Tag gpu

As we are halfway down 2022 we are nearing the new generation of GPU’s coming up. This time Intel will join the fight as well! The launch of the current generation of cards has been a strange one to say the least. Everyone was very excited, this generation promised massive gains from team red and green compared to the previous generation. AMD showing they were back in the ring and showing Intel it was serious on the CPU front forced NVIDIA to step up. Not only did both companies promise serious gains in graphical power, they also priced their initial products pretty competitively. We then experienced a time of scarcity and a very skewed relationship between supply and demand. We all know the reason why. Well I decided it was time to take a look back at the Radeon RX 6800xt.

Lucky bastard

I was one of the lucky few to get my hands on a 6800xt for MSRP at launch.  Purely by accident, I was lucky enough to check the AMD website on launch-day to see if they even offer cards on their own website, just like NVIDIA does. Somewhat surprised I saw the card in stock and before I knew it I had ordered it. After an exciting period with regard to the delivery time, a shipping confirmation suddenly arrived after a week. The next day I was able to receive the card.

First impressions

My first reaction was; Wow! that’s a heavy box! When I opened the box, I immediately got the impression that AMD was proud of this product. Nicely finished box with a welcome message: “welcome to the red team”

The showpiece itself is located under the sturdy lid with an image of the card. They also included a small booklet with a keycap with an “R” in Radeon style underneath!

Installation of the RX 6800xt

The card takes up 2.5 slots and fits nicely in my Phanteks P600s with front mounted radiator. I use the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280, which is great to keep any current chip nice and cool!

2x 8 pins, check, lets go! I did, however, first remove all previous drivers in safe mode via DDU and already downloaded the Radeon software. It took a while to get a screen at first, probably because Windows was trying to install some drivers in the background. After a few minutes I did get an image and I ran a short test of Timespy on standard settings.

RGB FTW!

After the most recent Adrenaline update and installation of the RGB tool, it is now possible to provide the logo with a different color as well as effects such as breathing but also morse code. In case you are the stealthy type it is also possible to turn off all the colors on the card.

Undervolting the Radeon RX 6800xt

I applied an undervolt of -100 which gave me these results.

This is with a -100 undervolt 2150 memory and power target at +15%

For a reference model I think the temperature is fine, as well as the sound. I can barely hear the card in my case. While running Timespy I opened the window of my case and I could hear a very light coil-whine very close to the GPU, nothing close to a screeching Banshee. Especially with the window closed again, it’s just enjoying my red light district again.

Games and Ray-tracing

I haven’t had any problems playing my games at the highest settings at 1440P. Ray-tracing was something different though. If ray-tracing is the thing you are after you are better off going with NVIDIA. For me personally this was a non-issue as I don’t care much for the technology. I never used it on my 2080ti. In pure rasterization this card is absolutely amazing.

Final thoughts

Am I satisfied? I am! I paid €668,- including shipping and for that money I have nothing to complain about! For the backward scalp prices being asked for 1000 or more, I wouldn’t have pulled my wallet. This also applies to the NVIDIA cards which have been overpriced as well.

As of this moment we are finally coming to cards being sold at around msrp prices. We are getting close to the launch of the new generation of cards and let us all hope this time cards will be more affordable and accessible for everyone. In the meantime if you decide to pick up a 6800xt for a discounted price or maybe on the cheap second hand, you won’t be disappointed. The 6800xt is a very capable GPU from team red!

As we move into the next half of 2022 we are getting closer to some big releases. AMD and Intel both launching new CPU’s around October. Intel, AMD and NVIDIA launching GPU’s around the same time. Man, we are in for a threat! We don’t expect Intel to compete with the new launches of team green and red of course; but they could be a great option if priced competitively. Competition is a good thing. Just look at what AMD did with its first ZEN processor and where we are now. The quad-core era is over after years of slow progress. Let’s see if team Blue will force AMD and NVIDIA to step up their game with GPU’s.

GPU

Intel

Intel is expected to launch their first Arc desktop processors at the end of this summer. Launching before AMD and NVIDIA might let them get some attention provided to bring something interesting. Intel will have to win consumers hearts by competitive pricing and value though.

NVIDIA

The next generation of graphic cards code-named Ada Lovelace is expected to launch as soon as september. According to rumors NVIDIA will bring out the big guns first. Starting with the 4090 and coming with the 4080 and 4070 in later months. The talk around town is the 4090 will be a real powerhouse, both in processing power and wattage. DLSS and Raytracting have both been a staple of NVIDIA’s graphic cards since the RTX20 line-up and both technologies have only gotten better. So it’s interesting to see what’s next.

AMD

AMD is expected to launch their 7000 series of graphic cards just behind NVIDIA by the end of October. With the first generation of its RDNA graphic cards AMD proved NVIDIA it can’t sit back and relax. Just one generation later AMD able to compete with the highest end products of NVIDIA. Sure their ray-tracing isn’t on par yet but NVIDIA is at least one generation in front of AMD here. It is still very impressive nonetheless to see what the next generation of AMD graphic cards will bring to the table. Technologies like RSR and FSR are being supported by more and more games and RDNA 3 is expected to bring better ray-tracing.

CPU

Intel

After years of set-backs Intel has been pretty successful with their latest CPU’s. Not only did Intel move to a whole new hybrid design, they also became more power efficient. Intel had been struggling with increasing power draw to squeeze more performance out of its processors. With their 12th generation of processors though Intel proved to be back on track. They introduced a hybrid design which used high performance p-cores with highly efficient e-cores. With generation 13, called Raptor Lake Intel will introduce even higher core counts.

AMD

AMD has been highly successful with their ZEN processors and AM4 platform. After years of providing customers a platform with an upgrade path it’s time for something new. AM5 will be the next big thing for AMD. Not only will it support DDR5 but also will be equipped with 24 lanes of PCIe GEN5. So far AMD confirmed its bringing X670, B670 and the X670E boards to consumers. The latter being aimed at enthusiasts.

It is going to be an interesting time for consumers. Let’s hope pricing and availability will be better than last time!

Asus has teamed up with the creators of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime series to create a full line up of themed hardware dubbed ROG X EVANGELION. Fans of the anime series will be pleased to see they can build an entire themed setup. The fundation of any pc is the motherboard, Asus managed to make a beautiful version of the Z690 HERO supporting Intel’s current flagship processors. This board fully supports DDR5, has a convenient post code and massive heatsinks.

Asus didn’t stop there though as both the ROG STRIX RTX 3090 and the ROG STRIX 3080 get some ROG X EVANGELION love. The RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 are one among the most powerfull gpu’s on the market.

Other stuff in the ROG X Evangelion collection

Apart from the GPU there is a Case, a monitor (be sure to get a good monitor arm) and even a themed capturecard!

A computer without peripherals is like a car without wheels. Asus must have thought the same, so they also got you covered there. There is a gaming mouse , headset and offcourse a full size keyboard in the ROG X EVANGELION line-up. Maybe a Dragonball themed line-up in the future?

Check out the complete collection here

Pricing and availability will vary per region.

Akko EVA-01 keyboard and keycaps

Just looking for a keyboard with the EVA-01 theme or some nice keycaps?

Check out this 96% EVA-01 keyboard or these beautiful keycaps from Akko.