Nvidia cancels the 12GB RTX 4080 launch after fan backlash

(Image Courtesy: Nvidia)

Chip giant Nvidia will launch the 16GB variant of the GeForce RTX 4080 on November 16 but has hit the "unlaunch button" on its 12GB version.

Fans were upset over the company naming the card RTX 4080 despite being vastly different than the 16GB model. The 12GB variant contained 7680 CUDA cores, a base clock of 2.31GHz that could boost up to 2.61GHz, 639 Tensor-TFLOPs, 92 RT-TFLOPs and 40 Shader-TFLOPs.

The 16GB variant outmuscles the 12GB version in almost every way, with 9728 CUDA cores, 780 Tensor-TFLOPs, 113 RT-TFLOPs and 49 Shader-TFLOPs, with a base clock of 2.21GHz that can boost up to 2.51GHz.

Fans were miffed at team green's attempt to pass the card off for $899, a price usually reserved for more premium end cards. The jump between the 12GB to the 16GB variant is more akin to performance differences that are usually seen in the company's distinction between its xx70 and xx80 card, not two variants of the same line-up.

The xx60 and xx70 by Nvidia are usually seen as the price-effective offerings and fans called the company out for attempting to artificially raise the price by passing the 12GB variant off as a xx80 card but with performance usually seen in the xx70.

Nvidia responded to the criticism by acknowledging that the card was, "not named right" and that the company was pressing the "unlaunch button on the 4080 12GB. The RTX 4080 16GB is amazing and on track to delight gamers everywhere on November 16th."

The downside is that the fans will have to wait longer to get their hands on a more reasonably priced RTX 40-series card. For now, if you want to get your hands on a RTX 4080, the only option is the RTX 4080 16GB which will retail for $1,199.