The customer, who owned an Asus RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, went to Cooler Master's support team to complain about their MWE Gold V2 1250-watt power supply's integrated right-angled 12V-2x6 power cable not working with their graphics card's power connector. The connector was allegedly offset inside the graphics card, preventing the cable from plugging in correctly.

Despite the customer requesting a different cable design to be shipped to them, Cooler Master customer support recommended the customer do the unthinkable, and jerry rig their existing 12V-2x6 power cable to make it work. Customer service recommended that they disconnect to remove two clips on either side of the power connector to free it from its external housing, so it would fit inside the GPU's own power connector. The external cover is what makes the cable right-angled, so removing it essentially turns the cable into a standard straight power cable.

Luckily, the customer was smart enough not to dismantle their existing power connector and instead bought a third-party cable from Cablemod, solving the connectivity issue and inevitably freeing the customer's RTX 5070 Ti from a fiery death.

Ironically, Igor's Lab reports that the modification Cooler Master's customer service recommended would not have solved the problem anyway. The problem is that removing the two clips holding the external housing of the cable together does not reduce the physical connector's flatness, which is the actual problem. Even with the "removable" cover removed, the internal housing juts outward and interferes with the GPU cooler. Igor's Lab tested the cable on an MSI RTX 5090 Suprim and had the same compatibility issue.

This wouldn't be a problem if Cooler Master's quality control department had caught sight of the error when it was initially designed. Igor's Lab points out that Cooler Master's cables' internal housing is not long enough to allow the connector to be fully recessed into the GPU power connector. Igor's Lab compared Nvidia's reference 12V-2x6 power adapter with the cable and discovered the Cooler Master connector's housing is 3.2mm shorter than the Nvidia one. Nvidia's adapter is built explicitly for the CEM 5.1 standard, so it can be used as a solid reference point.

Removing the right-angle cover from the original Cooler Master cable might not sound like a bad idea; however, these 12V-2x6 connectors are so delicate that bending the wires straight can wreak havoc with the internal integrity of the pins themselves. If you've read any of our previous coverage on the 12V-2x6 or 12VHPWR power connector, you'll know that subtle movements of the pins inside can increase electrical resistance, which can increase the chance of a fire or meltdown.

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The RTX Pro 5000 72GB represents an upgraded iteration of the standard RTX Pro 5000, distinguished primarily by increased memory capacity. The former boasts an additional 24GB of GDDR7 memory, a substantial 50% increase in capacity. This significant enhancement in the memory subsystem is expected to be accompanied by a proportionate increase in cost.

The sole modification to the RTX Pro 5000 72GB is an increase in capacity, as the memory modules remain 28 Gbps chips operating over a 384-bit memory interface, which yields a maximum memory bandwidth of 1.3 GB/s. The Blackwell AI graphics card comprises 24 memory modules arranged in a clamshell configuration, each with a capacity of 3GB. In terms of capacity, it is only 25% less than the flagship RTX Pro 6000.

Nvidia RTX Pro 5000 72GB Blackwell Specifications

The other specifications of the RTX Pro 5000 72GB remain unchanged. Utilizing the GB202 silicon—also employed in the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX Pro 6000—the die of the RTX Pro 5000 72GB features 110 SMs enabled out of the maximum 192 SMs. It corresponds to approximately 57% utilization of the GB202 silicon. Given its enhanced capacity, the RTX Pro 5000 72GB effectively positions itself between the RTX Pro 6000 and the RTX Pro 5000.

According to Nvidia's specification sheet, the 50% additional memory didn't alter the RTX Pro 5000's power draw. The RTX Pro 5000 72GB is still a 300W graphics card that pulls power from a 16-pin power connector. The modest power requirements, combined with its dual-slot, blower-style cooler, make it easy to have up to four of these Blackwell AI graphics cards in a modern system.

The RTX Pro 5000 72GB represents a strategic move by Nvidia, with the potential to yield significant dividends. As an intermediary model, the RTX Pro 5000 72GB offers a viable option for consumers seeking greater memory capacity than the RTX Pro 5000, yet wishing to avoid the exorbitant price of the RTX Pro 6000, which can reach up to $10,000.

Nvidia has not announced the release date or pricing details for the RTX Pro 5000 72GB on its website. The pricing of the standard RTX Pro 5000 varies significantly, ranging from $4,400 to $7,500, although availability is infrequent. The increased memory capacity of the RTX Pro 5000 72GB is likely to elevate its price by approximately 20% to 25%.

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The AI startup showed off this new capability on X with instructions on how to install the drivers for AI developers. TinyCorp also shared an image of a MacBook Pro M3 Max running Tinygrad off of an (unnamed) RTX GPU hooked up to an ADT-UT3G dock using USB4.

For now, RTX 30, 40, and 50 series graphics cards are supported. The AI startup mentions that the RTX 20 series might work, but requires additional work on the user's end. The main issue is that TinyCorp's drivers only work with Nvidia GPUs featuring a GPU system processor, which is why no GTX-series graphics cards are supported. AMD GPUs based on RDNA 2, 3, and 4 reportedly work as well.

Getting Nvidia GPUs to run on Apple products has been pretty much impossible ever since Apple ditched Intel processors and switched to its homebrewed M-series processors running on the ARM architecture. Apple's M-series MacBooks are powered exclusively by one massive iGPU inside, so there has not been any requirement for Apple to implement Nvidia or AMD driver support in the ARM versions of MacOS.

This has forced developers and users to make their own drivers by hand for any chance to make MacOS work with Nvidia or AMD graphics cards running on external GPU docks. Luckily for TinyCorp, the AI startup already had experience building all the necessary drivers to run eGPUs on ARM-based MacBooks after it created the world's first external AMD graphics card driven on Apple silicon with USB3, a standard that doesn't even include PCI Express.

TinyCorp's X did not share many details about the development pitfalls the AI-startup inevitably had to plow through to get Nvidia GPUs working on ARM-based MacBooks through USB4 and Thunderbolt 4. But, it was likely easier for TinyCorp to implement Nvidia support with external GPU docks for M-series MacBooks, with their prior experience building the same setup for AMD GPUs on USB3.

USB4/Thunderbolt 4 is also tailor-made for devices such as external GPU docks, boasting native PCIe support, which probably simplifies support further. Not to mention the massive bandwidth improvements USB4/Thunderbolt 4 boasts over classic USB3.

For the AI crowd, this new capability of running Nvidia GPUs on ARM MacBooks will be highly beneficial for running local LLMs and other AI models on cards such as the RTX 5090 at a much faster rate than what Apple's M-series GPUs can achieve.

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As per the Reddit post, u/RunRepulsive9867 found the unique GPU inside a PC they purchased from Facebook Marketplace for $500. After some tests, the owner of the card verified its specifications using GPU-Z, which confirmed that it was indeed an RTX 2080 Ti internally, but equipped with 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM, compared to the 11GB found on the retail version. It also featured a wider memory bus and higher bandwidth, along with increased ROPs (Render Output Units) and TMUs (Texture Mapping Units), though there was no mention of dedicated RT (Ray Tracing) cores.

Last month, we covered what appears to be the very same prototype when another Reddit user, u/Substantial-Mark-959, managed to get a faulty unit of the same card. The GPU was eventually fixed using a Founders Edition BIOS and modified drivers to function properly. Once operational, the card revealed the same specifications, including the 12GB of VRAM with a wider 384-bit memory bus that pushed total bandwidth to 672 GB/s. Unfortunately, the original Reddit post has been deleted.

Judging by its specifications, it’s possible that Nvidia initially experimented with a more powerful TU102 configuration before finalizing the retail RTX 2080 Ti design. Alternatively, the card may have been part of early testing for a potential Titan or workstation variant that never saw the light of day. Engineering samples and prototypes like these don’t usually make their way into the public as such units are mostly used for internal hardware validation, driver testing, and early performance benchmarking. Their existence is usually secured behind non-disclosure agreements or scrapped before official launch, which makes these working units valuable pieces of hardware for enthusiasts and collectors.

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The RTX 5070 originally launched with an MSRP of $549, but early listings were priced well above that, often around $640 or higher. It wasn’t until last month that prices began to settle closer to MSRP, with a few models finally appearing at or below the official launch price

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The RTX 5070 is Nvidia’s mid-range graphics card aimed at delivering solid performance for most gamers, complete with support for the latest technologies like DLSS 4, Reflex 2, and improved ray tracing capabilities. The MSI RTX 5070 Shadow 2X OC features a fairly simple-looking dual-fan design with an all-black finish. It is also quite compact, making it suitable for small form factor builds. It packs 6,144 CUDA cores, 12GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, reaches boost clock speeds of up to 2,557 MHz, and a rated power draw of up to 250W.

In our review of the RTX 5070, we found that the GPU is capable of solid performance at 1440p, which offers an ideal balance between visual quality and smooth gameplay. While it can easily handle games at 1080p ultra settings and even 4K with the help of upscaling, 1440p remains its true sweet spot. Ray tracing is not its strongest suit though and most games at 4K require DLSS to maintain smooth frame rates around 60 FPS.

Looking at the gaming benchmarks, the GPU delivers a notable performance boost over its predecessor, offering 19% faster performance than the RTX 4070 at 1440p, with a wider gap of about 22% at 4K resolution. At its current price, the MSI RTX 5070 Shadow 2X OC should offer great value for gamers looking to upgrade or build a new gaming PC with an efficient 1440p GPU. Given that it’s the first time the RTX 5070 has dipped below $500, this deal is unlikely to last long, so you better hurry.

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Three days ago, a user on Reddit posted an image showing unattended pallets of RTX 5090 GPUs lying in a street in China. This prompted online chatter pertaining to a lack of enforcement for export controls, as the RTX 5090 is one of many high-end cards that are banned from export to China. Aware of the PR connotations of getting caught, or even accused, of dealing the GPUs in the region, MSI was quick to issue a rebuttal.

an insane number of RTX 5090s spotted in China from r/pcmasterrace

In a new statement posted on its site, the company has clarified that it had nothing to do with the RTX 5090 shipments spotted in China, and claims the global serial number tracking has confirmed they are parallel imports — when a genuine product is imported through questionable means, without the explicit permission of the parent company.

Dealers skirting export controls on high-demand GPUs remains a headache for Washington. Just recently, a Singaporean company was accused of helping smuggle $2 billion worth of Nvidia GPUs into the country. We've known for a while now that underground markets exist in the region, where cards are regularly modded with increased VRAM to make them better for AI applications.

All of this leads to a precedent where, even though Beijing shouldn't be the recipient of high-end AI cards on paper, reality begs to differ. Nvidia has made region-specific RTX 5090D and 5090D V2 models for China, but they carry neutered specs, which leads to shady, black-market shipments thriving. Nvidia has always held the position that China is an important market for the chipmaker, but that it, too, has nothing to do with how the region keeps getting its hands on banned GPUs.

MSI reiterated that it only sells its RTX 5090 in the U.S., Europe, and some Asia-Pacific markets, and that any unauthorized units obtained via grey channels are not covered under warranty. These illicit GPUs allegedly arrived in China through third-party resellers and retailers in overseas markets who bypassed regulations and illegally imported the cards.

While there was no word on any active investigations or whether the hardware manufacturer plans to take action, MSI did note that any products bought through non-official channels may have been resold or tampered with, and aren't eligible for warranty, repair services, or technical support. MSI is a Taiwanese company, a country that remains imperative in the ongoing U.S.–China trade war, and is an extremely sensitive region geopolitically. A significant portion of MSI's production facilities is located in Mainland China.

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Intel's inference-optimized Data Center GPU codenamed Crescent Island will carry a GPU (perhaps two) based on the Xe3P architecture, which is a performance-enhanced version of the Xe3 architecture used in the Core Ultra 300-series 'Panther Lake' processors for laptops and compact desktops. The GPU is said to support a 'broad range of data types' relevant for inference workloads and cloud providers. Unfortunately, there is no word regarding the estimated performance for the part. However, there are still some hints in Intel's press release. 

The board will carry 160 GB of LPDDR5X memory (a lot more than one typically expects from a graphics card), which suggests the usage of many LPDDR5X devices. An LPDDR5X DRAM IC features two 16-bit channels, so its total interface width is 32 bits. The highest-capacity LPDDR5X die is 32 GB (8 Gb), so 20 of such chips are needed to equip a graphics card with 160 GB of LPDDR5X memory. This means that the card either carries one massive GPU with an unprecedented 640-bit wide memory interface connecting all 20 memory devices, or two smaller GPUs, each with a 320-bit memory interface and equipped with 10 memory devices. In both cases, it means that Intel will have two high-end graphics processors for inference, and the only question is whether these can also process graphics. 

Keep in mind that since LPDDR5X DRAMs feature two fully independent 16-bit channels, they cannot support butterfly mode (like GDDR6 or GDDR7), so it is impossible to connect 20 ICs using a single 320-bit interface to one GPU. 

Intel says that its inference-optimized Data Center GPU codenamed Crescent Island will be 'power and cost optimized for air-cooled enterprise servers,' so we would not expect the company to build a near-reticle-sized GPU for these cards. 

Intel plans to start sampling its Crescent Island products sometime in the second half of 2026. The company already has samples, and we might hear more details about their performance at the OCP conference or the SC25 trade show.

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AMD debuted the Helios platform earlier this year, highlighting its ground-up design using all-AMD hardware. It combines AMD's Epyc server CPUs with Instinct 400 GPUs, AMD Pensando networking interfaces, and AMD ROCm software, giving it what AMD claims is a big advantage for performance and efficiency in the rapidly scaling AI infrastructure industry.

To enhance that scalability, AMD has now demonstrated it as compliant with the new Open Rack Wide specification developed by Meta. It was developed to improve power, cooling, and serviceability for AI systems. Supporting this and OPC standards will allow AMD partners to scale up faster and more effectively, AMD claims.

“Open collaboration is key to scaling AI efficiently,” said Forrest Norrod, executive VP and GM of the Data Center Solutions Group, AMD. “With ‘Helios,’ we’re turning open standards into real, deployable systems — combining AMD Instinct GPUs, EPYC CPUs, and open fabrics to give the industry a flexible, high-performance platform built for the next generation of AI workloads.”

Each of the MI450 GPUs deployed as part of the Helios system will have access to up to 432GB of HBM4 memory, with a total bandwidth of 19.6 TB/s. With 72 of those GPUs in each Helios system, it should be able to deliver 1.4 exaFLOPS of FP8 performance, with 31TB of HBM4 memory overall.

AMD even took a swipe at Nvidia in the announcement, claiming that this will work out to 50% greater memory capacity than Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin will offer.

AMD also announced the first customers with this Helios system. In what's described as an "expansion of their long-standing, multi-generation collaboration," AMD has partnered with Oracle for the first deployment of the Helios rack system. It will involve Oracle deploying some 50,000 MI450 GPUs starting in Q3 2026, with more to come in 2027.

That shows strong confidence from potential customers already. Although consumers will need to wait for Nvidia and AMD to launch next-generation graphics products designed for gaming, AI developers have a big head start and a better idea of what's coming down the pipe. Although everyone is scrambling for any compute power they can get for AI data center developments, if AMD's hardware couldn't at least offer credible competition to Nvidia's future Vera Rubin designs, it wouldn't be striking deals like this.

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The dock is constructed from recycled aluminum with a wooden accent, thereby enhancing its premium appearance. It also incorporates a cooling system that operates in a silent 0dB mode when idle and dynamically adjusts its fan speed based on the graphics card's load. According to the manufacturer, the Humbird 3 is equipped with an ESP32 System on Chip (SoC), a component typically utilized in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and is reportedly powered by the Humbird Operating System (OS) to manage the device's power and performance. The Humbird 3 also features a one-inch LCD screen that displays real-time information, including power consumption, transfer speed, charging status, or a user-defined parameter.

The device utilizes Intel's HL9480 Thunderbolt 5 controller, capable of delivering up to 120 Gbps in single-display mode. The PCIe 4.0 x16 expansion slot is configured as a x4 connection with a bandwidth of 64 Gbps. The dock is equipped with an integrated 500W GaN power supply and a 16-pin power connector designed to supply power to your graphics card. Users may employ either a standard 16-pin power cable or a 16-pin to 3 x 8-pin power cable, depending on their requirements. Rated at 500W, the system supports graphics cards up to the Radeon 9070 XT or the GeForce RTX 5080.

The Humbird 3 exhibits a comprehensive array of features. Concerning storage, it includes one M.2 slot operating at PCIe 4.0 x4; however, the vendor did not specify the supported form factors. Additionally, it incorporates a microSD card reader as well as CFexpress Type A and Type B card readers. In terms of network connectivity, the Humbird 3 is equipped with a single 5G Ethernet port, facilitated by the Realtek RTL8157 controller.

Connectivity includes three Thunderbolt 5 ports that support 100W PD charging. Additionally, the DisplayPort 2.1 output delivers 8K (7680 x 4320) resolution at a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz. The device is also equipped with two standard USB Type-A ports offering 10 Gbps data transfer speeds. Furthermore, wireless charging functionality is available, facilitating the charging of smartphones or smartwatches.

The Humbird 3 is equipped with a standard 180W power adapter. Nonetheless, it is possible to upgrade to a 300W unit for an additional $39 or to a 500W GaN power adapter for an extra $129.

The funding period for the Humbird 3 has concluded. The manufacturer has established an MSRP of $399 for the device. However, Super Early Bird and Early Bird backers are eligible to purchase the device at prices of $299 and $309, respectively. Meanwhile, the vendor is offering a "KS discount" of $80, reducing the device's price to $319.

Shipping fees will add another $20 to $30, depending on your location. The company expects to ship Humbird 3 orders out in November. A limited one-year warranty backs the Humbird 3.

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Originally spotted by Videocardz, our journey starts in Brazil, where a dead RTX 5070 Ti got carbonized in a lightning surge so badly, the shock burnt a literal hole through its PCB. That means a sudden arc flowed across the GPU that was beyond any voltage the card could handle, and in the process, a part of the board ruptured, specifically the top-left corner where the VRMs sit. At this point, any sane person would consider a tax write-off as the best possible course of action for an expensive, dead GPU, but not our host.

See, the core was fine, and even the memory; it was only the power delivery systems that were affected, which implied a way out was possible — all you needed was some (insanely) clever bit of circuitry work. Aided by schematics and a few wires, just bridge together the lost traces, jump a few components, and make sure nothing short-circuits. Easy, right? Wrong.

There were no core voltages in the 5070 Ti, and the card only showed signs of life when it was tricked into supplying current to the PCIe power and memory voltage lanes.

This is where the RX 580 makes its entry. It's a donor board, so it actually doesn't have a GPU, but it does have a working power delivery system with VRMs that can serve as the lifeblood for another card. Thus, we begin the surgery, carefully siphoning power from the RX 580 to the RTX 5070 Ti's main voltage lines: MSVDD and NVDD.

Paulo initially planned to solder 14 power wires between both cards, but then reduced that number down to just six after some experimentation, and also added a 3V line for PEX (logic enable). Lastly, an aftermarket GPU cooler was mounted on the RX 580's PCB — which itself was sitting on top of the 5070 Ti — to keep this incendiary apparatus under control.

It's worth noting that AMD and Nvidia handle power management very differently, so that introduced another layer of challenge (and risk); therefore, the wires connecting the VRMs were shielded heavily to ensure they could handle the heat from the high voltage flowing through the cards.

Following the necessary precautions, which included a fire extinguisher, Paulo also repaired broken video output traces so the card could actually be tested. Once everything was plugged in, our "Brasília" (Frankstein in Portuguese) GPU actually powered on, posts, drawing around ~19W upon startup.

After fiddling around with video drivers, they achieved a stable image, which confirms the experiment worked. They stopped before doing any stress-testing because that would certainly melt the wires, or at least impose some level of serious danger. This is where Paul teases a second part where all warnings are thrown out the window in the name of science — or, in other words, refining the makeshift power delivery system to actually make it stable enough to play games.

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Yes, AMD set the MSRP for the 9070 XT at $599, but Sapphire's Nitro+ is a flagship variant that commands a premium. Sapphire originally priced the Nitro+ at $729, but it never actually sold at that rate; just three months ago, it hit its lowest price ever of $769, so this course correction has long been due. As for the GPU itself, it doesn't really need a sales pitch. The 9070 XT is our top pick for the best GPUs you can buy today. It performs almost identically to the RTX 5070 Ti overall while costing a lot less, and even matches the RTX 4070 Ti in ray tracing performance.

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The RX 9070 XT is based on the Navi 48 GPU from AMD's RDNA 4 graphics IP, and it features 4,096 Stream Processors (cores). It has 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which is plenty for today and tomorrow, and this Nitro+ model boosts up to 3,060 MHz while staying extremely quiet. You also get a single recessed 12V-2x6 connector for power, which allows for easy and elegant cable routing. Sapphire has included a magnetic backplate, too, which is made out of metal, so it feels really high-quality, and there's an RGB header present on-board as well for lighting sync.

In our review, we praised the card for its superior value proposition, but knocked a few points for Nvidia's comparatively stronger driver suite. If creature comforts like RTX HDR, multi-frame gen and Nvidia Broadcast don't really matter to you, AMD's offering is a clear winner, especially now that power consumption for multi-monitor setups has been fixed, and the card in general has a modest TDP of 330W. We haven't even mentioned FSR 4, which has worked extensively to close the gap with DLSS and only looks to get better with Redstone.

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From the husband’s point of view, starting his new married life, beginning with the gift of an Asus ROG Astral RTX 5090 from his beloved, has definitely begun well. Many commenters on the Reddit post chip in with how lucky they think the groom is.

An interesting aspect of this RTX 5090 gift, which elevates it above a story about an extravagant tech gift, lies in the way that the bride revealed it. She used a quite elaborate form of ‘Chinese number slang’ which required a bit of work from the groom, to understand the true nature of his gift.

Recently in China, a girl gave her fiancé an RTX 5090 at their wedding. Context and translation are given in the comment. from r/pcmasterrace

Zestyclose-Salad-290 sought to help those unfamiliar with number slang understand the meaning of the complex-looking equation. These random-looking numbers, to the uninitiated, have Chinese homophone meanings. The key point here is that 520 is a slang term for ‘I love you’ as both the spoken number and phrase sound very similar to native speakers.

Sometimes, speakers extend the phrase to '1314,' which translates to 'for a lifetime.' Therefore, 5201314 ultimately signifies 'I love you for a lifetime.'

“First, the girl kept her husband in suspense and asked him to solve a fairly complex calculation: 520×10 + 1,314 - 514 - 619 + 666 – 957,” explains Zesty. “The result of this calculation is exactly 5090. When her husband worked out the answer, the girls beside her took the 5090 out.”

So, the message started emphatically with 520x10. Or ‘I love you’ x 10. 1314 is significant as it is a homophone for ‘forever and always.’ Elsewhere in the tricky sum, we see 514 (til death), 619 (escaping forever), 666 (awesome), and 957 (I’m teasing).

The answer to this numerical riddle is, of course, 5090, a number which all regular readers will understand as representing awesome graphics, with the chance of a surprise burning smell. Hopefully, sparks will fly in this marriage, rather than inside the groom's PC chassis.

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The inspections, which began in recent weeks, are reportedly being coordinated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), with assistance from customs officials. The campaign initially targeted the H20 and RTX 6000D, but has since broadened to include “all advanced semiconductor products.” The FT says that officials are focused on stopping smuggled U.S. chips from reaching domestic data centers. Nvidia declined to comment when contacted by Tom’s Hardware.

China’s pressure on the H20 is especially notable. Announced last year as a tailored workaround to avoid falling afoul of Washington’s updated export rules, the H20 had only recently begun shipping in volume to Chinese server OEMs. Given that the likes of ByteDance and Alibaba were reportedly told in mid-September to halt further H20 orders, some or all of those shipments will now undoubtedly be held up or blocked indefinitely.

These inspections are likely to hit China’s gray and refurbishment market, which has leaned on repurposed A100 and H100 boards as H20 access tightened, with underground repair shops servicing hundreds of accelerators each month. The Financial Times previously reported at least a billion dollars’ worth of high-end Nvidia processors entering the country in the three months after tighter U.S. rules, often through indirect routes. A customs sweep could directly target that pipeline.

At the same time, China’s homegrown roadmap is real but uneven. China’s decision to begin cracking down on imports might reflect a growing confidence in its domestic hardware, but while domestic accelerators are ramping up at Chinese fabs, bottlenecks exist in HBM supply and overall fab capacity. This suggests near-term friction for data-center operators with more delays for inbound H20 RTX 6000D shipments on one side — that may well never reach them — and slower-than-hoped rollouts of homegrown silicon on the other.

The H20’s own status also remains unsettled. Nvidia has told some suppliers to pause H20-related work amid changing rules, while exploring a successor that would comply with U.S. controls. If that successor slips or ships in limited volume, the practical effect of China’s crackdown will be felt twice over, with fewer legal Nvidia pathways and a harder environment for gray-market cards.

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First things first: Intel emphasized that Xe3 is not based on the Celestial architecture, even though its name conveniently maps to that codename's place in Intel's past roadmaps. Let us repeat: this is not Celestial. Intel classifies Xe3 GPUs as part of the Battlemage family because the capabilities the chip presents to software are similar to those of existing Xe2 products. Therefore, it will include Panther Lake iGPUs under the Arc B-series umbrella. The company admits this naming scheme isn't ideal, but it appears to be the least worst option for the time being.

Indeed, once you start digging into the changes Intel highlights for Xe3, you'll see that it's more of a continuous improvement of the existing Battlemage architectural lineage than an all-new design. The next "clean" generational leap will come with Xe3P Arc GPUs, but it's unclear when those parts will arrive. Intel was understandably mum about Xe3P products during the Panther Lake event.

The building blocks

The basic Xe3 Xe Core (henceforth Xe3 Core) keeps the same basic layout of Xe2: eight Xe Vector Engines for floating-point and integer math, eight XMX engines for acceleration of matrix math for AI applications, and one ray-tracing unit. Intel says the changes within Xe3 are meant to improve two pain points: better utilization of available resources, an ongoing project for Arc GPUs, and making the architecture more scalable, which is important for building larger and higher-performance products.

The prior Xe2 render slice included up to four Xe Cores, from which graphics processors as small as Lunar Lake's iGPU (two render slices) and as large as the Arc B580 (five render slices) were all constructed.

The Xe3 render slice, on the other hand, starts with six Xe Cores, and it's been used to make two iGPUs so far.

The headliner is the two-render-slice, 12 Xe3 Core part that will power gaming, content creation, and AI workloads in the highest-performance variant of the Panther Lake SoC.

The other is a four-Xe3-Core part that provides graphics functionality on lower-end Panther Lake products.

Observant readers may be wondering why, given that an Xe3 render slice starts with six Xe Cores, the smaller Xe3 GPU on Panther Lake only includes four Xe Cores. Intel has always maintained a level of fine-grained control over the size of its graphics engines (stretching well into the pre-Arc days) to meet various product demands, so even if Xe3 starts with six Xe Cores per render slice, it's no surprise that it can be scaled down.

Improvements large and small

Intel says each Xe3 Xe Core can keep up to 25% more threads in flight - from eight to 10 - versus its predecessor, and the core can variably allocate partitions of each Xe Vector Engine's register file per thread in order to achieve better utilization.

Variable register allocation is truly new to Xe3. Previous Arc GPUs used a coarser per-thread register allocation strategy that posed challenges for fully utilizing the core's available resources. Intel says this is a key improvement in the Xe3 architecture and says that it has "dramatic effects on performance."

One of Xe3's other big structural changes — at least for an Arc iGPU — is an increase in shared local memory per Xe core. Xe3 now includes 256KB of shared local memory, up from 192KB in Xe2 on Lunar Lake and the improved Xe-LPG architecture on Meteor Lake. Intel says that workloads spilling out of this shared local memory is a major reason for performance pitfalls on older Arc iGPUs, so adding more of it is a sensible and relatively simple architectural refinement with a major performance payoff.

It's worth noting that this change simply brings Xe3 iGPUs in line with the basic resources offered by desktop Xe2 products. The Arc B580 and B5700 already had 256KB of local memory per Xe Core, so don't expect performance miracles from this increase. The fact that Intel is adding more local memory here probably shows that the size of this structure on Battlemage discrete GPUs was the right decision and one worthy of carrying through the Arc B-series graphics stack.

More big changes occur further out in the cache hierarchy. In its largest 12-Xe-Core configuration, Panther Lake's Arc GPU now sports 16MB of shared L2 cache, double that of Lunar Lake's eight-Xe-Core graphics engine. This is an absolutely massive L2 for a GPU of this size; the Arc B580, by comparison, only sports 18MB (or 12.5% more) L2 for a chip with 67% more Xe Cores to feed.

Intel says a larger L2 cache reduces traffic on Panther Lake's on-package fabric that connects the graphics processor to main memory - an important consideration for an integrated graphics processor that might be contending with a CPU and NPU for access to RAM. Intel showed a chart claiming anywhere from a 17% to 36% reduction in fabric traffic compared to a product with an 8MB L2 as a baseline.

Xe3 also features a number of smaller, but still important, refinements. Xe2's ray tracing engine allows for asynchronous evaluation of ray-triangle intersection, but the results of those tests have to be resolved in order. That responsibility falls to a thread sorting unit that could previously cause backups in the ray-tracing pipeline. Intel says the improved ray tracing engine in Xe3 can dynamically slow down dispatch of new rays while the sorting unit catches up to work in flight.

Intel also increased the performance of a cache called the Unified Return Buffer, or URB, which is a means of passing data between functional units on the GPU. The company equipped the Xe3 URB with a new management agent that can make partial updates to this buffer without requiring a full flush for each context switch, lowering the cost of cross-functional-unit communication.

Xe3 also includes improvements to fixed-function hardware in order to improve performance in some common graphics tasks. The company says to expect up to 2x the anisotropic filtering rate, and up to a 2x improvement in stencil test rate.

In a range of proprietary microarchitectural benchmarks versus the Xe2 GPU on Lunar Lake, you can see that the performance of the 12 Xe3 Core GPU in some operations hasn't changed between Xe2 and Xe3, simply because the available resources per render slice haven't grown. Intel demonstrates that some other operations have scaled linearly with the 50% increase in Xe Cores from Lunar Lake to Panther Lake's 12 Xe configuration.

Operations like ray-triangle intersection tests, anisotropic filtering, mesh rendering, and scattered reads from memory, start to demonstrate microarchitectural as well as scaling improvements in Xe3; they all enjoy 2x or better speedups relative to Xe2.

For shaders that place a large amount of pressure on registers, Xe3's dynamic register allocation can deliver anywhere from 1.9x to 3.1x faster performance in Intel's internal microbenchmarks. Depth testing operations—an incredibly important and fundamental part of the modern render pipeline—enjoy anywhere from a 1.9x to an incredible 7.4x speedup.

Intel isn't talking about detailed specs like clock speeds for Xe3 GPUs just yet, but the company did provide a set of ballpark power-versus-performance plots that are typical of early looks at silicon.

The first claim shows that the 12 Xe Core GPU has a much broader range of scaling than Lunar Lake. If given a large amount of extra power over Lunar Lake, the 12 Xe Core Arc GPU can offer 50% or greater performance in exchange. If we eyeball the same power level as Lunar Lake in this chart, performance gains are much more modest, but still present.

When discussing performance-per-watt improvements, Intel instead points to the Arrow Lake-H iGPU, against which the company claims a greater than 40% improvement in efficiency for the same performance. We would certainly hope that Panther Lake provides a performance-per-watt improvement in this match-up, as the Arrow Lake-H iGPU is based on the aging Xe-LPG architecture that first made its debut in the almost two-year-old Meteor Lake and has its roots in the three-year-old Alchemist architecture.

If you directly compare Panther Lake to Lunar Lake for efficiency, Xe3 still delivers a performance-per-watt improvement, but it's smaller (probably under 20%, if we had to eyeball it). Gripes about relevant comparisons aside, what we should take away here is that the Lunar Lake iGPU (at least in its 12 Xe Core form) delivers both performance per watt improvements and a broader range of performance scaling possibilities compared to the company's past integrated GPU efforts.

What is impressive, however, is that these improvements have all come by way of architectural refinements. Intel says it hasn't changed the process technology it's using to fabricate the GPU tile (presumably relative to Arrow Lake), so these boosts to both power and performance come exclusively from the architectural improvements discussed above.

Another way Intel talks about performance with Xe3 is by walking through the time it takes for a hypothetical frame to be rendered on both Lunar Lake and Panther Lake. As any graphics performance enthusiast knows, a lower frame time on average means higher frame rates. One frame isn't terribly useful as a benchmark, but Intel's trip inside the frame time journey shows several key improvements related to the microarchitectural refinements in Xe3. Overall, this same frame renders in 22.84 ms on the 12 Xe3-Core GPU, or 50% less time.

Going hands-on with Xe Multi Frame Generation

Of course, GPUs these days aren't just a chip - they're part of an entire hardware-software stack. Intel is continuing to invest in its XeSS suite of technologies to keep pace with Nvidia and AMD. On top of upscaling and 2x framegen support in XeSS 2, an upcoming XeSS release will add AI-accelerated multi-frame generation to Intel’s arsenal.

Like Nvidia’s DLSS Multi-Frame Generation, XeSS MFG will offer 2x, 3x, and 4x modes (one, two, or three generated frames). It also won’t require game developers to update their XeSS 2 titles to explicitly support the feature.

Any of the (small) list of titles that already support Xe Frame Generation will work with XeSS MFG through an override in the Intel Graphics Software control panel.

We had an opportunity to go hands-on with XeSS Multi Frame Generation on a Panther Lake engineering system at the Tech Tour event. Based on my limited time with the demo system, the image quality of XeMFG is impressive. I didn't see any distracting artifacts that would have given the framegen-boosted frame rate away.

However, input lag was just a bit too far over the line of tolerability for a great experience in a fast-paced shooter like the upcoming Painkiller, although I'm sure I could have tuned upscaling and quality settings to arrive at a more responsive experience.

I was somewhat frustrated by Intel’s use of baseline frame rates as a proxy for acceptable input lag with XeMFG. We’ve already performed some high-level testing that demonstrates how the two measurements are not necessarily correlated, and Intel’s representatives threw around what seemed to me to be unreasonably low baseline frame rates for a good framegen experience.

We’ll need to see how PresentMon interacts with XeMFG going forward in order to see whether it can be used reliably to gauge a game’s input lag and its suitability for use with XeMFG on a given Arc graphics platform.

To improve game load times and in-game smoothness, Intel also plans to begin distributing pre-compiled shaders from the cloud for compatible installed games on a user’s system using the Intel Graphics Software utility.

Anybody who’s loaded a modern AAA title knows the pain of long load times and in-game stutter as shaders compile for the first time, and Intel seems to think it’s a worthy investment to allocate cloud resources to make this problem go away entirely. This isn’t a game-changer, but it is a straightforward and handy perk for users of Arc graphics products.

Overall, our first experiences with Xe3 and the larger 12-Xe3-core GPU on Panther Lake are promising. At least for now, Intel remains committed to Arc graphics despite its recent earth-shaking deal with Nvidia, and we can’t wait to test Xe3 in greater depth once shipping Panther Lake systems arrive late this year or early next.

Two days prior, Redditor NestyHowk showcased the acquisition of a GeForce RTX 5090, priced at $1,399.99, which is $600 or 30% below the MSRP, sparking envy within the PCMR Reddit community. Nonetheless, today, DCole1847 has surpassed this achievement. Evidently, the hardware deities appear to favor the former, as the user recently acquired a GeForce RTX 5090 for $1,119.99, representing a reduction of $880, or 44% below the MSRP.

MSRP, particularly for Nvidia's current GeForce RTX 50 (codenamed Blackwell) series, is almost irrelevant. Even during special promotional occasions, such as Amazon Prime Day, it is nearly impossible to acquire Blackwell products at a price below the MSRP. However, based on the photographs of the two Reddit users, we may have a slight idea of where you could find a GeForce RTX 5090 at a reasonable price.

The yellow stickers unmistakably originate from Walmart, specifically items marked with "reduced" that are part of a discounted sale at the store. Items bearing such reductions typically sell for a slightly lower price due to reasons such as returns or packaging imperfections. Consequently, this does not constitute a clearance sale. "I tell my girlfriend to check the clearance aisle at every store she goes to and to send me a photo of anything that looks like a computer part," the jubilant shopper revealed.

The packaging indicates that these graphics cards are likely the PNY GeForce RTX 5090 Overclocked Triple Fan (VCG509032TFXPB1-O), the version without RGB lighting. The PNY GeForce RTX 5090 Overclocked Triple Fan is among the limited number of custom models available at a retail price of $1,999. However, it has been some time since this graphics card was available at that price point. Currently, U.S. retailers generally sell it for $2,799.99. Consequently, the fortunate Reddit members managed to circumvent the typical markup and acquired the graphics cards below the MSRP, an occurrence that is now rarely seen.

If you are specifically seeking to upgrade your gaming setup to a GeForce RTX 5090 and a Walmart store is conveniently located nearby, it may be worthwhile to visit the clearance section every once in a while, and who knows, you might also discover a nugget.

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Measuring 9.5 x 4.7 x 1.6 inches (241.5 x 120.1 x 40.6 mm), the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 Twin Edge OC is thoughtfully designed to easily fit inside most cases, making it a great choice even compared to larger models. Don't be misled by its size—this graphics card delivers performance on par with the competition and even features a little factory overclock to give you that extra boost.

• Check out all GPU deals on Amazon

The Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 Twin Edge OC is a 250W graphics card that would happily reside alongside a 650W power supply, provided it's from a reputable brand. It uses the newer 12V-2x6 power connector, but compatibility with older power supplies is not a concern, thanks to Zotac including a convenient 2 x 8-pin-to-16-pin cable for easy backward compatibility.

The graphics card comes with three DisplayPort 2.1b outputs with UHBR20 support. They support resolutions and refresh rates of up to 4K (3840 x 2160) at 480 Hz or 8K (7680 x 4320) at 165 Hz with DSC. There's also an HDMI 2.1b port for 4K at 120Hz or 8K at 60Hz, both with HDR support. The configuration allows for connecting up to four displays simultaneously.

The GeForce RTX 5070 is a fantastic graphics card for 1080p (1920 x 1080) and 1440p (2560 x 1440) gaming. It also performs well at 4K, provided you're willing to make slight adjustments to the image quality. Upgrading from a GeForce RTX 4070 feels like a noticeable step up, and if you're coming from a GeForce RTX 3070, you'll see an even bigger improvement.

In addition to outstanding performance, users can also benefit from Nvidia's latest technological innovations with the GeForce RTX 5070, including DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation, Reflex 2, and Ace, among others.

Nvidia has recently introduced a fresh Arc Raiders gaming bundle, and the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 Twin Edge OC qualifies for it. This fantastic bundle, valued at $59.99, includes a copy of the Deluxe Edition of Embark Studios' upcoming multiplayer adventure game, along with some fun extras like the Astro Cosmetic Pack. It's the cherry on top of this already enticing deal.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Supply shortages and hardware hoarding, alongside capital excess, have given rise to a strange model where AI companies are financing GPUs in the same way airlines finance planes — via multi-billion dollar debt, leaseback schemes, and vendor equity.

The latest in a growing list of examples is xAI, Elon Musk’s not-so-quiet rival to OpenAI, which is reportedly raising $20 billion to fund GPU purchases. According to reporting by Bloomberg, citing unnamed insiders, around $12 billion of that will be debt routed through a special-purpose vehicle, which buys chips from Nvidia and leases them back to xAI. Nvidia itself is fronting $2 billion in equity, a sign that Nvidia believes that xAI’s scale will pay off. The chips are destined for the Colossus 2 buildout, xAI’s South Memphis megasite, which Musk wants to expand to 200,000 GPUs.

This isn’t a one-off for Nvidia. The company also struck a much larger deal with OpenAI last month, investing as much as $100 billion across multiple years in a structure that effectively pre-funds a 10 GW GPU roadmap. That deal isn’t based on debt or cloud credit, though; it’s prepaid infrastructure in exchange for non-voting equity, tied to future product delivery. That money flows from Nvidia to OpenAI, then back to Nvidia through hardware purchases.

Silicon-backed debt

CoreWeave raised $2.3 billion in debt last year, backed by Nvidia H100s, treating its inventory like collateral. Lambda followed with a $1.5 billion leaseback deal, renting its own servers to Nvidia, which became its largest customer. These are early examples of what’s becoming a new norm of start-ups financing GPUs first and building business models second. After all, you don’t have to prove revenue when your assets appreciate with every generation.

This all points to the changing role of the GPU itself as a balance-sheet asset that’s tradable, leasable, and sometimes, more valuable than the company holding it. That transformation is driven in part by persistent shortages. With Nvidia’s chips in limited supply and overwhelming demand from every corner of the AI market, simply having physical access to GPUs creates a whole lot of leverage. But, arguably, the more influential factor is Nvidia’s lock on the AI training market. When demand exceeds supply, ownership becomes leverage, and Nvidia is structuring deals to keep it that way.

AMD’s OpenAI deal looks cautious by comparison

AMD recently announced its own blockbuster deal with OpenAI, comprising six gigawatts of Instinct MI450 capacity, tied to performance milestones and a public stock price target. It’s structured as a warrant: If OpenAI buys the full amount and AMD’s stock hits $600, it can acquire up to 160 million shares at one cent each — almost 10% of the company.

Unlike Nvidia’s cash-for-hardware deals, AMD’s doesn’t fund GPU purchases but rather, rewards them. There’s no equity transfer until the first gigawatt is deployed, and the full stake only vests if OpenAI executes at scale. That makes it more of a performance incentive than a financing mechanism whereby OpenAI gets upside while AMD gets validation. But the chips still need to be built and delivered.

That alone makes the deal more conservative in comparison to those made by Nvidia, and potentially more sustainable. Nvidia’s arrangements offer immediate compute but raise questions about circular financing: Are customers buying chips because they need them, or because the vendor is helping them foot the bill? AMD doesn’t have that luxury and has to sell on merit alone.

A circular capital bubble?

Regardless, OpenAI’s deal shouldn’t be dismissed as a hedge against Nvidia. Sources familiar with the company’s roadmap say AMD’s current-gen MI300X has already been qualified for inference workloads. It has a bigger memory pool than the H100 and performs well under LLM loads. The MI450 series, expected next year, will ramp alongside Nvidia’s Blackwell-based GB200 systems. But while Nvidia remains allocation-bound, AMD has capacity.

It’s also the first time that OpenAI has made a long-term commitment to non-Nvidia silicon (aside from rumors about it building its own chips with Broadcom), giving AMD a major foothold that comes with a chance to scale software and win mindshare in an ecosystem still dominated by CUDA. It also provides OpenAI with compute flexibility; if the market tightens further, having two suppliers could mean everything. But AMD is still playing catch-up because it doesn’t have the volume, customer base, or vendor leverage that Nvidia enjoys. Its ROCm software stack might be improving, but CUDA is well ahead, and the financing gap — who pays upfront, who delivers when — still favors Nvidia.

Ultimately, there’s a growing sense that the AI hardware market and, indeed, the AI space in general, is running hot. Enthusiasts, analysts, and regulators alike are all asking whether demand is real or, rather, reflective of a feedback loop where GPU orders inflate valuations, which fund more orders, which inflate valuations again. The Bank of England has warned of a dot-com-era risk of a “sharp market correction” in AI-linked equities, reports Financial Times.

OpenAI’s recent valuation puts it near $500 billion, most of which is based on theoretical and future compute. It’s wrong to say that all this is Nvidia’s doing, but the company is undoubtedly at the center of it. When the supplier becomes the investor, the lender, and the customer, the boundaries between growth and leverage begin to break. Right now, everyone’s a winner, but if AI workloads don’t scale fast enough to absorb all that compute, the consequences could be dire.

AMD’s slower, more disciplined approach might pale in comparison to what Nvidia is doing, but it also carries fewer risks. Its OpenAI deal doesn’t put equity on the table until performance is proven. And if demand cools or customers retrench, AMD won’t be left holding the bag. Nvidia’s strategy might have made it the most valuable chipmaker in history, but it’s also made it a quasi-financial institution, allocating capital as much as silicon. That might work brilliantly right now, but will it continue to work when the bills come due?

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Deals on gaming GPUs can be challenging to find, as top-end GPUs often sell above MSRP. However, this means that even GPUs listed at MSRP are a deal compared to other options. And, believe it or not, there are plenty of actual deals to be found on cards that sell below MSRP, too, particularly in the budget price bands.

We select deals based on our in-depth knowledge, gained from thorough reviews, expansive benchmarks, and extensive historical price analysis, and then keep them listed here in this constantly updated article. We're seeing a lot better value on AMD and Intel cards than on Nvidia-powered offerings, but you can still find some savings on RTX cards. Additionally, you can explore our list of the best graphics cards for targeted purchasing advice across a range of price points, and our GPU benchmark hierarchy to view evergreen performance data, regardless of sales trends.

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Best RTX 5060 Deals

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What to Look for in a Graphics Card Deal

When shopping for a graphics card, consider the following.

🔎 What resolution, settings do you want to play at? A low-end budget graphics card can play games at 1080p in medium settings, but if you want to play at ultra settings, you'll need to get at least a mid-range card. As you move up the stack of cards, you can play at 2K resolution and higher settings or, with the priciest cards, 4K.

🔎 How many fps do you consider smooth? Most people consider 30 fps the bare minimum for playability and 60 fps decent. However, if you want less lag for eSports gaming, you'll want to be able to go to over 100 fps at reasonable settings. See our GPU benchmark hierarchy to find out how each GPU fares.

🔎 Do you have enough power? Make sure that you have enough capacity from your power supply to support the card. If you're not sure, use a tool such as Newegg's power supply calculator to see how much you need. If your power supply can't handle the card, either get a new PSU or a different card.

🔎 Will it fit in your case? If you've got a small PC case, make sure you check the length of the card against the case's clearance numbers.

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For more potential savings, check our lists of the best Newegg promo codes and Best Buy coupon codes.

• Check out all the deals in Amazon's Prime Day Sale

It's impossible to please everyone with a PC build, but hopefully this can help serve as a great guide if you're venturing out on your own PC building journey. We've picked the excellent Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, but you could, in theory, pick an Intel processor instead; just remember to change your motherboard and RAM accordingly. You can also dial up specs for more RAM, a beefier SSD, or an all-in-one liquid cooler if you wish, but this will drive the price up and over that magic $1,600 marker.

$1,600 Prime Day gaming PC: Quick list

• AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU: was $449 now $338 at Amazon
• Thermalright PS120SE CPU Air Cooler: $35 at Amazon
• Asus TUF Gaming X870-PLUS: was $299 now $229 at Amazon
• ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 16GB: was $699 now $549 at Newegg
• MSI Ventus 3X OC RTX 5070 12GB: was $619 now $549 at Newegg
• Silicon Power DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) Zenith 6000MT/s (PC5-48000): $105 at Amazon
• Samsung 990 Pro SSD 2TB: was $199 now $133 at Amazon
• Corsair Frame 4000D: was $104 now $85 at Amazon
• Montech Century II 850W fully modular PSU: was $89 now $85 at Amazon

$1,600 Prime Day gaming PC

If you really want an RTX card from Nvidia though, try this:

This build is a great "sweet-spot" PC that will deliver really great 1440p performance without breaking the bank. As mentioned, you can always boost storage and RAM, or even a more potent GPU to spec things up as you wish. Just remember, you'll be looking for a decent monitor and some peripherals to tie it all together.

We are working hard to find the best computer hardware deals for you this Amazon Prime Day. If you're looking for more savings, check out our Amazon Prime Day deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

As per Akihabara's report, the graphics card mirror initially launched in September 2020; however, the Japanese accessory manufacturer is reintroducing it due to purported popular demand. Apparently, Japanese PC modders have been asking for its return, so the vendor is eager to please.

The stand is made from SPCC steel and has relatively compact dimensions, measuring 4.4 x 3.7 inches (113 x 93 mm). The vendor includes four rubber feet and four magnets, allowing the stand to adhere securely to your case, regardless of its material composition. Additionally, the stand features an adjustable mechanism that allows the angle to be set between 0 and 90 degrees.

Nagao Manufacturing Inc. produces the mirror from 2mm-thick acrylic material. Acrylic mirrors offer both advantages and disadvantages. While they are shatter-resistant, they are more susceptible to scratches than conventional glass mirrors. The mirror measures 11 x 4.3 inches (280 x 110 mm), allowing it to reflect even the largest graphics cards. It can simply be placed on the stand; however, for increased security, the vendor provides four pieces of double-sided tape to affix it to the stand.

The graphics card mirror has certain limitations. For example, it is primarily designed for configurations where the graphics card is installed in a standard horizontal orientation. Although there is no apparent reason why it should not function with a vertically installed graphics card, some ingenuity may be required to adapt it accordingly. Due to its overall dimensions, the accessory will obstruct access to additional PCIe expansion slots on the motherboard. However, it is generally suitable for most users or gamers who run a single discrete graphics card.

Nagao Manufacturing Inc. offers the graphics card mirror for 3,280 yen, approximately equivalent to $21.70. The manufacturer anticipates that the accessory will soon be available on Amazon, although it is currently up for purchase already at several Japanese retail outlets.

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The deal, announced on October 6, begins with AMD’s next-generation Instinct MI450 series and spans multiple future product cycles. The first one-gigawatt tranche is scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2026, with follow-on deployments ramping up based on delivery and performance milestones. OpenAI’s warrant vests in stages and caps out at 160 million shares — almost a tenth of AMD’s outstanding stock — assuming the full 6GW is deployed and AMD’s share price triples from current levels.

That would make OpenAI one of AMD’s largest shareholders, and it gives both sides a reason to scale the partnership fast. But the partnership doesn’t represent a break with Nvidia. Sam Altman said via X.com that the AMD deal is incremental and that it will continue to expand Nvidia purchases alongside its MI450 deployments, adding that “The world needs much more compute…”

Last month, OpenAI and Nvidia outlined a separate 10GW roadmap built around Nvidia’s next-generation platforms.

More than a backup option

The size of the partnership dispels the notion that AMD is merely a backup option for when Nvidia is unavailable. AMD confirmed that its work with OpenAI spans multiple generations of silicon, starting with MI450 and extending into future co-developed architectures, with AMD’s Forrest Norrod calling it “transformative” in remarks to Reuters.

OpenAI, for its part, has reportedly already evaluated AMD’s current-gen MI300X parts and is believed to be running production inference workloads on them now. While most high-profile model training still happens on Nvidia H100 clusters, the MI300X’s larger memory pool and high bandwidth design make it particularly well-suited to LLM inference. AMD has pitched that advantage before, but this is the first time it’s landed a customer of this size to prove it.

MI450 is expected to push those numbers even further, and will arrive around the same time Nvidia’s Blackwell-based GB200 platforms begin volume deployment. AMD has been unusually direct about the comparison. If it can deliver, AMD stands to capture not just incremental demand but also new market share. Nvidia’s H100 is already allocation-bound, despite Nvidia saying it has plenty of supply, and its upcoming Blackwell parts are expected to face similar constraints. AMD, starting from a smaller base, may have more headroom to scale in 2026 and 2027. For OpenAI, that flexibility may be more valuable than squeezing every last bit of throughput per watt.

Equity for volume

The equity structure backing the deal is pretty aggressive. AMD is offering OpenAI the opportunity to purchase up to 160 million shares at $0.01 each, but only if it deploys the full 6 GW and AMD’s stock reaches the pre-agreed price targets along the way. The $600 ceiling would represent more than three times AMD’s pre-announcement trading price, implying a market cap north of half a trillion dollars. The company added nearly $80 billion in value when the deal was announced.

It’s not the first time OpenAI has used its purchasing power to secure financial upside. Microsoft’s initial investment in the company included infrastructure credits and profit participation. But this is the first time a chip supplier has offered equity in exchange for volume, and the first time OpenAI’s compute roadmap has been tied to a public stock price.

From AMD’s side, the warrant is a performance bet. It only vests if OpenAI buys and the market responds. AMD doesn’t hand over a single share until the first gigawatt is installed, and even then, only partially. That structure also helps insulate AMD from the downside risk of OpenAI’s custom silicon efforts, which are still in development with Broadcom and have reportedly slipped behind schedule.

AMD now has a foothold

OpenAI is already building out the infrastructure to support the six-gigawatt deal. Its first Stargate data center campus in Texas is being provisioned with nearly a gigawatt of on-site power generation just to keep pace with internal demand. That kind of buildout creates long lead-time demand not just for GPUs, but also for HBM, substrates, packaging, and data center cooling systems.

AMD’s MI450 and successors will face the same upstream constraints that have dogged Nvidia for the last two years, and AMD has not disclosed how it plans to scale supply at the required rate. It’s likely to pull from TSMC’s advanced packaging lines and may tap Intel Foundry or U.S.-based subcontractors if TSMC’s U.S. fabs aren’t ready in time.

There are also obvious questions regarding software readiness. AMD’s ROCm platform has made progress, and OpenAI’s endorsement will accelerate that. But most large-scale deployments today still assume CUDA-first development. Running the same model across Nvidia, AMD, and OpenAI’s future custom chips will require new levels of framework abstraction and operator portability, something OpenAI will need to tackle head-on as it balances workloads across suppliers.

What this deal shows is that achieving balance is OpenAI’s goal. The company isn’t walking away from Nvidia, but it’s not waiting around either. AMD now has a foothold, and if it can execute, a stake in its future that will be difficult to ignore.

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After a short and silly intro, Tony’s video gets into the serious business of crafting the titular precious metal-framed graphics card. His assistant acquires 5kg of gold, and then he gets down to taking apart a ‘regular’ ROG Astral, in order to make casting molds to replace its structure with real gold. This is fun to watch, and even if you don’t know a word of Mandarin, the step-by-step process is easy to grasp.

During the process, we see the gold being melted, poured into the carefully prepared molds, and taken out for fine finishing. Finally, after many false starts and casting errors over several months of work, Tony could reconstruct his ROG Astral, with the real gold parts fitted.

As well as the solid gold elements we see made, the cooling assembly, with its many fins, is seen being plated with gold. The result is a pleasingly finely detailed yet garishly gleaming graphics card, dripping in genuine gold.

Gold content: 5kg vs 6.5g (11 pounds vs a quarter ounce)

The contrast between this custom model and the ‘standard’ Asus ROG Golden Dhabab is pretty stark – not just in pricing. This custom model weighs 7.6kg (16.8 pounds), of which about 5kg (11 pounds) is solid gold. The mass-produced model weighs 7.2kg (15.9 pounds), but a mere 6.5g (~a quarter ounce) of that is actually real gold.

According to the VideoCardz report on this bling-tastic graphics card, the planned charity auction for Uncle Tony's custom solid gold RTX 5090D isn’t going to go ahead. Instead, this hand-finished half-million-dollar graphics card has already been secured by a private collector.

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OCuLink vs Thunderbolt 5: What is what

OCuLink (Optical-Copper Link) is a high-speed cable interface standardized by PCI-SIG to provide a direct PCIe connection between devices, generally SSDs, but more recently GPUs. Unlike Thunderbolt or USB, OCuLink avoids protocol tunneling, delivering lower latency and higher efficiency as it is essentially a native PCIe link. It supports PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 with up to four lanes, enabling bandwidth of 32 GT/s to 64 GT/s. However, while it is highly effective in terms of raw performance, OCuLink lacks mainstream adoption, is not hot-swappable, and does not support features such as power delivery, USB, or video output, which is why it is hardly used in consumer laptops. It can be used both inside and outside of desktop workstations.

Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 were developed by Apple and Intel for consumer devices, offering versatile, multi-protocol interfaces that utilize the USB-C connector to combine PCIe, USB, and DisplayPort functionality. Thunderbolt 4 supports PCIe 3.0 x4, offering up to 32 GT/s for data transfer. Thunderbolt 5 upgrades this to PCIe 4.0 x4, doubling the bandwidth to 64 GT/s and introducing advanced features such as 240 W charging and up to 120 GT/s for high-end displays. While both offer plug-and-play convenience, charging, and display support, they add latency due to protocol overhead. Thunderbolt 5 significantly narrows the performance gap with OCuLink, making it more viable for eGPUs, but let us check the actual results.

The Results

When it comes to raw bandwidth, an OCuLink connection achieved a throughput of around 6.6 GB/s host-to-device and 6.7 GB/s device-to-host, significantly outpacing TB5, which achieved a throughput of 5.6 GB/s host-to-device and 5.8 GB/s device-to-host. This is a notable difference, and it will be crucial when it comes to storage and data-intensive workflows. But what about gaming?

A GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card directly connected to an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K outperforms the same card connected using OCuLink and TB5. When it comes to external connections, across 12 tested games, Thunderbolt 5 consistently trails behind both OCuLink in average FPS.

Compared to OCuLink, TB5 delivers roughly 13%–14% lower performance on average, with heavier losses in demanding titles such as Spider-Man: Miles Morales (-20%) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (–23%). Against native PC connections, TB5 lags by 19%–25%, peaking at a 36% drop in Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The only exception is Ghost of Tsushima, where all three configurations reached 120 FPS, suggesting a CPU performance ceiling rather than an interface limitation. Overall, TB5 improves on TB4 but still lags behind OCuLink due to protocol overheads.

However, how useful is OCuLink for an average person? OCuLink is a specialized connector, not used on consumer devices. Due to a lack of compatible laptops, Try Some Tech conducted tests using a desktop system built around an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, and a motherboard featuring two Thunderbolt 5 ports. The eGPU enclosure selected was the PELADN Link S-3, which offered a variety of ports, including dual Thunderbolt 5 ports, although it did not come with a proper cable. For OCuLink, Try Some Tech used an industry-standard cable and an external GPU.

Summary

While Thunderbolt 5 brings meaningful improvements over its predecessor, it is yet to be widely supported on modern devices. Also, it still falls short of the raw performance offered by OCuLink due to protocol overhead. OCuLink delivers superior bandwidth and lower latency, making it the optimal choice for achieving maximum eGPU performance. However, its limited adoption and lack of consumer-friendly features keep it out of reach for most users. Ultimately, Thunderbolt 4 and 5 remain the practical choices, while OCuLink is the performance leader for those who can make it work.

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The 16-pin power connector meltdowns have been claiming victims since the GeForce RTX 40 series (codenamed Ada Lovelace). A long-standing theory regarding these misfortunes suggests that Nvidia removed load-balancing circuitry from its Ada Lovelace graphics cards, a feature that was present in the previous GeForce RTX 30 series (codenamed Ampere). This omission is one reason why cases of the 16-pin power connector melting have not been reported on GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards. Many industry observers speculate that the design decision was made to reduce production costs.

To date, most, if not all, devices related to the safety of the 16-pin power connector have adopted a passive approach concerning the meltdown issue. These devices primarily monitor either the current or the temperature of the 16-pin power connector. Conversely, Ampinel adopts a more proactive strategy by implementing a load balancer to evenly distribute loads across the various wires within the 16-pin power cable.

The Ampinel features a six-channel load balancer that utilizes a microcontroller to continuously monitor the six 12V power lines inside the 16-pin power connector and regulate the current flow in real-time. Upon detecting that the current in any power line exceeds 7.5A, which is the rated current per contact, Ampinel intervenes to redistribute the load to prevent overheating that could potentially provoke a meltdown of the power connector.

The Ampinel features a compact 128 x 64 resolution OLED display, which outputs the current for each of the six 12V lines. Additionally, it includes an integrated buzzer, capable of emitting a loud sound (approximately 85 dB), designed to provide an audible warning when any of the power lines deviates from specifications. While the RGB lighting may appear aesthetically pleasing, it primarily functions as a visual alert system. Imagine the Ampinel sounding like a siren from an ambulance.

You may refine the Ampinel device using the included Aquasuite software. The manufacturer emphasizes that the device's emergency shutdowns, alarm outputs, and visual and acoustic alarms operate independently of software or a USB connection. However, it is necessary to utilize the software to customize and permanently save your personalized presets on the Ampinel or enable monitoring in Windows.

Aqua Computer has implemented an eight-level alarm system on the Ampinel, which can be customized according to individual preferences. You may configure visual and auditory alarms for each tier, as well as command the Ampinel to execute other functions.

For instance, it can be programmed to automatically terminate the application or software responsible for power peaks. Additionally, there exists an option to perform a hard shutdown of the system. More extreme measures include deactivating the sense signal on the graphics card to cut off all power supply.

Preorders for the Ampinel will be available shortly; however, Aqua Computer has not provided a specific release date. The device is expected to be priced at €79.90 or $93.58, excluding shipping and taxes. Delivery is scheduled to commence in mid-November. The manufacturer is also considering the possibility of releasing a white version of the Ampinel at a later date.

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A €100 million VAT fraud?

In 2023, Northern Data reportedly purchased roughly 10,000 Nvidia H100 processors for €400 million to strengthen its presence in the AI compute market across Europe. Normally, the company should have paid around €100 million in value-added tax, but since Sweden encourages the development of AI companies, it got a rather massive tax break. But while these GPUs were reportedly designated for AI computing, prosecutors suspect they were used for crypto mining.

Historically, Northern Data was engaged in crypto mining and purchased hundreds of thousands of gaming GPUs for this activity, but since this activity is no longer eligible for tax benefits in Sweden after a policy reversal in 2023, it made a pivot.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) carried out coordinated enforcement actions in both Frankfurt and Boden. Four individuals were detained in connection with suspected VAT-related offenses totaling over €100 million. Additionally, a senior employee from Northern Data’s Swedish operations was questioned as part of the probe. Prosecutors confirmed that the case focuses on three company subsidiaries active between 2021 and 2024.

The charges being explored include tax evasion and money laundering. Investigators are reviewing the corporate and financial practices of Northern Data's Swedish units, assessing whether the company deliberately structured its operations to secure improper tax advantages. A spokesperson for the company declined to address the money laundering aspect when contacted for comment. Northern Data insists that its infrastructure is fully devoted to cloud computing, which implies usage by AI companies.

H100 and cryptocurrency?

The strangest aspect of the story is that it appears Northern Data is being accused of using dedicated AI GPUs for crypto mining, which would be a poor investment, to say the least. An H100 costs orders of magnitude more than gaming GPUs (and far more than ASICs), so its hashes per dollar are terrible even with cheap power.

H100's strengths — tensor cores, FP8/BF16, massive HBM3 bandwidth — do not help most proof-of-work (PoW) algorithms, which are integer/bitwise heavy and do not use tensor cores. Ethereum, where memory bandwidth mattered, hasn't required powerful chips for mining since 2022. For Bitcoin, only SHA‑256 ASICs are viable these days, so GPUs are non‑starters for mining. While there are still GPU-minable coins, higher-end consumer graphics cards like Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50-series make much more sense than the H100, both because of upfront costs and because of the far better hash per Watt.

While mining on H100 may make sense for extremely short‑term, opportunistic runs on a niche coin if one already owns idle H100 GPUs and has ultra‑cheap power, paying hundreds of thousands for H100 for such use cases is irrational.

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The discovery was made from a "Windows Preview Edition" of the driver that came out on the 24th. The driver is focused on AI and features a plethora of AI-focused updates, including Python 3.12 support and PyTorch on Windows Preview, to improve LLM functionality on supported RX 9000, RX 7000 series GPUs, and Ryzen AI 9/Max APUs in Windows 11.

Despite being focused on AI, the driver is apparently also been prepped for AFMF 3 as previously stated. Whether it will come with 25.20 specifically remains to be seen, as one of the two Guru3D forum posters stated the Adrenalin control panel for the 25.20 preview driver does not claim AFMF 3 support. It was only through exporting the driver’s game profiles through the AMD GPU profile manager that the feature was revealed. Worst-case scenario, we might see this update in a driver release in a newer version of the 25.xx driver branch, beyond 25.20, potentially debuting with FSR Redstone.

There are no official details on what changes AFMF 3 will have, but it is very likely that AMD will upgrade AFMF to the same AI model used for FSR 4. AFMF 2.1 already takes advantage of “AI-optimized” enhancements, but it's likely that these optimizations are part of an older implementation that is not up to the same quality as FSR 4’s ML algorithm. There is also some pressure on AMD to improve AFMF, since Nvidia recently introduced Smooth Motion to the RTX 40 series.

The only disadvantage with this change (if it goes through) is that FSR 4 will only work on the RX 9000 GPUs exclusively, just like FSR 4. The machine learning model AMD is using reportedly only runs performantly on RDNA 4, thanks to the architecture's numerous AI-enhancements over RDNA 3. Technically, there is evidence of FSR 4 models tuned for RDNA 3, but these models have not been officially released, and AMD has not announced any attempts to make FSR 4 work on older GPUs (not yet anyway).

As a reminder, AFMF is the driver-based version of AMD’s FSR frame generation that can be toggled on and off in the Adrenalin control panel. The tech is designed for games that don’t support FSR frame generation, and provides frame generation to those titles. However, since AFMF works at the driver level, its frame generation quality is notably worse than FSR’s, especially surrounding UI elements.

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The shift to GDDR7 provides several benefits, despite delivering significantly lower bandwidth than HBM3E or HBM4; it consumes less power, costs dramatically less per GB, and does not require expensive advanced packaging technology, such as CoWoS, which should ultimately reduce the product's costs and alleviate production bottlenecks.

What is long-context inference?

Modern large language models (such as GPT-5, Gemini 2, and Grok 3) are larger, more capable in reasoning, and able to process inputs that were previously impossible, which end-users utilize extensively. The models are not only larger in size, they are also architecturally more capable of using extended context windows effectively. Inference in large-scale AI models is increasingly divided into two parts: an initial compute-intensive context phase that processes the input to generate the first output token, and a second phase that generates additional tokens based on the processed context.

As models evolve into agentic systems, long-context inference becomes essential for enabling step-by-step reasoning, persistent memory across tasks, coherent multi-turn dialogue, and the ability to plan and revise over extended inputs, as otherwise these capabilities would be limited by context windows. Perhaps the most important factor why long-context inference becomes important is not just because models can do it, but because users need AI to analyze large documents, codebases, or generate long videos.

This type of inference presents distinct challenges to hardware. The context phase of inference — where the model reads and encodes the full input before producing any output — is compute-bound and requires extremely high compute throughput to produce 1+ million token context workloads, plenty of memory (but not necessarily plenty of memory bandwidth), and optimized attention mechanisms (which is the model developers' job) to maintain performance across long sequences. Traditional data center GPUs have plenty of onboard HBM memory, and while they can handle such workloads, it is not very efficient to use it for this task. Therefore, Nvidia intends to use Rubin CPX GPUs with 128GB of GDDR7 onboard for the context phase.

During the second phase, the model generates output tokens one at a time using the encoded context from the first phase. This step is memory bandwidth and interconnect-bound, requiring fast access to previously generated tokens and attention caches. Traditional data center GPUs — such as the Blackwell Ultra (B300, 288GB HBM3E) or Rubin (288GB HBM4) — handle this efficiently by streaming and updating token sequences in real-time.

Meet Rubin CPX

To address emerging demands, Nvidia has designed specialized hardware — the Rubin CPX GPU — specifically for long-context inference.

The Rubin CPX accelerator card is built on Nvidia's Rubin architecture, delivering up to 30 NVFP4 PetaFLOPS of compute throughput (which is quite a lot, as the 'big' Rubin R100, featuring two chiplets, achieves 50 NVFP4 PetaFLOPS), and it comes with 128GB of GDDR7 memory. The processor also has hardware attention acceleration (which involves additional matrix multiplication hardware), which is crucial for long-context inference without speed drops, as well as hardware support for video encoding and decoding for processing and generating videos.

The use of GDDR7 is one of the key distinctive features of the Rubin CPX GPU. While GDDR7 provides significantly lower bandwidth than HBM3E or HBM4, it consumes less power, costs dramatically less per GB, and does not require expensive advanced packaging technology, such as CoWoS. As a result, not only are Rubin CPX GPUs cheaper than regular Rubin processors, but they also consume significantly less power, which simplifies cooling.

A quick look at Nvidia's die shot of the Rubin CPX GPU indicates that its floorplan resembles that of high-end graphics processors (to a degree that even its heatspreader resembles that of GB202). The ASIC indeed has 16 graphics processing clusters (GPCs,) allegedly with graphics-specific hardware (e.g., raster back end, texture units), a massive L2 cache, eight 64-bit memory interfaces, PCIe, and display engines. What the chip does not seem to have are interfaces like NVLink, so we can only wonder whether it communicates with its peers only via a PCIe interface.

We can only wonder whether the Rubin CPX uses the GR102/GR202 graphics processor (which will power next-generation graphics cards both for consumers and professionals) or if the unit uses a unique ASIC. On the one hand, using a client-grade GPU for AI inference acceleration is not a new concept: the GB202 offers 4 NVFP4 PetaFLOPS, whereas the GB200 features 10 NVFP4 PetaFLOPS. On the one hand, packing plenty of NVFP4-capable FPUs and hardware attention accelerators into a GPU for graphics may not be the most optimal choice from a die size perspective. But on the other hand, taping out two near-reticle-size processors with similar functionality instead of one could be inefficient from a cost, engineering effort, and timing perspective.

Rubin CPX will operate alongside Rubin GPUs and Vera CPUs in the Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX system, which delivers 8 ExaFLOPS of NVFP4 performance (3.6 ExaFLOPS using 'Big' Rubin GPU and 4.4 ExaFLOPS using Rubin CPX GPUs) and 100TB of memory in a single rack. Just like other rack-scale products from Nvidia, the Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX will utilize Nvidia's Quantum-X800 InfiniBand or Spectrum-XGS Ethernet connectivity, paired with ConnectX-9 SuperNICs, for scale-out connectivity.

Nvidia said that its Rubin CPX architecture is not limited to Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX full-rack installations. The company intends to offer Rubin CPX compute trays for integration into Vera Rubin NVL144 systems. However, it appears that existing Blackwell deployments will not be able to accommodate Rubin CPX trays for optimized inference performance, although the reason for this is unclear.

Regardless of deployment scale, Rubin CPX is intended to provide noticeable economic benefits, according to Nvidia. A $100 million investment in this platform can potentially yield up to $5 billion in revenue from token-based AI applications, translating to a 30- to 50-times return on capital invested, the company claims. This claim is grounded in the ability of Rubin CPX to reduce inference costs (as Rubin CPX is cheaper and consumes less than full-blown R100) and expand the scope of feasible AI workloads.

No need to redesign software

On the software side, Rubin CPX is fully supported by Nvidia's AI ecosystem, including CUDA, frameworks, tools, and NIM microservices required for deploying production-grade AI solutions. Rubin CPX also supports the Nemotron family of models, designed for enterprise-level multimodal reasoning.

Developers of AI models and products will not need to manually partition the first and second inference phases between GPUs to run on Rubin NVL144 CPX rack-scale solutions. Instead, Nvidia proposes using its Dynamo software orchestration layer to intelligently manage and split inference workloads across different types of GPUs in a disaggregated system. When a prompt is received, Dynamo automatically identifies the compute-heavy context phase and assigns it to specialized Rubin CPX GPUs, which are optimized for fast attention and large-scale input processing. Once the context is encoded, Dynamo seamlessly transitions to the generation phase, routing it to memory-rich GPUs like the standard Rubin, which are better suited for token-by-token output generation. Nvidia says that Dynamo can manage KV cache transfers as well as minimize latency.

Clients lining up

Several companies are already planning to integrate Rubin CPX into their AI workflows:

• Cursor, a software company that develops AI for software developers, will use Rubin CPX to support real-time code generation and collaborative development tools.
• Runway plans to use Nvidia Rubin CPX to power long-context, agent-driven video generation, enabling creators — from solo artists to major studios — to produce cinematic content and visual effects with greater speed, realism, and creative flexibility.
• Magic, an AI research company developing autonomous coding agents, plans to use Rubin CPX to support models with 100 million-token context windows, enabling them to operate with full access to documentation, code history, and user interactions in real-time.

A new paradigm

Ever since Pascal and Volta GPUs about a decade ago, Nvidia's GPUs were AI accelerators for CPUs. With Rubin CPX, these GPUs now get their own accelerators. By decoupling two stages of inference — context processing and token generation — Nvidia enables more targeted use of hardware resources, improving efficiency at scale, which represents a shift of how AI infrastructure is being optimized for maximum efficiency.

Optimization of long-context inference processing not only cuts hardware costs and TCO, but also enables high-throughput inference platforms capable of sustaining million-token workloads. Such platforms could enable even more sophisticated AI-assisted software and hardware engineering, as well as full-length video generation and other AI applications that are not feasible today.

Nvidia's first Rubin CPX-enabled platform, the Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX, is expected to be available by the end of 2026.

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GPU overclockers find shunt mods hard to resist

Shunt mods are a relatively common PCIe graphics card hardware modification. In brief, the modder will swap out a shunt resistor on the graphics card PCB for one with a lower resistance value. This change allows more current to get to the GPU without fiddling with the vBIOS. However, the procedure and the results of the resistor change can easily cause damage to your precious GPU hardware.

Getting more power to the GPU can make a significant difference to its performance, especially if you see system tools reporting that your graphics performance is typically power-limited. With a re-housed mini PC and water-cooling plans, it is easy to understand why HerrBolsch was attracted to the idea of implementing a GPU shunt mod here. According to the sources, this particular mod required several resistor changes – five changed in various areas of the PCB, by our count.

Post-op assessment

To verify the hardware surgery had been successful, HerrBolsch checked a physical Watt meter, as with this kind of mod, software tools like HWInfo and GPU-Z will still report the pre-mod values.

Next, the modder sought to confirm that thermals would remain under control, despite the extra wattage, and that there was a worthwhile performance dividend. HerrBolsch shared some thermal camera images, which suggest there is nothing to worry about in the aftermath of the shunt mod, with top component temperatures around 80 °C under load.

The modder also produced a chart, which seems to confirm that the modded RTX 2070 Mobile can indeed keep pace with a desktop card. Mission successful.

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Various PC hardware companies have power supply calculators on their websites these days to not only help customers estimate the wattage they'll be pulling, but also to pick out an appropriate model subsequently. Hence, in these PSU calculators, one of the most crucial questions is that of the GPU: which graphics card would be in your system? For Seasonic, that list of potential nominees includes the unreleased and unannounced RTX 50 Super cards, at least two of which.

Seasonic doesn't list the specs of a GPU beyond its TDP. Still, the RTX 50 Super series is rumored to feature 3 GB memory modules, effectively increasing the VRAM capacity by 50% while keeping the same number of chips onboard. That means the RTX 5070 Super would potentially have 18 GB (up from 12 GB on the 5070) of memory, and the 5070 Ti Super might rock 24 GB (up from 18 GB on the 5070 Ti), which would make them notable upgrades in what is otherwise a similar spec sheet.

Seasonic states that the 5070 Super has a 275W TDP, which aligns with the leaked specs, as the additional 25W for the 6GB VRAM makes sense. The same goes for the 5070 Ti Super, which has a 350W TDP listed on the PSU calculator, a 50W increase over the standard 5070 Ti. The RTX 5080 Super is conspicuously missing from the website, but a 415W TDP has been leaked for it before. These numbers align with previous industry rumors, so Seasonic's not necessarily leaking anything new, but rather corroborating existing information.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 Super Series*

*Specifications are unconfirmed.

Of course, just because the RTX 50 Super series appears on a random PSU calculator doesn't mean it actually exists, but all signs do point toward it eventually being released. Unannounced GPUs appearing on PSU calculators is actually nothing new, so there's some credence to this model. Nvidia could be waiting till the first anniversary of the Blackwell launch to unveil its mid-gen refresh, which would be at CES next year. More substantial leaks from AIBs should start to emerge around that period, if such a launch is indeed planned.

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Even versus checkered company like Intel’s Arc A750 and AMD’s Radeon RX 6600, Nvidia's last entry-level card of note, the GeForce RTX 3050 8GB, put in a particularly weak showing in our tests. The entry-level Ampere card struggled to clear the 60 FPS average we consider a baseline for solid gaming experiences, even at 1080p.

Enter Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5050, powered by the latest Blackwell architecture. Is this $250 card the game changer that this end of the graphics market so desperately needs?

Let’s start with the basics. The RTX 5050 has 2560 Blackwell CUDA cores, a basic setup that's defined this class of product since the RTX 3050’s arrival. Those CUDA cores are now more capable, though, as a Blackwell SM partition can process up to 32 INT or FP32 per clock, versus 16 FP32 instructions and a second 16 FP32 or 16 integer instructions per clock on Ampere.

(The full GB207 chip may include more inactive SMs for reasons of yield or headroom for use in future products, as a "full" implementation encompassing two Blackwell GPCs would total out to 3072 possible CUDA cores.)

On top of Blackwell's basic architectural benefits, the RTX 5050 is clocked much higher than the RTX 3050, at a rated boost clock of 2572 MHz rather than just 1780 MHz on the Ampere card. All those improvements mean this card offers raw compute potential of at least 13 TFLOPS in boost, up 44% from the RTX 3050.

The move to the Blackwell architecture and a more advanced process node also grants the RTX 5050 a massive increase in L2 cache, from just 2MB on the RTX 3050 to at least 24MB on the Blackwell card. Bigger caches are relatively easy wins for boosting performance, and Nvidia says that Blackwell's large L2 benefits ray-tracing workloads especially.

The biggest difference between the RTX 5050 and other Blackwell cards is Nvidia's continuing use of GDDR6 memory. This card gets 8 GB of 20 Gb/s GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus for an effective 320 GB/s of memory bandwidth, up from 224 GB/s on the typical RTX 3050. Even RTX 5050 mobile implementations get GDDR7.

In and of itself, this choice isn't necessarily a bad thing for performance. AMD's Radeon RX 9000-series cards all stick with GDDR6 and still deliver competitive performance with RTX 50-series products at similar price points.

Taken all together, the RTX 5050 sounds like an impressive multi-generational improvement, but only if your frame of reference excludes RTX 4050 mobile chips. Those similarly provisioned GPUs were clocked at least as high as 2370MHz in their most generous power and thermal envelopes.

At its highest thermal and power specs, the mobile RTX 4050 could have compute potential at least as high as 12 TFLOPS, although its performance is likely hampered by just 6GB of 16Gb/s GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus, producing just 192 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Had Nvidia brought the RTX 4050 to the desktop in a more fully fledged 8GB form, the improvements of the RTX 5050 might be considerably less impressive.

Partially because it sticks with GDDR6, the RTX 5050 still rings in at a 130W total board power rating, the same as the RTX 3050. Like most 3050s, most RTX 5050s still employ an eight-pin PCIe power connector to get all of their necessary juice. Builders hoping for a power-sipping, high-performance slot-powered card will still be left wanting.

If supplies of cutting-edge GDDR7 have to go anywhere, Nvidia certainly prefers that they be used on higher-end, higher-margin discrete cards and in notebooks, where tight power and thermal budgets mean that GDDR7's power usage and efficiency benefits yield all sorts of fruit for engineers trying to squeeze out every last second of battery life or to shave off every last gram from a heatsink or chassis. It's much easier to deal with the higher power and heat production of GDDR6 in the relatively unconstrained power and thermal environment of desktop PCs.

If Nvidia saved anything on the RTX 5050's bill of materials by sticking with last-gen GDDR6, it isn't throwing any bones to the lowest end of the market in turn. The RTX 5050 sticks with the same $250 price as the RTX 3050 did about three-and-a-half years ago, even as tariffs and inflation put the squeeze on today's consumers.

You'd think Nvidia could find a few bucks in one of Jensen's jacket pockets to offer some relief to gamers on a budget, given the staggering amounts of money it's making in the data center, but maybe that's too tough a nut even for advanced AI to crack.

• MORE: Best Graphics Cards
• MORE: GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy
• MORE: All Graphics Content

To represent the RTX 5050 in our testing, we picked Gigabyte’s Windforce OC version of this card. Ringing in right at Nvidia’s $249 MSRP, this model offers everything you need and nothing you don’t for the kind of entry-level gaming build that’s most likely to include an RTX 5050.

Typical of cards built to hit MSRPs, the Windforce OC RTX 5050 lacks any fancy extras, like RGB LED lighting or heavy-duty metal shrouds. You get two counter-rotating fans, a plastic fan shroud and backplate with some prominent Gigabyte and GeForce branding, and a metal mounting bracket, and that’s about it. We do appreciate this card’s compact 7.8" x 4.6" by 1.6" (LWD) dimensions (199 x 116 x 40 mm), which should allow it to fit into most any case.

Gigabyte still outfits the Windforce OC card with a proper aluminum fin stack rather than a cast affair, and two beefy copper heat pipes run through it to transfer heat from the GB207 GPU itself into those fins.

We didn’t pull our 5050 apart entirely to examine the base plate of the heatsink, but it appears that this card cools the four GDDR6 memory chips with thermal pads or gel, making contact with an aluminum base plate. Those are all signs that this card should keep its most important components cool under load.

As is common nowadays, Gigabyte cuts a vent in this card’s backplate to allow air from the forward portion of the fin stack to escape directly upwards into the case’s airflow path.

The single 8-pin power connector is located toward the rear of the card, a somewhat annoying trend that we’ve seen several graphics card OEMs adopt recently. PCIe power cables really have to stretch to reach these distant power connectors in many cases. We’d much prefer that the connector be placed toward the front of the card.

Around back, we find a somewhat unusual complement of two DisplayPort 2.1 connectors and two HDMI 2.1 outputs. The mounting bracket features large vents to allow exhaust air to flow out the rear of the card.

Overall, we have no complaints about Gigabyte’s design choices with this card, given that it rings in right at MSRP. Let’s see how it performs.

• MORE: Best Graphics Cards
• MORE: GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy
• MORE: All Graphics Content

We do our best to deliver clean, reliable benchmark numbers. Each of our tests encompasses 60 seconds or more of real-world gameplay, carefully chosen to represent what we expect will be typical gameplay experiences. We sanity-check every result and retest whenever necessary to ensure that outliers don’t muck up our final standings.

For now, we're sticking with native resolution testing at a mix of high and ultra settings at 1080p, as well as ultra settings at 1440p and 4K.

We're weighing whether pure native-res testing will remain the way to go going forward, as pretty much every vendor-independent TAA or upscaler implementation (like Epic's TSR) looks worse than DLSS 4, FSR 4, or XeSS running at the Balanced or Quality preset.

We think that more and more gamers are taking advantage of the performance and image quality benefits of these upscalers without a second thought, and we're weighing whether to enable them by default so our tests are more representative of the real-world performance figures gamers can expect when buying into and using a vendor's entire hardware-software stack.

This is a tough decision, and not one we're making lightly. Any final verdict on the way forward likely won't occur before 2026. For now, we're leaving upscaling and framegen off and sticking with native-res testing exclusively.

Our first draft of a new test suite covers 12 raster-only titles. Five of those include additional RT options that we employ in our tests, while two more require a graphics card with RT support to run at all. Finally, we tested GTA V Enhanced exclusively with RT enabled, as that extra eye candy is the entire reason to run it over GTA V Legacy, in our opinion.

Here's our complete list of tested titles:

• Black Myth: Wukong (+RT)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (+RT)
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (+RT)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (+RT)
• Alan Wake II (+RT)
• Fortnite
• Marvel Rivals
• Apex Legends
• Counter-Strike 2
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
• Stalker 2
• Doom: The Dark Ages (RT required)
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (RT required)
• Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced (RT)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

We've tried to cover a broad mix of game engines, graphics APIs, and game types in this lineup, from popular esports experiences to crushing AAA visual feasts developed both natively for PC and ports from consoles. Our selected games stress every part of a modern graphics card, from pure compute horsepower to VRAM management to RT to driver overhead at high frame rates. If a card rises to the top of our charts after weathering all of these tests, you can be sure that it's a standout product.

When picking titles to test, we considered games' time in market, active player counts, review scores (to see whether a title is likely to become an enduring part of PC gaming), and the ease of conducting a repeatable benchmark, among other factors.

Wherever possible, we use real, live, eyes-on-screen, hands-on-mouse-and-keyboard benchmark runs. We don't think automated, on-rails, hands-off canned benchmarks fully capture the gameplay experience on a given graphics card.

Only by actually playing a game can we account for factors like how input lag affects the experience, and making sure that a title has acceptable input lag is becoming a key consideration when latency-sensitive framegen techniques are becoming more and more common as performance-boosting tools.

Our current test system comprises the following components:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming X670E-Plus Wifi
• Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 32GB DDR5-6000
• Storage: Inland Gaming Performance Plus 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
• Power supply: Corsair RM1000x

With all that out of the way, let's dive into our results.

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If all you want is the TL;DR, the RTX 5050 turns in a 58% improvement to average frame rates versus the RTX 3050 at 1080p without RT enabled, basically tying with Intel's $249 Arc B580 and the $299 RTX 4060. Critically, its overall result clears 60 FPS on average across our range of titles, and its 1% lows are good enough for a generally smooth ride.

Click over to our 1440p results, and it's clear that you really want to step up to a Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB or RTX 5060 Ti 16GB to enjoy a smooth ride across most games at these higher resolutions, even with DLSS or FSR in play.

4K gaming is heavy enough on compute and VRAM that none of these cards are going to be anybody's first choice for a 4K experience without a heavy application of upscaling, assuming you can even keep VRAM usage in check.

If you’re interested in these cards' performance in a particular title, read on for our commentary on individual game results.

Black Myth Wukong

Why it's here: a stunning showcase for PC graphics

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM, RT (when enabled)

Black Myth Wukong is a gorgeous example of what’s possible from Unreal Engine 5, but it places heavy demands on graphics cards in exchange. This title has a free benchmark tool, but to ensure we were getting the benefits of all the updates that Game Science has made to this game since launch, we picked up the full version and devised our own benchmark sequence.

At very high raster settings, the RTX 3050 struggles in this title, but the RTX 5050 at least has enough oomph to potentially benefit from a DLSS boost.

Alan Wake II

Why it's here: One of the richest AAA feasts for the eyes on PC

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM, RT (when enabled)

Alan Wake II is the latest technical tour-de-force from Remedy, and it really puts the hurt on these lower-end cards. As with other AAA heavyweights in our test suite, the RTX 5050 delivers more oomph than the RTX 3050 (as it well should), but you really want DLSS, lower settings, or both to get to a 60 FPS experience at 1080p, and any higher resolutions will need a much more powerful card to achieve playability.

Counter-Strike 2

Why it's here: over a million active players can't be wrong

What it stresses: Compute, driver overhead at high frame rates

Counter-Strike 2 needs no introduction as one of the most popular esports titles out there. The RTX 5050 lands just shy of the 244 FPS average you'd want to drive an ultra-high-refresh-rate monitor at 1080p, but its 1% lows are weirdly low relative to even aging hardware like the RX 7600.

In general, Blackwell cards really seem to struggle with 1% lows in CS2, even as the RX 9060 XT duo posts both the high average frame rates and 1% lows that we want for a smooth gaming experience.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

Why it's here: One of the most demanding games available on PC right now

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM

Flight Simulator 2024 is honestly too much game for any $300-or-less graphics card, at least at ultra settings. Average frame rates are low on everything that's not an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB or RX 9060 XT 16GB, and that pain is compounded by a hunger for VRAM that sends 1% lows far beneath averages that might appear OK on the surface. Frame rates plummet especially hard as you come in for landings, making consistent control of your aircraft a pain in the butt.

The RTX 5050 basically doubles the RTX 3050's performance in this title, but it's not enough to achieve a truly playable frame rate.

Fortnite

Why it's here: It's Fortnite

What it stresses: Compute

Fortnite may have a reputation as a potato game, but make no mistake: this is an Unreal Engine 5 showcase through and through, and it can deliver stunning visuals in between the heated skirmishes of its pop-culture-blending brawls.

The RTX 3050 struggles to hit even a 60 FPS average at 1080p in this title. The RTX 5050 delivers a nice boost, landing midpack at just above an 80 FPS average and laying a great performance foundation for DLSS if you want it.

The RX 9060 XT duo surprises by landing at the top of the charts in this title. AMD's cards deliver slightly higher average frame rates alongside much higher 1% lows than the RTX 5060 Ti duo. If only Epic would implement FSR 4...

Apex Legends

Why it's here: Unique engine, giant player base

What it stresses: Compute

Apex Legends is another wildly popular esports title that needs no introduction. It normally has a 144 FPS cap, but you can disable it with a launch option to reach a 300 FPS ceiling.

Nvidia called out Apex as a particularly good showing for the RTX 5050 in its launch materials, and it's easy to see why. The baby Blackwell card delivers a 75% performance boost over the RTX 3050 at 1080p, even without the use of DLSS or framegen. You could even push a 144Hz 1440p monitor with this card in this title.

Marvel Rivals

Why it's here: another hugely popular free-to-play title

What it stresses: Compute

Marvel Rivals is another popular free-to-play game that might have a reputation as a bit of a potato title. Unlike other games in our suite that share its UE5 foundation, Rivals doesn’t require a superhero of a graphics card to hit high frame rates. The RTX 5050 can nearly hit a 90 FPS average at 1080p, and it can even hit 60 FPS at 1440p.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Why it's here: One of the most popular RPGs of 2025

What it stresses: Compute

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has stunning Unreal Engine 5-powered visuals. Since it keeps VRAM usage in check even on 8GB cards, its performance is mostly defined by how much compute horsepower you can throw at it.

At 1080p Epic settings, the RTX 5050 ekes out about 40 FPS on average, which is a nice 50% boost over the RTX 3050 but still a case where you'd really want to dial back to high settings and consider using DLSS to get to a truly smooth experience.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Why it's here: a representative older PlayStation port

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM, RT (if enabled)

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the kind of experience that will take gamers of a certain age on a nostalgic journey back to summer breaks spent in front of CRT TVs with a PlayStation 2 whirring away nearby. This title features incredibly charming art direction and animation that's still delightful to look at even two years after its arrival on PC.

Rift Apart already demands more than 8GB of VRAM with very high settings even at 1080p, which sort of shows in the relatively low 1% lows alongside high average frame rates on the RTX 5050 and its surrounding 8GB competition. Even so, the RTX 5050 delivers a fine experience, blowing the RTX 3050 out of the water with a 60% boost and taking this game from marginally playable to perfectly enjoyable on an entry-level GeForce.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

Why it's here: A newer PlayStation port

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM, RT (if enabled)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is another solid PlayStation port, but like many games in this vein, it really wants both strong compute resources and plenty of VRAM from a GPU to high high frame rates. The RTX 5050 is much faster than the RTX 3050 in this title, but it's not up to the job of delivering a 60 FPS average at 1080p.

Spider-Man 2 is an example of a game where you might want to enable Multi-Frame Generation on Blackwell cards for an extra performance boost, but because it's already spilling out of 8GB of VRAM at 1080p without upscaling enabled, the feature simply didn't work on the RTX 5050 or RTX 5060.

We're sure you could get MFG going on the RTX 5050 withsome further tweaking, but the promise of RT + DLSS + MFG that Nvidia pushes so heavily with Blackwell isn’t really possible on 8GB GPUs. You might only be able to use one of those features at a time.

Stalker 2

Why it's here: A visually stunning revival of a classic PC franchise

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM (to some degree)

Stalker 2 is another beast of a UE5 game, and none of the cards in this entry-level-to-midrange menagerie can even crack 60 FPS on average at 1080p. As we've seen already, the RTX 5050 is a major improvement over the RTX 3050 in this title, but it's still not enough to raise frame rates to a playable level without turning down some settings or enabling DLSS.

Cyberpunk 2077

Why it's here: One of the biggest PC releases of all time

What it stresses: Compute, VRAM, RT (when enabled)

Cyberpunk 2077 may have been a beast of a title when it arrived five years ago, but after a couple of generations of new graphics cards and countless improvements and optimizations to the base game, everything in our suite except the RTX 3050 can run this title at a 60 FPS average or higher at 1080p. Chalk up another boost for the RTX 5050.

The RTX 5060 Ti 16GB turns in weirdly low 1% low frame rates at 1080p in Cyberpunk, and we found this result to be repeatable. We're not entirely sure what the reason is behind it, but we did try to iron it out without success.

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Our ray-traced gaming test suite includes five titles we’ve already seen that feature RT as extra eye candy, plus two modern titles that require RT support to run. We’ve also thrown in GTA V Enhanced as an older title that benefits from an RT-powered visual upgrade.

First, the TL;DR: none of the $300-or-less cards we’re testing today are great for RT, even at 1080p. You should really budget for a GeForce RTX 5060 Ti if you’re serious about RT experiences. Its leading performance in our test suite, as well as its 16GB of VRAM, make it ideal for tuning RT performance with upscaling and framegen.

DOOM: The Dark Ages

Why it's here: one of a new crop of games that requires RT to run

What it stresses: Compute, RT, VRAM

Even with mandatory RT support and everything but texture pool size cranked to Ultra Nightmare, DOOM: The Dark Ages isn't terribly hard for our stable of graphics cards to run well. The RTX 5050 comes in just shy of a 60 FPS average at 1080p and should serve as a fine foundation for DLSS-enhanced gaming if you prefer.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Why it's here: another of a new crop of games that requires RT to run

What it stresses: Compute, RT, VRAM

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a weird beast. It uses a unique fork of the id Tech engine to deliver its cinematic adventure gameplay, and it doesn't necessarily play well with Nvidia graphics cards with 8GB of VRAM.

If you crank the texture pool size high enough or enable DLSS or MFG at the ragged edge of VRAM usage on GeForce cards, you're likely to cause an annoying hard crash—something we didn't see on any of our Radeon cards.

Even the RX 9060 XT 8GB will let you max out every setting without crashing, even if it might not run that well. We're surprised at how rough the user experience in this game can be on GeForces given that The Great Circle is an Nvidia-sponsored title.

Keeping texture pool size to a minimum and maxing out every other setting (save for path tracing) is totally possible in The Great Circle on these cards, and it only barely affects image quality, so that's how we tested.

The RTX 5050 clears a 60 FPS average in our test sequence, but as with other 8GB GeForce cards, its 1% lows fall lower than we'd like for a truly smooth experience. Still, the point stands: you can have a great time in The Great Circle even on affordable hardware at 1080p.

Alan Wake II

Alan Wake II's high RT preset enables some path-traced effects for extra eye candy, in theory, but they place quite the strain on this selection of hardware. The biggest issue beyond the crushing performance demands of these settings is that these effects don't really make a visible difference in this title, so you could just as soon ignore them and enjoy much higher frame rates.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the few RT-heavy titles we've seen where enabling the feature creates major differences in image quality, so you might actually care about its performance on these cards. What we’re really looking for here is a solid foundation for upscaling, not a native 60 FPS.

Even by that measure, the RTX 5050 can’t even break 30 FPS on average with RT enabled. If you’re looking to enable RT in this title, you really want an RTX 5060 or RTX 5060 Ti 16GB for the best experience, and only then at 1080p.

Black Myth Wukong

Black Myth Wukong is tough on graphics cards even before we apply RT, and turning on “full ray tracing” takes performance below even the 30 FPS average on all but a handful of cards in our lineup.

RT does make a visible difference in this title, so it’s worth exploring if you’ve got the graphics card to match its considerable demands, but you really need an RTX 5060 or RTX 5060 Ti 16GB or better to even start considering enabling the feature.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

As an older RT title, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart plays OK even on more affordable hardware like the RTX 5050 with RT enabled at 1080p, but stepping up to 1440p increases VRAM pressure to the point that you really want a 16GB card (and more raw horsepower) to really get a good experience.

As with other RT titles in our lineup, though, Rift Apart doesn’t look that much different with RT than without, so unless you’re peeping pixels, you can just leave the feature off and enjoy higher performance.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Enabling RT in Spider-Man 2 puts the hurt on any graphics card that doesn’t have 16GB of VRAM to play with, even at 1080p, and matters only get worse from there. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but if you’re playing this game on a sub-$300 graphics card, enabling RT really isn’t worth the performance hit.

Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced

It’s hard to believe we’re still testing GTA V more than 10 years after its arrival on the PC, but here we are. The latest Enhanced re-release adds appealing RT eye candy to Los Santos, and its demands on hardware are modest enough that even modest hardware can provide a solid enough performance foundation for upscaling.

We didn’t test the raster version of GTA V Enhanced as a baseline, as most any GPU can run it well. With RT maxed out, the RTX 5050 can’t crack 60 FPS on average, but it at least can provide a good baseline before you turn on DLSS (which you’ll want to do for the best image quality anyway).

Roll up all of our RT and raster results into one chart by the power of geomeans, and the RTX 5050 falls just a tiny bit behind the RTX 4060 and Arc B580, but not by enough to change any overall standings. What this analysis does emphasize is that you really want to step up to an RX 9060 XT 8GB, RTX 5060, or ideally an even higher-end card if ray-traced gaming is something you want to explore, as these cheaper cards fall just short of having enough oomph to deliver a solid baseline experience.

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Used alongside the FrameView software that we use to capture performance results, Nvidia’s PCAT hardware allows us to capture live power consumption data with every frame, and we can use that data to communicate real-world power usage figures that are more precise than a worst-case total board power rating.

Power consumption taken in isolation doesn't mean much, though. A card can be both highly efficient and still draw a lot of power to turn in a high overall performance level, and it can also draw a modest amount of power and still deliver relatively low performance per watt.

To express power efficiency, we simply divide a card's average frames per second by its average power consumption across all of our tests. We stuck with our 1080p results for this analysis, as these cards' relatively low performance at 1440p and 4K would make efficiency discussions with those results more academic than anything.

By this measure, the RTX 5050 is much more efficient than the Ampere-powered RTX 3050, but it’s disappointingly inefficient for a Blackwell card. The RTX 5060 turns in 20% higher frames per watt at 1080p, and the RTX 5060 Ti duo is even better still. Any generational efficiency gains Nvidia made in the GB207 GPU on the RTX 5050 appear to be offset entirely by sticking with fast GDDR6 memory at the board level. On net, we end up with efficiency even slightly worse than that of the RTX 4060.

For reference, we've also included the geomean of clock speeds and temperatures across all our cards at the tested resolutions. Some data is missing due to driver and/or software hiccups, which we'll correct in future testing.

We don't think there are any surprises in these results. The RTX 5050 clocks much higher than its rated boost speed, a testament to Nvidia's GPU Boost logic and the thermal and electrical headroom that even this modest card apparently boasts.

The Gigabyte card is the hottest-running of this bunch, but it's also got one of the smallest coolers among the cards we tested, and it's still well below any level that would represent cause for concern.

Compared to the three-and-a-half-year-old RTX 3050 8GB, the RTX 5050 is a solid improvement - and it certainly ought to be, given that Nvidia didn't make an RTX 4050 for the desktop in the meantime. The baby Blackwell card is 60% faster on average than its entry-level Ampere predecessor in our raster results at 1080p (all without any help from DLSS or MFG).

If you squint, the 5050 brings RTX 4060 performance to a $50 lower price point, and given that the 4060 is the most popular graphics card on Steam right now, that sounds like a potentially appealing combo on paper.

Stacked up against other Blackwell cards, though, the RTX 5050 looks less impressive as a generational improvement. The RTX 5060 turns out 20% higher frames per watt at 1080p for raster titles despite consuming just 10% more power in our real-world tests, which emphasizes just how much of Blackwell's perf-per-watt improvements come from the use of GDDR7 at the board level.

The RTX 5050 doesn't suck down power by any means, but it's slightly less efficient than even the RTX 4060 despite being a generation newer. Oops.

If the RTX 5050 was priced in proportion to its raw performance gap with the RTX 5060, our results suggest it really should be a $229 card. At that price point, it would make life extremely difficult for the Arc B570 and B580 for 1080p gaming, and it wouldn't face any AMD competition at all in most markets.

For the $249 Nvidia wants for these cards in reality, we think the 5050 is an overpriced, relatively inefficient product that faces tough challengers from AMD and Intel alike, as well as more appealing options within Nvidia's own lineup. It also feels insulting that this card can't consistently deliver the Blackwell architecture's marquee experiences.

DLSS Multi-Frame Generation sometimes just doesn't work on the RTX 5050 in the titles that could really use the boost, because those demanding games already eat up all of the 5050's 8GB of VRAM, leaving no room for the MFG AI model to reside in local memory.

If you end up with an RTX 5050 in a pre-built system or because you received one as a gift, you certainly won't have a bad time with it at 1080p. Outside of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which really, really wants a powerful GPU with 16GB of VRAM to deliver anything approaching consistent performance even at 1080p, we had a perfectly fine time with 1080p gaming on the RTX 5050. The Gigabyte card we tested runs cool and quiet, too, so it's easy to live with. But if you have any say in the matter, you can do much better for yourself by saving up and spending just a bit more money.

The real spoiler for every $300-or-less graphics card available right now is AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB, which has consistently been available for $269 on Amazon of late. At that price point—$30 under its $299 MSRP—it delivers 25% higher frame rates on average than the RTX 5050 for just 8% more money. In raster games that aren't limited by VRAM, which describes many of today's most popular titles on the PC at 1080p, the 9060 XT wipes the floor with everything further down the ladder, and it isn't even close.

Try to render games at a native 1440p, and the 9060 XT 8GB does start to show some cracks, as evidenced by its 1% low frame rates. Of course, you can get around those challenges by lowering settings a bit, using FSR 4 upscaling, or both. You can usually work around 8GB of VRAM in general, but you can't add more raw compute horsepower to begin with, and the RX 9060 XT 8GB has the most raw muscle per dollar of anything on the market if you find it on sale.

If you prefer to stay in the green team's corner to keep access to DLSS 4 and MFG, the RTX 5060 makes a strong case for itself at $300. It delivers 27% higher performance than the RTX 5050 at 1080p for 20% more money. This card's high standings in our overall results at 1080p (and 1440p) show that even if the RX 9060 XT 8GB can outrun and outgun it from time to time, the 5060 hits back by maintaining a more consistent level of performance across our test suite, even as the 9060 XT 8GB sometimes stumbles.

Pair that consistently high performance with wickedly good power efficiency, and it's easy to understand why the RTX 5060 is storming up the Steam Hardware Survey charts of late.

Despite its age, Intel's Arc B580 stays in the affordable gaming fight thanks to some recent price decreases. It can finally be had for its $249 MSRP from some Intel board partners on Newegg. It still delivers solid enough gaming performance at both 1080p and 1440p, along with an ample 12GB of VRAM for better game compatibility across a wider range of resolutions and settings.

The challenge for Intel is that Battlemage can exhibit big performance falloffs even in extremely popular games that aren't VRAM-limited (like Fortnite) that sometimes put it behind even the RTX 5050. Those performance cliffs make it tough to generally recommend.

You really need to make sure your favorite titles play well on Arc before buying a B580 (or B570), and you need to be prepared for the possibility that future titles might not run as well as you'd expect. And that's before we touch on Battlemage's power efficiency, which trails everything but the RDNA 3 cards we tested. For the money, though, you might not care.

Putting the spotlight back on the RTX 5050, this card feels like something Nvidia had to make to keep its system integrator partners happy rather than something it really wanted to put on store shelves for enthusiasts.

The Dells, HPs, and Lenovos of the world that need to build cheap gaming PCs for buyers at Wal-Mart and Best Buy now have access to a product that says RTX 50 rather than RTX 30 on the shelf sticker, and for more casual audiences who mostly spend time in wildly popular free-to-play games like Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite, Apex Legends, or Marvel Rivals, this card provides a much-needed performance boost over the ancient RTX 3050. But price-conscious enthusiasts who are waiting for a true no-compromise, game-changing product around the $250 mark are still going to find themselves tapping their feet.

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The dip in price of Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs is thanks to Walmart's GeForce Week sales event, which has knocked the ball out of the park with its swathe of graphics card deals. From the entry-level RTX 5060, all the way up to the fastest gaming GPU on the planet, the RTX 5090, the prices have either been significantly discounted to MSRP or slashed in price well below that threshold.

The best Walmart GPU deals at a glance

• PNY RTX 5060 Ti OC 16 GB: was $429.99 now $379.99 at Walmart
• MSI Ventus 2X OC GeForce RTX 5070: was $599.99 now $499.99 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5070 OC 12GB: was $549.99 now $499.99 at Walmart
• MSI Shadow 3X OC RTX 5070 12GB: was $639.99 now $549.99 at Walmart
• PNY GeForce RTX 5080 OC: was $999.99 now $929.99 at Walmart

You will want to hurry and snap up one of these deals, though, as the sale started on the 22nd of September and will conclude at midnight on September 28, 2025. The PNY Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 OC, which was selling at MSRP ($1999), has already sold out, but there are still plenty of great options left on the table. See below for the best picks of available GPU deals at or under MSRP in the Walmart GeForce Week sales.

No matter the reason for the discounts, whether it's just shifting stock or making way for the rumored "Super" variants on the horizon, these are the best price reductions we've seen so far on Nvidia's latest Blackwell graphics cards this year. With prices constantly going up in this cost-of-living crisis, I'm thankful for any and all discounts and a chance to save a few bucks.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Scouring through the latest Arc drivers, user u/Organic-Bird-587 stumbled upon a mention of "Multi-Frame Generation (XeSS)" in the files. That was accompanied by an image that could potentially be the new logo for Intel's MFG, suggesting that the chipmaker might be working on its own multi-frame generation tech set to debut soon. Despite Arc facing fresh scrutiny following the recent Nvidia-Intel deal, the company is still believed to be working on Battlemage — its current-gen discrete GPU architecture — and states it remains committed to its Arc graphics project, which could include its fabled B770 card.

Driver Built XeSS Frame Generation Might be on the way. from r/IntelArc

Pairing up the B770 launch with MFG could be a huge win for Intel, netting them an answer to Nvidia's multi-frame tech. AMD currently offers no MFG solution of its own, so this could be the moment to establish a unique selling point for Arc versus AMD graphics cards. Still, it's important to note that this is purely speculative, and finding trinkets of unreleased or unannounced products is commonplace in driver code — until there's confirmation from Intel, take this with a huge grain of salt, although it would make sense given the current landscape.

Nvidia's historic $5 billion investment into Intel last week seemed to put the company's Arc graphics lineup in jeopardy, especially after the announcement that would see Intel create new chips featuring GPU chiplets from Nvidia. Intel later clarified that Arc will remain in development and that RTX GPUs are "complementary" — a stance that lines up with this news, as MFG is purely Nvidia's play at the moment, so offering a competitor to that almost reinforces hope that Arc is still on the battlefront, fighting to carve out its own space in a crowded market.

It's important to keep in mind that multi-frame generation is not a revolutionary concept and has its critics. Notably, Borderlands 4's rocky launch and Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford's insistence that users rely on the tech to make the resource-hungry title playable haven't gone down well with fans.

MFG requires a decent baseline framerate to build upon, and it introduces latency in the process. There's also a third-party solution, called Lossless Scaling, that is rising in popularity, promising up to 20x frame generation. It costs $7 but works with most GPUs. Just like XeSS works with every GPU (supporting Shader Model 6.4) after its recent update, if Intel is really working on XeSS MFG as we speak, it has the potential to democratize frame generation and make it as accessible as tweaking a DLL.

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While previous Fenghua No.1 and Fenghua No.2 graphics cards were based on Imagination Technologies' PowerVR IP, the new Fenghua No.3 leverages the open-source RISC-V architecture instead. The graphics card reportedly borrows a page from OpenCore Institute's Nanhu V3 project.

The company representative didn't provide any more details on the Fenghua No.3 during the launch event, only that it features a home-grown design from the ground up. The Fenghua No.3 is also purportedly compatible with Nvidia's proprietary CUDA platform, which could open many doors for the graphics card if it holds true.

The Fenghua No.3 is designed for a bunch of different workloads, as Innosilicon describes it as an "all-function GPU" (translation). The company plans to deploy the graphics card in different sectors, including AI, scientific computing, CAD work, medical imaging, and gaming. Therefore, it's safe to assume there will be other variants of the Fenghua No.3.

The Fenghua No.3 is a jack of all trades

From a gaming perspective, the Fenghua No.3 claims support for the latest APIs, including DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.2, and OpenGL 4.6. The graphics card is also reportedly equipped to support ray tracing. The team demonstrated the Fenghua No.3 in titles such as Tomb Raider, Delta Force, and Valorant at the press conference, and reports claim that the gameplay was smooth. However, there was no available information on game settings, resolution, and actual frame rates, so take these claims with a grain of salt.

The Fenghua No.3 reportedly comes equipped with 112GB+ of HBM memory, making it an ideal product for AI. A single Fenghua No. 3 can handle 32B and 72B LLM models, while eight of them in unison work with 671B and 685B parameter models. Innosilicon claims unconditional support for the DeepSeek V3, R1, and V3.1 models, as well as the Qwen 2.5 and Qwen 3 model families.

Innosilicon also boasted that the Fenghua No.3 is China's first graphics card to support the YUV444 format, which offers the best color detail and fidelity—a feature particularly beneficial for users who perform extensive CAD industrial work or video editing. The manufacturer also highlighted the Fenghua No.3's support for 8K (7680 x 4320) displays. The graphics card can drive up to six 8K monitors at 30 Hz.

The Fenghua No.3 is the world's first graphics card to offer native support for DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine). It enables the precise visualization of X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds on standard monitors, eliminating the need for costly, specialized grayscale medical displays.

China's semiconductor industry is gradually improving. Although it is unlikely to rival that of the United States in the near future, it may not necessarily need to do so. China's primary goal is to achieve self-sufficiency in key areas. Announcements such as the Fenghua No.3 may seem insignificant individually. Collectively, they might amass into substantial progress, akin to accumulating grains of sand that eventually form a small beach.

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This announcement affects both desktops and laptop chips. The 11th to 14th-generation Intel CPUs are still relatively new — the 14th-generation Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs first arrived in 2023, with new models released just last year, while the 11th-generation Tiger Lake processors launched in 2020. In effect, Intel is saying that your one-year-old Intel Core i5-14400 is already on the back burner.

While an unwelcome move, the company is likely making this change to conserve resources and focus on its newer Arc graphics architecture. After all, Intel has cut 4,000 positions in the U.S. alone so far this year, with thousands of technicians and engineers being let go as the company fights hard for its survival.

Still, many customers might feel betrayed; after all, if you bought a new processor, you expect it to be supported for at least five to seven years. This announcement will not brick your PC, and you still get critical and security updates quarterly. But you’re also not getting new features, and you might have issues with (or possibly not even be able to play) the latest games at launch.

Nevertheless, many users will likely not feel this. After all, gamers who typically download, install, and play a AAA game at launch most often have a discrete GPU installed on their system. In fact, even the most hardware-friendly titles, such as the upcoming Battlefield 6, require a modest graphics card like the Nvidia RTX 2060, AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, or Intel Arc A380.

Even though it makes sense for Intel to focus on its newer Core and Core Ultra chips, the fact that Intel is moving such a relatively new CPU line-up to legacy support could leave a bad taste in the mouths of some users.

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There are actually three aspects to this story: first, we have an RX 6800 XT that showed a noticeable uptick in visual fidelity at the cost of FPS; secondly, Computer Base tested a bunch of GPUs that saw similar declines in performance; lastly, a Reddit user also tried FSR 4 on their RX 6950 XT and praised its image quality while noting fewer frames achived compared to XeSS. The focal point of the story, though, is the large overhead FSR 4 brings with it, even if it offers a much better-looking image than its predecessor.

User kkrace on Chiphell managed to get FSR 4 running on an RX 6800 XT, which is an RDNA 2 graphics card that lacks the proper hardware needed for FSR 4. As such, they saw only 100-107 FPS in Stellar Blade when using FSR 4, compared to 110+ FPS on FSR 3. Even though that's only a ~3-10% decrease, the user claims they saw 10-20% worse frame rates; however, the image quality was significantly better. Therefore, they suggest switching to FSR 4 regardless, because, at triple-digit FPS, you might as well take the slight performance hit for majorly upgraded visuals.

The OP on Chiphell modded FSR 4 onto Stellar Blade — a game that only supports FSR 3 natively — using a tweaked DLL that allowed it to work with OptiScaler. The guide to do that was posted later on Reddit by user u/NaM_77, who listed an older driver as a prerequisite. They tested it using their RX 6950 XT and, while no comparison numbers with FSR 3 were provided, the RX 6950 XT still gained about 10% more frames with FSR 4 when tallied against native (TAA) results. Intel's XeSS, on the other hand, had even better performance, but the user highlighted that it was unstable and not as good-looking.

These sentiments are echoed by Computer Base's testing, which didn't use an RDNA 2 GPU. Rather, they pitted an RX 7900 XTX against an RX 9070 XT — AMD's latest flagship purpose-built with FSR 4 in mind. Surprisingly, it still underperformed compared to FSR 3. In Cyberpunk 2077, tested at 4K Ultra settings, the 9070 XT netted 77 FPS using FSR 3.1 and only 74 FPS using FSR 4. More importantly, though, the RDNA 3-based 7900 XTX saw 16% fewer frames in FSR 4 compared to FSR 3.1, but again justified that with markedly better visuals.

All of this to say, FSR 4 seems worth it when it comes to delivering solid image quality, though it still demands significant compute regardless of whatever hardware it's running on. Modders were able to tweak FSR 4 to run INT8 libraries, which themselves have a noticeable discrepancy between each other. FP8 support is only available on RDNA 4, similar to how RDNA 2 GPUs need to fall back on slower instructions like DP4a to run FSR 4 (which explains the missing FPS).

It's important to note that AMD is also working on FSR Redstone as we speak; it's the company's next-gen upscaler designed to work on a myriad of GPUs, including non-AMD ones, which is perhaps why the Red Team hasn't extended FSR 4 support beyond the RX 9000 series yet. Though it's clear that if you're dedicated enough, that's not a hurdle — as long as you can live with worse performance in exchange for sharper fidelity.

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Our victim (who we'll call Glass for ease) ordered a PNY GeForce RTX 5080 from the firm's official store on Amazon. Unfortunately, what they got was a brick wrapped up in the same anti-static bag that the actual GPU usually comes in. Apart from the obvious implication that someone at the factory might've swapped the card, this actually suggests that a reverse-scam was in effect here. Someone may have gotten the real 5080 they wanted, took it out of the box, replaced it with a brick, and returned it to Amazon who didn't bother to properly check the contents.

Amazon sent me a brick instead of a 5080 from r/pcmasterrace

You might be wondering how a returned package could be thrown in with the new stuff that's supposed to come from PNY’s official store — this is where the issue of "commingling" comes in. That term refers to merging items from different sellers and channels into a single, unified inventory that makes the job super easy for logistics but remains effectively untracked. All the scammer needs to do is match the box’s weight, replacing the 5080 with an identically heavy brick, and the scales tip in their favor (no pun intended).

In this case, though, perhaps the bricked 5080 box was actually sent ahead by mistake when it should've been caught at the warehouse. Either that or, of course, an Amazon worker genuinely saw the opportunity and took the GPU for themselves. Whatever the case may be, Glass has already filed for a refund, and we hope they get it as soon as possible. While we often find the fiasco entertaining — top comment called this GPU-brick the "Foundation Edition" — it's anything but that for the end user who is now just a sitting duck to the whims of customer service.

Surprisingly, this isn't even the first time someone has received a brick instead of their GPU as this exact dilemma befell another customer a year ago, when purchasing from Newegg. It's because of growing scams like these that we advise people to stay vigilant, no matter where you're buying from. Especially if you're shopping used, you may not get something strange in the box, but instead a GPU that literally has no core inside it.

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The user notes that they performed the vBIOS flash using an open-source tool published on Overclock.net by user Benik3. If you’re interested in the full flashing process, you can follow the post here. Keep in mind, however, that flashing a GPU with the BIOS of another model may void your warranty and can potentially brick your card.

According to testing done by u/noVa_realiZe, the performance gains from flashing the BIOS were immediately noticeable in synthetic benchmarks. In 3DMark Steel Nomad, the stock non-XT card managed a score of around 5,821, while the same card with the XT BIOS went up to 6,461. After some more tinkering with the voltages and memory clock speeds, the card peaked at 7,277, which is a notable improvement over stock performance.

The performance uplift is reduced when it comes to actual gaming, though. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p with a mix of ray-tracing settings, the undervolted stock card averaged 70 FPS. After flashing and tuning the card, the same setup pushed averages closer to 78 FPS, with noticeable improvements to 1% and 0.1% lows.

The increase in performance is primarily due to the ability to feed more power to the GPU after flashing the XT BIOS.

Not the first example

Back in April, a similar attempt was made, where a community member at leading German website PCGH (PC Games Hardware) took an Asus Prime RX 9070 and flashed it with the Asus Prime RX 9070 XT vBIOS.

After successfully flashing the BIOS, they were able to raise its power draw to 317W (up from the stock 220W) and increase the boost clock frequencies to 3.1 GHz. This translated into a consistent 15-20% performance uplift in synthetic benchmark tests, while additional tuning and overclocking resulted in scores that outperformed the stock RX 9070 XT.

It is interesting to know that the Radeon RX 9070 has a modicum of headroom to deliver more performance, but at the same time, these gains come with trade‐offs. This includes higher power consumption, increased heat, and a real risk of instability or damage, especially if the cooling solution and power delivery system are not adequate.

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Tony from Northwest Repair got his hands on an RTX 4080 Super that he couldn't repair — not for lack of trying though (as you'll see), it was simply broken beyond saving. Our intrepid repairer, therefore, salvaged the working core and VRAM from the 4080 Super and brought in a donor PCB... which is actually a core and memory-less RTX 4080 non-Super. The discrepancy doesn't matter for a master like Tony. "Board looks identical, so should work," he says, and continues with the repair that will involve taking a 4080 Super core and mounting it on a standard 4080 board. A new VBIOS will be needed for the GPU to accept its identity, so the BIOS chip will need to be swapped as well.

The repair starts with flattening the donor PCB since it came from China, where it became severely warped in the process of stripping it off its core — something very common in the region. It was put on a custom heating plate with weights on top that should help straighten it some degree (no pun intended). After that, the soldering job begins. Tony casually solders the 4080 Super core onto the 4080 board in a beautiful montage, along with the memory modules and the BIOS chip, all while the PCB is sitting onto the heat plate, slowly leveling itself.

One sponsored thermal camera segment later, the GPU fails to post despite showing positive signs of life when its data lines were checked prior. Tony ran a memory test, and it pinged two chips as the point of failure, but just to be sure he took off the core again to check whether it's sitting flat first. Sure enough, one of the solder balls on the core was much larger than the others surrounding it. Our repair guru wasn't interested in the why-s or how-s, so he just went ahead and reballed it. Unfortunately, it still didn't work, though the culprit identified itself right away: two data lines weren't connected to the core.

Upon closer inspection, the solder balls under the core appeared as if they weren't soldered, which would explain the missing data lines. Taking off the core once again confirmed this notion, as the bottom left and right corners of the solder pads were not in contact with the core. These corners were at a lower elevation compared to the middle of the core, which is sitting higher due to the PCB being warped from the start; the weights didn't work. In comes new weights directly on the core itself, but they change nothing. Still, no post — even after thoroughly cleaning the interconnect to rule out the riser cable.

Tony goes back to the flagged memory chips from earlier, which are known to be fully functional, and now wonders whether that area of the board is also uneven. The weights make a return and after some tedious back and forth — and a Ron Swanson throwing his TV in the dumpster clip classic later — the card finally comes back to life. Usually the repeated heat cycles can warp a PCB but since this was one was already warped to begin with, it perhaps had the opposite effect.

Regardless, Tony ends the video by revealing that this was one of thirteen cards that he needs to repair, all awaiting donor PCBs of their own, while asking Chinese underground labs to figure out a better way to rip cores off GPUs that doesn't damage the board. We also find out that this was an Asus TUF RTX card at the end, and that Tony somehow pulled off this miraculous repair job in just one night. While the video makes it all look super entertaining, keep in mind that a task of this caliber would require amazing skills and almost Herculean levels of perseverance.

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The concept reportedly takes advantage of the unused part of the front PCIe finger to triple power output. The five 12V lines attached to the PCIe finger are "merged", with each line featuring enhanced width and thickness as well as more conductive materials to boost the slot's current-carrying capacity.

Top-down images of Asus' modifications show the changes; the five 12V pins at the front are significantly larger, to the point where they are visible to the naked eye. This is in contrast to a regular PCIe slot, where the pins are so small that they are virtually impossible to spot. To feed the modified PCIe slot, most of the additional power is allegedly fed by an extra 8-pin PCIe connector on the motherboard.

Asus's PCIe concept could finally make cableless graphics cards more mainstream, assuming adoption is high. PCIe's 75-watt limit has left all but the most power-efficient entry-level graphics cards as the only mainstream GPUs that can do away with auxiliary power cables.

Technically, Asus already has an internal proprietary GPU power connector for its cableless BTF products (the GC-HPWR). But Asus is likely building its aforementioned PCIe modification as a cheaper method to create cableless GPUs, particularly for the mainstream market. Modifying the PCIe slot on a motherboard or graphics card is cheaper than installing an extra internal finger for internal power delivery.

250 watts is not a lot of power in an era where most high-performance GPUs consume more than 350 watts. But 250 watts would be more than sufficient for all entry-level and lower-mid-range graphics cards. For example, AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT and RX 9070 consume just 160 and 220 watts, respectively, making them prime candidates for Asus' PCIe modification.

Again, though, Asus' concept is just that, a concept. There's no knowing how widely adopted Asus' design will be if it ever gets finalized. Asus' concept is also a modification of the PCIe standard, which could make adoption even harder. Even if it is adopted, board makers and AIB makers would need to build new graphics cards and motherboard models specifically designed to take advantage of Asus' concept, which would increase costs and manufacturing complexity.

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The GeForce RTX 5070 launched several months ago at an MSRP of $549; however, it has proven challenging for consumers to acquire it at that specified price point. Nonetheless, a selection of customized GeForce RTX 5070 models from some of Nvidia's leading partners is presently available for purchase at prices below $549.

The Asus Prime RTX 5070 12GB GDDR7, in particular, is among the notable highlights of the day. This 2.5-slot graphics card, which conforms to the Nvidia SFF-ready standard, is presently available for purchase at $523, representing a 14% discount from its usual retail price. However, for enthusiasts preferring Nvidia's design, the GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition has been restocked at Best Buy for $549.

If you are seeking a more economical option, the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti with 16GB and 8GB, which have MSRPs of $429 and $379, respectively, may present a compelling choice. The MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8G Ventus 2X OC Plus is now available at a price of $339 after applicable discounts and a $20 rebate card. This graphics card is currently being offered at an 11% reduction relative to the official MSRP.

The 16GB model has maintained its value, resisting a decline below the MSRP. However, if you are considering that SKU, the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB GDDR7 is available for $429 on Amazon, representing a 10% discount from the usual price.

Several custom GeForce RTX 5060 models are retailing at the MSRP of $299. Examples include the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5060 WindForce OC 8G, the MSI GeForce RTX 5060 8G Shadow 2X OC, and the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5060 8GB GDDR7 OC Edition, all of which are available on Amazon.

The pricing for specific high-performance Blackwell SKUs, including the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5080, has begun to stabilize. It is now more feasible to locate the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and GeForce RTX 5080 in stock at their designated MSRPs of $749 and $999, respectively, compared to a few months prior.

The Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7, Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti WindForce SFF 16G, and PNY GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Triple Fan are presently available for purchase at $749.

Meanwhile, the Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7, PNY GeForce RTX 5080 OC Triple Fan, and Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5080 WindForce SFF 16 G have finally settled at the $999 mark.

Amidst speculation regarding the alleged release of the GeForce RTX 50 Super series, it is plausible that retailers have strategically reduced pricing on some of the Blackwell graphics cards. Rather than official price cuts, these promotional offers are likely aimed at clearing inventory in anticipation of the rumored Super refresh. However, many consumers have expressed concerns that Nvidia's Blackwell gaming graphics cards are priced excessively; therefore, bringing the pricing back down to MSRP may not effectively incentivize purchases. Perhaps these Blackwell GPUs will look more convincing when retailers start offering genuine discounts rather than merely reverting elevated prices to MSRP.

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The GPU under the hood is a cut-down version of Navi 32 with just 2,560 Stream Processors and 40 Compute Units. The 7700 XT uses the same Navi 32 but has 3,456 Stream Processors and 54 CUs; it also has more ROPs and TMUs (see table at the end), and 48 MB Infinity Cache compared to just 40 MB on the RX 7700. Moreover, there are 80 AI accelerators on the RX 7700, which isn't impressive on its own, but when you combine that with the 16 GB memory pool, this could become a sleeper option for local AI applications.

In terms of performance, AMD lists FPS numbers for a bunch of different games, showing a ~20% decrease in gaming compared to the 7700 XT (when taking into account games that overlap). Not only that, but the RX 7700 seems to be less efficient too, eating up 263W of power (versus 245W on the 7700 XT) despite the reduced performance. That leaves local AI inference the only real selling point for this SKU, if it's priced right to begin with. There are dual 8-pin connectors on board, and AMD recommends a 700W power supply for the RX 7700.

So far, AMD has not listed any availability, suggesting that this is perhaps an OEM product meant to be supplied to SIs and in prebuilts across the world. That being said, ASRock has already unveiled its custom "Challenger" design and—while the company didn't share price or availability either—we did learn that the card is clocked at 2,041 MHz (Game), boosting up to 2,459 MHz.

At the moment, AMD already has the RX 9060 XT 16 GB slotted nicely in the midrange, that's slightly faster (even its 8 GB variant would dwarf the RX 7700) and has a richer featureset. Therefore, launching the RX 7700 non-XT at anything more than ~$350 would seriously cannibalise the lineup, rendering it DoA.

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At 8Gb/s per pin — the rate JEDEC specifies for HBM4 — a single stack delivers just under 2 TB/s across the new 2,048-bit interface. Raising that to 10Gb/s bumps the total to 2.56 TB/s per stack. With six stacks, a single GPU clears 15 TB/s of raw bandwidth. Rubin CPX, Nvidia's compute-optimized config built to handle the most demanding inference workloads, is advertised with 1.7 petabytes per second across a full NVL144 rack. The higher the pin speed, the less margin Nvidia needs elsewhere to hit those numbers.

But driving 10Gb/s HBM4 isn’t a given. Faster I/O brings higher power, tighter timing, and more strain on the base die. TrendForce notes that Nvidia may segment Rubin SKUs by HBM tier if costs or thermals spike. That means 10Gb/s parts for Rubin CPX and lower-speed stacks for the standard Rubin configuration. The fallback is already in view: staggered supplier qualification and extended validation windows to stretch yield.

SK hynix remains Nvidia’s dominant HBM supplier and says it has completed HBM4 development and is ready for mass production. The company has referenced “over 10Gb/s” capability but hasn’t published die specs, power targets, or process details.

Samsung, by contrast, is more aggressive on node migration. Its HBM4 base die is moving to 4nm FinFET, a logic-class node intended to support higher clock speeds and lower switching power. That could give Samsung an edge at the high end, even if SK hynix ships more volume. Micron has confirmed sampling of HBM4 with a 2,048-bit interface and bandwidth exceeding 2 TB/s, but hasn’t said whether 10Gb/s is in scope.

AMD’s MI450 is still on the horizon, but the memory spec is already known. Helios racks are expected to support up to 432GB of HBM4 per GPU, giving AMD a route to match or exceed Nvidia on raw capacity. With CDNA 4, it also gains architectural upgrades that aim squarely at Rubin’s inference advantage.

Nvidia clearly wants to make memory faster. But the more it leans on 10Gb/s HBM4, the more exposed it becomes to supplier variation, yield risks, and rack-level power constraints at a time when the margin for error is shrinking.

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Strictly speaking, this isn't exactly 'new' news. As far back as June of this year, people were hacking FSR4 onto last-generation Radeon RX 7000 GPUs, but that trick was fragile and required Linux. Today's method is quite easy and should, in theory, work on virtually any modern GPU in the vast majority of DirectX 12, DirectX 11, and Vulkan games. We'll get to the specifics in a moment, but we should explain exactly what's going on here.

When AMD open-sourced the FSR SDK, including FSR 4, it mistakenly published the full source of FSR 4, not just the SDK portion of it. That meant that anyone could take the FSR 4 code and do whatever they wanted with it, because the source was published under a highly permissive MIT license. Notably, alongside the FP8 version of FSR 4 — that is, the standard version that the Radeon RX 9000 cards normally use — there was also a version built to use the INT8 datatype. INT8 is supported on virtually all modern GPUs, so it is much more compatible.

That was a source release, so it took some hero to come along and compile the source into a binary form that gamers could actually use. That hero turns out to be /u/AthleteDependent926 on Reddit, who provided the compiled DLL file that users can simply drop into games with FSR 3 support to enable FSR 4.

It takes a bit of doing; in our testing, simply swapping the files won't enable FSR 4 the way you might do with DLSS. However, using the OptiScaler mod, you can specifically select FSR 4.0.2 in the mod's UI.

OptiScaler is a multi-game mod similar to something like ReShade or Special K. Install OptiScaler to the game's executable directory, run the "setup_windows.bat" or "setup_linux.sh" depending on your operating system, and then replace the "amd_fidelityfx_upscaler_dx12.dll" with the one from /u/AthleteDependent926's Reddit post. After doing so, launch your game, press Insert to open the OptiScaler UI, select "FSR 3.X" as your upscaler, and then in the "FFX Settings," select FSR 4.0.2. It's a little unintuitive, but it absolutely works.

How do I know? Well, I tested it. First, on a Radeon RX 7800 XT connected to a 4K display, and then on a Ryzen AI Max+ 395's integrated Radeon 8060S connected to a 1440p display. In both cases, performance is a little rough; we saw about 4.1 ms to upscale to 4K on the RX 7800 XT, while the Radeon 8060S takes about 2.3 ms to upscale to 1440p. For those unfamiliar with frame times, 60 FPS equates to a frame time of 16.7 ms. Tacking on an extra 4.1ms for the upscale drops you from 60 to about 48 FPS, but we didn't see that kind of performance from either GPU because we were testing Cyberpunk 2077 in RT Ultra mode on Radeon hardware.

Still, performance remained broadly playable on both GPUs, and the final image quality with FSR 4, while decidedly inferior to DLSS 4, is nonetheless an undeniable step up from FSR 3, and in fact also superior to Intel's XeSS—at least, the DP4a path available to non-Intel GPUs. In Cyberpunk 2077, FSR 4 clearly has fewer artifacts and less aliasing, although it's not flawless; we still saw some trailing on distant objects, and animated textures still throw it for a loop. Only NVIDIA's transformer-based DLSS 4 has resolved those issues.

Of course, some of our problems could be down to the fact that this is a rather hacky way of implementing a fully unsupported upscaler. But regardless, this does seem like a great option to have in the toolbox of Radeon and Arc gamers who don't have access to the latest DLSS models. A great many games have implemented FSR 3 upscaling, and the ability to simply replace that with FSR 4 could be an excellent option if you're already flush with a fine frame rate. Kudos to the enthusiasts and modders who made this trick possible.

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Got my hands on a engineering GTX 2080ti. from r/nvidia

User u/Substantial-Mark-959 got their hands on a faulty Founder's Edition GPU from a friend for a possible repair job, only to quickly find out that it's rather unusual. Instead of saying "GeForce RTX" across the shroud, it says "GeForce GTX," despite being a 2080 Ti. They tried to flash different VBIOSes and ultimately ended up getting the card to work with a Founder's Edition BIOS and modified driver. Once up and running, even more interesting things surfaced.

Inside GPU-Z, the card shows 12 GB of VRAM, whereas the standard 2080 Ti only shipped with 11 GB. Not only that, but it seems to have more ROPs, shader units, and TMUs than the normal 2080 Ti, too, despite featuring the same TU102 die. The memory bus has also been upgraded from 352-bit to 384-bit, which consequently brings the memory bandwidth closer to almost 700 GB/s — a notable improvement over the 616 GB/s that the 2080 Ti actually shipped with. All of these increments beg the question: Does it perform better?

The 12 GB GTX 2080 Ti scored 9,116 points in the Superposition benchmark, which is fairly in line with a normal 2080 Ti, suggesting that perhaps the modified driver or the VBIOS isn't actually utilizing the extra cores properly. The extra gigabyte of VRAM wouldn't make much of a difference on its own. Unfortunately, the user didn't benchmark more games or synthetic workloads except for Port Royal to test ray tracing, which ran unremarkably. However, this at least confirms there are RT Cores aboard this engineering sample.

The card's existence could point towards a last-minute change from Nvidia, where they pivoted from the GTX branding to RTX to market ray tracing. We'll never know for sure, but the whole endeavor was so unique that a curator from TechPowerUp ended up adding this GTX 2080 Ti to their database, enshrining the 2080 Ti in GPU history forever.

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The specific array of graphics cards that Nvidia is allowed to sell to Chinese firms has fluctuated wildly in 2025 as the Trump administration has initiated on-again, off-again tariffs and trade blockages, particularly in relation to high-end technology like GPUs aimed at AI training and inference. To comply with these regulations, Nvidia has churned out Chinese-specific GPUs like the RTX 5090D and H20.

The RTX6000D is the latest development in this space, and was reportedly initially designed as a solution to the ban on H20 exports to the country. Although the H20 is now available once again, and Nvidia is talking up its B30A replacement based on the newer Blackwell architecture, the RTX6000D was an additional GPU design that could have found favor among AI firms scrambling for GPU power. But with ongoing trade negotiations and a major drive within China to prioritize domestically produced chips, Nvidia is said to be struggling to find buyers for the new card.

The Reuters sources claim the RTX6000D only started shipping this week, but its performance has been rated lower than Nvidia's bog-standard 5090, which isn't available in China. However, it has been readily available on black and grey markets in China for months now, and there are even modded versions doing the rounds with massively expanded memory capacities for even more AI performance.

The RTX6000D is based on the Blackwell architecture and has a memory bandwidth just under the 1,400 Gbps threshold placed on GPU exports to China. At a reported price of 50,000 yuan, or around $7,000, though, it's a hard sell when comparably performative cards are available in variously dubious markets for less than half of that.

China has also become increasingly hesitant over Nvidia GPU use in recent months. It accused the US of adding tracking hardware to Nvidia GPUs and even summoned major Chinese CEOs to question them over H20 GPU orders. Chinese authorities most recently even accused Nvidia of violating anti-monopoly legislation in a deal it made in 2020.

China and the US continue to discuss trade in Madrid this week, with major points of contention being the sale of high-end GPUs. If the US does approve the sale of Nvidia's B30A GPU, one that's several times faster than the H20 and only around twice the price, that could end up as a huge win for Nvidia - even if it might encourage even weaker interest in the RTX6000D.

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With the mid-range offerings from both Nvidia and AMD recently hitting the market in the form of the RTX 5050 and RX 9060, both Team Green and Red now have their eyes set on future architectures and technologies.

With so much excitement around new chips and architectures, what’s next for all three companies? We break down everything you need to know about their upcoming plans. We will keep this page consistently updated with the latest information to hand, with accurate sourcing and no rumors.

Nvidia

Currently, the Nvidia RTX 50 series represents the consumer manifestation of the Blackwell architecture, which introduced significant architectural enhancements focused on neural rendering, AI acceleration, and ray tracing performance. Built on TSMC's 4NP process node, the Blackwell consumer GPUs highlighted an uplift in AI-accelerated workloads across desktop and laptop platforms. But it wasn't a huge leap in performance across the board.

Nvidia RTX 50 series GPUs utilize TSMC's custom 4NP process technology, an enhanced variant of the foundry's N4P production node specifically tailored for Nvidia's requirements. This is a continuation of TSMC's 5nm-class manufacturing family, prioritizing mature process reliability over bleeding-edge node adoption, which allows for some degree of cost control.

The Blackwell consumer architecture incorporates fundamental architectural improvements over Ada Lovelace, including doubled integer math throughput per clock cycle through fully unified FP32 and INT32 cores. The streaming multiprocessor (SM) design has been completely reengineered, with each SM containing 128 CUDA cores, four fifth-generation Tensor cores, one fourth-generation RT core, and four texture units alongside 256KB register files and configurable 128KB L1/shared memory.

The post-Blackwell era of Nvidia consumer graphics signals a strong shift toward neural rendering-first design philosophy, with three major architectural generations positioned to push the envelope on desktop and laptop GPU capabilities through 2029.

The Rubin, Rubin Ultra, and Feynman architectures plan to incorporate advanced manufacturing processes, next-generation memory technologies, and AI acceleration, which are likely to land in future desktop GPUs.

Nvidia's Rubin architecture detailed

Nvidia's Rubin architecture is expected to be the first consumer GPU generation manufactured on TSMC's 3nm-class process technology. Projected to debut in late 2026 with the RTX 60 series, Rubin will likely transition from TSMC's 4NP node utilized by Blackwell to the more advanced N3P process, delivering significant improvements in transistor density and power efficiency.

As anticipated, the Rubin consumer GPU, powered by TSMC's 3nm node, might provide approximately 15% increased transistor density compared to the 4nm process used for RTX 50 series GPUs. This transition enables TSMC to deliver a claimed 10-15% performance improvement at equivalent power consumption, or offer a 20-30% power reduction at equivalent performance levels. However, whether or not that will hold will have to be confirmed by Nvidia itself.

Rubin GPUs are expected to debut multiple dies: a flagship (e.g., RB102) for top-end cards (RTX 6090), and cut-down dies (RB103/RB104, etc.) for RTX 6080/6070/6060 series. Consumer variants will likely follow the pattern seen in Blackwell and Ada Lovelace.

Expect the largest die for halo product, and cut-down dies for enthusiast/mainstream cards. Laptop variants will use further cut-down dies or lower TDP (Max-Q) implementations. Since Nvidia is continually shifting die cut-downs between generations, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly which might end up turning into a specific GPU class.

Data center Rubin dies are targeting up to 1,800W per AI chip at the highest configuration. However, consumer desktop models will likely be dramatically lower.

To make an educated guess, the projected desktop power demand puts the flagship RTX 6090 likely in the 450–600W range, scaling down to 200W or less for mainstream models. This is an extrapolation from Blackwell and Ada Lovelace scaling, with increased efficiency due to being powered by a 3nm node.

Nvidia has confirmed that Rubin will use HBM4 in the data center. However, memory configurations for consumer Rubin GPUs are expected to utilize faster GDDR7 variants or potentially introduce GDDR7X memory technology, offering substantial bandwidth improvements over current GDDR7 implementations.

Nvidia's Rubin architecture for desktops is anticipated to be available for the consumer GeForce lineup (RTX 60 series). There is no official indication that Rubin is data center-only; Nvidia’s executive statements and annual release cadence strongly point toward the lineup's release.

Rubin production is on track for H2 2026, per official Nvidia statements and refuted delay rumors. Consumer cards are expected to be available in late 2026 or early 2027, as of the time of writing.

Rubin Ultra (2027) and Feynman (2028)

Following Rubin, there is no official confirmation about the consumer implementation of future architectures announced at GTC 2025, as Nvidia is traditionally an enterprise-first company. However, the architectures (Rubin Ultra and Feynman) may be used in consumer GPUs.

Feynman, like Volta (2017), may remain data center-only, but all current Nvidia statements suggest consumer implementations are planned.

Rubin Ultra, scheduled for the second half of 2027, is slated to be the successor of Rubin. At the data center level, this architecture implements quad-die GPU configurations within single packages, dramatically increasing computational density.

Rubin Ultra's quad-die implementation requires advanced packaging technologies. Whether or not this layout trickles down to consumer GPUs remains to be seen. Consumer implementations will likely utilize cost-optimized packaging approaches while maintaining the performance advantages of multi-die, or chiplet architectures.

The gate-all-around field-effect transistor (GAAFET) technology implementation in TSMC's 2nm variant, expected for Rubin Ultra and possibly Feynman, represents a significant departure from FinFET designs, offering enhanced optimization flexibility for either performance or efficiency targets.

Data center implementations of Rubin Ultra are currently planned to have HBM4/HBM4e memory, but it is unlikely that HBM will end up being the VRAM type used in consumer GPUs based on the Rubin Ultra and Feynman architectures.

Feynman is the company's most advanced GPU generation currently planned. Limited official information exists regarding Feynman's consumer specifications, though data center roadmaps provide architectural insights that may apply to consumer implementations.

Feynman will likely utilize either TSMC's 2nm node (N2) or potentially Intel's advanced foundry processes, including 18A or 14A nodes. The architecture will likely incorporate seventh-generation Tensor cores and sixth-generation RT cores. Details on Feynman are still light, with Nvidia expected to reveal further details at future events.

Regarding an anticipated launch timeline, Rubin Ultra may launch in the second half of 2027, while Feynman GPUs are still very far off, so don't expect anything sporting the architecture until H2 2028 / H1 2029, at the very earliest. Be sure to take these dates with a dose of salt, as nothing is confirmed until Nvidia itself says so.

AMD

AMD unveiled its RDNA 4 architecture in January 2025, followed by the RX 9000 series of cards in early March. AMD’s primary goal this generation was to target the mainstream with GPUs, in quantity, that were both affordable and performed well.

Departing from its iconic ‘XX00’ naming style in favor of the ‘X0X0’ convention for the mainstream, aligned AMD's branding style with Nvidia. AMD also elected not to introduce any enthusiast-class GPUs with RDNA 4. As such, the RX 9070 XT, which likely utilizes the fully-enabled Navi 48 chip (referred to internally as Navi 48 XTX), represents the most powerful GPU we’ll get with RDNA 4.

AMD has confirmed ongoing R&D for post-RDNA 4 architectures in several presentations, emphasizing continuous improvements in compute density and AI acceleration. Codenames are not yet public, but technical documentation references “Next-Gen RDNA” under the “Growth Driver” umbrella.

AMD's discrete GPU strategy beyond the current RDNA 4 (RX 9000 series) generation centers on a significant architectural transition, moving from the established Radeon DNA (RDNA) lineage towards a potentially unified architecture, internally designated GFX13. Crucially, AMD has publicly confirmed the development of an architecture following RDNA 4 during its Financial Analyst Day 2022 and subsequent roadmap updates, though specific branding (RDNA 5 vs. UDNA) remains officially unclarified.

UDNA / RDNA 5: AMD's next-generation GPU architecture

While AMD roadmaps historically labeled this successor "RDNA 5," current industry reports suggest a potential rebranding to "UDNA" (Unified DNA). This signifies a strategic shift towards a single architecture foundation targeting both consumer gaming (replacing RDNA) and compute/data center workloads (replacing CDNA).

AMD publicly emphasizes the challenge and resource drain of maintaining two distinct architectures (RDNA for gaming, CDNA for compute). A unified UDNA architecture aims to simplify the software stack (particularly ROCm), improve memory optimization consistency, and enhance forward/backward compatibility across the products, from laptops to servers.

AMD aims to streamline development, hardware design, and software optimization by adopting a consistent core Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) design reminiscent of the pre-RDNA Graphics Core Next (GCN) lineage, enabling compatibility across consumer gaming, AI workloads, and professional compute workloads alike.

Crucially, UDNA is expected to be fabricated on TSMC’s 3nm-class manufacturing node (N3 or N3E). This will represent a substantial leap in transistor density and power efficiency over RDNA 4’s 5nm process node.

AMD has publicly stated that improving ray tracing performance is a core focus for future generations. RDNA 5/UDNA is projected to feature significantly redesigned Ray Accelerators, potentially moving more fixed-function hardware into the pipeline to alleviate shader engine burden and dramatically increase ray intersection throughput compared to RDNA 4.

The UDNA architecture may also see AMD shift back from monolithic to a chiplet-based design, optimizing manufacturing yields and enabling finer die cutdowns. AMD already employs a technique allowing it to produce more SKUs from a single silicon design through a technique named asymmetric harvesting. Potentially using this, can expect a range from 96 CUs all the way down to 32 CUs for UDNA, with GDDR7 memory being the VRAM technology of choice.

We expect UDNA to debut in late 2026. Broader availability across desktop segments and mobile variants (RX 10000M series) might arrive in Q1-Q2 2027. However, this remains unconfirmed. We expect to hear official details on UDNA at AMD's 2025 Financial Analyst Day in November 2025.

Intel

Intel officially launched its second-generation discrete GPU family, namely Battlemage (Xe2), with the Arc B580 and Arc B570 in December 2024 and January 2025, respectively. Despite some teething issues, these GPUs were surprisingly capable, affordable, and generously equipped with 12GB/10GB of VRAM, capacities that are unheard of in the $250 market.

Intel has officially established its commitment to discrete graphics beyond the current Battlemage generation, with Co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus confirming at CES 2025 that Intel remains "very committed to the discrete graphics market" and will "continue to make strategic investments".

With the Battlemage (Xe2 architecture) now deployed, Intel's roadmap extends through the Xe3 "Celestial" and Xe4 "Druid" architectures, representing significant steps in Intel’s GPU design and manufacturing strategy.

Xe3 Celestial and Xe4 Druid

Intel Fellow Tom Petersen confirmed in December 2024 that the Xe3 Celestial architecture has been finalized, with hardware design locked and the development team transitioning to Xe4 development. Intel has not disclosed full architectural details, but Xe3 builds on Xe2's vector engines with projected refinements in compute throughput and cache hierarchies.

Celestial has progressed to pre-silicon validation as of May 2025, with Intel's OEM partners conducting virtual GPU testing for firmware development. Based on Intel's validation timeline, Celestial is expected to enter volume production by late 2025 or early 2026.

Celestial will initially debut as integrated graphics within Intel's Panther Lake mobile processors, likely utilizing Intel's 18A process node. While Intel has not officially disclosed the target process node, its alignment with the Panther Lake CPU platform (built on Intel 18A) suggests a high probability that the initial Celestial variants will utilize the same node.

Intel's focus on AI acceleration suggests higher memory capacities will be prioritized to support emerging AI inference workloads alongside traditional gaming applications.

Discrete Celestial GPUs are not expected until after the architecture debuts in integrated form within Panther Lake mobile CPUs. Based on typical development cycles, volume production of discrete Celestial GPUs might not begin until late 2026, with availability beginning in early 2027. However, this remains unconfirmed until Intel itself offers up more information.

For Xe4 Druid, Intel has confirmed hardware work is underway, as Petersen noted, "The hardware teams are off on to the next thing (Xe4)". This architecture is projected as a modular redesign, potentially incorporating hybrid tiles for graphics and media, as hinted in Intel's June 2025 leaks on Nova Lake iGPUs using Xe3/Xe4 combinations, though discrete details are absent.

Petersen also noted that Intel's development lifecycles can exceed one year, meaning that it's likely that we won't see this particular architecture materialize for desktop system use for quite some time, so don't hold your breath for Druid until 2026, or beyond.

We will continue to keep this page updated as soon as we hear any official details.

The 9A1000 is Loongson's first graphics card, marking a significant milestone for the Chinese manufacturer, which had previously focused mainly on processors. The company positions the 9A1000 as an entry-level graphics card that supports AI acceleration. Therefore, it doesn't compete in the same segment as the Lisuan G100, another Chinese graphics card, that allegedly rivals the GeForce RTX 4060.

Although we've been aware of the 9A1000 for some time, we still don't know its exact specifications. Loongson has kept details under wraps, only hinting that it offers performance similar to the Radeon RX 550, a card that was released eight years ago. However, it's too early to call it a win for Loongson, since the manufacturer still has to evaluate the 9A1000 after the tapeout.

The latest update on the 9A1000 indicates that Loongson has apparently reduced the area of the stream processor by 20%. The manufacturer also claims that it has increased the 9A1000's operating frequency by 25%, while optimizing power consumption during light loads by 70%. In terms of feature set, the 9A1000 supports OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL ES 3.2 APIs.

According to Looongson, the 9A1000 is up to 4X faster than the LG200, the integrated graphics unit inside the 2K3000 processor. The 9A1000 also provides up to 40 TOPS of AI computing power, which is slightly below that of AMD's XDNA 2 NPU inside the Ryzen AI Max+ (codenamed Strix Halo) chips, which deliver up to 50 TOPS.

The 9A1000 isn't the only graphics card on Loongson's plate. The company is also working on the 9A2000, which it claims is up to 10X faster than the 9A1000, with performance levels comparable to those of the GeForce RTX 2080. There are also plans for a 9A3000, a follow-up to the 9A2000, but no known specifications are available yet.

Although it may not be immediately apparent, numerous Chinese corporations and startups have entered the graphics card industry. However, many of these entities fail and subsequently cease operations. Therefore, we only hear news about the more prominent firms, such as Biren, Moore Threads, and, in recent years, Loongson and Lisuan Technology.

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This unusual A750 is from Gunnir, an experienced name in the Intel Arc community that has developed a myriad of GPUs for the Blue Team. Therefore, it stands to reason that Gunnir was possibly experimenting with different versions of the A750 with Intel, including this one with 16 GB of memory and a 512-bit bus. It's not just for show either, as the card pops up with the full 16 GB VRAM in Task Manager, so it seems to be a working engineering sample.

The user has provided images that confirm there's only one core on the card, turning down speculation of a dual-GPU prototype with double the memory. That still doesn't explain the wider 512-bit bus. Perhaps it's been mislabeled by someone who thought that twice the VRAM capacity means twice the bus width. Regardless, it's an interesting sample, but it unfortunately wasn't benchmarked, so we don't know how it performs (or if it's better than the standard A750).

From the pictures, we can see that two 8-pin PCIe power connectors are present on this A750, which is different from the 1x 8-pin and 1x 6-pin config that the retail A750 had. Moreover, there are stickers on the GPU that specifically say "Intel Arc Sample," suggesting that Intel might have floated around the idea of a 16GB A750 at some point, and developed this prototype to test out the feasibility.

Ultimately, we never got such a card. The only 16 GB GPU from Alchemist was the Arc A770 (which also had an 8 GB variant). The current-gen Arc B750 that succeeded the A750 has 10 GB of VRAM, while the B770 is rumored to feature 16 GB, effectively making this 16 GB A750 the only "midrange" Intel GPU we know of with that memory pool.

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High Yield, an independent semiconductor analyst, recently extended his work to Rubin CPX, labelling the up-close die shot Nvidia released as part of the press material. This is just an artistic render—which could be inaccurate, so take the news with a healthy dose of skepticism— but that didn't stop High Yield from discovering something strange: the presence of graphics-specific hardware blocks. He found a full set of Raster Output Pipelines (ROP), raster units, and even display engines on Rubin CPX — all of which are components irrelevant to AI tasks.

High Yield's labelling highlights 16 Graphics Processing Clusters (GPC), each with 6 Texture Processing Clusters (TPC), which would add up to 192 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) — same as the Blackwell-based RTX 5090. But there are also 256 Raster Output Pipelines (ROP) on this die, along with four display pipes — again, taking up precious die area for an otherwise AI-only GPU. That makes Rubin CPX a different beast altogether because the GB202 powering the 5090 has just 170 ROPs and 12 GPCs, in comparison.

For a potential RTX 6090, Nvidia would almost certainly follow its usual practice of repurposing partially functional dies. Even with two GPCs disabled, Rubin CPX would still deliver around 28,672 CUDA cores and 224 ROPs, showing a notable increase over the RTX 5090’s 21,760 CUDA cores and 176 ROPs, respectively.

On the other hand, if Nvidia retains the 8 TPC-per-GPC layout carried over from Blackwell, the design could scale up to 32,768 CUDA cores. After accounting for typical yield-related cuts of roughly 10%, that still points to a gaming SKU in the 28,000+ CUDA core range, suggesting a 28–30% performance uplift gen-on-gen. That's even before factoring in clock speed or architectural refinements.

Moreover, the render also shows a 512-bit memory bus using GDDR7, and possibly 128 MB of L2 cache. That would push effective memory bandwidth to nearly 2 TB/s, comfortably ahead of the RTX 5090’s 1.8 TB/s (on a 512-bit interface as well). Not only that, but support for PCIe 6.0, and the presence of video engines further point toward a possibility that Rubin CPX—while an AI accelerator today—is also a stepping stone for what's to come tomorrow.

If Rubin CPX is indeed the precursor to the RTX 6090, it would represent one of the largest, most feature-complete dies Nvidia has ever shipped. With up to 256 ROPs, far more than the 176 ROPs in GB202, Rubin CPX's GPU could hypothetically deliver significant gains in traditional rasterization at higher resolutions, along with improvements in pixel throughput.

Rubin CPX will be released at the end of 2026, following Vera Rubin's launch. They will combine to form what Nvidia bills as its most advanced and efficient AI inference solution ever. The RTX 6090, on the other hand, should be announced at CES 2027 if Nvidia follows the patterns from previous years. Therefore, the timeline lines up, but it's far from confirmed. But right now we have to remain skeptical.

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