The RTX 4080 12GB’s $899 price and the difference in specifications compared to the 16GB version caused a backlash that led to Nvidia “unlaunching” the card in October; the company said it was due to the confusing name. It didn’t take long for manufacturer listings to confirm that the RTX 4080 12GB had been rebranded as the RTX 4070 Ti – a move many expected. The specs are unchanged, but what about the all-important price?
Things haven’t been looking too promising this week. First, there was news that RTX 4070 Ti was already on sale in Serbia for the equivalent of $1,400, but tech products in the country sell for obscenely high prices. Then came reports of Chinese retailers taking pre-orders for the card and charging just over $1,000, which is the same MSRP that the RTX 4080 12GB was set to carry in China. However, it was later stated that the 4070 Ti price was actually 10% lower than the RTX 4080 12GB MSRP in the Asian nation. So, in addition to the specs being unchanged, will Nvidia dare keep the RTX 4070 Ti’s MSRP the same as the RTX 4080 12GB in the US? Not according to the latest reports. Several sources claim that Nvidia has informed board partners that the card will have an MSRP of $799, or about 11% less than the never-released RTX 4080 12GB.
This all remains unconfirmed, so take it with a grain of salt, but $799 does seem to line up with Nvidia’s pricing strategy for the Lovelace lineup so far. Not too surprisingly, most people believe that price is still way too high, especially when the RTX 3070 Ti arrived with a $600 MSRP. Moreover, there will reportedly be no Founders Edition versions, so expect to see plenty of third-party overclocked models selling for much higher. If that price proves accurate, Nvidia might find it especially hard to shift the RTX 4070 Ti during a time when consumers are reeling in their spending and desktop graphics card sales drop to their lowest point since 2005. It’s led to scalpers being unable to sell the already expensive RTX 4080 16GB above MSRP, suggesting Nvidia could face the same situation with the RTX 4070 Ti. All should be revealed next week.
