PC Perspective Podcast #535 - EVGA RTX 2060 Ultra, USB4, and the Return of Diablo
Subject: General Tech | March 11, 2019 - 08:50 AM | Jim Tanous
Tagged: video, usb4, Threadripper, swiftech, RTX 2060, radeon vii, podcast, mx518, MK730, logitech, GOG, evga, eUFS, diablo
PC Perspective Podcast #535 - 3/7/2019
Editor's Note: Our apologies for the delayed release of this week's podcast. We had an increasingly catastrophic storage disaster that required some lengthy data recovery. But we're back up and running and thankfully lost nothing but a bit of time.
With that out of the way, join us for a look at the EVGA RTX 2060 Ultra, the Cooler Master MK730 mechanical gaming keyboard, a pricey CPU water block from Swiftech, the latest USB news, and more!
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Show Topics
00:00:06 - Intro
00:07:19 - Review: EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra
00:24:01 - Review: Cooler Master MK730 Mechanical Keyboard
00:29:49 - Review: Swiftech Apogee SKF Heirloom Water Block
00:33:12 - News: USB4
00:40:53 - News: Third-Gen Threadripper & Navi Details
00:47:33 - News: RTX Triple-Threat Bundle & 419.35 Drivers
00:51:01 - News: Radeon VII Undervolting
01:01:29 - News: Windows Retpoline Optimizations & Game Breakers
01:06:09 - News: Intel CPU SPOILER Vulnerability
01:14:26 - News: GPU Price Cuts?
01:20:03 - News: Samsung eUFS 3.0 Mobile Storage
01:28:36 - News: HoloLens 2
01:32:54 - Picks of the Week
Picks of the Week
Jim: Syba 10GBase-T NIC
Jeremy: Logitech MX518 Legendary
Josh: MSI Radeon RX Vega 56
Sebastian: Diablo
Today's Podcast Hosts
Sebastian Peak
Josh Walrath
Jeremy Hellstrom
Jim Tanous
The EVGA RTX 2060 XC Ultra
While NVIDIA’s new GTX 1660 Ti has stolen much of the spotlight from the RTX 2060 launched at CES, this more powerful Turing card is still an important part of the current video card landscape, though with its $349 starting price it does not fit into the “midrange” designation we have been used to.
Beyond the price argument, as we saw with our initial review of the RTX 2060 Founders Edition and subsequent look at 1440p gaming and overclocking results, the RTX 2060 far exceeds midrange performance, which made sense given the price tag but created some confusion based on the "2060" naming as this suggested a 20-series replacement to the GTX 1060.
The subsequent GTX 1660 Ti launch provided those outspoken about the price and performance level of the RTX 2060 in relation to the venerable GTX 1060 with a more suitable replacement, leaving the RTX 2060 as an interesting mid-premium option that could match late-2017’s GTX 1070 Ti for $100 less, but still wasn’t a serious option for RTX features without DLSS to boost performance - image quality concerns in the early days of this tech notwithstanding.
One area certainly worth exploring further with the RTX 2060 is overclocking, as it seemed possible that a healthy OC had the potential to meet RTX 2070 performance, though our early efforts were conducted using NVIDIA’s Founders Edition version, which just one month in now seems about as common as a pre-cyclone cover version of the original Sim City for IBM compatibles (you know, the pre-Godzilla litigation original?). LGR-inspired references aside, let's look at the card EVGA sent us for review.
Continue reading our review of the EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 XC Ultra graphics card
Every NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti on Amazon (So Far)
Subject: Graphics Cards | February 23, 2019 - 03:58 PM | Sebastian Peak
Tagged: zotac, video card, turing, nvidia, msi, gtx 1660 ti, graphics, gpu, gigabyte, geforce, gaming, evga, asus, amazon
NVIDIA partners launched their new GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics cards yesterday, and we checked out a pair of these in our review and found these new TU116-based cards to offer excellent performance (and overclocking headroom) for the price. Looking over Amazon listings today here is everything available so far, separated by board partner. We've added the Boost Clock speeds for your reference to show how these cards are clocked compared to the reference (1770 MHz), and purchases made through any of these Amazon affiliate links help us out with a small commission.
In any case, this list at least demonstrates the current retail picture of NVIDIA's new mainstream Turing GPU on Amazon, so without further preamble here are all currently available cards in alphabetical order by brand:
ASUS
ASUS Phoenix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC
- Boost Clock: 1815 MHz
- $284.99 on Amazon.com
ASUS Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC
- Boost Clock: 1830 MHz
- $309.99 on Amazon.com
ASUS Strix Gaming GTX 1660 Ti OC
- Boost Clock: 1890 MHz
- $329.99 on Amazon.com
EVGA
EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XC Black Gaming
- Boost Clock: 1770 MHz
- $279.99 on Amazon.com
EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XC Gaming
- Boost Clock: 1845 MHz
- $289.99 on Amazon.com
GIGABYTE
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G
- Boost Clock: 1800 MHz
- $279.99 on Amazon.com
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Windforce OC 6G
- Boost Clock: 1845 MHz
- $289.99 on Amazon.com
MSI
MSI GTX 1660 Ti VENTUS XS 6G OC
- Boost Clock: 1830 MHz
- $289.99 on Amazon.com
MSI GTX 1660 Ti ARMOR 6G OC
- Boost Clock: 1860 MHz
- $299.99 on Amazon.com
MSI GTX 1660 Ti GAMING X 6G
- Boost Clock 1875 MHz
- $309.99 on Amazon.com
ZOTAC
ZOTAC Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
- Boost Clock: 1770 MHz
- $279.99 on Amazon.com
Already we are seeing many cards offering factory overclocks, ranging from a small 30 MHz bump at $279.99 from GIGABYTE (GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G, 1800 MHz Boost Clock) to 100 MHz+ from the MSI GTX 1660 Ti GAMING X 6G (1875 MHz Boost Clock) we reviewed at $309.99.
We will update the list as additional cards become available on Amazon.
The TU116 GPU and First Look at Cards from MSI and EVGA
NVIDIA is introducing the GTX 1660 Ti today, a card build from the ground up to take advantage of the new Turing architecture but without real-time ray tracing capabilities. It seems like the logical next step for NVIDIA as gamers eager for a current-generation replacement to the popular GTX 1060, and who may have been disappointed with the launch of the RTX 2060 because it was priced $100 above the 1060 6GB, now have something a lot closer to a true replacement in the GTX 1660 Ti.
There is more to the story of course, and we are still talking about a “Ti” part and not a vanilla GTX 1660, which presumably will be coming at some point down the road; but this new card should make an immediate impact. Is it fair to say that the GTX 1660 Ti the true successor to the GTX 1060 that we might have assumed the RTX 2060 to be? Perhaps. And is the $279 price tag a good value? We will endeavor to find out here.
RTX: Off
It has been a rocky start for RTX, and while some might say that releasing GTX cards after the fact represents back-peddling from NVIDIA, consider the possibility that the 2019 roadmap always had space for new GTX cards. Real-time ray tracing does not make sense below a certain performance threshold, and it was pretty clear with the launch of the RTX 2060 that DLSS was the only legitimate option for ray tracing at acceptable frame rates. DLSS itself has been maligned of late based on a questions about visual quality, which NVIDIA has now addressed in a recent blog post. There is clearly a lot invested in DLSS, and regardless of your stance on the technology NVIDIA is going to continue working on it and releasing updates to improve performance and visual quality in games.
As its “GTX” designation denotes, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti does not include the RT and Tensor Cores that are found in GeForce RTX graphics cards. In order to deliver the Turing architecture to the sub-$300 graphics segment, we must be very thoughtful about the types and numbers of cores we use in the GPU: adding dedicated cores to accelerate Ray Tracing and AI doesn’t make sense unless you can first achieve a certain level of rendering performance. As a result, we chose to focus the GTX 1660 Ti’s cores exclusively on graphics rendering in order to achieve the best balance of performance, power, and cost.
If the RTX 2060 is the real-time ray tracing threshold, then it's pretty obvious that any card that NVIDIA released this year below that performance (and price) level would not carry RTX branding. And here we are with the next card, still based on the latest Turing architecture but with an all-new GPU that has no ray tracing support in hardware. There is nothing fused off here or disabled in software with TU116, and the considerable reduction in die size from the TU106 reflects this.
Continue reading our review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics card!
PC Perspective Podcast #532 - EVGA NU Audio, Radeon VII Pro Drivers, and DLSS
Subject: General Tech | February 14, 2019 - 05:30 PM | Jim Tanous
Tagged: sound card, radeon viii, podcast, Nu Audio, hyperx, evga, encrypted storage, DLSS, battlefield V, audiophile
PC Perspective Podcast #532 - 2/13/2019
This week we take a look at a high-end audio card from EVGA, a USB flash drive with built-in hardware encryption, and new gaming mouse from HyperX, the latest NVIDIA and AMD driver updates, and GTX 1660 Ti rumors.
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Check out previous podcast episodes: http://pcper.com/podcast
Show Topics
00:07:14 - Review: EVGA NU Audio Card
00:26:26 - Review: iStorage datAshur Pro Encrypted USB Drive
00:32:41 - Review: HyperX Pulsefire Core Gaming Mouse
00:36:40 - News: AMD Radeon Adrenalin 19.2.2 Driver Update
00:42:04 - News: AMD Pro Driver Support for Radeon VII
00:47:18 - News: NVIDIA DLSS Driver & Battlefield V
00:59:07 - News: Microsoft Wants You to Dump Internet Explorer
01:03:12 - News: GTX 1660 Ti Spec Rumors
01:15:53 - Picks of the Week
Picks of the Week
Jeremy: 3D-Printed Rubber Band Gun
Josh: Cheap 1TB SATA SSD
Jim: Top Gun
Sebastian: Top Secret!
Today's Podcast Hosts
Sebastian Peak
Josh Walrath
Jeremy Hellstrom
Jim Tanous
PC Perspective Podcast #528 - RTX 2060, EVGA Nu Audio, and our CES Roundup
Subject: General Tech | January 12, 2019 - 12:02 PM | Jim Tanous
Tagged: video, sound card, ryzen 3, RTX 2060, radeon vii, podcast, evga, ces 2019
PC Perspective Podcast #528 - 1/11/2019
We're a little bit delayed this week due to CES, but we're back in action and ready to talk about the GeForce RTX 2060 review, some new Corsair gaming mice, AMD's big Ryzen and Radeon announcements, an awesome new sound card from EVGA, G-SYNC compatibility with FreeSync monitors, and more!
Subscribe to the PC Perspective Podcast
- iTunes: Audio / Video
- Google Play
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- Direct Download (01:51:37)
Check out previous podcast episodes: http://pcper.com/podcast
Today's Podcast Hosts
Sebastian Peak
Josh Walrath
Jim Tanous
Show Topics
00:00:35 - Review: GeForce RTX 2060
00:16:35 - Review: New Corsair Gaming Mice & Slipstream
00:21:20 - News: AMD CES Announcements
00:38:38 - News: AMD 2019 GPU Refresh
00:42:31 - News: GeForce RTX Mobile
00:49:21 - News: ASUS TUF AMD Gaming Laptops
00:52:50 - News: EVGA Nu Audio Sound Card
01:00:43 - News: Killer E3000 2.5Gbps NIC
01:10:26 - News: ASUS ProArt 1,000-Zone Backlight Display
01:16:04 - News: HyperX Cloud Orbit S & QuadCast
01:25:01 - News: Phison PCIe Gen4 NVMe Controller
01:28:52 - News: be quiet! White Cases & Slim CPU Coolers
01:32:33 - News: NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible Displays
01:42:24 - Picks of the Week
01:49:04 - Outro
Picks of the Week
Josh - Acer Predator X34 Ultrawide Monitor
Jim - DockCase Adapter for MacBook Pro
Sebastian - Star Trek: Phase II
EVGA Introduces Nu Audio for Life Like Sound from your PC
Subject: General Tech | January 8, 2019 - 12:50 PM | Sebastian Peak
Tagged: sound card, pcie, evga, DAC, ces 2019, CES, Audio Note, audio, amp, AK4493
EVGA has announced a brand new product offering for enthusiasts, but this PCI Express device is not a graphics card - it's a premium sound card. And yes, I know that many people have written off audio boards in the era of ubiquitous motherboard audio, but if you are at all interested in quality audio and have ever looked into external DACs and headphone amps the Nu Audio card is shaping up to be a fantastic alternative to external component solutions.
The product is a result of a partnership with UK-based Audio Note, a high-end audio equipment manufacturer that emphasizes technology and internal component quality in their designs, and the design of the Nu Audio card was made to those standards. EVGA says that is the pursuit of life-like sound that inspired this card, and their efforts have resulted in something that would be completely at home in an audiophile setting, RGB effects notwithstanding (yes, it has RGB!).
Ok, so what is this exactly, and why is it any different from other PCIe sound cards? This is not your typical DSP-driven surround audio solution, and truly the emphasis is on 2-channel stereo audio reproduction. Reading over the specs this begins to look more like an audiophile product, with native DSD support and PCM audio up to 24-bit 384 kHz - and dual clock generators for native 44.1 and 48 kHz-based sample rates. Component choices were made to improve audio quality through the signal chain and to the output, with some impressive specs:
Premium Components:
- DAC: AKM AK4493
- ADC: AKM AK5572
- OP-AMP (Headphone): ADI OP275
- OP-AMP (Line Out): ADI AD8056
- Capacitors: WIMA, Audio Note(UK), Nichicon
- Power Regulators: Texas Instruments TPS7A47/TPS7A33 ultralow-noise power solution
The demo in the EVGA suite featured a nice setup featuring some of the entry-level Audio Note components, showcasing hi-fi music playback from lossless files on a PC. It was quite impressive considering the sound card was fed directly into the integrated amp, and on display were also such features as separate analog control of the volume output (the internal amp can be controlled independently of the sound level in Windows), and the integrated RGB lighting that dynamically respond to music playback.
The Nu Audio sound card will retail for $249 when it launches, specifics on release date to follow.
Podcast #523 - RX 590, 860 QVO, Drobo 8D
Subject: General Tech | November 29, 2018 - 12:32 PM | Jim Tanous
Tagged: Z390, windows 10, Samsung, rx 590, podcast, gigabyte, EVGA SuperNOVA, evga, ECS, drobo, amd, 860 QVO
PC Perspective Podcast #523 - 11/28/18
Our podcast this week features reviews for the new AMD Radeon RX 590, Drobo 8D, the Samsung 860 QVO, a new fanless mini PC, and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
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Hosts: Jim Tanous, Allyn Malventano, Sebastian Peak, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom
Peanut Gallery: Alex Lustenberg, Ken Addison
Program length: 2:15:34
Podcast topics of discussion:
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Merch! http://joshtekk.com/
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Week in Review:
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For a limited time, get 3 months of Audible for just $6.95 a month: audible.com/PCPER or text PCPER to 500500.
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News items of interest:
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Picks of the Week:
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Jeremy: It’s better than bad, it’s Alexa on Big Mouth Billy Bass
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Allyn: Ring Alarm deals on Amazon (8 piece kit cheaper than 5 piece kit)
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Sebastian: Make all of your pixels perfect
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Closing/Outro
One EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti XC Allegedly Catches Fire
Subject: Graphics Cards | November 16, 2018 - 03:04 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: RTX 2080 Ti, rtx, nvidia, geforce, fire, evga, 2080 Ti
On HardForums, there was a report (with several photos) of an EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti that abruptly caught fire and, as you might expect, stopped working. It turns out that the damage is reasonably localized, so Allyn and I compared those photos with ones from an xDevs teardown in hopes to pinpoint the most likely component. We did not have that specific card in the office.
Again, this is just our best guess from images over the course of about a half hour.
Image Credit: shansoft at HardForums
Image Credit: xDevs
Image Credit: xDevs
We marked the center of carnage with a red X on both images, which correspond to opposite sides of the PCB. As you can tell… there’s not much there. On the one side, there is an R005 resistor and what looks like two small capacitors. Capacitors, which store energy like batteries, can explode, but they look to be too small to have caused that damage. On the other side, there are a pair of 1R0 1818 inductors, another component that appears to be a capacitor, and four metal solder pads.
Our current best guess, and it’s just a guess, is that something overloaded the card (such as a shorted power phase elsewhere on the card) and that section just happened to be the part that lit up like a fuse. It wasn’t as cut and dry as we were hoping from the start (such as if we saw a giant capacitor with nothing around it) but it doesn’t look like, as some sites are saying, that the VRAM overheated or that the GPU die was defective.
Introduction and Features
Introduction
EVGA has one of the largest selections of PC power supplies on the market, which currently range from 400W all the way up to 1600W. The G1 Series has been around for several years and continues to be very popular. The latest iterations adds a plus + to the name along with several enhancements. We will be taking a detailed look at the EVGA SuperNOVA 1000W G1+ power supply in this review.
