Assemble that Passes # 287
February ended with some emotion, starting with the launch of the GeForce RTX 3060, a card that undoubtedly makes sense at the recommended price for the base models of 339 euros, offering RTX 2070 performance with a pinch of ray tracing gain and much better temperatures, but which suffers from the high prices of the top models and the inevitable increases due to a high demand that is held back by reduced availability.
If nothing else, the RTX 3060 is subject to a software hash rate brake, which makes it unsuitable for mining, an area that will enjoy a dedicated line called CMP and based in part on Turing, but it is of a device that, however appreciable it may be, is not sufficient to deal with a lack of chips that is creating major problems for the entire IT sector. It will not be, by the way, a short thing.
Adapting production lines to sudden fluctuations in demand, in this case driven by lockdowns and the release of a huge number of new products, is not easy. A restructuring of this kind, we have already said in the past, is complicated and involves large investments that could translate into losses when demand drops sharply. Furthermore, the race for 5 and 3 nanometer transistors has seen Apple and Intel book a large part of the production lines for the future, which has taken away further space for the production of 8 and 7 nanometer chips respectively used in the GPUs of NVIDIA and AMD.
Finally, to weigh on the availability of video cards, there are laptops that thanks to high sales monopolize the bulk and help to raise demand, which according to analyst Harlan Sur of JP Morgan is currently from 10 to 30% higher than the offer. The fast track reserved for laptop GPUs, among other things, also explains why the number of discrete GPUs deployed is extremely low, despite the gap between supply and demand being high but not extreme.
For the GeForce RTX 3080, for example, we are talking about just 20 specimens per month delivered to South Asian countries, excluding China which, however, stops at 100 pieces, in the face of a huge population full between more of miner. Moreover, it seems that the wait necessary for things to improve is very long. Although foundries try to adapt to demand, analysts estimate a time ranging from 3 to 6 months for the production lines to be able to fully satisfy it. We also need to take into account the time it takes to assemble the video cards and get them to chains and stores. Hence the fear that it will be necessary to wait until the end of 2021, if not the beginning of 2022, to see a normalization of the discrete GPU market.
What's more, the arrival of the GeForce RTX 3060 is likely , a card that places itself in the most popular segment of the market, further increases the requests, like the Radeon RX 6700 XT whose announcement was set for March 3. Among other things, the presentation of the mid-range model of the series based on RDNA 2 architecture, apparently arriving in two variants, one of which is 230W designed for overclocking, could coincide with the arrival of a massive driver update intended to improve the performance of the entire series, also including the expected Super Resolution upscaling based on artificial intelligence, further stimulating a demand that for the moment cannot be satisfied.
Nevertheless we still hope for some miracle or at least some quick reorganization that brings the price of the PC back within acceptable limits, perhaps in the summer given the arrival of PlayStation exclusives that promise to further increase what probably, at the moment, it is the game machine with the most attractive offer, excluding the invasion of cheaters in some battle royale. If nothing else, however, the processors are subject to fewer problems. The new Ryzen are more expensive than the previous ones and in the case of the top models still suffer from significant increases. But going down to 8 cores we find the Ryzen 7 5800X which guarantees excellent performance and a remarkable overall power.
In addition, Intel will soon take the field with an eleventh generation that apparently aims to maintain the prices of the current one. Competitive, therefore, in the medium and low range. But even the high-end could have its appeal by regaining the primacy in gaming performance. There is no mention of abundant margins as in the case of the IPC, which seems destined to increase by 19%, but in any case of a factor that can have a weight for those chasing extreme benchmarks and framerates. Also, Intel shouldn't have any availability issues. In fact, it will rely on its own foundries, waiting to rely on external foundries at a more propitious moment, it seems already in 2022, when it will be time to create 3-nanometer CPUs against the 14 nanometers that the company has been using for several generations in the field of processors. desktop.
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.The excellent Ryzen 3 3300X has reappeared at an almost reasonable price, but for reasons of economy, necessary given the GPU situation, we continue to prefer the Core i3-10100F which, available again for less than 100 euros albeit by only a penny, is improved compared to the Core i3-9100F also in terms of raw power, thanks to Hyper-Threading.
Situation worsening also for low-end GPUs, now more than doubled in price with the exception of the RTX 1050 Ti, overpriced but still affordable for what to pay over 200 euros for a low-end card of two generations ago is at least unpleasant and in some ways unfair.
BUDGET Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i3-10100F 3.6-4.3 GHz € 100.00 MSI B460M-A PRO MOTHERBOARD 95.00 € VIDEO CARD Palit GeForce 1050 Ti Dual OC 4 GB 205 , 00 € RAM G.Skill Aegis 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 80,00 € POWER SUPPLY EVGA 450 BR 80+ Bronze 45,00 € HARD DISK Kingston A400 480GB SATA III 50,00 € CASE Kolink Nimbus RGB Mid Tower 50,00 € TOTAL 625, 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 foundation, 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.This week, after giving space to the agile 10600K and the excellent but expensive 5600X, we return to focus on savings, as we said almost obligatory given the prices of the few GPUs available. Among other things, the situation involves the entire market, forcing us to look for opportunities even abroad to find at least decent prices and have a chance to receive the card while several chains continue to cancel or keep pre-orders on hold.
The few RTX 3060s sold at the established price, or between 339 and about 500 euros depending on the model, have predictably disappeared in the blink of an eye, provided they existed, leaving us faced with prices that at best are around to 600 euros. So all that remains is to arm yourself with patience, as well as BOT Discord and Telegram, or look for a used RTX 2070, trusting in the honesty of the seller, to avoid an outlay almost double the recommended prices.
GAMING Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9-4.3GHz 140,00 € MOTHERBOARD ASUS TUF GAMING B460-PLUS 130,00 € VIDEO CARD INNO3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 12 GB 590,00 € RAM Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 105,00 € POWER SUPPLY FSP Hydro PRO 600W 80+ Bronze 75,00 € HARD DISK Samsung 860 Evo 500GB SATA III 70,00 € CASE EMPIRE GAMING Diamond ARGB Mid Tower 75.00 € TOTAL 1185.00 €
The pushed 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?
The Ryzen 7 5800X, now stable at around 460 euros, is still at a premium, but guarantees excellent performance, even in gaming, in addition to support for PCIe 4.0 and system overclocking with the Radeon RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT. The match, therefore, also in view of the AI-based upscaling coming soon, is excellent, provided that you have one at home given the prohibitive prices.
Moving on to high-end GPUs, the challenge for buying one at a reasonable price is definitely tough. There are very few GeForce RTX 3080s and so are the Radeon RX 6800 XTs, which come at stellar prices. Instead, there are some RTX 3070s, which not by chance ends up in the configuration, but we are still talking about very high price increases unless we rely on BOT, patience and luck.
EXTRA Component Price Ryzen R9 PROCESSOR 5800X 3.8-4.7GHz 465,00 € ARCTIC HINDS Liquid Freezer II 240 90,00 € MOTHERBOARD Gigabyte X570 AORUS ELITE 190,00 € VIDEO CARD ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 Dual 8 GB 850,00 € RAM G.Skill Trident Z RGB 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 220,00 € ANTEC POWER SUPPLY HCG-850 80+ Gold 150,00 € HARD DISK Sabrent Rocket 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 170,00 € CASE Corsair 5000D Airflow Mid Tower 155,00 € TOTAL 2290.00 €
