mardi 24 mai 2016

Nvidia GTX 1080 Overview



NVIDIA GTX 1080
NVIDIA GTX 1080

The NVIDIA GTX 1080 is out and boy hasn't it been an interminable wait! The hype has settled down as well with the much awaited release and the benchmarks and reviews so far reflect that the GTX 1080 has left no stone unturned in furnishing the best performance of the lot. NVIDIA GTX 1080 is also the first consumer class Pascal based GPU and flaunts to be a gaming powerhouse. NVIDIA has made some noteworthy changes with the memory system and the GPU architecture itself. 

The NVIDIA GTX 1080 at its core is supposed to be the successor to the GTX 980 but NVIDIA claims that the GPU is faster than the Titan X which speaks for it potential. What astonishes me is the fact that if NVIDIA has a faster GPU in-stored what is its price going to be? The 1080 will retail at a price of $600 for the standard and $700 for the founders edition. That leads us to intuiting the price of a 1080 Ti to be somewhere around $900-$1000 which will be a serious price hike despite the performance increments. 

Nonetheless, the all new GTX 1080 from NVIDIA is a true monster and could well make us all oblivious of the price hike with its jaw-dropping performance. But is it really what NVIDIA promised? Is it really what the enthusiasts foresaw it to be? We'll get to that soon but first, lets dive into some hardware specifications. 


As you can observe from the table above, its patent that NVIDIA has made some colossal changes, most notably the Manufacturing Process and the Memory system which has been replaced by GDDR5X instead of the traditional GDDR5. The node size has been shrunk by a mammoth 12nm which brings its own benefits such as reduced temperatures, reduced TDP and a higher overclocking threshold.

The Pascal Architecture

The GP104 is the second GPU from the Pascal lineup so far. The first being the Tesla P100 (GP100), a professional Pascal counterpart for servers and HPC. In comparison to the die size of the P100 which is 610 mm², the GP104 appears minuscule with its die size sitting at 314 mm². The GPU core, has a lot in common with its predecessor Maxwell at the block level with 4 Graphics Processing clusters (GPCs) consisting of a collection of Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs), 64 Raster Operation Pipelines (ROPs) and 2 MB of L2 cache. A critical difference this time around being that nVidia has screwed in two extra SMs amounting to 5 SMs inside each GPC. Each SM containing 128 CUDA Cores and 8 TMUs which equals 2560 CUDA Cores and 160 Texture Units on a whole combined with 48 KB of L1 cache.

Each SM is paired with a PolyMorph engine which handles 
 vertex fetch, tessellation, viewport transformation, vertex attribute setup, and perspective correction. The GP104 PolyMorph Engine also includes a new Simultaneous Multi-Projection unit which renders the scene with upto 16 viewpoints eliminating defects such as warping in multi monitor setups. We won't go into the detail of the technology but its sufficient to know the advantages of SMPs.

Another crucial highlight is the all new GDDR5X memory system by Micron. The memory sports patent advantages such as a bandwidth of 320 GB/s over the 224 GB/s of its predecessor, the NVIDIA GTX 980 owing to its humongous 8 GB of GDDR5X memory clocked at a blinding 10 GHz on a 256 bit wide bus. NVIDIA has also ameliorated the Delta Colour compression by topping it up at 8:1 / 4:1 in comparison to Maxwell's ceiling of 2:1. The technique helps the GPU in reducing the byte fetch by instructing the GPU whether a delta of pixels in the image being rendered is too small for utilizing the entire bandwidth, equating to an additional 20% effective bandwidth.

The GP104 Block diagram
The GP104 Block diagram

Is this the Pinnacle of a new generation?

In my opinion, no it is not. Every generation of new GPUs is expected to have a performance bump of 20-25% over its predecessor and the GTX 1080 is no different. Their were pompous and rhetorical headlines a few months ago such as Pascal offering 10X the performance of Maxwell GPUs (Yes, we could assume that nVidia was enunciating this with reference to deep learning but they never wiped the flaunts they littered) which deteriorated to 2X relative VR performance and 1.5X relative gaming performance during the official unveil. A substantial fall, and a mind-boggling one at that.

So, in all honesty, the GTX 1080, at least to me doesn't appear like the awe-inspiring, ground breaking or revolutionary GPU. Its just another in the countless line of nVidia GPUs. Although, I've always believed criticism where necessary and appreciation where due, without taking away the slightest bit of applause that nVidia deserves for furnishing us with yet another Kingpin of the PC industry, let us be grateful to these pioneers.

NVIDIA's Async woes

Many were hoping for NVIDIA to solve their Async Compute impotence after they were mercilessly obliterated by AMD in the DX12 benchmarks that surfaced with Ashes of The Singularity and Hitman which were the only two notable DX12 games which utilized Async Shading, something which might relieve nVidia supporters.

It was believed that Pascal would finally rectify the Async Shading incapability owing to which every NVIDIA GPU suffered greatly in running DX12 games especially Hitman and AoTs where even a 390x vanquished the beast of a card that the 980 Ti is. But looks like, no efforts have been made to eradicate the trouble that the nV cards suffered because of the lack of an analog scheduler for faster context switching among compute threads, the vital reason behind why NVIDIA lagged behind in spite of possessing a greater number of Async Compute cores.

NVIDIA, apparently has shifted the locus from Async Shading to a technique called Pre-emption which prioritizes tasks such as Compute over other Graphic or data copy threads. A smart move but not an astute one, definitely not one which could fix all the trouble that NVIDIA has been toiling through. They are using an improved version of it called Pixel level Pre-Emption but the contrast is not a considerable one. In fact, in the long run Pre-emption could end up stalling the GPU pipeline in case of a data dependency conflict or time spanning compute tasks which is certainly not something you'd want to happen while running a game. So, for now it remains that NVIDIA will stick to Pre-emption with hopes to screw in an analog scheduler in the Volta lineup. This could however induce a tremendous recoil which nV might not be able to suppress when AMD's Polaris or Vega line up hits the market. AMD had earlier played a gamble and integrated Async Shaders with a fully capable analog scheduler which has paid profusely for them in the long run and hence, we can be positive about the fact that AMD will hold nothing back in pulverizing NVIDIA with an ace up its sleeve. 

GTX 1080's unimpressive DX12 run
GTX 1080's unimpressive DX12 run
The Ashes worry
The Ashes worry

Wrapping it up

The NVIDIA GTX 1080 is certainly an exceptional gaming powerhouse and is the current King of the Hill as far as gaming is concerned. Yes, there are a few shortcomings that everyone expected nVidia to sort out but there's no other way short of something ludicrous that you could ignore the sensational performance that the card boasts of. Summarizing it all, here are the :-

Pros
  • Magnificent gaming performance, upto a 70% performance bump over the 980
  • Exceptional 4k performance fetching decent Frame rates even at Ultra settings in most games.
  • An Overclocking beast, with an overclocking threshold as high as 2144 MHz on the core.
  • As cool as an arctic Polar bear while running games. You could say "It doesn't even sweat while performing such an effortless errand"

Cons

  • NVIDIA has once again failed in rectifying its previous mistake with Async Shaders.
  • You now need a code for 3-way SLI configurations which is pretty irking for multi GPU enthusiasts. 

The unexpected :-

The price is a pretty displeasing one considering its only the successor to the NVIDIA 980 and still costs $600-$700. This leaves ample room for nVidia to hike the price further on a 1080 Ti or a Pascal Titan, something which fans like us will be reasonably irked with. If AMD comes along with a Polaris / Vega GPU which could challenge the throne of the fastest gaming GPU on the planet, expect it to be a lot cheaper and that could well be an obnoxious blow to NVIDIA.

Rocket League PC/PS4 Review


Rocket League Review
Rocket League


Rocket League PC/PS4 Review


Where do I begin? Rocket League has probably been the find of the century for me. I call it a 'find' because I literally didn't know the slightest about this masterpiece. Got it on Steam for trying out after a noteworthy number of people suggested to buy the game. And boy oh boy! I've been stuck to this game ever since. 


Rocket League Gameplay

Lets begin at words about gameplay. This is neither your everyday soccer game or the mainstream Car arcade. ITS SOCCER WITH CARSRocket Racing!, and basketball and ice hockey. I had no idea that the game is about soccer with cars when I got it. As I said earlier, I got the game without having the slightest idea about it, merely as a pastime alongside GTA V. The downside being that I've barely played GTA V since then. On a serious note, the gameplay is physics based and the developers have executed it flawlessly. There's nothing you can't love about it, the community is magnitudes better in comparison to CS:GO or DOTA 2 or any of your other multiplayer games. And its competitive, no matter how good you get draining hours and hours into the game ; there'll always be a 1000 people better than you. 

Score : 10/10


What I loved the most

The thing that I love the most about this game that it costs an insignificant 20 bucks and even lesser on the Indian steam store and yet it offers you gameplay and content that could easily be worth over a $100. There's something new around the corner every moment. Its become an ESL sport now and the community is growing at an exponential rate. The devs are as assiduous as they can get. They aren't money hogs, Psyonix was someone no one had heard of a year ago and now they're demonstrating why they deserve the praise they are being thundered with. 




Rocket League DLCs

There's quite a few DLCs and they're very cheap considering the content that they offer. New cars and some fancy toppers, antennas and rims. Honestly, most people would go berserk on why additional cars cost money but the standalone game being really cheap, I'd happily leak out a few more bucks to get some good looking wheels.


Graphics

The game is based on Unreal Engine 3.0 and they are pretty decent considering that the main aim of the game is to offer you rich and competitive multiplayer gameplay and not eye candy graphics. The devs still did a more than decent job. The graphics could however be affirmed as 'sweet'.

Score - 8/10


Rocket League Review
Rocket League


Verdict

Rocket League PC/PS4 is a complete package for those who are looking for fun competitive multiplayer without having too worry too much about their adroitness at it. I'd heavily suggest that you get the game and watch a few Youtube videos to feel it out. There's a reason why this game won the Best Sports Game of the Year award and in my opinion, its up there with the best of the decade.

You can buy it from: 



Rocket League G2A
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dimanche 22 mai 2016

Beyerdynamic DTX 910 Review

Beyerdynamic DTX 910 Review


Beyerdynamic DTX 910
Beyerdynamic DTX 910

Design And Build Quality


The black coloured Beyerdynamic DTX 910 has a typical 'beyerdynamic' influence on its design and quality. DTX 910 has an open-back design and are a typical over-ear headphones. They look a lot like big ear muffs which are extremely comfortable for ears considering long hours of usage.


DTX 910 is built with a good quality of plastic, which make it sturdy and good for long run. The headband is thick, underneath, it is covered with a layer of foam. The headband has a beyerdynamic logo stamped above it, which is also the site where headphone's size adjusters are housed.

The side arms, like the headband frame, are composed of good quality plastic and notched on in the inside with single lines, indicating the size you've adjusted to. There are 8 adjustable sizes which give you plenty of headspace!

There's a 'beyerdynamic' stamping on the outside of each ear cup. The ear cups are completely round and bigger than most of the headphones.The earpads are made of some good quality foamy material which is ultra-soft and are big enough to accommodate big ears too.

The material used for earcups is really good which in no doubt is great for a long run as well as extended periods of usage!

The cord is really long (3m approximately in length) and thick. The material used for the same is of good quality. The 3.5mm audio jack is gold plated.

Sound quality is good enough to compensate for the missing Operational buttons like Volume Up & Down


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PERFORMANCE (Audio Quality)

Beyerdynamic DTX 910 have 5Hz-23kHz Frequency response. It not only gives a great crisp sound quality with natural response but also one can hear the details of the songs loud and clear. 

The DTX910 was tested with premium quality devices like Samsung Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6 and a notebook laptop HP Folio 13.
With no doubt, these headphones sounded best with the laptop. However, the bass response was best with S6 using Viper4Android, a custom Equalizer which outperformed bass!


The audio clarity was really great! Tracks were balanced well and the bass was natural most of the time. Instruments like guitars were loud and clear in most of the songs.

The DTX 910 sound reproduction quality is mechanically very robust. The sound engineering is done in such a manner that it requires a really small amount of operating voltage.
With an Impedance of 32 Ohms, the DTX 910 provides best sound quality one wouldn't expect for the given price point! These headphones are AMP-friendly! Plug-in a good AMP and you'll feel the sound enhancement in no time!

Does it Suck?

But, Having an open back design has its own Cons. Although the Audio Quality of DTX 910 outperforms most of its counterparts, it lacks NOISE CANCELLATION to the core of it. One can even hear people talking while listening to it at low volumes. If your surrounding is wheezy or you're a travel freak then DTX910 is probably not for you.
Getting headphones like Beyerdynamic DTX710, Audio Technica M30X will be a better choice if you're considering NOISE CANCELLATION!

VERDICT

The Beyerdynamic DTX 910 are a pair of headphones which not only provide ample amount of natural bass but also a good and clear sound. Cheap pricing and good build quality, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Buy IT!!