stock right before the next gen drops" b.s. just isn't cutting it.
I know, but those are expensive AMD.com 1108.56€ other models are easily 1.499€ and up
To me, "New Silicon Variants" just sounds like a way for them to save face.
They priced them too high with too much of a margin, now they need to lower the price or people won't buy,m but how do they do that if they are already on the record as stating that higher GPU prices are necessary and the way it is going to be now.
Not in the U.S. At least not when you can get them at MSRP. Sure, I can buy a AIB 7900 XTX right now for $1500. But that's inflated scalper pricing. The AIB cards here are retailing for $1100.
Yeah but if this variant is only changing the BOM by "as much as" $1.00, and apparently that has already got out (if it's true): even at the 75%+ margin the cards currently allegedly have, that lowers the price by ... what, $4 off MSRP?
You may be right, I mean, most people aren't going to read the article or anything or even realize there is a new chip - they would just see a lower price. But I don't know that nVidia needs to have any story to save face - they could just write down the MSRP, or have a temporary sale, or start including rebates or game bundles -- all those old tricks they usually use if they just wanted to lower the price - and everyone would just say "Hey they finally came to their senses, hooray."