Nvidia's RTX 4000 GPUs inch closer to the elusive 3GHz mark

New rumors about the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 generation of cards are getting more and more tantalizing. With intensely high clock speeds, the GPUs just might deliver unprecedented performance.

The RTX 4090, in particular, is likely going to blow its predecessor out of the water — but that kind of power certainly comes at a price.

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RTX 4090, AD102-300-A1, 16384FP32, 384bit 21Gbps 24G GDDR6X, 450W, base 2235 boost 2520 actual max >2750;
RTX 4080, AD103-300-A1, 10240FP32, 256bit 21Gbps 16G GDDR6X, 420W,
RTX 4070, AD104-275-Kx(x is a number)-A1, 7168FP32, 160bit 18Gbps 10G GDDR6, 300W.
— kopite7kimi (@kopite7kimi) July 4, 2022

Today, well-known Twitter leaker Kopite7kimi once again delivers more information about the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series, also referred to as Ada Lovelace. While some of it we’ve already seen before from various sources, there’s a new key piece of gossip that’s especially thrilling, and that’s the clock frequency on the new flagship RTX 4090.

According to the leaker, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 may have a base clock speed of 2235MHz that can be boosted up to 2520MHz. Even just those speeds put it miles ahead of its older sibling, the RTX 3090 Ti, which delivers 1670MHz and 1860MHz, respectively. Of course, these speeds only apply to the Founders Edition, so custom versions of the card can, and do, beat the basic version prepared by Nvidia itself.

Kopite7kimi also claims that the actual speed of the GPU may exceed the 2.5GHz mark. Overclocking the graphics card yourself can net even higher numbers, and in this case, kopite7kimi expects that the RTX 4090 may reach as high as 2.75GHz when boosted. As PCGamer points out, that could mean that we might finally see an Nvidia GPU hitting the 3GHz clock speed mark, or at least inching closer to it than ever before.

There’s still the rumored RTX 4090 Ti to consider, and that will likely push the performance up to yet another level. If released, the RTX 4090 Ti is rumored to sport the full 18,432 CUDA cores, marking an upgrade from the 16,384 of the RTX 4090. Unsurprisingly, this is almost guaranteed to result in an increase in power consumption.

Of course, all of that performance has to come from somewhere, and that brings us to a topic discussed many times over in relation to the next-gen Nvidia GPUs — the power draw. This time around, Kopite7kimi predicts a 450-watt TDP for the new Nvidia flagship. We can safely expect that number to go up with custom versions of the card, which will probably bring the frequency even closer to 3GHz, but as a result, they will also require an even beefier power supply.

Thermals of such a GPU are also going to be a consideration. The graphics cards are likely going to be huge and will generate a lot of heat, requiring an airy, large case with a lot of consideration for temperatures.

RTX 3080 graphics cards among other GPUs. — Jacob Roach / Pro Well Tech.

While the RTX 4090 is going to be a high-end GPU that many users won’t plan to buy, it will be followed by the (hopefully more reasonably priced) RTX 4080 and RTX 4070, both of which come with interesting specs. The RTX 4080, in particular, is shaping up to be one of the best graphics cards for gamers if it delivers the rumored specs at a decent price.

According to Kopite7kimi — and this is in line with various previous leaks — the RTX 4080 is said to come with 10,240 CUDA cores. It’s also said to deliver 16GB of 21Gbps GDDR6X memory across a 256-bit memory bus. The TDP is expected to be around 420 watts, which is strangely close to the RTX 4090. In terms of specifications, the GPU closely resembles the RTX 3090.

The RTX 4070 continues to look less exciting than its siblings. As per the previous rumors, it’s rumored to only have 10GB of memory across a 160-bit memory bus. However, Kopite7kimi also predicts that it will come with 7,168 CUDA cores and 18Gbps of GDDR6 memory. In a way, it’s a pretty strange GPU, but it might still stand its ground if it’s priced competitively.

We’re getting closer to the rumored release dates for many exciting pieces of PC hardware, and for graphics cards, it’s going to be a real battle. With AMD slated to launch RDNA 3 GPUs sometime soon, and Nvidia readying Ada Lovelace to match AMD, the rumors are bound to only get juicier as we get closer to the real deal.