Chinese NVIDIA alternative gets cheaper, but performance still raises eyebrows

Chinese firm Lisuan Technology has brought to market a budget-friendly variant of its LX 7G100 graphics card. The new "standard model" hits shelves on July 17 at 2,688 yuan (around $370), making it 18.5% cheaper than the Founders Edition, which retailed for 3,299 yuan.

The main difference between the two versions isn't in the hardware but in the extras. The limited edition was pitched as a collector's piece: each unit came with a numbered certificate and the founder's autograph on the chassis. The new model ditches those exclusives, allowing the price drop. Otherwise, the hardware stays the same – the proprietary TrueGPU architecture, 6nm process, 12GB of GDDR6 memory, and a triple-fan cooling setup (two of the fans are tucked under the heatsink).

According to the manufacturer, the standard version packs three fans and five heat pipes. I/O includes four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs with 8K at 60Hz, HDR, FreeSync, and DSC compression support. The spec sheet also claims compatibility with DirectX 12, Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL 4.6, and OpenCL 3.0.

But despite those promising numbers on paper, independent testing has raised some red flags. Benchmarks of the Founders Edition – which is identical under the hood to the new retail card – showed a significant gap versus current market rivals. In gaming tests, it trails the GeForce RTX 4060 by a wide margin: in Black Myth: Wukong – 56 FPS vs 115, and in Forza Horizon 5 – 48 FPS vs 228 FPS. Synthetic benchmarks are closer, but in real‑world gaming, performance stays underwhelming.

For now, sales are confined to China, and there's no word on global availability. The company emphasises that this new version is meant for regular retail runs and won't be limited in quantity, unlike the two collector's batches of the Founders Edition.

Are users willing to eye this card as a budget alternative, given its current performance and reliance on future driver updates? Or does the massive gap in gaming tests versus the RTX 4060 make it a tough sell, even with a 20% discount? Drop your take in the comments.