NVIDIA announces new graphics cards at CES 2022

NVIDIA was one of the biggest technology newsmakers in 2021. Trying to keep its incredibly powerful and incredibly popular GeForce RTX30 series graphics cards in stock was an international nightmare. It’s not just that gamers were clamouring for the cards with their advanced technology including second generation real-time ray tracing and DLSS. Like many other companies, NVIDIA faced a combination of surging demand (the pandemic made gaming even more popular), and as a fabless producer, NVIDIA also had to deal with a global shortage of semiconductors. However, we’re not here to talk challenges. This post is all about CES 2022 and the big announcements that NVIDIA made.

GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3090i graphics cards

NVIDIA announced two all-new Geforce RTX 30 series graphics cards. Between the two, they are going to make a lot of gamers (and creators) very happy.

Let’s start with the option that I expect is going to see very high demand. Up until now, the entry level RTX 30 series desktop graphics card has been the GeForce RTX 3060. However, at CES 2022, NVIDIA announced a new, more affordable option. The GeForce RTX 3050 packs all the technology you expect from one of these cards, including DLSS (you can read more about that here), and second generation real-time ray tracing. It can still drive a monitor at 8K resolution. However, to keep the price tag lower, the GeForce RTX 3050 has 8GB of GDDR6 RAM with a 128-bit memory interface width, along with 2560 CUDA cores. In comparison, the RTX 3060 has 12gb of DDR6 RAM with a wider 192-bit memory interface and 3584 CUDA cores.

This will still be a powerful graphics card that brings the power of ray tracing (at over 60 fps) and NVIDIA DLSS to even more people. 

On the other end of the spectrum, NVIDIA talked about the forthcoming GeForce RTX 3090Ti. This new flagship graphics card sounds unbelievable. It will feature 24GB of DDR6X RAM and 10,752 CUDA cores. The memory is running faster than the original 3090’s and the card is expected to deliver a roughly 10% performance boost compared to the original. That’s 40 teraflops of GPU performance compared to the RTX 3090’s 36 teraflops. Image the gaming rig you could have with one of these at its heart!

GeForce RTX gaming laptops with new 4th gen Max-Q RTX 30 series mobile GPUs

Gaming laptops were a big part of NVIDIA’s CES 2022 presentation. To start with, the company announced new GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti laptop GPUs. 

The GeForce RTX 3070 Ti can drive a 1440 display at 100 frames per second. While that is impressive, the new RTX 3080 Ti takes things to the next level. NVIDIA’s new flagship mobile GPU, it is equipped with a whopping 16GB of DDR6 RAM and NVIDIA says it will outperform the desktop TITAN RTX graphics card. The new cards also employ 4th generation Max-Q technology for improved battery life.

It’s not just new mobile RTX 30 series graphics cards, it’s the sheer extent of adoption of these NVIDIA GPUs in the PC gaming industry. NVIDIA says there are over 160 new gaming laptops launching this year that will be equipped with RTX 30 series mobile GPUs. 

New 1440p Esports computer monitors

NVIDIA and its partners in the PC gaming industry announced a new category of gaming monitors with the aim of improving the overall gaming experience through use of standards.

1440p Esports computer monitors will be optimized for 1440p resolution. Supporting the high demand of Esports, they will feature refresh rates up to 360Hz. Display size is a minimum 27-inches, for an optimal competitive gaming experience. A special enhanced “digital vibrance” mode for gaming will be built-in to monitor firmware, and the monitors will also incorporate Reflex Latency Analyzer technology. As premium monitors, most will be equipped with either mini LED or OLED panels. There is also a Dual-Format mode that will display 1080p games at 25-inches with increased sharpness.

And naturally, all of these new 1440p Esports monitors support NVIDIA-GSYNC.

Given that PC game developers have added over 150 games that now offer NVIDIA RTX feature support since the last CES, the timing of this new class of gaming monitors couldn’t be better. 

Omniverse and Studio 

NVIDIA’s CES 2022 event wasn’t all hardware. The company had big announcements about its applications for creators.

The NVIDIA Studio platform leverages RTX series GPUs and enhanced drivers to optimize creative applications. That means faster renders, shorter export times, and other productivity gains. New drivers are being released that improve performance of NVIDIA’s own creator apps including Broadcast and Canvas. 

In addition NVIDIA is opening up Omniverse—its take on a virtual reality world—for free, to creators using computers equipped with GeForce RTX graphics cards.

New NVIDIA hardware availability

NVIDIA says to watch for laptops equipped with the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080 Ti to start shipping at the start of February. The GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card is expected to launch at the end of January. There was no date given for the GeForce RTX 3090i, so you have some time to start saving for that one …

Will the new cards announced by NVIDIA help to deal with the supply shortages? I can’t really say at this point, but fingers crossed. For those who are hoping to buy one (or one of the original GeForce RTX 30 series cards), you might want to read this post. It offers all the information available about how and when to buy a GeForce RTX 30 series graphics card at Best Buy.

Keep on top of all things CES 2022

NVIDIA is making news at CES 2022, but it’s far from the only company at the Las Vegas event with big announcements and compelling new technology. The blog will be covering all the big CES 2022 news from your favourite PC and computer accessory makers, smart home companies, and more. Check here for all the latest, as it’s happening.