The delayed GTC 2020 keynote in May was the debut outing for Ampere, NVIDIA's next-generation GPU architecture, and the internet was immediately abuzz with speculation of a possible RTX 30-series waiting in the wings. While only a little concrete information has been revealed in the six weeks since - most of it speculation of a late August/early September release date, but also including a possible brand new reference cooler design - the first render of a potential partner design has surfaced.

Arriving via Videocardz.com is the above image of an ASUS ROG RTX 3080 Ti STRIX, with what appears to be a heavy revision to their familiar triple-fan cooler design. The renders are from an internal design proofing and thus are not final, but the design itself doesn't appear outlandish.

ROG STRIX triple-fan coolers are reserved for their highest performance SKUs within each model range, typically boasting heavy overclocks over the reference and 'DUAL' branded cards. This implementation incorporates two additional blades per fan (11, up from 9), which could imply higher static pressure requirements and more densely packed heatsink fins, and a more square frame than the previous generation. Silvered metal triangles add a little aesthetic detail to the front, and RGB lighting appears to be returning along the edge in some form. It's impossible to tell other advancements to the cooling solution from the angle provided.

One additional detail is the '3080 Ti' label at the bottom-left corner. Normally SKU detail is placed along the top edge, where it's most visible when the card is installed horizontally in a system, but the concept presented may have in mind vertically-mounted GPUs for showcase systems. It also nigh-on confirms that the RTX x0-series nomenclature will be returning for NVIDIA's upcoming GPU generation.

More information on NVIDIA's attempt to being Ampere to the consumer market will no doubt be revealed over the next few months.

SOURCE: VideoCardz.com