The PC buyers have been living in the dry desert of GPU-lessness for 5 months now, and a few days ago, nVidia promised that relief is coming with the RTX 3060.
But let us get the usual things out of the way: $330, great performance for the price, runs cool. It is a modern nVidia launch, and you typically only need to ask if they have messed up the price or not. This time, the price is good.
Or is it?
Things are not looking ideal for anyone planning to build a PC. The world is in a global pandemic, and supply deficiencies are mixed with high demand. One of the categories that is affected the most is the GPU market: even the cheapest graphics cards from the latest generation are inflated in price to over 500 bucks, across both AMD and Nvidia options.
Because of this, many people are buying graphics cards from the previous generation: Those cards offer a good bang for the buck, and excellent performance. With a budget of 200 bucks, you can get a pretty solid card. Both AMD and Nvidia offer good options, in the form of the RX 5500 XT (4 GB) and the GTX 1650 Super, respectively. Today we are opposing these two cards against each other. Which one should you pick?
AMD has released a new flagship graphics card, and it is good.
For more on the RX 6900 XT, and details concerning other GPU changes in our chart, read on.
If you missed this launch, it is perfectly understandable; the big stars from nVidia (xx80/xx90 cards) get the royal media treatment. But their mid-tier cards (xx60/xx50 cards) that launch with less fanfare are the ones that get the most sales.
Now, let us take a look at this new $400 card from nVidia.
Otherwise known as ‘the unofficial RTX 3090 hype build,’ in this guide we take a look at what is needed to achieve 8K gaming in today’s market.
Over the years, nVidia has gotten better and better at GPU launches. Each new card performs well, runs cool and quiet, and is better than what it replaces… and no exceptions to this come readily to mind.
nVidia’s sole (and rare) issue with modern launches is the pricing, which can sometimes feel like highway robbery: $1800 for a graphics card? Want my firstborn with that, too, nVidia? Or just an arm and a leg?
This year, though, it is a bit different.
The 3080 was launched to much fanfare, and the performance was really good. The price is high ($700!), and availability has proved to be a nightmare, but it is still the card to get if it’s in-stock and fits your budget.
With the RTX 3090, things are a bit different.
The RTX 3080 is nVidia’s latest, and the first release in the 3xxx line. If you want the tl;dr straight away: It is good, and we recommend buying it if the price fits your budget.
If you want the slightly longer list of pros and cons, without reading reviews for hours (we do that for you), then you have come to the right place.
If you missed the nVidia Ampere reveal, you can read a recap here. Ampere, like nVidia’s previous ~2-3 generations of chips, should be really good. Just… be sure to stay realistic and not to get your hopes up too high, or believe too deeply in marketing material. Every modern product launch promises to dramatically alter your life, but few genuinely deliver.
While we wait for the new cards to launch and undergo benchmark testing, we have some other updates:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! Also: Greetings.
The topic of this month has been the Coronavirus epidemic, so you are probably expecting some sage advice in this update. We will not give you any medical advice, because… we are not qualified to give medical advice. We research computer parts, not medicine! So please visit the official website of the Ministry of Health (or Department of Medicine, or Center of Disease Control, or etc) of your country, and follow their advice. They are professionals, and they know the best ways to deal with this.
As for us: We are professionals too, we know the best ways to buy PC parts! And this update brings changes to our main chart, mostly in the CPU column.