Nvidia Announces RTX 3080 with Improved Memory

The new model features 12 GB of memory.

The new model features 12 GB of memory.

In recent months, the wares of Nvidia, one of the foremost names in PC graphics cards, have become notoriously hard to obtain. Due to the ongoing chip shortage affecting the entire tech sector, Nvidia has been forced to produce fewer graphics cards and raise the prices on existing ones. Many custom PC enthusiasts have had a difficult time even tracking down higher-end graphics cards, and even those who do have had to pay upwards of $600 for one.

In lieu of releasing entirely new graphics cards, Nvidia is iterating on one of its existing ones. Today, the company announced the release of an updated version of the RTX 3080 graphics card with an increased memory capacity. This new model will feature 12 GB of onboard memory, 2 more gigabytes than the previous model. This, in turn, widens the card’s bandwidth capabilities by about 20%, though the trade-off on that is a slightly greater power draw. Nvidia recommends attaching the card to a PC with a power source of at least 750W.

The pricing of the updated 3080 card has not been publicly divulged yet, though it likely will be made available by the end of the week. Meanwhile, Nvidia is also planning on releasing more details about the upcoming RTX 3090 Ti graphics card later this month.