New Graphics Cards to Rain on PS5 Parade - WAN Show June 19, 2020

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: A chaotic WAN Show episode centered on leaked NVIDIA RTX 3080/3090 specs, AMD’s confirmed Ryzen XT refresh, Raspberry Pi PCIe expansion hacks, Intel’s Gen 2 Optane/SSD updates, and the surprise sale of Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot. The hosts mixed technical analysis with recurring jokes about product naming, taxes, and whether absurdly expensive hardware is actually useful.

Main Topics: Leaked NVIDIA RTX 3000-series branding and specs (Priority: 5/5): The hosts discuss leaks suggesting RTX 3080, 3090, and Titan variants, along with NVIDIA possibly dropping or reshuffling TI/super naming. They debate whether the new naming is clearer or just another confusing scheme. AMD Ryzen XT launch and StoreMI 2.0 (Priority: 5/5): AMD’s official Ryzen 5 3600 XT, Ryzen 7 3800 XT, and Ryzen 9 3900 XT lineup is covered, along with updated boost clocks, included coolers, and a rebuilt StoreMI 2.0 storage software release. Raspberry Pi 4 PCI Express expansion mod (Priority: 4/5): A hack enabling PCIe access on Raspberry Pi 4 is highlighted, with discussion of practical uses like faster networking or storage, while noting graphics cards are not viable due to BAR/address space limitations. Boston Dynamics Spot robot now for sale (Priority: 5/5): The hosts react to Spot being commercially available, reviewing the $74,500 base price, costly accessories, and potential use cases like inspection, security, or home automation—mostly as a novelty or content opportunity. Intel Tiger Lake integrated graphics and Optane updates (Priority: 4/5): Intel’s integrated graphics demo running Battlefield V on a Tiger Lake prototype is praised, and Gen 2 Optane persistent memory plus new 3D NAND SSDs are discussed as potentially important for server and memory use cases. 3D NES emulator on Steam and other oddities (Priority: 3/5): The episode closes with enthusiasm for 3D Sen, a Steam-released emulator that converts classic NES games into a voxel-style 3D presentation, plus side chatter about Cameo and other offbeat topics.

Key Arguments: NVIDIA’s product naming has long been confusing, but the rumored shift to RTX 3080/3090 may simplify things for new buyers even if it breaks old conventions. The RTX 3080 could offer near-2080 Ti class CUDA core counts at a lower price point, but NVIDIA may also simply raise prices to match the added performance. AMD’s Ryzen XT chips are incremental rather than revolutionary, but higher boost behavior and improved residency make them a sensible refresh. Including a stock cooler only really matters on lower-end CPUs; on expensive chips, buyers should generally plan to use better cooling. Raspberry Pi PCIe hacks are exciting because they enable useful upgrades like 2.5GbE or direct-attached storage, not because they turn the Pi into a GPU host. Spot is undeniably cool but wildly expensive, and the hosts struggle to identify a practical use that justifies the cost outside of demos, filming, research, or niche business workflows. Writing off an expensive purchase as a business expense does not make it free; it still consumes capital and can create tax implications and lost investment opportunity. Intel’s integrated graphics progress matters even outside gaming because better iGPU capability improves low-power laptops and general system flexibility.

Data Points: RTX 3080 CUDA cores: 4352 - Leaked spec discussion; compared to RTX 2080 Ti-class performance potential RTX 3090 CUDA cores: 5248 - Leaked spec discussion; approximately 20% more than 2080 Ti RTX 3090 memory bus: 384-bit - Leaked memory configuration mentioned with GDDR6X Ryzen 5 3600 XT price: $249 - AMD confirmed XT lineup pricing Ryzen 7 3800 XT price: $399 - AMD confirmed XT lineup pricing Ryzen 9 3900 XT price: $499 - AMD confirmed XT lineup pricing Ryzen 5 3600 XT clock speeds: 3.8 GHz base / 4.5 GHz boost - Confirmed official specs Ryzen 7 3800 XT clock speeds: 3.9 GHz base / 4.6 GHz boost - Confirmed official specs Ryzen 9 3900 XT clock speeds: 3.8 GHz base / 4.7 GHz boost - Confirmed official specs Ryzen 5 3600 XT TDP: 95W - Official power rating

Pivotal Quotes: "You can install a PCIe card in a Rasp Pi as long as you're willing to like, well, we'll talk about it later, but it ain't easy." — Host: Introducing the Raspberry Pi PCIe expansion hack "Writing off something as a business expense is not a magic wand that makes the money not actually cost you anything." — Host: Explaining why buying Spot as a business asset still has real financial cost "I think it's lame because 90 used to mean dual GPU." — Luke: Commenting on NVIDIA potentially using 3090 as a high-end product name

Implications: Buyers should expect clearer GPU branding but possibly higher prices. AMD’s XT chips are a modest refresh, while hacks like Pi PCIe expansion and Spot’s sale show continued demand for niche, highly capable hardware—even when practicality is limited.