Graphics Cards - Page 99

NVIDIA's RTX 4070 graphics card, which is expected to debut in April (likely in a couple of weeks), will be priced at $599 in the US, or so the latest rumor holds.

While that's not exactly affordable - far from it, really, you can still buy a whole (budget) PC for that - it's a lot less than previous speculation contended.

The GPU grapevine has been rife with mutterings about the RTX 4070 being priced as high as $750, or maybe $699, with those hoping for a $599 price tag being on the most optimistic end of the spectrum.

It looks like NVIDIA is prepping to release a range of new GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs soon, covering everything from mid-range to entry-level. With the non-Ti GeForce RTX 4070 set to arrive next month, the RTX 4060 Ti will release before the end of May, with the RTX 4060 and even the GeForce RTX 4050 set to follow.

The latter is news today, with MEGAsizeGPU stating that the desktop RTX 4050 is on track for a June release. Even though previous reports have noted that the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 4060 would launch in May, this new info puts the date for the RTX 4060 as "undecided."

The GeForce RTX 4050, like the RTX 3050 before it, will represent the entry-level model for the current Ada Lovelace generation. But, regarding the VRAM question, MEGAsizeGPU responded to a query by stating that the RTX 3050 will ship with 6GB. A step down from most Ampere-based RTX 3050 models available with 8GB, so this will undoubtedly be a point of contention if true.

A new report at Wccftech citing sources states that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and the GeForce RTX 4060 are expected to launch in May. This follows several rumors that the GeForce RTX 4070 launch is happening on April 13. So we're only a month or so away from the bulk of the GeForce RTX 40 Series - including mainstream models - being available to purchase.

The info doesn't stop there, as the report also includes some information relating to the GPU specs, with the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti set to use the AD106-350-A1 GPU, which features 4352 CUDA Cores and 8GB of GDDR6 memory running at 18 Gbps on a 128-bit bus offering 288 GB/s of bandwidth.

The latter may sound like a massive step down over the high-end models, but the addition of 32MB of L2 cache presents a massive increase over the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti. Regarding performance, the numbers point to RTX 3070 Ti-like numbers for the RTX 4060 Ti.

The PowerColor Liquid Devil Radeon RX 7900 XTX is now available with a steep MSRP of USD 1499. But, with that, you've got AMD's flagship RDNA 3 offering with high-end water cooling designed for extreme overclocking.

And that's precisely what renowned overclocker Roman "der8auer" Hartung has done, with his latest video putting the PowerColor Liquid Devil Radeon RX 7900 XTX to the test. And yeah, as per the headline, the GPU clocks can be pushed as high as 3.2 GHz - though the result is a power draw of 650W.

As a custom GPU the PowerColor Liquid Devil Radeon RX 7900 XTX features three 8-pin connectors, a new 14-layer high TG PCB, a 17-phase VRM design, and a 2+2 phase for the 24GB VRAM. It's the sort of build designed not only for extreme overclocking without the need to go the liquid nitrogen route but also unlocking the full potential of Navi 31 and the flagship RDNA 3 GPU.

Intel is releasing new Game On Drivers for its Intel Arc range of graphics cards at a steady clip, with the latest release adding support for the Resident Evil 4 Remake on PC.

With its low price point, the Intel Arc A750 is positioned as an affordable GeForce RTX 3060 competitor. With that, the new driver update Intel showcases the 1080p and 1440p performance in Resident Evil 4 with the Arc A750 using the game's "High" settings outperforming the RTX 3060.

Even though internal benchmarks should always be taken with a grain of salt, Intel adds that at 1440p, you're looking at an impressive 74% more performance per dollar with the Intel Arc A750, and it does so with a very solid 78 frames per second.

We've all lived through the GeForce RTX 30 Series generation, where the rise of cryptocurrencies and mining drove prices up and increased scarcity for GPUs. So this new interview with The Guardian is interesting in that it sees NVIDIA publicly distance itself from something that has negatively affected the PC gaming space.

Speaking with Michael Kagan, Chief Technology Officer at NVIDIA, he explicitly states that the whole crypto boom didn't "bring anything useful for society." Of course, this statement is also born from the current AI boom where NVIDIA hardware sits at the heart of AI technology like ChatGPT.

Even though crypto led to large volumes of sales for NVIDIA and increased scarcity and availability in most markets, the company attempted to minimize the impact on desktop sales by introducing LHR or "Lite Hash Rate" technologies in models like the GeForce RTX 3060.

When AMD announced its new flagship RDNA 3 GPUs last year, the Radeon 7900 XT and 7900 XTX, the company also briefly teased that it was developing FSR 3. Its next-generation FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 technology would, in effect, present an alternative to NVIDIA's DLSS 3 - specifically Frame Generation.

With FSR 2 being an open DLSS Super Resolution alternative, FSR 3 will follow suit - with the technology appearing at GDC 2023. For the still-in-development FSR 3, AMD aims to achieve a 2x performance increase over FSR 2 by creating new frames.

AMD outlined a high probability that each interpolated or generated pixel in a frame will have a sample. With no feedback loop, each interpolated frame will only be shown once. And with that, AMD notes that the recommendation for FSR 3 is that the input should be at least 60 frames per second.

The new GeForce Game Ready 531.41 WHQL driver can now be installed via the GeForce Experience app or directly from NVIDIA. If you plan on jumping into this weekend's Diablo IV Open Beta, it's big.

With the Early Access beta from last weekend being one of the most talked about gaming experiences for 2023, Diablo IV is shaping up to be one of the year's biggest releases. The Open Beta kicks off on March 24 via Battle.net on PC, and the GeForce Game Ready 531.41 WHQL driver adds DLSS 2 enhancements for those rocking a GeForce RTX graphics card.

As per NVIDIA, with DLSS 2, players will "experience Diablo IV at the highest detail levels and resolutions," which is awesome to see, as normally, Betas for games don't warrant driver support. At launch on June 6, Diablo IV will also make use of DLSS 3 and Frame Generation, with ray-tracing support also on the cards.

It's been less than a day since we got official word from NVIDIA that it's launching six new desktop and laptop workstation GPUs built on the new Ada Lovelace architecture.

The most notable is the new desktop NVIDIA RTX 4000 Small Form Factor (SFF) Ada Generation GPU that features a small 2-slot design, 6144 CUDA Cores, 20GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, and a power requirement of only 70W.

Compared to the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPU, though, the RTX 4000 is a sizable step-down, with the more extensive (and more expensive) card offering workstation power that just about fully taps into Ada's capabilities, with 18176 CUDA Cores, 48 GB of GDDR6X memory, on a 384-bit bus and a 300W power requirement.

With the success of The Last of Us TV show on HBO, interest is undoubtedly riding high for the upcoming March 28 release of The Last of Us Part I on PC. A remake for the PlayStation classic that's set to arrive with a suite of visual updates and options that will take advantage of modern graphics cards.

And on that note, in addition to offering The Last of Us Part I as part of a new Radeon bundle, AMD's new Radeon Adrenalin Edition 23.3.2 driver release provides full support for the game, alongside support for another excellent remake, the recently released Resident Evil 4 Remake from Capcom.

The update, which supports all current Radeon GPUs - including the new Radeon RX 7000 Series - has a few more notable additions. Software-wise, there's support for more Vulkan extensions, a popular API used in titles like DOOM Eternal and Red Dead Redemption II.

Intel's Arc graphics cards might be in serious trouble, or at least that's what one well-known leaker has heard from sources on the grapevine.

That would be Moore's Law is Dead (MLID) on YouTube, who has spoken to various contacts purportedly in the know regarding all things Intel, and aired some rumors that are troubling, to say the least.

If MLID's sources are right, it's entirely possible that we won't see an Arc Alchemist refresh this year. Revamped Alchemist graphics cards were rumored to be set to debut late in 2023, but apparently, this is no longer happening. What we might still get, though, are some tweaked spins on Alchemist cards with maybe clocks bumped up a bit, but nothing like a full revamp.

With the rise of AI research, models, and tools and NVIDIA GPU hardware being at the center of it all, today's news of six new NVIDIA RTX Ada Lovelace architecture GPUs for laptops and desktops is surprising. But also, not that surprising.

As per NVIDIA, these workstation GPUs have been created for "the new era of AI, design, and the metaverse." The new NVIDIA RTX 5000, RTX 4000, RTX 3500, RTX 3000, and RTX 2000 Ada Generation laptop GPUs take full advantage of the latest RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and CUDA Core advancements while tapping into the up to 2x efficiency of Ada Lovelace.

We've seen this in the discrete GPU space, with Ada-based cards presenting the most power-efficient products. And by a considerable margin too.

When NVIDIA announced the Ada Lovelace architecture and the GeForce RTX 40 Series, it mentioned a new bit of technology called Shader Execution Reordering (SER) to improve shader scheduling. This alone could substantially improve performance, making it the perfect tool for real-time ray tracing and path tracing in games.

We've seen the results in the impressive Portal with RTX remaster from NVIDIA, with path-tracing set to arrive in Cyberpunk 2077 sometime in the future. SER, like other technologies, is the sort of thing that needs to be tapped into as part of a game's code and engine.

With DLSS 3 and other RTX technologies coinciding with GDC, NVIDIA has announced that the RTX Path Tracing SDK is now available to all developers.

Only yesterday, we reported on a rumor that the upcoming releases of the more mainstream and affordable GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4060 GPUs could see a shift to the more traditional 8-pin power connectors. A shift away from the new 12VHPWR connectors is seen in the current GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs line-up.

With the lower power requirements and rumors that some GeForce RTX 4070 models are rated at 200W, it's a move that makes sense. And also one that looks true with packaging for an Inno3D GeForce RTX 4070 leaking out that specifically mentions the use of a single 8-pin power connector.

The image appeared on Chinese social media, shared by @9550pro on Twitter, where we also learned that this specific AIB Inno3D GeForce RTX 4070 features a 2-slot design with two fans.

Raja Koduri has been a key architect behind Intel's recent push to enter the discrete GPU market with the Intel Arc line of graphics cards.

Now it looks like Raja's time at Intel has come to an end with the announcement that he's leaving the company at the end of the month to work at "a new software company around generative AI for gaming, media, and entertainment," according to Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel.

In response to the announcement, Raja wrote, "Thank you, Pat and Intel, for many cherished memories and incredible learning over the past five years. Will be embarking on a new chapter in my life, doing a software startup." Confirming that he's making a move away from hardware to software.

The Nintendo Switch will get its successor at some point, though it sounds like Nintendo is in no rush to bring the eventual Switch 2 to the market. The Switch is on track to become one of the best-selling consoles ever. Still, its underlying hardware is based on aging NVIDIA Tegra technology featuring Maxwell-based CUDA Cores. And this is why many wonder what a next-gen Switch might look like.

According to a new bit of info from Korean-based insider @OreXda, the NVIDIA Tegra chip for the Nintendo Switch successor will be built using Samsung's 5nm process - 5LPP, or Low Power Plus. Previous rumors suggested that the custom chip in the Switch 2 would be based on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture - which uses Samsung 8nm or TSMC 7nm - so this would be a big step up.

It's been reported that in the past that a "Switch Pro," using a custom version of the NVIDIA Tegra Orin chip, which is considerably more powerful than current Switch hardware, was in development. Though with the arrival of the OLED refresh, and the age of the Switch, it's looking like Nintendo is moving on to the Switch 2 proper.

NVIDIA's CEO isn't planning to give up his job anytime soon, with Jensen Huang making it clear that his ambition is to be chief executive at Team Green for a long, long time yet.

Huang just turned 60 last month, but that hasn't got him thinking about retirement. Far from it, as in an interview with CNBC, he expressed a desire to continue in his current role for another three or four decades.

That's not enough for Huang, mind. Even though he'll be 90 or 100 at that point, he wants to keep going as CEO beyond that, hoping that the technology will be around to let him become some kind of robot - and stay at the helm of NVIDIA for another 40 years, perhaps. Taking Team Green into the next century, of course...

The ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition graphics card is the latest collaboration between ASUS and Noctua. The graphics card uses impressive Noctua fans and a revamped heatsink design to improve cooling and offer some quiet high-end gaming.

Most modern GPUs, especially GeForce RTX 4080 cards, use three slim 110mm fans - the ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition includes two Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 120mm fans with that classic Noctua brown look. According to Noctua, the heatsink for the RTX 4080 Noctua Edition has been redesigned from the ground up compared to the RTX 3070 and RTX 3080 Noctua Edition cards.

In addition to five as opposed to two 8mm heat pipes, a vapor chamber is added for "significantly better cooling performance than the original TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 4080." And it's here where the price point for this custom RTX 4080 comes into play, with the ASUS GeForce RTX 4080 Noctua Edition being sold for USD 1649 versus the TUF RTX 4080's MSRP price point of USD 1199.

According to a new report by Igor's Lab, the upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4060 GPUs from NVIDIA could see models launched with the traditional 8-pin power connectors. Until now, all GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards have used the new 12VHPWR connector - which has seen all cards ship with 8-pin adaptors.

With the GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 representing more mainstream options for the Ada Lovelace generation, going the 8-pin route would simplify upgrading or swapping out GPUs in many PC builds.

The report indicates that when it comes to the GeForce RTX 4070, OC cards with a power rating of up to 225W will use the 12VHPWR connector or two 8-pin connectors, with the non-OC 200W models set to use a standard 8-pin connector. And with that, NVIDIA is expected still to adopt the 12VHPWR connector for Founders Edition models.

With releases around the corner, it looks like we've got that final confirmation on the memory makeup for the GeForce RTX 4070 and GeForce RTX 4060 - with an accidental leak coming via GIGABYTE.

It looks like version "23.03.02.01" of the company's GIGABYTE Control Center software for managing motherboards and graphics cards adds support for two new GPUs that haven't been announced. The GIGABYTE RTX 4070 AERO OC 12GB (GV-N4070AERO OC-12G), and the GIGABYTE RTX 4060 GAMING OC 8GB (GV-N4060GAMING OC-8GD).

There's been a little bit of a debate and back and forth relating to the VRAM capacities of what many see as the two mid-range options from NVIDIA, and with this, we now know that the baseline GeForce RTX 4070 will feature 12 GB of VRAM just like the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. This is good news because, much like its predecessor, the RTX 3070, it's set to be a high-performance 1440p option.