Graphics Cards - Page 101

AMD is running a session at GDC 2023 (Game Developers Conference) which pertains to its FidelityFX SDK, and there's a chance we might see an initial info drop on FSR 3.0.

FSR 3.0 is the third take on FidelityFX Super Resolution, AMD's frame rate booster that rivals NVIDIA DLSS.

The session takes place on March 23rd, and AMD notes that it will "include an exciting sneak peek of new FidelityFX technologies that will be available soon."

It was reported that sales for discrete Intel Arc GPUs had caught up to AMD Radeon GPU shipments, with both companies sitting at 9% market share compared to NVIDIA's staggering 82%.

The figures arrived via Jon Peddie Research - which we reported here - but it turns out the figures were incorrect in that they counted data center GPUs - over 60,000.

The initial report was notable because it painted a picture where shipments for both Intel and AMD discrete graphics cards for desktop gamers were neck and neck. The revised figures for dGPU shipments for NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel bump up NVIDIA's market share to 85%, followed by AMD at 9% and Intel at 6%. The Intel Arc graphics card range is still relatively new on the scene, and the revised figures still paint a reasonably optimistic picture for Intel.

The Last of Us is one of the most popular TV shows currently airing, with the HBO series receiving near-unanimous critical acclaim. Based on the PlayStation game that first debuted towards the tail-end of the PlayStation 3's lifecycle, it has since received a highly anticipated sequel and cemented itself - alongside Uncharted and God of War - as one of the premiere PlayStation franchises.

The good news is that it's finally coming to PC, in high-def remake form, with The Last of Us Part I launching on March 28. As a remake that first debuted on PlayStation 5, it takes full advantage of modern gaming hardware to deliver a definitive version of the classic game. And with the HBO series propelling The Last of Us into the pop culture zeitgeist, the timing of the PC release is just about perfect. And there's no doubt that it will become one of the best-selling PC games for 2023.

And there's good news if you're in the market for a new GPU, specifically something from Team Red. There's a promotion kicking off where you buy an AMD Radeon RX 6000 or Radeon RX 7000 GPU; you get a copy of the game. Regarding "pack-in" titles for GPUs, this is one of the biggest we've seen in a while - as you're looking at one of the most cinematic and immersive gaming experiences currently available.

NVIDIA has confirmed a bug in its latest graphics driver which spikes processor usage by an unfortunate amount, potentially slowing down your PC a fair bit.

Tom Warren (of The Verge) flagged this on Twitter (see the above tweet), noting that GeForce driver version 531.18 pushes up CPU usage by 10% or more after closing some games.

NVIDIA tells us that one of the known issues with v531.18 is: "Higher CPU usage from NVIDIA Container might be observed after exiting a game."

A bug in the latest WQHL-certified Radeon drivers, Adrenalin 23.2.2, can break Windows to the point where the OS becomes corrupted and must be either restored or reinstalled entirely. This is a severe bug, though AMD notes that it's rare and can occur when the 'Factory Reset' option (that clears existing driver settings) is ticked, and you're installing the latest Radeon graphics driver while Windows is performing an update in the background.

A perfect storm of random events, but with Windows updates happening quite frequently, reports relating to Radeon users encountering corrupted Windows installs due to this issue have been cropping up.

Brad Chacos, the Executive Editor at PCWorld, experienced the problem on the test bench he uses to benchmark GPUs. Brad said he couldn't even boot into Windows repair mode, though after extensive troubleshooting with AMD, he could fix his PC. He outlined his experience with the bug in detail, and it's well worth reading as a reminder that troubleshooting rare PC issues are always a pain.

Intel Graphics Driver 31.0.101.4146 is available now, offering Intel Arc Graphics support for Destiny 2: Lightfall and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. Two big PC game releases that have recently dropped, and in the case of Wo Long, Intel is noting that the Intel Arc A750 graphics card can outperform NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 12GB at both 1080p and 1440p - via its benchmarks.

And we learn that Intel XeSS support (the company's DLSS AI upscaling equivalent) is coming soon to the game.

It's been impressive to see the release cadence for new Intel graphics drivers in recent weeks, especially with the company focused on fixing issues and compatibility for the Intel Arc range. Intel is living up to its promise of supporting new games - there's also Company of Heroes 3 and Like a Dragon: Ishin! support that was added recently. Intel writes, "you can always rely on Intel Arc graphics with Day-0 support."

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, which has only been out for a few months (it launched in December 2022 alongside the 7900 XTX), is now being sold for USD 799 - a full USD 100 cheaper than the USD 899 launch price. This is pretty crazy, as we've all become used to high-end GPUs being sold for a premium, usually much higher than the MSRP.

For AMD's Radeon RX 7000 series, the Radeon RX 7900 XT was always seen as a lesser of two - with its price only being USD 100 cheaper than the USD 999 Radeon RX 7900 XTX in the first place. As seen in benchmark results, the performance gap between the two GPUs was much higher than the pricing difference, so enthusiasm for the card was low.

This discount on the ASRock Phantom Gaming Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB to USD 799.99 on Newegg doubles as a statement that sales for the card are not performing as expected.

With the full GeForce RTX 40 Series in the Steam Hardware Survey results, the GeForce RTX 4080 (0.20%) and the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (0.18%) are in February 2023's numbers; there's still no sign of AMD's Radeon RX 7000 series-or Intel's Arc range, for that matter.

Last month we reported on the latest GPU movements in the Steam Hardware Survey, where we saw NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 show up with a 0.23% market share - which has now grown to 0.31%. That might not seem like a lot, but Steam covers tens of millions of PC gamers, and it often takes several months for a new GPU - let alone a flagship model - to show up.

The most popular GPU remains the four-year-old NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (6.12%), which is followed by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (5.28%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU (4.78%).

Intel is putting the pedal to the metal in the graphics card market, with its Arc Alchemist products having drawn level with AMD's Radeon GPUs, according to some newly released figures.

This comes from analyst firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR), which produces quarterly reports on graphics card market share, measuring shipment quantities from AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA.

The latest report pertains to Q4 of 2022, and it shows that NVIDIA is still by far the most dominant desktop GPU maker, which is no surprise to anyone, on 82%. However, Intel is now on 9%, equalling AMD's market share, meaning these two rivals to Team Green have split the remaining share down the middle.

GALAX has launched beefy Hall of Fame (or HOF) versions of both the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti and the GeForce RTX 4090, and now it's the GeForce RTX 4080's turn for some extreme HOF overclocking action. And GALAX is introducing three models based on the AD103 chip, and with boost speeds of up to 2640 MHz, they represent some of the fastest GeForce RTX 4080 models in the market.

GALAX GeForce RTX 4080 HOF OC LAB Plus-X: with 2640 MHz boost, HOF Panel III

GALAX GeForce RTX 4080 HOF OC LAB Plus: with 2640 MHz boost

The latest GeForce Game Ready Driver driver is here, and it officially adds DLSS 3-enhanced support to the recently released Atomic Heart. With DLSS 3 4K performance on the GeForce RTX 4090 is boosted by an incredible 90% - taking the in-game fps from 97 up to an impressive 184 fps using NVIDIA's new Frame Generation technology. It even allows the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti to push its performance from around 63 fps up to 113 fps, impressive stuff.

But the support for the upcoming Closed Beta for The Finals from Stockholm-based Embark Studios excites us. This is a new game created by a team of ex-Battlefield developers, and it takes environmental destruction to crazy new heights - which you can see in the latest GeForce RTX-powered trailer for the game.

The game is set to support NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and even hardware ray-tracing with RTXGI for lighting. The Closed Beta for The Finals is set to kick off on March 7 and run for two weeks, and you can sign up for it now via the game's Steam page. NVIDIA has provided some hardware requirements for the game's RTX features, where a GeForce RTX 3070 is recommended for RTX, and a GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is recommended for "UItra RTX."

NVIDIA has finally launched its video upscaling tech that adds a bit of DLSS magic to watching YouTube videos within Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge called RTX Video Super Resolution (VSR). It uses the AI-based Tensor Core hardware found inside GeForce RTX 30 and 40 Series GPUs to make video content that streams at 1080p or lower look much better than the basic upscaling techniques used by modern browsers.

Like with DLSS, the goal is essentially to make 1080p video look like a native 4K stream without having to use a lot more bandwidth. NVIDIA notes that the AI removes blocky compression artifacts while improving sharpness and clarity. RTX VSR is available now as part of the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver that dropped today.

"Just like putting on a pair of prescription glasses can instantly snap the world into focus," writes NVIDIA. "RTX Video Super Resolution gives viewers on GeForce RTX 40 and 30 Series PCs a clear picture into the world of streaming video."

AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU is getting cheaper across the globe, as first we heard the news of substantial price falls in China (over the past weekend), and now the same is happening in the US, too.

Leading the charge in the States is the ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7900 XT graphics card over at Newegg, which has now been reduced to US$830, a pretty significant drop from the MSRP of US$900.

Indeed, that's 9% off the recommended price, although the cost reductions in China comfortably exceed that kind of discount, amounting to nearly 20% being lopped off the price tag.

Pricing for graphics cards is continuing to drop in China, which extends to new models, with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT now being listed for a price 19% lower than its original launch MSRP. This is a massive reduction for what is seen as the least popular model of AMD's new RDNA 3-based graphics cards.

Granted, there are only two RDNA 3 models, with more on the way, but even the flagship AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is now being sold at a price point around 5% lower than its launch-day MSRP.

AMD's new GPUs have been more aggressively priced than NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40 Series line-up, but even Team Green's cards are now available for prices lower than their launch MSRPs. This starkly contrasts what we saw back in 2020 and 2021 with the Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 Series, where it seemed like prices would increase every week or two. In China, even the popular GeForce RTX 4090 is now being sold at a price 7% lower than its MSRP, with the GeForce RTX 4080 seeing a more significant drop with a price 15% lower than its launch MSRP.

NVIDIA's gaming revenue for Q2 FY23 is down 46% year-on-year, but its USD 1,831 million in this sector is up 16% over the previous quarter. Despite the downturn, advances in AI acceleration and data center sales have seen the company's stock surge over the past week.

Still, the more interesting thing we've learned is that when it comes to overall gaming revenue, NVIDIA and AMD are close - with NVIDIA's USD 1,831 million in gaming revenue being only 10% more than AMD's USD 1,644.

It's no secret that NVIDIA's GeForce hardware dominates the PC gaming market in terms of overall market share. The most recent Steam Hardware Survey results back this up, showcasing that pretty much all the top discrete GPU options come from Team Green (over 75%), and it's a list that even includes the recently released GeForce RTX 4090 and other high-end GPUs from the company.

It's safe to say that the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti looks fantastic in white. MSI's Gaming X Trio GPUs have been a mainstay for years, with improvements and tweaks arriving alongside new GPU architecture releases and models. And now we've got two models in funky white, the MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO WHITE and the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING X TRIO WHITE.

But it's not a simple color change, as the physical design and look of the Gaming X Trio are carefully tweaked and adjusted to suit the new color. This means you've got silver or grey flourishes above and below the white fans and on the metallic backplate. The mix of hard angles and the MSI Gaming X Trio style is amplified here, with the MSI logo, dragon, and GeForce branding all popping in surprisingly cool ways. There's also RGB action around the middle fan to add flair when you've got it in a case.

Cooling-wise, this card benefits from the advanced we've seen with the GeForce RTX 40 Series, with MSI's TRI FROZR 3 thermal design being the main reason this is a triple-slot beast. The new TORX FAN 5.0 blades are designed to improve airflow, with MSI noting a 23% increase in that department compared to standard axial fans. The MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GAMING X TRIO WHITE is also silent; with a Silent mode, you can toggle for some quiet gaming. The Dual BIOS also features a GAMING mode for performance, which can be tweaked further via MSI Center or the brilliant MSI Afterburner GPU tweaking app.

AMD's RX 7800, RX 7700 and RX 7600 - which will represent more affordable RDNA 3 graphics cards - could still be some way off launching, if a new rumor is right.

This speculation comes from the MyDrivers forum in China, a regular source of leaks, but one that must be treated cautiously (it's not always the most reliable, so bear that in mind).

But the theory advanced by Kuai Technology on MyDrivers is that the RX 7000 GPUs to follow the high-end RX 7900 cards (which have been the only RDNA 3 models to hit shelves thus far) won't turn up until June 2023.

NVIDIA DLSS continues to grow, and the AI-based rendering for GeForce RTX GPUs has been one of the most important and impressive additions to PC gaming in the last decade-a sizable performance bump while minimizing the impact on visual fidelity.

And with the arrival of the new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs and its beefed-up AI hardware, DLSS 3's Frame Generation goes one step further by using AI to create entire frames and push performance to even crazier heights.

The only downside is that DLSS 3 is limited to the new NVIDIA GPUs, but any game with DLSS 3 also supports DLSS 2 (DLSS Super Resolution). And with that, we've got an updated list of DLSS-enabled games, with February featuring the following titles.

After a bit of turmoil regarding new GPU drivers for AMD Radeon graphics cards, it looks like Team Red is back on track. Its latest AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.2.2 Driver is a unified driver release covering AMD Radeon RX 7000, Radeon RX 6000, and older GPUs. Primarily it adds support for two new PC game releases - Atomic Heart and Company of Heroes 3.

For Company of Heroes 3, AMD notes that the new drivers deliver a decent performance boost - up to 13% for the Radeon RX 7900 XT at 4K and up to 9% for the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 4K. The update also fixes a few issues relating to video encoding, with a few game fixes coming to Hitman 3 and when using the Valve Index VR headset.

Unfortunately, the high idle power issue for the Radeon RX 7000 series is still listed as a known issue - so hopefully, that fix will come soon.

A new report by the Chinese tech news site My Drivers states that GPU shipments in mainland China fell by over 40 percent in January 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Although both NVIDIA and AMD have recently launched their latest generation of discrete graphics cards with the GeForce RTX 40 Series and Radeon RX 7000 Series, only high-end models are currently available. And as these are expensive cards, they target the enthusiast market rather than mainstream gamers.

Interestingly, the chart shows that overall shipments are up by around 9% compared to December 2022. The top-selling brand is Colorful, followed by ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, Galax, Gengsheng, Maxsun, and Zotac. The green bars represent December 2022, and the orange/yellow represent January 2023.