China's first 6nm GPU boots up, targets performance parity with RTX 4060

[zohaibahd]

Why it matters: China's ambitious drive toward semiconductor independence may have just reached a new milestone. A Shenzhen-based startup, Lisuan Technology, has officially powered on its first homegrown 6nm graphics card, the G100. While full specs are still under wraps, the company claims this chip aims to deliver performance on par with Nvidia's RTX 4060. That's a lofty goal for a first-gen product from a new player.

Lisuan was founded in 2021 by a crew of ex-Silicon Valley GPU veterans and is a part of the new wave of Chinese chipmakers like Moore Threads and Biren, which are trying to close the gap with the Western giants. The G100 is unique because it's not based on licensed IP from companies like Imagination. Instead, it's built on Lisuan's in-house "TrueGPU" architecture, making it a clean-slate design.

The announcement comes from the company's official WeChat handle. It says the G100 supports modern graphics APIs, including DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6, suggesting it's geared toward gaming and general-purpose GPU workloads. There's also talk of generous onboard memory and power consumption that's "reasonable," though specifics haven't been made public yet.

What we do know is that the chip is reportedly fabbed on a 6nm process. Tom's Hardware highlights that US export restrictions likely mean it was manufactured by SMIC, China's most advanced foundry.

Lisuan's road here hasn't been smooth. Originally aiming for a 2023 launch, the startup hit financial and supply-chain turbulence and even nearly went under last year. It was only after the parent company Dongxin Semiconductor injected $27.7 million that development could continue. Now, with the first chips in hand, Lisuan has entered the phase of hardware validation, driver integration, and risk-trial production.

This next stage is critical, as real-world performance will depend on driver optimization and compatibility with major operating systems and game engines. We should have some verified numbers soon enough as early production samples are expected to reach partners by the end of the year. Mass production has been tentatively scheduled for 2026, assuming no major respins or yield issues arise.

Of course, matching the RTX 4060 is a bold target. Nvidia, AMD, and Intel have decades of experience and have poured huge amounts of money into R&D. But if Lisuan can get even close with its first GPU, it'll be a significant step forward for China's semiconductor ambitions.

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China's first 6nm GPU boots up, targets performance parity with RTX 4060

 

[Axeia]

Knowing how these claims typically go. It'll likely to be closer to GTX 1060 or maybe RTX 3050 performance.
That however would still be decent. A completely new player and a non-US one could be good news for pricing although from what I've read so far from SMIC is that their yields are so poor it's more of a "See can we do this" rather than actually leading to a mass of cheap products.
Then again, it's something they can rapidly iterate upon with some luck.

It does seem the US sanctions and restrictions will have the opposite effect. Rather than preventing China from advancing in technology and capability they're barely impacted whilst simultaneously rapidly increasing their independence and becoming a competitor.
At least until it actually leads to war for us end-consumers that's likely just good news for prices. Profit margins/evaluations like NVIDIAs shouldn't be sustainable.

 

[takaozo]

Real independent testing...until then only "claims".

 

[opckieran]

Real independent testing...until then only "claims".

To anyone who thinks poorly of nVidia for putting pressure on tech outlets, the CCP will be an entirely different beast.

 

[GABulldog]

All created with stolen technology.

 

[Eldrach]

All created with stolen technology.

Everyone steals from eachother in the Tech world - name of the game, you just have to change it to a point where it’s not a direct patent infringement.
More competition in the GPU market is a 100% good thing at this point. We’re rapidly approaching the treshold where Nvidia will stop producing consumer gpu’s - we need other companies to take over the torch

 

[NotYourITguy]

Everyone steals from eachother in the Tech world - name of the game, you just have to change it to a point where it’s not a direct patent infringement.
More competition in the GPU market is a 100% good thing at this point. We’re rapidly approaching the treshold where Nvidia will stop producing consumer gpu’s - we need other companies to take over the torch

Engaging in sustained global espionage campaigns specifically targeting big tech companies isn't exactly what EU and US businesses do though. That's reserved to government functions. In China there is no separation between big business and big government when it comes to IP theft.

 

[SRB]

Everyone steals from eachother in the Tech world - name of the game, you just have to change it to a point where it’s not a direct patent infringement.
More competition in the GPU market is a 100% good thing at this point. We’re rapidly approaching the treshold where Nvidia will stop producing consumer gpu’s - we need other companies to take over the torch

Ah, OK. So theft of IP should be considered good, and in fact, if it increases competition in order to reduce the prices you pay for something you use, IP theft is welcome.

The new morality.....stealing is fine as long as it's done for the right reasons!

 

[SRB]

Knowing how these claims typically go. It'll likely to be closer to GTX 1060 or maybe RTX 3050 performance.
That however would still be decent. A completely new player and a non-US one could be good news for pricing although from what I've read so far from SMIC is that their yields are so poor it's more of a "See can we do this" rather than actually leading to a mass of cheap products.
Then again, it's something they can rapidly iterate upon with some luck.

It does seem the US sanctions and restrictions will have the opposite effect. Rather than preventing China from advancing in technology and capability they're barely impacted whilst simultaneously rapidly increasing their independence and becoming a competitor.
At least until it actually leads to war for us end-consumers that's likely just good news for prices. Profit margins/evaluations like NVIDIAs shouldn't be sustainable.

I'm still not sure why anyone believes the Chinese about anything. I remember not that long ago that DeepSeek was announced, running on home grown AI hardware. It cratered Nvidia stock as well as every other tech company. That was until we found out it was actually running on Nvidia hardware.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks Nvidia's hardware is so superior. Last gen, AMD's hardware ran with Nvidia's hardware pretty much on a like for like basis (Except for RT, which is NOT used for AI). Nvidia just has the money and market share to throw more shaders and wattage to make a card bigger and badder than anyone else. Blackwell is a monster of an AI chip that requires liquid cooling, and it's own power plant to run. CUDA is why Nvidia is winning, and as soon as they get their hardware straight, which could take some time still, They'll just make it so they run CUDA too, and that will be Nvidia loses out. AMD almost completed a translation layer for CUDA, but were so afraid of the lawsuit, the dropped the developer writing it and said "never mind". The Chinese will have no such fears.

 

[Liranan]

Engaging in sustained global espionage campaigns specifically targeting big tech companies isn't exactly what EU and US businesses do though. That's reserved to government functions. In China there is no separation between big business and big government when it comes to IP theft.

That is exactly what the CIA and NSA do by installing backdoors in software and hardware (e.g. Cisco routers). There have been quite a few diplomatic spats between the US and Germany due to the US stealing technology and patenting it before the original German inventors could. But you wouldn't know, living behind your Iron Curtain., thinking that Edison invented the light bulb, without realising that he stole it.

 

[Liranan]

I'm still not sure why anyone believes the Chinese about anything. I remember not that long ago that DeepSeek was announced, running on home grown AI hardware. It cratered Nvidia stock as well as every other tech company. That was until we found out it was actually running on Nvidia hardware.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks Nvidia's hardware is so superior. Last gen, AMD's hardware ran with Nvidia's hardware pretty much on a like for like basis (Except for RT, which is NOT used for AI). Nvidia just has the money and market share to throw more shaders and wattage to make a card bigger and badder than anyone else. Blackwell is a monster of an AI chip that requires liquid cooling, and it's own power plant to run. CUDA is why Nvidia is winning, and as soon as they get their hardware straight, which could take some time still, They'll just make it so they run CUDA too, and that will be Nvidia loses out. AMD almost completed a translation layer for CUDA, but were so afraid of the lawsuit, the dropped the developer writing it and said "never mind". The Chinese will have no such fears.

I don't know why anyone believes the US, or west in general, when it comes to anything.

NVIDIA and Intel are both liars and manipulate reviewers and the market. Karma will catch up to NVIDIA, just as it has done to Intel.

 

[Benses]

I don't know why anyone believes the US, or west in general, when it comes to anything.

NVIDIA and Intel are both liars and manipulate reviewers and the market. Karma will catch up to NVIDIA, just as it has done to Intel.

You do realize that anyone can do the benchmarks see the same results. Keep posting your anti-west comments and maybe someday you’ll make a good point.

 

[OortCloud]

I'm only surprised it has taken China so long, especially given how much is made there.

 

[godrilla]

Throwback Saturdays.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-i...stry-best-in-ai-acceleration-for-vision-tasks
Promises, Promises.
I don't understand why anyone believes in a source with no independent journalism and only state sponsored ones?

 

[candle86]

That is exactly what the CIA and NSA do by installing backdoors in software and hardware (e.g. Cisco routers). There have been quite a few diplomatic spats between the US and Germany due to the US stealing technology and patenting it before the original German inventors could. But you wouldn't know, living behind your Iron Curtain., thinking that Edison invented the light bulb, without realising that he stole it.

your a CCP plant arn't you, why do we allow the CCP to post on western media, I frankly think your entire country should be banned from the internet, the cables cut and you left adrift in your nonsense.

 

[Cocojambo13]

Throwback Saturdays.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-i...stry-best-in-ai-acceleration-for-vision-tasks
Promises, Promises.
I don't understand why anyone believes in a source with no independent journalism and only state sponsored ones?

You have no idea, China advances at a rapidly fast pace and USA is not ready.

 

[ChipBoundary]

Knowing how these claims typically go. It'll likely to be closer to GTX 1060 or maybe RTX 3050 performance.
That however would still be decent. A completely new player and a non-US one could be good news for pricing although from what I've read so far from SMIC is that their yields are so poor it's more of a "See can we do this" rather than actually leading to a mass of cheap products.
Then again, it's something they can rapidly iterate upon with some luck.

It does seem the US sanctions and restrictions will have the opposite effect. Rather than preventing China from advancing in technology and capability they're barely impacted whilst simultaneously rapidly increasing their independence and becoming a competitor.
At least until it actually leads to war for us end-consumers that's likely just good news for prices. Profit margins/evaluations like NVIDIAs shouldn't be sustainable.

Ummm...I don't care HOW much profit Nvidia or any other tech company makes, as long as they aren't China. The overwhelming majority of the population of the planet will not buy their cards, regardless of performance or price. Hell, I wouldn't take a Chinese card if it was $50 had a 200% performance boost over a 5090.