Video Cards & GPUs News - Page 4

MSI's Duke series of graphics cards was last seen during the Turing generation, with the flagship GeForce RTX 2080 Ti and GeForce RTX 2070. The Duke series slots between MSI's affordable Ventus line-up and the more OC-ready Gaming series. However, it was a no-show during the Ampere generation of GeForce RTX 30 Series cards, leading many to believe that MSI has simply retired the Duke in favor of the popular Ventus and gaming models.

Well, the Duke is back - at least for those in the Chinese retail market, with MSI launching a GeForce RTX 4060 Gaming Duke 3X in the region. As per the name, this new GPU features a triple-fan cooling setup with a physical design that is all-black and closer to the Gaming series than Ventus.

It's a long one, measuring 319 mm, but thankfully, it's a slim design with a two-slot thickness that includes a black brushed aluminum backplate for additional support. Three fans for a GeForce RTX 4060 is overkill, but that should mean that the Gaming Duke runs quiet and coolly.

NVIDIA has released a new version of its Streamline tool for developers (SDK 2.4.0), which includes DLSS 3.7.0 - the latest version of its upscaling and Frame Generation tech. Streamline is a tool developed by NVIDIA to make it easier for game developers to implement DLSS technologies in their projects.

It's also similar to Microsoft's upcoming DirectSR in that it's open-source and supports third-party plugins and upscalers like Intel XeSS and AMD FSR.

The updates were spotted by the creator of DLSSTweaks (on Reddit), a popular tool that lets users update a game's version of DLSS and add support for DLAA. So, the arrival of DLSS 3.7.0 is the more exciting update for gamers, and people are already testing it to see what difference it makes.

The US government is clamping down even harder on high-performance GPUs and AI GPUs being imported to China, with beefed-up US trade regulations stopping the cut-down GeForce RTX 4090 D graphics card, and H20 AI GPU.

We've seen NVIDIA and AMD restricted on the number of silicon it can send to China, depending on specific performance metrics by the Biden administration. Starting on April 4, GPUs with rated compute performance that is over 70 TFLOPs -- including the cut-down GeForce RTX 4090 D and H20 AI GPUs -- are now restricted, as they offer over 70 TFLOPs of compute performance.

The updated SEC document explains: "License is required (NLR) for computers with an "Adjusted Peak Performance" ("APP") not exceeding 70 Weighted TeraFLOPS (WT) and for "electronic assemblies" described in 4A003.c that are not capable of exceeding an "Adjusted Peak Performance" ("APP") exceeding 70 Weighted TeraFLOPS (WT) in aggregation".

The Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for March 2024 are now available, and the data once again shows that the GeForce RTX 3060 is still the most popular GPU among Steam gamers. As reported earlier today, its share rose dramatically in March, with 6.71% (+0.71%) of PC gamers rocking the mainstream Ampere card.

What about the current generation of GPUs? The GeForce RTX 40 Series, the Radeon RX 7000 series, and Intel's first generation of Arc graphics cards. Although we've seen new models and variants arrive at a steady clip, most recently with the SUPER refresh from NVIDIA and the Radeon RX 7900 GRE global relaunch from AMD, we're now well over a year into the generation.

Now's as good a time as any to take stock and see what's hot and what's not. So, let's examine some trends, starting with the current generation of GPUs - where the GeForce RTX 4060 and GeForce RTX 4070 are the most popular new cards.

NVIDIA's RTX 3060 is busy cementing its lead as the most popular graphics card with Steam gamers.

If you follow the Steam hardware survey, you'll likely be acquainted with the dominance of the RTX 3060 in the GPU department of late, as the NVIDIA board has been at the top of the rankings since October 2023 (when it dethroned the GTX 1650, in fact).

The RTX 3060 has been up and down a little in its percentages since then. The GPU rose to a mighty 6.27% last October, then dropped back down towards the 5% mark - still remaining in place as the top graphics card, mind - before grabbing a 6.17% share of Steam gamers in February.

Ahead of a new generation of discrete GPU hardware for gaming, especially when a release is expected within months, not years, a steady stream of information arrives from known sources and leakers. On the Radeon front, several credible sources have confirmed that AMD won't be releasing a flagship Radeon RX 7900 XTX killer for its upcoming RDNA 4 generation. Instead, AMD is focusing on the mid-range and competitive markets.

The reasoning for this comes down to AMD's next-gen chiplet design not being ready, so it will instead release monolithic Radeon RX 8800 XT, RX 8700 XT, and Radeon RX 8600 XT GPUs. Today, we've got some performance expectations from known Radeon leaker @All_The_Watts over on X - albeit in cryptic form.

As you can see, we get emojis instead of actual words - a fun presentation that, although posted on April 1, is not an April Fool's joke. The rumor, as deciphered, is straightforward, offering performance info for Navi 48 (Radeon RX 8800 XT) and Navi 44 (Radeon RX 8600 XT).

GIGABYTE is preparing to launch a limited-edition GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, with only 300 units to be made. The AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Xtreme ICE will boast the highest out-of-the-box overclock of all RTX 4080 SUPER cards, with an impressive Boost Clock speed of 2700 MHz. This is roughly 6% higher than the reference Boost Clock speed of 2550 MHz and 30 MHz higher than the ROG Strix model.

Unlike other Xtreme models from GIGABYTE, the AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Xtreme ICE is air-cooled via the company's WINDFORCE system that includes a vapor chamber, "Bionic Shark Fans," and plenty of heat pipe action. This info comes from a leaked GIGABYTE presentation for the new GPU via @I_Leak_VN on X., showcasing the GPU's design, goals, and specs.

GIGABYTE also lists the AI performance for the AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Xtreme ICE in its slides, with its 885 AI TOPs performance being considerably higher than the reference RTX 4080 SUPER's 836 AI TOPs.

According to rumors, Intel's second generation of discrete graphics cards for desktops, codenamed Battlemage, is on track for release sometime in the second half of 2024. The first generation of Alchemist Arc graphics has come a long way since its 2022 debut, partly thanks to Intel's continued driver updates and software support. Arc GPUs have gone from products you wouldn't recommend to impressive and affordable mainstream gaming options.

With shipping manifest leaks (via @momomo_us on X) confirming the existence of two Battlemage GPUs - Battlemage G10 and Battlemage G21 - it's widely accepted that G10 will be targeting the mainstream and mid-range PC gaming market, with G21 being the mainstream or entry-level replacement for current Arc models like the A750 and A770.

With this latest update and last week's SiSoft Sandra database surprise appearance from Battlemage "Xe2-HPG," it looks like the silicon is now in the hands of Intel partners - pointing to a launch sooner rather than later. Intel has yet to formally announce Battlemage or provide details on what to expect hardware and performance-wise, but we know quite a bit based on the information out there.

NVIDIA launched its modified GeForce RTX 4090 D graphics card last year, reducing CUDA core counts and TDPs to meet US export restrictions on high-performance chips going into China... and now a custom ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 D has been unlocked to 600W power with impressive results.

In their official sense, all of the GeForce RTX 4090 D graphics cards ship with compliant specs approved to go into the Chinese (and other restricted markets) with lowered TDPs of 425W, down from 450W on the full-spec RTX 4090. There is no factory overclocking, and no dual-BIOS features allowed that push higher GPU clocks... until now.

HKEPC tested an ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 D graphics card after ASUS introduced a new 600W overclock power setting for its ROG Strix GPUs. The ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 D is identical to the ROG Strix RTX 4090 non-D, with a new AD102-205 GPU that packs fewer CUDA cores than the full RTX 4090.

COLORFUL has just announced its new GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER graphics cards in its iGame Vulcan series, with a new Fog Hill of Five Elements Edition inspired by the anime series.

The new COLORFUL iGame Vulcan GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070 SUPER graphics cards are both inspired by Samsara Animations' "Fog Hill of Five Elements" anime series. The Chinese AIB beautifully uses the gold and black theme on the cards.

Underneath, the design of COLORFUL's iGame Vulcan GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and RTX 4070 SUPER packs a gigantic triple-slot cooling design with a triple-slot fan keeping the Ada Lovelace GPU cool. The heatsink features a massive aluminum-finned array that spans the entire length of the cooler, with a cut-out on the back that assists the third fan in venting hot air out of the shroud.