Reddit consumer (opens in new tab) ascendance22 has purchased a prototype GeForce 20-series graphics card carrying the “GTX” branding on eBay. The GeForce GTX 2080 pattern seems to be a GeForce RTX 2080 with the identical Nvidia Founders Version cooler and TU104 die, as proven within the GPU-Z picture. However apparently, Nvidia disabled the RT cores on this prototype, with the GPU holding a GTX badge and missing any “GeForce RTX 2080” badging on the entrance.
The Reddit consumer purchased the GeForce GTX 2080 on eBay (opens in new tab) — what it was doing on eBay within the first place is anybody’s guess. However it’s secure to say that seeing a prototype like this within the wild is extremely uncommon and is normally saved beneath wraps by Nvidia always. The eBay service provider sells these GeForce GTX 2080 as engineering samples of the GeForce RTX 2080 for $359.95 every. There have been early rumors that Nvidia was considering launching a GeForce GTX 1180, so this GeForce GTX 2080 might be the Turing graphics card that by no means made it to the market.
The mysterious GPU seems to be a GeForce RTX 2080 variant. The Redditor uploaded the firmware to TechPowerUp (opens in new tab) with the web site detecting the graphics card as a GeForce RTX 2080. Moreover, the Redditor’s 3DMark TimeSpy outcomes that intently match the efficiency of the usual RTX 2080 graphics playing cards. So there isn’t any query it is a prototype RTX 2080 of some type.
This prototype proves that Nvidia was fascinated with launching a GTX lineup of Turing-based playing cards past the GTX 1660 Ti. It could definitely make sense from Nvidia’s place. On the time of the RTX 20-series debut, Nvidia’s Turing-based structure with {hardware} accelerated ray tracing cores was a bleeding edge know-how by no means seen earlier than on the patron market.
Consequently, assist for Nvidia’s new tech was fully scarce, giving avid gamers little incentive to purchase a know-how they may solely benefit from for months or years. The identical additionally utilized to Nvidia’s DLSS know-how, which first got here out with the RTX 20-series — it had poor picture high quality on the time, with the identical lack of recreation assist as ray tracing on day one.
If Nvidia went by means of with a full GTX 16-series lineup extending to the xx80 sequence GPU, this technique would enable avid gamers to decide on whether or not or not they needed ray tracing know-how. As well as, this might have been a possible enterprise alternative for Nvidia, as the corporate may take faulty Turing dies with rotten RT cores and disable them solely for a GTX 20-series counterpart.
This manner, shoppers may get a Turing graphics card for a lower cost and nonetheless retain all of the architectural enhancements Turing provided over Pascal. Sadly, that by no means occurred, to the dismay of many avid gamers. However this prototype does give us a clue that Nvidia was at the least fascinated with a whole “RTXless” lineup for the Turing technology.
