This could be our first PCB photo of NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 3090

Heavy breathing intensifies.

This could be our first look at NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 3090 and its beefy PCB, thanks to a new leak over on the NVIDIA subreddit.

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NVIDIA's purported GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card and its leaked PCB is coming from a non-reference board from COLORFUL, which would eventually form into the flagship iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Vulcan-X graphics card.

Diving right into it, you can see that it is a power hungry enthusiast-focused card with a truly bonkers 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connector requirement. Wowzers... I don't care that it's over the top, because if the GeForce RTX 3090 truly does offer 50% more performance than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti -- then I don't care for thermals and power consumption.

That raw performance is going to be absolutely incredible.

There's something to note here: the purported PCB of the GeForce RTX 3090 here has 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors and not the 12-pin PCIe power connector that we've seen rumors of.

I think we could see NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition has something special (a new 12-pin PCIe power connector, and I'm sure a few other surprises) while AIB partners can't use the 12-pin connector and instead require 3 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

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We have at least 11 memory modules on the card here -- where if NVIDIA is using dual-sided memory chips (GDDR6 or GDDR6X here) then we're looking at 22 memory modules in total on the GeForce RTX 3090. The 1GB modules would add up to 22GB on a 352-bit memory bus, but we've been hearing rumors of 20GB and 24GB -- not 22GB.

You'll notice an Intel CPU there -- because the leaker placed it there so we can't scope out the NVIDIA GPU underneath and identify it.

Two more things to note, that it seems NVIDIA is changing the NVLink connector on the GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards, as well as a secondary chip that is found under the GPU. This is interesting, and I really want to know more about what is going on here.

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• What's NVIDIA doing with all those mentions of 21? I'm a kinda numerology nerd in some ways, so it helps decode at least some of it -- which I did so here. (GeForce) 256 x 21 (days/years celebration) = 5376 (GPU cores in purported GA102 GPU), and 5 + 3 + 7 + 6 = 21.
• What about "ULTIMATE"? Well that's the other thing -- does NVIDIA mean this will be the "ultimate graphics card", or does it mean we could expect an ULTIMATE branded graphics card? GeForce RTX 3090 ULTIMATE has a nice ring to it... just saying.
• Where can I tune into the GeForce special event? NVIDIA will be premiering the special event broadcast on September 9 at 9AM PT, hosted by none other than NVIDIA CEO and founder Jensen Huang. You can tune in right here.

More reading:

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• Traversal coprocessor: We have had more leaks on NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 3000 series than any family of graphics cards before it, with an interesting "traversal coprocessor" on the new GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. You can read more on that here.
• NVCache: Ampere is meant to have something called NVCache, which would be NVIDIA's own form of AMD's HBCC (High Bandwidth Cache Controller, more on that here). NVCache would use your system RAM and SSD to super-speed game load times, as well as optimizing VRAM usage. You can read more on NVCache here.
• Tensor Memory Compression: NVCache is interesting, but Tensor Memory Compression will be on Ampere, and will reportedly use Tensor Cores to both compress and decompress items that are stored in VRAM. This could see a 20-40% reduction in VRAM usage, or more VRAM usage with higher textures in next-gen games and Tensor Memory Compression decreasing that VRAM footprint by 20-40%.
• How fast is the GeForce RTX 3090? Freaking fast according to rumors, with 60-90% more performance than the current Turing-based flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. We could see this huge performance leap in ray tracing titles, but we'll have to wait a little while longer to see how much graphical power NVIDIA crams into these new cards. You can read more on those rumors here.
• Power hungry: As for power consumption, GA102 reportedly uses 230W -- while 24GB of GDDR6X (which we should see on the new Ampere-based TITAN RTX) consumes 60W of power. You can read more on that here.
• Production begins soon: NVIDIA is reportedly in the DVT (or Design Validation Test) range of its new GeForce RTX 3000 series graphics cards. Mass production reportedly kicks off in August 2020, with a media event, benchmarks, and more in September 2020 as I predicted many months ago. More on that here.

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I've already written about rumors that NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPU architecture would be up to 75% faster than current-gen GPUs such as the Turing architecture, right after rumors that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing. This is pretty crazy stuff right there.

Not only that, but we've got some rumored specs on the purported GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards, which will both be powered by NVIDIA's new Ampere GPU architecture.

We've already heard that Ampere would offer 50% more performance at half the power of Turing, which sent the hairs on my neck standing up. Better yet, you can read about the leaked specs on the purported Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3070 right here.

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Even more reading:

• NVIDIA hosting 'special event' for next-gen GeForce on September 1
• NVIDIA mega rumor: GeForce RTX 2190, GeForce RTX 2180 Ti naming scheme
• NVIDIA is 'not worried' about AMD's next-gen Big Navi GPU
• NVIDIA crazy rumor: RTX 3080 software locked VRAM until RDNA 2 is out
• NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 30 series card could have 24GB VRAM
• Exclusive: AIB custom Ampere cards launch alongside Founders Edition
• NVIDIA should reveal next-gen GeForce RTX 30 series cards on August 31
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3000 series announcement rumored for September 9
• NVIDIA reportedly discontinues GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER graphics card
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti: rumored launch of September 17
• AMD Big Navi: 5120 stream processors teased for RDNA 2 flagship again
• AMD Radeon Instinct MI100 Acturus teased, NVIDIA Ampere destroyer?!
• GeForce RTX 3090: 50% faster than RTX 2080 Ti in early benchmarks
• NVIDIA A100 Ampere benchmarked, is now the 'fastest GPU ever recorded'
• Yeah, NVIDIA should unleash GeForce RTX 3000 series in September
• AMD Big Navi 'NVIDIA Killer' flagship card has 16GB of memory
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 rumor: 20% faster than GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
• NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere DLSS 3.0 could work on ANY game that uses TAA
• AMD aims Big Navi launch for November as 'show of strength' for RDNA 2
• NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GeForce RTX 30 series: new 12-pin PCIe power
• AMD's next-gen RDNA 2 rumor: 40-50% faster than GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
• NVIDIA stops making RTX 20 series, ramps to GeForce RTX 30 series
• GeForce RTX 3060 should cost $300-$400, here's some leaked specs
• NVIDIA bundles Death Stranding with GeForce RTX graphics cards
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, RTX 3070 rumored specs: two sub $500 cards
• Want NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere GPU now? You can have it... for $12,500
• NVIDIA's Ampere GeForce RTX rumor: built on Samsung 8nm, not TSMC 7nm
• Say hello to the ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ROG STRIX, maybe
• NVIDIA's new A100 PCIe accelerator: 40GB HBM2e memory, PCIe 4.0 tech
• This new GeForce RTX 3090 leak has it at 26% faster than RTX 2080 Ti
• New GeForce RTX 3090 leaks: 12GB GDDR6X at insane 21Gbps
• GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 rumored to pack 'traversal coprocessor'
• NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 3080, RTX 3090 to enter production soon
• GeForce RTX 3090: GA102 consumes 230W, 24GB GDDR6 consumes 60W power
• NVIDIA rumored to use HUGE cooling block on GeForce RTX 3080
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 cooler: rumored to cost $150 on its own
• GeForce RTX 3090 rumor: 24GB GDDR6X, would annihilate RTX 2080 Ti
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 rumors: up to 60-90% faster than RTX 2080 Ti
• Check out these awesome renders of NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 3080
• This could be our first picture of the GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card
• AMD and NVIDIA to both launch next-gen GPUs in September 2020
• NVIDIA reportedly drops Tesla brand, too close to Elon Musk's Tesla
• NVIDIA amps up fight against COVID-19 with Ampere-based supercomputer
• NVIDIA DGX A100: 8 x A100 Ampere GPUs, AMD CPU, 15TB NVMe SSD
• NVIDIA Ampere A100 specs: 54 billion transistors, 40GB HBM2, 7nm TSMC