"Alan Wake II," released earlier this week, is the latest third person action adventure loaded with psychological thriller elements that call back to some of the best works of Remedy Entertainment, including "Control," "Max Payne 2," and "Alan Wake." It's also a visual feast as our performance review of the game should show you, leveraging the full spectrum of the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature-set. In the run up to the release, when Remedy put out the system requirements lists for "Alan Wake II" with clear segregation for experiences with ray tracing and without; what wasn't clear was just how much the game depended on hardware support for mesh shaders, which is why its bare minimum list called for at least an NVIDIA RTX 2060 "Turing," or at least an AMD RX 6600 XT RDNA2, both of which are DirectX 12 Ultimate GPUs with hardware mesh shaders support.

There was some confusion among gaming online forums over the requirement for hardware mesh shaders. Many people assumed that the game will not work on GPUs without mesh shader support, locking out lots of gamers. Through the course of our testing for our performance review, we learned that while it is true that "Alan Wake II" relies on hardware support for mesh shaders, the lack of this does not break gameplay. You will, however, pay a heavy performance penalty on GPUs that lack hardware mesh shader support. On such GPUs, the game is designed to show users a warning dialog box that their GPU lacks mesh shader support (screenshot below), but you can choose to ignore this warning, and go ahead to play the game. The game considers mesh shaders a "recommended GPU feature," and not a requirement. Without mesh shaders, you can expect a severe performance loss that is best illustrated with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT based on the RDNA architecture, which lacks hardware mesh shaders.

The NVIDIA RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPUs are the next-generation mid-range offerings from NVIDIA for the notebook sector and will soon replace the GTX 1650 and GTX 1660 Ti. The new graphics cards will feature an adjustable TDP in the range of 35 watts all the way up to 80 watts which will greatly impact performance and battery life. The RTX 3050 will feature 2,048 CUDA cores and a base clock between 713 MHz, and 1,530 MHz while the boost clock will vary from 1,057 MHz to 1,740 MHz depending on the selected TDP. The RTX 3050 Ti increases the core count to 2,560 with similar base clocks at 735 MHz to 1,463 MHz along with boost clocks in the range of 1,035 MHz to 1,695 MHz. The two cards will both feature 4 GB of GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 88 GB/s. We have a good idea of the expected performance of these cards, with leaked synthetic and gaming testing putting the RTX 3050 Ti near the RTX 2060 Max-Q while the base RTX 3050 trades blows with the GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q.

Micro-Star International (MSI), the technology and laptop giant debuted its brand new "Business & Productivity" lineup,: The Summit, Prestige, and Modern series. The company also revealed its new, minimalistic, and modern logo for the new lineup. This bold new direction is a major milestone for MSI.

The new line also includes one of the first laptops, Prestige 14 Evo certified on Intel's Evo platform, which indicates advanced efficiency and better mobility. The gaming series also unveiled the world's thinnest 15-inch gaming laptop, the Stealth 15M. All powered by the latest 11th Gen Intel processor, the new lineup provides unprecedented efficiency and performance in the face of the new remote working trend due to COVID-19.

New details have surfaced on Intel's next-generation NUC systems - built with the intention to carry the highest performance density per available chassis capacity in the computer market (the aim is a 1.35 L case). We already knew Intel's Panther Canyon NUC would bring about their Tiger Lake-U designs would be carrying the company's Tiger Lake-U CPUs, which should combine next-generation "Willow Cove" CPU cores with an iGPU based on Intel's new Xe graphics architecture. A new piece of data here, as has been reported, is that Intel is also working on an enthusiast-class NUC under the "Phantom Canyon" moniker, which should bring about increased graphics performance.

Even if Intel's graphics architecture is a mindblowing performance improvement over their current graphics technologies, there's only so much an integrated graphics solution can do. Now, we seemingly have confirmation, via a 3D Max Benchmark, that Intel's Panther Canyon will be paired with an NVIDIA GeForce 1660 Ti graphics card (scoring 5,355 points). The 3D Mark TimeSpy test system uses a TigerLake-U engineering sample clocked at 2.3 GHz base and 4.4 GHz boost, alongside an 80 W NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti (Notebook) and 8 GB of RAM.

Dell's coveted Alienware gaming PC division announced three new product updates. This include the Aurora R11 desktop updated with 10th gen Intel Core processor options; updated Area 51m R2 17.3-inch gaming notebook; and a pair of m-series notebooks. To begin with, Alienware updated its Aurora R11 desktop with processor options that now include the Core i5-10400F, i5-10600KF, i7-10700KF, and i9-10900KF. Memory options now start with DDR4-2933, and go up to DDR4-3200, with size options including 8 GB single-channel, 16 GB dual-channel, 32 GB dual-channel, and 64 GB dual-channel. Storage options begin with 1 TB and 2 TB 7,200 RPM HDD; and go up to M.2 NVMe SSDs ranging between 250 GB to 2 TB, with various options for secondary drives that include SATA SSDs and HDDs. There are also options that combine Optane M10 drives with 7,200 RPM HDDs. Graphics options range all the way from GeForce GTX 1650 to RTX 2080 Super, with all SKUs along the way. 2.5 GbE connectivity is now standard, WLAN options include Intel and Killer 802.11ax + Bluetooth 5 solutions.

Next up, is the Area 51m R2, a 17.3-inch desktop-replacement gaming notebook that comes with desktop-grade hardware. Built into an airy chassis with 17.3-inch screen (options include Full HD and 4K UHD with various refresh-rate options), these notebooks come with CPU options that include Core i7-10700, i7-10700K, i7-10900, and i7-10900K; with memory options ranging between 8 GB single-channel to 32 GB dual-channel, ticking between 2933-3200 MHz. NVMe SSDs are standard issue, beginning with a 256 GB option, with dual-drive and NVMe RAID options being included. Graphics options go from GTX 1660 Ti to RTX 2080 Super (mobile).

AMD is finally coming around to launching the Radeon RX 5600M and RX 5700M based on its 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon. The company has, until now, only shipped mobile GPUs using the smaller "Navi 14" chip. A scoop by Komachi Ensaka points to an upcoming notebook combining a Ryzen 4000-H processor an "Navi-10M" GPU. With the right combination of clock speeds and memory configuration, the RX 5600M could offer performance rivaling (or beating) the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (mobile), and possibly on par with the RTX 2060 (mobile). The RX 5700M could compete with the upcoming RTX 2060 Super (mobile) and RTX 2070 (mobile). The RX 5600M could be a particularly important solution, as its desktop compatriot is designed for higher refresh-rate 1080p gaming. Much of the gaming notebook scene still revolves around 1080p, with innovations in the areas of refresh rates.

AMD gave both the RX 5600M and RX 5700M identical GPU core configurations to their desktop variants. The RX 5600M has 2,304 stream processors, 144 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 192-bit GDDR6 memory interface holding 6 GB of memory; while the RX 5700M tops it with 256-bit wide memory bus and 8 GB of memory. Both the RX 5700M and RX 5600M are configured with 12 Gbps memory frequency. The RX 5600M ticks at 1190 MHz (game), and 1265 MHz (boost), while the RX 5700M does 1620 MHz (game) and 1720 MHz (boost). Coming back to Komachi's leak about the Renoir + Navi 10M notebook, we predict a working implementation of AMD SmartShift technology. The company even made marketing graphics of this.

Much of the fanfare surrounding AMD's high-end Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 "Renoir" mobile processors were captured by the 14-inch ROG Zephyrus G14 notebook, and now ASUS got around to shipping its bigger (albeit lesser endowed) sibling, the Zephyrus G15 (variant: GA502IU). This gaming notebook features a 15.6-inch 144 Hz Full HD IPS display. Under the hood are an AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS (35 W) 8-core/16-thread processors, 16 GB of memory, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics, and a 1 TB NVMe SSD. Connectivity includes 802.11ax WLAN, Bluetooth 5, 1 GbE wired Ethernet, and a USB 3.2 gen 2 type-C with power-delivery compliance. It is now selling for USD $1,299.

XPG, a provider of high-performance products for Gamers, Esports Pros, and Tech Enthusiasts, is pleased to announce the launch of a 15.6-inch gaming notebook, the XPG XENIA. This marks a major milestone as XPG first-ever Gaming System offering. The notebook was developed in collaboration with Intel and sports an Intel Core i7 processor, a choice of NVIDIA GeForce RTX or GTX GPUs, as well as XPG own SSD and memory.

"We are thrilled to be introducing the XPG XENIA to our Gaming Community, as we strengthen our commitment to offer the next level of Systems, while helping more Tech Enthusiasts to get access to the best Intel technology offering," said Alex Yin, Chief Gaming Officer & General Manager at XPG. "By channeling our passion and strength in gaming, we aim to help deliver one of the finest notebook designs in the industry at a great value."

ASUS today rolled out the 2020 TUF Gaming A15 and A17 gaming notebooks powered by AMD Ryzen 7 4800H 8-core/16-thread processor, and two combinations of NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics. The TUF506IV-AS76 features GeForce RTX 2060 (mobile) graphics, a 1 TB NVMe SSD, and 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory; while its sibling, the TUF506IU-ES74, features GTX 1660 Ti (mobile) graphics, 512 GB NVMe SSD, and 16 GB of DDR4-2667 memory.

The star-attraction with both are their 15.6-inch Full HD IPS displays with 144 Hz refresh-rates. The A17 (TUF706IU-AS76) sits between the two, with a larger 17.3-inch Full HD IPS display that has the same 144 Hz refresh-rate, but GTX 1660 Ti (mobile) graphics, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory, and 1 TB NVMe SSD. All three feature a pair of USB 3.1 gen 1 type-A, one USB 3.1 gen 2 type-C, illuminated keyboards, large 90 Whr batteries, 1 GbE wired, and 802.11ac WLAN. The A15 TUF506IV-AS76 is priced at USD $1,200, the A15 TUF506IU-ES74 at $1,000; and the A17 TUF706IU-AS76 at $1,100.

ASUS unveiled the GeForce RTX 2060 DUAL Mini series, a new pair of RTX 2060 graphics cards purpose-built to compete with AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, and possibly priced to match the EVGA RTX 2060 KO. The series consists of two otherwise identical looking cards differentiated with clock speeds - the reference speed "DUAL-RTX2060-6G-MINI," and the slightly overclocked "DUAL-RTX2060-O6G-MINI." The DUAL Mini common board design measures 19.7 cm in length, 12.1 cm height, and is strictly 2-slot thick. Under the hood is PCB that's built to cost, and probably repurposing the company's GTX 1660 Ti series PCBs, since the TU116 and TU106 are pin-compatible.

The cooling solution of the ASUS RTX 2060 DUAL Mini features an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that makes direct contact with the GPU at the base; ventilated by a pair of 90 mm Axial-Tech fans that are designed to guide all their airflow axially. The impellers of these fans feature IP5X dust-resistance coating. The card also offers idle fan-stop feature. As mentioned earlier, the base RTX 2060 DUAL Mini ticks at NVIDIA reference clock speeds, while the DUAL Mini O6G offers overclocked speeds of 1365 MHz base and 1725 MHz GPU Boost (vs. reference speeds of 1365/1680 MHz). The memory clock is untouched on both cards, at 14 Gbps (GDDR6 effective). The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. Display outputs include one each of dual-link DVI-D, HDMI 2.0b, and DisplayPort 1.4 connectors. The cards don't appear to feature a back-plate. We expect the DUAL Mini to be priced at USD $299, and the DUAL Mini O6G at a $20-30 premium.

EVGA's cost-effective GeForce RTX 2060 KO graphics card debuted at CES, at an attractive price of USD $299, a pricing that very likely had the blessings of NVIDIA. This card may very well be the first of many RTX 2060 custom-design cards by NVIDIA partners to compete with AMD's new Radeon RX 5600 XT being launched at $279. AMD claims performance leads over the price-matched GTX 1660 Ti, which held NVIDIA's fort under the $300 price-band, until now.

Over the weekend, EVGA formally launched the RTX 2060 KO, and already offered pre-order discounts on both its own web-store, and popular U.S. retailer Newegg, with the base RTX 2060 KO going for $279, and the factory-overclocked RTX 2060 KO Ultra priced at $299, with a $20 "instant rebate." This would put the RTX 2060 KO price-matched with the RX 5600 XT, and it would be interesting to see if AMD can respond with lower prices (which would then pancake both NVIDIA's and AMD's product-stack south of $250). EVGA is expected to ship the first orders of the RTX 2060 KO from this week.

At this year's CES, ASUS announced the latest addition to their TUG gaming lineup of laptops - two 15-inch TUF Gaming A15 and TUF Gaming F15, and two 17-inch TUF Gaming A17 and TUF Gaming F17. Being advertised as durable, high-performance gaming laptops, the TUF lineup is here to bring "unprecedented experience for the price" meaning that the pricing of these models will be more than adequate for what they offer. Inside these new machines are the latest mobile processors from both Intel and AMD. The "A" series, as it is called, is an AMD based solution that features Ryzen 4000 series of mobile processors, which can be configured to go up to 8 cores and 16 threads, while the so-called "F" series is based on Intel's 10th generation of Core processors, which can be configured to go up to 6 cores and 12 threads.

At this year's CES, the ASUS Republic of Gamers announced the latest additions to the Zephyrus family of ultra-portable gaming laptops. Designed with portability in mind, these laptops are packing a lot of hardware in a body that is less than 20 mm thick. The G14 model is a 17.9 mm thin power-house capable of a lot more than its size would suggest. Packing AMD's latest Ryzen 7 4800HS processor, built on 7 nm "Zen 2" architecture with 8 cores and 16 threads, the G14 laptop is paired with NVIDIA's latest GeForce RTX 2060 GPU with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory.

The Ryzen processors used in Zephyrus laptops are special edition models, which are configured to run at lower 35 W TDP, instead of 45 W like the regular Ryzen 7 4800HS, with the same performance. This is due to the 6 months exclusive ASUS had on these processors, so they now able to use them in their designs to lower power consumption and improve battery life. This Zephyrus G14 laptop features two 14-inch display options to choose from - one 1080p IPS panel with 120 Hz refresh rate, Pantone validated FreeSync display and one 1440p IPS display that is capable of 60 Hz refreshing and also features Pantone validation with FreeSync technology.

AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su at the company's 2020 International CES address announced the company's e-sports flagship graphics card, the Radeon RX 5600 XT. This card is designed to dominate the sub-$300 market-segment that's been led by NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1660-series. Based on 7 nm "Navi" silicon, the RX 5600 XT has surprisingly powerful specs: 2,304 stream processors across 36 RDNA compute units, which is the same as the RX 5700, but with some cost-cutting in the way of memory: 6 GB of GDDR6 across a 192-bit wide memory interface, and 12 Gbps memory speed. The GPU has a gaming engine clock of roughly 1500 MHz. Other key specs include 144 TMUs and 48 ROPs.

Designed with a 150 W typical board power target, the card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. The RX 5600 XT is designed to provide 1080p e-sports gaming at high refresh-rates, or 1440p gaming at reasonable graphics settings. In its presentation, AMD showed the RX 5600 XT beating the GTX 1660 Ti that leads NVIDIA's GTX 16-series. With a price of USD $279 SEP, which is on-par with that of the GTX 1660 Ti, AMD looks to bring some serious competition to the $200-300 market-segment. Available January 21, 2020.

AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 5600 XT graphics card features the same exact stream processor count as the $350 RX 5700, according to a leaked specs sheet of a an AIB partner's custom-design graphics card. With a stream processor count of 2,304, it's safe to assume that the RX 5600 XT is based on the same 7 nm "Navi 10" silicon as the RX 5700 series. What set the RX 5600 XT apart from the RX 5700, besides lower clock-speeds, is the memory subsystem, which is severely stripped down. The Radeon RX 5600 XT will be equipped with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. What's more, the memory ticks at 12 Gbps, compared to 14 Gbps on the RX 5700 series.

With these specs, the RX 5600 XT has 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth at its disposal, same as NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. In contrast, with 8 GB of 256-bit GDDR6 running at 14 Gbps, the RX 5700 enjoys 448 GB/s. The specs sheet suggests that AMD has also dialed down the engine clock-speeds (GPU clocks) a bit, with up to 1620 MHz boost, up to 1460 MHz gaming, and 1235 MHz base. With these specs, it's highly likely that the RX 5600 XT outperforms the GTX 1660 Ti and gets close to the RTX 2060. It all boils down to pricing. The RX 5500 XT is a decent GTX 1650-series alternative with a lukewarm price thanks to NVIDIA's aggressive product-stack management by getting its partners to lower prices of the GTX 1660 and GTX 1660 Super. It would be interesting to see if AMD can outfox NVIDIA in the sub-$300 market.

AMD's Radeon RX 5600-series could see the company take on the top-end of NVIDIA's GeForce 16-series, such as the GTX 1660 Super and the GTX 1660 Ti. A report from earlier this month pegged a December 2019 product announcement for the RX 5600-series and subsequent availability in the weeks following. Regulatory filings by AMD AIB (add-in board) partners with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) shed more light on the product differentiation within the RX 5600 series. The filings reveal that the RX 5600 and RX 5600 XT feature 6 GB and 8 GB sub-variants.

The regulatory filing by ASUS references products across its ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, and Dual lines of graphics cards. As mentioned in the older report, we expect AMD to carve the RX 5600 series out of the larger "Navi 10" silicon, by disabling many more RDNA compute units than the RX 5700, and narrowing the GDDR6 memory bus to 192-bit for the 6 GB variants. AMD has an opportunity to harvest "Navi 10" chips down to stream processor counts such as 1,792 (28 CUs) or 2,048 (32 CUs). It also has the opportunity to use cost-effective 12 Gbps GDDR6 memory chips.

AMD is expected to bolster its mid-thru-performance segments of graphics cards with a few new product announcements in December. To begin with, the Radeon RX 5500 XT, which maxes out the 24 RDNA compute units on the "Navi 14" silicon, could see an early-December announcement, possibly ahead of the mid-December release of the RX 5500 to the AIB (add-in board) retail channel. Next up, is the new RX 5600 series, which enables AMD to capture $200-$300 price-points, competing with the likes of the GeForce GTX 1660 Super and GTX 1660 Ti.

There's no word on how what silicon the RX 5600 series is based on, but VideoCardz reports that the series topping RX 5600 XT has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface. We expect that the RX 5600-series will carved out of the "Navi 10" silicon by disabling many RDNA compute units and narrowing its memory bus. Given that the RX 5500 XT has 1,536 stream processors and the RX 5700 has 2,304, AMD's wiggle room is somewhere between the two, with stream processor counts of 2,048 or 1,920 being plausible for the RX 5600 XT, and 1,792 for the RX 5600, if it exists. Availability of the RX 5600 series is slated for January 2020.Image Courtesy: PCGamesN

INNO3D, a leading manufacturer of pioneering high-end multimedia components and various innovations is thrilled to announce the new range of INNO3D fans including the TWIN X2 OC RGB and GAMING OC X2, while also adopting the popular TWIN X2 and COMPACT on existing GPUs. So what GPU will get what fan? Take a look at the list below.

Our engineers were at the drawing board and had the task of designing two new fans to essentially target customers with specific requirements when purchasing their graphics card. High on the list of requests was the need for the INNO3D GTX 16 series to have RGB so that even the less hardcore gamers can also enjoy and marvel at the colour cycling display when playing their favourite games. It is not all form and no function, far from it - the RGB cooler has dual 9 cm fan with the best balance of noise and cooling performance. The cooler houses a big heatsink with 3 heatpipes for efficient heat dissipation while made up of an 8-layer PCB with 8 pin power input for stable overclocking. All this in a relatively small form factor with the length of just 22 cm.

The third known implementation of AMD's "Navi" generation of GPUs with RDNA architecture is codenamed "Navi 14." This 7 nm chip is expected to be a cut-down, mainstream chip designed to compete with a spectrum of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16-series SKUs, according to a 3DCenter.org report. The same report sheds more light on the larger "Navi 12" GPU that could power faster SKUs competing with the likes of the GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Super. The two follow the July launch of the architecture debut with "Navi 10." There doesn't appear to be any guiding logic behind the numerical portion of the GPU codename. When launched, the pecking order of the three Navi GPUs will be "Navi 12," followed by "Navi 10," and "Navi 14."

"Navi 14" is expected to be the smallest of the three, with an estimated 170 mm² die-area, about 24 RDNA compute units (1,536 stream processors), and expected to feature a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface. It will be interesting to see how AMD carves out an SKU that can compete with the GTX 1660 Ti, which has 6 GB of 192-bit GDDR6 memory. The company would have to wait for 16 Gbit (2 GB) GDDR6 memory chips, or piggy-back eight 8 Gbit chips to achieve 8 GB, or risk falling short of recommended system requirements of several games at 1080p, if it packs just 4 GB of memory.

NZXT, a leading developer of software-powered hardware solutions for PC gaming, today announces three new pre-built options for its custom PC building service, BLD, that are designed for content creators and budding PC gamers. The NZXT Starter PC serves as the perfect entry-level PC for a first-time PC gamer starting at $899. This build can game in 1080p with no compromises with its AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660. For users who want a little more power, the NZXT Starter PC Plus includes a one terabyte Intel 660p M.2 SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti for added performance for $999.

The final pre-build is the NZXT Streaming PC built for users who are looking to start their streaming and content creations careers. Gamers can easily stream and play their favorite games using its AMD 2700x and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 for $1,499. All NZXT Starter and Streaming PC systems purchased from BLD before 11 am PST, Monday through Friday, will be shipped that day allowing for users to start gaming as soon as possible.

ASUS today unveiled the Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Ti EVO series graphics card, which comes in three variants, a base model, a moderately overclocked A6G model, and the fastest O6G overclocked variant. All three stick to a common board design, which involves a 24.2 cm-long and 13 cm-tall PCB, and a 3-slot thick custom-design cooler. This cooler features a DirectCU II heatsink ventilated by a pair of 80 mm Axial Tech fans. These fans feature barrier rings that run along the periphery of the impeller to prevent lateral airflow, guiding all of it axially (downwards onto the heatsink). The cooler features idle fan-stop.

The cooling solution uses a pair of nickel-plated copper heat pipes that make direct contact with the "TU116" ASIC, conveying heat to the edges of the aluminium fin-stack. The shroud features a tiny RGB LED diffuser. A metal back-plate is included. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. Display outputs include two HDMI 2.0b, and one each of DisplayPort 1.4 and dual-link DVI-D. The base variant comes with NVIDIA-reference clock speeds of 1500 MHz core and 1770 MHz GPU Boost. The A6G variant has a negligibly increased GPU Boost frequency of 1785 MHz. The O6G variant leads this pack at 1845 MHz. The memory remains untouched at 12 Gbps on all three variants. The company didn't reveal pricing.

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of GPU-Z, the definitive graphics subsystem information and diagnostic utility. Version 2.19.0 adds support for several new GPUs, improves user experience, and fixes bugs. To begin with, support is added for AMD Ryzen 3000-series "Picasso" iGPUs, besides NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Mobile, GTX 1660 Mobile, GTX 1660 Ti Mobile, GeForce MX250, and the TU117-B revision. Transistor counts were added for GeForce MX230 and GP108 chips. AMD Radeon Pro series graphics cards get a proper logo display.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.19.0 also improves support for EVGA iCX technology with better detection of support, and improved accuracy. We've added the ability to detect support for DirectX Raytracing (DXR), Variable-rate shading, WDDM 2.6 (requires Windows 10 1903), and Shader Model 6.5, and Tiled Resources Tier 4 in the Advanced panel. The tab now also lists out new DirectX 12 capabilities incrementally rolled out through Windows 10 1803 and 1809. The ASIC Quality readout will now only display on GPUs that support the read-out. Among the fixes include faster startup on devices with AMD PowerXpress, a crash when no known cards are detected and driver info is sought by a mouse-hover, a startup crash on Windows XP machines, and the correct silicon display of GK210 for Tesla K80.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.19.0

The change-log follows.

NVIDIA today announced that it is extending DXR (DirectX Raytracing) support to several GeForce GTX graphics models beyond its GeForce RTX series. These include the GTX 1660 Ti, GTX 1660, GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 Ti, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 6 GB. The GTX 1060 3 GB and lower "Pascal" models don't support DXR, nor do older generations of NVIDIA GPUs. NVIDIA has implemented real-time raytracing on GPUs without specialized components such as RT cores or tensor cores, by essentially implementing the rendering path through shaders, in this case, CUDA cores. DXR support will be added through a new GeForce graphics driver later today.

The GPU's CUDA cores now have to calculate BVR, intersection, reflection, and refraction. The GTX 16-series chips have an edge over "Pascal" despite lacking RT cores, as the "Turing" CUDA cores support concurrent INT and FP execution, allowing more work to be done per clock. NVIDIA in a detailed presentation listed out the kinds of real-time ray-tracing effects available by the DXR API, namely reflections, shadows, advanced reflections and shadows, ambient occlusion, global illumination (unbaked), and combinations of these. The company put out detailed performance numbers for a selection of GTX 10-series and GTX 16-series GPUs, and compared them to RTX 20-series SKUs that have specialized hardware for DXR.Update: Article updated with additional test data from NVIDIA.

NVIDIA had their customary GTC keynote ending mere minutes ago, and it was one of the longer keynotes clocking in at nearly three hours in length. There were some fascinating demos and features shown off, especially in the realm of robotics and machine learning, as well as new hardware as it pertains to AI and cars with the all-new Jetson Nano. It would be fair to say, however, that the vast majority of the keynote was targeting developers and researchers, as usually is the case at GTC. However, something came up in between which caught us by surprise, and no doubt is a pleasant update to most of us here on TechPowerUp.

Following AMD's claims on software-based real-time ray tracing in games, and Crytek's Neon Noir real-time ray tracing demo for both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, it makes sense in hindsight that NVIDIA would allow rudimentary DXR ray tracing support to older hardware that do not support RT cores. In particular, an upcoming drivers update next month will allow DXR support for 10-series Pascal-microarchitecture graphics cards (GTX 1060 6 GB and higher), as well as the newly announced GTX 16-series Turing-microarchitecture GPUs (GTX 1660, GTX 1660 Ti). The announcement comes with a caveat letting people know to not expect RTX support (think lower number of ray traces, and possibly no secondary/tertiary effects), and this DXR mode will only be supported in Unity and Unreal game engines for now. More to come, with details past the break.

Dell inadvertently confirmed that a mobile version of the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics processor is in the works and coming to one of its G5 15 laptop models. The best part? The company was refuting the leak of another unannounced product, the "RTX 2050. " Calling it a typo, the company in a pop-up message for its G5 15 variant configurator. Apparently there are two main variants of this notebook, one with USB-C that has Thunderbolt, USB 3.1, and DisplayPort wiring; and another variant with just USB-C with USB 3.1 and DisplayPort minus Thunderbolt.

The company originally mentioned that variants with RTX 2060 and above get Thunderbolt, while those with "RTX 2050" only get USB 3.1 and DisplayPort out of their USB-C ports. In its correction, the company replaced "RTX 2050" with "GTX 1660 Ti." What the webmasters don't know is that mobile GTX 1660 Ti is unannounced, and it's unlikely that Dell is using a desktop GTX 1660 Ti on a notebook of this form-factor (this isn't one of those Eurocom-made desktop-replacement monstrosities).