Nvidia Supers Up Some GeForce Cards for 2024
Super versions of the desktop RTX 4070, 4070 Ti and 4080 cards are ready for your upgrading pleasure and more.
Nvidia's CES announcements this year are relatively low-key, right down to the lack of its launch mainstay, mobile GPUs. The company did roll out a few updated Super models of its desktop cards, upgrades and a Day Pass for its GeForce Now cloud-gaming service and more. It also announced iStock's expansion of its generative AI options to models trained on licensed Getty images using Nvidia's tools.
Three new GeForce graphics cards are on their way: the $600 RTX 4070 Super, $800 RTX 4070 Ti Super and $1,000 RTX 4080 Super. The Super versions of the 4070 Ti and 4080 replace their un-Super predecessors, but the plain old 4070 will remain with prices starting at $550. There won't be an Nvidia Founders Edition card for the 4070 Ti -- only partner cards -- but there will be for the other two. Their releases are each staggered by a week, but all are expected to ship by the end of January.
Spoiler alert: Don't expect significant performance increases over their predecessors or an upgrade to DisplayPort 2.1 from 1.4. "Super" is always the generation based on existing core GPU chipsets, so more cores are enabled and frequencies run slightly higher.
There are some things that do stand out. For instance, the 4070 Super uses more power than the 4070, 220 versus 200 watts, and that crosses the line between needing a single eight-pin connection or two of them (the 4070 had an optional second one for overclocking). That's one reason the RTX 4070 is remaining for sale; that, and the lower price, for very price-sensitive buyers in that popular price range.
Nvidia GeForce 40xx Super specifications
| Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super Founders Edition | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super Founders Edition | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory | 12GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X |
| Memory bandwidth (GBps) | 504 | 672 | 736 |
| Memory clock (GHz) | 10.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 |
| GPU clock (GHz, base/boost) | 1.98/2.475 | 2.340/2.610 | 2.28/2.55 |
| Memory data rate/Interface | 21Gbps/192 bits | 21Gbps/256 bits | 22Gbps/256 bits |
| RT cores | 56 | 66 | 80 |
| CUDA cores | 7,168 | 8,448 | 10,240 |
| Texture mapping units | 224 | 264 | 320 |
| Streaming multiprocessors | 56 | 66 | 80 |
| Tensor cores | 224 | 264 | 320 |
| Process | 4nm | 4nm | 4nm |
| TGP/min PSU (watts) | 220/650 | 285/700 | 320/750 |
| Max thermal (degrees) | 194F/90C | 194F/90C | 194F/90C |
| Bus | PCIe 4.0x16 | PCIe 4.0x16 | PCIe 4.0x16 |
| Size | 2 slots | 3 slots | 3 slots |
| Launch price, US | $600 | $800 | $1,000 |
| Ship date | Jan. 17 | Jan. 24 | Jan. 31 |
The RTX 4070 Ti Super also gets a notable upgrade, from 12GB to 16GB memory, which can provide extra headroom to minimize or eliminate video memory bottlenecks; potentially, to lift you up a quality class at the same frame rate, give you a little more room for video editing and viewing large 3D models, to give some generative AI calculations a little boost and so on. It also incorporates the same basic GPU of the RTX 4080 (AD104) rather than the one used by the 4070 (AD103).
Among other announcements, Nvidia has launched its RTX Video HDR, an auto HDR feature like the one in Windows, which automatically maps the tonal range of a standard-definition video playing in a browser to the larger HDR tonal range. The company is going into open beta later this month for its RTX Remix, its cloud-based tool for modding old games with resolution upscaling, ray tracing and more.
Streamers with RTX-generation GPUs can get in on the Twitch Enhanced Broadcasting beta, which will enable three concurrent streams at different resolutions; Twitch will expand that to five streams later in the year. OBS has been a development partner, so OBS users are set.
In a bid to convert people to its GeForce Now cloud-gaming service, Nvidia's rolling out a new Day Pass for Priority and Ultimate tiers. Beginning in February, you'll be able to try out either of those at a day rate (as opposed to monthly) to make sure your network connection is up to providing a decent experience, or to verify you're OK with playing a desktop game on your phone. We don't have any pricing for that yet, though.
Nvidia will also be upping the service's capabilities, including support for adaptive refresh in conjunction with a G-Sync monitor, 4K 120fps added to Ultimate and the option to set your resolution to 1440p.