Just a few days after revealing the new GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, Nvidia has now announced a new variant of its RTX 3080 GPU. This is the rumored 12GB variant of the existing GA102-200 based SKU. The new RTX 3080 12GB variant was initially revealed in Nvidia's latest GeForce graphics drivers and it's now said to go sale starting today from select OEM partners.

The seemingly small 2GB memory bump means the new variant now has the same amount of VRAM as the RTX 3080 Ti. It also comes with 8960 CUDA cores, which is over 3-percent more than the original 10GB variant. The RTX 3080 12GB model now has a wider 384-bit memory bus which results in a higher maximum bandwidth of 912 GB/s.

Here's a quick look at the specifications of the RTX 3080 12GB next to the RTX 3080 10GB variant:

The new RTX 3080 12GB model has a TDP of 350W, which is 30W higher than the original variant. Nvidia, however, is still recommending a 750W PSU for this unit. Even though the new variant is just a minor upgrade over the existing SKU, we think it'll still be just as difficult to find one in stock. Nvidia hasn't revealed any info about its pricing but we should have more details about the pricing soon as the OEM partners start listing their SKUs online.

The original RTX 3080, in case you don't know, is our pick for the best graphics card you can buy in the market right now. It'll be interesting to see how this new model will compare to the existing RTX 3080 unit. If you think an RTX 3080 is an overkill for your use case, then you might want to consider buying the new RTX 3050, a budget GPU that Nvidia announced last week alongside the RTX 3090 Ti. There's definitely no shortage of GPU launches on the market but can't say the same about the availability of those GPUs on the market. Let's hope that changes in 2022.