Assemble that Passes # 283
In the last few days, both AMD and NVIDIA have finally officially talked about the situation of the new GeForce RTX 3000 and Radeon RX 6000, stating that the shortage of video cards will last at least throughout the first quarter of 2021. But both companies wanted to specify that it is more a problem of high demand than of production. Something that Lisa Su repeated recently, ensuring that work is underway to increase the throughput of the chips in order to meet demands that are undoubtedly as high as they are for any consumer device at this particular time.
On the other hand, in the same time window, new consoles, new processors and new high-performance mobile chips have arrived, all lined up to consciously reap the benefits of the restrictions of the pandemic that has been pushing PC sales for months , video games and technology in general. Furthermore, the leap in the efficiency of the new GPUs has led to a renewal also of the cryptocurrency farms which has gone to further enhance a perfect storm, predictable even if not completely avoidable between the pandemic, the normal difficulties of adapting production lines and the obvious refusal of companies to postpone launches at such an auspicious time. But the rumors about the lack of GDDR6 memory seem to indicate other problems apparently not openly addressed among which we can also include scalpers, the aforementioned cryptocurrencies and the effects of US tax hikes on the prices of cards produced in the East.
It is therefore not said that it is enough to wait until the end of March for the situation to normalize, which is also suggested by rumors according to which NVIDIA intends to reintroduce the GeForce RTX 2060 and RTX 2060 Super to the market, probably to ease the pressure on the market ahead of the launch of the GeForce RTX 3060 at the end of February, destined to meet a decidedly high demand. On the other hand we are talking about a $ 329 card equipped with 12 GB of VRAM which, while useless for 1080p gaming, make it a perfect option for machines for those who play but also use the GPU on a professional level. It also represents the ideal option, in terms of price, for the average player, the one who simply wants to play in 1080p without compromise, and given the amount of memory combined with a TDP of 170W it could also tickle those who deal with cryptocurrency.
Among other things, even having faith in a resolution of the problem at the end of March, it remains to be seen how long it will take for prices to normalize, also officially increased, and how convenient it will be to buy at that time, with the possibility that they will be replaced already at the end of 2021 with more powerful models pulled out by both AMD and NVIDIA to face the arrival of Intel in the field of gaming video cards. The plans of the latter, however, first pass through Rocket Lake, the new series of desktop CPUs which, while still constrained to 14 nanometers, switch to PCIe 4.0 with 20 lines and promises a nice leap in the number of core transistors that would seem to guarantee. an intermediate increase in CPI of 19%. Enough to give up the two more cores of the Core i9-10900K, problematic to cool, aiming for similar performance combined with a step forward in gaming too.
All while maintaining compatibility with 400 series motherboards and without a marked difference in price from the current series, even if for the eleventh series of Intel desktop processors we are talking, specifically, of lower figures in extreme range, lower in the high range and similar in the mid-range. This at least according to a leak that would also seem to confirm a low-end made up of enhanced reissues of chips from the tenth series, with a lowered price for the Core i3 10105F which, as usual, would fill the role of preferential choice for entry level gaming configurations. .
In any case, despite the performance improvements that could be worth the crown in gaming, even if it doesn't seem like an extreme margin, we would have expected more aggressive prices to counter the success of the Ryzen 5000 series. Of course, availability of the new AMD CPUs is still is still scarce, but the pieces are coming and the prices are going down. Furthermore, returning to Rocket Lake, we are talking about a series that will probably soon give way to the much more advanced Alder Lake processors. In fact, for the arrival of Intel hybrid processors we are talking about the second half of 2021, even if we are aiming for the end of the year since AMD apparently will not switch to Zen 4 until the beginning of 2022, leaving Intel the primacy of DDR5 among other things. which are already being tested, at least in the case of TEAMGROUP's 16 GB 4800 MHz modules. However, we do not exclude surprises and changes in timing in this strange moment that sees a market in difficulty confronted with a huge demand that stimulates its acceleration.
Budget configuration
The budget configuration it is the one aimed at 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.The static landscape of low-end CPUs once again hands us into the hands of the Intel Core 10100F, a champion of convenience that compared to other solutions lacks in brute power but guarantees good performance in the game with a decidedly low price.
With low-end GPUs disappearing, prices go up and convenience drops to zero. In addition, there is the possibility that NVIDIA will re-propose the RTX 2060 at a low price this leads us to recommend waiting or, if necessary, one of the few GTX 1050s left available at acceptable prices.
BUDGET Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i3-10100F 3.6-4.3 GHz 90,00 € MOTHERBOARD Gigabyte GA-H410M H 70,00 € VIDEO CARD GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1050 TI OC Edition 4 GB 165,00 € RAM HyperX Impact 2x8GB 2666MHz CL15
65,00 € POWER SUPPLY EVGA 450 BR 80+ Bronze 50,00 € HARD DISK Kingston A400 480GB SATA III 50,00 € CASE Kolink Nimbus RGB Mid Tower 50,00 € TOTAL 550,00 €
Gaming Configuration
In the gaming segment there are usually those components that allow you to face the game on the 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.The price of the Ryzen 5 5600X is still a bit high for our taste but it is finally reasonable and allows you to take home an excellent CPU for a gaming setup equipped even with massive GPUs. Among other things, they are practically obliged, wanting to switch to something new, since the RTX 3060 will not arrive before the end of February and nothing is yet known about the Radeon 6600 and 6700.
So let's choose once again the RTX 3060 Ti, a card that unfortunately ends up in the higher price range due to the increases related to the combination of a shortage of cards and a decidedly high demand. Hence an increasingly expensive gaming configuration that we hope will return to being easier and cheaper to assemble with the arrival of spring.
GAMING Component Price PROCESSOR AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 2.9-4.3 GHz 385,00 € MOTHERBOARD Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming 120,00 € VIDEO CARD ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge 8 GB 570,00 € RAM Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 70,00 € POWER SUPPLY FSP Hydro PRO 600W 80+ Bronze 65 , 00 € HARD DISK Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SATA III 65.00 € CASE Sharkoon Pure Steel Mid Tower 65.00 € TOTAL 1340.00 €
Extra configuration
The push configuration has a complete meaning 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?The Ryzen 7 5800X is inevitably below the heavyweights of the Zen 3 family, which however still suffer from excessive price increases. Also for this reason, thanks to a further downsizing of the price now close to 500 euros, it is still the most attractive and thanks to the net advancements of Zen 3 it is able to adequately support high-end video cards from 1080p to 4K and beyond.
Unfortunately, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is almost impossible to find below 950 / 1000 euros and the GeForce RTX 3080, however difficult to find, is again stable above 900 euros even on the best occasions. So let's go back to the GeForce RTX 3070, one of the least complex to find and therefore subject to less ferocious price increases.
EXTRA Component Price PROCESSOR Ryzen R9 5800X 3.8-4.7GHz 505.00 € ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 80,00 € MOTHERBOARD Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE 185,00 € VIDEO CARD GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3070 Eagle 8 GB 690,00 € RAM G.Skill Trident Z RGB 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 180,00 € POWER SUPPLY ANTEC HCG -850 80+ Gold € 130.00 HARD DISK Sabrent Rocket 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 € 170.00 CASE Corsair Obsidian 500D Mid Tower € 165.00 TOTAL 2105.00 €
