[Hardware] NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 Custom Graphics Cards Leak Out Once Again – Stunning & Massive 2.7 Slot Cooling Solutions

[Hossam Taibi]

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 custom designs have leaked out once again. The next-generation Ampere based graphics cards will be announced this week in several custom and Founders Edition variants with impressive cooling solutions. The new custom designs which have been pictured are from ASUS and Gainward.

ASUS & Gainward's Custom NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 Graphics Cards Leak Out

Starting with the ASUS graphics card, the GeForce RTX 3090 ROG STRIX Gaming graphics card has been leaked by Videocardz and features the same shroud design that leaked back in July. Back then, the card featured the 'RTX 3080 Ti' branding but that has changed as the specific SKU isn't planned for the Ampere GeForce RTX 30 series lineup, at least initially. As for the design of the card, the ASUS ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 3090 looks rather impressive with a more aggressive look that comes with three axial-tech based fans and a massive heatsink underneath the shroud.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 & GeForce RTX 3080 Phoenix Custom Graphics Cards Pictured, Specs Detailed

The front of the custom card has a dual-tone design with frames that seem to be made out of aluminum extending out & giving the card a more premium feel which looks similar to ASUS's Poseidon series offerings. The heatsink underneath is made up of a large aluminum fin stack that makes use of at least 6 heat pipes. The card seems to fall in the 2.7 slot tier and has extra width to it for the extended PCB to make way for all the custom electrical components that the board will feature.

ASUS may also be investing in some cool features such as an OLED display and we can see the addition of a large LED panel on the side of the card. There are no additional details such as the specifications or the launch date of the card but we are hoping to learn them soon enough if the cards are already getting custom designs built around them this early. The ASUS ROG STRIX RTX 30 series graphics cards will be unveiled tomorrow but expect sales to begin around mid or later in September.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 & RTX 3080 Cards Leak Out Again

Meanwhile, Gainward's GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 Phoenix graphics cards have leaked out once again but this time by the manufacturer themselves. The Gainward GeForce RTX 30 series high-end lineup will feature the Phoenix 'Golden Sample' line of graphics cards, both of which feature a 2.7 slot design.

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The design of both cards is similar to each other as both feature the NVIDIA Ampere GA102 GPU. The cooler features a triple-fan design and a nice aluminum shroud which is illuminated by RGB LEDs. The card features a large GeForce RTX logo on the sides and also comes with an aluminum backplate that extends beyond the PCB.

ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090, GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3070 Custom Graphics Cards Pictured

Talking about the PCB, it seems like the cards will make use of a very compact design that doesn't extend the full length of the cooler. The design is not similar to the reference Founders Edition PCB that we saw earlier but comes in a standard form factor. The GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards will require dual 8-pin connectors to boot. From the looks of it, the RTX 3090 will feature next-generation NVLINK connectors while the GeForce RTX 3080 won't feature any such interface.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 & RTX 3080 Phoenix Graphics Cards (Image Credits: Videocardz Via @harukaze5719)

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This goes off to show that even with 350W TBP, the GeForce RTX 3090 will still have several custom variants that won't require the outrageous triple 8-pin connector configuration to boot. The triple 8 pin cards will, however, offer higher overclockability and faster clock speeds compared to the stock variants.

Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 & RTX 3080 Phoenix Graphics Cards Specs (Image Credits: Videocardz Via @harukaze5719)

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 - The Fastest Ampere Gaming Graphics Card

According to leaked details, the GeForce RTX 3090  will feature the GA102-300-A1 GPU. The GA102-300-A1 GPU is said to be comprised of 5248 CUDA cores or 82 SMs. In total, that's a 20% increase in cores over the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. No details such as clock speeds, TMU/ROP counts are provided and we can't take the Ampere A100 die as a reference since gaming & HPC parts share a different configuration hierarchy. The GA102-300 GPU on the Gainward Phoneix GS model is going to clock up to a boost frequency of 1725 MHz while the standard model is going to clock in at 1695 MHz.

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Moving on to the memory side, things start to look interesting as it is stated that the card will get up to 24 GB memory with faster GDDR6X pin speeds of 19.5 Gbps. Since that's a 384-bit bus we are looking at, it will be able to offer nearly 1 TB/s bandwidth. The GeForce RTX 3090 is going to come with a total graphics power of 350W (TGP). As per recent leaks, the GeForce RTX 3090 is expected to cost $1399 US.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 - GA102 For High-End Gaming

Moving on to the GeForce RTX 3080, the rumor reports that the card will be featuring the GA102-200-KD-A1 SKU. This cut down SKU will feature the same 4352 CUDA cores as the RTX 2080 Ti that will be arranged in a total of 68 SMs. The Gainward Golden Sample will feature a maximum boost clock of 1740 MHz while the standard variant will feature a boost clock of 1710 MHz.

The card is reportedly going to feature up to 10 GB of memory that is also going to be GDDR6X but there are several vendors who will be offering the card with a massive 20 GB frame buffer but at higher prices. Since the memory is running at 19 Gbps across a 320-bit bus interface, we can expect a bandwidth of up to 760 GB/s.

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The latest performance leaks also show a considerable performance improvement over the RTX 2080 and even the RTX 2080 Ti in synthetic benchmarks. If the same could translate over to the gaming performance, then Ampere does look like a super enticing product for gamers who have waited for almost 2 years now.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series 'Ampere' Graphics Card Lineup:

Graphics Card Name	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080	NVIDIA GeForce RTX RTX 3090
GPU Name	Ampere GA106-300?	Ampere GA104-300	Ampere GA102-200	Ampere GA102-300
Process Node	7nm	7nm	7nm	7nm
SMs / CUDA Cores	TBD	2944 (46)?	4352 (68)	5248 (82)
Boost Clock	TBD	TBD	1710 MHz	1695 MHz
Memory Capacity	6/12 GB GDDR6X	8/16 GB GDDR6	10/20 GB GDDR6X	24 GB GDDR6X
Memory Bus	192-bit	256-bit	320-bit	384-bit
Bandwidth	384 Gbps (16 Gbps)	512 Gbps (16 Gbps)	760 Gbps (19 Gbps)	936 Gbps (19.5 Gbps)
TDP	TBD	220W	320W	350W
Launch Timeframe	November 2020	October 2020	September 2020	September 2020

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 'Ampere' Gaming graphics card lineup is expected to be announced on 1st September at a digital event which will be hosted by CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang. We expect at the very least, three new graphics cards during the event which include the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (or RTX 3090), GeForce RTX 3080, and a next-generation Titan. There's definitely a lot more to talk about regarding the Ampere GPUs but we will have to wait until more information comes our way.