Graphics Cards - Page 102

Xbox's first-party title Redfall is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and as per our report earlier today, the overall reception has been pretty negative. With performance on PC and Xbox being highlighted by several reviewers as a significant issue, GeForce RTX 40 Series owners might be in the clear thanks to DLSS 3.

NVIDIA has just released GeForce Game Ready Driver 531.79, which adds support for Redfall, including DLSS Super Resolution, DLSS Frame Generation, and NVIDIA Reflex. According to NVIDIA's benchmarks, with the help of DLSS 3, Redfall performance across the entire GeForce RTX line-up hits over 100 frames-per-second in 4K. And with the aid of Reflex, latency is kept low.

The flagship GeForce RTX 4090 sees performance of up to 188 fps at 4K, an increase of over 71% compared to playing the game with DLSS disabled. The GeForce RTX 4080 managed up to 148 fps with DLSS 3, followed by the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti with up to 119 fps and the GeForce RTX 4070 with up to 104 fps.

The RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card has been spotted being sold by NVIDIA in Europe at almost 10% below the company's recommended pricing now.

VideoCardz reports that this is the case in Germany, and that the price of the RTX 4090 has been dropping below the MSRP of €1949 since February 2023.

To be precise, February witnessed a drop in price of 4.6% in Germany, and then in March, we saw the Founders Edition fall further to 6.7% under the MSRP.

Released in February of 1998, the Voodoo2 from 3dfx was an iconic moment for PC gaming - a discrete graphics card capable of delivering impressive 3D performance at a time when that was still a relatively new thing.

Of course, by 2023 standards, the Voodoo2 is positively archaic and a relic you'd have on display or as part of a dedicated retro gaming rig running something like Windows 95. In case you need a refresher, the maximum supported resolution for the card is 800x600, and the 8MB or 12MB of memory was primarily used to render rudimentary textures.

Still, this 3D printable 3dfx Voodoo2 Armor from creator Jeff Chen is a fantastic option for those remaining Voodoo2 owners as it adds a dose of modern GPU style to the retro graphics card doubling as a bit of protection.

The latest Steam Hardware and Software Survey results for April 2023 are here, and as per the latest figures, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is currently the most popular GPU for Steam users. This card from NVIDIA dates back to 2019, released as a budget gaming option built on a 12 nm process featuring a modest 4GB of VRAM.

According to the latest data, the second most popular GPU is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, a GPU that launched with 6GB of VRAM. The top ten is basically a who's who of mainstream NVIDIA GPUs, including the GeForce RTX 3060 in desktop and laptop variants, the GeForce RTX 2060, and even the more powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3060 Ti.

With all of the talk about VRAM capacity of late, it's interesting to note that pretty much all of the most popular GPUs, according to Valve's data, feature 8GB of VRAM or less - though, of course, these are mostly GPUs where you're running games at a lower resolution with lower visual settings.

As is the case with upcoming GPU launches from NVIDIA, we've had a lot of information and details for the upcoming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti appear from multiple sources. The latest (via Videocardz.com) reaffirms a late May launch and release for the mid-range GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics card, with an embargoed NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Series document outlining the current plans and communication being sent out to its partners.

The document notes that cards will ship to partners on May 5 with the "Product Announcement" and "On-Shelf" listed as "End of May" with a specific date still being finalized. Interestingly the same document simply puts "TBD" under the column for the baseline GeForce RTX 4060, which would put the launch of that affordable mainstream option as no sooner than June 2023.

Another interesting takeaway from the document is that the board for the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti is listed as the PG190, the same as the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. This means that partners can utilize the same coolers, potentially leading to a budget-conscious price point for the first time this generation.

NVIDIA's theoretically incoming RTX 4060 Ti has been spotted again, and this time, we have a photo of the GPU shared on Twitter.

Take a look at the chip in the pic above - clearly marked as the AD-106-350-A1 die, as previously rumored to power the RTX 4060 Ti - which comes from a regular leaker on Twitter, MEGAsizeGPU.

We've just had a sighting of the RTX 4060 Ti in MSI gaming PCs at a Dutch online retailer, too, as you may have caught yesterday.

NVIDIA's RTX 4060 Ti has been spotted in some MSI gaming systems, adding fuel to the fire that this GPU is imminent - and also again showing that, as previously rumored, it'll have 8GB of VRAM.

The MSI MAG Infinite S3 PCs are shown at a Dutch online retailer - presumably by mistake, of course, though the product listings are still available as we write this - and show the RTX 4060 Ti as the graphics card inside the rig. (The PCs are marked as not in stock, of course).

VideoCardz, which spotted this, observes that the Infinite S3 range is a middling offering and typically focuses on xx60 or xx70 Series GPUs from NVIDIA (indeed, new S3 models are just out with the RTX 4070 on board).

Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Sparkle is set to return to the discrete GPU market with new Intel Arc series graphics cards. Sparkle, which used to be an NVIDIA partner back in the day, stopped making GPUs in 2013 after the release of the GeForce GTX 700 series.

There's no word on why Sparkle is returning to the GPU market, but it's always great to see more companies release more models - especially for the relatively new Intel Arc series. Sparkle is releasing three Intel Arc graphics cards, with two Intel Arc A750 models and one Intel Arc A380 model - with Titan, Orc, and Elf naming.

Visually the cards follow the minimal look of the Intel Arc range, though the blue shroud does look really cool. The flagship Intel Arc A750 TITAN OC (it doesn't look like there's an A770 model just yet) features custom cooling and an LED light bar on the card that changes color based on the current temperature.

The confusingly named MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti SUPER 3X, a new Ampere-based GPU release from the company featuring a similar design to its SUPRIM cards, is no more. The confusing part comes with using the word 'SUPER,' a branding NVIDIA used during the Turing-based RTX 20 Series generation for more powerful models.

Although the GeForce RTX 30 and RTX 40 Series have stuck with the traditional Ti and non-Ti models for the different SKUs, there's always a chance that NVIDIA could bring back the SUPER branding for upcoming GPU releases.

This is a roundabout way of saying that NVIDIA disapproves of MSI releasing the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti SUPER 3X in select markets, with word from HKEPC stating that NVIDIA has told MSI to recall the GPU and remove it from sale. And with that, the product has been removed from MSI's website.

Rumors from multiple sources point to AMD's next discrete desktop GPU in the RDNA 3 Radeon RX 7000 Series being the mid-range Radeon RX 7600 XT, with the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT put on the back-burner.

According to a new report from the YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead, citing inside sources, the Radeon RX 7600 XT could arrive as soon as May 25 - with reviews for MSRP models set to appear on May 24. This would be similar to how NVIDIA handled the launch of the GeForce RTX 4070, MSRP model reviews first, and then custom higher-priced variant reviews a day later.

The dates also specify that press and media outlets will receive stock on May 15, giving them around 10 days to test and benchmark the mid-range RDNA 3 GPU.

NVIDIA's RTX 4070 is seemingly continuing to be the victim of somewhat lackluster demand, with another European retailer having been spotted cutting the price of one model well below the MSRP.

German tech site Computerbase spotted that a retailer in Germany, Alternate, has cut a Gainward GeForce RTX 4070 Ghost graphics card down to €599.

Given that the official recommended price for the RTX 4070 in Germany is €659, that's an almost 10% reduction from the MSRP. This mirrors what happened in Poland recently, where a Palit RTX 4070 was dropped by a similar amount.

Earlier today, we reported that the upcoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti could potentially go head-to-head with AMD's desktop Radeon RX 7600 Series, with launches happening towards the end of May or early June.

According to reports, the Radeon RX 7600 is expected to be revealed at Computex 2023, which aligns with the launch dates, with AMD partners like ASRock, PowerColor, Sapphire, and XFX all set to showcase models.

Naturally, following up the December 2022 launch of the flagship AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX models with the mainstream Radeon RX 7600 begs the question: Where are the Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7700 XT?

The current hot topic in the GPU and PC gaming hardware space is all about VRAM and the question of capacity. Is 8GB of VRAM enough in 2023? The consensus is no, thanks to recent high-profile releases like The Last of Us Part I, Resident Evil 4 Remake, and Hogwarts Legacy, all featuring high-end settings that require more than 8GB of GPU memory to ensure smooth performance.

This is a question mark on the longevity of the most popular gaming GPUs, as all five of the top graphics cards (all from NVIDIA) in the latest Steam Hardware Survey for March 2023 feature 8GB of VRAM. The survey notes that 32.16% of Steam gamers are rocking GPU hardware with 8 GB of VRAM, including the GeForce RTX 3070.

YouTuber Paulo Gomes recently published a fascinating video highlighting the issue at the heart of the debate. It aims to discover what a GeForce RTX 4070 with 16 GB of VRAM can bring to in-game performance. This differs from a mod that anyone can whip up, as it requires significant PCB work to get the new Samsung 2GB memory configuration working. But work it does, with the GPU being treated as a regular GeForce RTX 3070, albeit with double the VRAM.

The clash of the more affordable Lovelace and RDNA 3 GPUs - though we use the term 'affordable' with some caution - might just happen at the end of next month, if a fresh rumor is right.

This comes from Igor's Lab, with the first claim being that NVIDIA's RTX 4060 Ti is inbound for the end of May or the start of June, which is when the Computex show is happening (apply liberal seasoning as ever with this kind of pre-release speculation).

Igor theorizes that the RTX 4060 Ti might even be on shelves immediately after its reveal, although the quantity of graphics cards produced is likely to be fewer than the RTX 4070. The sources the leaker spoke to aren't sure on that last point, mind you, so be particularly skeptical there.

The consensus is that the launch of the GeForce RTX 4070 has been a disappointment in terms of sales; where although most models are available with ap rice close to the MSRP of USD 599 - they're not exactly flying off the shelves.

Even though the GPU has yet to crack into the best-selling GPU list over at Newegg, the MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 3X 12G (which we reviewed here) has hit the number five position on Amazon's best-selling graphics cards list. It sits behind MSI's RTX 3060 Ventus 2X, RTX 3060, and RTX 3060 Ti models from Zotac, and surprisingly the Radeon RX 580 graphics card.

An entry that points to the current trend of most gamers buying older graphics cards sold at a discount. Interestingly with so many GeForce RTX 4070 models from partners, the MSI model is the only variant in the list, followed much later (at number 36) by the MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming X Trio 12G - which we also reviewed.

According to a new report via MyDrivers, NVIDIA is considering releasing the upcoming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti at a price point that will appeal to PC gamers - USD 399.

This would mean the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti would release with the same MSRP as the previous generation's GeForce RTX 3060 Ti.

And with that, it would be an unprecedented move from NVIDIA regarding new GeForce RTX 40 series launches, which have all seen price increases over the 30 Series. From the GeForce RTX 4090 to the recently released RTX 4070, each card in the line-up has launched with a price point higher than the previous generation.

Over in Japan, a retailer is running a pretty unique offer - certainly one we've never seen before - in the form of buy one GPU and get another (different one) free.

In this case, retailer NTT-X is mixing and matching NVIDIA and Intel graphics cards, with the offer being that if you buy an RTX 4090, you also get an Intel Arc A750 thrown in.

However, there are some notable caveats here for those in Japan who might want to avail themselves of the GPU bundle - the main one being that only five units are going on sale. So, if you want to grab one, you'll have to be very quick.

Intel's XeSS upscaling tech - the rival to NVIDIA's DLSS and AMD's FSR frame rate boosters - is now supported by Cyberpunk 2077, and the result is a massive performance boost.

According to Intel's blog post trumpeting CD Projekt Red introducing XeSS with Cyberpunk 2077, turning the feature on generates up to a 71% boost in frames per second (fps), meaning the Arc A750 can now exceed 60 fps, regarded by many as the magic threshold for smooth gameplay.

To be precise, the A750 hits 67 fps compared to 31 fps with the feature turned off, and unsurprisingly, this is with XeSS in 'performance' mode (as opposed to the settings at the other end of the spectrum for better upscaling quality). This is with Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p resolution with ultra details and ray tracing set to medium.

AMD Software Adrenalin Edition 23.4.2 is available now for Radeon GPU owners, and most notably, it adds support for the recently released Dead Island 2. A game was announced well over a decade ago, with the co-op zombie action proving divisive among critics.

Still, with the latest drivers, AMD notes that Radeon RX 7900 Series GPUs see a performance increase of up to 14% when playing in 4K, with Radeon RX 6000 Series GPUs seeing a performance increase of up to 15%. Not too shabby.

The drivers also add support for the zero-g orbital shooter Boundary (another game that has been a long time coming), with additional Vulkan extension support coming too. There are notable fixes in this new release - namely, visual corruption in Red Dead Redemption 2 looks to have been fixed.

With the launch of the new GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, many have noticed that there's stock available for almost every model in most markets. Also, pricing has remained close to the MSRP of USD 599 and sometimes even lower. Videocardz.com recently reported that a GeForce RTX 4070 model from Palit saw its price drop in Poland to roughly 9% below the MSRP in the region.

Although exact sales figures aren't available, based on retailer info and charts, it's pretty clear that the new GPU hasn't been flying off the shelves. Would the situation have been different if the GeForce RTX 4070 landed with the same MSRP as the GeForce RTX 3070? Indeed, a USD 499 price point would make the GeForce RTX 3080-like performance of the RTX 4070 more attractive.

Perhaps the performance needed to be notably higher than the RTX 3080, where the previous generation's RTX 3070 was able to match the flagship RTX 2080 Ti.