Zotac Dark Matter GeForce RTX30 graphics cards feature super-black coatings

Unfortunately, these 99.4 per cent light absorbent cards are going to be contest exclusives.

Zotac Dark Matter

Ps and accessory maker Zotac has unveiled some special edition graphics cards with super-black coatings. The paint job is extremely dark, purported to absorb up to 99.4 percent of visible light. That isn’t a world-record light absorption rating, but is still extremely black for something that won’t have been able to go through a 400°C nano-tube coating bake process. These probably had the shroud and backplate sprayed in a booth with a super-black paint product – nearly as affective to the human eye but not record-breaking.

Zotac has a web page and some videos showcasing the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti AMP Extreme Holo Limited Edition, the GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge Extreme Black Matter Limited Edition, as well as one of its compact mini PCs with a similar paint job – the Zotac Zbox Magnus One Extremely Black Material Limited Edition. These all look pretty eye catching, and though one might consider it strange for Zotac to keep the RGB lighting of the donor products, the contrast appears to work well.

Now brace for some good and bad news. The good news is that Zotac is running a competition to give away a super-black Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, an RTX 3070, a mini PC, and 20 T-shirts. The bad news is that if you don’t win, there is no other way to get one of these than to do a custom spray job for yourself. Zotac isn’t launching these cards for sale – but who knows, it might change its mind if this idea proves wildly popular. You can enter the compo via this link, but you have to scan a QR code and then proceed to play the “game” on your mobile. The competition is now open and runs until Dec 22, 2021. Zotac is also currently running a similar compo with Resident Evil themed goodies that you could win.

Compare the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 Ti AMP “normal” version in the foreground

Vantablack spray?

A few years ago, you might have read about the introduction of Vantablack by Surrey NanoSystems in the UK. It was a super-black coating which was developed to absorb the maximum amount of light possible. It worked by using surface nanostructures that absorbed light and minimized any chance of reflection. The Vantablack coating could absorb 99.965 per cent of visible light when applied optimally. As well as practical scientific applications such as being used to line telescope tubes, Vantablack has been used by the likes of BMW to coat the VBX6 concept car for the Frankfurt Auto Show 2019, wowing the exhibition audience.