NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 GPUs in short supply until at least Q3 2021 -- and RTX 3080 Ti in April?

If you're hoping the shortage of GPUs will be resolved soon, DigiTimes has a cold shower for you. Sources at video card makers told the site that supply of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs is unlikely to meet demand until at least sometime in the third quarter of this year.

GeFore RTX 3080 Ti with 12GB in mid-April?

Chinese-language site MyDrivers picked up reports that NVIDIA plans to introduce this model in April. Rumors about the RTX 3080 Ti card have been circulating on the Internet for many months -- the card should have been available already but it got delayed for various reasons including the chip shortages.

According to the site, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti will get 10240 CUDA cores, which is a bit below the 10496 CUDA cores offered by the RTX 3090 flagship. The RTX 3080 Ti reportedly gets a 384-bit memory bus but the memory capacity is now said to be 12GB GDDR6X -- which is the same as the recently launched RTX 3060. Earlier rumors talked about the RTX 3080 Ti getting 20GB. The RTX 3080 Ti is believed to get the same anti-Ethereum mining algorithm as the RTX 3060. So far, the anti-mining algorithm hasn't been hacked yet. Last week there were reports about a mod but this turned out to be inaccurate news.

Analysts believe GPU market will grow 9x by 2027

Intel is soon entering the GPU market and it appears there may be more than enough room to grow in this market. A new report from analyst outfit Valuates estimates the global GPU market could grow to $200.85 billion by 2027. Total sales were just $19.75 billion in 2019 so this represents 33.6 percent cumulative annual growth from 2020 to 2027 if this prediction is accurate! Valuates sees PC gaming, the rise of AR and VR, cryptocurrency mining, and high adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) as major growth factors:

The increasing gaming trend is expected to drive the growth of GPU market size. With hyper-realistic graphics and vast, complicated in-game environments, video games have become more computationally intensive. GPU's demand is increasing rapidly with the rise of virtual reality gaming and advanced display technology such as 4K displays and high refresh rates. GPUs can render graphics in both 2D and 3D modes allowing the gamer to play at higher resolutions and faster frame rates.

The rising demand for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) is expected to increase GPU market size. A variety of organizations are focusing on augmented reality solutions, all with the intention of radically improving how people communicate with machines. Companies are designing cutting-edge GPU systems for AR and VR, resulting in a completely interactive environment that appeals to the computer and film industries, developers, and customers alike. Graphic processing units' market size is expected to increase as AR and VR become more commonly used in different applications.

The growing popularity of the Internet of things (IoT) is expected to fuel GPU market size growth. GPU enables a feature-rich IoT interface that is both seamless and pervasive across all industries. 3D graphics for user interface composite processing and dynamic 3D user interfaces are some of the examples of GPU applications in IoT. Advances in integrated and hybrid GPUs can help IoT systems meet their ideal requirements of appropriate form factors and low power consumption, making them suitable for battery-powered devices. Furthermore, a GPU is a prerequisite for many IoT-targeted portable electronics products, including smartphones, digital cameras and camcorders, laptops and tablets, wearable electronics, and household electronics.

Other areas where GPUs are utilized include Cryptocurrency mining, AI, and machine learning due to their high computational capability. -- Valuates

NVIDIA to end production of Nintendo Switch SoC

Another interesting rumor is that NVIDIA is reportedly dropping its Tegra SoC lineup. Word is going around that Nintendo has to switch to a Realtek SoC for its Switch Pro refresh. NVIDIA is expected to end production of its Tegra X1+ "Mariko", which is used by the Switch, sometime later this year.

PCMag writes Nintendo is prepping a larger, 7-inch version of its Switch that can do 4K resolution when docked:

Last week, we heard reports of a new Switch model launching later this year with a larger, 7-inch 720p OLED display and upgraded internal components allowing for 4K visuals when the console is docked. The OLED panels are being supplied by Samsung and shipping begins in June, suggesting we could see the console launch over the summer. With that in mind, we may see the Switch Pro launch just as Nintendo starts to run low on Mariko processors and quietly phases out both existing Switch models. -- PCMag