All posts tagged: GPU

I unlocked Nvidia’s professional GPU features on my consumer graphics card

I unlocked Nvidia’s professional GPU features on my consumer graphics card

Published by skeptic

Nvidia has maintained both a popular consumer and professional lineup for its GPUs for the longest time. While these GPUs might share the same underlying architecture, that’s about where the similarities end. Professional-grade Nvidia cards use specialized, signed Nvidia drivers, which “unlock” additional features. This led me down a rabbit hole, and I emerged with a solution to split my aging GTX 1050 Ti into multiple vGPUs to use with a virtual machine. Unfortunately, as you’ll soon find out, this is not an intuitive process and has severe hardware restrictions. Related Your Linux PC can handle HDMI 2.1 — the law is what’s holding it back When proprietary is practical. So, how does vgpu_unlock work? And a bit of a history lesson Amir Bohlooli / MUO There have been numerous attempts to crack this lock wide open, perhaps most notably DualCoder’s (Dual95) vgpu_unlock on GitHub. Essentially, it works by hooking code during the Nvidia kernel module compilation process you’d see at installation. After the script runs, it “tricks” the host system into believing you have …

I tested the same GPU over USB4 and Thunderbolt 3, and the performance gap is way bigger than you’d expect

I tested the same GPU over USB4 and Thunderbolt 3, and the performance gap is way bigger than you’d expect

Published by skeptic

External GPUs are strange beasts. In theory, they sound like the perfect plug-and-play setup and are great if you want to use one device for everything. However, spend a little time with them, and you’ll quickly realize there are some severe limitations. The biggest bottleneck is Thunderbolt speeds, and each generation behaves differently. While I much prefer mydock (since it has extra ports and a nice enclosure), I ultimately switched to my hacky USB4 dock because the performance gap was too large to ignore. Related I plugged a desktop GPU into my laptop’s M.2 slot and it actually worked PCIe everything! A look at both setups A janky DIY dock versus a proper enclosure Two very different kinds of enclosures were used for this particular experiment. The first was your more or less regular, run-of-the-mill Thunderbolt 3-based eGPU enclosure. This particular one was from Acasis and uses the Intel JHL7440 chipset, also known as Titan Ridge. As for the second dock, it’s more of a DIY project. Essentially, it is an Oculink-to-USB4 adapter that uses …

Nvidia’s forgotten GPU became the most popular card on Steam, but not for the reason you’d think

Nvidia’s forgotten GPU became the most popular card on Steam, but not for the reason you’d think

Published by skeptic

When it launched in 2021, the RTX 3060 didn’t land well, largely because it failed to deliver the “wow” factor its other 30-Series family members did. Despite its solid 12GB of VRAM, which is considerable for 1440p gaming even to date, the RTX 3060 missed the mark because of its weaker GPU core and lower bandwidth, which limited its ability to use that VRAM. Fast-forward to 2026, and the RTX 3060 has finally gotten the flowers it deserves, becoming the most-used GPU on Steam, according to its latest Hardware Survey of August 2026. Even though it is still one of the best 1080p/1440p gaming GPUs in an era when even budget cards are crossing the $500 threshold, the real reason for its rise in fame isn’t gaming, but the same reason why memory prices are through the roof. Related I enabled a hidden Windows GPU mode, and my games run smoother now Your GPU is probably communicating the slow way — here’s how to fix it in 5 minutes. The RTX 3060 has aged far …

How to install Nvidia DLSS 5 on almost any RTX GPU in minutes

How to install Nvidia DLSS 5 on almost any RTX GPU in minutes

Published by skeptic

Nvidia’s unreleased DLSS 5 is already circulating in the PC modding scene, and you can try its neural-rendering effects on just about any Nvidia RTX GPU without waiting for the official rollout. A free, open-source, community-made utility that uses RenoDX and ReShade to install the necessary files, back up a game’s original DLSS components, and restore them if anything breaks. I’ve tested the idea on an HP Omen Transcend 14 with an RTX 4060, but this is not a conventional DLSS update. It’s an unofficial, experimental runtime with inconsistent results, a steep performance penalty, and no guarantee that it will work in every game. Related Hyprland on Nvidia isn’t as broken as everyone says I spent a day trying to break Hyprland on my Nvidia gaming laptop and mostly just broke my patience instead How Nvidia DLSS 5 leaked through NBA 2K27 The leaked DLSSNR runtime is what makes this possible Image by Jayric Maning –no attributions required DLSS 5 wasn’t supposed to be public yet. Nvidia had teased the technology as part of its …

iPhone 18 Pro Chip Leak Indicates Major GPU and Memory Bandwidth Improvements

iPhone 18 Pro Chip Leak Indicates Major GPU and Memory Bandwidth Improvements

Published by skeptic

An alleged solder joint diagram for Apple’s A20 Pro chip suggests the processor will deliver a number of significant upgrades, including a seven-core GPU, a wider memory interface, and a larger L2 cache for its efficiency cores. The claims come from a Weibo user who says the layout was reconstructed by mapping the chip’s solder ball positions and overlaying them with die level images to sketch out where each block of the processor sits. According to the post, the resulting outline points to a two and four core CPU configuration and a seven core GPU, with the top of the die housing the GPU and the CPU occupying the center. Based on the layout, the leaker expects the A20 Pro’s efficiency cores to share an 8MB L2 cache, up from 6MB on the A19 Pro, while the performance cores retain their existing 16MB L2 cache. The size of the shared system level cache is not yet known, but the leaker believes it is unlikely to shrink given the chip’s new image signal processor and neural …

Nvidia’s AI advantage is moving beyond the GPU

Nvidia’s AI advantage is moving beyond the GPU

Published by skeptic

Before this week, the dominant story about Nvidia went something like this: For the first few years of the AI boom, Nvidia was the only source for state-of-the-art GPUs, which became immensely profitable as the industry scaled out. In the last few years, hyperscalers like Amazon and Google have started building their own chips, and Nvidia is no longer the only game in town, leading many investors to wonder how durable its advantage really is. It’s a compelling story, and mostly true. After growing its market cap 10x between the start of 2023 and mid-2025, Nvidia shares have been on a more modest trajectory for the past year, driven by concerns about GPU competition. A new narrative has taken shape since the company’s earnings on Wednesday and investors are starting to realize that Nvidia’s advantage goes far beyond GPUs. As AI’s compute grows into the gigawatt scale, orchestration has become an increasingly complex task. Not surprisingly, Nvidia has built much of the state-of-the-art hardware needed to handle it, giving the company a huge advantage in …

The VRAM question finally has a real answer — and it’s not what GPU marketing suggests

The VRAM question finally has a real answer — and it’s not what GPU marketing suggests

Published by skeptic

For years, VRAM has always been a major constraint for gaming. VRAM caps have grown astronomically in the past decade alone, jumping to over the baseline of 8GB, mandating some rather expensive upgrades. Still, there really hasn’t been a definite answer to the conundrum, and most of it does vary from game to game — but there is most definitely a common trend, and one I intended to find out. Armed with a beefy Radeon 8050S iGPU, I turned to the system’s configurable VRAM limits (in the BIOS) to lay the question to rest for good. Related Your hardware’s real performance is locked behind BIOS settings you’ve never seen Your PC is capable of much more than you think. Meet the test laptop AI Max 390 goodness, with configurable VRAM limits I decided to take the ROG Flow Z13 (2025) out for a spin for this series of tests. My reasoning was simple: since this only has an integrated GPU (shockingly capable, equivalent to an Nvidia RTX 4060 Mobile), I could set different VRAM limits …

I enabled a hidden Windows GPU mode, and my games run smoother now

I enabled a hidden Windows GPU mode, and my games run smoother now

Published by skeptic

Now, the obvious tips and tweaks to get the most out of your PC include adjusting BIOS settings to change hardware-level configurations and Windows settings for OS-level optimizations. However, these are surface-level changes, and you can squeeze more juice from your system with some advanced adjustments. Specifically, you can change how your GPU communicates with the CPU. Traditionally, it uses shared physical lines with other components, which come with their own limitations. Instead, you can let the GPU communicate directly with the CPU via MSI mode, not to be confused with the computer hardware brand. Related I turned on Windows 11’s hidden “Ultimate Performance” mode and the boost is insane The temperatures are also about to go insane. What MSI mode actually does It gives your GPU a direct line to the CPU instead of a shared one The legacy method of communication between devices and the CPU is via IRQs, physical interrupt lines that handle multiple requests simultaneously. The CPU then sorts each request by its IRQ number and forwards it to the OS. …

Meet the startup helping Wall Street put a price on AI compute

Meet the startup helping Wall Street put a price on AI compute

Published by skeptic

The AI buildout shows no signs of slowing. And with hundreds of billions of dollars a year going into data centers and GPUs, compute has become the single biggest cost for anyone building AI products. But for all that spending, there still isn’t a straightforward way to put a price on compute — or for firms to hedge their exposure when the price changes.  Silicon Data just closed a $30 million Series A to change that. The startup aims to become the reference price for GPU rental and an index that a Wall Street futures contract would settle against. The company plans to launch its compute futures trading on the CME October 5th, pending regulatory approval.  On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by Steve Hou, head of research at Silicon Data, to discuss the health of the AI buildout, and why the data is telling a different story than the doom and gloom headlines about depreciating chips and stalled data centers.  Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.  Source link

Your expensive GPU is probably sagging right now — here’s why it matters

Your expensive GPU is probably sagging right now — here’s why it matters

Published by skeptic

It doesn’t take much to destroy your gaming PC, and the GPU is usually the first casualty. There are several mistakes you might be making that are shortening your GPU’s lifespan, like running it on a cheap power supply, poor thermals, and more. However, the most overlooked mistake in GPU maintenance comes down to something as simple as basic physics. Modern GPUs are quite heavy and can be brought down by their own weight. Left unchecked long enough, that sag can destroy your PC’s most expensive component. Related My frame rates tanked until I disabled the one GPU setting everyone recommends Everyone said this GPU setting would improve performance, but that wasn’t necessarily true. How does GPU sag actually happen? Modern GPUs weigh more than what the PCI slot can handle GPUs are becoming incredibly powerful and power-hungry. To account for that extra power and heat draw, the card comes equipped with a massive heatsink and a three-or sometimes even a four-fan configuration. Usually, just the cooling part of a GPU occupies most of its …