NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Prototype with 20GB Surfaces on eBay
Enthusiasts are abuzz after an engineering sample of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, boasting an unprecedented 20GB of memory, surfaced for sale. This rarity suggests the company explored higher memory configurations during development, offering a glimpse into what could have been for gamers.
The Unveiling of a Rare Specimen
During 2020, rumors swirled that the RTX 3080 Ti might feature a substantial memory upgrade. The standard RTX 3080 had 10 or 12GB, yet this card could have sported 20GB. An engineering sample of the RTX 3080 Ti FE has now appeared on eBay. The card features the 30 FE series’s packaging, and the RTX 3080 Ti model is printed on it.
A sticker on the side reads, “Not sold products, limited to product research and development
,” in both English and simplified Chinese. This indicates the card was likely for NVIDIA’s internal testing.
Memory Capacity Confirmed
To prove its 20GB capacity, the seller showcased the graphics card’s PCB. It showed 10 memory cells with two air welding sites. Given that each cell held 2GB, the total memory is indeed 20GB. The standard RTX 3080 Ti uses 12 memory modules, making the difference obvious.
Design Intrigue and Speculation
A notable point of the card is the memory’s placement on the PCB’s back. This differs from NVIDIA’s usual design, which places the GPU and memory on the same side. It could be that the engineers needed a special setup for cooling, but it could have also been due to other production issues. This unique configuration, as a result, offers insights into the company’s experimental approach.
If the 20GB design had advanced to market, it could have significantly improved performance in memory-intensive tasks. However, due to design or cost reasons, NVIDIA ultimately released the RTX 3080 Ti with 12GB. The average gaming PC now has 16GB of RAM, showing that the need for more memory is ever-present (Statista, 2024).
The discovery of this prototype provides a rare look into NVIDIA’s design process. It offers a glimpse into the decisions behind the final product that eventually reached consumers.