Nvidia RTX 4080 12GB “unlaunching” after muted reception

Nvidia has revealed that they were no longer going to launch the RTX 4080 12GB after the reception of the card’s launch didn’t exactly go as planned.

The RTX 4080 12GB is no more, according to Nvidia. This comes after its initial launch at GTC 2022, the GPU would have launched alongside a 16GB variant.

The huge RTX 4090 was released on October 12 to near critical acclaim. But, gamers on a budget may be opting to wait for the RTX 4080 to release just a month later.

Although it was initially announced as two SKUs — 12GB and 16GB options — Nvidia has revealed that they are “unlaunching” the 12GB version. The RTX 4080 12GB was actually a completely different GPU from its 16GB cousin. This fact may have contributed to why the GPU has now been canceled.

Dexerto

Nvidia unlaunches RTX 4080 12GB version

In a blog post on October 14, Nvidia revealed that they won’t be releasing the 12GB version of the RTX 4080 because it is “confusing.”

“The RTX 4080 12GB is a fantastic graphics card, but it’s not named right. Having two GPUs with the 4080 designation is confusing,” they revealed. “So, we’re pressing the “unlaunch” button on the 4080 12GB. The RTX 4080 16GB is amazing and on track to delight gamers everywhere on November 16th.

“If the lines around the block and enthusiasm for the 4090 are any indication, the reception for the 4080 will be awesome.”

We initially speculated that the RTX 4080 12GB would materialize as an RTX 4070, but after this U-Turn, that’s exactly what we think might happen with the GPU. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more at CES 2023. We expect Nvidia might reveal more about the mid-range GPU after the holidays.

RTX 4090 reviews prove that Nvidia is providing plenty of performance to gamers. However, some influencers like Linus Sebastian have mentioned that they might skip the new gen entirely.

Linus has yet to reveal exactly why he’s considering skipping the 4000 series GPUs. However, multiple issues such as ports and power draw could be a part of it.