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Posts Tagged ‘amd’

The not-quite GTX 570

When is a GTX 560 Ti not really a GTX 560 Ti? When it’s almost a GTX 570.
Nvidia’s latest GPU, the GTX 560 Ti 448 is really a GTX 580 (originally dubbed the GF110) with two functional blocks disabled, reducing its CUDA Core count from 512 to 448. The GTX 570 is a GF110 with one functional block disabled, endowing it with 480 CUDA Cores. The original GTX 560 Ti is a completely different chip, with different power requirements, but all 384 of its cores are fully functional.

Priced at $290, The 560 Ti 448 … [Read More...]

Whether you just built or bought a new PC, it pays to optimize your setup from the start

Nothing holds more promise than a brand-new PC. The hardware is fresh and full of potential, the OS is clean and clutter-free, and you have nothing but pure, unadulterated storage space awaiting your precious data. It’s an exciting time, indeed. But before you start dumping old files onto your new rig willy-nilly, and downloading every shiny bauble of an app that catches your eye, take some time to consider a more measured approach to moving in. After all, you only have this … [Read More...]

990-series board offers modern mobo amenities

To be honest, between Z68 this and Sandy Bridge that, we haven’t had much time to check out AMD’s latest motherboard offerings.

It’s not that we don’t care; it’s just that the fire is burning on the other side of the fence these days. That’s not to say that the 990X chipset in Asus’s midrange M5A99X Evo is a slouch. As a real AM3+ board, it’s guaranteed to work with the upcoming Bulldozer line of CPUs from AMD. On the other hand, plenty of older 890FX boards will also work fine with Bulldozer, so … [Read More...]

AMD and Nvidia driver teams have been putting in some pretty serious overtime trying to keep up with the flood of new titles hitting the market just before the holidays, and a third profile update just went live for AMD’s less than one month old Catalyst 11.11. Just in-case you’d lost count, in addition to the three profile updates, AMD has also released three separate beta drivers to fix various other issues with specific titles. If you like to be on the bleeding edge, make sure you have Catalyst 11.11C, along with the just released CAP3.

CAP3 includes the following … [Read More...]

Are you rocking a preview build of Windows 8? If so, you don’t need to go without CPU-Z. There’s a new update available, the first one in about five months, that brings CPU-Z up to version 1.59. Among the short list of changes is official support for Windows 8. The new build also recognizes Intel’s Core i7 2960X, 3930K, and 3820 Sandy Bride-E processors.

Along with support for Sandy Bridge-E chips, CPU-Z v1.59 reads and recognizes Intel’s X79 chipset. The update isn’t all about Intel and Microsoft, however.

Other additions to CPU-Z’s database include AMD Opteron and Valencia (Bulldozer), AMD … [Read More...]

A barely there home-theater PC

PCs make great Blu-ray players, but Acer’s Revo RL100-UR20P is the first Blu-ray-equipped PC we’ve seen that’s thinner and smaller than most purpose-built Blu-ray players. If it played high-definition audio discs such as SACD and DVD-Audio, it would be one of the most powerful Blu-ray players on the market, but this machine isn’t that ambitious.

It is, on the other hand, considerably less expensive than very high-end Blu-ray players that are capable of playing those high-definition audio formats. The Oppo BDP-95, for example, sells for $999 and is almost never discounted.

Acer’s Revo RL100-UR20P is … [Read More...]

Two GTX 580s, one gargantuan videocard

Imagine a graphics card weighing 5.25 pounds with three (yes, three) 8-pin PCI Express power connectors. Now imagine this card taking up three PCI Express slots and almost sucking the life out of an 850W power supply.

That may be one reason Asus named this card after the Roman god of war. It’s probably the most powerful single graphics card we’ve tested, but that power comes at a substantial cost. You’ll need the right type of motherboard and case, too—one where you can install a three-slot-wide card that’s 12.25 inches long and 5 inches … [Read More...]

When AMD spun off its manufacturing arm as GlobalFoundries back in 2009, it was assumed their controlling interest would drive the bulk of its investments in the same direction. AMD has been forced to use TSMC, a rival to GlobalFoundries in recent years to keep pace in the graphics card wars, however new rumors are suggesting Bulldozer might be forced to shift over as well.

The move would be a strong indication of issues with GlobalFoundries 32 nm HKMG node, and doesn’t bode well for GlobalFoundries as an independent chip maker if the two companies can’t maintain a strong partnership. … [Read More...]

Looking to get your movie watching on? Turn to Zotac. The company might not be at HP’s level in terms of sales, but when it comes to HTPCs, few companies deliver better small form factor results. The company’s ZBox line has been a go-to brand for video streaming enthusiasts, and now, there’s a new Zotac ZBox available that ditches Intel and AMD in favor of a VIA processor.

The Zotac ZBOX nano VD01 Series – which Zotac says can fit in the palm of your hand – actually sports two VIA processors: both the 1.2 GHz dual-core Nano X2 U4025 … [Read More...]

Over the course of millions of years of evolution, the human race has come quite a long way. We’ve created mountains of sophisticated literature, skyscraping architecture, and the collected works of King Crimson. Sometimes, though, we can’t help but slip into Old Ways. Which is all to say, “Ooooo, pretty picture!” That’s pretty much how we felt looking at screenshots of id Software’s megatexture masterwork RAGE. Sadly, the game in motion tells an entirely different story – at least, on PC.

Early buyers have reported – and posted video evidence of – texture pop-in issues that render RAGE nearly unplayable. … [Read More...]

Biostar has been trying to reinvent itself as an enthusiast brand, a hard sell considering most seasoned vets have a hard time shaking the notion that Biostar’s focus is squarely on the budget buyer. The truth of the matter is Biostar holds several overclocking records under its belt, and it’s because of high end boards like the new TA990FXE.

In case there was any doubt, Biostar comes out and says it’s targeting “the most demanding overclockers and gamers” with its new board. The appropriately named TA990FXE is based on AMD’s 990FX chipset. It supports all socket AM3+ processors, including AMD’s … [Read More...]

It’s way too early or late to be Spring, but change is definitely in the air. Hewlett Packard yesterday made the decision to fire Leo Apotheker as CEO and hand the reigns over to former eBay chief Meg Whitman, and now we’ve learned that AMD’s Products Group General Manager, Rich Bergman, is leaving the chip maker to “pursue a new opportunity.”

AMD President and CEO Rory Read will take over Bergman’s role on an interim basis. Meanwhile, AMD also announced the hiring of Paull Struhsaker, 49, to head the company’s newly-formed Commercial Business Division as the corporate vice president and … [Read More...]

The hype and anticipation continues to build for AMD’s upcoming Bulldozer launch, and all with nary a peep from AMD. It isn’t that AMD isn’t talking about Bulldozer — it is, and AMD just recently announced revenue shipments of its first Bulldozer processors (for servers) — it’s just that AMD has yet to reveal any specifics, like a release date, clockspeeds, and pricing information, leaving the Internet to do its thing.

Recent rumors suggest AMD doesn’t plan to Bulldoze(r) the desktop market until the fourth quarter, which will see the launch of two quad-core chips (FX-4100 and FX-4170), a six-core … [Read More...]

In today’s video Ryan and I dig into AMD’s new “APU” (short for Accelerated Processing Unit) technology.  The short version of this is that AMD basically mashed together a high performance CPU and a high performance GPU into one tiny, fast, energy sipping chip.  That means great performance AND great battery life!

For more on AMD APU’s, hit AMD’s site, or watch the video I shot with AMD at CES 2011.

This article was written by Windows Experience (Source)

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So what if summer is over, the weather is still good for fishing, and AMD is hoping to reel in entry-level system builders working on a tight budget. The bait? A pair of new Fusion-powered A-series accelerated processing units (APUs), the A4-3300 and A4-3400. With the introduction of the A4-3300, the cost of entry for a desktop APU is now just $70, or at least that’s where AMD wants it to be at.

Fresh out of the factory, not a whole lot of vendors are stocked up on these new chips just yet, and the few that are have them … [Read More...]

There’s a new version of GPU-Z available for download (version 0.5.5) that now fully recognizes AMD A-Series Fusion processors. In addition, the latest build adds support for numerous videocards not previously recognized, fixes a shader count detection issue for Blackcomb (mobile AMD Cayman), adds a PowerColor hardware giveaway, and more.

Support for a dozen Nvidia GPUs were added to the latest build, including Nvidia GeForce GT 560 Ti OEM, GT 545, GT 530, GeForce GTX 580M, GT 555M GeForce 520MX, GT 520M, 510M, 305M, Quadro 5000, Quadro 4000M, and Quadro 400. On the AMD side, the list isn’t quite as … [Read More...]

Do you need gigabytes or performance? Laptop upgrades or a screaming new gaming PC? We walk you through what you need to know to pick the right storage solution for your PC.

Storage. Always needed, often overlooked.

Often lost in the buzz surrounding the latest DirectX 11 GPUs and hexacore CPUs is the ability to actually store and retrieve your stuff. Your applications, games, photographs, digital music and everything else lives on your hard drive. But that boring old rotating magnetic disk just doesn’t seem exciting or high tech – even though the technology in a hard drive is actually … [Read More...]