GeForce RTX 3080 12GB could be available for preorder today

Preorders for the GeForce RTX 3080 with 12GB GDDR6X RAM, a revamped version of the original RTX 3080 graphics card, are expected to be available later today, according to a French reseller. At CES 2022, Nvidia unveiled two new desktop graphics cards: the RTX 3090 Ti and the RTX 3050, while there has been no word on whether the upgraded RTX 3080 will be announced.

Despite no official announcement from Nvidia, French retailer Materiel.net announced in a now-deleted tweet that it will begin taking preorders for the new GPU today at 3pm CET (2pm GMT / 9am EST / 6am PST) in a now-deleted tweet.

It's understandable that Team Green didn't want to debut this alongside the other two new GPUs revealed at CES 2022, as the new version of the 3080 will only have a minor increase in CUDA core count, up to 8,960 from the current version's 8,704 cores, as well as a boost to 350W TDP from 320W.

As is customary with speculations, don't take any of this as gospel until Nvidia makes an official announcement, however, we've heard previously that the RTX 3080 12GB was supposed to be unveiled at CES but was pushed back to January 11.

Nvidia has been contacted for additional information, such as if the GPU will be available for preorder in other locations and a likely MSRP. If you're in the UK or Europe, at the very least, keep an eye out for a presale announcement from your favourite stores.

The RTX 3080 12GB was initially rumoured in December 2021, with much of the same specification information we've seen in more recent leaks, so the CUDA cores and TDP expectations seem reasonable, but it's still a slight boost from the original RTX 3080 GPU.

In fact, Igor's Lab reported last month that Nvidia may not have planned to make it at all and that it might not be announced at all. Take everything with a grain of salt, as it's not uncommon for planned graphics cards to be cancelled and then uncanceled behind the scenes.

Materiel.net's Tweet being deleted might signal a few things: it jumped the gun and breached an embargo, Nvidia wants this to be a quiet launch due to the minor differences between versions (or perhaps low stock), or nothing is debuting today at all.

We wouldn't bother attempting to find one if you already have an RTX 3080 in your system because this is such a modest boost from the original. This isn't something that bridges the 'gap' between the RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti, and with the amount of variation in the GPU market right now, we wouldn't need it anyway. If you're still searching for a GPU, however, it's worth keeping an eye on, particularly if the pricing is good.

We still need greater stock and availability of existing RTX 3000 cards, and at a lower price, as pricing for even older AMD and Nvidia gear remain astronomically high. Unfortunately, it appears that component shortages and supply issues aren't going away anytime soon, with Nvidia predicting that things won't improve for at least the next six months.