Graphics Cards - Page 143

AMD's new mid-range RDNA 2 graphics card is here, with the introduction of the Radeon RX 6600 XT debuting during Chinajoy (and a press event online that I attended).

The new Radeon RX 6600 XT is aimed at the 1080p gaming market, and will be competing directly with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060. AMD's new Radeon RX 6600 XT rocks 8GB of GDDR6 memory, while NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 features 12GB of GDDR6.

Inside, the new Navi 23 XT-based Radeon RX 6600 XT has 32 Compute Units, has its GPU clocked at 2359MHz (at least in reference form), 32MB of Infinity Cache, and 1 x 8-pin PCIe power connector and 160W TDP.

SAPPHIRE has just unveiled its latest custom RDNA 2 graphics card with the introduction of the TOXIC Radeon RX 6900 XT air-cooled, joining the ranks of the AIO liquid-cooled version of the TOXIC Radeon RX 6900 XT Limited Edition that I reviewed not too long ago now.

The new SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon RX 6900 XT air-cooled graphics card should have the same PCB as its liquid-cooled sibling, while GPU clocks are 2235MHz and 2425MHz for the game and boost GPU clocks, respectively.

You'll need an 850W PSU for the card (you'll get away with less) while the card itself will consume up to 400W or so, but you will need 2 x 8-pin and 1 x 6-pin PCIe power connectors.

AMD is simply performing at its very best right now, battling both Intel and NVIDIA at the same time in multiple markets -- CPUs and GPUs -- and doing a fan-freaking-tastic job at it.

The company has announced that its next-gen AMD Instinct MI200 "Aldebaran" accelerator is now shipping, its first -- and the world's first -- MCM (multi-chip module) GPU. During its recent Q2 2021 earnings presentation, AMD said that "Initial shipments of next-generation AMD Instinct accelerators featuring 2nd Gen CDNA architecture".

In layman's terms, they were referring to the next-gen Instinct MI200 which is the successor to the MI100 accelerator, which is based on the Arcturus GPU. AMD has beaten Intel to the game -- with its MCM-based Xe-HP and NVIDIA with its upcoming Hopper-based H100 accelerator. AMD, like McCain's, have done it again.

ZOTAC has just released its latest custom graphics card, with the release of the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3080 Ti X-Gaming Naraka Bladepoint Edition.

Naraka Bladepoint is a game that is about to come out, an online game with up to 60 players in a battle royale showdown. It's a Chines game that will be launching globally, with gamers able to play it on both Steam and the Epic Games Store starting on August 12.

ZOTAC teamed with developer 24 Entertainment on the fully custom ZOTAC RTX 3080 Ti X-Gaming Naraka Bladepoint Edition graphics cards, which the design is ripped right out of the game.

AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 architecture is getting the same amount of rumor love that NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace and Hopper GPU architectures have over the last week... but this news is all about Navi 31.

AMD's next-gen flagship Navi 31 GPU is reportedly going to pack 15360 cores, but they won't be called cores anymore -- they're called RDNA Workgroup Processors (WGP). The latest rumor is that Navi 31 will rock its dual-die (MCM, or multi-chip module) with 256 shading units (FP32 cores/Stream Processors) which is double what the RDNA 2 GPUs have.

I'm looking forwrd to seeing how this change in core design works, with workgroups packing Compute Units -- an MCM-based GPU is going to be interesting on its own.

I was just alerted to a story on PC Gamer from Igor's Lab after @GravXReviews tagged me on Twitter -- and boy-oh-boy is it a doozy.

So, we have all heard that Amazon's new game New World has been bricking and killing super-expensive graphics cards with EVGA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra front and center of this silicon-killing shit. But it seems Igor's Lab has worked it out: the fans on the cards are trying to spool up to not 2000RPM, not 20,000RPM, but 200,000 freaking RPM. Yeah... they can't do that, and maybe that's what is murdering the cards.

We know that the fans on ANY graphics card on the market can't spin at 200,000 RPM... but that doesn't stop them from trying to do that. Not all cards are doing this, and not all cards are dying -- but FYI it's not just the EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra that New World is killing, either.

NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture has been in the headlines for the last couple of weeks, with rumors and rumbles, and everything in between -- now we have some more solid specs based on all of the rumors swirling about Ada Lovelace.

3DCenter.org has compiled a list of the NVIDIA AD102 GPU specs, which are all based on rumors from @kopite7kimi and @greymon55. 3DCenter.org actually did this in December 2020, but we have some firmer specs here and some beefy upgrades to the expected TFlops performance from AD102.

In the specs, NVIDIA's next-gen AD102 is expected to be made on TSMC's fresh new 5nm node, with an insane 18,432 CUDA cores (GA102 in the RTX 3090 has 10496 CUDA cores for comparison). The GPU clocks expected are now 2.2GHz and above, which will result in around 81 TFLOPs of compute performance (35.5 TFLOPs on the GA102 or RTX 3090).

We've heard some ridiculous early pricing -- most likely placeholder pricing, on AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 6600 XT but new rumors state the mid-range RDNA 2 graphics card will cost $349.

AMD's new Radeon RX 6600 XT is rumored to be priced at $349 while the Radeon RX 6600 will be priced at $299, after previous rumors of a $399 price tag on the Radeon RX 6600 XT. I'd say that rumors of NVIDIA stockpiling GA106 GPUs ready to deploy waves of GeForce RTX 3060 and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards had something to do with that.

You would be surprised at how pricing on a GPU can be set in the day before, even hours leading up to the launch. I know of major GPUs launched by either side, with the teams slapping prices on them at the very, very last minute.

Amazon's brand new game New World is killing graphics cards -- with the first reports that it was bricking EVGA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra -- and then extending to many other GPUs.

YouTuber JayzTwoCents tried to recreate the problem of New World bricking an EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra, but it didn't kill his GPU -- the power consumption was above average, with power numbers hitting 500W+ which is far and beyond the 360W or so that the GPU normally consumes.

EVGA is replacing the bricked GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra graphics cards as quickly as they can, where they're sending out replacement units as soon as users submit RMA of their bricked GPU. No other GPU manufacturers on the planet have stepped up and made statements about bricked GPUs, and Amazon's PR department is just pumping out copy-paste email responses which is pathetic considering their game is killing expensive hardware.

AMD is gearing up into the release of its mid-range Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card, with AIB partner PowerColor having its new Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards listed with a New Zealand retailer for $868... yeah.

PowerColor seems to have a few different variants of the RDNA 2-powered Radeon RX 6600 XT, with the Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB Fighter, Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB Hellhound, and the Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB Red Devil. They're all listed with New Zealand retailers, with the same flat price of around $1250 NZD -- or around $868.

I don't think we'll be paying that price, they're most likely placeholder pricing for NZ retailers -- because as VideoCardz points out the higher-end Radeon RX 6700 XT is the same price. We're expecting AMD's new Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card to launch on August 11, with no reference board on offer -- AIB partners will be offering all Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards.

What a way to experience the weekend -- super juicy GPU rumors of NVIDIA and AMD's next-gen Ada Lovelace, Hopper, and RDNA 3 architectures. We have some more news on NVIDIA... big news...

According to leaker Kopite7kimi, NVIDIA can't reach a point with its monolithic design on Ada Lovelace to beat AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 architecture then the company will deploy the Hopper GPU architecture. We could see the flagship GH202-based GPU powering the next-gen GeForce RTX 4080, RTX 4080 Ti, or RTX 4090.

This would be above the AD102 GPU, which is the Ada Lovelace architecture -- expected to power the GeForce RTX 40 series. NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture was recently rumored to be powering Nintendo's next-gen Super Switch console, but we'll have to wait and see for that in the coming months and more so into 2022.

It was only yesterday that we heard NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture could be used for Nintendo's next-gen Super Switch portable, but now we're back to regular programming -- regular leaks -- that say the next-gen Lovelace GPU architecture will power the new GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs.

Not only that, but NVIDIA's new Ada Lovelace GPU architecture would be made on TSMC 5nm -- and that the Ada Lovelace GPU architecture design is finalized. The news is coming from new leaker on the scene Greymon55, which said that NVIDIA is finished with the entire Ada Lovelace GPU project -- with no more changes planned, with the tape out of Lovelace happening soon.

NVIDIA is reportedly using TSMC 5nm but the leaker isn't sure if it's regular N5 or the newer N5P, but with previous reports that Apple has over 50% of TSMC's production of 5nm in 2021... 2022 could be the year of 5nm for consumer GPUs. We are currently on 7nm (AMD Radeon + Ryzen CPUs made with TSMC 7nm) and on 8nm (NVIDIA GeForce RTX made with Samsung 8nm).

Nintendo revealed its upgraded Switch OLED without any upgrades to the CPU, GPU, or RAM -- and while for some that's surprising, it didn't surprise me and many of those with their own independent sources throughout the tech industry.

We heard rumors of the next-gen Nintendo Super Switch for a while, but then Nintendo dropped the Switch OLED without any upgrades into gamers' laps -- if you thought Nintendo was finished with that, you were very wrong. Why would Nintendo which is in the middle of its most successful run of all time, just release a half-baked, no-upgrades Nintendo Switch OLED?

A few months ago we heard rumors that NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture would be inside of the next-gen Nintendo Super Switch... and now according to Tom from Moore's Law is Dead in his latest video, it seems that could be the case.

If you've been expecting GPU prices to come down because you're hearing your favorite TechTubers say prices will fall back down by the end of summer... sorry, but yeah that is "absolute BULLS**T" says Tom from Moore's Law is Dead, and I agree.

In the video at the 9-minute mark, Tom goes into detail that even if AMD were able to launch 500,000+ of its new Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards... and NVIDIA pushed out 1 million+ of its stockpiled GeForce RTX 3060 and GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards that this still wouldn't satisfy demand.

According to his sources, there are well over 2 million PC gamers who are still itching to secure themselves a new Ampere or RDNA 2 graphics card. Tom continues that there would be 1/6 of the supply required, at most -- adding: "TechTubers only have 1 part of the picture, and these cards are coming -- and they are -- prices will go down slowly, but don't expect them to crash overnight".

AMD is about to launch its new mid-range RDNA 2-based GPU in the Radeon RX 6600 XT, but NVIDIA has a counter for that... and it's going to be big.

The new Radeon RX 6600 XT is expected to be priced at under $400, with YouTuber Tom from Moore's Law is Dead saying that he expects pricing somewhere between $349 and $379. Btu the thing is, NVIDIA has reportedly been stockpiling supplies of its GA106 GPU, the chip inside of the GeForce RTX 3060 -- for this very day.

NVIDIA knows that AMD is ready to launch the Radeon RX 6600 XT and the company doesn't even need to reply with a GPU launch... given that it reportedly has stockpiles of GA106 GPUs ready to unleash a tsunami of GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards to counter the Radeon RX 6600 XT.

NVIDIA made a big deal about its stance on crypto mining, and then gimped GPU drivers to hurt crypto mining... and then pushed out the LHR (Lite Hash Rate) series... but is it that big of a deal? It seems AIB partners don't give a sh*t.

In his latest video, Tom from Moore's Law is Dead has had sources reach out to him and say: "You know now that you mention it Tom, the overwhelming majority of our arriving [GeForce RTX] 3070 stock is non-LHR. Last week I thought this was just the last remaining stock... but now it's late July, and most of our arriving 3070s remain as non-LHR models. The majority of upcoming deliveries are non-LHR as well".

An anonymous AIB source said: "Keep in mind that we are buying these dies from NVIDIA, and they are different from the LHR dies. So NVIDIA has to be mindful of what is going on, and letting some AIBs drag their feet more than others. LHR might be the standard for every SKU eventually, but we (AIBs) are going to drag this process out if they let us..."

AMD's next-gen RDNA 3 architecture is still a long way away, it'll be interesting to see how AMD deploys its next-gen GPU architecture as it will be offered in MCD format -- or Multi-Compute Die.

MCD is similar to the MCM (Multi-Chip Module) design that NVIDIA will use with its next-gen Hopper GPU, and the chiplet-based technology AMD uses on its various Zen-based CPUs. The latest info on the next-gen RDNA 3 architecture is that Navi 31 will be an MCD (Multi-Compute Die) design and taping out "soon" according to leaker @KittyYYuko, with Navi 32 possibly taping out in Q2 2022.

AMD will be making multiple Navi 3X GPUs going forward, with Navi 31, Navi 32, and Navi 33 all teased. As for performance, we should expect the flagship RDNA 3 GPU in monolithic form -- which should take form with a Navi 33-based GPU -- to be somewhere in the 100%+ increase over the Radeon RX 6900 XT range.

Amazon's new game New World is still killing graphics cards across the planet, but now the problem is much more severe as it's not just exclusive to EVGA's flagship GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra graphics card.

There are reports all over the place, with YouTuber JayzTwoCents throwing his two cents in -- I had to, I'm sorry -- where he's tweeted that he's had a multitude of GPU owners tell him that they've had shutdowns and failures when playing New World.

The graphics cards that he listed include the AMD Radeon RX 590, Radeon RX 6800, Radeon RX 6800 XT, Radeon RX 6900 XT, and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. He added at the end that "So once again, the issue definitely is with SOMETHING in the way the game New World is rendering. This ISNT a 3090'exclusive issue! PERIOD!!"

First off, NVIDIA's next-gen Hopper GPU isn't a gaming architecture -- so we're not going to see the GeForce RTX 4080 Ti or something based on the Hopper GPU... but we have the most exciting GPU architecture from NVIDIA to date that is reportedly going to tape out soon.

The new rumors are coming from a mysterious tease on Twitter by "Greymon55" a new name on the leaking scene, which said on Twitter simply "NHWTOS" which within hours the code was broken: NHWTOS was reportedly a cryptic tease of "NVIDIA's Hopper Will Tape Out Soon".

Greymon55 tweeted not long after that, saying "All right, you win".

I don't see the point of this graphics card release, like... at all -- but here we are.

Introducing the ELSA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ERAZOR which is a basic-looking GeForce RTX 3060 Ti that is based on the Inno3D Twin X2 variant -- the same cooler, the same backplate, but the fan stickers are missing off the card. Oh wow.

Anyway, the company worked with Slightly Mad Studios -- the developer behind Project Cars 3. Sure, Project Cars 3 might be on the retail packaging, but unlike yesteryear when the packaging had a game displayed on it and it was included, the ELSA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ERAZOR does not come with Project Cars 3 bundled.