Nvidia is preparing to unveil its next-generation GPU architecture, codenamed Lovelace. After Turing launched with the initial RTX cards in 2018, Ampere is the current GPU architecture that drives Nvidia’s RTX 30-series GPUs. Nvidia’s Lovelace GPU architecture is now anticipated to be detailed at GTC 2022 in September, with CEO Jensen Huang hinting at an announcement during the company’s latest earnings call.
However, the announcement of a new GPU architecture does not guarantee the release of RTX 40-series GPUs right away. Nvidia originally introduced its Ampere architecture for data centers before releasing its RTX 30-series GPUs to the general public months later. There is usually a minor lag between the announcement of architecture and the release of a consumer GPU. It was only a week for the RTX 20-series, so it doesn’t necessarily imply we’ll be seeing it soon.
In any case, reports continue to circulate that Nvidia is developing RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 GPUs. The massive RTX 4090 was reported to be released in July, and it might give a significant performance gain over existing RTX 3090 and possibly RTX 3090 Ti cards. Huang also mentioned that current-generation RTX 30-series GPUs will coexist with next-generation ones.
Because Nvidia has developed too many GPUs, the RTX 30-series and 40-series are likely to coexist. It’s presently being forced to reduce retail pricing due to surplus inventory, and we’ve seen RTX 30-series cards arrive at MSRP recently, after years of resellers raising prices 2-3x. The crypto meltdown has impacted GPU demand, and the surplus inventory makes forecasting when Nvidia will release new products more challenging.
The Nvidia GTC 2022 conference will take place from September 19th to September 22nd, with Jensen Huang’s keynote scheduled for September 20th at 8AM PT / 11AM ET.
