GeForce RTX 30 series

Lore & Background

The GeForce RTX 30 series began shipping on September 17, 2020, with the initial launch of the RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3090 occurring during the 2020–2023 global chip shortage. This resulted in widespread and notable shortages that lasted from launch until 2022. Launch day for the RTX 3080 saw online retailers struggling with demand; Newegg sold out completely, long lines formed at physical stores, and bots were used to buy large numbers of cards for resale. Nvidia apologized for its online store going down, delayed the RTX 3070 release by two weeks, and later announced that Founder's Edition cards in the United States would temporarily be sold via Best Buy. Shortages continued through 2021 and into 2022, with Nvidia citing Samsung wafer shortages and other factors. In an effort to limit purchases by crypto miners, Nvidia announced in February 2021 that RTX 3060 cards would detect Ethereum mining algorithms and halve the hash rate, though a driver update accidentally disabled the detection. Nvidia later released Limited Hash Rate (LHR) SKUs for the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, and RTX 3060 Ti on May 18, 2021. The RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti, both including the hash rate limiter, were released in June 2021. Later additions to the series included the RTX 3080 12GB (January 11, 2022), the desktop RTX 3050 (January 27, 2022), and the RTX 3090 Ti (March 29, 2022).

Reader's Guide

The GeForce RTX 30 series marked a significant step in real-time ray tracing and AI-accelerated graphics, built on the Ampere architecture with second-generation RT cores and third-generation Tensor Cores. It was the last Nvidia GPU generation to support Windows 7, as later drivers for this series require at least Windows 10. The series faced severe availability issues due to the global chip shortage, high demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, and scalping, with shortages persisting into 2022. Nvidia's attempts to curb cryptocurrency mining included hash rate limiters on several models. The lineup spanned from the entry-level RTX 3050 to the enthusiast RTX 3090 Ti, with the RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti supporting 2-way NVLink. The RTX 3080 was noted for enabling 4K gaming at a more accessible price point, while the RTX 3090 Ti was described as incredibly powerful but with high power consumption and similar performance to the cheaper RTX 3090. The series was succeeded by the GeForce RTX 40 series, powered by the Ada Lovelace microarchitecture, which launched in 2022.

Did You Know?

• The GeForce RTX 30 series is based on the Ampere architecture and uses Samsung's 8 nm 8N process.
• The RTX 3090 and RTX 3090 Ti are the only models in the series that support 2-way NVLink.
• Nvidia accidentally released a driver update that disabled the Ethereum mining hash rate limiter on the RTX 3060 shortly after its introduction.
• The RTX 3050 was initially laptop-exclusive before a desktop variant launched in January 2022.