Nvidia could be planning to resurrect the GTX 1080 Ti in a bid to help battle the ongoing GPU shortage.
That’s according to tipster Harukaze5719, who spotted a post on Korean hardware forum Quasarzone which suggests that the four-year-old Pascal graphics card could be about to make an unexpected comeback.
On the forum, a user explains how they recently received a brand-new EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti-based graphics card after returning their old one for RMA. However, EVGA cards come with a standard warranty of three years, so it wouldn’t make sense to manufacture new GTX 1080 Ti-based cards in 2021 – unless Nvidia has silently brought back these chips into production.
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While it might seem a strange move for Nvidia to resurrect a discontinued GPU, the company recently resumed production of its older GTX 1050, GTX 1650 and RTX 2060 graphics cards as an alternative GPU for those frustrated by the lack of stock of its RTX 3000-series cards.
Between supply issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic, TSMC being under increased pressure from other clients, and cryptominers buying up what little GPU stock there is, it’s become almost impossible to get hold of Nvidia’s new Ampere RTX 3000 series graphics cards.
Turning to a four-year-old is hardly an ideal solution, but it could see Nvidia providing yet another option for gamers after a wallet-friendly GPU upgrade - after all, the GTX 1080 Ti continues to offer decent gaming performance at lower resolutions.
If it does make a comeback, it remains to be seen how much the Nvidia GeForce RTX 1080 Ti will retail for. At launch the GPU sold for $699 - the same as the RTX 3080 - so it's likely it'll be given a price cut if it does return to shelves.
Nvidia has yet to comment, so we’ll just have to wait and see if the rumor turns out to be true.
Via: PCGamesN
