Video Cards & GPUs

NVIDIA hasn't even made its next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" GPUs official yet, but the company is full-steam ahead trademarking future-gen GeForce RTX 60 series GPUs including new flagship cards like the GeForce RTX 6090 SUPER, RTX 6090 Ti, and RTX 6090 graphics cards.

In a new submittion of new RTX series GPUs to the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECC) regulatory body, NVIDIA is preparing itself for a wave of cards including the GeForce RTX 6090 SUPER, RTX 6090 Ti, and RTX 6090 as well as the RTX 5090 SUPER, RTX 5090 Ti, and RTX 5090. This is at the top end of each series, but there are filings for the RTX 6080 SUPER, RTX 6080 Ti, and so on.

We shouldn't expect all of these GPUs to come out, but NVIDIA has to prepare ahead of time as AMD is cooking behind the scenes with its next-gen RDNA 5 GPU architecture (the one after RDNA 4 which launches in 2025). We should expect NVIDIA to dub its future-gen GeForce RTX 60 series "Rubin" after the Rubin R100 AI GPU (with next-gen HBM4 memory) launches in 2025.

We're on the cusp of a new GPU generation for PC gaming, and all signs are pointing to CES 2025 in Las Vegas in January as the place where we will see everything for the first time. NVIDIA is prepping to debut its GeForce RTX 50 Series, powered by the new Blackwell architecture, led by the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070.

AMD is set to announce its new line-up of RDNA 4-powered cards with what we assume will be the mid-range Radeon RX 8800 XT and Radeon RX 8700 XT combo. CES 2025 is also where many assumed Intel would debut its second generation of desktop Arc graphics cards with new mainstream Battlemage 'Xe2' products.

It's no secret that Intel's first Arc GPUs had a rocky launch regarding driver stability and performance and have failed to capture any meaningful market share from NVIDIA or AMD. A new leak suggests that Intel is prepping for a Battlemage debut in December, ahead of CES 2025.

MSI is getting in on the action with discounted NVIDIA RTX 4000 GPUs - as Lovelace prepares to be succeeded by new Blackwell graphics cards - and there's a tasty offer on an RTX 4070 Ti Super.

MSI's RTX 4070 Ti Super Expert model is now on sale direct from the company at $729.99, which represents a chunky discount. This GPU normally retails at $849.99 from the MSI store, so you're getting $120 off.

As you might expect, there's limited stock, but there is still inventory available at the time of writing.

NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs aren't far away, with a reputable leaker saying "we will meet GeForce or Blackwell soon" on X just hours ago. Check it out:

The post is coming from leaker "kopite7kimi" with a simple "We will meet GeForce of Blackwell soon" which goes against previous rumors that NVIDIA would be introducing its new GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs at CES 2025 in January. We had heard not too long ago that NVIDIA was reportedly preparing the GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 reveals at CES 2025 with releases staggered through January, February, and March 2025.

NVIDIA has hosted pretty large events for each new generation of GeForce graphics cards, so a big reveal at CES 2025 while a million-and-one other things are being announced, means that Team Green won't be the star of the show.

NVIDIA currently controls over 85% of the global GPU market, and its controlling share of the gaming GPU market is hovering around 90%. That is hundreds of millions of NVIDIA GPUs globally, and now the company has confirmed it has identified at least eight "high-risk" security vulnerabilities within its GeForce GPU drivers.

While GeForce typically means gaming GPUs specifically, that isn't the case here as professional and workstation GPUs have also been listed as victims of the vulnerabilities. NVIDIA has taken to its Security Bulletin to outline each of the vulnerabilities, their risk, level on the severity scale, and the fix. According to the website, the flaws were within NVIDIA's GPU Display Driver and the NVIDIA vGPU Software.

NVIDIA writes each of the vulnerabilities could enable a hacker to execute code, escalate administrative privileges, information harvesting, data tampering, and a complete denial of service. Notably, each of the vulnerabilities were graded on a severity scale from 0 to 10. The lowest score out of the eight that was ranked was 7.1, and the highest was 8.2, indicating these vulnerabilities weren't small issues within NVIDIA's GPU drivers as internally they were graded quite high.

The latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey Results for October 2024 are in, and when it comes to the GPUs PC gamers are using, it's a sea of green. According to Valve, NVIDIA's GeForce graphics cards have a 77.37% share of the PC gaming market, and the top 34 discrete GPUs (covering mobile and desktop graphics cards) are all GeForce products.

The most popular desktop Radeon option, the Radeon RX 6600, appears in the number 35 spot ahead of the Radeon RX 580. Both cards are at least a few generations old, and even though that covers most of the list - the most popular gaming GPU is still the GeForce RTX 3060 - it paints an increasingly bleak picture of the current state of Radeon.

On the plus side, AMD finally has two RDNA 3 options in the list - the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT - which both appear toward the bottom. On the flip side, NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 40 Series has five entries in the Top 20, showcasing that the Ada Lovelace generation has been another success for NVIDIA.

Intel's troubles have been widely publicized and reported throughout the year, from CPU launch issues to behind-the-scenes development and foundry production woes. It's worth keeping this in mind because, with layoffs and cost-cutting measures in place, Intel's current and future decisions will most likely be influenced by its current state.

Okay, with that out of the way, let's look at the future of Intel Arc based on comments made by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger during a recent Q3 2024 Earnings Call. Essentially, with next-gen Arc Xe2 architecture graphics becoming a part of the company's Lunar Lake mobile line-up - the future of Intel's entry into the discrete graphics market will focus on integrated graphics.

"We've taken steps to simplify the product line, have fewer SKUs to cover the marketplace, and we're focused on the efficiencies associated with that," Pat Gelsinger said. Simplifying the road map means"large integrated graphics capabilities" will become the new norm for Intel, with "less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward."

Minisforum is a company known for creating powerful Mini PCs for various users, from gamers to everyday users. Its latest is a stylish external GPU docking station that features the mobile AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT graphics card with 8GB of VRAM.

The Minisforum MGA1 is a portable OCuLink eGPU with a stylish design resembling a more minimal version of the similarly specced AYANEO AG01 that launched last week. The Minisforum MGA1 is a little cheaper, at $559 USD, compared to the AYANEO AG01's $599 price point.

The MGA1 is designed to be paired with Mini PCs and gaming handhelds with an OCuLink port and includes 1 x HDM1 2.1 and 2 x DisplayPort 2.0 video output ports for up to 8K at 60 Hz. It also has three USB 3.2 10Gbps ports and a single USB 3.1 Type-C port with 65W power delivery.

NVIDIA's DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction, which debuted in 2023, has been a game changer for PC games with multiple ray-tracing effects - particularly those with ray-traced reflections. It's an AI-powered denoiser, a part of the rendering process that cleans up an image.

NVIDIA's Ray Reconstruction AI model was trained on over 6X the data used for DLSS Super Resolution and Frame Generation. It's a game-changer that 'fills in the gaps' in a way that dramatically improves the image quality of ray-traced effects. Reflections become sharper and more detailed, and the lighting looks more realistic and cinematic.

The difference is so big that games with ray tracing look better on GeForce RTX rigs - plain and simple. The good news is that AMD is working on a similar-sounding AI denoiser that could be part of RDNA 4's new "AI capabilities." Also, its FSR super-sampling or upscaling is going AI.

Yesterday, we reported on AMD's Q3 2024 financial results, which showed revenue and growth once again driven by its Data Center segment. Regarding AMD's Gaming business, which covers Radeon products for PC and console production for Sony and Microsoft, revenue was down 69% - with extremely thin profit margins.

As part of the earnings call, AMD CEO Lisa Su addressed the slump in the company's gaming business by teasing its next-generation RDNA 4 products. She confirms that RDNA 4 GPUs are on track to launch "in early 2025" and has teased what to expect.

In addition to a "strong increase in gaming performance," Lisa Su has confirmed two RDNA 4 features for next-gen Radeon RX 8000 Series GPUs that should bring its capabilities closer to the NVIDIA and GeForce RTX juggernaut.