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The RTX 4080 may return as the RTX 4070 Ti if AMD can make Nvidia nervous enough

The specifications for Nvidia’s next RTX 4070 Ti graphics card were leaked online, suggesting that this third Lovelace product would be functionally similar to the scrapped RTX 4080 12GB.

Fluorescent, whose website featured the RTX 4070 Ti BattleAx Deluxe. Although the product page has already been torn down, it featured most of the specifications of the BattleAx card, as well as photos too.

The graphics card is black with red accents but otherwise has a simple design; it uses the same cooler as the RTX 4080 16GB, which hints at its similarity to the scrapped 12GB version of the 4080.

Furthermore, as we mentioned up front, the provided specifications are identical. The Colorful RTX 4070 Ti works with the same clock speed as the ‘unlaunched’ 4080 12GB (2310MHz base clock) and includes 12GB of GDDR6X VRAM with a 192-bit memory interface. The rated power consumption is 285W, which is the same as the cancelled entry-level 4080. (and of course, the 4070 Ti uses the same GPU too – the AD104).

Nvidia is in a precarious spot with its pricing

Despite the fact that this leak seems to be legit (it comes from a legitimate card manufacturer and includes several photos of the RTX 4070 Ti BattleAx Deluxe), we should still proceed with caution about the details it reveals.

It’s possible that whomever put up the product page made a mistake, or perhaps a series of faults (across a number of spec points), but this seems unlikely given that the page’s appearance seems to have been accidental.

However, if we accept the authenticity of this leak, what does it tell us? While we were aware that Nvidia will eventually rebrand the RTX 4080 12GB as the RTX 4070 Ti, we had hoped for a few minor changes to help set the two cards apart (like clocks tuned down a bit, perhaps). Seems like the same card, just reissued.

The number of CUDA Cores is absent from the specification, though. We don’t know whether the RTX 4070 Ti will include a trimmed-down version of AD104 or the full-fat version with all 7,680 cores found in the 4080 12GB.

There is still a chance that Nvidia may provide a slightly reduced number of CUDA Cores for the 4070 Ti to set it apart from its competitors. This allows Team Green to argue that “see, this card is different than the cancelled 4080,” while also providing some justification for Nvidia to reduce the price from the $899 that the lower-tier 4080 was marketed at. The risk is that people may wonder why the 4080 12GB is priced so much if Nvidia releases a graphics card that looks to be the same but costs less than $100.

If the 4070 Ti is really equal as the 4080 12GB, then how can Nvidia justify a price drop? The rumour mill is certain that the 4070 Ti will operate with all 7,680 CUDA Cores. Given Nvidia’s unpopularity owing to the current cost of Lovelace GPUs, and the RTX 4080 16GB in particular, releasing the 4070 Ti for $899 (as the identical card in everything but name) is unlikely to be a viable choice.

Although this is just conjecture, here is where another rumour may come into play. According to rumours, Nvidia is considering lowering the price of the RTX 4080 16GB in reaction to weak sales (definitely compared to the RTX 4090) and to enhance its popularity in general. This would come as a direct response to AMD’s impending introduction of the Radeon RDNA 3 GPUs. As a result, if the price of the 4080 16GB decreases significantly, Nvidia will have an excuse to sell the RTX 4070 Ti at a lower price point, despite the fact that it has the same specifications as the 4080 12GB (with the 16GB model being cheaper).

We will see, but if Colorful is really ready to go with its website materials and is clearly jumping the gun a little here with this listing of the RTX 4070 Ti complete with photos, then this is another another strong signal that the launch is soon enough. The 4070 Ti is said to be launching on January 5, and this speculation has been floating about for some time.