Next generation consoles to arrive in 2012?
It was bound to happen sooner rather than later, but it seems as though we might just be on the cusp of a new generation of games consoles...
Ubisoft Montreal is hard at work on 'target boxes' based on the intended specifications of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 successor, according to an Edge source. Delivery of the first iteration of genuine devkits, running custom hardware, is expected to reach studios before Christmas, and all signs point to the finalised console arriving at retail in late 2012.
Ubisoft’s teams are said to be working on PCs containing off-the-shelf components provided by Microsoft, and it’s our understanding that several other major developers, including certain EA studios, are also in possession of these target boxes. While our source was unable to share precise specifications, it is believed that AMD is providing the bespoke GPU solution for Microsoft’s console. A Ubisoft spokesperson said: "We do not comment on rumour and speculation."
We can also reveal that one major Sony-owned studio has now ceased PlayStation 3 development, its entire focus having shifted to the console’s successor. The studio is also said to have been involved in the development process of the graphics technology adopted by Sony’s new hardware.
The Edge web site has the full story.Ubisoft’s teams are said to be working on PCs containing off-the-shelf components provided by Microsoft, and it’s our understanding that several other major developers, including certain EA studios, are also in possession of these target boxes. While our source was unable to share precise specifications, it is believed that AMD is providing the bespoke GPU solution for Microsoft’s console. A Ubisoft spokesperson said: "We do not comment on rumour and speculation."
We can also reveal that one major Sony-owned studio has now ceased PlayStation 3 development, its entire focus having shifted to the console’s successor. The studio is also said to have been involved in the development process of the graphics technology adopted by Sony’s new hardware.
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Intel Core i7 3960X (Sandy Bridge E) processor and X79 motherboard chipset reviews
Have you been waiting for the release of Intel's new high-end, Sandy Bridge derivative, platform before planning your next upgrade? Sandy Bridge E is now hear, boasting a new motherboard chipset to support it and bringing six-core CPUs to the desktop on Intel's side of the game. Check out the coverage of both motherboard chipset and CPUs below.
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Anandtech
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Benchmark Reviews
- Intel X79 chipset motherboard review at Benchmark Reviews
- ASUS P9X79 motherboard review at Benchmark Reviews
- ASUS Sabertooth X79 TUF motherboard review at Benchmark Reviews
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at [H]ard|OCP
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Hardware Canucks
- Intel Core i7 3960X and X79 chipset review at Hardware Heaven
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at HEXUS
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Hot Hardware
- Intel Core i7 3960X and X79 chipset review at Kit Guru
- Intel Core i7 3960X and 3930K review at OCaholic
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at PC Perspective
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at The Tech Report
- ASUS, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI X79 chipset motherboard reviews at The Tech Report
- Intel Core i7 3960X and X79 chipset review at Tom's Hardware
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Tech Spot
- Intel Core i7 3960X review at Tweak Town
- ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard review at Tweak Town
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DICE's visual architect talks Battlefield 3 graphics
At the recent GeForce LAN 6 event in San Francisco, DICE's visual architect Johan Andersson was afforded the time to give a behind the scenes keynote speech discussing Battlefield 3, and more specifically its graphics engine, citing the history and evolution of the Battlefield series in graphical terms as he goes.
This speech is now available in full online courtesy of NVIDIA - if you're interested in what he has to say, check out the full keynote here or via the embedded video below!
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AMD FX-8150 'Bulldozer' processor reviews
We've been waiting to see it in action for a while, but AMD's latest CPU architecture, codenamed "Bulldozer", is finally here via the launch of a number of CPUs. Needless to say, reviews are focusing upon the company's new flagship offering, that being the eight-core FX-8150. Check out the comprehensive list of reviews below to see how it stacks up.
It's branded the AMD FX processor and it's only available in a single die configuration. Measuring 315mm2 and weighing in at around 2 billion transistors (that's nearly GPU-sized fellas), Bulldozer isn't that much smaller than existing 45nm 6-core Phenom II designs despite being built on Global Foundries' 32nm SOI process. Both die area and transistor count are up significantly over Sandy Bridge, which on Intel's 32nm HKMG process is only 1.16B transistors with a die size of 216mm2. This is one big chip.
Architecturally Bulldozer is a significant departure from anything we've ever seen before. We'll go into greater detail later on in this piece, but the building block in AMD's latest architecture is the Bulldozer module. Each module features two integer cores and a shared floating point core. FP hardware is larger and used less frequently in desktop (and server workloads), so AMD decided to share it between every two cores rather than offer a 1:1 ratio between int/fp cores on Bulldozer. AMD advertises Bulldozer based FX parts based on the number of integer cores. Thus a two module Bulldozer CPU, has four integer cores (and 2 FP cores) and is thus sold as a quad-core CPU. A four module Bulldozer part with eight integer cores is called an eight-core CPU.
- AnandtechArchitecturally Bulldozer is a significant departure from anything we've ever seen before. We'll go into greater detail later on in this piece, but the building block in AMD's latest architecture is the Bulldozer module. Each module features two integer cores and a shared floating point core. FP hardware is larger and used less frequently in desktop (and server workloads), so AMD decided to share it between every two cores rather than offer a 1:1 ratio between int/fp cores on Bulldozer. AMD advertises Bulldozer based FX parts based on the number of integer cores. Thus a two module Bulldozer CPU, has four integer cores (and 2 FP cores) and is thus sold as a quad-core CPU. A four module Bulldozer part with eight integer cores is called an eight-core CPU.
- Benchmark Reviews
- bit-tech
- [H]ard|OCP (Desktop performance)
- [H]ard|OCP (Gaming performance)
- Hardware Canucks
- Hardware Heaven
- HEXUS
- Hot Hardware
- Kit Guru
- Mad Shrimps
- PC Perspective
- Pure Overclock
- Rage 3D
- The Tech Report
- TechWare Labs
- Tom's Hardware
- Tweak Town
- X-Bit Labs
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Battlefield 3 beta - performance testing and image quality
Unless you've been living under a rock you'll doubtless have heard at least a little bit about Battlefield 3, and indeed you may well be aware of a multi-player beta released this week. So, how does this behemoth of an FPS perform and look?
All of our testing was done on the "Operation Metro" map as it was the only one publicly available on the first day of the beta. Rumors are circulating that soon the second map will open with 64 player support and vehicles so we are going to keep an eye on that for sure and see if performance is drastically affected.
There were two sections of the Metro map though that had very different performance characteristics and thus we tested them independently. Of three main areas on the map, the first starts in a larger outdoor area, the second takes place inside tunnels of a subway while the third returns outside in a more cityscape style design. My testing differentiated between the first outdoor section as being the most GPU intensive while the indoor section was much easier on the graphics card. You will see results for both map areas on the following pages.
Also, just to get as many different cards in as we could with the limited amount of time in a day, we ran all of our testing at 1920x1200 resolution and at Ultra quality settings.
PC Perspective has the analysis in full. Meanwhile, if you're trying to get your system ready for this beta yourself, then both AMD and NVIDIA have new driver releases with optimising performance for Battlefield 3 specifically in mind.There were two sections of the Metro map though that had very different performance characteristics and thus we tested them independently. Of three main areas on the map, the first starts in a larger outdoor area, the second takes place inside tunnels of a subway while the third returns outside in a more cityscape style design. My testing differentiated between the first outdoor section as being the most GPU intensive while the indoor section was much easier on the graphics card. You will see results for both map areas on the following pages.
Also, just to get as many different cards in as we could with the limited amount of time in a day, we ran all of our testing at 1920x1200 resolution and at Ultra quality settings.
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Inside the second: A new look at game benchmarking
Discussion of the best and most relevant way to benchmark graphics boards in this day and age is nothing new - while some web sites have chosen a different path mostly out of self-righteous justification of why they're superior to their peers and others have stuck with frames per second as the most constant indicator or performance, is there a better way of doing things? The Tech Report have spent rather a lot of time considering how we should be looking at gaming performance as it pertains to graphics cards.
GPU 1 is obviously the faster solution in most respects. Generally, its frame times are in the teens, and that would usually add up to an average of about 60 FPS. GPU 2 is slower, with frame times consistently around 30 milliseconds.
However, GPU 1 has a problem running this game. Let's say it's a texture upload problem caused by poor memory management in the video drivers, although it could be just about anything, including a hardware issue. The result of the problem is that GPU 1 gets stuck when attempting to render one of the frames—really stuck, to the tune of a nearly half-second delay. If you were playing a game on this card and ran into this issue, it would be a huge show-stopper. If it happened often, the game would be essentially unplayable.
The end result is that GPU 2 does a much better job of providing a consistent illusion of motion during the period of time in question. Yet look at how these two cards fare when we report these results in FPS:
Whoops. In traditional FPS terms, the performance of these two solutions during our span of time is nearly identical. The numbers tell us there's virtually no difference between them. Averaging our results over the span of a second has caused us to absorb and obscure a pretty major flaw in GPU 1's performance.
Check out their full analysis over here.However, GPU 1 has a problem running this game. Let's say it's a texture upload problem caused by poor memory management in the video drivers, although it could be just about anything, including a hardware issue. The result of the problem is that GPU 1 gets stuck when attempting to render one of the frames—really stuck, to the tune of a nearly half-second delay. If you were playing a game on this card and ran into this issue, it would be a huge show-stopper. If it happened often, the game would be essentially unplayable.
The end result is that GPU 2 does a much better job of providing a consistent illusion of motion during the period of time in question. Yet look at how these two cards fare when we report these results in FPS:
Whoops. In traditional FPS terms, the performance of these two solutions during our span of time is nearly identical. The numbers tell us there's virtually no difference between them. Averaging our results over the span of a second has caused us to absorb and obscure a pretty major flaw in GPU 1's performance.
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3 Terabyte hard drive round-up: Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital
If you need huge gobs of desktop-level storage, then the currently available range of 3 Terabyte hard drives are probably the way to go. But which drives should you splash your cash on? Hot Hardware takes a look at models from Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital.
When we reviewed our first 3TB hard drive almost a year ago, the market wasn't quite ready for the huge storage capacity being made available. Fully compatible motherboards featuring the unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) were still months away, and having to use a separate host bus adapter (HBA) card was inconvenient and added extra cost. But a year brings a lot of changes to the technology landscape. UEFI-equipped boards are prevalent, starting with P67 based products and spreading to the latest Intel Z68 chipset as well. Many of AMD's 990FX motherboards also sport UEFI. If you're building a new system any time soon, we've got good news for you. Chances are your mainboard will natively support high capacity hard drives out of the box, without the need for an HBA card.
If you're currently in the market for a large capacity hard drive, you've come to the right place. Today we take a look at four of the latest 3TB drives to hit the market, from Hitachi, Seagate, and Western Digital. Although each HDD offers the same amount of storage, there are some distinct differences between them. Read on to find out what separates these products from one another, and then you can examine the performance numbers we recorded from each drive after running them through our benchmark gauntlet.
Check out the round-up in full over here.If you're currently in the market for a large capacity hard drive, you've come to the right place. Today we take a look at four of the latest 3TB drives to hit the market, from Hitachi, Seagate, and Western Digital. Although each HDD offers the same amount of storage, there are some distinct differences between them. Read on to find out what separates these products from one another, and then you can examine the performance numbers we recorded from each drive after running them through our benchmark gauntlet.
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Gigabyte accidentally reveals AMD’s FX launch line-up and specs
Curious about how AMD's next generation of high-end CPUs will line up? It seems that Gigabyte have spilled the beans.
Gigabyte Technology, one of the leading manufacturers of mainboard in the world, has updated BIOS for its flagship AM3+ mainboard and accidentally reveled specifications of launch lineup of AMD FX-series central processing units code-named Zambezi. The family of AMD’s top-of-the-range chips will be consist of four eight-core models, one six-core chip and one quad-core product.
As noticed by VR-Zone web-site, Gigabyte’s GA-990FXA-UD7 mainboard already supports all of AMD’s FX chips due to be launched in 2011 with F4 BIOS version. In generally, Gigabyte nearly officially confirmed specifications of the chips that have been published for a number of times already, so, the BIOS update brings no surprises. Just as expected, the lineup of AMD FX-series will crowned by the FX-8150 chip, will contain four FX8100-series eight-core models, one FX-6100 six-core chip and one FX-4100 quad-core product.
X-Bit Labs have all the details.As noticed by VR-Zone web-site, Gigabyte’s GA-990FXA-UD7 mainboard already supports all of AMD’s FX chips due to be launched in 2011 with F4 BIOS version. In generally, Gigabyte nearly officially confirmed specifications of the chips that have been published for a number of times already, so, the BIOS update brings no surprises. Just as expected, the lineup of AMD FX-series will crowned by the FX-8150 chip, will contain four FX8100-series eight-core models, one FX-6100 six-core chip and one FX-4100 quad-core product.
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New Sandy Bridge CPUs upgradeable via software
We've heard Intel talking about plans for software upgradeable CPUs before, but now it appears that they're going to be putting that plan into action with a trio of their Sandy Bridge parts.
Intel has released new details on a series of Sandy Bridge CPUs that will be upgradeable via software. Three models are eligible. On the desktop, the Core i3-2102 and Pentium G622 can be transformed into the i3-2153 and G693, respectively. Notebook users with a Core i3-2312M will be able to turn it into an i3-2393M.
Intel indicates that upgrading the two desktop CPUs will give users a clock speed boost, while the notebook chip gets a higher clock speed and additional cache. There are no specifics on the magnitude of those changes, though. Instead of revealing the specifications of the upgraded CPUs, Intel has instead released a series of benchmark results illustrating performance gains across multiple benchmarks and applications. The numbers show performance improving by 10-23%, so we're talking about more than just a few MHz.
The cost of each upgrade hasn't been released, but the FAQ includes a few notable details. Windows 7 is the only operating system that's supported, and only "select" systems will be allowed to participate. It looks like the upgrades will be tied to a system's motherboard, too. The FAQ mentions that upgrades will have to be reactivated if there's a mobo swap.
The Tech Report has the news.Intel indicates that upgrading the two desktop CPUs will give users a clock speed boost, while the notebook chip gets a higher clock speed and additional cache. There are no specifics on the magnitude of those changes, though. Instead of revealing the specifications of the upgraded CPUs, Intel has instead released a series of benchmark results illustrating performance gains across multiple benchmarks and applications. The numbers show performance improving by 10-23%, so we're talking about more than just a few MHz.
The cost of each upgrade hasn't been released, but the FAQ includes a few notable details. Windows 7 is the only operating system that's supported, and only "select" systems will be allowed to participate. It looks like the upgrades will be tied to a system's motherboard, too. The FAQ mentions that upgrades will have to be reactivated if there's a mobo swap.
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Google buys 'Android partner' Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion
How does Google's Android OS compete with Apple's ecosystem of iOS products? How about by buying the handset division of one of its Android partners?
Google just announced that it is acquiring Motorola Mobility. The search and online advertising company is buying the company for approximately $12.5 billion (or $40 per share), in cash. The price represents a premium of 63 percent to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares last Friday
Here’s the other important part of the press statement (the why, and what happens to Android now):
The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.
TechCrunch has the breaking news.Here’s the other important part of the press statement (the why, and what happens to Android now):
The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.
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Available Tags:Sandy Bridge , Intel , i7 , AMD , Western Digital , Gigabyte , Sandy Bridge , via , Google , Android , Motorola ,
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