Graphics Cards - Page 107

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.

NVIDIA's RTX 4090 laptop GPU has been benchmarked in a Razer Blade 18 laptop, with it ending up a long way off the performance of the desktop version of this graphics card.

The mobile RTX 4090 achieved a TimeSpy score (3DMark) of 22,339 for graphics, as benchmarked by a Reddit user, which as VideoCardz (the site that noticed this via Wccftech) points out is 72% faster than the RTX 3080 Ti. The latter was the fastest laptop graphics card from NVIDIA's previous generation, Ampere (there was no RTX 3090 for mobile).

That graphics result for TimeSpy also outstrips the desktop RTX 3090 Ti, beating that card by close to 3%. In other words, it's close, but the laptop RTX 4090 just edges it.

NVIDIA's inbound RTX 4070 graphics card has been spotted with different amounts of video RAM in GIGABYTE listings for various models of the card.

As you might imagine, this has caused some confusion, as there are GIGABYTE RTX 4070 products (unearthed by VideoCardz, a regular source of GPU leaks) that have 10GB of VRAM, as well as 12GB, and also 16GB (including AORUS Master, Eagle and Gaming OC cards).

This may lead some to believe that NVIDIA might be planning to push out multiple versions of the RTX 4070 with different memory loadouts, but that's very unlikely to be the case.

The head of the Radeon Technologies Group, David Wang, and other senior AMD people recently sat down with the publication 4Gamer (translated by Wccftech) to discuss the future of RDNA graphics. Naturally, this resulted in some hints about what we might expect regarding RDNA 4 GPUs. AI will be a big part of the picture alongside continued efficiency and performance improvements.

Late last year saw the arrival of the RDNA 3 powered Radeon RX 7000 series with the Radeon RX 7900 XT and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. And with more laptop and lower-tier desktop models set to launch this year, it's crazy to think that 2024 will usher in the next generation of Radeon GPUs. One key technology in RDNA 3 is its Multi-Draw Indirect Accelerator for mesh shading, a replacement for the Level of Detail rendering that saw massive improvements compared to the RDNA 2 generation. AMD sees technology like this becoming a new standard in the future.

In terms of dedicated AI hardware, AMD is impressed with NVIDIA's Tensor cores and technology like DLSS (noting that its FSR upscaling achieves similar results without the need for AI hardware), and it wants to see RDNA's AI acceleration used in other applications. Some examples include NPC behavior and movement, which is the natural next step for AI in game development.

It looks like Intel is all-in on making its Intel Arc Graphics line-up of GPUs a viable mainstream alternative for 2023, and the latest Game On Driver adds support for impending PC game releases like Atomic Heart, Company of Heroes 3, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, The Settlers: New Allies, and Wild Hearts. Regarding day-one support for games and the pace of new driver releases for 2023, Intel is now ahead of both NVIDIA and AMD.

And as part of the new driver update Intel has released a detailed blog post with info on some of the performance gamers can expect with its primary offering - the Intel Arc A750 GPU. For Sony's first-party release Returnal, which supports Intel's own AI-based upscaling tech XeSS, the Intel Arc A750 is said to deliver 67fps performance at 1440p using the High detail setting, for Ubisoft's The Settlers: New Allies the Intel Arc A750 can hit 174 fps at 1080p with high settings and 130fps at 1440p with high settings.

These results come from a high-end rig featuring an Intel Core i9-13900K processor and DDR5 memory, so results will vary on lower-spec systems. Still, it hasn't stopped Intel from benchmarking the same games using the same system with a GeForce RTX 3060 and presenting the Arc A750 as delivering better performance.

AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2) hit version 2.2 late last year and has found its way into games like F1 22 and the latest Need For Speed. Since its creation, AMD has positioned FSR as an open-source alternative to NVIDIA's AI-powered DLSS. It is available in all games and hardware configurations - including consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

With most FSR 2 titles out there using older versions of the tech - including Cyberpunk 2077 - today comes the official open-source release of FSR version 2.2.0. As noted by AMD in the release, "FidelityFX FSR2 v2.2.0 is a major update that significantly increases image quality in many more cases," with the latest update "significantly reducing artefacts such as high velocity ghosting and shimmering."

Even though it sounds like an incremental update over FSR version 2.1.2, this latest version changes the FSR2 API, meaning that "updating to FSR 2.2 from 2.1.2 will take some work." However, AMD adds that it's still a straightforward implementation.

With Intel recently entering the discrete GPU market with its Intel Arc range, a fourth challenger to NVIDIA's dominance in the GPU space has arrived in China via a company called Moore Threads. This is a significant development for the consumer GPU space and PC gaming, especially in Asian markets where player bases are both huge and increasing.

The GPU in question is the MTT S80, a second-generation Moore Threads card based on the MUSA architecture with 14.4 TFLOPs of performance, 16GB of GDDR6, and a 256-bit memory bus. Those numbers should put its performance somewhere between the GeForce RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti. Plus, you'd expect decent performance with a 250W power rating, triple-fan cooling, and it being the first GPU to offer PCIe Gen5 support.

Well, that was the expectation. A new review by South Korean outlet BullsLab shows it lagging even the GeForce GT 1030. A passively cooled 30W GPU with 2GB of VRAM and a 64-bit memory bus. Yeah, not a good sign.

A recent eBay listing for a Voodoo 5 6000 drew a lot of attention as it was the last 'Voodoo' card from 3dfx and a product that never actually made its way to market. Back in the early days of 3D graphics in the 1990s, the Voodoo brand was one of the most well-known in PC gaming, and the Voodoo 6 6000 was looking to try something new with four 166 MHz VSA-100 processors, each with 32 MB of 166 MHz SDRAM.

This unique design meant that it needed additional power at a time when plugging in multiple 8-pin connections on a high-end graphics card wasn't a thing, and this ultimately led to multiple delays before 3dfx finally pulled the plug. And exiting the discrete GPU market in 2002, paving the way for the rise of NVIDIA and AMD.

As such, the only Voodoo 5 6000 GPUs produced were prototype models, with this listing covering the Voodoo 5 6000 (Rev 3700A) that made use of a Molex adapter to give it some extra juice. "This card has been considered to be the ultimate holy grail piece for most if not all 3DFX enthusiasts/collectors," wrote the seller gtastuntcrew302. "Which is why I'm wanting to pass it on to someone that will truly view it as such and get that warm and special feeling for it. I wish to pass the card to someone that will care for it for years to come and preserve the history and significance this card holds in the world of 3D."

The driver drought for AMD Radeon RX 6000 GPUs built on RDNA 2 architecture has ended with AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.2.1 delivering updates and performance boosts to several games. The list includes the recently released Dead Space from EA and Motive and Square Enix's Forspoken - an AMD-sponsored title.

The driver also adds some of the improvements that arrived in recent driver updates that were exclusive to the new Radeon RX 7000 series, including optimizations for H.264 and H.265 streaming via AMD Link. The good news is that AMD is back on track with a unified AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition driver for AMD Radeon RX 6000 and Radeon RX 7000 Series graphics cards and even older GPUs like the Radeon RX 5700 and Vega Series.

There is a tonne of performance improvements for games in this new driver for Radeon RX 6000 GPUs, with AMD making a note of several games performing better on the RDNA 2 flagship Radeon RX 6950XT GPU.

We recently got a look at the performance of the GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU in a build utilizing the AD107 GPU chip. It features 3072 CUDA cores; clock speeds up to 2370 MHz, 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus interface, and a power range between 35-115W. According to a new post by a well-known leaker of all things GeForce, Kopite7kimi, on Twitter, we've got word that the desktop GeForce RTX 4060 will be the same AD107 GPU.

As per the info, the RTX 4060 will use the AD107-400-A1 chip, feature 3072 CUDA cores, 8GB GDDR6 18Gbps memory, and a power rating of 115W. And 24 MB of cache (L2). The power rating is particularly interesting because it's considerably less than the GeForce RTX 3060 (170W) and the GeForce RTX 2060 (160W). This would be the first time a desktop-class x060 GPU has used the 107 chip.

If the laptop benchmarks are anything to go by, then the RTX 4060 will be around 25% faster than the RTX 3060 12GB model but will feature less VRAM. And then there's the memory bus downgrade of 128-bit versus 192-bit. As we've seen with other GeForce RTX 40 Series cards in the desktop space, NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture scales exceptionally well even when drawing much less power than the max TGP.

The rising popularity of AI-based language and text tool ChatGPT has been one of the most talked about and covered tech stories of 2023. It's indicative of the boom in AI business and investment. AI tools like ChatGPT currently rely on AI processing - a key part of NVIDIA's portfolio, even in the consumer and enthusiast GPU space.

This is where GeForce RTX graphics cards, like the new GeForce RTX 4090 and RTX 4080, currently sit. NVIDIA's stock has recently seen massive gains in the region of 40% due to the increased demand for AI powerhouses like the Hopper H100 and Ampere A100 graphics cards.

The explosion of interest in ChatGPT, in particular, is an interesting case as it was trained on NVIDIA GPUs, with reports indicating that it took 10,000 cards to train the model we see today. And to keep up with the demand for the tool, it will need to scale rapidly. On this subject, Fierce Electronics questioned ChatGPT directly, asking if hardware from other vendors would factor into its growth, and it got the following response.

ACER's new custom Intel Arc-based BiFrost Arc A770 OC Graphic Card features a rather unique and cool-looking two-slot design. The combination of a traditional open-air fan and an old-school blower called the AeroBlade 3D Fan. Throw in some vibrant RGB lighting, and it has a stylish look to match its affordable USD 399 price point for a GPU with 16GB of VRAM.

For those wondering how Intel's new Arc range has been progressing since its debut last year, a recent driver update brought massive improvements to gaming. It's the latest in a string of Intel Arc driver updates that have brought an across-the-board improvement to how the cards perform across a wide range of titles. And with that, Intel Arc has become an enticing option for new builds on a budget. And with Arc price cuts, Intel is eyeing the budget and mid-range market in 2023.

And this new card from ACER falls into this camp, with its discounted USD 349 price at Amazon, resulting in it being unavailable/sold out at the retailer thanks to a 13% price reduction.

NVIDIA's AI-powered DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) has revolutionized the PC gaming space, upscaling to improve performance while maintaining visual fidelity. It has sparked similar technologies from both AMD and Intel, though the arrival of DLSS version 2.0 really made it one of those in-game features where if it's there, you tick that box.

Of course, the technology is limited to NVIDIA GeForce RTX hardware, and the new Frame Generation technology that uses AI to create brand-new frames goes one step further by being limited to the new hardware found inside the GeForce RTX 40 Series. And like all software and AI-based things, NVIDIA DLSS continues to improve to the point where more recent versions of the tech can be manually applied to older titles using older versions of DLSS to enhance visual fidelity or minimize potential artifacts.

And with that, NVIDIA has updated the developer-focused NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution SDK to version 3.1, adding a very cool feature in the form of the 'ability to stay up-to-date with the latest DLSS improvements.' This means future implementations of DLSS in games will be able to update the DLL automatically without the need to source and overwrite files manually. This a very cool move from NVIDIA, especially now as DLSS now includes DLSS Super Resolution (what we know of as DLSS 2) in addition to the new DLSS 3-based combo that adds Frame Generation and NVIDIA Reflex.

Chrome 110 dropped this week, adding NVIDIA RTX Video Super Resolution support to the popular browser. RTX Video might sound a little confusing, but it's basically DLSS for watching videos on YouTube - it leverages NVIDIA's AI hardware in the GeForce RTX 30 Series and GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs to upscale 1080p videos to 4K. But, even though the feature is live in Chrome, we'll have to wait until NVIDIA adds driver support for the feature work.

On that front, NVIDIA has teased that support is coming as part of this month's R530 driver branch.

You also might be wondering what the fuss is about, and video upscaling isn't a new thing - going from 1080p to 4K has been around for years. The difference here comes squarely from how NVIDIA RTX Video Super Resolution has been presented by NVIDIA, with the following example showcasing some remarkable results.