Software release notes hint at incoming RTX 40-series GPU lineup

It sounds like the RTX 40-series is coming sooner rather than later.

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What you need to know

Though PC gaming enthusiasts have likely been hearing various rumors and reports about NVIDIA’s RTX 40-series GPUs for a while now, the “hard” evidence is mounting as leaks and third-party release notes start to paint a fuller picture of the situation.

Specifically, HWiNFO, a Windows-friendly hardware analysis and monitoring software solution, recently released a set of build notes that contained references to new NVIDIA GPUs (viaTom’s Hardware). And not just any new GPUs. Apparently, the codenames referenced in HWiNFO’s built notes line up with the names leaked as part of theLapsus$ NVIDIA hack.

The fresh info from HWiNFO’s notes implies there will be five Lovelace-based RTX 40-series GPUs to begin with (the GPUs starting with “AD”), ranging from a budget-friendly RTX 4050 to a not-at-all-budget-friendly RTX 4090. Though, as we’ve seen with thecurrent PC gaming scene, even supposed “budget” cards are costing more than the MSRP of what the high-end ones are supposed to be priced at, so how the actual costs of the 40-series pan out is anyone’s guess at this point.

At the very least, we now have an educated guess as to the size of the upcoming 40-series' debut range. Pair that with the rumoredlate 2022 release window, and it may be time to start saving pennies for the next wave of thebest graphics cards.

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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.