Tech Gaming Hardware discussion (& Hardware Sales) thread

[rob mafia]

TLDR: Intel is still king when it comes to gaming. AMD CPU's are still king in multicore applications.

...that was your take on this? like, really?

 

[jefferz]

Is that an RGB battery cover?

 

[TestosterOWN]

So conflicted right now...I was an AMD guy from the late 90's all the way up until 3 years ago. I went from an AMD Phenom 2 (ran hot as fuck) to an Intel i5 6500, runs cool with stock fan. I don't OC, just never felt comfortable messing with it. I'm mostly a Total War gamer these days so the faster single cores of the Intel CPU made a big difference when gaming since TW games are very CPU intensive.This was my first ever Intel CPU, ironically Ryzen literally had just come out when i bought it.
But now that AMD redeemed themselves i dunno what to do....
Currently i have the i5 6500, GTX 1070 and 16gb ram. 2k 144hz gaming monitor.
I'm gonna wait on the 3080 series of cards as far as GPU. Probably get 32gb ram 2 SSD's, ect. ect.
Money isn't really an issue. I'm looking to spend 2-4k. Already have the solid gaming monitor so that's not part of the money i'd spend.
But i am jaded, get a new 10th Gen Intel or wait for Ryzen 4000...
That's the big question. I'm not a competitive gamer. Really the only games that push my current rig is heavily modded Rome 2, Attila, and in Kingdom Come Deliverance i get huge fps drops in the big battles on Ultra settings. But i have the money and figure it's about time i go all out and treat myself to a pc master race rig.

we have similar systems. I have a 6600k and a 1070 and I’m struggling with what to do. I play a few different games but mostly FPS.

I’ve been eyeing the 3700x and maybe a 2070 or 2070 super. But I could also just push it out to the new 3000 cards. But that’s few months from now.

 

[jefferz]

we have similar systems. I have a 6600k and a 1070 and I’m struggling with what to do. I play a few different games but mostly FPS.

I’ve been eyeing the 3700x and maybe a 2070 or 2070 super. But I could also just push it out to the new 3000 cards. But that’s few months from now.

1070 to 2070 isn't worth the price you pay for the performance you'll get. Wait for the 3000 series cards.

 

[Blayt7hh]

1070 to 2070 isn't worth the price you pay for the performance you'll get. Wait for the 3000 series cards.

This. 2000 series was a bust

 

[Madmick]

Report: AMD And NVIDIA Launching Next Generation Flagships In September

The source in question is Taiwan's biggest technology newspaper, Digitimes (via Videocardz), and has been very reliable in the past.

AMD 'Big Navi' and NVIDIA Ampere launching in September according to report out of Taiwan
It looks like Q4 2020 is going to be a very exciting time for gamers as NVIDIA updates their lineup after a couple of years and AMD finally rolls out Big Navi. We also have reports suggesting that AMD will be launching their Vermeer Zen-3 based CPUs in the same time frame as well, so gamers are going to have a lot of options soon. It is also worth adding that this appears to be roughly within-schedule for a gaming GPU launch from NVIDIA and if it happens then COVID really hasn't hurt the refresh cycle much.

Before we go any further, here is the relevant extract from the Digitimes article:

The first half of a year has been usually the slow season for graphics cards, but this year the coronavirus pandemic-triggeed stay-at-home needs has shored up demand. With AMD and Nvidia set to launch their next-generation GPUs in September, graphics cards vendors are expected to cut prices for older-generation products, stimulating demand further in third-quarter 2020. The pandemic-fueled demand for notebooks is also expected keep NAND flash memory prices stable in the third quarter. And the fresh US trade sanctions on Huawei is not deterring the Chinese tech giant from making building 5G networks around China. For semiconductor, Digitimes has an exclusive interview with TSMC's R&D senior VP Cliff Hou, who reveals the principles and issues concerning the foundry's recruitement and R&D.

Graphics card makers see shipments boom: Graphics card manufacturers including Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI) and Gigabyte Technology are expected to see their shipments continue ramping up and grow through the fourth quarter of 2020, according to industry sources. -DigiTimes

Here's the thing. Notice that the report says "shored up" demand. This is something we have discussed previously as well and agree with to a very large extent. The COVID-induced slowdown appears to be more of a pause than an actual reduction in consumer purchasing power. In fact, there have been reports of users spending their COVID relief cheque on RTX 2080 Tis and the like. All of this demand is going to start releasing as people get adjusted to shelter in place and the US heads towards a partial reopening.

AIBs will also be slashing prices on the existing stock of current-generation graphics card (we have already confirmed this for RTX-based GPUs) which should stimulate even more demand. With NVIDIA and AMD launching products in September, Q4 2020 is all set to exceed expectations when it comes to earnings. At the same time, laptop prices might not actually decrease for once because the demand is expected to surge in the coming quarters.

NVIDIA has already publicly revealed its Ampere based workstation GPU and the gaming cards usually follow along a quarter or two later. AMD has yet to reveal its Big Navi GPU but word on the vine is that it is going to be a huge 505mm² affair that probably isn't going to take the performance crown away from NVIDIA but will likely reduce the cost to gamers drastically - which is what AMD's story is all about. Ampere on the other hand appears to be an absolute monstrosity in terms of raw graphics power and I cant wait to get our hands on an RTX 3080 Ti (or whatever it ends up being called).

*Edit* Reminder of NVIDIA GPU generations with rumored update:

MSRP

• RTX 3080 = ???? (September, 2020: +24 months)
• RTX 2080 = $799 (September, 2018: +28 months)
  
• GTX 1080 = $599 (May, 2016: +20 months)
  
• GTX 980 = $549 (September, 2014: +16 months)
  
• GTX 780 = $499 (May, 2013: +14 months)
  
• GTX 680 = $499 (March, 2012: +16 months)
  
• GTX 580 = $499 (November, 2010)

 

[jefferz]

This. 2000 series was a bust

2000 wasn't a bust. Was it a small incremental performance boost? Yes.
The 2000 series also introduced us to Tensor Cores which are going to be one of those things in a couple years that every GPU has and no one really talks about anymore.
Tensor corers are one of the reasons I wouldn't buy a 2000 series card now. I believe that we're going to see the normal generational bumps to clock speeds and such on the next gen cards, but they'll have a lot more Tensor Cores. Where the big FPS gains that have been rumored will come from is Nvidia's technologies like DLSS 2.0.

 

[Blayt7hh]

2000 wasn't a bust. Was it a small incremental performance boost? Yes.
The 2000 series also introduced us to Tensor Cores which are going to be one of those things in a couple years that every GPU has and no one really talks about anymore.
Tensor corers are one of the reasons I wouldn't buy a 2000 series card now. I believe that we're going to see the normal generational bumps to clock speeds and such on the next gen cards, but they'll have a lot more Tensor Cores. Where the big FPS gains that have been rumored will come from is Nvidia's technologies like DLSS 2.0.

The price increase though made the whole series a hard pass unless the 1000s were sold out

 

[jefferz]

The price increase though made the whole series a hard pass unless the 1000s were sold out

And that was what, less than 2 months after launch until the 1000's were sold out.

 

[Blayt7hh]

And that was what, less than 2 months after launch until the 1000's were sold out.

Pretty sure they were around longer than that. Anyways, it was a bad series. Maybe an important step, but they were selling cards that were near matches to previous gen cards at the same exact prices. Then with their flag ship card they jacked the price up to ludicrous levels. I can only think this is because there was no competition from amd at the time

 

[DrakeEB2]

I'm glad i waited. September ain't that far away.

 

[Madmick]

Oh, I thought I'd offer a quick perspective for the increasing price since I think we're all anxious about another bullshit price hike like they pulled with the 2000's series. The GPUs don't launch until September, but we obviously don't have data for that month yet, so I can only adjust to April 2020 constant dollars. As you can see, NVIDIA can't even raise the inflation defense. They've steadily been raising the prices for the past six years (though not before that). It's bullshit, and we shouldn't tolerate it. You are justified in pushing back.

The one market reality I suppose we can offer in NVIDIA's defense is that those older GPUs don't hold the same gaming relevance longevity as the newer GPUs. So NVIDIA is generating less revenue by selling cards fewer and further in between, but GPU development has only gotten more expensive. Looking at the lists below you do gain a serious appreciation for the GTX 780. That GPU is still only about 30%-40% inferior to the GTX 1660 Super (the mainstream present option) in gaming today, and the latter starts around $230 all these years later.


MSRP

• RTX 3080 = $??? (September, 2020: +24 months)
• RTX 2080 = $799 (September, 2018: +28 months)
  
• GTX 1080 = $599 (May, 2016: +20 months)
  
• GTX 980 = $549 (September, 2014: +16 months)
  
• GTX 780 = $499 (May, 2013: +14 months)
  
• GTX 680 = $499 (March, 2012: +16 months)
  
• GTX 580 = $499 (November, 2010)

MSRP (Adjusted for Inflation; in April 2020 USD)

• RTX 3080 = $??? (September, 2020: +24 months)
• RTX 2080 = $812 (September, 2018: +28 months)
  
• GTX 1080 = $639 (May, 2016: +20 months)
  
• GTX 980 = $591 (September, 2014: +16 months)
  
• GTX 780 = $549 (May, 2013: +14 months)
  
• GTX 680 = $557 (March, 2012: +16 months)
  
• GTX 580 = $584 (November, 2010)

 

[My Spot]

I know the 780/880/980/1080 TIs all launched at $700. 2080 TI was $1200.
Of course the 690 was $1000 when it launched in 2012 but still.

@Madmick You remember this bad boy? $600 when it launched in the fall of 98.

 

[Madmick]

I know the 780/880/980/1080 TIs all launched at $700. 2080 TI was $1200.
Of course the 690 was $1000 when it launched in 2012 but still.

@Madmick You remember this bad boy? $600 when it launched in the fall of 98.

I don't, though I've seen it mentioned many times, that wasn't a period of intense gaming for me, but in April-2020 dollars that was $950.

Prior to the RTX series we had become truly spoiled this past decade. At least CPUs, RAM, and Motherboards are still priced beautifully within the context of time, especially considering how much they've evolved. It was only 3 1/2 decades ago that any home computer was considered a luxury of the upper middle class.

 

[jefferz]

3Dfx actually built one with like 8 Voodoo chips on one card. I used to build systems with the Voodoo board on them back in the day when you had to set DMA and ISA slots LOL. PCI came around and changed the game.

On an side note someone I follow on Youtube and I have purchased one of his boards is developing a direct drive steering wheel controller. I have his other board that I am working with right now and he has around 400 full motion sims out in the world running his boards SFX-100. He looking to get around 100 pre orders of his board to bring the price down because he can get volume on the new board. He uses a steeper motor with around 7 nm of torque you can run it off of 110 volts. If you ever priced direct drive wheels they run around 1000 bucks and up of course there is logic tech for around 400 bucks but that has no real torque or the steering wheel feels pretty cheap. The motor and steering wheel if you look around would cost around 450 dollars and would look great. Plenty of people offering their 3D printed parts for cheap money.






This is the SFX-100




Racing wheels can run upwards of 2000 dollars

This is a pretty decent priced racing wheel
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Momo-Quark-Tuning-Steering-Wheel-350mm-Polyurethane-VQUARK350RD-RED-ORIGINAL/184234831988?_trkparms=aid=1110006&algo=HOMESPLICE.SIM&ao=1&asc=20200520130048&meid=fb7bdfd198d64110af46b3a344db34d8&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=12&mehot=pf&sd=283030842622&itm=184234831988&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&algv=SimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bDemotion&brand=Momo&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

IRQ conflicts still haunt my nightmares.

 

[PEB]

IRQ conflicts still haunt my nightmares.

Especially with the creative labs sound cards an Voodoo boards. At that point I avoided chipsets from a specific company cannot remember the name but the motherboard was Lucky star seriously lol. ASUS was the king then a still pretty much the king today.

Update: I remember the name of the chipset VIA. What a pile of junk.

 

[Madmick]

Linux-creator Linus Torvalds joins Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips in embracing AMD Over Intel

Linus Sebastian of YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips...began embracing AMD lately (despite his love for Intel)....Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, is no longer using an Intel CPU on his main computer. Woah.

In a post about Linux 5.7-rc7, Torvalds said the following.

In fact, the biggest excitement this week for me was just that I upgraded my main machine, and for the first time in about 15 years, my desktop isn't Intel-based. No, I didn't switch to ARM yet, but I'm now rocking an AMD Threadripper 3970x. My 'allmodconfig' test builds are now three times faster than they used to be, which doesn't matter so much right now during the calming down period, but I will most definitely notice the upgrade during the next merge window.

Yes, folks, Linus Torvalds is getting things done in triple speed by switching to the god-like AMD Threadripper 3970X. If you aren't familiar, that is a 32-core (64 thread) BEAST of a CPU that sells for nearly $2,000. Intel really has no answer for that. The fact that Torvalds has dropped Intel like a hot potato should have that company very concerned. True, it is only the action of one man, but when that man invented Linux, it has high significance. Hell, even popular Linux-computer maker Tuxedo Computers just launched its first-ever AMD-powered laptop...

The two Linuses.

 

[PEB]

Linux-creator Linus Torvalds joins Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips in embracing AMD Over Intel

The two Linuses.

Funny at least the last year or so I have been watching LTT and Linus never hit me as an Intel fanboy. . He always kept bringing up that he wants to drop Intel on his main but Intel always had better single core performance. It's hardly a fanboy talking. AMD got its act together an really giving Intel a headache.

 

[jefferz]

Linux-creator Linus Torvalds joins Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips in embracing AMD Over Intel

The two Linuses.

The father of Linux eh. Richard Stallman would like to have a word with you.

 

[jefferz]

Funny at least the last year or so I have been watching LTT and Linus never hit me as an Intel fanboy. . He always kept bringing up that he wants to drop Intel on his main but Intel always had better single core performance. It's hardly a fanboy talking. AMD got its act together an really giving Intel a headache.

Sebastian isn’t an Intel fanboy like you AMD fanboys try to claim.
I’ve been watching him since the NCIX days and he has always recommended you get the best your money can get no matter if it’s AMD, Intel, Nvidia, etc.