Samsung transistors, AMD RDNA 3 GPUs and 3dfx Interactive bluff - Assemble that Pass you # 310
Samsung transistors
With the Assembly that passes you this week we return to talk about transistors with the spectrum of increases on Samsung silicon wafers, determined to invest in order not to lag behind the titan TSMC and an Intel in full revival. But we also deal with the rumors that seem to confirm a huge leap in power for future AMD Radeon GPUs with RDNA 3 architecture and 3dfx, with a rumor that unfortunately turned out to be bogus, but it gives us a way to summarize the history of a company that has changed gaming in three dimensions.Samsung: price increase for future transistors
A silicon wafer These days the network has been shaking over the announcement of a price hike of silicon wafers from Samsung. The specter is that of a future series of NVIDIA GeForce cards more expensive than the current one, without taking into account any increases due to the persistence of the crisis that has made it hell to buy a GPU in this 2021. The base prices, of the RTX 3000, go said, they are not high in relation to the performance leap, but we have seen very few Founders Editions and very few custom complies with the list prices.The hypothesis that Samsung may raise its prices generates a bit of fear for the future. The hope is to see improvements in the market situation and it is not certain that future GeForces will still use Samsung transistors, something suggested by someone after a meeting between NVIDIA and Intel. Especially since Samsung's wafer price increase is part of an investment plan by the company, which is committed to expanding its factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. There the production of 5 nanometer transistors should begin, the ones that should power the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000.
AMD RDNA 3: the future Radeon
2 AMD Radeon video cards Last week we talked about the future AMD Radeon GPUs with multi-chip-module technology and RDNA 3 architecture that promise a leap of 50% in efficiency and could establish itself on the desktop GPU market with a two-chip solution Navi 31, perhaps destined to be called AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, characterized by 15360 stream processors. Apparently enough to triple the power of the current lineup flagship AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. This stratospheric leap in PC performance, however, makes us think more about a professional card or at least destined to be halfway between gaming and business in the style of the NVIDIA GeForce TITAN.According to a new rumor published by leaker Olrak, even the entry level model of the future AMD Radeon series will make a majestic leap, arriving at the same 5120 stream processors as the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. In this case, the strange thing concerns not only the performance leap, all too aggressive, but also the fact that the arrival of such a model could knock out the entire current lineup of AMD video cards. However, we do not know what the actual price of this elusive Navi 33 chip card will be. While equipping a lower GPU than the flagship models, it could still be designed for the medium-high range, in order to leave room for a general relocation of all current models within a new low and medium range.
3dfx Interactive: the great illusion
The first 3dfx accelerator, created in collaboration with the historic Diamond Multimedia A few days ago the 3dfxofficial account announced the return to the field of 3dfx Interactive, sparking fantasies and discussions throughout the world of information technology. But in the following days the already strong initial doubts turned into a bitter disappointment in the face of implausible announcements sponsored by a name, Jensen Products, which does not correspond to an existing company but seems to refer, in a farcical tone, to the NVIDIA president, Jensen Huang.It is not certain that behind what seems like a great joke there is no marketing operation, but what we are interested in understanding is why many have hoped for the historic company to return to the field despite the fact that appeared unfounded from the start. Well, the reason is simple: if for some the name 3dfx means nothing, for many others it coincides with the moment in which three-dimensional gaming has taken a decisive step towards the future.
The first video games three-dimensional were in wireframe and were therefore composed of geometric lines that outlined objects without solidity or texture. Then someone decided to fill in the lines, finding themselves having to manage graphics engines too heavy for the available hardware. And that's why for some time a lot of games, including racing and shoot'em up, have been content with the illusion of three dimensions, first recreated using a large number of parallax layers and then, when the hardware arrived. to be able to manage a sufficient number of polygons, mixing 3D and 2D.
The stratagem was evident, but at the time it was overshadowed by the wonder of being in front of the first three-dimensional players for the first time, at the first three-dimensional heroine and the first three-dimensional cars. A real bomb that PlayStation has ridden with enormous success. Then, one day, the world of video games slipped into true 3D and did so thanks to Quake, a technological earthquake that thanks to the amazing optimization even had a breathtaking Saturn version, more limited than the PC and Nintendo 64, but available. on a much cheaper machine.
In the meantime, however, the computer has taken an imperious leap. To give an extra boost to the first admirable but heavy 3D games is in fact a graphics accelerator, a rather expensive piece of hardware, considering the need to have it alongside a 2D video card. At first we had to put up with a lot of washed-out textures and some continued to prefer the grainy but spectacular lighting of id Software's Quake, but working on the settings and trade-offs due to the youth of the technology, it was clear how from the point of view of the performance, hardware dedicated to 3D could change the face of three-dimensional video games.
GlQuake, the evolution of an already revolutionary title Hence the importance of the name 3dfx Interactive which in 1996, together with Diamond Multimedia, gave us the PCI Diamond Monster 3D graphics accelerator, immediately achieving very high sales for the gaming PC sector of the time. Enough to attract investor interest and push the company to create a unique card with both 2D and 3D acceleration. Driven by public interest, other companies also came up with similar products, but weaker than those of 3dfx until the arrival of the first strong pieces of NVIDIA which in 1999 became dangerous with the very advanced RIVA TNT2.
In the meantime 3dfx has continued to invest large sums in projects that would not have given the desired results. The company has seen the partnership with SEGA for the hardware of the Dreamcast console fade and has spent 141 million dollars to increase the internal production capacity for the OEM segment. But between problems adapting the cards to the demands of OEM partners and the explosion of NVIDIA, preferred by all third-party manufacturers, the financial situation has become problematic. And it got worse with the acquisition in 2000 of GigaPixel, an investment of 186 million, aimed at speeding up the process of creating and marketing products, which however crashed into the less than exciting sales of the Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5 cards. At that point the creditors made themselves heard, putting the company in crisis, and NVIDIA took advantage of the great opportunity to buy 3dfx Interactive in bulk. And this is how the story of a brand ended that in just 6 years of existence changed the face of PC gaming, so much so that it is still an excellent bait for what could be the troll of the year.
Assembla che ti Passa is a weekly column that collects the main news related to gaming PC hardware and offers three configurations, divided by price ranges, designed for those who want to assemble or update their machine. As usual, suggestions are welcome and corrections welcome, as long as the tones are adequate. Another tip is to read the paragraphs presenting the configurations before you do battle in the comments.
Budget configuration
The budget configuration is 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 games with a low technical profile and 1080p-oriented builds.The rise of about ten euros on the Intel Core i5-10400F does not change the situation which, given the rise still high on the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G and the higher price tag of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, it sees the Intel processor among the most affordable options ever in terms of price-to-power ratio.
Let's change video card instead but not GPU. We remain in fact on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, so that we can count on acceptable performance in 1080p, moving however from the ASUS Crberus, which has become more expensive, to a base model from MSI.
BUDGET Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9-4.0GHz 165,00 € MOTHERBOARD MSI B460M-A PRO 75,00 € VIDEO CARD MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 225,00 € RAM Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB 3200 MHz CL16 80,00 € POWER SUPPLY EVGA 450 BR 80+ Bronze 40,00 € HARD DISK Kingston A400 480GB SATA III 45,00 € CASE BitFenix Nova Mesh SE Mid Tower 60,00 € TOTAL 690,00 €
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.Even in the mid-range we follow the price by staying with the Intel Core i5-11600K which, thanks to a small drop, has reached a whisker from 240 euros. It therefore guarantees good savings and excellent gaming performance, making it one of the most interesting options of the latest series of Intel processors.
While we wait for the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, cultivating the hope that the number of cards is sufficient to thwart any speculation, we inevitably remain anchored to the raised prices of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, immediately available in euros at reasonable prices only in the ASUS Phoenix single fan version.
GAMING Component Price PROCESSOR Intel Core i5-11600K 3.9-4.9GHz 240,00 € ASUS PRIME MOTHERBOARD B560M-K 105,00 € VIDEO CARD ASUS Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB € 595.00 RAM Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 2x8GB 3200MHz CL16 € 100.00 PSU be quiet! Pure Power 11 600W 80+ Gold 75,00 € HARD DISK Crucial MX500 1 TB SATA III 100,00 € CASE NZXT H510 Mid Tower 85.00 € TOTAL 1300.00 €
Extra configuration
The configuration push makes sense only for those who aim for high resolutions, aware that luxury often doesn't 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?In the range, the limits of Intel's 14-nanometer transistors make themselves felt, as well as much cheaper prices than mid-range options. Enough to prefer the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X again this time, dropped by another 5 euros and equipped with enough power to take advantage of any GPU and for the needs of a versatile high-end configuration.
Avoid the processors of extreme range leaves us a larger budget, but it takes a lot of money to buy an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 without fail. In fact, we always talk about 1300 euros for the more affordable models that are currently available in international component stores.
EXTRA Component Price AMD Ryzen 9 PROCESSOR 5900X 3.7-4.8GHz 560,00 € Noctua NH-D15 chromax-black 100,00 € MOTHERBOARD GIGABYTE X570 AORUS MASTER WIFI 350,00 € VIDEO CARD GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 10 GB 1315,00 € RAM G.Skill Trident Z RGB 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL16 240,00 € ANTEC POWER SUPPLY HCG-850 80+ Gold 135,00 € HARD DISK Samsung 980 PRO SSD 1TB M .2 PCIe 4.0 € 195.00 CASE Corsair 5000D Mid Tower € 160.00 TOTAL € 3055.00
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