Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+: Radeon can be quiet too

We start our mid-range Radeon 7000 tests with a more powerful model with a fully enabled Navi 32 GPU. The RX 7800 XT is mainly a competitor to the GeForce RTX 4070, which is a more expensive but also lower-power (and efficient) graphics card. However, Sapphire handled the relatively higher power draw exceedingly well, and if you have experience with “noisier Radeons”, that won’t be the case with the RX 7800 XT Nitro+ at all. Read more “Sapphire RX 7800 XT Nitro+: Radeon can be quiet too” »

Increase in Radeon power draw with 2+ screens only in some cases

The hypothesis that with newer graphics drivers, the second (or third) monitor increases the power draw of all Radeon graphics cards only symbolically has not been confirmed. It was quickly refuted right away by the RX 7600 tests. But then, with the RX 7900 XTX another assumption proved likely. Namely, that there is no significant increase in power draw, at least for current cards from higher classes. At least under certain circumstances. Read more “Increase in Radeon power draw with 2+ screens only in some cases” »

Asus Dual RTX 4070 12G or RTX 3080 cease to make sense

GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards fill a large gap between the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4060 Ti, and in terms of speed or gaming performance, they hover around the RTX 3080. But that’s with many advantages, including half the power draw with the RTX 4070. With cheaper designs, such as the tested Asus Dual variant, the price/performance ratio is also more attractive with the RTX 4070 (compared to discount RTX 3080s). Read more “Asus Dual RTX 4070 12G or RTX 3080 cease to make sense” »

Gigabyte Aorus RX 7900 XTX Elite 24G. If RTX 4090 is too costly…

The most powerful Radeon (RX 7900 XTX) is both slower and less efficient compared to the GeForce RTX 4090, but it’s also roughly 700 EUR cheaper. And that’s what gives it an unprecedented price/performance ratio for a high-end graphics card. The latter is more attractive even than the lower-end RX 7900 XT, and that’s also the case with Gigabyte’s top-of-the-range Aorus Elite, which, oddly enough, only comes at a minimal premium. Read more “Gigabyte Aorus RX 7900 XTX Elite 24G. If RTX 4090 is too costly…” »

Sapphire RX 7600 Pulse: A clear winner in price/performance

AMD has also upgraded the lower-end Radeons, and the RX 7600 with RDNA 3 architecture represents a really cheap graphics card. All things considered, it’s fair to say that, at least until the arrival of the GeForce RTX 4060, it’s the best value you can get for Full HD gaming. And did you know that the RX 7600 also dominates in simpler workstation environments that benefit from GPU performance? Read more “Sapphire RX 7600 Pulse: A clear winner in price/performance” »

MSI RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio 8G: Extra efficient and quiet

Mid-range graphics cards with Ada Lovelace GPUs are finally here. The intergenerational speed increase is relatively lower with the RTX 4060 Ti, but the power draw has dropped significantly and the overall operating characteristics are pleasing. Especially when it comes to designs similar to the MSI Gaming X Trio with a well oversized cooler. Three fans, power draw under 170W, and gaming performance well above the Radeon RX 6650 XT. Read more “MSI RTX 4060 Ti Gaming X Trio 8G: Extra efficient and quiet” »

One of the fastest, Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC 24G

For a long time they were missing in our test database, but now we are adding them – the results of a GeForce RTX 4090. When it comes to gaming performance, graphics cards with AD102 GPUs have no competition, but it often costs an extreme 450 W. The Gigabyte Windforce cooler handles such an onslaught by a wide margin though, on top of, and now hold on to your hats, non-loud coils, somewhere on the level of the RTX 3060 (Ti). Really. Read more “One of the fastest, Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC 24G” »

Radeon power draw finally stays low with multi-monitor setups

In a multi-monitor setup, graphics cards naturally have higher power draw, and in some cases significantly so. But it seems that, at least with the RX 7900 XT (Sapphire Pulse), this is no longer the case. We know from measurements that the increase in power draw of this card is very low, several times lower than it used to be in the past in all the older models we have tested. Basically, we can say that the “problem is solved”. Read more “Radeon power draw finally stays low with multi-monitor setups” »

Sapphire RX 7900 XT Pulse: RTX 4070 Ti crushed in rasterization

While someone may find the RX 7900 XT graphics card to be the most attractive within its price range, another may see the RTX 4070 Ti in that position. And both are right, they might just disagree on priorities. Outside of ray-tracing graphics, the Radeon is even attacking the RTX 4080. Admittedly this is at the expense of, say, worse technological balance and also worse power efficiency, but if someone doesn’t appreciate GeForce’s strengths… Read more “Sapphire RX 7900 XT Pulse: RTX 4070 Ti crushed in rasterization” »

Test of coil whine across two samples of the same graphics cards

“My piece has quieter coils”. “Ours don’t whine, they’re exclusive”. Such and similar claims often appear across user testimonials on forums or (in the latter case) graphics card manufacturers. But somehow the exact supporting evidence, which we have now attempted to create, is always missing. Of course, it is impossible to form uuniversal conclusions from two samples, but at least we have something in our hands around which a serious debate can be held. Read more “Test of coil whine across two samples of the same graphics cards” »

MSI RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X 12G: Band-aid for the “too pricey 4080”

After the GeForce RTX 4080 graphics cards, which wasn’t to many people’s taste due to the higher price, Nvidia has released a significantly cheaper GPU for the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The performance versus the RTX 4080 is admittedly noticeably weaker, but percentage-wise not by as much as the roughly two-thirds lower price of the RTX 4070 Ti. In our tests, we analyze MSI’s non-reference design from the top-of-the-line Suprim series. Read more “MSI RTX 4070 Ti Suprim X 12G: Band-aid for the “too pricey 4080”” »

DLSS 3 and frame generation minitest in MS Flight Simulator

Nvidia DLSS 3 support has been added to Microsoft Flight Simulator in the latest update. This bypasses CPU limits and allows running at triple-digit fps thanks to “frame generation” techniques. Flying is now more comfortable, smoother, although there is one rather significant limitation – you need to own one of the graphics cards with an Ada Lovelace GPU. Older GeForce RTX generations unfortunately don’t support DLSS 3. Read more “DLSS 3 and frame generation minitest in MS Flight Simulator” »

MSI RTX 4080 16GB Suprim X: Ada Lovelace with GPU near 3 GHz

From Olympus back to ordinary mortals. Though the GeForce RTX 4080s are quite a bit weaker than the RTX 4090s, they’re also significantly more power-efficient and cheaper. And their performance still exceeds the top models of previous generations of Nvidia and AMD gaming GPUs. In addition, MSI’s most powerful model – the Suprim X – pushes the GPU clock speeds very high, while efficiency is still top-notch. Read more “MSI RTX 4080 16GB Suprim X: Ada Lovelace with GPU near 3 GHz” »

Tested: 12VHPWR adapter on the RTX 4080 Suprim X won’t melt

The topic of “undersized” 12VHPWR power connectors for GeForce RTX 4090 is very popular lately. However, it will not apply to the more low-power RTX 4080 graphics cards. Before a complete analysis of MSI’s model – Suprim X – we first focused on the temperature of its 16-pin, and it must be said that everything is alright, with a large temperature headroom. Here, in short, the state of the matter will not change. Read more “Tested: 12VHPWR adapter on the RTX 4080 Suprim X won’t melt” »

Cheap and now even cheaper RTX 3050 – MSI Ventus 2X 8G OC

In addition to the global price drop on all graphics cards, MSI is now also reducing the MSRP of the RTX 3050 Ventus 2X (OC) from its lowest range. The phrase “affordable graphics card” thus takes on a new spin, and if you’ve read somewhere that the performance characteristics of Ventus graphics cards aren’t worth much, forget it. We certainly don’t see it that way, and few RTX 3050s for this money can boast a more functionally attractive design. Read more “Cheap and now even cheaper RTX 3050 – MSI Ventus 2X 8G OC” »