#sc learns opengl

[sensualcoder-dev]

Welp, wanted to get to transforms and get the triforce to spin, but wound up refactoring a ton of the main engine code to be more straightforward, and then got stuck trying and failing to get the scene to render correctly after the window is resized. Will continue at it tomorrow, hopefully!

For a while now I've been looking into the Homeworld 1 source code (namely the HomeworldSDL port), and I've been played around with rewriting it in C++ to make a sort of OpenHomeworld project for fun. Eventually I'd love to be able to make that and then extend it into it's own general game engine, though that's a bit of a lofty goal at this point

[usm1566]

What are the best tools for augmented reality development?

What are the best tools for augmented reality development?

Augmented reality technology has come to change the way we interact with the environment around us. Adding digitally designed objects to the real-life environment through smart devices can effectively transform every industry from education and healthcare to entertainment and gaming.

If you want to join the craze, you must first figure out what you need to do so. As a result, we've put together a list of the top augmented reality development tools.

In view of the rapid growth of the AR industry, developers and non-developers are using the most popular platforms, developer tools and software development kits (SDKs) to create outstanding AR applications and experiences. Here is a list of the top 10 augmented reality developer tools that every developer should be aware of, which should prove to be a useful resource.

Read More: Evolution of Augmented Reality in the Past, Present and Future

Five amazing tools for developing augmented reality (AR) apps

AR technology has a lot of potential and promises a lot of fascinating things in the future. AR is remaining in town and expanding his business.

Augmented reality is an improved version of the physical world achieved by providing a better experience by overlapping 3D models, animations and video into the user's real-world environment.

AR applications have the potential to transform every industry from education and training to travel and shopping. If you want to get an AR bandwagon, you have to learn to develop AR apps. The AR Software Development Kit (SDK) is crucial to the AR app development process. Here is an overview of five great SDKs for AR app development.

5 Best Augmented Reality Development Tools in 2022

1. Vuforia

The popular AR SDK, Vuforia implements computer vision technology to detect and track 3D objects in real time. It allows developers the ability to create marker-based and markerless AR experiences, and one of its highlight features is support for persistent objects.

Vuforia provides an API for multiple programming languages ​​and supports local development for iOS, Android, UPW and Unity.

Vuforia SDK is owned by PTC and is offered for free (with limited functionality) and as part of paid subscriptions.

2. ARCore

Google AR Core, a product of Google, is a powerful augmented reality app development tool that targets a wide audience by making the application compatible with ordinary smartphones rather than being limited to a high definition expensive device. Google AR Core works in Java / OpenGL, Unity as well as Anrial and is available for free. Some of the highlight features of Google

 ARCore are:

Motion tracking: Google AR Core 6DoF makes it easy to track the phone's position and orientation in real-time motion.

Understanding the environment and empowering them to measure and identify flat surfaces such as coffee tables, often with size and location.

Light Assessment: Allows the application to assess and adjust ambient lighting, making it more realistic in appearance.

Read More: Top 10 Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Applications in Business

3. ARKit

The Apple ARKit tool allows you to create applications for iOS devices. Take a look at the features and functionality of Apple's ARKit tool:

It features visual inertial odometry for environmental tracking that combines visual information from the camera using advanced computer vision analysis.

Its plane detection feature allows Apple iPhones to scan the environment and detect horizontal plane surfaces such as tables, floors, etc.

It comes with lighting projection that can detect the amount of light in the real world and allows you to adjust the level of light hitting virtual objects.

This toolkit can be used with Unity and Unreal engines.

4. Wikitude

Wikitude is a flexible AR development tool that allows developers to customise solutions and retrieve 3D objects from third-party SDKs via its own platform. Features include navigation support, distance-based scaling and localization.

Wikitude can be used for tablets and specific smart glasses for Android, iOS and Windows. Wikitude includes free trial (with watermarks) as well as paid subscription plans.

5. Kudan AR

Like Vuforia in many ways, Kudan uses simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology to create high-quality 3D graphics and identify images and objects.

Kudan has some great features like marker-based tracking, map integration and camera-relocation and supports development on Android and iOS.

Kudan also has a free version as well as a payment.

Read More: Best Facial Recognition Apps currently available on iOS and Android

The end

AR application development company in Frisco (AR) has dramatically changed how it interacts with data by increasing the scales for knowledge or information and reducing reliance on external objects such as a piece of paper or small screens. AR focuses primarily on increasing brain productivity rather than pursuing a learning curve, thereby benefiting a variety of sectors.

AR is definitely going to dictate the future, so it's time to think beyond the limit of space and innovate your business. The more effectively you communicate your business idea and message to the customer, the more involved he or she will be in your business. Therefore, a well-defined AR-enabled application will work here, hire an AR developer and grow your business like never before.

[moddersinc]

  It had been well over 2 years since the launch of Pascal when Nvidia finally dropped its successor to their very popular 10 series. Rumors lingered for months about the potential launch of Volta. We all got our hopes up when Nvidia announced the Titan V. However, it turned out to be a $3000 GPU designed for professional use and deep learning. Needless to say, this upset several people in the enthusiast community as we waited impatiently for the next generation of GTX cards.

Then, after over two years of waiting, Nvidia finally announced the RTX 2080, 2070 and 2080 TI with the 2080 ti said to be the fastest GPU Nvidia had ever produced. However, people were less than thrilled about the $1200 price tag on the 2080 TI Founder’s Edition. But the real-time ray tracing looked amazing.  So, the average gamer was still forced to play the waiting game, but not anymore.

At CES 2019, Nvidia unveiled their RTX 2060. With 1920 Cuda cores, 240 tensor cores, 30 RT cores and 6 GB of GDDR6, Nvidia claims the RTX 2060 will out perform the GTX 1070 TI. When compared to its previous generation counterpart, the 1060, they claim the 2060 is on average. 60% faster. It even launched at around $100 USD cheaper than the 1070 ti at $349.99 for the Founder’s Edition.

Now, reference cards are great and all. But as gamers and enthusiasts, we always strive for the best money can buy, or the best we can afford. Needless to say, most people who do buy a 2060, are going to go for the partner card with custom PCBs. When it comes to custom cards, Zotac makes some of the best cards on the market, especially their AMP cards. Featuring their Icestorm 2.0 cooler with three, 6mm copper heat pipes, the 2060 AMP from Zotac has the potential to be one of, if not the best 2060 on the market.

  [sc name=”sponsor” sponsor=”Zotac” product_link=”https://www.zotac.com/pk/product/graphics_card/zotac-gaming-geforce-rtx-2060-amp” product_name=”Zotac RTX 2060 AMP” ]

Specifications

GPU

GeForce RTX 2060

CUDA cores

1920

Video Memory

6GB GDDR6

Memory Bus

192-bit

Engine Clock

Boost: 1800 MHz

Memory Clock

14.0 Gbps

PCI Express

3.0

Display Outputs

3 x DisplayPort 1.4 (4096×2160@60Hz) HDMI 2.0 (3840×2160@60Hz)

HDCP Support

Yes

Multi-Display Capability

Quad Display

Recommended Power Supply

500W

Power Consumption

170W

Power Input

8-pin

DirectX

12 API feature level 12_1

OpenGL

4.5

Cooling

Dual fan

Slot Size

Dual Slot

SLI

No

Supported OS

Windows 10 / 7 x64

Card Length

209.6mm x 119.3mm x 41mm (8.3in x 4.7in x 1.61in)

Accessories

User Manual

  [section_title title=Introduction]

  [section_title title=Packaging]

Packaging

The front of the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP box has the Zotac Gaming logo on the top left-hand corner, and the AMP branding to the right.  To the bottom left, there are several of the features of the Zotac AMP 2060. Some of these features are the 6 GB of GDDR6 memory, the Zotac Icestorm 2.0 cooler, DirectX 12, Ansel and Ray-Tracing. To the right along the bottom are the GeForce RTX and Nvidia logos, as well as the 2060 branding.

  On the rear of the box, there is the GeForce RTX and Nvidia logos and the 2060 branding across the top left, and the Zotac Gaming logo to the right. Below that there is an image of the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP and a brief description of the card. Along the bottom, they list the key features of the 2060 AMP, as well as a few features of the GeForce Experience. They also have the minimum system requirements for the card, as well as the card specifications.

The inner box has the Zotac logo in the center. Inside, the Zotac 2060 AMP is wrapped in an anti-static bag and packed in a cardboard try. Personally, I prefer cards to be packed in soft foam. However, I do feel that a cardboard tray is better than hard Styrofoam.

[section_title title=A Closer Look at the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP]

A Closer Look at the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP

The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is based on the Turing TU106 GPU from Nvidia. The RTX 2060 AMP has 1920 Cuda cores,240 tensor cores, 30 RT. The reference RTX 2060 has a base clock speed of 1365 MHz and a boost clock speed of 1680 MHz. However, the Zotac 2060 AMP has a nice factory overclock, boosting to 1800 MHz out of the box. The Zotac 2060 AMP had 6 GB of GDDR6 running at 14 Gbps on a 192-bit bus and a 336 GB/s memory bandwidth.

The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is a dual 90 mm fan featuring the Icestorm 2.0 cooler from Zotac. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is a dual slot card and measures only 209.6mm x 119.3mm x 41mm, 8.3in x 4.7in x 1.61in. This is slightly smaller than the 9 inches of the reference 2060.This makes the Zotac 2060 AMP a great size for an HTPC that is also capable for serious gaming beyond just CSGO or Minecraft. In fact, Zotac says the RTX 2060 AMP will fit in 99% of systems. It’s also rather light weighing only 0.74Kg or 1.63lbs. So, unlike its bigger brother, the 2080 ti AMP Extreme, you won’t run into any sagging issues.

The Zotac 2060 AMP has a simpler design than most cards you see these days. But I don’t mean this is a negative way. The shroud and back-plate are designed with black, gray and silver. The use of neutral colors will allow the 2060 AMP to fit well in just about any color scheme. The back plate cutout is opposite the GPU die on the other side of the PCB. To one side of this cut out, near the IO, the words Live to Game are displayed prominently. Near the back of the card and taking up about a third of the backplate is a big Zotac Gaming logo.The Zotac Gaming logo is illuminated by a white LED and not RGB lighting.

The back plate is one of the more unique I’ve seen to date with a wraparound design. This gives the back of the card a grill like design to it. This not only looks good but helps to protect the fins on the cooler that would usually be exposed. It also gives the card a more enclosed look and feel to it. Almost like the shroud and back-plate are one piece.

As for connections on the Zotac 2060 AMP, its powered by a single 8-pin connector which is rated to draw up to 225 watts of power.  However, the Zotac 2060 AMP only consumes about 170 watts out of the box. Zotac recommends a minimum of a 500 watt power supply for the 2060 AMP. The Zotac The display connections consist of a single HDMI 2.0 with a maximum output of 3840 x 2160 at 60 Hz. In addition, there are three DisplayPort 1.4 with a maximum output of 4096 x 2160 at 60 Hz. Overall, the Zotac 2060 AMP can output a total of 7680 x 4320, or 8k at 60 Hz. Unlike the reference 2060, the Zotac 2060 AMP does not have the USB Type-C connector. There are no SLI fingers on the Zotac 2060 AMP since Nvidia did away with SLI on on cards below the xx80 series.

With graphics card reviews, we always do a teardown of the card. This allows us, and our readers, to see how the PCB and cooler are laid out. This also allows us to get a closer look at the components that make up the card such as the capacitors, MOSFETs, and chokes. First, you start by removing the four screws on the back of the PCB around where the actual GPU is placed.  When putting the card back together, it’s important to reassemble in a criss-cross pattern as to not put too much pressure on one side of the GPU.

The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP has thermal pads that connect the heatsink to the memory and MOSFETs directly. This is one of the many factors that help to keep the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP so cool, even under a heavy load. The memory is GDDR6 made by Samsung. Specifically its Samsung’s K4Z80325BC-HC14 GDDR6 memory with a speed of 14 Gbps. For full specifications on the memory, click here: https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/dram/gddr6/K4Z80325BC-HC14/

The Zotac 2060 AMP uses their Icestorm 2.0 cooler. The Icestrom 2.0 cooler is made up of three 6mm heat pipes and a wide array aluminum heat sink. A massive copper plate completely covers the GPU. The memory and VRMs are covered by thermal pads to help facilitate heat transfer.

Along with the wide fin array, the Icestorm 2.0 cooler has two, 90mm fans that help to dissipate heat. Each of the two static pressure optimized fans has 9 fan blades to move more air and circulate the air longer.

  [section_title title=Test System and Testing Procedures]

Test System and Testing Procedures

  Test System

Intel Core I7 8700k @ stock settings (3.7 GHz Base)

Z390 Aorus Pro

Zotac RTX 2060 AMP

32 GB of G. Skill Trident Z DDR4 3200 Cas 14 (XMP Profile #1)

Intel 512 GB SSD 6 NVMe M.2 SSD (OS)

1 TB Crucial P1 NVMe M.2 SSD (Games and Utilities)

Swiftech H320 X2 Prestige 360 mm AIO Cooler

1600 Watt EVGA Super Nova P2 80+ Platinum Power Supply

Primochill Praxis Wet Bench

Games

Battlefield V

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

FarCry 5

Final Fantasy XV

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Shadow of War

Witcher 3

Synthetic Benchmarks

3DMARK Firestrike Ultra

3DMARK Time Spy Extreme

Unigine Superposition

VRMark – Orange Room

VRMark – Cyan Room

VRMark – Blue Room

Utilities

GPUZ

Hardware Monitor

Zotac Firestorm

FurMark

All testing was done with both the CPU (8700k) and GPU at their stock settings. For the I7 8700k, it was left at its stock speed of 3.7 GHz. However, this particular chip usually boosts between 4.4 and 4.5 GHz. The one exception was when we tested the overclocking capabilities of the Zotac 2060 AMP. Although ambient temperature does vary. We do our best to keep the ambient temperature around 20°c or 70°f. Each game we tested was run three time each, and the three results were averaged out. Each benchmark was run for 120 seconds, or 2 minutes. For synthetic benchmarks, each was run three time as well. However, instead of averaging out these results, we picked the best overall result.

The charts in the gaming section show a comparison between the GTX 1070 TI FTW 2 at its ultra-preset and the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP at the games ultra-preset. The one exception was Battlefield V was tested on the games High Preset on the Zotac 2060 Amp. This was due to the game running below 30 FPS on one of the test runs. For all testing, I use the highest preset that allows the game to give a result over 30 FPS or what we would consider playable.

[section_title title=Synthetic Benchmarks]

Synthetic Benchmarks

3DMARK

3DMARK is the go-to benchmark for all enthusiasts. It covers tests for everything from tablets and notebooks to gaming laptops and the most powerful gaming machines. For this review, we tested the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP on both the DX11 4k benchmark, Firestrike Ultra and the DX12 4k benchmark, Time Spy Extreme.

For both tests,  the CPU and GPU at their stock settings. On 3DMARK Firestrike Ultra, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP achieved an overall score 4316 and a graphics score of 4124. This was slightly lower than the overall score of 4929 and graphics score of 4865 of the 1070 TI FTW2. However, in Time Spy Extreme, the DX12 benchmark, it was a different story. The 2060 AMP achieved an overall score of 3522 and a graphics score of 3511. This beat out the overall score of 3229 and graphics score of 2171 that the 1070 TI FTW2 scored.

  VR MARK

VR Mark consists of three separate tests, each more intensive on your system than the last. These tests are The Orange Room, the Cyan Room and the Blue Room. The Orange Room test is the least intense and is meant to test a system that meets the minimum hardware requirements for  VR Gaming. The Cyan Room shows the user how the use of an API with less overhead can provide the user with an great VR experience, even on less than amazing hardware. The Blue Room test is designed for the latest and greatest hardware. The Blue Room renders at a whopping 5k resolution and is designed to really push your system to the limits for an amazing VR experience.

  In all three tests, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP easily out the GTX 1070 TI FTW2. In the Orange Room benchmark, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP achieved a score of 10876. This was over 1200 points higher than the score of 9583 achieved by the GTX 1070 TI FTW2. The Cyan Room test was closer, but the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP still beat out the 1070 TI FTW2. The 1070 TI FTW2 scored 6023 compared to the 6593 of the 2060 AMP. The Blue Room  was more of the same. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP achieved a score of 2464 and the 1070 TI FTW2 scored 2098 on the Blue Room Test.

Superposition

Superposition is another GPU intensive benchmark put out by Unigine, the makers of both the very popular Valley and Heaven benchmarks. Superposition is an extreme performance and stability test for graphics cards, power supplies and cooling systems.

Superposition was the only synthetic benchmark where the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP fell behind the GTX 1070 TI FTW2. Although there are several different tests in Superposition, we ran the 4k optimized and the 8k optimized tests for this review. In the 4k optimized test the Zotac 2060 AMP achieved a score of 6152, just behind the 6240 of the 1070 TI FTW2. In the 8k optimized test, it was similar. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP scored 2571 in the 8k optimized test in Superposition. This fell short of the 2723 of the 1070 TI FTW2.

[section_title title=Gaming Benchmarks]

Gaming Benchmarks

Battlefield V

Battlefield V is a first-person shooter EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts. Battlefield V is the latest games in the Battlefield series. Battlefield V takes place during World War 2. It has both a single player and an online portion. For this review, we tested part of Battlefield V single player, War Stories. The section that was tested was the second act of the Nordlys War Story. You play a young woman who is part of the Norwegian resistance whose mission it is to save her mother and help destroy a key component the Germans need to complete their atomic bomb. Battle Fiend 5 was one of the first games to support the new Ray Tracing feature from Nvidia. This game was tested with both DXR on and DXR off. The charts show a comparison between the GTX 1070 TI FTW 2 at its ultra-preset and the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP at the games high preset. The charts show a comparison between the GTX 1070 TI FTW 2 at its ultra-preset and the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP at the games high preset.

Battlefield V was the one game that the testing wasn’t apples to apples. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP was tested on the games high preset where the 1070 TI FTW2 was tested on the games ultra preset. This was mainly due to the game being unplayable in 4k on the ultra preset with DXR and I try to benchmark each game at its highest possible setting to be playable in all  resolutions we test. Also, I no longer had access to the 1070 TI. All testing for Battlefield V was done in DX12 mode. So, as you can see from the charts, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP did very well in all resolutions on the games high preset. In 1080p, the game averaged 118 FPS and 85 FPS in 1440p. In 4k, the game averaged 46 FPS. This is under the magic number of 60, but still very playable. With DXR  turned on, it was a different story.

We tested Battlefield V on the games high preset in 1080p with DXR on. We tested all four DXR presets as well. The DXR settings are low, medium, high and ultra. As you can see from the chart, DXR really puts a strain on your system. The average FPS dropped to only 56 with DXR on low. With DXR on ultra, in 1080p, the the average was only 30 FPS. So, DXR does make the game look amazing, put it really puts a strain on your system. As for DLSS, the results were all over the place, so these results weren’t included. The only reason I could come up with is the fact DLSS is done by AI which learns over time. This is the only reason I could come up with as to why the several runs I did with DLSS enabled were so far from each other.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an action role-playing game with first-person shooter and stealth mechanics that released in 2016. Set two years after Human Revolution in 2029, the world is divided between normal humans and those with advanced, controversial artificial organs called augmentations. You take up the role as Adam Jensen, a double agent for the hacker group Juggernaut Collective, who is equipped with the latest and most advanced augmentation technology. This game is beautiful and still very demanding on your system. The section benchmarked was near the beginning of the game, after the tutorial.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a beautiful game that is very demanding on your system. Like Battlefield V, this game was also benchmarked in DX12 mode. However, this game was benchmarked on the games highest preset. In 1080p, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP averaged 92 FPS and on 1440p, it averaged 74 FPS. Both, well above 60 FPS. However, when we switched to 4k, the average dropped to just 37 FPS. This didn’t seem right, so I tested Deus Ex in 4k resolution 5 times. All were close to the same. As the charts show, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP easily beat out the 1070 TI FTW2 in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided which averaged 70 FPS in 1080p, 48 FPS in 1440p and only 26 FPS in 4k.

Far Cry 5

Far Cry 5 is the latest is the far cry series. It takes place in the fictional Hope County Montana. You play the role of the un-names deputy who’s sent to arrest Joseph Seed, the leader of the dangerous Edens Gate Cult. However, thing do not go as planned and you spend the game trapped in Hope County attempting to take out Joseph and the rest of his family as they attempt to take over the entire county. Far Cry 5 was released in 2018. Ubisoft has developed a beautiful open world with amazing visuals. However, the game is very demanding on even the most powerful systems. This game was tested with the in-game benchmark, as well as near the beginning of the game, when you first leave the bunker owned by Dutch as you attempt to clear his island of cult members.

I was very impressed with the performance of Far Cry 5 on the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP. All resolutions were tested on the games ultra preset with HD textures enabled. The 2060 AMP and the 1070TI FTW2 were very close in performance with the 2060 AMP just barely beating out the 1070 ti in this game,  They were so close, the results were in the margin of error. In 1080p, the 2060 AMP averaged 108 FPS. This was only 3 FPS above the 105 FPS average of the 1070 TI FTW2. In 1440p, the two cards were even closer with the 2060 AMP averaging 77 FPS and the 1070 TI averaging 75 FPS. In 4k, both cards averaged 40 FPS.

Final Fantasy XV

Fans of the Final Fantasy series waited well over a decade for this game to release. Final Fantasy XV is an open-world action role-playing game. You play as the main protagonist Noctis Lucis Caelum during his journey across the world of Eos. Final Fantasy XV was developed and published by Square Enix as part of the long-running Final Fantasy series that first started on the original NES back in the late 1980s. The section that was benchmarked was the first section near the start of the game, where there was actual combat.

Final Fantasy XV was one of the few games or benchmarks tested where the 1070 ti beat out the 2060 AMP. Both were tested on the games ultra preset. But again, the two cards were very close. In 1080p, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP averaged 85 FPS. In 1440p, the 2060 AMP averaged 66 FPS and in 4k, the game averaged only 37 FPS. The only resolution that you can turn RTX on for Final Fantasy XV is in 4k. With RTX on, the game wasn’t playable. However, with DLSS, it was. However, there was a noticeable downgrade in quality with DLSS enabled. So, the increase to an average of 44 FPS, to me, wasn’t worth it. I’d rather just play in 4k without RTX and DLSS.

[section_title title=Gaming Benchmarks Continued]

Gaming Benchmarks Continued

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a third-person tactical shooter game. You play as a member of the Delta Company, First Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, also known as Ghosts, a fictional elite special operations unit of the United States Army under the Joint Special Operations Command. This game takes place in a modern-day setting and is the first in the Ghost Recon series to feature an open world with 9 different types of terrain. The benchmark was run at the beginning of the first mission in the game.

In Ghost Recon Wildlands, the Zotac 2060 AMP was the clear winner over the 1070 ti. In 1080p, the Zotac 2060 AMP averaged 89 FPS, a full 30 FPS over the average of 59 put out by the 1070 TI. In 1440p, the 2060 AMP averaged 69 fps to the 46 fps average of the 1070 TI. In 4k, the 2060 AMP averaged only 40 FPS. However, it was still playable. Especially when compared to the 27 FPS average of the 1070 TI.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is set to be the third and final game of the rebooted trilogy developed by Eidos Montréal in conjunction with Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, you continue your journey as Lara Croft as she attempts to finish the life work of her father. Her in a journey that takes her from Central America to the hidden city of Paititi as she attempts to stop Trinity in their attempt to gain power. The section benchmarked was near the beginning of the first section that takes place in the hidden city. This was compared to the in-game benchmark which seems to be an accurate representation of the game play.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is another great game to benchmark, like the two Tomb Raider games that came before it.  Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested on the games ultra preset. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP did a great job in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. In 1080p, the 2060 AMP averaged 95 FPS, 10 FPS above the 85 that the 1070 ti averaged. In 1440p, the Zotac 2060 AMP averaged 62 FPS to the 56 FPS average of the 1070 TI. Even in 4k, the Zotac 2060 AMP kept Shadow of the Tomb Raider playable with an average of 32 FPS. This was just above the 29 FPS that the 1070 TI averaged.

Shadow of War

Shadow of War is an action role-playing video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the sequel to the very successful Shadow of Mordor that released in 2014 and is based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium. The games are set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in Tolkien’s fictional Middle Earth. You play again as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor that was brought back to life with unique abilities after being killed with his entire family as the start of the last game. Monolith Studios has created a beautiful open world with amazing game play and visuals.

Shadow of War is the sequel to the very successful Shadow of Mordor. Like the original, Shadow of War experiences very high spikes in FPS and very low dips. However, they aren’t that often and the game does run very smooth. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP averaged 98 FPS in 1080p, 60 FPS in 1440- and only 40 in 4k. It was still enough to beat out the 1070 ti in every resolution though.

The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 is an action role-playing game developed and published by CD Projekt. Based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. This is the third game in the Witcher Series to date and the best so far. You play as Geralt of Rivia on his quest to save his adopted daughter from the Wild Hunt. At its release in 2015, The Witcher 3 has some of the most beautiful graphics ever seen in a game, as well as some of the most demanding. Even today, almost 4 years later, the Witcher 3 still holds up very well and brings even the most powerful systems to their knees. The game was benchmarked during the hunt for and battle with the Griffin near the start of the main story.

Since its launch in 2015, the Witcher 3 has been a great benchmark, as well as an amazing game in general. We tested the Witcher 3 on the games ultra preset. The results were close for the two cards. But the Zotac 2060 AMP still came out ahead. In 1080p, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP was able to average 85 FPS. In 1440p, the 2060 AMP stayed above the magic number and averaged 63 FPS. Even in 4k, the RTX 2060 AMP was able to keep the Witcher 3 playable at an average of 39 FPS. If I remember correctly, the 980 TI FTW I had only averaged about 30-35 FPS on the Witcher 3 at its release. When the game released, a 980 ti had trouble doing that. That just shows you how far GPU technology has come in four short years.

[section_title title=Overclocking, Noise, and Temperatures]

Overclocking, Noise, and Temperatures

For overclocking, we used the Firestorm utility by Zotac. Firestorm is like other overclocking utilities. However, it has a feature that other don’t. Firestorm has an OC Scanner feature that will overclock your graphics card at the touch of a button. Your card has to support this feature and the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP does. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test this feature. Every time I tried, it just sat at the same screen for as long as I left it. I’m not sure if it was I didn’t give it long enough, if it were something I did wrong or a bug in the program. However, when the OC scanner works properly, its a great feature for those who want to overclock their card, but are a bit nervous about doing so.  Overclocking is a long and tedious process that some may not like and the OC Scanner is a great idea to save some time and get the most out of your Zotac graphics card.

The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is already a factory overclocked card. The 2060 AMP has a boost clock of 1800 MHz, 120 MHz over the 1680 MHz of the reference RTX 2060. That being said, we were able to get an additional +120 on the core and +800 on the memory. After using the Zotac Firestorm utility to overclock, the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP was able to boost to 2145 MHz.

To validate the overclock, we used FurMark GPU Stress Test. We ran the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP through FurMark for about 10 minutes. We did this at stock, as we all overclocked as far as we could push the card. The Zotac 2060 AMP, at its stock settings, idled at about 40°c and hit a max temp of 67°c. While overclocked, the Zotac 2060 AMP idles at about 42°c and maxed out at only 69°c after 10 minutes of FurMark. This seemed low to me, so I let FurMark run about another 5 to 6 minutes with the card overclocked. Still, the card never went above 70°c.

For noise testing, I used the Sound Meter Android app by ABC Apps found in the Google Play app store. So, it the noise testing wasn’t done with an actual decibel meter. However, I’ve found this app to give pretty accurate. At its stock settings, the fans ran at 40% and averaged about 28 decibels which is about as loud as a mosquito. At 75% fan speed, the Zotac 2060 AMP ran at about 32-34 decibels, about as loud as a whisper. Even at 100% fan speed, the Zotac 2060 AMP never went above 50 decibels or as about as loud as casual conversation.

[section_title title=Final Thoughts and Conclusion]

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

There are many things I can say about the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP, none of which are negative. Starting first with the aesthetics. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is a compact card for sure. Its size makes the Zotac 2060 AMP the ideal card for small form factor builds. Zotac advertises that the 2060 AMP will fit into 99% of cases, and I fully believe it. With its neutral colors of black, gray and silver, the 2060 AMP can easily fit into any build that has a specific color scheme in mind. The back plate looks great and I love that it wraps around the rear of the card This gives the PCB and the heat sink 360° of protection. It also adds to the already great look of the card. Although RGB lighting has started to grow on me, I still prefer non-RGB lighting. So, the fact the Zotac 2060 AMP has only a white LED may be a negative for some, its a huge plus for me. Again, this goes well with the neutral color scheme of the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP.

The performance of the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP was great and far exceeded my personal expectations. Where its considered a budget or mid-ranged card, I had expected it to perform as a solid card for 1080p gaming, on high to very high settings. With the exception of Battlefield V, I tested all games on their highest presets. The Zotac 2060 AMP destroyed all games at 1080p and turned out to be a solid card for 1440p gaming, even with games at their highest presets. If you’re ok with gaming at 30 frames per second, the 2060 AMP could even handle light 4k gaming. However, if you’re anything like me, you’d prefer higher frame rates at lower resolutions.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP. I love the size of the card, especially with the performance the card put out. The combination of form factor and performance makes the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP the perfect card for a home theater PC that doubles as a very capable gaming PC. As the VR Mark results show, the 2060 AMP is also a very capable card for VR gaming. I’ve heard several people say that the 2060 is a pointless card because you can get a 1070 TI cheaper. However, our results show the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP steadily beat out the 1070 TI FTW2 which launched at a higher price than the 2060 in general. Even at the time of this review, the average 1070 ti is selling for about $350 USD, used on eBay. This is only about $20 cheaper than the $369.99 USD the Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is selling for on Amazon when this review was written. Top that off with the fact you get ray-tracing features and the newer GDDR6 memory with the RTX 2060 AMP, and its a not really a hard decision. The Zotac RTX 2060 AMP is an amazing card and how Turing should have originally launched.

[sc name=”editors_choice_award”]

[sc name=”Amazon Pic_Price” product_link=”https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-Graphics-IceStorm-ZT-T20600D-10M/dp/B07MHR1Z8H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1551024288&sr=8-1&keywords=zotac+rtx+2060+amp” ]

        Zotac RTX 2060 AMP It had been well over 2 years since the launch of Pascal when Nvidia finally dropped its successor to their very popular 10 series.