Larrabee in action and 7-SSD Intel PCI-E card spotted
With another round of IDF now underway, Larrabee is in the forefront of most minds and thankfully it was shown off publicly for the first time today, running on a six cored Gulftown based PC.
It was running the traditional game Quake Wars, ported to do raytracing.
Waves moved, geometry was not static, and in general it worked. Instead of multiple four core chips, the new demo was running on the 'GPU', although Intel would not call it that. The only thing on the CPU was the game engine itself, exactly what you would expect from a CPU/GPU machine. As we said earlier, B0 silicon, the bug fixed Larrabee, taped out a month ago, and would possibly be shown at IDF.
Continue reading: Larrabee in action and 7-SSD Intel PCI-E card spotted (full post)
AMD respond to NVIDIA's tough Radeon HD 5800 questions
I love the launch of new graphics cards, especially when it comes to AMD products. The main reason for this is that NVIDIA normally send over an email asking if we've got samples and when we respond with a yes, we get some questions that they think we should be asking ourselves.
This time was no different; the email came through right on time with NVIDIA asking the "tough" questions. To be honest though, I'm not AMD, I don't really feel great about answering questions on behalf of AMD, so with an email sent we had someone who was willing to respond. That person was Chris Hook who is AMD Global Communications, now with Global Communications in your title, you've got to feel pretty safe that the right person is responding.
So, what did NVIDIA ask and how did AMD respond?
Continue reading: AMD respond to NVIDIA's tough Radeon HD 5800 questions (full post)
Intel shows off four screen laptop
So what would you do with four screens on your favorite portable? This thought came to me today while checking out the news from Intel's IDF event being held at the moment.
At the show was an interesting concept, this is a laptop with a main screen and three (yes three) smaller OLED screens.
These three screens would be above the keyboard and could show a variety of widgets. The interesting thing is that they can be interacted with through multi-touch gestures and your standard mouse. You would be able to drag files between the screens, including the main one.
Continue reading: Intel shows off four screen laptop (full post)
Intel Shows Announces 22nm by 2011 and 32nm Gulftown production in Q4
Ah the game of leapfrog is so much fun, your ahead, I'm ahead. It never stops. This game is even more fun for the IT industry. The four major players (well three actually) fight for position in the market place. Each wants to be "first" at something. For example AMD was able to say they have the "First" Native Dual and Quad Core CPUs. Intel can say they were "First" to 32nm. ATi (AMD) can say they were "First" to use Physics on the GPU and the First to leverage the GPU as a processor. NVDIA...First with PhysX and Full scale GPGPU support...
Well you get the picture. So, why do I bring this all up? Simply because Intel is announcing that they will have a 22nm process for 2011. This means that by the time that AMD (Global Foundries) is hitting bulk production of 32nm CPUs, Intel will be cranking out a full node smaller.
They are getting to this size with a reduction in leakage thanks to a new version of their Hi-K Metal Gate (HKGM) material. This reduction in size (and leakage) means more energy and heat efficient CPUs. A reduction in process also means being able to pack more transistors into the same space, which of course means more functionality.
Continue reading: Intel Shows Announces 22nm by 2011 and 32nm Gulftown production in Q4 (full post)
Gulftown Overclocked to 6.386GHz
Yesterday we told you about AMD announcing their new hexa-core Thuban CPU on the day before IDF. Well, that news has been eclipsed with a single act. Overclocking master Shamino took an early engineering sample of Intel's six-core 32nm Gulftown and pushed it to an impressive 6.386GHz.
To reach this speed he needed some LN and 2.02 volts. The 6.386GHz OC is very nice but was not bench stable. To run 3DMark Vantage for a CPU score he had to drop back to 5.9GHz (still a nice overclock).
At this speed the new Gulftown was still able to completely smash the existing world record for CPU score with a staggering 51,177 not using any GPU based Physics. Now when you consider that the current record is only 32,328 you can see just how impressive this feat truly is.
Continue reading: Gulftown Overclocked to 6.386GHz (full post)
DiRT 2 will not have Full DX11 Support
DX11 is supposed to be the next big thing. At least that is what AMD and Microsoft would like you to think. On the surface (and in reality) it is a good step in the right direction for gaming. The problem lies in the way that it might be implemented by developers.
When we first heard that DiRT 2 and Racecar Driver Grid 2 were going DX11 we were very excited. Now we hear that the DX11 implementation will be a partial effort. Codemasters is not going to launch the game with full DX11 support.
Our sources tell us that there will be some of the more visible DX11 eye-candy enabled, but not all. This is a little disappointing to be honest, especially given the fact that AMD is offering coupons for a free copy of the game when it launches around the 23rd of October.
Continue reading: DiRT 2 will not have Full DX11 Support (full post)
ATI to include first DX11 game (Dirt 2) with Radeon HD 5870
In similar fashion to ATI's deal with Valve in providing coupons for copies of Half Life 2 upon launch when purchasing select DirectX 9 based ATI graphics cards, it's been said that the imminent release of ATI's next family of desktop graphics cards, the Radeon HD 5800 series will come shipped with a coupon that allows the buyer to grab a copy of Dirt 2, the first DirectX 11 based game to hit the market.
However, no doubt due to shaking hands on optimization processes that favour ATI based graphics cards, the game's original launch date of September 10 has fallen back and at the least it won't be available until sometime in November, whilst the 5870 will inevitably be on shelves well before then, so you'll have to hold onto your coupon for a while before you can make use of it.
Continue reading: ATI to include first DX11 game (Dirt 2) with Radeon HD 5870 (full post)
USB 3.0 finally sees its first certified product
A long time coming, USB 3.0 sees its first product certifed, an xHCI host controller from NEC. Certainly nothing to jump for joy about, but it's a start.
Engadget have spoken to a Jeff Ravencraft whom is the president and chairman of the USB-IF (responsible for overseeing certification procedures) and from what's been said on his part, USB 3.0 based products will start to surface in the market by early 2010, but with this host controller apparently available now in the open market, we may well see some manufacturers speed things up for a shorter time frame.
He also noted that a smattering of companies would be showcasing USB 3.0 gear at upcoming trade shows, with a Buffalo external hard drive, an ExpressCard-to-USB 3.0 adapter and even a full-on laptop with a functioning USB 3.0 port making a stop at IDF later this week. Aside from the aforesaid ExpressCard adapter -- which will let existing lappies enjoy the spoils of SuperSpeed USB -- he also noted that a PCI card would be available for desktop users looking to add a few sockets to their rig. We were also informed that USB 3.0 receptor ports will play nice with USB 2.0 cables and gadgets, albeit at USB 2.0 speed; additionally, USB 3.0 wares will be able to connect via older USB 2.0 sockets, though again at a slower rate. We've got to say, the dual-backwards compatibility is pretty sweet.
Continue reading: USB 3.0 finally sees its first certified product (full post)
AMD annoucnes six-core CPU the day before IDF
Do you remember people giving NVIDIA hell for scheduling an event around the same time as AMD (like the same day)? It was quite interesting to hear people claim that NVIDIA was pulling a low and underhanded tactic to try and take away from AMD's launch of the 5xxx series GPUs.
If that is the case I wonder what people will say about AMD announcing a 6-core consumer CPU the day before Intel's IDF? Yes it is a great announcement and one that has been in the works for some time. It is a move that has been needed. Going back to the A64 days when AMD pulled their desktop CPUs directly from the Opteron line.
But, it is still a little underhanded to do this just before your competitor has an event of their own. It just goes to prove what I always say. No company is above a little dirty pool, there is only how well they spin it afterwards.
Continue reading: AMD annoucnes six-core CPU the day before IDF (full post)
Core i7-820 QM mobile processor tested
The folks over at PC Pro have managed to get hold of an early sample Core i7-820 QM CPU for next-gen performance notebooks with which they put to the test and see if it's worthy of its Core i7 branding in the mobile market segment.
The i7-820 QM is a 1.73GHz clocked processor during light duties but can ramp up to a very serious 3.06GHz (Turbo Boost) when demand calls for it. Intel promises not only noticably superior performance to the pre-gen quad core mobile processors, but improved dynamic overclocking and efficiency for better battery life as well.
As far as PC Pro's findings go, they have some very very positive results to share with us all. Check out the full review of the speedy mobile chip via the link below.
Continue reading: Core i7-820 QM mobile processor tested (full post)