Nvidia has a brand new model of its RTX 4090 graphics card within the works which might be significantly cut-down indirectly, or so rumor has it – and the GPU is tied up with the scenario in China.
The purported RTX 4090 D – with the ‘D’ referring to the Yr of the Dragon, most definitely, making an allowance for this can be a new taste aimed on the Chinese language market – was first reported on by Wccftech, after which a leaker on X introduced us some follow-up info.
As noticed by Tom’s {Hardware}, leaker MEGAsizeGPU observes that the RTX 4090 D will purportedly be constructed across the AD102-250 chip, whereas the full-fat RTX 4090 is AD102-300 (and AD102-301). The latter 301 variant signifies a slight change, however a shift to a ‘250’ chip suggests, in fact, that that is going to be a significantly cut-down GPU.
Add your individual seasoning to all this hypothesis, however the rumor is sensible in mild of the US import ban stopping Nvidia promoting the RTX 4090 (and different heavyweight AI playing cards) to China.
What Crew Inexperienced might be doing right here is making a flagship GPU variant that’s just below the efficiency threshold whereby playing cards are blocked for export to China, dropping it by at the least 10% or extra to be protected.
What we’d find yourself with, then, is a chip with fewer CUDA Cores, and presumably overclocking limits as properly (to stop enterprising people from making up the core deficit by cranking up clocks by way of beefy cooling options).
Evaluation: Don’t get enthusiastic about this theorized GPU
MEGAsizeGPU doesn’t have any particulars of the precise spec of this RTX 4090 D, saying nothing is confirmed but, so Nvidia might be deciding find out how to play this one nonetheless. Or it might simply be a rumor that’ll evaporate into nothing, in fact, but it surely appears possible that Nvidia will wish to hold gross sales flowing in an enormous territory like China.
What Nvidia will want to verify of, although, is that any such RTX 4090 D doesn’t conflict with the incoming RTX 4080 Tremendous. (Though that graphics card, too, is just rumored at this level, but it surely’s very strongly rumored, and fairly presumably set for a CES 2024 reveal – and a possible spot on our checklist of the most effective GPUs).
For those who’re pondering that the RTX 4090 D might be a compelling buy, you would possibly wish to suppose once more. Because the ‘Dragon’ title (and the aforementioned Wccftech report) suggests, that is prone to be a graphics card solely launched in China, and furthermore, it’ll possible be pitched on the identical retail worth because the RTX 4090.
Once more, as a result of you possibly can’t purchase the full-fat 4090 GPU in China any longer, that is sensible, and Nvidia will have the ability to cost a premium for the brand new cut-down taste – demand is thru the roof presently for high-end graphics playing cards. (And costs for the RTX 4090 have shot up exterior of China, too, due to the inventory pressures created by the plentiful stock that has been shipped to Asia).
