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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 15 November 2022 18:27
In addition to the Nvidia RTX 4080 Founders Edition that I have already taken a look at for the launch, we did also receive an aftermarket card as well. MSI sent over their RTX 4080 Gaming X Trio which will be the first aftermarket 4000 series card we have had in the office. Because of that, I am excited to see how it performs differently compared to the Founders Edition, especially with an overclock and a completely different outlook on how to keep the card cool. Beyond that, I’m also curious to see what MSI is doing for styling this generation so let’s dig in and check it out.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 15 November 2022 17:22
Nvidia shook things up with the performance of their first Ada-based card, the RTX 4090, but for a lot of people, that level of performance isn’t needed or is out of their price range. Things start to get interesting as we start to see the rest of the product stand fill out over time. Nvidia announced two RTX 4080 models alongside the RTX 4090 but later “unlaunched” the 12GB model leaving just the RTX 4080 16GB as the one 4080 model and today is the day. The embargo’s lifted and we can finally check out how the RTX 4080 performs ahead of it launching in retailers tomorrow morning. So today I’m going to check out the RTX 4080 Founders Edition and see how it compares with the RTX 4090 as well as last generation's cards. Let’s dive in!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 11 October 2022 09:00
Two weeks ago during their GDC Keynote Nvidia announced the first few video cards from their upcoming 4000 series of GPUs based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. They announced the RTX 4090 and two RTX 4080 cards, one with 16GB of VRAM and the other with 12GB which in addition to the memory those cards have a different base GPU as well. But today the performance embargo for the RTX 4090 is lifted so we are going to focus on that and the RTX 4090 will be available for sale tomorrow should you be interested in picking one up. Today I’m going to dive into the 4000 series of cards to tell you a little about them if you haven’t read about them yet then we will check out the RTX 4090 Founders Edition closer and then dive into testing, it’s a lot to go over so let’s dive in!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 10 May 2022 09:36
With today's launch of AMD’s 6X50 XT refresh AMD have introduced three new video card options into their lineup. I’ve already taken a look at the new RX 6650 XT with the MSI RX 6650 Gaming X which competed well against the RTX 3060. Now I’m excited to see what the RX 6750 XT is all about which falls into AMDs 1440p focused cards and is targeted in between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3060 Ti along with some aggressive pricing as well. I’ve got the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6750 XT which is exciting not just because their Nitro+ cards normally perform well, but because we also have the Nitro+ RX 6700 XT on hand to really get a good look at how the increased clock speed of the 6750 XT effects things. So let’s jump in and see how it does!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 10 May 2022 09:35
Today is the day for AMDs long rumored partial refresh of their GPU lineup. They have introduced the RX 6650 XT, RX 66750 XT, and the RX 6950 XT. This allows them to bump up their high end and bolster their competition in the mid-range. This also means loads of options in aftermarket cards. So to start off our coverage today I’m going to check out the RX 6650 XT Gaming X from MSI to check out how the new 6650 XT performs and to check out MSI’s Gaming X. Let’s put it through our test suite and see how it does!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Friday, 25 February 2022 18:58
The launch of the RX 6500 XT had a lot of public backlash due to some of the limitations of AMD's new GPU, specifically the 4GB VRAM and the PCIe lanes being limited to 4 lanes which combined hold the card back when it comes to higher resolutions and at times if you are running very high detail games at 1080p. That said, the card does still have a place in the market, you just need to be clear about what you plan on using the card for. It is also one of the only cards you can get new without crazy markups. So I was excited when Asus offered to send their TUF Gaming RX 6500 XT OC Edition over. Not to mention, even though I had a lot of experience with the TUF lineup years ago when it first came out on motherboards. I’ve never had the chance to check out any of the TUF cards. So today I’m going to check out Asus’s card to see how the overclocked card performs and I’m especially curious to see what sets the TUF lineup apart and how it performs in things like cooling, noise, and power usage that help set cards with the same GPUs apart. So let’s check it out.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 09 February 2022 23:53
With the RTX 3050 launch I had a stocked clocked card come in and I had originally planned to also cover an overclocked card as well but shipping issues put a stop to that. Things have finally come in including this card from MSI and today I can take a look at MSI’s new RTX 3050 Gaming X 8G. They have this model cranked up to 1845 MHz over the stock 1777 MHz. The card also has a significantly larger cooler attached so I am curious to see how the overclock helps performance and if the larger cooler is worth going over a compact stocked clocked card.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Friday, 04 February 2022 23:23
Shipping delays and issues hit us hard over the last few weeks. The biggest one was our RX 6500 XT launch sample which ended up hung up and delayed in shipping. So I am way late to the party when it comes to checking out how the RX 6500 XT performs. Today I finally get the chance and I’m checking out the Pulse from Sapphire. I know there was drama around this launch (frankly what GPU launched for the last few years hasn’t lol) but I am excited to see how AMD's latest GPU performs and how Sapphire card does at keeping things cool and quiet. So let’s jump in and check it out!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 26 January 2022 14:11
At CES this year both AMD and Nvidia announced new GPUs that would be coming soon. Both were focused on a little lower on their product stack which makes sense because that is the biggest market share. Steam hardware survey still has the GTX 1060 with the highest usage with the 1650, 1050 Ti, 2060, and then 1050 rounding out the top five. Most of those cards also haven’t moved up into the RTX range, so the new RTX 3050 may be the first introduction to ray tracing and tensor cores for a lot of people as well. Today I’m going to check out what the RTX 3050 is all about then put it to the test on our freshly updated test bench and test suite to see how it compares. There aren’t Founders Editions of the RTX 3050, so today I am checking out the RTX 3050 XC from EVGA.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 13 October 2021 13:14
Two months ago for the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT launch, we saw the latest mid-range card outperforming high-end cards like the 1080 Ti from a few generations back. The steam survey has 67% of users currently gaming at 1080p and for a lot of them even the RX 6600 XT is more than they need, AMD is launching today the RX 6600 which might fit the bill. It is focused on 1080p performance and runs on the same Navi 23 GPU that the 6600 XT has, with a few things cut back. Today I’m going to check out how the PowerColor RX 6600 Fighter that AMD sent over-performs as well as check out what PowerColor has to offer on their reference clocked option as far as cooling and noise performance goes.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 10 August 2021 13:41
AMD has been quiet for the past few months after the launch of their RX 6700 XT, but they have still been busy in that time. Just last week they announced their RX 6600 XT. The 6700 XT was targeted at 1440p, but the new RX 6600 XT is still focused on high performance 1080p gaming which is still by far the most popular gaming resolution being used. The 6600 XT doesn’t have a reference design, so today I will checking out the MERC308 version from XFX to see how the 6600XT performs in our test suite. Is it going to be the best option for someone looking to get the best performance at 1080p? We will find out.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 13 July 2021 13:00
I recently took a look at the RTX 3070 Ti and was impressed with its performance. But that was just with the Founders Edition card, what can the 3070 Ti do with a monster cooler and an overclocked? Well MSI sent over their RTX 3070 Ti SUPRIM X which is their flagship card design and the X indicates that it is also overclocked. So today I’m excited to see what Nvidia’s newest GPU is capable of when paired with MSI’s biggest and best card design. I was impressed with the SUPRIM 3080, will the 3070 Ti be the same?
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 09 June 2021 13:24
Last week Nvidia announced their new RTX 3080 Ti gaming flagship but at the same time, they also announced a second card, the RTX 3070 Ti. The RTX 3070 Ti is set to fit in between the RTX 3070 and the RTX 3080 with the same GA104 GPU as the original 3070 but with a few more SMs and a few other big upgrades as well. Today we can finally talk about how it performs, so I’m going to run through what Nvidia has changed to make the Ti then put it through our benchmark suite to see if it's worth the extra money they are asking. The GPU market is still extremely tough, but we still want to keep everyone informed of what to expect to help you figure out what cards you want to try to seek out.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 02 June 2021 13:25
While the RTX 3090 was Nvidia’s big dog, the RTX 3080 has been their gaming flagship, leaving the 3090 to fill a role similar to the Titan cards in the past. So Nvidia’s announcement of the RTX 3080 Ti Monday was big news for 4k focused gamers. The RTX 3080 Ti is situated to be the new gaming flagship. It’s hard to believe that the RTX 3080 was launched 9 months ago and the last flagship Ti card the RTX 2080 Ti was back in September of 2018. Unlike the RTX 3080 which had a 2-week wait from announcement to the launch, the RTX 3080 Ti on the other hand was announced Monday, reviews are out today and you can (hopefully) buy them tomorrow. But before then, today I’m going to see what the 3080 Ti is all about and how it performs, so let’s dive in!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 01 June 2021 14:12
The last Zotac card we had come into the office was back in late 2019 with the Zotac GTX 1650 SUPER Twin Fan. It’s a little crazy just how much things have changed from then to now, it’s no joke that 2020 alone feels like it was two years. But beyond all of that, with the latest generation of video cards, most of the manufacturers changed up their designs as well. Combine that with just how hard cards have been to get, I was excited to get the chance to check out one of Zotac’s cards when they announced the RTX 3060 AMP, but I was even more excited when they sent out the AMP White Edition. I’ve loved all white builds all the way back to our Fridge build in a Case Labs TH10, but at that point there just weren’t many white component options at all. I painted what I could and used chrome for a lot of the water cooling so it would blend in. That was also the first build that I went with RGB. Then here we are now 9 years later and white components are not only available, but you actually have options from multiple companies and RGB well... Okay, I’m sorry about that one.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Friday, 14 May 2021 16:01
When it comes to AMD video cards, Sapphire has always been known for their quality and great performance. Sadly I missed out on seeing any of Sapphire's cards for the 5000 series, the last Sapphire card we have had a look at was the RX580 but that changes today. I’ve had the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700XT in the office and I’ve been doing some testing on it. Today we (you and I) are going to check out what Sapphire is doing differently from the last time I saw them and what they are doing differently from the competition, then we will see how the Nitro+ RX6700 XT performs in our test suite. I can’t wait any longer, lets dive in!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Tuesday, 04 May 2021 16:45
With the shortages, I sadly haven’t had the chance to check out any of the latest generation of cards from Gigabyte to see what is new their way. But I did recently happen to receive their RTX 3060 Eagle 12G. The Eagle is an interesting one to have come in because while that product line came out last year and covers the 2000 series and the 1600 series of cards I haven’t had the chance to check one out yet. They are a little more budget-focused which is the opposite of what I’ve been seeing this generation with some companies taking advantage of the unprecedented demand to bring out higher-cost cards. It still has features that you expect to see from Gigabyte like their Windforce cooling so I am excited to see how it performs. Let’s check it out!
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 24 March 2021 16:31
The RX 6700 XT has been exciting, having already taken a look at one other card we know that it performs well in the 1440p range and is a monster for 1080p for anyone looking to run a high refresh rate monitor. The first card I took a look at was an overclocked one from MSI but XFX also sent over a card. I was impressed with their new styling when I took a look at the Merc 319 6800 XT and from what I’ve seen the Merc 319 6700 XT has a similar setup. The name alone tells us that this is their high-end model and it has the triple-fan cooler. So it will be interesting to see if the 6700 XT performs even better with the cooler and we get the chance to check out card-to-card performance as well which is a rare chance in the current market. So let’s jump in and see what it is all about and find out if it’s the 6700 XT to pick up.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Wednesday, 17 March 2021 13:10
Well, today's the day, AMD announced the RX 5700 XT on their video launch at the start of March. There have been performance leaks and lots of information but today is the day where everything is released. I don’t have a reference card coming in to test but I do have an overclocked card from MSI. Their RX 6700 XT Gaming X. Today I’m going to put it through our normal test suite to see how it performs and to get an idea of where it stands in today's very complicated market.
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Category: Video Cards
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Published: Friday, 26 February 2021 20:42
With my first look at the newly launched RTX 3060, I had the chance to take a look at the XC Black which has a stock 3060 clock and is designed to reach the target MSRP Nvidia announced. But what other kinds of options are out there? MSI sent over their RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio which has an overclock out of the box and a significantly larger three fan design. I’m excited to see what MSI has going on with their higher-end RTX 3060 and to see how the 3060 performs with an overclock. So let’s dive in and see what the Gaming X Trio is all about!
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