We were already expecting Nvidia’s rumored RTX 4000 GPUs to be powerful, but a new leak suggests that those planning on getting the top-of-the-range GeForce RTX 4090 may also want to invest in some serious cooling to go with it. Last month, the reliable GPU leaker kopite7kimi (opens in new tab) posted that the AD102 chipset should find it “easy to reach 2.8GHz” or “at least not very hard.” Then, last week, the leaker added another tweet to the chain stating that “we can expect a much higher frequency.” While kopite7kimi doesn’t provide figures, that suggests a boost clock that comfortably breaks the 3GHz barrier. On top of that, HardwareTimes (opens in new tab) believes that this adds up to a GPU with a massive 100 teraflops of power. To put that into context, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 gives you ‘just’ 37.6 teraflops, while the PS5 boasts 10.3.
Expensive to buy; expensive to run
Before you imagine just how many frames-per-second you’d be able to generate with that kind of hardware in your PC, it’s worth reflecting on the likely costs involved with such monster hardware. Even though the GPU shortages are coming to an end, a top of the range Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti will still set you back at least $2,000, so consider that a starting point. And it’s not just upfront costs you need to worry about, either. Hitting 3GHz of speed will generate a lot of heat. So you’ll want to make sure your cooling is up to snuff — maybe a liquid cooling solution to be safe. It will also likely be enormously power hungry, and we’ve previously been bracing ourselves for a TBP (total board power) of 600W for the card — quite an increase on the 350W required by the already power-hungry RTX 3090. Bear in mind that this is the power demand of the theoretical GPU alone, and with your processor, RAM, storage and peripherals, you’ll probably need a 1,000W PSU to ensure everything has enough headroom to function. That, at a time when energy prices are soaring worldwide, is quite a big ask. Until Nvidia officially announces new hardware, this is all speculation of course. But after the shortage-induced price gouging of the current generation, it looks like the next one could be out of reach of most gamers for entirely different reasons.
