Chinese chipmaker Loongson is preparing a new graphics processor that will be significantly faster than the current 9A1000. The Loongson 9A2000 model, according to a high-ranking company representative, will be 8-10 times more productive than its predecessor, transfers ITHome resources, and will be able to compete with Nvidia’s flagship solutions of the generation before last.
Image source: NVIDIA
The Loongson 9A2000 video card will be comparable in performance to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 model – it copes quite well with modern games, although it was released six years ago. Loongson Chairman and CEO Hu Weiwu shared information about the new project during a briefing on the company’s performance in the first half of 2024. He said that the 9A1000 and 9A2000 will exist in parallel, since they are aimed at different markets.
The Loongson 9A1000 GPU will be released by the end of the year and will be aimed at those who need an entry-level graphics card with performance similar to the AMD Radeon RX 550 – it is suitable for budget systems with minimal 3D graphics requirements. It will also offer 32 TOPS for artificial intelligence systems. The performance of the Loongson 9A2000 will be “8-10 times higher than the 9A1000” and will be “comparable to Nvidia [GeForce] RTX 2080.”
For now, the new video card does not support DX12, which “may” appear in the future. However, the top manager of the Chinese company noted that the new product has enough power to run Black Myth: Wukong, which can also work with DX11. However, it is not clear whether the developer will be able to equip it with the appropriate drivers. Tests show that the owner of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 released in 2018 at medium settings and 1080p resolution can expect 90–100 frames per second in this game with ray tracing disabled.