Assemble Hand # 278
Preparations are underway for a fragmented and digital CES 2021, unfortunately still necessary in this complicated December that we hope coincides with the the beginning of a much needed global healing process. Things, better to always remember, will settle slowly, but there is a fair amount of confidence in the recovery given the announcement of a return in physical form of the Taiwan Computex to be held between 1 to 4 June 2021, provided that everything goes as hoped.
The upcoming digital CES, however, should not miss interesting news among which we hope will include information on the future Intel Rocket Lake processors and on the GeForce RTX 3000 mobile, already under development according to what emerged from the rumors these weeks. But these are not necessarily the protagonists of the GeForce RTX Game On event announced by NVIDIA for January 12th. In fact, the protagonists could be new GeForce RTX desktop, at least heeding the numerous rumors that speak of different options between the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with double the memory, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or even a smooth RTX 3060, actually intended for mid-range given the high price, not to mention the increases due to the lack of part, of the 3060 Ti.
For the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, among other things, an alleged release date has also appeared, that is shortly after February 17, and the possible features, starting from 20 GB of memory. To reveal the rumor was Igor's Lab, a generally very reliable source, who talked about a GA102-250 chip, placed for characteristics halfway between the GA 120-300 of the 3080 and the GA102-200 of the RTX 3080. Several factors would seem but remain the same as those of the RTX 3080 between GDDR6X memory at 19 Gbps, 320-bit bus and bandwidth of 760 GB / s. Consumption should also remain the same, with the greatest amount of memory and active CUDA cores that seem to be complexed by a lower boost clock, with 1635MHz against 1735MHz of the base model. Nonetheless, we expect higher working frequencies in the vast majority of systems, leaving the NVIDIA software free to self-manage the frequencies, and a power not too far from the RTX 3090, with a price presumably halfway between this and the 3080. So let's focus on a higher price than the Radeon RX 6900 XT, as we know monstrous in terms of raw power, but also significantly higher performance in RTX titles, with an even more important leap where there is support for DLSS. In fact, this remains the key technology of the NVIDIA offering, although it is of little interest to those simply looking for the highest framerate in unsupported games.
But with the arrival of a Radeon AI-based upscaling on the field, we also expect a greater push on the DLSS, with a performance-oriented race that could also coincide with notable performance increases for the next generation consoles. Hopefully enough, to offset the weight of ray tracing even in titles like Quake II RTX, recently enriched with support for the newly released Vulkan Ray Tracing that allow you to enjoy the enhanced version of the classic id Software even with the Radeon RX, but they highlight the weight of the lack of DLSS-like technology on new AMD cards. The main intent of the operation, however, seems to aim at a standardization that with the evolution of the related ecosystems should make ray tracing an increasingly digestible standard for hardware and spectacular from the point of view of visual rendering.
In the meantime, even virtual viewers are making great strides as we have seen with the success of Oculus Quest 2 and with the new models we have talked about during the past few weeks. To these must also be added the DecaGear which promises a high-level experience at an affordable price. We are talking about overall 4K resolution, inside-out tracking and finger tracking, for a complete package of the various functions scattered on the viewers in circulation. But there is more between sensors for facial tracking, wireless connection with the PC and a sensor to be attached to the waist to ensure the tracking of the entire figure of the player. All for $ 449, at least for pre-orders starting on May 21st. Not bad, as long as everything goes the right way.
Among the financiers there is also Kurzman, who appeared in the Panama Papers for reasons of advertising and privacy companies. But we are talking more about potentially unwanted programs linked to other programs, a practice also used by very large companies, for a man in any case flanked by other founders and by 17 engineers who seems to have worked hard, so much so that he even pulled out a locomotion system called DecaMove which will initially be sent to 300 influencers engaged in dissemination related to virtual reality. Obviously we are curious to discover the innovations that it will bring in the field of virtual locomotion, but we are even more interested in the price that if it were low could make an important step forward to the instrumentation designed to immerse ourselves in simulated worlds even with the whole body. Stuff capable of making virtual shooters much more codable, including particular editions such as the Oculus Quest ports of Quake, Quake two and Half Life which, among other things, updated to take advantage of the 90Hz of Quest 2, can be found on the distribution platform SideQuest.
Budget configuration
The budget configuration is the one oriented to saving but it is not certain that there is no room for the upgrade where interesting prospects arise. The proposals in this range include solutions designed for low-tech games and 1080p-oriented builds.Thanks to a small price drop, the Ryzen 5 1600 AF becomes an even more interesting replacement, in the absence of latest generation processors at an affordable price, in the revised edition with a new production process that offers in-game performance close to that of a Ryzen 5 2600. It also enjoys good overclocking margins and guarantees a decidedly good raw power for the range low.
Little changes in the panorama of the budget segment GPUs, with the GeForce RTX 1650 SUPER which remains the most interesting option in models like the Palit one, among the few low-end models still available, superior to the RX 570 and slightly higher than the RX 580, both of which have become less attractive after a series of price increases.
BUDGET Component Price PROCESSOR AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF 3.2-3.6 GHz € 130.00 MOTHERBOARD MSI B450M Pro-M2 MAX 70,00 € VIDEO CARD PALIT GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER StormX OC 4GB 185,00 € RAM G.Skill Aegis 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 70,00 € POWER SUPPLY EVGA 450 BR 80+ Bronze 45,00 € HARD DISK Kingston A400 480GB SATA III 50,00 € CASE DeepCool MATREXX 55 Mid Tower 50,00 € TOTAL 600,00 €
Gaming configuration
In the gaming range there are usually those components that allow you to deal with play on PC without fear and to hold on for some time. The frame rate showdown is just around the corner but, with a good base, it's always possible to sell the old GPU before it devalues too much so you can buy a new one just in time to take on the next hardware-smashing blockbuster.In terms of price / performance ratio, the Core i5-10400F remains our preferred mid-range option, at least from the point of view of a system that does not need any overclocking to be fully exploited. It also benefits from Hyper-Threading, absent on the 9400F which, although cheap, is at the bottom of the ranking of mid-range processors in terms of raw power. Note that the B460 limits the speed of the RAM, but the price increase of the memories still makes the 3200MHz ones more affordable.
Moving on to the GPU, unfortunately the arrival of the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti did not coincide with improvements to the situation of the GeForce RTX 3000, still very difficult to find. But in the European stores some pieces at acceptable prices have arrived and the Founders Editions have also reappeared, still without direct distribution on the Italian territory, although they quickly sold out. In any case, it is better to wait for a new card than to pay too much for an old one that will lose value quickly.
GAMING Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9-4.3GHz 165,00 € CARD ASRock B460M-HDV MOTHER 85,00 € VIDEO CARD ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge 8GB 525,00 € RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 85,00 € POWER SUPPLY FSP Hydro PRO 600W 80+ Bronze 65,00 € HARD DISK Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SATA III 65,00 € CASE EMPIRE GAMING Diamond ARGB Mid Tower 75.00 € TOTAL 1065.00 €
Extra configuration
The push configuration makes sense only for those who aim for high resolutions, aware that luxury often does not go hand in hand with rationality. On the other hand, let's face it, who doesn't like having a nice engine under the hood even if you have to respect the speed limit?Ryzen 5000 processors are slowly becoming available again, albeit still sensitive increases. But Ryzen R9 5900X begins to pop up at around 700 euros, with a still net increase but in the order of 100 euros, more digestible for a CPU that is much faster in single core and in gaming than the 3950X and not too lower in terms of brute power with 9% less multicore, made possible by an imperious increase in instructions per clock.
For cooling we usually rely on one of the best air in circulation, safe and strong with excellent temperatures , while for the GPU we stay on the GeForce RTX 3080 although, as we well know, it is difficult to find. But even then it makes no sense to buy an old card that will quickly lose much of its value. Better to sift through as many shops as possible or wait for a new and durable card, paid for at an acceptable price.
EXTRA Component Price PROCESSOR Ryzen R9 5900X 3.7-4.8GHz 700.00 € HEAT SINK Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black 100,00 € MOTHERBOARD MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK 205,00 € VIDEO CARD ASUS GeForce RTX 3080 TUF 10GB 870,00 € RAM G.Skill Trident Z RGB 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 215,00 € ANTEC POWER SUPPLY HCG-850 80+ Gold 150,00 € HARD DISK Sabrent Rocket PCIe Gen 4 1TB M.2 170,00 € CASE NZXT H710 Mid Tower 160,00 € TOTAL 2570.00 €
