Now that EVGA has quit Nvidia, extreme overclocker Kingpin hints at GPU partnership with PNY

PNY RTX 4080 Super graphics cards
(Image credit: PNY)

Legendary GPU overclocker Kingpin might be making a comeback to GPU manufacturing after EVGA abandoned its GPU manufacturing partnership with Nvidia. Gamers Nexus reports that the Taiwanese overclocker is in talks with PNY to build extreme overclocking-capable graphics cards with the Nvidia AIB partner.

Nothing is set in stone, but it looks like there is a very good chance Kingpin will be working with the PNY team in the not-too-distant future. Kingpin himself has said that Kingpin-branded cards have a very good chance of coming back. The overclocker appears to be excited to be working with PNY, and he already has a PNY RTX 4090 XLR8 on his own personal test bench that he is testing along with PNY's overclocking software to get a lay of the land.

"EVGA is Gone" | KINGPIN's Future, NVIDIA RTX 5090 Plans, & Lab Tour - YouTube
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Kingpin reveals that PNY is eager to enter the overclocking space. This makes sense — PNY is known primarily for its OEM and professional graphics cards and has (so far) not been known for building renowned overclocking or enthusiast-focused graphics cards. A partnership with Kingpin would represent PNY's first foray into the extreme overclocking scene.

There's a lot of incentive for Kingpin to join PNY. The overclocker revealed that partnering with existing competitors in the extreme overclocking space, such as Galax and Asus, wasn't really an option — claiming there would be "too many cooks in the kitchen" if he joined up with one of those companies. With PNY, Kingpin has a clean slate to steer the company's enthusiast/extreme overclocking scene in the direction he wants.

Kingpin also confirmed that he previously talked with MSI about joining its overclocking scene, but that MSI wasn't keenly interested in building extreme overclocking cards.

It's exciting to see a potential Kingpin comeback to reignite the extreme overclocking scene. Since he left EVGA (as a result of EVGA's departure from the GPU manufacturing business), there hasn't really been any serious competition in the extreme overclocking scene — mainly due to Nvidia's recent heavy restrictions on AIB partner cards. Kingpin confirmed that this is still a problem, and that none of the company's current AIB partners are seriously focusing on extreme overclocking — or even enthusiast-focused cards — in the same way EVGA did.

PNY's eagerness to enter the overclocking scene and Kingpin's excitement about working with PNY makes a potential partnership seem very likely. If the timing lines up right, Kingpin could have a Kingpin-branded card ready with the RTX 50 series — which is rumored to arrive at the tail end of 2024.

Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

  • DSzymborski
    Certainly interesting at least. No GPU brand has really leapt up to grab EVGA's status as "GPU brand enthusiasts hate the least."
    Reply
  • thestryker
    I'm still a bit disappointed Intel didn't either pickup or work with a partner to get the EVGA video card team together somewhere to build Arc cards. Having a good, known, team together could easily help a bunch down the road. Let alone the hilarity that could ensue from there being an Intel based K|ngp|n.

    Going to watch the video later, but good to see he wants to stay in the game as he's super passionate about putting out good stuff.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    I'm glad ASRock is going all in on Intel. Acer seems to be sticking to the big cards so far. And Sparkle and Matrox are fun to see again. EVGA would have been great.

    K|ngp|n Intel would be weird. Always about the top card, and that isn't likely to happen any time soon.
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    Pny cards are great... I'am testing now the Palit brand for now it's good :)
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    thestryker said:
    I'm still a bit disappointed Intel didn't either pickup or work with a partner to get the EVGA video card team together somewhere to build Arc cards.
    makes sense from a business point.

    Arc gpu are a very low margin for profit.


    I am curious how much PNY would grant Vince as he has some pretty high level requirements for making kingpin gpu's.
    Reply
  • FoxTread3
    June 23, 2024 - While I'm not one to experiment with overclocking etc. I think that Kingpin partnering with PNY, would give me some confidence that they would be the replacement for my much admired EVGA GPUs. All of my builds in the past fifteen years used EVGA parts. It would be nice to see a company step up and take EVGAs place as a well respected parts provider, with the same kind of great customer service. Good luck to Kingpin and PNY.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    Kingpin may live in Taiwan but that dude is NOT Taiwanese. He’s a white American.
    Reply