An unreleased NVIDIA graphics card prototype surfaced on secondary markets this week. The engineering sample for a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti SUPER appears in listings across eBay and Facebook Marketplace. This hardware never reached retail shelves despite carrying specifications that bridge the gap between consumer and professional tiers.
Engineering sample with 12GB VRAM and 4608 CUDA cores surfaces on secondary markets
The device uses board design PG151 and carries an RTX 2080 SUPER label on its shroud. The prototype features a 384-bit memory bus paired with 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM. It contains 4,608 CUDA cores, which matches the full shader count found in NVIDIA Titan RTX hardware.
NVIDIA shelved this model because performance landed too close to the flagship Titan RTX. The company opted not to launch a SUPER variant above the standard retail RTX 2080 Ti. That card shipped with 4,352 CUDA cores and an 11GB memory configuration on a narrower bus.
Prototype requires developer drivers and Windows test mode to function properly
Owners report that standard Windows drivers refuse to detect the prototype without modification. The hardware requires developer drivers and forces users into Windows test mode for installation. One owner edited the hardware ID directly into NVIDIA driver INF files to bypass detection issues.
The card features a glossy front plate and black backplate design distinct from other Turing models. A seller previously listed the unit with a serial number, suggesting near-retail production status. The prototype shares similarities with earlier 12GB RTX 2080 Ti samples that used GTX branding.
NVIDIA released SUPER variants for the RTX 2060, RTX 2070, and RTX 2080 during this generation. The company never launched an RTX 2080 Ti SUPER despite the existence of these engineering samples.
Discussion
0 comments
Log in to join the thread with a thoughtful take, question, or correction.