Bolt Graphics Unveils Zeus GPU Promising Up to 10x Higher Rendering Performance Than RTX 5090

Bolt Graphics has recently unveiled an ambitious new project, claiming to offer unprecedented performance capabilities in comparison to current flagship offerings from industry giants NVIDIA and AMD.

Bolt Graphics Launches “Zeus”: A Leap into the Future of Graphics Processing

The innovative startup, founded by Darwesh Singh in 2020 and known for its “Thunder”project showcased at CES 2024, has introduced what it describes as the most powerful consumer GPU available today—the “Zeus.”This groundbreaking graphics card aims to redefine standards for rendering, high-performance computing (HPC), and gaming.

While the launch has generated excitement, the company has yet to release its previous products. As per their official announcements, the anticipated arrival of Zeus is slated for early 2025. The company claims that Zeus offers a performance leap of approximately ten times that of the GeForce RTX 5090 in rendering tasks, and even up to twelve times better in FP64 HPC scenarios.

Zeus performance compared to RTX 5090 — Image Credit: bolt.graphics

The assertions take an astonishing turn, as Bolt Graphics claims the Zeus can deliver 300 times the performance of NVIDIA’s Blackwell B200 in electromagnetic simulation tasks. However, it is critical to note that these figures are based on “pre-silicon benchmarks in emulation.”Therefore, skepticism is warranted until the product is concretely demonstrated in action. Enthusiasts are left with many questions regarding the feasibility of such a GPU, but we must wait for its market debut to evaluate its true capabilities.

Unlike previous products such as Thunder, the features of Zeus seem almost otherworldly. This GPU features a modular design with LPDDR5X memory and accommodates two DDR5 SODIMMs, allowing for VRAM expansion up to a staggering 384 GB. Preliminary visualizations hint at a design that also integrates an RJ-45 LAN connector.

In a pioneering move for consumer-grade graphics cards, Zeus will boast dual PCI-E 5.0 x16 connectors positioned on both sides. If there are concerns regarding its power consumption—speculated to exceed 1000W—you’ll be surprised to learn that the GPU is said to require only a single 8-pin PCI-E connector, consuming just 120W.

The Zeus lineup will feature three distinct variants: a single chiplet version, a dual chiplet variant, and a quad chiplet model, with thermal design power (TDP) ratings of 120, 250, and 500W, respectively. The single-chip design is expected to deliver 77 Gigarays, while the dual and quad configurations promise 154 and 307 Gigarays with on-chip cache sizes of 128 MB, 256 MB, and 512 MB.

The ambitious specifications may seem too good to be true, leading to a healthy dose of skepticism regarding its existence and capabilities. Until we can see Zeus in action, the excitement surrounding this GPU will be tempered by doubts about its promised performance.

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