Chinese technology site Expreview has published the first hands-on look at the Moore Threads MTT S80 GPU (opens in new tab). On paper, this new graphics chip appears to be well-specified. However, in these early benchmarks, performance is erratic to say the least. If you were hoping for a low-cost GPU that would save us from crazy graphics card prices, this is not it. But it is still intriguing.

The key specs of the MTT S80 actually look promising: it is manufactured in 7nm technology, has 4,096 so-called MUSA cores, 128 tensor cores, and 16GB of GDDR6 running at 256 bits. In total, this means 14TFLOPS of computing power. Additionally, this is also the world's first GPU with a PCI Express 5.0 interface.

As for the price, Expreview puts it at about the equivalent of $400 with the Asus TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS D4 motherboard bundled; minus the Asus motherboard, it could be a sub-$300 graphics card.

This compares well with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3060 (open in new tab), which has 3,584 CUDA cores and 12GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus for $350+. It is priced at $350 or more. Of course, core counts cannot be compared across vendors. However, the RTX 3060 has only 12.7 TFLOPS. So the Chinese chip has superior theoretical shader power. Interesting.

In addition, Moore Threads (opens in new tab) was founded by Zhang Jianzhong, Nvidia's former global VP and GM of China, along with other former Nvidia employees, Microsoft, Intel and AMD. The company also reportedly raised about $300 million in investment capital last year.

Similarly, the design of the MTT S80 PCB looks plausible. In other words, this new chip walks like a gaming GPU and talks like a gaming GPU. Can it actually replace expensive AMD and Nvidia graphics cards by gaming like a gaming GPU?

Apparently not; Expreview has not exactly gone to town on comparative figures. In the old 3DMark06 DX9 benchmark, the MTT S80 was beaten by the RTX 3060, with the latter being over 150% faster at both 1080p and 4K. In the slightly more recent Unigine Valley 1.0 test, the results are not much better: at 1080p, the RTX 3060 is 100 percent faster; at 4K, it is over 200 percent faster; at 4K, it is over 150 percent faster.

Nevertheless, Expreview found that this GPU can run real PC games at reasonable frame rates. For example, League of Legends recorded 128 fps at 4K with maximum detail. Unfortunately, no comparative figures were provided for the RTX 3060. However, one might expect around 160 fps with the RTX 3060.

Furthermore, the MTT S80 looked decent in narrow composite performance tests such as fill rate. All of this makes the MTT S80 reminiscent of Intel's disappointing Arc graphics. (Open in new tab) The hardware seems fine. The software and drivers, however, are a bit disappointing.

Like the Intel Arc, the Moore Threads MTT S80 is not the low-cost savior we've been waiting for in this day and age, despite its promise of RTX-beating TFLOPS performance for under $300. But the good news is that someone is trying to join AMD and Nvidia's private graphics party. And not just Intel. If they polish their drivers, maybe, just maybe. At least it's fun to hope for.