Graphics Cards - Page 228

Exclusive: It was only yesterday that we reported on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 cards selling above the $699 price of the Founders Edition, where we asked if there were supply issues on the GP104.

Now we've had an industry source tell us that there won't be a huge flood of GeForce GTX 1080 cards, from all partners, until late July or even early August. This makes sense, but it also means that the price gouging that is happening now, will continue - and could even get worse. The EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW ACX 3.0 is selling for $1999 on Amazon right now, which is absolutely nuts.

But where to from here? If NVIDIA is going to have stock shortages on the GP104-powered GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, then that means that AMD could come in and really fling things around with the release of the Radeon RX 480. The reason being, is that the RX 480 is going to cost just $199 - but then there's a huge issue here. For AMD to be successful for that month of NVIDIA's low stock, they need to have plenty of RX 480s to go around, and not have shortages of their own. This is only going to result in a price war between NVIDIA and AMD, and it could lead to NVIDIA releasing the GeForce GTX 1060 earlier than anticipated, to fight off the RX 480.

Over the past few days, many of my friends (inside, and outside of the industry) have been asking me "where are all the GeForce GTX 1080s?" and I haven't taken much notice, until now. One of my friends has been eyeing off the awesome MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G, simply because he couldn't find one in retail, or online anywhere in Australia.

Well, the Australian market for enthusiast level hardware at launch is always... bad, very bad. We get a handful (less than 10) on a good launch, and I experienced this first hand for 10 years working IT retail selling these exact cards. So I decided to check Amazon, and lo and behold - the price gouging is HUGE. The big surprise is is the custom card from EVGA in the form of the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW GAMING ACX 3.0 card, which is freakin' $1999 right now... this is absolute insanity.

Remember that NVIDIA unveiled the GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition for $699, but there is a huge premium on the cards right now - and this could be one of two reasons. The first, is that NVIDIA hasn't got enough supply of their 16nm FinFET-based GP104, and that's why the GTX 1080 is so expensive because retailers are wanting as much money as they can, while they can, as the stock levels are low. Second, it could be retailers doing their usual and price gouging - but this price gouging is on another level right now - especially at $1999 for a single GTX 1080 from EVGA.

It wasn't long ago when we found out that AMD's new Radeon RX 480 would run at 60C under load, drawing just 100W. Well, now we have the PCB shots of both the Radeon RX 480 and RX 470, and they're a sight to behold.

The Radeon RX 480 and RX 470 are shorter cards with a single PCIe power connector, and 4 x display outputs consisting of 3 x DP 1.3/1.4 HDR ports and a single HDMI 2.0 port. We're expecting 2304 stream processors on the RX 480, and both a 4GB version that will cost $199, and the 8GB version set at $229. All three of the Radeon RX series cards are based on the new Polaris architecture, baked onto the 14nm FinFET process from GlobalFoundries.

E3 2016 - With more details now available on AMD's range of Radeon RX series cards, we've stumbled across some Steam VR benchmark results on the Radeon RX 480, which scores just 6.3 in the Steam VR benchmark.

How does 6.3 on the Steam VR benchmark stack up? Well, considering the Radeon R9 390 scores around the same, AMD are positioning themselves incredibly well for VR. The Radeon R9 380 in comparison scores only 3.6, so AMD are comparing the RX 480 against it, and it really shines. The RX 480 should deliver R9 390 level performance, with it being compared to the HBM1-based R9 Nano in a recent story of ours, with the RX 480 set to consume 100W of power and run at 60C under load.

We've just reported on the AMD Radeon RX 480 consuming just 100W of power, and running at 60C under gaming load, with the Polaris 10-based card keeping up with, and beating the HBM1-based Radeon R9 Nano. Not too bad for $199, right? Well, now we have more details on not just the Polaris 10 GPU, but the Polaris 11 GPU which will be powering the lower-end cards.

Starting with the Polaris 10, we have 2304 stream processors all clocked at 1266MHz, with the Polaris 10 powering both the RX 480 and RX 470 cards. The RX 480 is going to be a beast of a card, offering R9 Nano/GTX 980 levels of performance with 4GB/8GB variants ($199/$229 for the reference models). It'll be great for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as well as VR gaming - with FreeSync support, and DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 (and HDR, too).

The Polaris 11 GPU will power the lower-end, eSports-aimed RX 460 card, which will feature 1024 stream processors, with no GPU clock speed numbers confirmed just yet. We know that there will be 2GB and 4GB models of the RX 460 offered, with a 128-bit memory bus and memory bandwidth of somewhere around 112GB/sec. The RX 460 features a pretty damn good 2.8x performance per watt improvement over the previous GCN cards like the Radeon R7 360. The Radeon RX 460 will also have a TDP of only 75W, so you don't need to use a PCIe power connector - which is going to be awesome for gamers who don't have a huge budget in terms of money, and power consumption/bills.

We've already seen leaked benchmarks on AMD's Radeon RX 480 where it beat the GeForce GTX 980, but now we have some more information to share - GPU clock speeds, temperature under load, and even the power consumption of AMD's new Polaris-based video card. AMD just unveiled the new RX 470 and RX 460 cards during E3, with pricing to follow on those cards shortly.

The Radeon RX 480 will arrive in both 4GB and 8GB variants, with the RX 480 4GB version costing $199 - and we can exclusively reveal the 8GB version will cost $229 according to our industry insiders. The partner cards will cost more obviously, but they'll have better coolers and higher clock speeds. Both of the RX 480 offerings will feature a base clock speed of 1080MHz, while it will boost up to around 1266MHz out of the box.

Under typical gaming loads, the RX 480 reportedly consumes around 100W of power, hitting 60C on an open-air test bench. The reference design incldues a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, and together with the PCIe 3.0 x16 port consumes up to 150W of power. Custom cards will include an additional PCIe power connector, while the "beast mode" AIB cards will feature a single 6-pin or single 8-pin depending on the card. But how is the performance?

E3 2016 - While we are still officially under NDA about the next-gen Polaris cards from AMD, the company revealed the line up at E3 2016 just now. AMD has made the Radeon RX 470 and RX 460 official, two new mid-range cards that will join the VR-focused RX 480 that's priced at just $199.

Starting with the Radeon RX 470 which is delivering "refined, power-efficient HD gaming" while the RX 460 is a "cool and efficient solution for the ultimate eSports gaming experience". The new Radeon RX series of video cards provide three fundamental "entitlements" for PC gamers and game developers.

Raja Koduri, the Senior VP and Chief Architect of Radeon Technologies Group said: "Gamers and consumers today are being left behind. Today only the top 16 percent of PC gamers are purchasing GPUs that deliver premium VR and Gaming experiences. Hundreds of millions of gamers have been relegated to using outdated technology. Notebook gamers are often forced to compromise. And tens of millions more can only read about incredible PC VR experiences that they can't enjoy for themselves. That all changes with the Radeon™ RX Series, placing compelling and advanced high-end gaming and VR technologies within reach of everyone."

E3 2016 - AMD will be hosting the PC Gaming Show at E3 2016 once again, and it'll also be working directly with PC Gamer on the show, which starts in 9 hours from now.

During the show, we're expecting to hear more about the Polaris architecture and various video cards - but now that the Radeon RX 480 has been revealed, is it time to hear about the Radeon RX 470? It packs the same Polaris 10 GPU as the RX 480, so let's hope that AMD kicks off E3 2016 with a bang. The live streams will be on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, so we'll embed one of them once it goes live.

Just recently, we had a leaked 3DMark Fire Strike results on the Radeon RX 480, where it was beating the GeForce GTX 980 - which is double the price. We've also seen the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 480 Nitro, and the MSI Radeon RX 480 Lightning, which MSI has updated us on and said it was a total fake. Boo.

AMD can't take all of the limelight right now, even with the great-looking MSI Radeon RX 480 Lightning shaping up well, and the first look at SAPPHIRE's new Radeon RX 480 Nitro - Team Green is once again in the headlines with its purported GeForce GTX 1060 video card.

VideoCardz is reporting that the GeForce GTX 1060 will rock either 4GB/6GB or 8GB of RAM, and it'll arrive with a 192-bit memory bus, knocked down from the 256-bit memory bus on both the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 cards. There have been different SKUs noticed, with the GP106-powered card rocking a 192-bit memory bus, with the PG410 board using 4GB of RAM, while the other SKU sees it with 6GB of RAM.

We could also expect a GeForce GTX 1060 Ti which would be kinda cool, but we don't know when that'll be dropping at all. Whatever happens, AMD is ready for The Uprising.

AMD is preparing it's new 'The Uprising' marketing campaign for its Polaris launch, led by the Radeon RX 480 priced at $199, but how does it perform in benchmarks other than Ashes of the Singularity? Well, according to one leaked benchmark, the RX 480 beats the GTX 980 from NVIDIA in 3DMark Fire Strike.

We can see the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 with its 3038 score, versus the RX 480 and its higher 3194. It might not be much, but considering the RX 480 4GB (which is the card benchmarked here) is going to be priced at $199, and while NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 980 still sells on Amazon right now (at least at the time of writing) for $450+, AMD is onto a massive winner here. I don't want to throw my personal or professional weight behind it until I do my own independent testing, but I'm beginning to get excited about what AMD has on its hands - and that $199 price point, wow.

In the last 24 hours, we've seen the purported MSI Radeon RX 480 Lightning and SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 480 Nitro cards, both rocking 4GB of framebuffer. Personally, I love the look of the Lightning cooler over the cheese grater look SAPPHIRE has opted for - but these are leaks, we could expect some changes and different models before release.

AMD is on different footing since spinning off its GPU division into Radeon Technologies Group, with our own Jason Evangelho breaking a story through Forbes about RTG's new goals - kicking off its impressive 'The Uprising' marketing campaign.

Jason spoke with RTG boss Raja Koduri and Chris Hook (who is still looking for the Hydrofoil) about their new focus on the mid-range market, and what it means for gamers. Jason reported:

The first note is something worth actually noting - as this is something I totally agree with Chris Hook on. People want the $700 video card, but they don't have the money to pay for it - well, that's where the Radeon RX 480 4GB model priced at $199 steps in. The second note is "VR that just works" - this is how VR needs to be, easy. Ridiculously easy. Not having to upgrade PSUs, motherboards and operating systems goes a long way into keeping consumers happy.

Update: MSI has reached out to us, saying that this is "fake without any doubt". The full statement from MSI: "This stuff is way too retro for any new product...I can guarantee you this is fake without any doubt, There is no need to be too serious about it :)".

Just 24 hours after the leaks on the purported SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 480 Nitro 8GB appear, we have the world's first look at the MSI Radeon RX 480 Lightning, powered by AMD's next-gen Polaris architecture, and rocking a triple-fan cooler.

The leaks are coming from Chiphell, with two photos of the card and some 3DMark benchmarks. The first shot of the card shows off that beautiful Lightning cooler, with a triple-fan system keeping the Polaris 10 GPU nice and cool, with a gorgeous black/white design. I'm definitely loving the look of MSI's offering versus the RX 480 Nitro from SAPPHIRE.

The first pictures of a custom AMD Radeon RX 480 have arrived, with the SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 480 Nitro 8GB making an appearance, rocking a new silver cooled shroud with a dual-slot, dual-fan design.

SAPPHIRE's upcoming Radeon RX 480 Nitro 8GB features an LED-illuminated SAPPHIRE logo, with VideoCardz's source stating that the colors will change depending on the fan speed, GPU temperatures, or a custom profile that the user can set.

The Radeon RX 480 reference design from SAPPHIRE has been revealed, with it being quite a short card, with the cooler extending past the end of the PCB, ensuring that the RX 480 will run nice and cool under option, and only requiring a single 6-pin PCIe power connector.

The release of AMD's next-gen Radeon RX 480 isn't too far away, but we have no real performance data on the Polaris-based video card, until now. According to benchmarks on the 3DMark database, the RX 480 has achieved a 3DMark 11 Performance Score of 14,461 - not bad for a card worth $199.

At this performance level, AMD will have no issues with the RX 480 meeting the minimum VR spec, but it'll also handle 1080p and 1440p gaming like a champion. Again, for $199 to $229, depending on whether you want the 4GB or 8GB model. With VR headset sales set to expand over the coming years, AMD is positioning itself incredibly well for consumers. Sure, the GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 kick some serious ass, but not everyone has $400-$699 to spend on a video card - but $199? That's a huge market.

We have Radeon RX 480 samples coming soon, but we can't tell you when our review will be up - but stay tuned to TweakTown for more information on Polaris very soon.

Colorful impressed us so much at Computex 2016 with their range of GeForce GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 video cards, but now the company has made their GTX 1070 video cards official, with a few different variants.

The company has launched three GTX 1070 cards, with the iGameGTX1070 X-TOP-8G, followed by the iGameGTX1070 U-TOP-8G (guys, you need to use a space bar...) and of course, the Colorful GTX 1070-8G Founders Edition. All three cards don't vary from the 16nm FinFET-powered Pascal GPU, with its 1920 CUDA cores and 8GB of GDDR5 clocked at 8GHz on a 256-bit memory bus.

Colorful hasn't provided clock speeds just yet, but we should expect something special from the iGame-branded cards. We do know that both of the cards are based on the i-MSD from Colorful, which is the iGame-Modular Structure Design. The iGame-based cards have a 'new cooling base' and 8+2-phase power, with a newly designed cooling fan which is sure to keep the GP104-powered card nice and cool, even when hitting those huge overclocks.

Computex 2016 - Ugh, there were so many GeForce GTX 1080 cards at Computex 2016, that I literally had a nerd overload. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080 Founder's Edition is a beautiful card on its own, but the custom design cards are... well... just so freakin' beautiful. We have a small roundup video below that you can check out.

We caught a glimpse of what MSI were showing off, some of the cards from GIGABYTE, as well as the monster GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme Edition from ZOTAC. One of the new members on the block is Colorful, which most of you have probably never heard of. Colorful is a gigantic Chinese video card maker that should be sampling us in the very near future as the first media in the world outside of China to receive a Colorful video card. I even introduced Luke from Linus Tech Tips to Colorful, as I love his work on video (and he's a super-cool guy as well), so expect some major exposure from Colorful in the future.

MSI's cards impressed me, as I have their GTX 1080 GAMING X 8G in the house right now and have been benchmarking it for days. I also have the G1 GAMING edition of GIGABYTE's GeForce GTX 1080 which will be benchmarked next week. So expect a flood of GTX 1080 reviews before AMD flings their Polaris-based offerings led by the Radeon RX 480 into the wild later this month.

AMD released new drivers for the just launched Mirror's Edge: Catalyst today, and NVIDIA is hot on their heels.

Apart from preparing you for DICE's parkour game, the GeForce 368.39 set contains optimizations for the GTX 1070 releasing on Friday and Edge of Nowhere performance improvements for you Oculus Rift owners.

Mirror's Edge has seen performance complaints from some early players across the web, so hopefully between the two sets of drivers, the game is now in good shape.

AMD has just unleashed a new set of Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers, with the new 16.6.1 set of drivers including some optimizations for both Mirror's Edge Catalyst and Paragon. Not only that, but we have a new CrossFire driver for Dark Souls 3, too. You can download the new RSCE 16.6.1 drivers here.

As for the release notes, here's what to expect from Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.6.1:

Support for:

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is already a super-fast video card, but what happens when you crank the GP104 GPU to 2.5GHz on liquid nitrogen? Yeah, well GALAX has been the first to do so, using their overclocking skills on their own GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 HOF OC video card, as reported by Nordic Hardware.

GALAX drove the GPU right up to a huge 2.5GHz using LN2 cooling, matched up with the new Intel Core i7-6950X processor, but even at 2.5GHz, it couldn't beat the GTX 980 Ti and Titan X at 2.2GHz. But remember, we're in the early days of the GTX 1080, so we should expect much more in the future.

The GALAX GeForce GTX 1080 HOF OC rocks 2 x 8-pin PCIe power connectors, but now I have to wonder... when will we see 3GHz on a GTX 1080?

With NVIDIA already dominating with two next-gen video cards in the form of the GP104-based GeForce GTX 1080 and the newer, and far better value for money card in the GeForce GTX 1070... what's next? The GeForce GTX Titan X successor, that's what.

The GP102-400 GPU has been spotted, with the 'full fat' core that we all know and love. This is the GPU that should find its way onto the Titan X successor, and even the GTX 1080 Ti. Considering the $999 price on the Titan X when it launched, we can expect the Pascal-based successor to be priced at a similar level, or higher. At the similar $999 price, I don't see NVIDIA being able to use HBM2 for multiple reasons. First, the yields aren't great, and second; NVIDIA is using all of its HBM2 for the Tesla P100.

NVIDIA will most likely use GDDR5X on the Titan X, as there is - at least to me, no performance benefit of HBM2 right now. It would increase the cost of the card by at least 50%, and that's not what NVIDIA needs, or wants. But, with the full-fat GP102-400 GPU behind it, we should expect up to 50% more performance compared to the GTX 1080, which would be incredible. It would be a 4K 60FPS gaming card without a problem, but now we need to know - will it be offered in two variants? 8GB and 16GB? I think so.