China has unveiled its first domestically produced 6nm gaming graphics card, the Lisuan G100, a milestone in its quest for technological self-sufficiency. However, initial benchmark tests reveal a sobering reality: the new GPU’s performance is on par with Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti, a card released over a decade ago, tempering expectations for an immediate disruption to the global market.
The fledgling GPU made its first public appearance in the Geekbench database, posting a modest OpenCL score of just 15,524. This result places the G100 in the company of much older hardware, a far cry from the modern performance levels gamers and professionals have come to expect. The test results also revealed surprisingly anemic specifications for a new 6nm chip, listing just 32 Compute Units, a mere 256 MB of VRAM, and a low GPU clock speed of 300 MHz.
These figures stand in stark contrast to the initial, more ambitious whispers surrounding the G100, which had positioned it as a potential competitor to mid-range offerings from industry giants like Nvidia and AMD.
Despite the underwhelming performance, the development of the G100 represents a significant, long-term strategic achievement for China’s burgeoning semiconductor industry.
Lisuan Technology, the company behind the card, has confirmed the G100 is built on a proprietary, home-made architecture called TrueGPU. Crucially, the chip is being manufactured locally by the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), making the G100 the first domestically-made 6nm GPU.
“The G100 is more than a product; it’s a declaration of capability,” stated a source familiar with the project. “To successfully design a unique GPU architecture and bring it to the silicon stage with a 6nm domestic process is the foundational step. Performance optimization is the next phase of this marathon.”
Industry analysts caution against drawing final conclusions from these early results, suggesting the tested card was likely an engineering sample with underdeveloped drivers and firmware, which are critical for unlocking a GPU’s true potential.
“It’s standard for a company’s first-generation silicon to show conservative performance in early tests,” said a technology analyst from a Hong Kong-based market research firm. “The key indicators to watch will be improvements in driver support and the final specifications upon release. While the 256MB VRAM figure is almost certainly a reporting error on the test bench, the low clock speed suggests they are focusing on stability before performance.”
The path forward for Lisuan remains challenging. The company joins other domestic players like Moore Threads, which have also faced significant hurdles in optimizing drivers and ensuring broad compatibility with games and software—a complex task that has taken established players decades to master.
There is currently no firm launch schedule for the Lisuan G100. However, rumors within the tech supply chain suggest that mass production could commence either late this year or in early 2026.
While the G100 won’t be challenging the top-tier gaming cards anytime soon, its creation marks a pivotal moment in China’s determined and state-supported drive to build a fully independent high-tech ecosystem.