In initial Geekbench tests, China's debut 6nm gaming GPU, the Lisuan G100, demonstrates performance comparable to the 13-year-old GTX 660 Ti. Featuring 32 Compute Units, 256MB of VRAM, and a 300 MHz clock speed.
A Peek at China's Homegrown 6nm GPU: Lisuan G100
The whispers of China's domestic breakthrough in the semiconductor realm are loud and clear with the emergence of the Lisuan G100, the birth of China's first 6nm GPU. A sneak peek of this bad boy surfaces on Geekbench, giving us a taste of what's cooking in this fiercely competitive tech landscape.
With its roots grounded in the TrueGPU architecture developed by Lisuan Technology, the G100 is manufactured using in-house techniques, possibly courtesy of SMIC, owing to U.S. sanctions on other foundries. With its eyes set on the mid-range gaming market, it aspires to compete with the likes of Nvidia's RTX 4060.
But here's the deal - early OpenCL benchmarks suggest the G100 is punching way below its weight, lagging behind a 13-year-old GTX 660 Ti. This underperformance can be chalked up to teething problems such as early-stage driver development, low clock speeds of 300 MHz in the tested prototype, and possibly an entry-level SKU that we haven't seen yet.
However, optimized firmware and drivers expected in retail units could catapult the G100's performance to the RTX 4060 level, as per the company's claims. The GPU boasts a hefty 32 Compute Units, though the specific core configuration and the clout of the execution units are shrouded in mystery.
With a Ryzen 7 8700G, 64GB of DDR5-4800 memory, and a Colorful Battle-AX B650M-Plus motherboard as its test bench, the G100 scored a paltry 15,524 points in OpenCL, finding itself nestled among the slowest GPUs in Geekbench's public repository.
Despite its calculus woes, the Lisuan G100 is taking baby steps toward reality. The CPU has powered up, and this benchmark is further proof that Lisuan isn't pulling any rabbits out of a hat. In the wings, it's believed to be undergoing risk production, with mass production expected to kick off somewhere between the end of this year and early next year. But there's a long way to go before it can don the cape of usable performance and stability.
Lisuan is not the only contender in this high-stakes game. Indigenous GPU manufacturer, Moore Threads, is grappling with driver issues and optimizing games, mirroring Intel's struggles with its Arc GPU. It's a tough climb for any newcomer to the GPU sphere, especially when it comes to creating a robust gaming ecosystem. We'll be keeping a keen eye on Lisuan as the development unfolds.
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The Lisuan G100, a new entrant in the mid-range gaming market, is currently facing underperformance issues in its initial stages, potentially due to driver development, low clock speeds, and an entry-level SKU. However, optimized firmware and drivers may boost its performance to compete with the RTX 4060, as claimed by Lisuan Technology.
The Lisuan G100, developed by Lisuan Technology, is one of the homegrown gadgets in China's tech industry, showcasing the country's progress in technology and competition against established brands like Nvidia.
