November 2019

Link to RGB Video

In our previous article discussing the different AMD RX 5700 XT models we raved about the performance of the SAPPHIRE RX 5700 XT NITRO+ with it’s staggering 2035 MHz boost clock speed. The NITRO+ also boasts an impressive ARGB (alpha, red, green, blue) display, which you can customize with SAPPHIRE’s NITRO Glow software designed to change lighting displays for a more personalized gaming experience. The NITRO+ also comes equipped with ARGB fans (backlit RGB underneath the fans) that create a swirl effect when all three fans are engaged. The SAPPHIRE RX 5700 XT NITRO+ has excellent performance for its low price-point ($449.99) and the display pushes the card over the top.

Link to RGB Video

The first RTX 2080 Ti card from GIGABYTE that we have carried is the GIGABYTE RTX 2080 Ti AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE. The AORUS card boasts a radiator with two 120MM RGB fans that provide advanced cooling to the powerful GPU. Check out GIGABYTE’s RGB Fusion 2.0 software utilizing an integrated intuitive user interface that provides personalized lighting effect customization in tandem with the RGB lighting on the fans. In addition, RGB Fusion 2.0 features a “gaming mode” which syncs the lighting effects with a certain selection of games to create an even more immersive gaming experience. The end result is this great looking, better performing graphics card!

Link to RGB Video

GIGABYTE smashed it out of the park with the RTX series GPUs when it comes to RGB, and our next entry is also from GIGABYTE: the GIGABYTE RTX 2060 SUPER AORUS. The card also uses RGB Fusion 2.0 and features a three fan design that utilizes GIGABYTE’s alternate spinning technology. The fans feature a truly unique tri-color RGB design that allows for multi-color lighting on each fan simultaneously. This design in conjunction with the alternate spin technology combine to create a cool warp-like effect.

Link to RGB Video

The last card on the list – and my personal favorite – is the MSI RTX 2080 Ti LIGHTNING Z. Using the MSI Dragon Center software, the LIGHTNING Z boasts a plethora of innovative lighting features. MSI created dazzling RGB lighting effects that have endless combinations, and also included popular preset effects like “color fusion”, “lightning strike”, and “magic”. Another awesome feature is the OLED panel that sits on the top of the card. The screen allows for customizable animations that work in tandem with the RGB lighting display. Animations include displays that show GPU temperature, memory usage, fan speed and more. The LIGHTNING Z features a backlit RGB design that rests behind the fans similar to the GIGABYTE AORUS card that we discussed earlier.

Starting in the mid-2010’s, streaming has quickly become one of the largest and fastest growing new forms of entertainment. What exactly is video game streaming? It is when people broadcast themselves playing video games with commentary, in either pre-recorded or live streams online. On streaming platforms like Mixer, Twitch, YouTube Gaming etc. you can see how the top players play and have some insight into their thoughts. As streaming has become more popular the platforms for viewers have grown, Twitch itself has more traffic than Netflix and HBO’s online streaming service pulling in 185 million viewers, compared to HBO’s 130 million and Netflix’s 93 million in 2016. With all these viewers top streamers like Ninja, Tfue and Shroud are able to generate large amounts of influence and money. Now let’s take a look at what they do to generate their viewership and why these particular streamers are so popular.

Richard Tyler Blevins aka Ninja is one of the streamers you may have heard of before, and for good reason. His YouTube account has over 22.2 million subscribers as of December 2019, and he has been streaming since 2011 compiling around two billion total views as of December 2019.

Ninja began his career as a professional Halo 3 player in 2009, he played for several organisations before eventually joining Luminosity Gaming in 2017. That year Ninja started to rise to fame with his win at the PUBG Gamescom Invitational Squads. After that win he began streaming Fornite regularly, and his timing could not have been better as Fortnite took off that year. So much so that by September 2017 he had over half a million followers and six months after that he had more than two million. By March 2018 he set the Twitch record for the largest concurrent audience on an individual stream (outside of tournament events) at 635,000 viewers, a record which did not last as he broke it again a month later with 667,000 viewers during his event Ninja Vegas 2018.  2018 continued to be a great year for Ninja as he was the first Esports player featured on the cover of ESPN Magazine, announced a partnership with Red Bull, and released his own record. Additionally he was in the NFL’s “The 100-Year Game”  ad which aired during Super Bowl LIII this year.

Along with all those accolades Blevins is making quite a career out of streaming. He was paid a reported $1 million to promote EA’s Apex Legends on his Twitch and Twitter accounts and he earns over $500,000 a month streaming Fortnite.

While he made a killing on Twitch, he decided to switch to Microsoft’s streaming platform Mixer as of August 1st, 2019. He did this as he felt Twitch was limiting his ability to grow his brand outside of video games. For instance he released a book in August called Get Good: My Ultimate Guide To Gaming published by Penguin Random House. He also was briefly a member of The Masked Singer  on Fox as his wife is a fan of the show.

After all of his streaming success he has also done some quality fundraising for charity. In February 2018, he raised over $110,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Then during the first annual Fortnite Battle Royale Esports event he gave away $50,000 in prize money, with $2,500 going to the Alzheimer’s Association. The charitable works roll on as in April 2018 he took part in the #Clips4Kids event, helping to raide over $340,000 for the charity. Additionally his team won the Fortnite Pro-Am event, winning the $1 million prize for the charity of their choice.

Michael Grzesiek aka “Shroud” is a Canadian professional streamer. He began his career as a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) player before transitioning to streaming full time.

Prior to streaming he took first in all these events:

ESL ESEA Pro League Season 1 – North America 2015

iBUYPOWER Cup – 2015

ESL Pro League Season 4 – Finals 2016

Americas Minor Championship – Kraków 2017

All of those wins helped him build a viewer base and transition to streaming full time as people want to see the best of the best play. He is now famous for playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 which he streamed on Twitch. He has streamed over 6,000 hours on Twitch with a reach of over 345 million total views. Recently in October 2019 he followed Ninja’s lead and left Twitch for Mixer, most likely for a large pile of cash as his YouTube channel has over 5.3 million subscribers.

As professional streamers become bigger stars it is interesting to see how video games are influencing culture worldwide. Stars like Ninja, Tfue, and Shroud are ambassadors for Esports now and will likely have a large impact on the future of gaming. They can use their influence to create charities and help the world if they manage to stay out of trouble. But most importantly they are here to entertain us and we hope they continue to do so for as long as they choose too.