EVGA just confirmed that it is quitting the GPU business for good, citing disrespect and unfair behaviour by NVIDIA!
Here is what we know so far…
EVGA Won’t Produce Next-Gen NVIDIA Graphics Cards!
EVGA has been a long-time NVIDIA partner for over 20 years, and exclusively produces only graphics cards based on their GPUs.
But on 16 September 2022, the veteran NVIDIA partner confirmed that it was quitting the graphics card business for good in a terse community forum post.
EVGA will continue to sell the current GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards, and support their existing customers.
However, it will no longer produce the next-generation GeForce RTX 40-series (Lovelace) graphics cards.
Hi all,
You may have heard some news regarding the next generation products from EVGA. Please see below for a message on future products and s
EVGA will not carry the next generation graphics cards.
EVGA will continue to support the existing current generation products.
EVGA will continue to provide the current generation products.
EVGA is committed to our customers and will continue to offer sales and support on the current lineup. Also, EVGA would like to say thank you to our great community for the many years of support and enthusiasm for EVGA graphics cards.
EVGA Management
The majority – about 78% – of EVGA’s revenue comes from sales of its NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards, which will run out eventually.
But the company does not plan to layoff its employees even after they finish selling their stock of RTX 30-series graphics cards. Instead, it will focus on other products like motherboards and power supplies, although it does not plan to expand into new product lines.
EVGA is not even entertaining the idea of “working with Intel or AMD” to produce graphics cards. It will quit the graphics card business for good.
The California-based company currently employs about 280 people worldwide, and employees currently working on graphics cards will be reassigned to other departments, although it also expects some “attrition” to take place.
EVGA Quits GPU Business Over NVIDIA Disrespect!
While EVGA did not officially mention the reasons for its drastic decision, it was apparently over the way NVIDIA disrespected them and behaved unfairly.
EVGA CEO Andrew Han pointed out that the margin on graphics cards is incredibly thin, and they make 300% more profit on power supplies. Yet NVIDIA was a bad partner to them.
NVIDIA would not tell EVGA their cost price for GPUs before announcing the price of cards like the RTX 3080, making it difficult for EVGA to figure out how much to charge for their own cards.
NVIDIA sends journalists drivers for the new graphics cards before sending them to EVGA
NVIDIA keeps EVGA in the dark about how many GPUs it would receive.
NVIDIA competes directly with EVGA with their Founders Edition cards. EVGA complained that it had to sell high-end cards like the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 at a loss of “hundreds of dollars” to compete with the Founders Edition cards.
NVIDIA blocks partners from selling cards below a price floor for some models, and above a price ceiling for other models.
Han reportedly said that “the decision to stop working with NVIDIA was easy, because working with NVIDIA was so hard”.
This discontent had been simmering for a long time, and NVIDIA leadership was well-aware as far back as April 2022.
When asked for a response to those allegations, NVIDIA spokesperson Bryan Del Rizzo said :
We’ve had a great partnership with EVGA over the years and will continue to support them on our current generation of products. We wish Andrew [Han] and our friends at EVGA all the best.
Even though EVGA has been with NVIDIA since the RIVA TNT2 days in 1999, the GPU giant probably couldn’t care less as they can still count on their other “partners” to fill in the hole.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Acer just unveiled the 2021 Predator Orion 7000 – an upgradeable liquid-cooled gaming PC!
Here is our first look at the 2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming PC!
2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 : First Look!
Acer just introduced their new 2021 Predator Orion 7000 gaming PC (P07-640) at their 2021 “Made for Humanity” Global Press Conference.
Here is our first look at this awesome-looking liquid-cooled gaming PC!
2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 : Key Features
Here is a quick overview of its key features :
Performance
The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 is powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, and up to 64 GB DDR5-4000 RAM!
This makes it one of the most powerful gaming PC in the market today! And it is upgradeable, so you can upgrade to the next best thing that comes along!
Cooling
An AIO CPU liquid cooler, with three Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans and advanced airflow management keep system components cool, even in the most demanding gaming conditions.
The improved FrostBlade fans’ thin and curved blades are designed to smoothly increase airflow without creating turbulence, while their wear resistant and fully-sealed rifle bearings ensure that they will keep spinning for many years to come.
Design
The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 comes with an EMI-compliant chassis with transparent, tempered glass side panels.
The design showcases two massive 140 mm (5.5-inch) Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans in the front, and a 120 mm (4.7-inch) Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fan at the back, which can be lit and configured with a dazzling array of ARGB colours.
Accenting the bold lighting and design are an illuminated teal blue Predator logo on the front panel, with an easily-accessible teal prism-refraction power button.
Storage
The rig comes with ample storage bays, with these storage options :
1 x 2.5-inch USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C hot swap drive bay
2 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD bay (up to 1 TB each)
2 x 3.5-inch SATA 3 hard disk drives (up to 3 TB each)
Connectivity
The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 also comes with lots of wireless and wired connectivity features built-in :
Intel Killer 2.5G LAN port
Intel Wi-Fi 6E (AX211) with 2×2 MU-MIMO technology
In the front of the chassis, it offers these easy-to-reach ports :
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port
2 x audio jacks
At the back of the chassis, you will find these additional ports :
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port
2 x USB 2.0 ports
3 x audio jacks
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Acer just introduced the 2021 Predator Triton and Predator Helios line of gaming laptops!
Take a look at these brand new gaming laptops and find out what they offer!
2021 Predator Triton + Helios Gaming Laptops Are Here!
On 30 September 2021, Acer unveiled the 2021 Predator Triton and Predator Helios line of gaming laptops!
These newly-refreshed gaming laptops now offer a new level of gaming performance, with even better displays!
Let’s start with their official launch briefing video…
2021 Predator Triton 500 SE
The 2021 Predator Triton 500 SE (Special Edition) is a discreetly-designed gaming laptop that look like professional business laptops, but will blast the competition out of the water in any game!
The new Predator Triton 500 SE is incredibly powerful, pairing an 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 processor with the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3080 GPU, with up to 32 GB of fast DDR4 memory.
Its 16-inch IPS display offers a large work space with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. No one would possibly guess that this large, high-resolution display is also fantastic for gaming, especially when it supports a 165 Hz refresh rate!
To ensure that it stays cool, even under the most strenuous work or gaming conditions, the Predator Triton 500 SE employs the Acer Vortex Flow cooling design, which features :
a triple-fan cooling system
5th Generation AeroBlade™ 3D fans
five dedicated heat pipes
strategically-placed intake and exhaust vents
Best of all – it offers up to 12-hours of battery life, in a 19.9 mm thin all-metal chassis that weighs only 2.4 kg! This lets you use the Predator Triton 500 SE for a full day of work or game on-the-go!
Why waste money on two separate laptops – one for work, one for play, when you can use the Predator Triton 500 SE for both? That’s why I’m especially excited about the 2021 Predator Triton 500 SE.
Acer is offering two models, priced at RM12,999 and RM8,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E3100G
Ports
2 x USB Type C ports with one port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
– one port supports power-off USB charging
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader
SD Card Reader
Audio
DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam
720p HD webcam
Dimensions
358.5 mm wide
262.4 mm deep
19.9 mm thick
Weight
2.4 kg
Price
RM12,999
~ US$3,110
~ £2,306
~ A$4,294
~ S$4,221
RM8,999
~ US$2,153
~ £1,596
~ A$2,972
~ S$2,922
2021 Predator Helios 500
For those who want the ultimate desktop-like gaming performance in a laptop, the 2021 Predator Helios 500 is the answer.
The top-of-the-line model pairs up to 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11980HK processor, with an NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3080 GPU with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, together with up to 64 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of fast SSD storage!
The Intel® Core™ i9 model comes with a magnificent 17.3-inch Mini LED display, with 4K resolution and support for full-array local dimming!
The Intel® Core™ i7 model, on the other hand, comes with a super-fast Full HD display with a 360 Hz refresh rate and a 3 ms response time.
The 2021 Predator Helios 500 is kept cool by Predator PowerGem – a custom metal-alloy polymer on the CPU, as well as Acer Vortex Flow technology with two 5th Generation AeroBlade™ 3D fans.
The RGB-lit keys can also be further customised by the discerning gamer, who can swap them for Acer Racing or MagForce keys (featuring MagTek mechanical switches).
If you really want the best gaming laptop money can buy, definitely look at the Predator Helios 500.
Acer is offering two models priced at RM19,999 and RM13,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E3100G
Ports
2 x USB Type C ports with one port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
– one port supports power-off USB charging
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini DP 1.4 port
1 x 3.5 mm headphone jack
1 x 3.5 mm microphone jack
Card Reader
SD Card Reader
Audio
DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam
720p HD webcam
Dimensions
400.0 mm wide
319.2 mm deep
35.3 mm thick
Weight
3.9 kg
Price
RM19,999
~ US$4,785
~ £3,552
~ A$6,614
~ S$6,494
RM13,999
~ US$3,349
~ £2,486
~ A$4,630
~ S$4,546
2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (17.3-inch)
Those on a tighter budget but still want a large gaming laptop, should consider the 2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (17.3-inch).
Now refreshed with the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11800H processor and up to the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3070 GPU, it comes with two excellent 17.3-inch display options :
a 2560 x 1440 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, or
a 1920 x 1080 display with a 360 Hz refresh rate, and 100% sRGB colour gamut
It comes with 16GB of RAM, which can be expanded to 32GB, and up to 1TB of fast SSD storage, which can be expanded with another SSD and even a HDD!
To ensure it stays cool even in the most demanding gaming session, it features dual AeroBlade™ 3D fans, which can be monitored and controlled by the PredatorSense app.
The 17.3-inch Predator Helios 300 is definitely a great option for those who are looking for a good gaming laptop with a large display at an affordable price point.
Acer is offering two models priced at RM8,999 and RM7,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E2600
Ports
1 x USB Type C port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port supporting power-off USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini-DP 1.4 port
1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader
None
Audio
DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam
720p HD webcam
Dimensions
398.0 mm wide
375.3 mm deep
26.55 mm thick
Weight
2.9 kg
Price
RM8,999
~ US$2,153
~ £1,596
~ A$2,972
~ S$2,922
RM7,999
~ US$1,913
~ £1,418
~ A$2,463
~ S$2,599
2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (15.6-inch)
The smaller 2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 offers great gaming performance in a compact, portable laptop for gaming on-the-go.
Now refreshed with the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 or Core i7 and up to the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3070 GPU, it comes with two excellent 15.6-inch display options :
a 2560 x 1440 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, or
a 1920 x 1080 display with a 360 Hz refresh rate, and 100% sRGB colour gamut
It comes with up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of fast SSD storage, which can be expanded with another SSD and even a HDD!
To ensure it stays cool even in the most demanding gaming session, it features dual AeroBlade™ 3D fans, which can be monitored and controlled by the PredatorSense app.
The 15.6-inch Predator Helios 300 is an affordable option for those who are looking for great gaming performance in a more portable form factor for on-the-go gaming.
Acer is offering three models priced at RM9,999, RM7,699 and RM6,299, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E2600
Ports
1 x USB Type C port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port supporting power-off USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini-DP 1.4 port1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader
None
Audio
DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam
720p HD webcam
Dimensions
363.0 mm wide
255.0 mm deep
22.9 mm thick
Weight
2.3 kg
Price
RM9,999
~ US$2,392
~ £1,774
~ A$3,306
~ S$3,249
RM7,699
~ US$1,842
~ £1,366
~ A$2,546
~ S$2,502
RM6,299
~ US$1,507
~ £1,117
~ A$2,083
~ S$2,047
2021 Predator Gaming Laptop Deals!
Acer is offering several deals for the 2021 Predator gaming laptops :
Now until 6 October 2021 : Any purchase of the new Predator Helios 300 will be entitled to free gifts worth more than RM1,000 including Predator Gaming Utility Backpack, Predator Galea 350 Headset and limited edition merchandise.
Now until 6 October 2021 : Any purchase of the Core i9 variant of Predator Helios 300 (PH315-54-9763) will receive an additional Predator Gaming Chair worth RM1,299 for FREE!
From 30 October until 6 November 2021 : Any purchase of Predator Triton 500 SE / Predator Helios 500 will be entitled to free gifts worth more than RM2,000 including Predator Gaming Chair, Predator Gaming Utility Backpack, Predator Galea 350 Headset.
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Acer just introduced the 2021 Nitro 5 gaming laptop, powered by Ryzen 9 and GeForce RTX 3080!
Here is what you need to know about this new super-fast Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop!
2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Ryzen 9 + RTX 3080 FTW!
The 2021 Acer Nitro 5 just got a MASSIVE upgrade! You can now opt for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX mobile processor, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics!
It even comes with two DDR4-3200 slots with up to 32 GB memory, and two M.2 slots of PCIe NVMe SSDs! On top of that, it comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Killer Ethernet E2600 connectivity built-in.
The 2021 Nitro 5 boasts a 15.6-inch IPS display with a 165 Hz refresh rate with a QHD resolution, or a stupendously fast 360 Hz refresh rate with a FHD resolution. Both options offer a 3 ms response time for minimal ghosting.
To ensure the 2021 Nitro 5 can withstand even the most intense gaming sessions, it features a revamped thermal system with dual fans and four exhaust fans. On top of that, Acer CoolBoost and NitroSense lets you monitor fan speed, and increase it when you need that extra performance.
It also comes with a multitude of ports – a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port with power off charging capability, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
Acer is introducing six variants, in three phases, and here are their key specifications :
2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Pre-Order Deals!
As part of their Zero to Nitro campaign, Acer Malaysia is offering these pre-order deals for the 2021 Nitro 5!
27 to 29 April 2021
Get RM 200 TNG e-Wallet top-up, a Predator Hybrid Backpack, a Predator Galea 350 gaming headset and a Predator Mousepad worth RM 967 when you purchase :
Get RM 200 TNG e-Wallet top-up, a Predator Utility Backpack, a Predator Galea 350 gaming headset and a Predator Mousepad worth RM 967 when you purchase :
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A scammer just cheated a scalper out of FIVE GeForce RTX 30 series cards in a COD deal!
Find out how he got cheated in a Cash-On-Delivery exchange, and learn from his mistake!
Scammer vs Scalper : Five RTX 30 Series Cards Gone!
Scalpers have been taking advantage of the graphics card shortage, and massive increase in GPU mining, to make a killing on every graphics card they lay their hands on.
But the high prices and massive profits associated with graphics cards have also attracted scammers, who prowl online marketplaces looking for their greedy marks…
One scalper today shared how he was cheated of five NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. What was even more shocking – he got scammed in a Cash On Delivery deal!
What Did The Scalper Lose?
The scalper lost five GIGABYTE graphics cards :
RTX 3070 AORUS Master (S/N : 210841066018)
RTX 3070 AORUS Master (S/N : lost)
RTX 3070 Gaming OC (S/N : 210841068841)
RTX 3070 Gaming OC : (S/N 210341039296)
RTX 3060 Gaming OC : (S/N 210441056468)
How Much Did The Scalper Lose?
We have no idea how much the deal was supposed to be, but he was quoting freaking high prices of :
RM4,699 (~US$1,135) for ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3060
RM5,500 (~US$1,329) for ASUS RTX 3060 Ti TUF Gaming
As you can tell, that is something like 2.5X more than what the cards really cost.
Based on that, we guesstimate that the entire deal was probably “worth” RM 34,000 (~US$8,200) to the scalper.
How Did The Scammer Fool The Scalper?
Here’s the interesting part – how the scammer fooled the scalper in a Cash On Delivery (COD) deal.
The scalper is not very clear about certain aspects, but from what we can gather with some investigations of our own…
The scammer arranged to meet the scalper in a shopping centre, probably to gain his trust.
He made an Instant Transfer, which failed. He probably set the transaction limit low.
He blamed the bank transfer transaction limit, and said he would ask his wife (???) to change the limit.
He then offered to transfer the money via a CIMB IBG GIRO transfer.
The scammer likely initiated a Scheduled Transaction (which can be cancelled), and showed the scalper the online transaction receipt.
By giving the scalper only a glance at the transaction receipt, or covering up the scheduled part of the receipt, he conveys the impression he had already transferred the money.
To his credit, the scalper checked his own bank account and saw that the money was not deposited.
The scammer then called the bank in front of the scalper, who confirmed that a GIRO transfer cannot be cancelled.
The scammer sent the scalper a picture of his identity card and bank transaction receipt (probably through WhatsApp), to seal the deal.
Once he walked away with the five graphics cards, the scammer quickly deleted the picture of his identity card and the bank transaction receipt, and cancelled the scheduled transaction.
So that was how the scalper went from potentially making a killing on his five GeForce graphics cards, to getting slaughtered by a scammer in a Cash On Delivery deal!
The scalper wondered if there was “Black Magic” involved. The truth is – the scammer used his greed to stop him from just walking away with his cards.
What Do We Know About The Scammer?
The scalper provided these details about the scammer who cheated him of his five graphics cards :
Surname : Ng
Race : Chinese
Identifying Features : Scar below right eye, tattoo on back of neck
Identity Card Number (partial) : 800831
State of Origin : Johor
Mobile Number : 013-277-6995
Vehicle Type : Honda HRV (Charcoal colour)
Vehicle Number Plate : 3553 or 5335
We have to point out that we cannot vouch for the authenticity of the scalper’s claims, or the details he shared.
Chinese Guy , Have Scar below right eye , tattoo behind neck
Beware of this person phone number 013-277-6995 Surname NG
IC No 800831, ic from Johor, Driving Honda HRV Charcoal Colour car plate could be (3553 or 5335) security doesn’t allow to take the file , too blur , i can only remember that, This person contacted me at Carousell ,mainly fishing graphic card seller in Carousell, couldn’t speak english , starting he will text in malay , He is scamming a lot of Graphic Card , Im a seller , i met him and COD at Cheras Connaught Avenue and Eko Cheras, his tactic is he will make instant transfer first , then failed, then he say he will ask his wife to change the limit , and then he will transfer you CIMB IBG GIRO transfer, and cancel it (after you leave) , i did check my bank account , money is not in, after that just in front of you he call the bank , the bank said once GIRO transfer has been made it cannot be cancel , he will ask u to snap his car plate no , but later give more excuse say that his wife drove away the car, but he came alone, im not sure is there any Black Magic ,he will keep on mentioned about his Wife he will send you the receipt and ic , he was nervous too , after he send me his ic , his uc image face was totally covered , after sending u the receipt he will quickly leave within a sec but he will delete the IC and Receipt , after the next sec you leave , so u are not able to trace him. mainly talking about mining have few farm in Seremban, and how do police trace using a thermal gun, evolving from using old bitcoin mine machine to graphic card, want to get 60 pieces, as a victim , i know that this is very stupid but I hope that no one will be the next victim after me.
5 pieces of graphic card has been scammed
rtx 3070 aorus master SN210841066018
RTX 3070 AORUS MASTER SERIES NUMBER LOST
RTX 3070 GAMING OC SN210841068841
RTX 3070 GAMING OC SN210341039296
RTX 3060 GAMING OC SN210441056468
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Rainbow Six Siege now has a new NVIDIA Reflex patch which reduces system latency for GeForce gamers!
Find out what NVIDIA Reflex is all about, and how it reduces system latency on Rainbow Six Siege!
NVIDIA Reflex : How Can It Help In Rainbow Six Siege?
Like NVIDIA Ultra Low Latency (NULL) mode, Reflex prevents the CPU from processing faster than the GPU, eliminating extra frames from being queued up for rendering, which would normally increase render latency.
The difference really is this – by integrating Reflex into Rainbow Six Siege, the GeForce graphics driver can control the amount of back pressure the CPU receives from the render queue and other later stages of the pipeline.
Once Rainbow Six Siege has been patched, the Reflex Low Latency Mode adjusts the game engine work to complete “just in time” for rendering. This eliminates the GPU render queue, and reduces CPU back pressure.
NVIDIA Reflex In Rainbow Six Siege : How Much Improvement?
According to NVIDIA, the Reflex patch can reduce system latency for GeForce gamers by as much as 30% in the Vulkan version of Rainbow Six Siege.
This slow-motion video from NVIDIA demonstrates the low latency benefits of playing Rainbow Six Siege with NVIDIA Reflex enabled.
It also shows that while it works on regular 60 Hz displays, the effect is most pronounced with higher refresh rates.
Obviously, most people will not be gaming on 360 Hz displays, as this video demonstrates, but you should see significant reductions in input lag with 120 Hz or 144 Hz refresh rates.
How To Get NVIDIA Reflex On Rainbow Six Siege?
Update Rainbow Six Siege with the latest patch.
Install GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89 (or newer), which also adds Resizable BAR support.
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NVIDIA finally released Resizable BAR support, and it is currently limited to RTX 30 series graphics cards only.
Here is what you need to know about Resizable BAR, and how to get your FREE performance boost!
NVIDIA Resizable BAR : What Is It?
Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.
CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. This of it as an “data dump” for stuff like textures, shaders and geometry.
Since this “data dump” is limited to 256 MB, the CPU can only send texture, shader and geometry data as and when the GPU requires them.
This introduces some latency – delay from when the GPU requires the data, and the CPU send them.
Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory greatly expands the size of that data dump, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.
Instead of transferring data when requested by the GPU, the CPU processes and stores the data directly in the graphics memory.
Graphics assets can be transferred to graphics memory in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.
Do note that Resizable BAR will not increase memory bandwidth.
What it does is let the CPU directly access the entire GPU frame buffer memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “dump”. That reduces latency because the graphics assets are now accessible by the GPU at all times.
NVIDIA Resizable BAR : Delayed From February 2021!
AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.
It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.
On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.
They finally released Resizable Bar support on 30 March 2021, through GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.
It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.
However, it’s not as simple as just installing GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.
The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.
The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.
So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!
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HP just unveiled their 2021 OMEN 15 gaming laptop, codenamed Valkyrie – powered by both AMD and NVIDIA!
2021 HP OMEN 15 (Valkyrie) Gaming Laptop
Codenamed Valkyrie, the 2021 HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop is a 15.6-inch laptop built with serious gaming in mind, with a sleek and modern minimalistic design!
15.6-inch IPS Display
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with a large 15.6-inch IPS display, with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.
You can opt for a 144 Hz refresh rate, as well as a premium 144 Hz display with 300 nits brightness and 72% NTSC colour gamut.
Gaming Performance
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor, and paired with up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics!
It is kept cool by the OMEN Tempest Cooling Technology, with 3-sided venting and 5-way airflow, to ensure maximum performance even during prolonged gaming sessions!
Memory + Storage
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with up to 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory, in dual-channel mode for maximum performance.
You can equip it with up to a 1 TB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD, or up to two 256 GB SSDs in RAID 0 mode for super-fast transfers.
Connectivity
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with Gigabit LAN wired connectivity built in, and offers either Intel Wi-Fi 6 or Realtek Wi-Fi 5 wireless connectivity.
Audio
You do not have to rely on headphones for maximum gaming enjoyment. The new OMEN 15 comes with Bang & Olufsen speakers and support for DTS:X Ultra!
Gaming Keyboard
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with an island-style backlit keyboard with integrated numeric keypad.
You have the option of simple dragon red backlighting, or RGB backlighting with 4 independent zones.
2021 HP OMEN 15 (Valkyrie) : Specifications + Options
The 2021 HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop comes with these specifications and configuration options :
Up to 1 TB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD
Up to 2 x 256 GB PCIe NVMe TLC SSDs
Card Reader
SD card reader
Audio
Bang & Olfusen dual speakers
DTS:X Ultra support
Networking
Gigabit LAN
Wireless Options
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0
Realtek Wi-Fi 5 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports
1 x USB 3.0 Type C with DisplayPort 1.4
1 x USB 3.0 Type A with Sleep + Charge
2 x USB 3.0 Type A
1 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x headphone / mic combo port
1 x Mini DisplayPort
1 x HDMI 2.0a
Camera
HD camera with dual-array digital mic
IR thermal sensor
Keyboard Options
1-zone dragon red backlit keyboard
4-zone RGB backlit keyboard
Touchpad
HP Imagepad Touchpad
Battery Options
6-cell Li-Po, 70.9 Wh
3-cell Li-Po, 52.5 Wh
Charger
150 / 200 watt charger
Dimensions
357.96 mm wide
239.7 mm deep
22.5 mm thick
Weight
2.37 kg
2021 HP OMEN 15 : Price + Availability
The new HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop has a starting price of RM 3,899 (about US$965 / £684 / A$1,220 / S$1,272).
It comes with 2-years of Accidental Protection Damage warranty, and is available from the HP Online Store in Malaysia right now.
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HP just revealed the 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop, powered by AMD and NVIDIA! Here are the details…
2021 HP OMEN 25L Gaming Desktop Revealed!
The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop packages the latest AMD Ryzen processors and NVIDIA GeForce graphics in a slim, minimalistic design that will fit right into any modern home.
On top of using branded gaming components, it is also designed to be easily upgradable, and software-customisable via the OMEN Command Center.
Performance
The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop is built around the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 9 or Ryzen 7 processor, paired with up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card.
All that is kept cool by Cooler Master cooling solutions – you can opt for a 92 mm round air cooler, or a 120 mm liquid cooled radiator.
It also features redesigned elevating 15 mm legs, and a new raised graphics slot, to improve system air intake.
Memory + Storage
HP offers up to 32 GB (64 GB in some countries) of Intel XMP-certified HyperX DDR4 memory, with and without RGB lighting.
You can equip it with up to a 2 TB WD Black PCIe TLC SSD, with up to two additional 2 TB hard disk drives for maximum storage capacity.
Connectivity
The HP OMEN 25L comes with both Gigabit LAN wired connectivity, as well as WiFi-6 wireless connectivity through its built-in AX 2×2 card.
DTS Headphone: X Technology
The HP OMEN 25L supports DTS Headphone: X technology, which gives you spatially-accurate 3D sound through any headphones or earbuds.
Micro-ATX Upgradability
The galvanised steel chassis is designed to offer easy tool-less access, and easy cable management. It also lets you easily upgrade the OMEN 25L with aftermarket parts.
2021 HP OMEN 25L : Specifications + Configuration Options
The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop comes with these configuration options :
Specifications
HP OMEN 25L
Colour
Shadow Black
Design Options
Glass Side Cover (optional dust filter)
Metal Side Cover (optional dust filter)
OS Options
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
FreeDOS 3.0
CPU Options
AMD Ryzen 9 3900
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Chipset
AMD B450
RAM Options
Up to 32 GB HyperX DDR4 RGB
Lighting
Up to 32 GB HyperX DDR4
GPU Options
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER
Storage Options
Up to 2 TB WD Black PCIe SSD
Up to 2 x 2 TB 7200 RPM HDD
Audio
DTS Headphone:X support
Networking
AX WiFi-6 and Bluetooth 5.1 combo
Gigabit LAN Ethernet
Top I/O Ports
2 x USB 3.0 Type A
1 x audio combo jack
Rear I/O Ports
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A
2 x USB 3.0 Type A
3 x audio ports
1 x RJ45 LAN port
Power Supply
500 Watt ATX power supply
Security
Kensington Security Lock Slot
Dimensions
165.1 mm wide
394.5 mm deep
433.1 mm tall
Weight
11.5 kg
2021 HP OMEN 25L : Price + Availability
The new HP OMEN 25L desktop has a starting price of RM 6,899 (about US$1,707 / £1,205 / A$2,154 / S$2,252).
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Take a look at why this cybercafe converted their GeForce RTX 3080 gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs!
Cybercafe Converts RTX 3080 PCs Into Cryptomining Rigs!
The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the cybercafe industry, with many closing down and selling their gaming PCs and accessories.
However, this Vietnamese cybercafe did something different – they began converting their GeForce RTX 3080 gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs!
The Star Gaming cybercafe in Ho Chi Minh City showed how they were transforming their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, converting their gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs.
Instead of hosting gamers, the cybercafe is now hosting a slew of new cryptomining rigs.
It is possible that they are also building completely new cryptomining rigs. In this picture, you can see that each rig holds at least eight GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.
How Much Money Can Each RTX 3080 Cryptomining Rig Make?
Just how much money can this cybercafe make from their RTX 3080 cryptomining rig?
Officially, GeForce RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.
So eight of them would cost approximately $9,592. Let’s call it a flat $10,000 for the whole 8-card rig, plus power supply.
The average commercial electricity rate in Vietnam is VND 2,666 per kWh (about US$0.12 per kWh). So electricity should cost about $225 per month. Let’s make that $300 per month (+33%) to account for cooling costs.
As of 21 February 2021, each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 86.5 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.18100503 ETH worth US$361 every month.
So each 8-card rig should generate a net profit of US$61 per month or US$732 per year. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a pretty decent ROI of 7.3% per annum.
It would certainly be much better than operating a cybercafe with little to no customers due to lockdown / biosecurity measures.
In fact, their costs would be very much lower if they are converting their existing RTX 3080 gaming PCs into mining rigs, with significantly higher ROI.
This is, arguably, a better solution for cybercafes to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, than to give up and sell out.
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The Dell G5 15 5500 comes in a no-frills brown cardboard box. Inside, all you will find are these items :
Dell G5 15 5500 laptop
240 watt charger + cable
Dell G5 Quick User Guide
Safety and Regulatory Information
Dell G5 15 5500 : Hands-On Experience!
The Dell G5 15 5500 is designed to offer RTX gaming, at an affordable price point. So the first thing you will notice its thick plastic chassis and heft.
This is no thin and light laptop, not at 31 mm thick and a weight of 2.65 kg… and that’s not even counting the large and heavy 240 watt charger!
Performance
Our review model was powered by the Intel Core i7-10750H, a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a clock speed that goes up to 5 GHz.
It’s paired with 16 GB of DDR4 memory, and the the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory. More than powerful enough to handle any game you throw at it.
144 Hz Display
The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with a 15.6-inch TN display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and a 144 Hz refresh rate.
Thankfully, it’s paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics, which should have no problem driving the high refresh rate for most games.
Storage
The Dell G5 15 5500 is spacious enough to support both a M.2 socket (for a PCIe SSD), as well as a 2.5-inch drive bay (for a hard disk drive).
Our review sample came with the 512 GB PCIe M.2 SSD from SK hynix. Dell also offers a 512 GB Intel Optane storage option in some countries.
This is more than enough storage for a gaming laptop, but if you need more, there is a 1 TB SSD option, as well as a 2 TB hard disk drive option.
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Dell G5 15 5500 : A Closer Look!
Available Ports
One advantage of not going thin and light is the additional ports. On the left side, you will find these ports (from left to right) :
its barrel power port,
a Mini DisplayPort 1.4b port,
a HDMI 2.0 port,
a USB 3.2 Gen 1 PowerShare port,
an RJ45 LAN port, and
a Thunderbolt 3 (USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C) port.
On the right side, you will find the following (from left to right) :
an SD card reader, which supports SD, SDHX and SDXC cards,
a 3.5 mm earphone + microphone jack,
two USB 2.0 Type A ports, and
a wedge-shaped security lock slot
Keyboard + Touchpad
Thanks to its larger form factor, Dell could fit a full keyboard with a numeric keypad, and a horizontal key pitch of 18.7 mm.
The keyboard is backlit in blue by default, with WASD key highlights. But it can be programmed to support any RGB combination, in up to 4 zones.
It has a pretty small touchpad – just 105 x 65 mm, and it’s offset to the left, which makes it a little awkward to use, unless you are left-handed.
But this isn’t a big problem. This is a gaming laptop, and you will definitely be using a mouse.
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RGB Lighting
Complementing the RGB keyboard lighting is an RGB LED light strip along the front edge. This is arguably the Dell team’s only concession towards pointless gaming bling.
Some gamers will argue that it will give a more immersive gaming feel. Whatever rocks your boat, my friend.
Fingerprint Sensor
Dell offers an optional fingerprint sensor integrated directly into the power button, right above the keyboard. There is no IR camera option for face recognition.
We highly recommend adding this feature, as it allows for convenient logging in and greater security especially in public – there’s no need to type in your password.
Webcam + Microphones
The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with a basic webcam, capable of recording 720p video. As well as two microphones – one on each side of the webcam.
This is hardly the ideal setup for video streaming, but it is perfectly adequate for gamers who just need to use it for video chats.
Note that it doesn’t come with a privacy cover, only a status light to let you know when the webcam is activated.
Speakers
The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with two side-firing speakers with a 2 watt output.
Powered by the Realtek ALC3254 with an integrated amplifier, they are loud and offer pretty decent sound quality.
Killer Connectivity
Our premium model comes with a Killer E2500 Gigabit LAN connectivity. Otherwise, you will receive Realtek Gigabit LAN, which isn’t bad at all.
Wireless connectivity is provided through Killer 1650i, which offers Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) connectivity on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
The basic models though come with Qualcomm DW 1820, which offers Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) connectivity on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, as well as Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.
Dell G5 15 5500 : Surface Temperatures
An important criteria that many potential buyers forget to check for in a gaming laptop is “how hot does it get?”
What’s the use of buying a powerful gaming laptop if it literally burns your hands while you game?
Take a look at the surface temperatures of the Dell G5 15 5500, with an ambient temperature of 29.8°C.
As you can see, the G5 15 5500 can get pretty toasty, with the temperature of the keyboard reaching a peak of just under 52°C.
On the underside, it peached a peak of 54.3°C in the middle. It is definitely not advisable to game with it on your lap!
We highly recommend you pair the Dell G5 15 5500 with a good laptop cooler, or play in an air-conditioned room. That will greatly reduce its contact temperature, and allow for hours of comfortable gaming.
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This is high-powered 45 watt processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, and a 2.6 GHz clock speed that ramps up to 5 GHz during intensive tasks.
The processor has Intel UHD Graphics built-in, but switches to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory) for gaming and more strenuous graphics work.
Our review sample came with 16 GB of DDR4-2933 memory, and a 512 GB SK hynix PCIe SSD. Keeping all that powered is a large 68 Whr lithium-ion battery.
That means it will not only easily handle games at the display’s native 1080p resolution, it can deliver higher frame rates to take advantage of the higher Hz refresh rates it supports.
Gaming Performance : 3DMark Time Spy Extreme
We also ran a Time Spy Extreme test for those who are thinking of hooking up this laptop to an external display.
Performing between the desktop Radeon RX 5500 XT, and the desktop GeForce RTX 2060, it can handle 1440p gaming, but at roughly half the frame rate.
Gaming Performance : Strange Brigade @ 1080p
Strange Brigade is a third-person shooter game released in August 2018. We tested it at 1080p using the Vulkan API at Ultra High settings.
As you can see, the Dell G5 15 5500 has no problem exceeding 144 fps at times, with an average frame rate of 101 fps.
Gaming Performance : The Division 2 @ 1080p
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a newer third-person shooter game released in March 2019, with much higher graphics requirements.
Even at the Extreme graphics settings, Dell G5 15 5500 was able to deliver an average frame rate of 59 fps.
We locked the display’s brightness at 50%, and ran PCMark 10’s Modern Office and Gaming tests until it powered off.
The Dell G5 15 5500 lasted about 5.5 hours running Modern Office applications, but only about 77 minutes while gaming.
You can only game on-the-go for a short time. Realistically, it should be plugged in when you game.
Battery : Recharging Speed
Dell quotes a 4 hour recharging time using the massive 240 watt charger, when the laptop is completely powered off.
We are glad to report that its real-world recharging speed is much, MUCH faster. To test it in a real world setting, we started charging at 10% with the display brightness set to 50% :
25% : 21.5 minutes
33% : 26.5 minutes
40% : 35 minutes
50% : 46 minutes
60% : 57.5 minutes
75% : 75 minutes
90% : 91.5 minutes
100% : 148 minutes
It charges really fast to about 90%, taking only just over 1.5 hours. However, the last 10% took much longer – an addition 56.5 minutes!
This gives it a battery life : recharging time ratio of 2.3:1 for office work. As a rule of thumb, you will need to recharge its battery about 26.5 minutes for every hour of battery life.
Dell G5 15 5500 : Verdict + Award
The Dell G5 15 5500 does a good job of focusing on what’s important for gamers, wasting little on pointless aesthetic bling.
Its powerful 45-watt Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics will have no problem driving its Full HD display beyond 60 Hz, no matter what game you play.
It also comes with fast networking capabilities – Killer E2500 offering Gigabit LAN, and Killer AX1650i offering Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
And we love its large number of ports – three USB Type A ports, one USB Type C port, as well as an SD card reader and both HDMI and miniDP ports.
[twenty20 img1=”39514″ img2=”39515″ offset=”0.5″]
Powering all that is a large 68 Wh battery, but here’s a reality check – you can’t really game on-the-go for more than an hour or so. All that performance comes at a price – battery life.
Realistically, the Dell G5 15 5500 should be plugged into a wall socket whenever you game.
It is also a chunky and heavy laptop, no thanks to its large battery and the much higher cooling requirements for its powerful components.
But if all you want is an affordable gaming laptop that offers powerful gaming performance and a 144 Hz display, it’s hard to beat what Dell G5 15 5500 offers.
And here is what Dell offers over other gaming laptop brands – 2 years of premium on-site service!
Whatever happens to your G5 15 5500, just call Dell Support and they will either remotely solve the problem or send a technician to wherever you are to fix it.
That’s why we have no qualms awarding it our Reviewer’s Choice Award!
Dell G5 15 5500 : Where To Buy?
The Dell G5 15 5500 is available in the Interstellar Dark Cover colour, with a starting price of RM 4,499 (about US$1,083 / £847 / A$1,486 / S$1,482).
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Don’t be outraged about the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3070 cryptomining rig.
The truth is they are just being honest about who their biggest clients really are.
Why Gamers Are Outraged By ZOTAC RTX 3070 Mining Rig?
It’s no secret that graphics card brands LOVE cryptominers who are buying up their cards by the pallets.
ZOTAC probably wanted to send them some love when they tweeted this picture of a cryptomining rig built using eight ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 White graphics cards.
What they probably should not have done was to use the #PcGaming #Gaming #Gamers #PcMasterRace hashtags, because really… what does cryptomining have to do with the PC?
Gamers have very little love for cryptominers, who are at least partly to blame for the shortage and high prices of graphics cards.
The ZOTAC tweet naturally triggered their outrage, because it was actual proof that ZOTAC would love to sell even more of their limited supply of graphics cards to cryptominers.
But the truth is – ZOTAC was finally being honest about who their biggest clients really were. Not gamers, for sure!
After all, which gamer will ever buy EIGHT ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards?
Why ZOTAC Loves Cryptominers Buying Their RTX 3070 Cards
Let’s be frank – cryptominers are far more willing to pay top dollar for graphics cards, than gamers.
Thanks to high cryptocurrency prices, they can still make a ton of money even if they pay insane prices for these graphics cards.
And they don’t just buy one card for their gaming pleasure. They buy these cards by the dozens and hundreds! And why not?
The profitability of cryptomining has gone up so much that Chinese cryptominers have resorted to buying up hundreds of GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops instead!
This Chinese mining farm is being built using 900 GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops, and have the potential to generate over US$2.3 million in profit every year!
So, don’t be so mad at ZOTAC. At least they had the guts to admit their preference for cryptominers.
The other brands are the same. They just don’t have the guts to admit it, for fear of losing support from their fans.
The secret to having your cake, and eating it too? Keep quiet about cryptomining, and promote fanboyism to keep the hoi polloi loyal to the brand.
It’s all about the money, guys…
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Take a look at this crypto-mining farm that could make $3.5 million a year using just 900 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops!
Hundreds Of RTX Laptops Used In Crypto Mining Farms!
Not only gamers are affected by the limited supply of graphics cards in the market. So are cryptominers!
Chinese cryptominers now have to resort to buying up whatever GeForce RTX gaming laptops they can find, literally hundreds of them!
Instead of ASIC miners or GPU mining rigs, they are now powering their cryptomining operations with RTX gaming laptops!
We earlier highlighted the new trend of using RTX gaming laptops to mine cryptocurrency. It looks as this is more extensive that we first thought.
A Weibo blogger called 神鱼BTCer just shared even more pictures of RTX laptop-based mining operations, big and small.
Many appear to be pretty ghetto, placing the laptops in a kind of “tent mode” for better cooling, wherever there’s space – on tables, chairs or the floor.
But he also showed a seriously big crypto-mining farm being built using these GeForce RTX 30-series gaming laptops.
He even shared a short clip (part of the video we posted above), showing the cryptocurrency mining farm partially operational, with more being set-up.
There are 10 laptops per shelf, with each shelving unit capable of accommodating 60 laptops.
While not particularly large, this cryptocurrency mining farm has at least 15 visible shelving units, so that’s a total of 900 RTX gaming laptops when it’s fully operational.
Currently, it’s only partially complete, with about 200 or so laptops running, with many boxes of laptops left to open and setup.
How Much Money Can This RTX Laptop Mining Farm Make?
We had earlier shared about how a Bilibili content creator used an RTX 3060 laptop to mine 0.00053009 ETH while she sipped her coffee at Starbucks for 2 hours.
Based on her experience, we can guesstimate that the average GeForce RTX 3060 laptop will be able to produce :
0.000265045 ETH per hour
0.00636108 ETH per day
0.1908324 ETH per month (30 days)
2.3217942 ETH per year
Chinese electricity costs about RMB 0.545 (US$0.084) per kWh. Assuming each laptop uses about 250 watts of power (including whatever external fans they may be using), that works out to about RMB 1,200 or US$186 per year.
As of 11 February 2021, Ethereum is priced at US$1740. So here’s roughly how much this cryptocurrency mining farm would make, at that price :
100 laptops : $385,392 per year
200 laptops : $770,784 per year
300 laptops : $1,156,177 per year
400 laptops : $1,541,569 per year
500 laptops : $1,926,961 per year
600 laptops : $2,312,353 per year
700 laptops : $2,697,745 per year
800 laptops : $3,083,138 per year
900 laptops : $3,468,530 per year
So there you have it – this small cryptocurrency mining operation can potentially make almost US$ 3.5 million in a single year.
But what’s the ROI, you say?
The Chinese OEM, Hasee, offers a GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptop with a starting price of just RMB 6,499 (approximately RM4,089 / US$1,005 / £732 / A$1,309 / S$1,340).
And the video shows that this mining operation is using the same, or similar, Hasee RTX gaming laptops.
Let’s say they paid a 20% scalper’s premium, and purchased all 900 Hasee RTX 3060 laptops for a cool US$1,085,400.
Let’s further round that up to US$1.1 million for miscellaneous costs – shelving units, lights, fans, etc. including US$500 per month for rental.
Based on those assumptions, their net profit for the 900-laptop mining farm would be US$2,368,530 per year, at current prices.
After recovering the cost of the entire mining farm ($1.1 million) in just over 3 months, everything else they make after that is pure profit (after deducting rental and electricity costs), unless they are stealing the electricity!
With such great ROI, you can count on cryptocurrency miners to buy up ALL the GeForce RTX 30 series laptops they can get their hands on!
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BTCer claims they are all “home-based”, but we have no idea whether they are his, or from different cryptocurrency mining operations.
But in a response to a question, he said that the best way to keep them cool is by putting them in a sort of “tent mode”.
This picture shows four stacks of GeForce RTX 3060 laptops made by Chinese OEM Hasee, powered on (you can see the green light).
Hasee offers a GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptop that has a starting price of just RMB 6,499 (approximately RM4,089 / US$1,005 / £732 / A$1,309 / S$1,340).
These twenty Hasee GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops would cost just over US$20,000.
This seems like a waste of power – leaving their displays turned on. But leaving the display up would definitely improve cooling.
How Much Money Can RTX 3060 Laptop Mining Rigs Make?
A Bilibili content creator Fish Pond f2pool demonstrated how fast someone with a GeForce RTX 3060 laptop can “mine” cryptocurrency.
She plugged in her GeForce RTX 3060 laptop into a power socket at Starbucks, and mined 0.00053009 ETH over 2 hours while she sipped her coffee.
On 5 February 2021, Ethereum closed at US$1,680.497, so she mined enough during her coffee break to make US$0.89 or RMB 5.76.
Not quite enough to pay for her coffee (about RMB 28), but at least the electricity is FREE!
Based on her experience, we can guesstimate that the average GeForce RTX 3060 laptop will be able to produce :
0.000265045 ETH per hour
0.00636108 ETH per day
0.1908324 ETH per month (30 days)
2.3217942 ETH per year
So that mining rig with 20 Hasee laptops you saw up there could make, at current prices, about :
$8.908 per hour
$213.80 per day
$6,413.87 per month (30 days)
$78,035 per year
Chinese electricity costs about RMB 0.545 (US$0.084) per kWh.
Assuming each laptop uses about 250 watts of power (including whatever external fans he may have), that works out to about US$3,679.20 per year.
So his net profit for the 20-laptop mining rig would be US$74,356 per year, at current prices.
That’s an incredible ROI of 30.8% per month, which means he will recover the cost of the entire rig ($20,100) in just under 3.5 months!
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The mega crypto-mining rig, built using 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, has powered up!
Check it out, and find out why crypto-miners are buying graphics cards by the pallets!
78-Card GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Almost Operational!
You may have seen Simon Byrne’s crypto-mining rig, that uses 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards arranged in an array of 13 x 6 cards.
That 78-card RTX 3080 mining rig, which he calls Bertha 2, is almost operational. And he’s keeping it cool with 120 fans, with RGB, of course! It is said – RGB makes thing go faster? 😉
In this picture, you can see most of the GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards powered up. When fully operational, it should deliver 6.5 gigahashes per second!
In case you are wondering what Berta – his first-generation mining rig – looks like, here is a photo he shared :
He created Bertha 1 using 130 Zotac GeForce RTX 1080 Ti graphics cards, in January 2018 – 3 years ago!
How Much Money Can This RTX 3080 Crypto Mining Rig Make?
Just how much money can Simon make from this crypto-mining rig?
Officially, RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.
So the cards in this rig alone would cost approximately $93,522. Let’s call it a flat $100,000 for the whole rig, plus power supplies.
The average commercial electricity rate in Las Vegas (where he’s based) is 8.43 cents per kWh. So electricity should cost about $1444 per month. Let’s make that $2166 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.
Each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 83.57 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.22236870 ETH worth US$165 every month.
So the total rig of 78 cards should generate 17.3447586 ETH worth $12,840 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $10,674 per month or $128,088 per year!
That’s an incredible ROI of 10.7% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in just under 9.5 months.
No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!
Simon assured gamers that he doesn’t buy his cards from the regular retail supply chain. However, the large-scale purchase of graphics cards for crypto-mining is a major cause of graphics card shortage across the world.
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Take a look at this crypto-mining rig that uses just a dozen GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards to generate over a gigahash per second!
Find out how much he stands to make from this mining rig!
12-Card GeForce RTX 3090 Gigahash Mining Rig!
It seems easy for crypto-miners to get hold of the GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card in bulk.
A crypto-miner is building a compact mining rig that uses just a dozen GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards to generate over a gigahash per second!
Guntis Vitolins, who recently lost 500 graphics cards in a fire, is using a dozen INNO3D GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards, powered by four EVGA SuperNOVA G3 1000 watt power supplies.
How Much Money Can This RTX 3090 Crypto Mining Rig Make?
Just how much money can Guntis make from this crypto-mining rig?
Officially, RTX 3090 cards start at US$1,499, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about US$2,450 each. The EVGA SuperNOVA G3 1000 PSU each cost US$309.
So the twelve cards would cost approximately US$29,400, while the four EVGA PSUs would cost US$1,236. Let’s call it a flat US$31,000 for the whole rig.
The average commercial electricity rate in Ireland (where he’s based) is about €0.2413 per kWh. So electricity should cost about €800 or US$965 per month. Let’s make that US$1450 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.
Each GeForce RTX 3090 has a hash rate of 104.48 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.23401064 ETH worth US$312.53 every month.
So the total rig of 12 cards should generate 2.80812768 ETH worth US$3,750 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $2,300 per month or $27,600 per year!
That’s a high ROI of 7.4% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in about 13.5 months.
This is about 31% lower ROI than the 78-card mining rig that uses the much cheaper GeForce RTX 3080, which pays for itself in just 9.5 months!
No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!
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At CES 2021, NVIDIA announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!
Starting 26 January 2021, NVIDIA partner brands like MSI will begin shipping RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 gaming laptops, followed by RTX 3060 gaming laptops from 2 February 2021 onwards.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series mobile GPUs are built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, giving them 2nd Gen Ray Tracing cores and 3rd Gen Tensor Cores.
New Streaming Multiprocessors : Delivering 2X the FP32 performance of NVIDIA Turing, and 30 Shader-TFLOPS of processing power
2nd Gen RT Cores : Delivering 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, plus concurrent ray tracing and compute, with 58 RT-TFLOPS of processing power.
3rd Gen Tensor Cores : Up to 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, with 238 Tensor-TFLOPS of processing power.
NVIDIA RTX IO : Enables rapid GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, accelerating I/O performance by up to 100X. When used in conjunction with Microsoft DirectStorage API, it offloads the work to the RTX GPU, improving frame rates and enabling near-instantaneous game loading.
GDDR6X Memory : Delivers close to 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth, improving gaming performance.
Custom Samsung 8N Process Technology : Delivers higher transistor density and greater efficiency.
HDMI 2.1 : Delivers single-cable connection to 8K HDR TVs and monitors for ultra-high resolution gaming.
AV1 Decode : First discrete GPUs to support hardware decoding of the new AV1 codec, allowing for up to 8K HDR videos at 50% less bandwidth.
MSI GS66 Stealth GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops
MSI is introducing two GS66 Stealth gaming laptops :
a premium model powered by the Core i9-10980HK processor with GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, and
a more affordable model powered by Core i7-10870H processor with GeForce RTX 3070 graphics.
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Take a look at this mining rig with SIX GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, in the trunk of a BMW i8 hybrid sports car!
GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Inside A BMW i8 Hybrid!
Simon Byrne is at it again – trolling gamers with his GeForce RTX 3080 mining rigs!
This time, he created a mining rig with six GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, right in the trunk of a BMW i8 hybrid sports car.
The only practical use for the trunk of an i8 is to home a 6 x RTX 3080 mining rig.
*no gamers were harmed in the making of this photo.
BMW i8 RTX 3080 Mining Rig : Trolling Gamers
As impressive as it looks, this really isn’t a practical mining operation. He probably created it just to troll gamers who are finding it hard to get decently-priced graphics cards.
World’s Most Expensive Mining Case
The BMW i8 has a starting MSRP of US$147,500 in Nevada. That would make it the world’s most expensive mining case.
Power Consumption
The six GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards alone would consume 2 kilowatts of power at full power, with the entire mining rig using some 2.5 kW of power.
We can only see a single EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 PSU, so he’s either underclocking the cards, or there is another PSU out-of-sight.
The BMW i8 has a 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery, with a usable capacity of 8.7 kWh. That’s only enough to run the mining rig for 4-5 hours.
BMW i8 battery pack
Thermal Output
Of course, you can plug in the i8 or keep its engine running, but the mining rig still generates a tremendous amount of heat.
Even in a cold environment (it’s about 5°C in Nevada in January), the BMW i8’s rear hatch must be kept open to avoid the cards from overheating.
Invitation To Smash & Grab!
And that’s just inviting theft or a hold-up. Especially when these GeForce RTX 3080 cards command premium prices all over the world!
This is definitely an impressive showcase, but Simon is no doubt making the bulk of his cryptocurrency using serious rigs like this 78-card mining rig we showed earlier.
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NVIDIA just announced that they will introduce Resizable BAR support at the end of February 2021!
Find out what Resizable BAR is all about, and why it matters!
Resizable BAR : What Is It?
Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.
CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. The CPU can only transfer data like textures, shaders and geometry to the GPU through that small 256 MB “window”.
Turning on Resizable BAR expands that small access window, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.
Those graphics assets can thus be sent in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.
NVIDIA To Introduce Resizable BAR In February 2021!
AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.
It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.
On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.
It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.
The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.
The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.
So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!
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At CES 2021, NVIDIA announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!
Take a look at what’s coming very soon, and how much faster they will be!
GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : Ampere Goes Mobile!
Just 4 months after launching Ampere for desktop gaming, NVIDIA is bringing it to laptops.
At CES 2021, they announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!
Starting 26 January 2021, NVIDIA partner brands will begin shipping RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 gaming laptops, followed by RTX 3060 gaming laptops from 2 February 2021 onwards.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series mobile GPUs are built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, giving them 2nd Gen Ray Tracing cores and 3rd Gen Tensor Cores.
New Streaming Multiprocessors : Delivering 2X the FP32 performance of NVIDIA Turing, and 30 Shader-TFLOPS of processing power
2nd Gen RT Cores : Delivering 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, plus concurrent ray tracing and compute, with 58 RT-TFLOPS of processing power.
3rd Gen Tensor Cores : Up to 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, with 238 Tensor-TFLOPS of processing power.
NVIDIA RTX IO : Enables rapid GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, accelerating I/O performance by up to 100X. When used in conjunction with Microsoft DirectStorage API, it offloads the work to the RTX GPU, improving frame rates and enabling near-instantaneous game loading.
GDDR6X Memory : Delivers close to 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth, improving gaming performance.
Custom Samsung 8N Process Technology : Delivers higher transistor density and greater efficiency.
HDMI 2.1 : Delivers single-cable connection to 8K HDR TVs and monitors for ultra-high resolution gaming.
AV1 Decode : First discrete GPUs to support hardware decoding of the new AV1 codec, allowing for up to 8K HDR videos at 50% less bandwidth.
NVIDIA is also introducing a 3rd Gen Max-Q Design to optimise the GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops for optimal power and performance.
They will also come with WhisperMode 2.0 – which was reengineered to dynamically manage the GPU, CPU, game settings and fan speeds to reduce fan acoustics while maintaining gaming performance.
Finally, NVIDIA will introduce Resizable BAR support in these RTX 30 gaming laptops via a driver update later.
GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : Performance
So how much faster are the RTX 30 series gaming laptops?
Based on this comparison that NVIDIA shared, an RTX 3080 laptop will offer 45-55% better performance than an RTX 2080 laptop
GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : What’s Coming?
Here is a quick summary of the GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops that will hit the market from 26 January 2021 onwards.
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Take a look at this crypto-mining rig powered by 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, and find out why crypto miners are buying graphics cards by the pallets!
Crypto Mining Rig With 78 GeForce RTX 3080 Cards!
Can’t find an affordable GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card? That’s because crypto-mining is one of the reasons why there is a shortage of graphics cards worldwide.
Here is a crypto-mining rig being built by Simon Byrne, using the 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards arranged in an array of 13 x 6 cards.
With a power consumption of 300 watts per card, that’s crypto-mining rig would require at least 23.4 kilowatts of power to run, and a lot of air-conditioning to keep them cool!
How Much Money Can This RTX 3080 Crypto Mining Rig Make?
Just how much money can Simon make from this crypto-mining rig?
Officially, RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.
So the cards in this rig alone would cost approximately $93,522. Let’s call it a flat $100,000 for the whole rig, plus power supplies.
The average commercial electricity rate in Las Vegas (where he’s based) is 8.43 cents per kWh. So electricity should cost about $1444 per month. Let’s make that $2166 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.
Each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 83.57 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.22236870 ETH worth US$165 every month.
So the total rig of 78 cards should generate 17.3447586 ETH worth $12,840 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $10,674 per month or $128,088 per year!
That’s an incredible ROI of 10.7% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in just under 9.5 months.
No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!
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A Chinese gamer recently found his gaming PC on fire. Not like raking up the FPS in a game, but literally ON FIRE.
Take a look at the pictures, and tell us what do you think was the culprit!
Gaming PC Catches Fire : Was It The RTX 3090 Or The PSU?
A Chinese gamer came back from lunch, to find out that his PC was smoking and then, it caught fire and burned to a crisp. The fire took out the PlayStation 5 that was next to it.
He shared that his gaming PC was assembled in January 2020, and he only upgraded it last week with the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3090 graphics card, and the Seasonic PRIME TX-1000 power supply.
That led to claims that it was either one of those two components that caused the fire. Take a look at these pictures, and see if you can figure out what happened…
Those who claim that no PS5 were injured in this fire, you can actually see the melted PlayStation 5 console to the left of the burnt gaming PC.
This was what it looked like inside the Cooler Master C700M chassis, after the fire was extinguished.
The yellow powder is ammonium phosphate, which is the main compound in dry chemical fire extinguishers. Great for quickly dousing electrical fires, but horrible for cleaning up.
There is literally nothing to salvage from this gaming PC – ammonium phosphate is corrosive and sticks to everything.
This is what the ASUS ROG Strix RTX3090 graphics card looked like after being strayed with fire extinguishing powder.
Note that the three 8-pin PCI Express power cables connected to the card have been burnt down to their copper wires, which turn green when oxidised.
Good cable management didn’t help against the fire… The green “fibres” are exposed copper wires in the cables – copper turns green when oxidised.
Here is what it looks like from the back of the motherboard tray…
While the Seasonic PRIME Titanium TX-1000 power supply appears intact, it is still a suspect and a possible accessory to the “crime”.
In fact, it looked like the power supply continued to supply electricity to whatever short circuit set off the fire, turning it into a major blaze.
Update : The gamer pointed out that he used only the original PSU cables. No third-party cables.
The wall behind the PC was scorched, and while the power points were initially suspected to be the cause, they were later ruled out – they are still working.
What Do You Think Made This Gaming PC Catch Fire?
This was the system specifications of his gaming PC :
* it was called an ASUS ROG RTX 3090 Raptor in the translation, apparently ASUS used猛禽 instead of Strix in China, and that translates as Raptor.
** for those who have never heard of Seasonic, it is one of the largest PSU makers in the world
So what do you think set off the fire? Could it really be the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3090 Gaming graphics card? Another case of overheating ROG graphics cards?
Or was it the Seasonic PRIME Titanium TX-1000 power supply? It may be top-of-the-line, but nothing is infallible!
Or could it be some other component? Like the motherboard? Or did the CPU water cooler leak? Tell us what YOU think!
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Take a look at the AMD Radeon RX 6800’s Vulkan Ray Tracing performance in Quake 2 RTX – the world’s first cross-vendor Vulkan Ray Tracing game!
Vulkan Ray Tracing : What Is It?
Vulkan is an open-source and cross-platform graphics API. It offers better performance to graphics APIs like OpenGL, DirectX and Metal.
In November 2020, The Khronos Group released the final Vulkan Ray Tracing extension specifications, followed by an upgraded Vulkan SDK with full Ray Tracing support on 15 December 2020.
This allows developers to easily integrate ray tracing into their games for any GPU that supports the “VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline” extension.
Vulkan Ray Tracing (Quake 2 RTX) On AMD Radeon RX 6800!
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Quake 2 RTX now supports Vulkan Ray Tracing, which means it will also work on AMD graphics cards! Here are the details!
Quake 2 RTX : What Is It?
Initially released in June 2019, Quake II RTX revamps the classic first-person shooter game with ray-traced lighting, shadows and reflections.
In addition to the ray tracing effects, NVIDIA also introduced new path-traced visual effects, improved texturing and dozens of other changes and improvements.
Quake 2 RTX Now Supports Vulkan Ray Tracing!
Quake 2 RTX originally supported only NVIDIA RTX cards, but the newly-released version 1.4.0 adds support for the new Vulkan Ray Tracing API.
Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 will dynamically between the pre-existing NVIDIA VKRay and the new Khronos Vulkan ray tracing extension, making it the world’s first cross-vendor ray tracing Vulkan game!
This means it can now run on any GPU that supports the “VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline” extension, including the recently-launched AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards.
The Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 also adds temporal upscaling, TAAU, for improved image quality at lower resolution scales.
Quake 2 RTX : Vulkan Ray Tracing Requirements
To try out its new Vulkan Ray Tracing capability, this is what you require :
Download and install Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 or newer
AMD – Requires Radeon RX 6000 series, or future RDNA 2, cards. – Upgrade to Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.11.2 Beta or newer
NVIDIA
– Requires GeForce RTX / Quadro RTX graphics cards.
– Upgrade to Game Ready Driver 460.89 (Windows) or 460.27.04 (Linux), or newer
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Acer just released a new pair of Predator gaming desktop and gaming monitor, just in time for Christmas 2020!
Take a look at the new Predator Orion 3000 gaming desktop and Predator XB273U GX gaming monitor!
2020 Acer Predator XB273U GX Gaming Monitor
The new Acer Predator XB273U GX is a 27-inch gaming monitor that supports NVIDIA G-SYNC, and is DisplayHDR 400 certified.
Its IPS panel has a WQHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, a 0.5 ms response time, and can be overclocked to a 270 Hz refresh rate.
Gamers who also create content will love its wide 99% AdobeRGB colour gamut, with Delta E<2. And it comes with the ability to deliver 65W power directly from its USB Type C port!
The Acer Predator XB273U GX has a launch price of RM 3,299 (approximately US$813 / £611 / A$1,082 / S$1,086)
It comes with 8 GB of DDR4-2666 RAM as standard, but can be upgraded to 64 GB. It can also be configured with up to 1 TB of SSD storage.
It also comes with Killer E2600 for fast Gigabit LAN connectivity, as well as Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity. To keep things cool inside its compact case, the Predator Orion 3000 has dual FrostBlade fans.
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NVIDIA just launched the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which is faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER and yet, costs only $399!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti : Powered By Ampere!
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is a compact, 2-slot graphics card, with a 200 watt TDP and a single 8-pin PCIe power connector.
Its NVIDIA GA104 GPU has 4,864 CUDA cores, 152 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 152 tensor cores and 38 RT cores, with a base clock of 1.41 GHz and a boost clock of 1.67 GHz.
Built on the Samsung 8nm process, the GA1044 has 17.4 billion transistors with a die size of 392 mm².
It is paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps), delivering 448 GB/s of memory bandwidth on its 256-bit memory bus.
It has a PCI Express 4.0 x16 interface, and offers four display outputs – a single HDMI port, and three DisplayPorts.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti : Specifications
Here is how the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti compares against the bigger brothers of the GeForce RTX 30 family.
Specifications
RTX 3090
RTX 3080
RTX 3070
RTX 3060
CUDA Cores
10,496
8,704
5,888
4,864
Base Clock
1.40 GHz
1.44 GHz
1.50 GHz
1.41 GHz
Boost Clock
1.70 GHz
1.71 GHz
1.73 GHz
1.67 GHz
Memory Size
24 GB
10 GB
8 GB
Memory Type
GDDR6X
GDDR6
Memory Speed
19.5 MT/s
14 MT/s
Memory
Interface
384-bit
320-bit
256-bit
Memory
Bandwidth
936 GB/s
780 GB/s
624 GB/s
448 GB/s
NVLink (SLI)
Yes
No
Card Size
3-Slot
2-Slot
Card Power
350 W
320 W
220 W
200 W
Card Connectors
2 x 8-pin
1 x 8-pin
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti : Performance
Built around the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is designed for 1080p and 1440 gameplay.
In fact, NVIDIA claims it is faster than the previous-generation GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, at a fraction of the cost!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti : Price + Availability
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is priced at just $399, and it is available for sale starting tomorrow, 2 December 2020!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series : Where To Buy?
Here is a list of GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards available online, as of 1 December 2020 :
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Many gamers are gripping about how difficult it is to buy one, but a quick check reveals that there are really quite a lot of RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards for sale.
RTX 3070 / 3080 / 3090 : Their Price Is The BIG Problem!
As the list above shows, there are many shops selling all three cards. The only country where there appears to be some shortage would be the UK.
The bigger problem really is the absurd prices some of these cards are selling for at these online shops.
The GeForce RTX 3070 has a starting price of $499, while the GeForce RTX 3080 has a starting price of $699. Yet they are both selling for 2-3X that in the US and the UK, and 50-100% more in other countries.
Only the GeForce RTX 3090, with its astronomical starting price of $1,499, has not seen ridiculous price scalping. It is only 20-30% more expensive around the world.
Of course, price is highly-dependent on supply and demand, but that is partly because NVIDIA and their partners appear to be closing an eye on scalping.
Until there is some price control, it appears to be profitable for some retailers to hold onto their cards, and offer them at high price points.
The only way around this is for consumers to hold off on buying overpriced cards, and opt for older cards with far better value instead.
So they are not the fastest cards in the world, but they are still very powerful graphics cards in their own right. Heck, are you buying a graphics card to play games, or to show off?
Instead of getting frustrated at scalpers, buy the best value graphics card you can afford and go play some games!
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Sadly, it has now been confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will NOT support ray tracing on AMD RDNA 2 graphics cards when it launches… 😥
Cyberpunk 2077 Ray Tracing on AMD Cards : Yes? No? Maybe?
Back in October 2020, CD PROJEKT RED art director Jakup Knapik confirmed, in a PC Gamer interview, that only NVIDIA GeForce cards will support ray tracing at launch.
However, CD PROJEKT RED lead PR manager Radek Adam Grabowski, later clarified that Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing is based on DirectX Raytracing (DXR).
“CP2077’s implementation of ray tracing is based on fully standard DirectX Raytracing (DXR)”
Even NVIDIA’s Brian Burke noted that Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry-standard DirectX Raytracing API :
“Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry standard DirectX Ray Tracing API. It will work on any DXR-compatible GPU. Nothing related to Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing is proprietary to NVIDIA”
Cyberpunk 2077 : Ray Tracing NOT Available For AMD Cards At Launch!
While they listed the new Radeon RX 6800 XT, it was for Cyberpunk 2077 without ray tracing. It was not mentioned in the “ray tracing enabled” section.
CD PROJEKT RED later confirmed that AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards, which are based on the new RDNA 2 architecture, will NOT support ray tracing on Cyberpunk 2077 when it launches on 10 December 2020.
“We are working together with AMD to integrate ray tracing options for their graphics cards as quickly as possible,” CD PROJEKT RED wrote. “However, this will not be the case when the game launches.”
As Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry-standard DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API, gamers are wondering – why isn’t it being implemented for AMD RDNA 2 cards?
Technically, they should be able to support ray tracing through the DXR API without any special modification in the. game.
Rumours have it that ray tracing for AMD RDNA 2 cards will be introduced via a patch in 2021.
Is it possible that CD PROJEKT RED worked out a deal with NVIDIA to reserve ray tracing support for GeForce cards for the first few months? 🤔
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This is what NVIDIA says about RTX gaming on Cyberpunk 2077 :
The minimum GPU for Ray Tracing, at 1920×1080, is the GeForce RTX 2060. Gamers will explore Night City with Medium Ray Tracing Preset powered by DLSS.
At 2560×1440, we recommend a GeForce RTX 3070 or GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. Ray tracing is taken to Ultra, which greatly increases the fidelity of the aforementioned effects, and the distance at which they are visible, while DLSS provides boosted frame rates with uncompromised image quality.
And with rasterized settings also being cranked to Ultra, GeForce RTX 3070 and 2080 Ti gamers receive an incredible experience at the highest detail levels, unmatched by any other platform.
And finally, if you’re playing at 4K or beyond, the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 deliver the performance to play Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing at Ultra at this incredibly demanding resolution.
Both GPUs are powered by Ampere — NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture — with dedicated RT Cores for ray tracing, and Tensor Cores for DLSS AI acceleration, delivering an unrivaled cinematic-quality experience.
Cyberpunk 2077 : Updated PC Specifications With RTX Off
What if you don’t feel the need to turn on ray tracing in Cyberpunk 2077?
Here are the recommended system specifications to game on Cyberpunk 2077 with RTX off :
CPU
1080p : Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
1440p or 4K : Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600
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While you wait for Cyberpunk 2077 to arrive in 2020 or 2077, here is an interview with CD PROJEKT RED developers, as well as new RTX gameplay scenes!
Cyberpunk 2077 Behind The Scenes RTX Gameplay Interview!
Will Cyberpunk 2077 finally launch on 10 December 2020? Or will it end up debuting in 2077? Who knows?
But to whet your appetite while you wait, here is an interview with CD PROJEKT RED developers, as well as new RTX gameplay scenes!
As NVIDIA’s Andrew Burnes notes, “With RTX On, Night City is transformed. Glorious ray-traced reflections are cast on every possible surface; substantially improved shadows naturally soften and sharpen; shops, streets and buildings are realistically illuminated with diffuse lighting; and in general the world is more immersive and detailed, enhancing your Cyberpunk 2077 experience.”
Cyberpunk 2077 : RTX Gameplay Recommendations
NVIDIA also revealed today their recommended system configurations for RTX gameplay.
1080p :RTX 2060 (Medium Ray Tracing Preset, with DLSS)
This is what NVIDIA says about RTX gaming on Cyberpunk 2077 :
The minimum GPU for Ray Tracing, at 1920×1080, is the GeForce RTX 2060. Gamers will explore Night City with Medium Ray Tracing Preset powered by DLSS.
At 2560×1440, we recommend a GeForce RTX 3070 or GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. Ray tracing is taken to Ultra, which greatly increases the fidelity of the aforementioned effects, and the distance at which they are visible, while DLSS provides boosted frame rates with uncompromised image quality.
And with rasterized settings also being cranked to Ultra, GeForce RTX 3070 and 2080 Ti gamers receive an incredible experience at the highest detail levels, unmatched by any other platform.
And finally, if you’re playing at 4K or beyond, the GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 deliver the performance to play Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing at Ultra at this incredibly demanding resolution.
Both GPUs are powered by Ampere — NVIDIA’s 2nd gen RTX architecture — with dedicated RT Cores for ray tracing, and Tensor Cores for DLSS AI acceleration, delivering an unrivaled cinematic-quality experience.
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