The upcoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition has recently been pictured ahead of its launch on December 2nd. The upcoming graphics card features the GA104-200 GPU paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 14 Gbps memory on a 256-bit bus. The RTX 3060 TI Founders Edition cooler is near identical to that of the RTX 3070 Founders Edition except for a slightly more silver design on the 3060 Ti. The RTX 3060 Ti Founders Edition is rumored to retail for 399 USD and includes 4864 CUDA cores, 152 Tensor cores, and 38 RT cores which NVIDIA claims will help it beat the previous generation RTX 2080 SUPER.

MSI has registered as many as eight custom models based on the NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards with the EEC. Like always, a product registration with this legal body doesn't automatically mean that all models do enter the market - sometimes these are registered in bulk by companies with models that they are planning on releasing and models that they think they might want to release at one point in time, just so that they only enter the paperwork once. However, these entries by MSI are interesting, particularly, because they mention a new MSI model that's likely reserved for below enthusiast-level graphics cards: there are two Twin Fan models (one OC, one absent of it).

All in all, these are the eight models that MSI registered: GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X Trio; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming Trio; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 3X OC; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 3X; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OC; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X; GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Fan OC; and the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Fan. Current information places the RTX 3060 Ti as using the same 392 mm², 17.4 B transistor GA104 chip as the RTX 3070, albeit under the GA104-200 nomenclature; the chip is expected to leverage 4,864 CUDA cores, 152 Tensor Cores, and 38 RT Cores (the RTX 3070 features 5888, 184, and 46 of these respectively). This makes out a 21% difference in number of execution units, which certainly won't make out to a full 21% performance difference. The card is expected to launch on December 2nd.

Today, Chaos Group released V-Ray 5 Benchmark, a free standalone application that lets users quickly test their rendering speeds on any combination of CPUs and GPUs. V-Ray 5 Benchmark launches with three complex test scenes designed to assess V-Ray performance on CPU, GPU CUDA and GPU RTX cards.

Since launching, V-Ray Benchmark has become a standard for new hardware testing, helping countless users and journalists assess the rendering performance of new laptops, workstations, graphics cards and more. With V-Ray 5 Benchmark, these users can access its biggest update yet, making it easier to evaluate the latest technology against one of the most popular renderers in the world.

Chinese marketplace Taobao has a number of retailers listing NVIDIA's RTX 3060 Ti graphics card for pre-order - a graphics card that hasn't officially been confirmed by NVIDIA. The Taobao listings fall within the 2049 to 2999 Yuans (305 to 446 USD) range; however, expectations are that NVIDIA's MSRP for the card won't be above $400. That retailers are already listing the card should all but confirm its existence, and marks an interesting way for NVIDIA to operate, introducing the Ti model before the actual RTX 3060 graphics card.

Current information places the RTX 3060 Ti as using the same 392 mm², 17.4 B transistor GA104 chip as the RTX 3070, albeit under the GA104-200 nomenclature; the chip is expected to leverage 4,864 CUDA cores, 152 Tensor Cores, and 38 RT Cores (the RTX 3070 features 5888, 184, and 46 of these respectively). Base clock is apparently set at 1410 MHz with up to 1665 MHz Boost, and should feature the same 8 GB GDDR6, 14 Gbps memory subsystem as the RTX 3070. The RTX 3060 Ti is expected to launch come mid-November, and perhaps we'll hear more about it when NVIDIA officially introduces the RTX 3070 graphics card.

Puget Systems have recently released performance and testing data from their quad NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 workstation. Puget Systems has paired the four Gigabyte RTX 3090 TURBO 24G cards with a 10 core Intel Xeon W-2255, 128 GB 3200 MHz DDR4 memory, and an EVGA SuperNOVA 1600W P2 power supply. The power draw hit 1717 W being drawn from the wall when running DaVinci Resolve, this prompted the installation of a second EVGA SuperNOVA 1600W P2 power supply.

The performance of this system is extremely impressive for enterprise applications that natively support multiple GPUs as NVIDIA has limited SLI support to two cards with the RTX 3090 ruling out running any of the few games which still support the feature. Puget Systems noted that they had very few issues getting the four blower-style cards working in a desktop workstation with temperatures staying below 80°C even under full load.

Gigabyte has recently submitted four new GPUs to the Eurasian Economic Commission (found by @KOMACHI_ENSAKA) for certification. These four cards all feature the N306T designation which is expected to refer to the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti. Thanks to Gigabyte's consistent naming structure we can make a strong educated guess on the upcoming models by looking at their part numbers. The expected models are the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Aorus Master 8G (GV-N306TAORUS M-8GD), Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming OC 8G (GV-N306TGAMING OC-8GD), Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Eagle OC 8G (GV-N306TEAGLE OC-8GD), and the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Eagle 8G (GV-N306TEAGLE-8GD).

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB is expected to be announced later this month in response to AMD's RX 6000 series. The RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB will likely feature the 8 nm GA104-200-A1 graphics processor with 4864 CUDA cores, our expected specifications can be found here.

FSP, a globally leading power supply manufacturer, has announced the FSP Hydro PTM PRO Series. The Hydro PTM PRO Series is available in wattages from 650 W to 1200 W, serving mid-range to enthusiast and workstation PC systems - including the latest NVIDIA RTX 3000 Series graphics cards - allowing them to unleash the full potential of their hardware, while remaining silent in operation.

Building on its industrial experience, the FSP Hyper PTM PRO series is built to last, even in harsh environments, ensuring users have a reliable, long-life operation that continues through many PC upgrades. Outside it features an "Off-Wet" conformal coating, while internally its PCBs use a 3-layer coating. Together they protect it from hazards such as dust, stains, and even relative humidity extremes of up to 95%.

Alleged mining benchmarks of NVIDIA's upcoming RTX 3090 graphics card have leaked, and the scenario looks great for non-mining usages. The RTX 3090 is being quoted as achieving 120 MH/s on the ubiquitous Dagger-Hashimoto ETHash protocol. That number in itself is impressive - but not when one considers the cards' 350 W board power. granted, a 100% PL isn't the best scenario for mining - and one would expect no knowledgeable miners to use their graphics cards on the NVIDIA-shipped power-curve spot their graphics cards come in at (nor AMD cards, mind you).

The RTX 3080 may be a better example, as there have been more numerous benchmarks done on that particular GPU. It strikes the best balance in performance and power at around 65% PL (210 W), where it achieves 79.8 MH/s. However, previus-gen AMD RX 5700 XT graphics cards have been shown around 50 MH/s whilst consuming only 110 W (with underclocking and undervoltage), which, paired with that particular graphics card's pricing, makes it a much, much better bet for mining efficiency and return on investment. The point is this: reports of miners gobbling up RTX 3000 series stock are, at least for now, apparently unfounded. And this may mean us regular users of graphics cards can rest assured that we won't have to deal with miner-induced shortages. At least until AMD's Navi flounders (eh) to shore.

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is ready to offer its premium high-performance GPU water block for ASUS ROG Strix edition NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards. This huge new water block is named EK-Quantum Vector Strix RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB, and it is very important to keep in mind that it's meant only for the ROG Strix graphics cards.

"For years now, each generation of ROG Strix edition full-cover water blocks was utilizing bridge covers to channel coolant over the tall capacitors in the VRM zone. This time around, the layout of the PCB allowed us to make a water block without a stainless-steel bridge cover, making the entire coolant flow path visible. Our engineering team also went the distance on the copper cold plate design that now extends over almost the full length of the PCB," said Edvard König, the founder of EK.

Scour the Internet's most likely tech-related places in forums such as TechPowerUp's own and Reddit, and a picture begins to form regarding NVIDIA's RTX 3080 launch. It's a bit like a Dali painting, with surrealist expectations, a whispered "NVIDIA's Ultimate Play" through virtual hallways, blink-and-you-missed-it details materialized in stock availability, and science-fiction-worthy bots scouring all available stores for their deployment overlords. Wherever you turn, there are would-be buyers complaining of furious F5 attempts (we heard F5 key replacements are also out of stock these days), with store availability going from "available soon" to "out of stock" faster than a single DOOM Eternal frame can be rendered. Most webstores crashed in one way or another, multiple buyers got attributed the same card from a webstore stock, and even NVIDIA's own store (you know, the one powered by the company who actually drives some of the world's fastest supercomputers) faltered under the pressure.

In other corners of the Internet, however, expectations were met and attempts flourished. These seem to have been mostly met by scalpers, though, so there is nothing idyllic in this particular painting - it's more akin to Edvard Munch's The Scream than it is Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. On eBay, an RTX 3080 card was allegedly sold for 70,000$ - a particularly criminal act, if I've ever seen one. It's also common, right now, to see some of these going for prices ranging between $1,300 and $5,000 - and at this point, this writer feels he's almost out of metaphors for this particular situation. Apparently, a service named Bounce Alerts was used - it appears that most RTX 3080 orders were done through this service, which automatically bought as much RTX 3080 stock as it could from wherever they were sold. A user reported having acquired some 42 RTX 3080's from the NVIDIA store before stock ran out. There are even bots designed to bid on eBay sales so as to waste scalpers' time and make orders that will never be fulfilled - a sort of poetic justice, if you may, though I don't believe the kind Shakespeare himself would have conceived of.

CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced a new series of range-topping models to the acclaimed CORSAIR VENGEANCE lineup of gaming PCs, the VENGEANCE i7200 Series. Equipped with a 10th Gen Intel Core CPU, these formidable systems are the first in the VENGEANCE PC lineup to feature the raw raytracing power of new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 and 3090 GPUs, complete with a full range of award-winning CORSAIR components, including new CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW Cases.

The new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs, the 2nd generation of RTX, feature new RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and streaming multiprocessors, bringing stunning visuals, amazingly fast frame rates, and AI acceleration to games and creative applications. Per NVIDIA - powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, which delivers increases of up to 1.9X performance-per-watt over the previous generation, the RTX 30 Series effortlessly powers graphics experiences at all resolutions, even up to 8K at the top end. The GeForce RTX 3090, 3080, and 3070 represent the greatest GPU generational leap in the history of NVIDIA.

Fortnite, one of the world's most popular games, is about to get faster, more beautiful, and even more responsive on PC with the addition of groundbreaking NVIDIA technologies. Ray-traced visual effects, NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and a custom RTX map will be added during Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 4, thanks to a new Epic Games and NVIDIA partnership.

Immersive ray-traced effects, powered by GeForce RTX's RT Cores, dramatically improve the fidelity and detail of Fortnite's stylized world. With NVIDIA DLSS, performance is greatly accelerated thanks to Tensor Cores, found exclusively on GeForce RTX 20 and 30 Series GPUs. And NVIDIA Reflex reduces the time it takes for your actions, like your character's movements, to be displayed on your monitor, increasing responsiveness.

Update Sep 17th: NVIDIA has announced that these changes will be coming to the game on September 17 when a new GeForce Game Ready Driver is released.

Alphacool presents the Eisblock Aurora Plexi GPX-N cooler for reference design NVIDIA RTX 3080 and 3090 graphics cards. The cooler offers outstanding cooling performance thanks to its full cover design. The new backplate, which is delivered together with the cooler, also contributes to this. This stabilizes the graphics card and ensures an even contact along the whole cooler. The water block cold plate is made of nickel-plated copper. The cooler covers all relevant components such as voltage converters and the graphics memory.

The Alphacool Eisblock GPX-N Aurora Plexi has an LED strip across the entire width with addressable 5 V digital RGB LEDs. These illuminate the entire cooler homogeneously and ensures an outstanding ambiance in the PC housing.

NVIDIA at its GeForce "Ampere" launch event announced the RTX IO technology. Storage is the weakest link in a modern computer, from a performance standpoint, and SSDs have had a transformational impact. With modern SSDs leveraging PCIe, consumer storage speeds are now bound to grow with each new PCIe generation doubling per-lane IO bandwidth. PCI-Express Gen 4 enables 64 Gbps bandwidth per direction on M.2 NVMe SSDs, AMD has already implemented it across its Ryzen desktop platform, Intel has it on its latest mobile platforms, and is expected to bring it to its desktop platform with "Rocket Lake." While more storage bandwidth is always welcome, the storage processing stack (the task of processing ones and zeroes to the physical layer), is still handled by the CPU. With rise in storage bandwidth, the IO load on the CPU rises proportionally, to a point where it can begin to impact performance. Microsoft sought to address this emerging challenge with the DirectStorage API, but NVIDIA wants to build on this.

According to tests by NVIDIA, reading uncompressed data from an SSD at 7 GB/s (typical max sequential read speeds of client-segment PCIe Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSDs), requires the full utilization of two CPU cores. The OS typically spreads this workload across all available CPU cores/threads on a modern multi-core CPU. Things change dramatically when compressed data (such as game resources) are being read, in a gaming scenario, with a high number of IO requests. Modern AAA games have hundreds of thousands of individual resources crammed into compressed resource-pack files.

NVIDIA Reflex is a new innovation designed to minimize input latency with competitive e-sports games. When it comes out later this month with patches to popular e-sports titles such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Valorant, along with a GeForce driver update, the feature could improve input latencies even without any specialized hardware. Input latency is defined as the time it takes for a user input (such as a mouse click) in a game, to reflect as output on the screen, or the time it takes for your mouse click to register as a gunshot in an online shooter, and appear on-screen. The feature is compatible with any NVIDIA GeForce GPU, GTX 900 series or later.

NVIDIA briefly detailed how this works. On the software side, the NVIDIA driver co-operates with a compatible game engine to optimize the game's 3D rendering pipeline. This is accomplished by dynamically reducing the rendering queue, so fewer frames are queued up for the GPU to render. NVIDIA claims that the technology can also keep the GPU perfectly in sync with the CPU (1:1 render queue), reducing the "back-pressure" on the GPU, letting the game sample mouse input at the last possible moment. NVIDIA is releasing Reflex to gamers as GeForce driver updates, and to game developers as the Reflex SDK. This allows them to integrate the technology with their game engine, providing a toggle for the technology, and also put out in-game performance metrics.

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced the world's fastest discrete graphics memory solution, GDDR6X, the first to power system bandwidth up to 1 terabyte per second (TB/s). Working with visual computing technology leader NVIDIA, Micron debuted GDDR6X in the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processing units (GPUs), which are tailored to support the fast speeds that immersive, high-performance gaming applications demand.

"Our multilevel signaling innovation in GDDR6X has shattered conventional bandwidth limits, clocking record-breaking speeds," said Tom Eby, senior vice president and general manager of the Compute & Networking Business Unit at Micron. "Unlike traditional memory, GDDR6X has unparalleled data rates that can keep pace with gaming innovation and data-hungry applications - setting a new standard for graphics memory."

MSI has recently registered 29 new graphics card codes with the Eurasian Economic Commission which are all expected to be upcoming NVIDIA Ampere models. These codes have been registered as "Video Cards" and coincide with NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce Special Event on September 1 where the GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs are expected to be announced including the much-rumored NVIDIA RTX 3090. The codes include 3 main sets with 02-V388, 602-V389, and 602-V390 which coincide with previous generation MSI graphics cards. The V388 likely refers to the RTX 3090, the V389 with the RTX 3080, and the V390 the RTX 3070 if following the same pattern as the GeForce RTX 20-series.

NVIDIA today reported record revenue for the second quarter ended July 26, 2020, of $3.87 billion, up 50 percent from $2.58 billion a year earlier, and up 26 percent from $3.08 billion in the previous quarter.

GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.99, up 10 percent from $0.90 a year ago, and down 33 percent from $1.47 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $2.18, up 76 percent from $1.24 a year earlier, and up 21 percent from $1.80 in the previous quarter. NVIDIA closed its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies Ltd. on April 27, 2020. "Adoption of NVIDIA computing is accelerating, driving record revenue and exceptional growth," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "Growth in GeForce gaming accelerated as gamers increasingly immerse themselves in realistic virtual worlds created by NVIDIA RTX ray tracing and AI.

September is emerging as a busy month for PC hardware announcements - if not actual product launches or availability. A report by Chinese tech publication MyDrivers suggests that the upcoming GeForce RTX 3000 series "Ampere" graphics cards could have a staggered market availability. Although the technology and product family is expected to be announced in September 17, 2020, the month could see the release of only the top-dog (read: low volume) parts, namely the flagship RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3080 (or the SKUs that succeed the RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080).

The GeForce RTX 3070, or the SKU that succeeds the RTX 2070 Super, could launch a month later, in October 2020, according to the MyDrivers report. The higher-volume performance-segment part, the RTX 3060, or the SKU that succeeds the RTX 2060, could launch only by November, just in time for the Holiday shopping season. The report goes on to state that NVIDIA has discontinued production of the popular RTX 2070 Super, following its decision to stop RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 2080 Super production, allowing the retail channel to digest existing inventories of these parts.

Today at Ubisoft's first digital press conference, Ubisoft Forward, the company announced that Watch Dogs : Legion will launch on October 29, 2020, on, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Stadia and for Windows PC on Epic Games and UPlay. The game will also be available on UPLAY+, Ubisoft's subscription service. Watch Dogs: Legion will also release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 upon the launch of the consoles.

Built with a next-gen concept, Watch Dogs: Legion introduces "Play as Anyone," a never-before-seen gameplay innovation created by Ubisoft Toronto**, the studio behind Watch Dogs: Legion. Play as Anyone gives players the entire city of London to choose their roster of resistance members from. Every single person in the open world can be recruited and played, is unique and has a backstory, personality and skillset. Watch Dogs: Legion will also support hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing on Xbox Series X and full ray-tracing support on NVIDIA RTX-equipped PC devices, bringing real-time ray-tracing reflections to the streets of London. Players who purchase Watch Dogs: Legion on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade their game to the next-gen version (Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5) at no additional cost.

Ahead of its PC platform release on July 14, testing of a pre-release build by Tom's Hardware reveals that "Death Stranding" will offer 4K 60 frames per second on any NVIDIA RTX 20-series graphics card if DLSS 2.0 is enabled. NVIDIA's performance-enhancing feature renders the game at a resolution lower than that of the display head, and uses AI to reconstruct details. We've detailed DLSS 2.0 in an older article. The PC version has a frame-rate limit of 240 FPS, ultra-wide resolution support, and a photo mode (unsure if it's an Ansel implementation). It has rather relaxed recommended system requirements for 1080p 60 FPS gaming (sans DLSS).

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.

Blizzard Entertainment is set to bring a significant upgrade to World of Warcraft's graphics just in time for the next expansion. A new Ray Traced Shadow option was discovered by Jaydaa over at the Wowhead forums on the Shadowlands Alpha, the ray tracing settings can be viewed on the alpha but can't be enabled yet. When Blizzard enables Ray Tracing support, players with NVIDIA RTX graphics cards will be able to take advantage of more realistic shadows and lighting within the game. The screenshots show the option for three levels of ray tracing fidelity from fair to good and up to high which will each offer higher resolution and more detailed lighting.

Schenker today announced the release of their XMG Ultra laptops, which have been purpose/built as desktop alternatives. This means there are no limitations on hardware, and that portability or battery life aren't crucial factors - power is. To that effect, the XMG Ultra launches with a Z490/based motherboard and support for up to a ten-core Intel Core i9-10900K (the Core i7-10700K, with 8 cores, and the Core i7-10600K, with six cores, are also available). You can pair these CPUs with NVIDIA's RTX 2060 SUPER, 2070 SUPER, or 2080 SUPER for close to ultimate performance when it comes to available hardware. You can configure your XMG Ultra with up to 128 GB of system RAM.

Monitor options include a 17,3" 1080p 240 Hz, G-Sync panel, or an Ultra HD G-Sync panel with the same diagonal. The XMG Ultra's call to fame is that it is the first announced laptop with a 10-core Intel solution. And, since you'd be hard pressed to find an AMD offering that packs a comparable CPU with these very same graphics solutions (since OEMs, for some reason, have maxed out AMD CPU + NVIDIA GPU combos with up an RTX 2070 non-SUPER graphics card), this may be your best bet at getting a decent CPU paired with maximum mobile GPU power. Bear in mind that a pretty standard configuration will, however, set you back some €2,799.

A refresh of HP's OMEN 15 seems to be about to hit the market, as HP UK has already put up a page for the revised laptop. The most appealing changes are, as usual, under the hood: the updated model now features AMD's Ryzen 7 4800H CPU, an 8-core, 16-thread solution that features a 45 W TDP and basically beats anything Intel has on the market against it. However, it seems that the scarcity of high-end mobile GPUs for any AMD-based platform continues, as the most powerful graphics solution available for this particular version of the OMEN is an NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card. Perhaps OEMs don't want to spoil us with both the best CPU and GPU solutions available on the mobile market? Go figure.

The OMEN 15 has seen a redesign from its previous version, now featuring thinner bezels, a different hinge system, no number pad, and the panel supports Adaptive Sync, though the refresh rate hasn't been detailed. It also features a Bang & Olufsen sound system, as well as RGB-backlit keys. The product page for the product has since been taken down and can now only be accessed via a cached version, so there's that. But the laptop was priced at 1,199 GBP (1,370 EUR).