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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 design leaks, and it's ... not pretty
By Sean Endicott
NVIDIA's upcoming RTX 3080 could be a beast when it comes to power, and potentially looks.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Windows Central)
Leaked images reveal what is potentially the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080.
The leak shows off a bulky card that focuses on heat dissipation over attractiveness.
The leaked card could also be an early version of the card sent out to brand partners.
NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card appears to have leaked online. Chinese tech forum ChipHell shows off the leaks in a recent post (via Tom's Guide). The card appears to be bulky and to prioritize functionality over form factor, with dual fans and a large amount of heatsink fins.
Some have complained about the card's size and design. It's worth pointing out that this could be a card made available early to partners, and that it doesn't reflect the final design of the GeForce RTX 3080. If it is indicative of the final design, some might be unhappy with its large size. The card seems to prioritize heat dissipation over esthetics. Powering a card as powerful as the GeForce RTX 3080 will likely create a lot of heat, and NVIDIA will likely have to prioritize fans and heat dissipation over making sure the card looks good in cases with glass siding.
If rumors are correct, the GeForce RTX 3080 is a powerhouse of a graphics card that will surpass the current best graphics cards as well as the upcoming PS5 and Xbox Series X. It's reportedly made on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, making it part of the first wave of cards made using that architecture. With a card putting out that much power, heat dissipation being a priority isn't a surprise.
Source: Chiphell (Image credit: Source: Chiphell)
Confirmed details about the GeForce RTX 3080 are scarce, though it's probably safe to assume we'll see a jump in performance when compared to the current line of RTX 20xx series cards.
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor
Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).
I'll hold off for the Ti version and by then they'll have 30 other designs to choose from.
What is this, an Apple site? Who gives a damn what it LOOKS LIKE. We care about performance and power usage and heat. If they can balance those for a reasonable price, we don't care what it looks like.
At the end of the day it's always going to look like you've stuck a VCR tape in your PC tower. It's actual functions and benchmarks are far more important.
If aesthetics didn't matter, we wouldn't have fancy cases filled with RGBs.
Anyone who builds (or purchases) a PC (I include laptops here) purely for the "bling" on it is a fool, and a fool and their money are soon parted.
If you have the money to burn and you want nothing but flashing lights and colored fans and rippling keyboard lights on your PC, have at it, there are plenty of OEMs out there willing to perform a complete "cashectomy" on your wallet, but it won't help you one whit in your gaming, or productivity.
That is why it's up to the OEMs to supply that kind of "bling" in a desperate attempt to;
A) Differentiate their Product Line from their competitors.
B) Separate you from more of your money.
The actual designers like NVidia and AMD concentrate on performance and value. Not "bling", because that is what THEY are judged on.
Was about to make my next big gaming laptop purchase with the 2070 super card, but will now hold off to see what the 3000 series is all about. I'd ideally like to be able to match or beat the PS5 in terms of what it can output, we'll see....
Does anyone look at their GPU? Does it matter if it's pretty??? Are we going crazy?
Um, it matters not what it looks like. It's a GPU. It matters how it performs.
While I agree with you for most PCs, my case has tempered glass sides so I can see it (Raijintek Ophion Evo).
I can sell you a nice, opaque glass cover so that you won't see it