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Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs Get Vulkan 1.3 Compatibility

A part of the process of building a graphics card is designing compatibility to execute the latest graphics APIs like DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan. Today, we have confirmation that Intel's Arc Alchemist discrete graphics cards will be compatible with Vulkan's latest iteration - version 1.3. In January, Khronos, the team behind Vulkan API, released their regular two-year update to the standard. Graphics card vendors like NVIDIA and AMD announced support immediately with their drivers. Today, the Khronos website officially lists Intel Arc Alchemist mobile graphics cards as compatible with Vulkan 1.3 with Intel Arc A770M, A730M, A550M, A370M, and A350M GPUs.

At the time of writing, there is no official announcement for the desktop cards yet. However, given that the mobile SKUs are supporting the latest standard, it is extremely likely that the desktop variants will also carry the same level of support.

Intel Shows Off its Arc Graphics Card at Intel Extreme Masters

Currently the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) event is taking place in Dallas and at the event, Intel had one of its Arc Limited Edition graphics cards on display. It's unclear if it was a working sample or just a mockup, as it wasn't running in a system or even mounted inside a system. Instead, it seems like Intel thought it was a great idea to mount the card standing up on the port side inside an acrylic box, on top of a rotating base. The three pictures snapped by @theBryceIsRt and posted on Twitter doesn't reveal anything we haven't seen so far, except the placement of the power connectors.

It's now clear that Intel has gone for a typical placement of the power connectors and the card in question has one 8-pin and one 6-pin power connector. Intel will in other words not be using the new 12-pin power connector that is expected to be used by most next generation graphics cards. We should mention that @theBryceIsRt is an Intel employee and is the Intel Arc community advocate according to his twitter profile, so the card wasn't just spotted by some passerby. Intel has as yet not revealed any details as to when it's planning on launching its Arc based graphics cards.

GIGABYTE's Project Stealth Computer Assembly Kit Leads to Sleek System Builds

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, announced today a new technology partnership with MAINGEAR, developing the newly developed Project Stealth computer assembly kit and MAINGEAR Stealth custom gaming PC's. Through the perfect combination of standard ATX compatible components with non-proprietary connectors consisting of a custom motherboard, graphics card and case, Project Stealth eliminates the headaches of cable clutter, installation challenges, and obstructed airflow. The innovative design makes assembling a clean and sleek PC build easier than ever before

When it comes to PC builds, beginners or experienced users alike might find it a difficult process. Since most cables are designed to connect to the front side of motherboards, cable chaos inside the case becomes a major concern in a system build. Others may also struggle with inserting USB, audio, PSU connectors, and front panel headers on the motherboards due to limited interior space in the chassis. In response to these challenges, GIGABYTE developed Project Stealth, utilizing MAINGEAR's revolutionary patent and design that shifts all connectors to back of the motherboard. Through this innovation, Project Stealth provides an exceptional solution composed of the Z690 AORUS ELITE STEALTH motherboard, RTX 3070 GAMING OC STEALTH graphics card, and AORUS C300G STEALTH case.

AMD Claims Higher FPS/$ Radeon GPU Value Over NVIDIA Offerings

Frank Azor, Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions & Marketing at AMD, has posted an interesting slide on Twitter, claiming that AMD Radeon products possess higher FPS/$ value than NVIDIA's graphics offerings. According to the slide, AMD Radeon graphics cards are the best solutions for gamers looking at performance per dollar ratings and performance per watt. This means that AMD claims that Radeon products are inherently higher-value products than NVIDIA's offerings while also more efficient. As the chart shows, which you can see below, some AMD Radeon cards are offering up to 89% better FPS/$ value with up to 123% better FPS/Watt metric. This highest rating is dedicated to Radeon RX 6400 GPU; however, there are all GPUs included in comparison with up to the latest Radeon RX 6950 XT SKU.

Compared to TechPowerUp's own testing of AMD's Radeon cards and multiple reviews calculating the performance per dollar metric, we could not see numbers as high as AMD's. This means that AMD's marketing department probably uses a different selection of games that may perform better on AMD Radeon cards than NVIDIA GeForce RTX. Of course, as with any company marketing material, you should take it with a grain of salt, so please check some of our reviews for a non-biased comparison.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Twice as Fast as RTX 3090, Features 16128 CUDA Cores and 450W TDP

NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 40 series of graphics cards, codenamed Ada Lovelace, is shaping up to be a powerful graphics card lineup. Allegedly, we can expect to see a mid-July launch of NVIDIA's newest gaming offerings, where customers can expect some impressive performance. According to a reliable hardware leaker, kopite7kimi, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card will feature AD102-300 GPU SKU. This model is equipped with 126 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), which brings the total number of FP32 CUDA cores to 16128. Compared to the full AD102 GPU with 144 SMs, this leads us to think that there will be an RTX 4090 Ti model following up later as well.

Paired with 24 GB of 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, the RTX 4090 graphics card has a TDP of 450 Watts. While this number may appear as a very power-hungry design, bear in mind that the targeted performance improvement over the previous RTX 3090 model is expected to be a two-fold scale. Paired with TSMC's new N4 node and new architecture design, performance scaling should follow at the cost of higher TDPs. These claims are yet to be validated by real-world benchmarks of independent tech media, so please take all of this information with a grain of salt and wait for TechPowerUp reviews once the card arrives.

Radeon RX 6x50 XT Pricing Leaks Ahead of Next Week's Launch

Next week AMD will be announcing its refreshed Radeon RX 6x50 XT graphics cards, but courtesy of VideoCardz, the pricing is already available. The site managed to get hold of one of the slides from next weeks' launch, which details the three new cards, the Radeon RX 6650 XT, RX 6750 XT and RX 6950 XT. All three cards are fairly minor refreshes that will receive a small bump in boost speeds across the board and the RX 6650 XT and RX 6750 XT will also see a bump in memory clocks from 16 Gbps to 17.5 and 18 Gbps respectively. All three cards will also see a bump in TBP power, with the two lower-end cards getting a 20 W increase and the RX 6950 XT getting a 35 W bump.

However, the bigger issue here is AMD's new pricing, which isn't going to appeal to anyone. The RX 6650 XT is seeing a $20 bump over the RX 6600 XT to $399, whereas the RX 6750 XT is getting a $70 price bump, which places it mere $30 below the RX 6800 at $549. Finally the RX 6950 XT will retail at $1,099 or $100 more than the RX 6900 XT. Keep in mind that this is based on AMD's reference card pricing and partner cards are likely to be priced higher. All three cards should be available on the launch day, which is the 10th of May.

NVIDIA Allegedly Testing a 900 Watt TGP Ada Lovelace AD102 GPU

With the release of Hopper, NVIDIA's cycle of new architecture releases is not yet over. Later this year, we expect to see next-generation gaming architecture codenamed Ada Lovelace. According to a well-known hardware leaker for NVIDIA products, @kopite7kimi, on Twitter, the green team is reportedly testing a potent variant of the upcoming AD102 SKU. As the leak indicates, we could see an Ada Lovelace AD102 SKU with a Total Graphics Power (TGP) of 900 Watts. While we don't know where this SKU is supposed to sit in the Ada Lovelace family, it could be the most powerful, Titan-like design making a comeback. Alternatively, this could be a GeForce RTX 4090 Ti SKU. It carries 48 GB of GDDR6X memory running at 24 Gbps speeds alongside monstrous TGP. Feeding the card are two 16-pin connectors.

Another confirmation from the leaker is that the upcoming RTX 4080 GPU uses the AD103 SKU variant, while the RTX 4090 uses AD102. For further information, we have to wait a few more months and see what NVIDIA decides to launch in the upcoming generation of gaming-oriented graphics cards.

Vastarmor Launches Radeon RX 6900 XT Alloy Series Cards

Chinese graphics card company Vastarmor has recently launched two new custom Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics cards with the Radeon RX 6900 XT Super Alloy and Radeon RX 6900 XT Alloy. The release of these high-end cards comes after the company expanded its existing lineup with RX 6700 XT, RX 6500 XT, and RX 6400 offerings in recent weeks. These new RX 6900 XT cards appear to share an identical PCB and clock speeds at 1950 MHz base, 2135 MHz game, and 2365 MHz boost. The cards both feature a triple-fan and triple-slot design with the Super Alloy advertised as having a "breathing light effect" and water cooling retrofit support. The two cards are now available to purchase in China with the Super Alloy listed at 9999 RMB (1525 USD) and the Alloy listed at 7999 RMB (1220 USD).

EK Launches Vector² Water-Block for ROG Strix RTX 3070 Ti GPUs

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is introducing a whole series of Vector² liquid cooling products for ROG Strix RTX graphics cards. ROG RTX 3070 Ti cards get their Vector² water block with passive backplate, and optional backplates in nickel finish to customize your water-cooled 3070 Ti ASUS GPU to your own desires.

The EK-Quantum Vector² Strix RTX 3070 Ti D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution including a new plexi Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminium backplate, and a mounting mechanism. The new look of the next-gen water blocks is dominated by minimalist straight lines. The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings, and still achieve top performance. Great care was taken to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.

NVIDIA Launches "Restocked & Reloaded" GPU Availability Campaign

NVIDIA has recently launched a global campaign to promote the availability of RTX 30 series graphics cards with multiple retailers and manufacturers informing customers of increased shipments. The launch of this campaign also coincides with the 5th consecutive month of price drops for NVIDIA GPU prices with the average price now at 119% of MSRP according to the latest report from 3D Center. The stores participating in the campaign appear to have most cards as now available or restocking with some cards receiving minor price cuts.
NVIDIAGeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards are now available! Get the ultimate play with immersive ray tracing, a huge AI performance boost with NVIDIA DLSS, game-winning responsiveness with NVIDIA Reflex, and AI-powered voice & video with NVIDIA Broadcast.

AMD, NVIDIA GPU Pricing Approaches MSRP for the 7th Consecutive Month

Pricing for AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards has been evolving positively for the last seven months, experiencing a downtrend that has brought street prices closer to the actual MSRP on the best graphics cards. According to 3D Center's price analysis of the Austrian and German markets, GPU pricing for both AMD and NVIDIA's latest GPUs have reached historical lows - although these lows are still at a premium over MSRP. Anyone looking to buy an AMD graphics card is now looking at an average markup of 12% over MSRP, while NVIDIA cards seem to be holding their inflated values slightly better, and still stand at 119% of MSRP.

The price action comes on the back of months of increasing supply at retailers, alongside reduced demand from Ethereum miners due to falling ETH prices ($2,912.54 at time of writing) and the expectation for Ethereum's passage to Proof of Stake (PoS) through The Merge, which is still slated for later this year. It's also likely that most customers who still haven't bought into the latest generation of GPUs from either AMD or NVIDIA are waiting for the release of Intel's competing Arc Alchemist discrete GPUs, not to mention AMD's mid-year RX 6*50 refresh and NVIDIA's next-generation graphics solutions. An exploding ETH price might bring GPU prices back up again; but until then, and at the rate prices are seemingly (at least locally) falling, it seems that consumers might finally be able to purchase GPUs at MSRP sometime after May.

ASUS To Drop Graphics Card Prices by 25% from April 1st in the U.S.

ASUS has announced that it will be dropping the prices for almost the entirety of its NVIDIA RTX 30-series graphics card stack. The news comes on the back of finally descending channel prices for the latest GPUs, alongside the U.S. Trade Office decision last week of excluding integrated circuit boards from the added taxes in the China-US Trade War. As an ASUS representative told Tom's Hardware, users should expect an "up to 25%" price reduction to be applied throughout its RTX 30-series stack (from the RTX 3050 through the RTX 3090 Ti). Interestingly, there was no mention of AMD's graphics cards in the announcement.

After more than a year of inflated pricing, there may be a light in the tunnel - although it's becoming increasingly difficult to discern whether it's the RTX 3000-series family behind the veil or NVIDIA's next-gen solutions. No other AMD or NVIDIA board partner made a comparable announcement, but one would expect them to follow ASUS on the downward pricing trend or risk sitting in larger unsold inventories than they're comfortable with. Of course, this remains a problem for ASUS throughout the world, should the company not extend the price-cut to other regions other than the U.S.

Pincered by Russian-Ukrainian War and Inflation, DRAM Price Drop Forecast to Continue in 2Q22 by 0-5%, Says TrendForce

According to TrendForce forecasts, average overall DRAM pricing in 2Q22 will drop by approximately 0~5%, due to marginally higher buyer and seller inventories coupled with the demand for products such as PCs, laptops, and smart phones being influenced in the short-term by the Russian-Ukrainian war and high inflation weakening consumer purchasing power. At present, the only remaining source of demand is on the server side, so overall DRAM stocks will remain oversupplied in 2Q22.

In terms of PC DRAM, PC OEMs are adopting a conservative stocking strategy for orders in 2Q22 due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which may continue affecting orders during peak season in 2H22, and revising 2022 shipment targets downwards. Additionally, the overall supply of bits is still growing, so the PC DRAM price slump in 2Q22 will further expand to 3~8% and may continue to deteriorate.

NVIDIA: Gamers Spend $300 More on Ampere GPUs Than Previous Generations

NVIDIA at its Annual Investor Day announced that the company's coffers are in better shape than ever. And while the company has many baskets from which to pull proverbial profits, the company's gaming division remains its biggest source of income. On its presentation, NVIDIA clarified that gamers are spending on average $300 extra per desktop Ampere product compared to previous graphics product generations. That fact, the company says, has resulted in an average increase in product ASP (Average Selling Price) to the tune of 13% per year in the last five years.

Paired with the increase in graphics products' ASP (meaning NVIDIA brings in more money per sold graphics card) is an increase in the number of graphics cards shipped to customers - at a rate of 11% more graphics cards being sold annually. So NVIDIA is not only selling more expensive graphics cards; they're selling more of them as well. The company expects its financial results to keep steadily improving, even as more and more gamers join the fold. According to the company, the last five-year period saw an average of 50 million additional gamers entering the market per year - and there's no expectation of that figure slowing down.

Failed $38,000 GPU Heist in Russia Leads to Arrests

Following the international sanctions levied at the Russian state as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, AMD, Intel and NVIDIA announced they'd be pulling all of their products from the country. That decision has led to quickly dwindling stocks of high-performance computing products, including graphics cards - and as we've learned form the recent graphics card supply issues, prices go up as availability decreases. This, in turn, led some workers of Russian company "Wildberries" to attempt to exfiltrate 20 RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards from the warehouse they were being stored in. Due to skyrocketing prices in Russia, each of these cards was reportedly evaluated at around 200K roubles (~$1931). That unit price made the entire haul worth an estimated $38,620.

While stealing the graphics cards went without a hitch, actually flipping them for profit proved out to be fatal for the criminals. As they attempted to sell their loot at a pawnshop, the shop owner contacted the authorities - no doubt finding it suspicious for so many new (and rare) tech bits to be on the groups' hands. It's reported that the criminals were ultimately arrested, and the graphics cards confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. As access to significant western technology becomes more and more limited in sanctioned Russia, it's likely we'll be seeing further reports such as this.

Thousands of Mislabeled XFX Graphic Cards Worth $3.15M Seized by Chinese Customs Authorities

The Chinese division of XFX may be in hot water with Chinese customs authorities, after a shipment of 5,840 graphics cards was intercepted in the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. An initial inspection of the shipment revealed mislabeling of at least three of its graphic cards, with the card's original model and specifications apparently hidden by stickers that declared other, supposedly lower-value models. A subsequent inspection concluded that all graphics cards in the shipment had been mislabeled this way. According to MyDrivers, this purposeful mislabeling of imported goods is a relatively regular occurrence.

The Chinese customs services from Meilin and Huanggang reported the event, declaring that the total value of the mislabeled shipment was accounted at around ¥20 million ($3.15 million). The Chinese customs authorities didn't name XFX as the driving force of the attempted unlawful import, but the company's Chinese branch website has been down following the incident, and the company's web presence over at Alibaba-run, online retailer Tmall has been shuttered as well. At least some of the mislabeled cards were XFX Speedster Qick 319 Radeon RX 6700 XT GPUs.

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