A critical aspect to consider is whether NVIDIA will meet performance goals for the RTX 4080 SUPER by solely increasing CUDA cores from 9,728 to 10,240. NVIDIA has additional methods to enhance performance, such as modifying GPU clocks, power limits, and memory speeds. The existing RTX 4080 has a memory speed of 22.4 Gbps, which could be increased to 23 Gbps. The current RTX 4080's Total Graphics Power (TGP) is 320 W, lower than the 450 W TGP of the AD102-based RTX 4090. RTX 4080 cards come with an NVIDIA-designed adapter for converting three 8-pin PCIe connectors into a 12VHPWR configuration, capable of 450 W continuous power. In comparison, RTX 4090 cards include a 600 W-capable adapter with four 8-pin inputs. This suggests potential for NVIDIA to increase the TGP of the RTX 4080 SUPER, enhancing GPU clocks and leveraging the full capacity of the "AD103" silicon.

NVIDIA is expected to announce the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and RTX 4080 SUPER on January 8, with the RTX 4080 SUPER likely to be available somewhere in later in January.