As if graphics cards weren't already expensive enough, the ultra-premium Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU may be on the way.

As reported by PC Gamer, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti was mysteriously listed in Zotac's FireStorm overclocking software along with the upcoming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti If genuine, this card will likely replace the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 as the most powerful gaming GPU on the planet, but FireStorm's listing is also the first we've heard about it.

This is in contrast to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, neither of which has been officially announced yet, but both have leaked extensively and are highly credible: for example, MSI has a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti in its GPU product Listing. For example, MSI lists the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti among its GPU products.

This could mean two things: either it is a simple mistake on Zotac's part, or the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is just farther from completion and release than its lesser siblings. still has a bit more power to squeeze out of it: it uses only 10,496 of the GA102's 10,7752 CUDA cores and 82 of the GA102's 84 SMX (streaming multiprocessor) clusters.

And again, unlocking these last few cores and clusters is unlikely to create a meaningful performance advantage over Nvidia's current top-end cards in current generation games. As a GeForce RTX 3090 owner myself, I can attest that it is already overkill for much of my Steam library.

And I don't expect to easily find new graphics cards at normal prices as is. Even non-scaper retailers are raising GPU prices due to the ongoing huge inventory shortages and increased demand from cryptocurrency miners. The cost of a card like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti in this environment is not worth considering.

Our advice? If you are still harboring hopes of getting a new powerful graphics card, look to the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. Recent whispers suggest a May 31 announcement and a full launch in early June.