GPUs are a sort-of sore spot for PC gamers recently, especially those trying to upgrade their rigs in the past year, but graphics tech continues to evolve regardless of the component shortage and inventory scarcity. Finding an Nvidia graphics card in 2021, and likely in 2022, will continue to be difficult, especially for those on the lookout for the latest and greatest cards. Thanks to Nvidia's showcase at CES 2022 this year, the GPU manufacturer is adding a couple more RTX 3000 series cards into the fray: The relatively affordable RTX 3050 GPU starting at $249, and the presumed inverse of affordable with the insane top-of-the-line RTX 3090 Ti, with no confirmed pricing yet.
Considering how the original RTX 3090 card starts at around $1,500 MSRP, it's expected (and likely) that the step-up Ti card is going to be even more expensive than that. This is Nvidia's current top-dog graphics card, and the specs that are known so far (a full reveal is expected to come later this month, according to Nvidia senior vice president Jeff Fisher) promise some pretty impressive graphical capability. The true competence of the card won't be put to the test until reviewers and players are able to benchmark the 3090 Ti, but based purely on the performance specs confirmed by Nvidia's showcase announcement, the 3090 Ti may live up to its "BFGPU" moniker.
Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti: Teased Specs Overview
Again, this is just a hint of what the RTX 3090 Ti's specs are, as the full reveal is planned for later on in January, based on Nvidia's CES announcement. That being said, the teased specs for this GPU are promising an impressive baseline of performance. The RTX 3090 Ti graphics card will be capable of outputting 40 Shader TFlops, 78 RT TFlops, 320 Tensor TFlops, and 24 GB of G6X VRAM, which reportedly runs at a brisk 21 GB/s processing speed. Granted TFlops are a bit nebulous of a metric to measure while the amount of CUDA cores on offer in the 3090 Ti are 10,752 in total, boasting an additional 256 cores over the base RTX 3090 card.
Generally speaking, these specs amount to almost a 10% boost in performance over its sister card, the base RTX 3090. It's no Titan-style card or anything to that degree of an upgrade, but these initial specs still paint a picture of a pretty significant boost over the very potent original card. Clock speeds, system power requirements, and other more specific specs are unavailable right now, but will likely be provided with the full reveal later in January. Price for the new GPU is not confirmed, but given that the RTX 3090 has a starting MSRP of $1,499, it's almost certainly going to be more expensive, presumably hovering around the $2,000+ mark at MSRP alone.
How The RTX 3090 Ti Stacks Up To Similar Cards
Compared to the base graphics card, the RTX 3090 Ti is not as big of a jump from its predecessor compared to the RTX 3080 vs. RTX 3090. However, considering how much more powerful the 3090 is compared to lower-tier cards, the 3090 Ti is a worthwhile investment for those looking to get the top-of-the-line graphics card. Any player with a 4K monitor setup in particular will absolutely benefit from the added horsepower, whether it's for gaming, or intensive 3D work for creators as well. The RTX 3090 Ti is perfectly capable of 60+ FPS up to the most demanding games at max settings, which makes a lot of sense given it's soon to be Nvidia's flagship card in 2022.
The benefits extend even further for older cards, even for those in the same RTX 3000 series. Even the arguably most sought after 3000 series card, the RTX 3080, will presumably be far outpaced by the 3090 Ti based on the early specs. The RTX 3090 Ti has a massive 10,752 CUDA core count compared to the RTX 3080's 8,704 CUDA cores, and even more drastic is the difference in VRAM between both cards: 10 GB VRAM (RTX 3080 GB) versus the massive 24 GB VRAM (RTX 3090 Ti). Compared to any lower end cards, and especially so for any of the previous gen 2000 series, Nvidia's new flagship graphics card is a significant improvement for anyone who needs an upgrade.
When Nvidia reveals the more in-depth tech specs for the new card later this month, and reviewers get their hands on it as well, PC gamers will have a better understanding of what the latest flagship graphics card is truly capable of. That being said, even compared to the RTX 3090 proper, the RTX 3090 Ti is a chunky high performance card only reserved for the beefiest builds. Hopefully the sale situation won't be as dismal as its been with buying every other new graphics card, but PC gamers shouldn't hold their breath.
The Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti is rumored to release in late January 2022.