Nvidia has announced a contest to win some seriously cool gaming PCs loaded with high-end graphics cards and themed on The Matrix Resurrections film, just ahead of its release on December 22.
There are three PCs to win in this competition in conjunction with Warner Bros, all custom-built and water-cooled with either RTX 3080 Ti or 3090 graphics cards inside.
While your odds of snagging one of these rigs probably aren’t great, there are some extra chances to win nifty consolation prizes in the form of five Matrix Resurrections GPU backplates which you can fit to an RTX 3080 Ti card. That’s what Nvidia’s blog post says, but in the terms and conditions, it clearly states the prizes are: “5 x 3080 Ti graphics card with custom backplate.”
Given this, we assume that five full 3080 Ti GPUs (with that fancy Matrix backplate) are being given away, and the blog post is mistaken.
The competition runs from now until December 22, during which period Nvidia says its “social channels will highlight these unique builds and custom Matrix Resurrections backplates, and by following you’ll have several chances to win.”
So, follow Nvidia’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram accounts to get instructions as to what you need to do (and Team Green notes you should “use #MatrixResurrections when prompted”).
Note also that the competition is open to US, Canada and UK (plus Ireland) residents (18+), and other regions in Europe and elsewhere as specified in the terms (Australia isn’t included, sadly).
Analysis: Less is more, more or less?
The 3080 Ti with custom backplates look cool, and the PCs in question look nicely smart, or at least we think they do. Not everyone agrees, and the bits and pieces stuck-on-everywhere vibe is off-putting and ugly for some folks, judging by some of the comments we’ve seen online.
Granted, ‘The Breacher’ rig (by Staszek Wiertelak – see above) is going to be polarizing in terms of the deliberately clunky (and retro) look – this is the PC loaded with the RTX 3090, by the way (and Ryzen 9 3950X CPU).
Although note that the build, which is interactive, can have the PC case itself removed, meaning the desktop can be used as a standalone rig if you wish.
The ‘NZXT Nebuchadnezzar’ (by Dave Cathey, above) is the more understated of the three designs for those of the ‘less is more’ school of philosophy, and the main external design touches here are the mock Sentinel arms curling around the outside of the case. This rig uses an RTX 3080 Ti plus Ryzen 5800X processor.
Or you might prefer the ‘Digital Storm Backup Operator’ (by Stefan Ulrich, again see above), which is a striking piece of work complete with keyboard and number pad plus multiple mock displays bristling on the chassis. It runs with an RTX 3080 Ti and Ryzen 9 5950X CPU.
