Following the cancellation or "launch cancellation" of the RTX 4080 12GB (opens in new tab), Nvidia has reportedly offered to reimburse AIB's manufacturing partners for packages already printed, although it is still unclear whether this is in full or in part.

Since the new GPUs were originally expected to launch next month, at least the first batch of RTX 4080 12GB cards will have been manufactured and packaged and are probably already in warehouses waiting to be shipped to retailers. There will likely be a lot of logistical gymnastics required to pull them back and organize them.

Gamers Nexus (opens in new tab) (via Videocardz (opens in new tab)) confirms that two different Nvidia AIB partners are "collecting and destroying RTX 4080 12GB packages or sending them to recycling centers."

"We have confirmed that we intend to do so.

"From what we understand, Nvidia is subsidizing the boxes, or at least part of them," noted Steve Burke.

But the changes partners need to make go beyond packaging. Not only will the boxes need to be reprinted and the serial numbers on each card resealed, but the GPU vBIOS may also need to be flashed to incorporate the new name.

Nvidia has stated from the beginning that there will be no FE card for the RTX 4080 12GB, but Burke suggests that renaming the Founders Edition cards may be more tricky.

Part of the overall problem with the RTX 4080 16GB and 12GB cards was that they were not simply the same GPU with different memory configurations, but completely separate slices of silicon.

The 16GB card, which will be available on November 16, runs on the AD103 chip, while the RTX 4080 12GB was supposed to have an AD104 GPU on the third tier. From the outset, it looked like it should have been an RTX 4070-class chip (opens in new tab), given the base specs and memory design. And if Nvidia is only looking for AIBs to change the packaging, a name change seems the most likely way to go.

As for renaming the 4080 12GB, we assume that Nvidia will take the advice of the masses and rebrand it as a variant of the RTX 4070. If it is already set, it could decide to keep whatever the original RTX 4070 specs are and lock this in as the RTX 4070 Ti, giving them a way to still price the card higher.

Originally slated to sell for $899 as the RTX 4080 12GB, it would be tough for Nvidia to expect the market to accept the RTX 4070 at its current price. If it is labeled RTX 4070 Ti, the price may still have to be lowered, but $799 would not be a big surprise.

One thing we don't know is when such a card will appear. We had expected RTX 4070 and below to arrive in the New Year, but these third-tier Lovelace GPUs only need some new packaging and could be an early Christmas present in December or a late Christmas present in January.

The big question now is whether Nvidia's offer to cover packaging costs will only cover cardboard and printing, or whether it will extend to labor costs, including removing each card from the box, applying a new serial number sticker, and possibly even updating the vBIOS This is the question.

Frankly, EVGA seems to have gotten out of that just in time.