Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti reportedly canned due to sky-high power consumption

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Rumors have been swirling for a while now that Nvidia will be following up its ultra-powerful RTX 4090 with an even more powerful RTX 4090 Ti – but there’s now chatter that the company has been a bit too ambitious with its next flagship GPU.

According to a YouTube video by Moore’s Law is Dead (which you can watch below), the rumored Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti may actually be a new RTX Titan Ada. In the past, Titan GPUs have been no holds barred graphics cards that are aimed more at creative professionals than gamers, and come with a price tag to match.

We’ve not seen a Titan card since the RTX Titan back in 2018, which is based on Nvidia’s RTX 2000 series ‘Turing’ architecture, so a new Titan appearing soon wouldn’t be completely out of the realms of possibility.

However, according to Moore’s Law is Dead, new rumors suggest we may not see the new GPU any time soon, regardless of whether it goes by the name RTX 4090 Ti or RTX Titan Ada.


Analysis: Too ambitious?

The reason for the new GPU being killed off – or at least put on hold indefinitely – is because it seems like it’s just too ambitious. According to Moore’s Law is Dead, a respected source has claimed that the new GPU would have a TDP (Thermal Design Power – essentially the power demands of the card) of around 600 to 700 watts. While that’s lower than some rumors, that’s still a huge power draw that would be too much for all but the most powerful and expensive PSUs (Power Supply Units).

The new GPU would also have the full AD102 chip, rather than a cut-back version found in the RTX 4090, and would require two 16-pin power connectors.

The new GPU would also take up four slots in a case, making it substantially bigger than the RTX 4090 – which is already a huge graphics card. This could make it difficult for many people to even be able to install it in their PCs, even if they have a suitable PSU.

In fact, the GPU could be so big that rather than plugging it into a motherboard, the motherboard is plugged into the GPU.

Perhaps most worryingly, according to Moore’s Law is Dead, the new GPU was so demanding it was tripping breakers and damaging power supplies – and even themselves.

So, it seems the RTX 4090 Ti or RTX Titan Ada may not be appearing any time soon – at least until Nvidia addresses those issues. There’s also suggestion that Nvidia may hold off until GDDR6 video memory capable of 27 Gbps or even GDDR7 for the release.

Will the wait be worth it? At the moment, we can’t really see the appeal of a super expensive (and powerful) RTX 4090 Ti. The RTX 4090 is just about to launch, and that will offer far more power than most gamers need right now, so an even more powerful GPU just won’t be on many people’s ‘must buy’ lists.

If this upcoming GPU is an RTX Titan, however, then there is more reason for it to exist – because of its enterprise and creative uses – but no business is going to want to invest in GPUs that end up melting. We love to see companies like Nvidia be ambitious, but it also needs to keep its consumers’ needs in mind as well.

Via Notebookcheck.net

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he's reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.

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