Video Cards & GPUs News - Page 1
Microsoft's DirectSR out now, combines DLSS, FSR, and XeSS into a single API for game devs
Microsoft has announced that DirectSR is now available via the Agility SDK 1.714.0-preview release for game developers working with DirectX 12. Microsoft partnered with AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA to create this new API, allowing developers to integrate all the various upscaling technologies into their games.
This includes AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), Intel XeSS, and NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution. "These cutting-edge solutions elevate the gaming experience by boosting frame rates while maintaining exceptional visual quality," Microsoft's Joshua Tucker writes in the announcement. "Yet as the number of SR variants continues to grow, developers are in search of a common SR API that will seamlessly scale across the hardware ecosystem."
DirectSR breaks upscaling down to a common set of inputs and outputs so that a "single code path" can then plug straight into DLSS, FSR, and XeSS. With DirectSR, more PC game releases will support all three technologies at launch. It's a standalone solution that doesn't require "vendor-specific SDKs" or additional tools.
NVIDIA rumored to downsize RTX 5090 in a serious design reversal
Since the release of the RTX 3090/Ti and RTX 4090 graphics cards have seemingly been getting bigger and bigger, with both of the aforementioned GPUs taking up three slots on a motherboard.
The idea behind making graphics cards larger is simply for cooling, as the GPUs become more sophisticated and provide more compute performance, more power is required. And when more power is required more cooling is required to thermal regulation. With the release of the RTX 3090 and RTX 4090 we were seemingly taking on a trajectory of bigger and bigger graphics cards with each new generation. But that might not be the case.
Renowned GPU leaker @Kopite7kimi recently took to Twitter and gave some information regarding NVIDIA's Blackwell gaming GPUs expected to launch sometime later this year. According to the leaker NVIDIA will be moving backwards in terms of size, with the company purportedly opting for a dual-slot, dual-fan solution over a three-slot solution. Notably, NVIDIA hasn't released a dual-slot GPu since the RTX 2080 Ti in 2019.
Continue reading: NVIDIA rumored to downsize RTX 5090 in a serious design reversal (full post)
Elden Ring special edition graphics cards are coming and they're Intel Arc A770 and A750s
FromSoftware and Bandai Namco are prepping to launch the highly anticipated expansion for its smash-hit action RPG Elden Ring on June 21 called 'Shadow of the Erdtree.' As one of the most critically acclaimed and popular game releases this decade, fans are excited to explore the new Land of Shadow region. And thanks to Gunnir, PC gamers can do so in style with a pair of new Shadow of the Erdtree graphics cards.
However, there is a catch: These GPUs are limited to Intel Arc A750 and Intel Arc A770 models sporting custom Gunnir 'Photon' designs inspired by Elden Ring and the new DLC expansion. So yeah, it's not precisely high-end performance. Still, the minimal black and gold look is impressively stylish, with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree art found on the backplate.
Definite collector's items, these custom GPUs could be limited to the Asian market. There's no word on whether they will ship with in-game bonuses or Elden Ring-related goodies.
NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 5090 features 'physically monolithic' GB202 GPU die
NVIDIA's next-generation flagship GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card will sport the "physically monolithic" GB202 "Blackwell" GPU die, according to the latest leaks.
We should expect the GB202 GPU to power the GeForce RTX 5090 with up to 192 SMs that will see a monster 24,567 CUDA cores (if the GB202 chip retains its 128 cores per SM design from the AD102 "Ada Lovelace" GPU inside of the RTX 4090). In a new reply on X, leaker "kopite7kimi" said that the GB202 GPU is a "physically monolithic" chip.
NVIDIA slashes prices on 'China special' GPUs in local fight against Huawei
NVIDIA is feeling the squeeze by the US government sanctions aimed at stifling China's progression in the AI race, which the chip manufacturer has responded to by slashing prices to beat the local Chinese competition.
The GPU manufacturer is attempting to make high-end products for the lucrative Chinese market that accounts for approximately 17% to its revenue for fiscal 2024., but it must now work within the strict US restrictions that ban the exportation of powerful chips that will likely be used to train AI models. NVIDIA plans to still release new GPUs in China, but these new models will have to be cutdown versions of new hardware that's limited to a specific performance point.
Reports indicate that NVIDIA found some of its Chinese customers weren't to thrilled about the new performance capped hardware, and would instead opt for domestically manufactured chips that are exponentially growing in presence. Reuters now reports NVIDIA has been forced to slash prices of some of its products to compete with new kits from Chinese technology giant Huawei.
Lisa Su says AMD is on track to a 100x power efficiency improvement by 2027
The CEO of AMD, Lisa Su, has taken center stage at imec's ITF World 2024 conference to accept an award and outline AMD's goal of reaching 100x power efficiency by 2027.
Su accepted the prestigious Imec Innovation Award for innovation and industry leadership, joining prominent technology figures such as Bill Gates. Following the award's acceptance, Su began illustrating AMD's quest to achieve 100x performance improvement by 2027 and how AMD is going to overcome big problems such as the compute/energy required to train exponentially growing advanced AI models.
Su explained AI models typically doubled in size every two years, but now its growing at 20x per year, completely outpacing computing and memory advancements. To combat these problems AMD will be implementing a multi-facet strategy that will introduce new silicon architectures, AI-specific architectures, software, system and data tuning, and hardware co-designs.
US government to add 25% import tax on graphics cards, motherboards, and PC cases from China
According to a new report at PC Mag, which the outlet has confirmed with the US Trade Representative (USTR), the Biden administration is set to resume tariffs on PC hardware from the Trump era. These tariffs would place a 25% duty or import tax on goods assembled in China, including graphics cards, motherboards, and PC cases.
There's no word on when the tariffs will resume, nor has there been an official notice with confirmation that they're right around the corner. A spokesperson from the USTR told PC Mag, "We are maintaining tariffs on products currently subject to the action, including the two tariffs you've inquired about." Translation: Yes, the GPU tax is coming back.
What does this mean for those putting together PC rigs for gaming, recreation, or even work at home? Higher prices at a time when the last thing you'd want to see is a notable rise in the cost of buying a new GPU or motherboard. Hardware like graphics cards will fall under the new 25% duty, as China is the primary manufacturing and assembly base for PC hardware.
NVIDIA's gaming revenue is up compared to last year, thanks to 'AI gaming technologies'
NVIDIA announced its financial results for the first quarter, and you can probably guess how it went - data center revenue from AI and GPU sales reached record highs, pushing the company's stock price to over $1,000 per share. With everyone all in on AI and NVIDIA leading the charge technology and hardware-wise, you might be wondering how the company's gaming side and GeForce business is going.
Unlike AMD's struggling Radeon and console gaming revenue, NVIDIA's Gaming sector is doing well - with $2.6 billion in revenue, up 18% from a year ago. Granted, it's nowhere near the $22.6 billion in data center revenue or the incredible 427% year-over-year growth seen in that sector - but it's good news for the traditionally quiet quarter for gaming revenue.
Gaming revenue was down 8% from the previous quarter, but the year-over-year growth is being hailed as a win for GeForce hardware. However, as AI continues to rule the day, NVIDIA's financial results cite 'AI gaming technologies' and 'AI performance optimizations' as critical milestones for NVIDIA's gaming business during the last quarter.
AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 is here, requires game integration, available now in Counter-Strike 2
AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 has been formally announced and is now available in 'technical preview' form in Counter-Strike 2. Like NVIDIA's Reflex latency reduction technology, the new Radeon Anti-Lag 2 requires game integration - unlike Anti-Lag or last year's short-lived Anti-Lag+.
The choice of Counter-Strike 2 to debut Anti-Lag 2 is an excellent move from AMD because of the whole Anti-Lag+ controversy. Here's a quick rundown: Anti-Lag+ was launched as an in-driver solution for latency reduction in September 2023. Fast forward to October 2023, and Counter-Strike 2 players with Anti-Lag+ enabled were banned for cheating. It turns out Anti-Lag+ worked by accessing and even modifying game code and data.
From there, AMD disabled Anti-Lag+ and then removed it entirely. And now, several months later, we've got the new and very different Anti-Lag 2 that requires game integration.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 rumor: 16 next-gen GDDR7 memory modules, 32GB GDDR7 for RTX 5090
NVIDIA will be rolling out next-gen GDDR7 memory on its next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, with the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card reportedly featuring 16 GDDR7 memory modules in a denser design.
It seems NVIDIA is changing up the memory layout for its new GeForce RTX 5090 over the current-gen RTX 5090, with the GB202 "Blackwell" GPU inside, next-gen GDDR7 memory on a huge 512-bit memory bus. If that's true, it would explain why NVIDIA would need to use additional GDDR7 memory modules around the GPU.
NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5090 will use GDDR7 memory arranged in a denser configuration, with the layout shifting from 3-4-1-4 to 4-5-2-5 (clockwise), which allows the board to support up to 16 memory modules.