Why GeForce RTX 4090 And 4080 Super Inventories May Dry Up Ahead Of 50 Series Launch

As with the cycle of life, GPUs come and go in regular succession. NVIDIA has not yet announced its next-generation Blackwell RTX 50 series GPUs, but rumors suggest they are likely to come as soon as early 2025. With that said, the current inventory of GeForce RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4090 GPUs may start to seriously dry up very soon. 

Priced at $999, the GeForce RTX 4080 Super made its debut earlier in 2024, replacing the unpopular $1,199 RTX 4080 GPU. Providing the same 16GB of VRAM and virtually the same performance, the kicker here was its $200 discount to appease woes of its initial price. Let us remember that the RTX 3080 had its debut at $699, so for an 80-class GPU to reach $1,199 in such a short time frame was not taken positively by consumers. 

NVIDIA apparently plans to end the production of the GeForce RTX 4080 Super in October and thus the supply by November. This will help to prepare demand for its next generation offering and clear a market path. A $999 RTX 4080 Super would not make sense when an RTX 5080 Super exists, for example, unless pricing is severely higher for the new entrant. The RTX 5080 supposedly will have the same 16GB of VRAM, but this time with more efficient GDDR7. The RTX 5080 is also getting a modest power increase, to as much as 400 watts, eclipsing the 320 watts of its predecessor. 

Perhaps the bigger item of note here is also the RTX 4090 being discontinued, since it has remained a popular product despite its price. With the ability to claim the crown as the best gaming GPU and best productivity one, it remains desirable. The RTX 4090 has also drawn the attention of AI and machine learning use cases thanks to its impressive 24GB of VRAM, and shortage of workstation GPUs in the market. 

The successor to the RTX 4090, tentatively assumed to be the RTX 5090, seems very impressive if rumors ring true. Coming with a whopping 32GB of VRAM with an equally astonishing 512-bit memory bus. While the announcement likely may come at CES 2025, pricing and an actual ship date remain more elusive. 

With workstation-class specifications such as what the RTX 5090 promises, the use cases for this GPU will be tremendously varied. Enthusiast gamers who are not shy to spend the princely sum will enjoy the fastest gaming GPU on the market, if history repeats as with the RTX 4090. 

Content creators and professionals will be ecstatic with 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM for things like video editing and 3D content. Those wanting AI and machine learning uses will also be glad to make use of the substantial performance here, for what we assume will still be cheaper than hard-to-get data center NVIDIA GPUs.

While it may be somber to witness the end of the RTX 4080 Super and RTX 4090, the future holds some potent products to reinvigorate our GPU spirits.