Category: Graphics

Caveat: RGB LEDs can damage graphics cards and other hardware

Graphics, Memory, News, PC cases | | Jan Olšan

A curious “scandal” has now surfaced on the Internet: it seems that decorative RGB LEDs in your computer may not be a purely cosmetic feature that has no effect on the hardware. Users on social media have noticed that the illumination can leave an irreversible mark on your hardware, so to speak, such as on a graphics card that you have next to your RGB memory. Whether this can also have adverse effects on users is hard to say. Read more “Caveat: RGB LEDs can damage graphics cards and other hardware” »

Ray tracing for old games: NVIDIA RTX Remix tested

Extra tests, Graphics | | Jan Olšan

Sometimes people say that today’s games don’t measure up to the old ones and don’t offer much besides visuals. But what if modern visuals could be added to classic games that are even twenty years old? NVIDIA’s RTX Remix technology (or software) is supposed to do just that, making it relatively easy to add better graphics to even very old games using a mod – including raytracing effects and things like DLSS or DLAA. Let’s see how it works. Read more “Ray tracing for old games: NVIDIA RTX Remix tested” »

RDNA 4 Radeon GPUs: specs and performance of both chips leaked

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

Previously, new GPU generations were coming in 2-year cycles, which would mean a launch this fall. However, Nvidia’s roadmap has put the GeForce RTX 5000 launch into 2025 some time ago. AMD is still unclear on the launch date of Radeon RX 8000s, but there’s some chance it’s within this year. The specs of these GPUs using RDNA 4 architecture have now surfaced on the internet. If they are real, it might even point to a release relatively soon. Read more “RDNA 4 Radeon GPUs: specs and performance of both chips leaked” »

AMD to produce lowend CPUs and GPUs using Samsung’s 4nm node

Graphics, News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Back when the groundbreaking Ryzen processors launched, AMD was still manufacturing almost all of its products at GlobalFoundries, with the exception of chipsets designed by ASMedia. But now, by contrast, it is almost fully tied to the fortunes of TSMC. However, it looks like there could soon be some diversification in place. Samsung-made chips are coming to low-cost processors and they’ll also appear in Radeon graphics cards later. Read more “AMD to produce lowend CPUs and GPUs using Samsung’s 4nm node” »

FSR 3.1 improves quality, can add frame generation to DLSS

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

At GDC 2024, AMD unveiled the 3.1 version of its FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) game upscaling. This is an evolution based on last year’s FSR 3.0 and is designed to improve image quality, but also brings an interesting change. Previously, a frame generation technology (analogous to Nvidia’s frame generation in DLSS 3 and 3.5) was introduced in FSR 3. In FSR 3.1, it can now also be used separately, even combined with DLSS. Read more “FSR 3.1 improves quality, can add frame generation to DLSS” »

Nvidia DLSS (3.5) in Alan Wake II. When does the game run best?

Extra tests, Graphics | | Ľubomír Samák

Alan Wake II is the first game to support Nvidia DLSS 3.5 from the start. In addition to the technological aspect, there is also the high popularity among gamers. This gives us the basic reasons to take a close look at the performance under different settings. In diving in with the gaming performance, we will be interested not only in the visual side, but also the power consumption. Not just of the graphics card, but the CPU as well. Read more “Nvidia DLSS (3.5) in Alan Wake II. When does the game run best?” »

Ray tracing on AMD RDNA 4 will be twice as fast thanks to BVH8

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

A few days ago, information leaked on Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro console, which will feature upgraded hardware with a significantly stronger GPU and AI acceleration to enable AI-based PSSR upscaling. Other details have now emerged, however, with implications for the upcoming Radeon RX 8000 graphics, as they talk about the capabilities of RDNA 4 architecture’s GPUs in ray tracing. They are set to improve by quite a bit. Read more “Ray tracing on AMD RDNA 4 will be twice as fast thanks to BVH8” »

Minitest: Cheap PSUs vs. graphics cards coils whine

Extra tests, Graphics, PSUs | | Ľubomír Samák

You’ve already read the extensive analysis of graphics card coil whine changes depending on the PSU used. One last thing is missing for it to be complete. And that is to add the behavior of cheap PSUs with lower quality components. Otherwise, one could still speculate that across classes the situation could be significantly different. Could it? This is what we will focus on in the measurements with “80 Plus” PSUs, one of which is also already quite old. Read more “Minitest: Cheap PSUs vs. graphics cards coils whine” »

GDDR7 memory for next-gen GPUs is ready, up to 48GHz clocks

Graphics, Memory, News | | Jan Olšan

Nvidia’s new generation of graphics cards, GeForce RTX 5000, and upcoming cards from AMD (Radeon RX 8000) and Intel are likely planned to use new GDDR7 graphics memory technology to deliver better bandwidth than both GDDR6 and GDDR6X. This technology has now been finalized by the JEDEC consortium and will allow effective speeds of up to 48 GHz, so there will be significant increases in bandwidth, up to 2–3× compared to current GPUs. Read more “GDDR7 memory for next-gen GPUs is ready, up to 48GHz clocks” »

Which combo whines the least? 12 PSUs, 3 graphics cards…

Extra tests, Graphics, PSUs | | Ľubomír Samák

“After replacing the PSU, the video card coils stopped whining”. An extremely common statement and yet it always remains on a subjective level, which is a pity. But that is also why we will now look at things in an exact, numerical way. We do this by testing several graphics cards, where for each, noise levels of VRM coils are monitored with each ATX (3.0) power supply used. So how is it with the “whining”? When is it stronger and when is it weaker? Read more “Which combo whines the least? 12 PSUs, 3 graphics cards…” »

DirectSR unifies DLSS, XeSS and FSR, end of incompatible games

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

It’s five years since Nvidia began pushing upscaling into gaming with first-generation DLSS on GeForce RTX 2000 GPUs. The approach has caught on, and now both AMD and Intel have their own alternatives in FSR and XeSS. The big drawback is that each of these technologies has to be added to games separately. Microsoft is now coming to the rescue, standardizing upscaling within DirectX, so you’ll no longer be limited by whose GPU you own. Read more “DirectSR unifies DLSS, XeSS and FSR, end of incompatible games” »

FurMark 2 is out. New GPU stress test now available for Linux

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

Back in the days when GPUs didn’t have sophisticated power management, the FurMark test was widely used to test their power consumption (and potentially stability). It was something of a stress test that exposed what maximum levels of power consumption and temperatures GPUs could reach. The test, dating back to 2007, has now been given a new version, the FurMark 2. It uses more modern technology like Vulkan and is also multiplatform now. Read more “FurMark 2 is out. New GPU stress test now available for Linux” »

Radeon RX 7900 GRE now available worldwide, new models added

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

The Radeon graphics lineup is getting a new SKU slotted between Radeon RX 7800 XT and the Radeon RX 7900 XT. AMD launched the Radeon RX 7900 GRE into that gap last summer even ebfore the launch of the RX 7800 XT, but initially it was a China specific SKU. The cards started to be available in the western markets later though and AMD has now made this official – the Radeon RX 7900 GRE is coming out globally and with a larger selection of models. Read more “Radeon RX 7900 GRE now available worldwide, new models added” »

12-pins on GPUs melting again: Both fans and critics are wrong

Graphics, News, PSUs | | Jan Olšan

Yet again, reports of melted 12-pin power connectors and damaged GeForce graphics cards are coming in – this time involving hundreds of CableMod adapters – and with that, the debate about whether the 12-pin is dangerous is back. Unfortunately, it’s full of black and white arguments that are pretty much off the mark. We will try to point out such fallacies. The issue is in fact much more complicated than the positions usually taken on it. Read more “12-pins on GPUs melting again: Both fans and critics are wrong” »

The Ventus 3X (RTX 4070 TiS) case: Final vs. original VBIOS

Extra tests, Graphics | | Ľubomír Samák

The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Ventus 3X graphics card came out with a BIOS that MSI (and even Nvidia) wasn’t happy with. After the second revision, there is the third, the last revision of the BIOS. This one increases the power limit to allow higher GPU clock speeds to be achieved. However, this comes at the cost of a bit lower power efficiency. To update or not to update? That’s for everyone to decide for themselves, if they get the chance. Read more “The Ventus 3X (RTX 4070 TiS) case: Final vs. original VBIOS” »

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