XFX GTX 285 Black Edition :: Posted by THRASHER2
Still the fastest single-GPU Geforce
In absence of anything better, Nvidia enthusiasts depended on the GT200b graphics processor for gaming potential, but make no mistake آ– this GPU packs incredible speed and still has a lot to offer. While the arrival of DirectX 11 has put aforementioned fans on their toes waiting for Nvidiaآ’s next product, weآ’ve decided to test the GTX 285 and remind ourselves of just why we loved the card in the first place.
Our todayآ’s guest is XFXآ’s iteration of Nvidiaآ’s fastest single GPU graphics card and itآ’s dubbed the GTX 285 Black Edition. Of course, Black Edition naming scheme says that the card comes overclocked. XFX has proven quite a couple of points with their Black Edition cards and theyآ’re always among the first companies to jump aboard the overclocking train. The GTX 285 Black Editionآ’s core is up from reference 648MHz to 690MHz, shaders are up from 1476MHz to 1572MHz and the memory up from 1242MHz to 1300MHz (2600MHz effectively). So, the card is overall some 6% faster than reference, and XFX threw in Far Cry 2 for good measure.
The GT200b GPU is built in 55nm and brings many improvements over the previous GT200. In case you donآ’t remember, the GT200 was made in 65nm technology, which means that the new GT200b improved consumption, thermals and introduced superior overclocking potential. Apart from these improvements, the آ“newآ” GT200b is basically a die-shrink and thatآ’s the reason behind the آ“bآ” prefix in GT200b name. The old GT200 chip is found in last yearآ’s top Nvidia cards such as GTX280, whereas the GT200b is the ticker on the fastest dual-GPU card around آ– Geforce GTX 295.
Since GTX 285 is the fastest single GPU Geforce, the GT200b comes in its full glory آ– maximum number of shaders, ROPs, etc.
XFX GTX 285 Black Edition card comes with 1024MB memory and 512-bit memory interface. The card uses GDDR3 memory with which the reference card scores a bandwidth of 159.0GB/s. Thanks to the overclock, XFX Black Edition card churns out 166.4GB/s.
The GTX 285آ’s graphics processor packs 240 stream processors, 80 texture units and 8 ROP partitions with 4 ROP units each (8 x 4 = 32 ROPs). Each ROP partition has a 64-bit connection to the main memory, which results in a 512 bit memory interface. The following photo shows GPU-Z screenshot, where you can find out more details on XFX GTX 285 Black Edition card.
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AMD Radeon HD 5570 launches today :: Posted by THRASHER2
The fastest low-profile, DirectX 11 card
AMD has launched yet another entry level card based on the 40nm Redwood GPU, the HD 5570. If you keep track of the count, this is the eight AMD card with DirectX 11 support, and with this card AMD has almost completely covered every segment of the market, from entry-level to top notch high-end.
As noted, the new HD 5570 is based on the Redwood GPU, has 400 Stream processors, 8 ROPs and 20 texture units. The GPU works at 650MHz while the GDDR3 memory is clocked at 900MHz (1800MHz effectively) and paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. Just as the previously released HD 5450, this one is also based on low profile PCB, but this time with an active cooling.
The card fits below the HD 5670, which has a higher GPU clock and uses 1000MHz GDDR5 memory, and the previously released HD 5450. It should end up faster than Nvidia's GT 220, but still a way slower than the GT 240, especially due to the lack of memory bandwidth.
The HD 5570 has a maximum TDP of 42.7W and feature D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs. It features a low profile PCB and will be cooled by a combination of small heatsink and a small fan.
The HD 5570 doesn't change a lot as when it comes to the HTPC market. The HD 5450 is still a better candidate thanks to the lower TDP and practically the same features as the HD 5570. When you talk about performance, the HD 5570 doesn't shine there either, as the lower memory bandwidth and a pretty high US $80 price tag puts it in an awkward position against both the GT 220 and the Redwood based HD 5670.
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Fermi-based Geforce GTX 480 to debut at Cebit :: Posted by THRASHER2
At least from some partners
Nvidia partners should be able to showcase the upcoming Fermi-based Geforce GTX 480 graphics card at Cebit, but we doubt that this will be the time for the official card launch.
Nvidia's DirectX 11 architecture, codenamed Fermi, comes some six months after the first Radeon HD 5000-series card hit the market and in the past six months, ATI has managed to launch an entire DirectX 11 generation including the HD 57x0 series, the HD 56x0 series and most recently the HD 54x0 series.
Nvidia has delayed its Fermi generation for unknown reasons, and the company does not want to discuss it at this time. However, the company does plan to finally launch its long-anticipated, single-GPU, next-generation cards in March. Despite Nvidiaآ’s promise to have healthy availability at launch, we are quite sure that the products will be in short supply from its launch.
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Big Blue makes 100 GHz Graphene Transistor :: Posted by THRASHER2
Moore's Law eat your heart out
Boffins from IBM have emerged from their smoke filled labs with a graphene transistor which can manage 100 GHz when the wind is behind it and it is going downhill.
This is the fastest transistor ever made and could mean that silicon might be put out to pasture as the number one semiconductor. The best silicon transistors ever have done is 40 GHz, and many boffins realised that it will become difficult to squeeze more speed out of the material without coming up with some new breakthrough.
Big Blue seems to think that graphene will get around the problem. Not only is it much faster, but IBM can use the same silicon fabrication techniques in order to make it. It is still early days yet and it will be some time before it trickles its way down to personal computing.
It might be that when you have grandchildren you might have to explain the lyrics in the song آ“I don't like Mondaysآ” when they don't know what is meant by the phrase آ“The silicon chip inside her head is switched to overload.آ” Of course you will already have had to explain Ultravox's آ“We must behold the things we seeآ” to them so it should not be difficult. (You expect your grandchildren to share your lousy taste in music? sub.ed.)
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ION 2 supports Optimus :: Posted by THRASHER2
Soon
We learned that Optimus, Nvidia's new power saving technology is going to be available also on its upcoming ION 2 GPU.
Since ION 2 is not chipset and it is simply a GPU that interconnects with Intelآ’s Pine Trail platform, Nvidia can take advantage of Optimus technology even in this case. In some tasks, such as word processing, Nvidia will let Intelآ’s IGP to do the work and if the GPU power is needed for gaming or video encoding, ION2 will jump in and do the job.
This is a good arrangement in Nvidiaآ’s war against Intelآ’s IGP, as the two companies can now work together against their mutual enemy, AMD. We are still not sure when ION 2 is supposed to come to the market, but we would not be surprised to see some units at Cebit, the biggest European tradeshow that starts on March 2nd.
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Low profile Sapphire HD 5570 tested :: Posted by THRASHER2
Superb performance for HTPCs
This review is also available in German.
Only a few days after launching the Radeon HD 5450, itآ’s time for HD 5570. Both cards are low end, but the numbering scheme is quick to show that the HD 5570 will be the faster of the two. These two cards belong to the HD 5000 series and are here to nicely fill out the price segments of DirectX 11 graphics market. All the HD 5000 series cards support DirectX 11, ATI Eyefinity technology for multi-monitor setups (more than 2, of course), ATI Stream GPU processing, are built in 40nm, etc.
Radeon HD 5570 is based on the Redwood GPU, one of the GPUs in the Evergreen generation. Itآ’s well worth noting that AMD is the first and, unfortunately for the green team, the only company with DirectX 11, Windows 7 compatible hardware. Starting from the fastest GPU, the Evergreen series features Cypress, Juniper, Redwood and Cedar GPUs.
The HD 5450, which was announced last week, is based on the Cedar GPU and filled out the HD 5000 gap in آ€40-50 price range, but thereآ’s still a small gap left up to the HD 5670, which is priced at آ€60-99. So, the new Radeon HD 5570 with its price of آ€50 will most certainly fit in nicely.
The HD 5570 doesnآ’t share too many common features with the HD 5670, despite using the same Redwood GPU. The new HD 5570 comes with lower memory and GPU clocks and uses cheaper, DDR3 memory whereas the HD 5670 has GDDR5. Both cards use 128-bit memory interface unlike the HD 5450 which has 64-bit interface.
The HD 5570 is significantly faster than the HD 5450 despite the fact that the price difference is not that big. While the HD 5450آ’s GPU features only 80 stream processors, 4 ROPs and 8 texture units, the HD 5570آ’s GPU comes with 400 stream processors, 8 ROPs and 20 texture units, just like on the HD 5670.
The HD 5570آ’s GPU runs at 650MHz whereas the memory is at 900MHz (1800MHz effectively). Compared to the HD 5670آ’s 775MHz GPU and 1000MHz memory (effectively 4000MHz), itآ’s evident that the new HD 5570 is a bit slower.
Lower clocks mean that the HD 5570 consumes less power آ– 42.7W maximum (HD 5670آ’s TDP is at 61W). Idle consumption is only 9.69W, and all these numbers show that the card needs no additional power connectors.
Unlike the HD 5670, the new card comes with a low-profile PCB, which is somewhat expected considering the low consumption and low temperatures. A small active but low profile cooler is in charge of cooling.
The HD 5570 comes with three video outs and one of those being DisplayPort means that the card will support ATI Eyefinity technology for three monitors. Of course, thereآ’s also DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) support, HDMI 1.3a, Dolby TrueHD, DTS master audio, etc.
The following picture shows the reference HD 5570. Sapphire HD 5570, which our test sample today, runs at reference clocks and is almost identical to the card you see below.
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Core i7 660UM comes in Q3 2010 :: Posted by THRASHER2
18W, 1.33GHz OC's to 2.4GHz
Intel plans yet another reinforcement to its Ultra low voltage generation of Arrandale CPUs. We still have to see Core i5 520UM, Core i5 540UM as well as Core i7 620UM and Core i7 640UM, all supposed to stay under 18W TDP, and Intel plans to introduce one, a bit faster version simply called Core i7 660UM.
This new CPU is based on the 32nm Arrandale dual-core that is capable of supporting four threads and it is clocked at a quite modest 1.33GHz. This is not bad for a CPU that has graphics and most of the chipset on the same socket. The best part, however, is that it will be able to overclock all the way to 2.4GHz.
We are quite sure that with this clock it will dissipate more than 18W, but this will be controlled by notebook software of user itself. The graphics base frequency will be 166MHz, but it will jump to 500MHz when needed and DDR3 memory will work at 800MHz.
The CPU has 4MB of cache and comes in BGA package. The launch date is Q3 2010 and this CPU is set to replace Core i7 640UM in Intelآ’s top end of Ultra Thin performance market.
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Asus to have five Optimus notebooks :: Posted by THRASHER2
Nvidia's new notebook technology
Asus seems to be the first major manufacturer to jump on Nvidia's Optimus train, as it has announced a total of five new notebooks that will support this automatic switchable graphics technology.
Just to remind you, Nvidia's Optimus works only with Intel's integrated graphics and Nvidia GPU combo, and has the ability to automatically switch between those two depending on the need. It can be paired with Intel's Core i3, i5, i7 Arrandale, Core 2 Duo Penryn and Atom N4xx Pinetrail CPUs.
Asus has announced a total of five new notebooks ranging from 13.3-inches all the way to 17.3-inches. The models include Ultra-slim and light series, UL50Vf and U30Jc models as well as the Multimedia N series N61Jv, N71Jv and N82Jv.
The ultra slim series models are based on Intel's GS45 Express chipset with Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 and Celeron SU2300 processors and feature Nvidia's Geforce G210M graphics card, but this solely depends on the SKU as other Nvidia GPUs are also possible.
The Multimedia N series is a bit more serious as these are mostly based on Intel's HM55 Express chipset and feature one of the Intel's Core i5/Core i3 processors and much powerful Nvidia's GPUs. Currently, the only listed and launched model is the N71Jv which features a 17.3-inch 1600x900 screen, a wide range of Core i5/Core i3 CPUs and Nvidia's GT325M graphics with 1GB of memory.
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AMD's 5550 detailed and announced :: Posted by THRASHER2
320 SP's and DDR2 memory
In addition to the HD 5570, announced and reviewed today, there will apparently be another HD 5500 series card that should be available along with the HD 5570, dubbed HD 5550.
The HD 5550 has 320 Stream processors, 80 less than the HD 5570, works at 550MHz core clock and will be available with either 512MB or 1GB of DDR2 memory clocked at 800MHz and paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. Just for reference, the HD 5570 has the 650MHz and 1800MHz clocks and uses DDR3 memory paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. The new HD 5550 card will use the same low profile PCB, although partners can go for the full height one, just as with the HD 5570.
Some partners have already announced their own HD 5550 cards and will follow it up shortly. The new HD 5550 should be a bit cheaper than the US $80 priced HD 5570 and we guess that it could end up at around US $60 to $70 depending on amount of memory.
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Sapphire announces its HD 5570 cards :: Posted by THRASHER2
Low profile and reference
As almost every other ATI AIB partner, Sapphire has also decided to launch a couple of HD 5570 cards. Sapphire will have two of this cards for now, and both will feature 1GB of GDDR3 memory, same reference clocks, will use a low profile PCB and a small heatsink/fan for cooling.
The Sapphire HD 5570 cards feature 400 Stream processors, 650MHz core clock and 1GB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1800MHz and paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. The card uses active cooling with a small fan, and features support for DirectX 11.
The only difference between two announced cards is their output configuration, as one will feature DVI, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, while the other will replace the HDMI with DisplayPort.
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Microsoft wins WGA case :: Posted by THRASHER2
Judge chucks the case out
A lawsuit that accused Microsoft of misleading consumers to download and install an update for Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) under the guise that it was critical security update, has been thrown out of court.
The case was already getting shaky. A federal judge refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action, which would have meant anyone who owned a Windows XP PC in mid-2006 could join the case without having to hire a lawyer.
The plaintiffs and Microsoft agreed to drop the lawsuit and now the Judge has officially thrown it out anyway. This move means that Microsoft avoided hundreds of millions in potential damages.
It's well worth noting that more than three years ago, beta versions of WGA "phoned home" once every day and privacy advocates fumed. In June 2006, after Microsoft began pushing WGA to Windows XP users via Windows Update as a "high priority" update, a suit was filed alleging that WGA was spyware.
Microsoft used WGA to detect pirated copies of Windows and inform the user that the software is counterfeit, nagging them with messages and eventually locking down.
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Micron buys Numonyx :: Posted by THRASHER2
Writes cheque for $1.27 billion
Micron is buying flash memory maker Numonyx in an all-stock deal valued at about $1.27 billion.
Numonyx was ranked as the world's No. 3 maker of flash-type memory chips and was formed last year using memory chip assets from STMicroelectronics and Intel. The company specializes in mobile phone memory.
Micron's takeover of Numonyx could actually help their strategic relationship catch up with bigger rivals South Korea's Samsung and Japan's Toshiba and boost market share.
Micron will issue 140 million Micron common shares to Numonyx shareholders, Intel, STMicroelectronics, and Francisco Partners. STMicro said in a statement it will net around $527 million worth of Micron shares from the deal.
Micron Chief Executive Steve Appleton said the deal helps further diversify Micron's business amid the growing mobile device market as Smartphone memory needs grow, and lower-end cellphones with smaller memory become more ubiquitous in the developing world.
"We think we will clearly be the second-largest producer of memory. Obviously Samsung's still very strong, but we will start differentiating ourselves even more from the rest of those in the industry," he said.
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AMD plans 3.2GHz Business CPU :: Posted by THRASHER2
B97 comes in Q2 2010
AMD has its line-up of quite unsuccessful B series of processors, where B stands for Business, and these آ“more reliableآ” processors will get its faster successor branded as Phenom II X4 97.
This CPU will be clocked at 3.2GHz and will have total of 8 MB cache. It will end up with 95W TDP and will replace the Phenom II X4 B95 3.0GHz, becoming the fastest business processor from AMD.
The Phenom II X4 97 comes out in early Q2 2010 and with its 3.2GHz clocks and 95W TDP it might become attractive for a few businesses that might chose Phenom II over the new Core i5 / i7 series.
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Zosma is tuned Phenom II core :: Posted by THRASHER2
95W TDP
Phenom II X4 960T is an upcoming new Zosma quad core and this CPU comes out together with three more Phenom II X6 10x5T series.
We know little about Zosma but some information we gathered implies that this quad core will operate at 95W TDP. Itآ’s a quad core with 6MB L3 cache that fits in AM3 sockets and it features support for DDR3 1333.
At first sight, the specification doesnآ’t look different from Phenom II, Deneb core, but there are some modifications and improvement on this 45nm processor. Zosma might easily be the six-core with two cores disabled, but we cannot confirm it at press time.
This CPU is expected in Q2 2010 and we would be surprised to see it before May time.
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Nvidia lets Optimus loose :: Posted by THRASHER2
Switchable graphics done right
Nvidia has officially unveiled its Optimus technology, which is actually a new way of implementing switchable graphics. The main difference between the Optimus and the early Desepticon based switchable graphics is that Optimus simply makes it all look easy, quite simple and automatic. Optimus works in combination of certain Nvidia discrete GPUs and Intel's processors with IGPs.
Nvidia came up with Optimus in order to maintain the long battery life which Intel is so eager to market with its Pinetrail and CULV platforms. Nvidia's Optimus will work with Nvidia's Geforce 300M, 200M, "Geforce M Next-gen" as well as the upcoming ION 2 GPU paired up with Intel's Arrandale Core i3, i5 and i7, Penryn Core 2 Duo and Pinetrail N4xx processors.
The previous "switchable graphics" technology was a pretty nice idea, but it lacked simplicity and ease of use, as you had to close down all applications, wait for switch to happen, make profiles, be sure not to forget to switch it back and endure the annoying flickering. Unlike hardware "switchable graphics", Nvidia's Optimus is a software based thing which switches to the discrete GPU whenever it is actually needed and switches back to the IGP once it is no longer needed, so it avoids all the problems that the switchable graphics had.
The noted switch is done almost instantaneously thanks to the actual driver, which, according to our info, should be released quite soon and will have periodical updates. The so called routing is done on executable file name recognition, as well as, another more complex way, where Optimus actually detects whether it needs to power up the discrete GPU. This one could be best described, for example, when surfing the Internet, IGP is usually enough, unless you are viewing Flash video and have Flash 10.1 beta installed in your browser, where you could actually benefit from that decoding power of the dedicated GPU.
Nvidia's Optimus can also be used for games, CUDA applications and other various GPU intensive tasks.
The entire concept makes sense and it makes you wonder why it hasn't been done like that in the first place. Of course, most of Nvidia's Geforce xxxM GPUs are not really meant for playing Crysis at high resolutions, but when compared to Intel's infamous IGPs, everything is better.
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AMD to launch AMD 870 chipset :: Posted by THRASHER2
Cut down version of 890FX
AMD plans to launch new chipset simply called the AMD 870. This new product is an HT3 chipset with support for AM3 socket and 1x16 PCIe gen2 slot. We are not sure if this chipset will be able to support 2X8 PCIe configurations.
This is a discrete chipset that doesnآ’t have any graphics core and it uses FCBGA 21mm package. Its TDP will stay at 13W.
This chipset will use cheaper SB600, SB700, SB710 and SB750 but wonآ’t use the more feature rich SB850. It is expected in April 2010 and you can bet that it will come on cheaper or should we say more affordable boards.
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HD 5830 spec'd and listed for آ€215 :: Posted by THRASHER2
1280 shaders, 750MHz GPU, shipping God knows when
In what could be described as an effort to imitate Nvidia, AMD has delayed its HD 5830 card by several weeks. The card was originally scheduled to ship in early February, but it looks like it won't be widely available until the early days of March. AMD is expected to launch the card in February, but once again we're not sure about the exact date.
The card is based on AMD's Cypress LE core, used in HD 5850 cards, but it features fewer shaders, 1280 instead of 1440 on the HD 5850. It also has 60 texture units compared to 72 on the HD 5850. All in all it doesn't sound like AMD crippled it too much and we can assume it will still pack quite a punch. The GPU clock is apparently set at 750MHz, which is 25MHz faster than the reference HD 5850. The higher clock comes as a surprise, but bear in mind that these are unofficial specs and we're taking them with a grain of salt.
The card will feature 1GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1000MHz, just like the HD 5850. It will closely resemble the HD 5850, as it will most likely use the same PCB and cooler. It features support for ATI Eyefinity and it packs two DVI outs, as well as HDMI and DisplayPort connectors.
According to an early EU listing, the card should cost around آ€215, but once again this is an unofficial figure. We guess it could easily drop below the آ€200 psychological barrier, but even if it doesn't it still sounds like a very tempting deal. An average HD 5850 will set you back around آ€250, so the آ€215 price tag sounds quite reasonable.
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Intel launches five Itanium 9300 processors :: Posted by THRASHER2
Tukwilla-based
In what can perhaps be interpreted as an answer to IBM's recent Power7 announcement, Intel has added no less than five Itanium 9300 processors to its offer, all based on the new Tukwilla architecture.
The CPUs in question are dubbed Itanium 9310, 9320, 9330, 9340 and 9350 and will come with four cores, eights threads 24MB of L3 cache, Turbo Boost, QuickPath interconnects, second generation hardware virtualization technology, etc.
The chip has two billion transistors and Intel claims twice the performance compared to the previous dual-core Itaniums. Thatآ’s not all as the company claims the improvements account for eight times the interconnect bandwidth, five times the memory bandwidth and seven times the memory capacity with standard DDR3 components.
The processors are priced from $946 for the 9310 to $3,838 for the 9350. The company claims Itanium 9300-based processors should be shipping within the next three months.
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