Down-binned RTX 40 series graphics cards are reportedly on the way

[Daniel Sims]

Rumor mill: Starting this spring, consumers purchasing mid-range RTX 40 series graphics cards could receive units running on down-binned chips from higher-end wafers. While their official specifications and performance will remain unchanged compared to earlier products with the same label, minor variations in clocks or efficiency could emerge.

For those unfamiliar, down-binning is when manufacturers use partially disabled chips in products of lower performance and lower cost than what they were originally fabricated for. Defective processors emerge from factories fairly often, but instead of discarding them, manufacturers sort them for components whose standards they successfully meet. This practice helps chipmakers conserve significant amounts of inventory and maintain acceptable yield levels.

Known leaker MEGAsizeGPU recently posted a chart indicating that new versions of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, RTX 4060 Ti, and RTX 4060 will begin shipping over the next few weeks. While users likely won't notice any significant differences from units purchased at launch, the revisions will use down-binned processors from higher-end models.

Down-binned chips aren't clearly labeled, resulting in a sort of lottery where a user buying a mid-range or low-end processor might receive a high-end chip that failed its original trial. Performance typically adheres to the official specifications of the listed product, but lucky consumers might encounter processors that maintain unusually low temperatures or handle overclocking surprisingly well.

According to the leak, 4070 boards with AD103 GPUs begin shipping this month. Since there's only one week left in March, they may already be in the wild. The 4070 and 4070 Ti officially use the AD104, whereas AD103 chips that meet their full specifications end up in the RTX 4070 Ti Super, RTX 4080, RTX 4080 Super, and the laptop RTX 4090.

Also read: What is Chip Binning?

From there, the down-binning has a domino effect impacting the 4060 Ti and 4060. Starting in April, 4060 Ti cards will be sold with the AD104 instead of their usual AD106, and 4060 units will begin appearing with partially disabled AD106 chips instead of the AD107.

Because the specs on the box will remain unchanged for each product, they will maintain their old prices. Partner boards for the 4070 currently start at around $520, the 4060 Ti at around $400, and the 4060 at just below $300. The change doesn't affect the RTX 4070 Super, which launched in January and took over the 4070's old $599 MSRP with a respectable performance upgrade.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/102369-down-binned-rtx-40-series-graphics-cards-reportedly.html

 

[toooooot]

It seems like demand for higher tier cards fell it its lowest level.
I would wait till winter though rather than getting any of these slowed chips.
Nvidia's history is pretty consistent, they should have new by then.

 

[VitalyT]

I think the 40x generation was the most absurd one, in terms of size and power consumption, then the cable-burning issues. 30x series was way better. I am still rocking RTX3080Ti, and unless they make a real good product, I have no interest in upgrading.

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

*60Ti got 104 chip? Damn, things must be really bad for those two abominations.

Even if it's worst of the worst batch of 104s taken out of trash bin...

 

[tancabean]

*60Ti got 104 chip? Damn, things must be really bad for those two abominations.

Even if it's worst of the worst batch of 104s taken out of trash bin...

Yeah that’s almost half the chip disabled. Crazy. The other chops aren’t so bad.

 

[Burty117]

I think the 40x generation was the most absurd one, in terms of size and power consumption, then the cable-burning issues. 30x series was way better. I am still rocking RTX3080Ti, and unless they make a real good product, I have no interest in upgrading.

Where do you get this information from? Because it certainly isn't TechSpot. The 40x generation is way more efficient than the 30x generation.

And a quote from the TechSpot review:

"At this frame rate, the RTX 4090 consumed just 215 watts, and that means for the same level of performance the 3090 Ti required 93% more power and the 6950 XT 40% more power. So despite all the talk of the RTX 4090 being an out of control beast, it's actually very impressive when it comes to efficiency."

 

[redgarl]

In the same news, Nvidia to start fading out ADA GPUs.

 

[redgarl]

Where do you get this information from? Because it certainly isn't TechSpot. The 40x generation is way more efficient than the 30x generation.

ADA is easily the worst gen Nvidia released. It is afflicted by numerous design and engineering problems that could kill GPUs, and especially 4090s and 4080s.

-Coolers size and weight are making PCB cracking.
-GPU dies are having solder joint failing because of the size of the PCB and the dies.
-12VHPWR is flawed and unnecessary.

 

[Jack77]

In the same news, Nvidia to start fading out ADA GPUs.

Officially to make room for next gen. But perhaps also because they can direct even more capacity towards business customers. And the reuse of lesser quality higher tier chips for the cards below both means they can guarantee consumer gpu supply in the mean time, and make money of dies that otherwise would be for the bin. So it's a really smart move. For the consumer it won't matter much. Perhaps marginally higher power consumption, but perhaps also more efficient cooling because of the bigger die.

 

[Beerfloat]

ADA is easily the worst gen Nvidia released. It is afflicted by numerous design and engineering problems that could kill GPUs, and especially 4090s and 4080s.

-Coolers size and weight are making PCB cracking.
-GPU dies are having solder joint failing because of the size of the PCB and the dies.
-12VHPWR is flawed and unnecessary.

You keep polluting the comments section with these same videos. What is it you do while watching these videos?

 

[Shirley Dulcey]

Where do you get this information from? Because it certainly isn't TechSpot. The 40x generation is way more efficient than the 30x generation.

And a quote from the TechSpot review:

"At this frame rate, the RTX 4090 consumed just 215 watts, and that means for the same level of performance the 3090 Ti required 93% more power and the 6950 XT 40% more power. So despite all the talk of the RTX 4090 being an out of control beast, it's actually very impressive when it comes to efficiency."

The cable burning issue is caused by the problematic new power connector on the 4000 series, not because of consuming more power.

 

[Burty117]

The cable burning issue is caused by the problematic new power connector on the 4000 series, not because of consuming more power.

That's not what I was responding to, I quoted exactly what I was responding to, this strange theory that the 40 series is "more power hungry and less efficient" than the 30 series when that is simply a lie.

I couldn't care about the power cable burning "issue". I'm fairly certain its incredibly rare and was blown out of proportion but even so, I won't argue that the new connector has issues. Hence why I didn't bother responding to it.