Video Cards & GPUs - Page 434

AMD GPU14 - AMD kicked off its GPU14 Conference in Hawaii by announcing five new video cards that span the gamut of pricing and performance. AMD's Matt Skinner took the stage to announce the new AMD R9 and R7 series of enthusiast level graphics cards and lead off by saying that AMD's new GPUs are built using the same technology that is featured in all the upcoming next-gen consoles.

Up first is AMD's Radeon R7-250, a budget friendly GPU that packs in 1GB of RAM and scores >2000 in 3DMark FireStrike. The R7-250 will retail for $89 or less. Next up the chain is the all new Radeon R7-260X, a GPU that hits the midrange market with 2GB of GDDR5 memory and scores >3700 in 3DMark FireStorm all for just $139.

Up next is the first card in the R9 series, the Radeon R9-270X, an upper level $199 GPU that features 2GB of GDDR5 and scores >5500 in 3DMark FireStorm. The R9-280X is the first high-end GPU that AMD announced and features 3GB of GDDR5 RAM. The R9-280X scored more than 6800 in 3DMark FireStorm and will retail for $299.

Our own Shawn Baker is in Hawaii right now probably enjoying a cocktail and Luau or two for the AMD event that it set to take place in the following hours, but ahead of the unveiling, AMD is promising to fix some of its issues.

We should see the chipmaker improve CrossFire, Eyefinity and Linux support, on top of unveiling a bunch of next generation GPUs. We should expect the R9-290X "Hawaii" GPU unveiled tomorrow, which should retake the performance crown from NVIDIA. Ahead of this, AMD's Corporate VP of Visual Computing, Raja Koduri, walked up to the banks of Hawaii's Diamond Head mountain to provide a quick tease of what's coming in the software side of things.

AMD is going to be working on its support for CrossFire and Eyefinity (finally), with the aim set on improving the various frame pacing issues that should allow for a more consistent frame rate, and should put an arrow in the leg of stuttering. We should also see an improvement made to Linux support, where AMD seems to constantly lag behind NVIDIA in.

Earlier this morning we saw AMD's Radeon R9 290X leak in a series of photos and benchmark test, but that was not the only upcoming GPU to surface in leaked images. AMD's Radeon R7 260X has also appeared in some newly leaked photographs that show off a uniquely designed ducted cooling solution.

The R7 260X is an upper mid-range graphics card that is said to be based off of the "Bonaire" silicon that is featured in the company's Radeon HD 7790 high-in the GPU, but as TechPowerUp reports, it is more likely that the card is based on the "Curacao" architecture given the PCB and component layout on in the photo below. AMD is hosting a press event in Hawaii this Wednesday the 25th and is widely expected to launch its Hawaii-based GPUs. Our own Shawn Baker will be on hand covering the event so stay tuned.

AMD is expected to unleash it's "Hawaii" GPUs this week, with the newly named Radeon R9-290X leading the pack. There's now a new leak, with some naked shots underneath the heatsink and fan, in all its naked glory.

As you can see, the full PCB features the usual 8+6-pin PCIe power connectivity, which should provide a GPU that comes under the 300W TDP. We can see the numerous GDDR5 chips spread around the GPU socket, but eagle-eyed readers should note there are 16 GDDR5 chips... which means we could expect 4GB and 8GB versions of the new GPUs. This is going to be great for Eyefinity and 4K display setups.

This could all lead down the rabbit hole of a 512-bit memory bus, which would give the new Hawaii GPUs some incredible memory bandwidth. There are some benchmark scores, which I wouldn't put too much faith into right now, but if that's something you want to check out, by all means be our guest!

Early this morning, video card manufacturer HIS accidentally leaked the SKUs and details on seven new GPUs the company will be offering from AMD's upcoming R-200 series. It appears that with the pending 4K refresh happening in the video resolution world AMD is looking to dump the Radeon HD name for its video cards and replace it with a new system that makes it easier to identify which cards are which.

The new simplified naming scheme works something like this. R9-280X stands for Radeon Generation 9 Model 280 Variant X. AMD says that this new naming scheme will make it easier to classify future generation cards and will enable consumers to quickly chose the right card for their needs.

Now that we have the naming scheme covered, let's move on to the leaked cards. It appears that the HIS R9-280X iPower IceQ X2 will be at the top of the list and will sport 3GB of GDDR5 Memory. The HIS R7-240 iCooler will round out the list with 1GB of GDDR5. Not much is else is known about the new R-200 series, but the complete leaked list can be seen below.

Today KFA2, Galaxy's premium brand of graphics cards, released its all new GeForce GTX 780 HOF Edition GPU. The company says that each of the new GTX 780 HOF GPUs are hand-picked and then given an incredible factory overclock of 1058MHz. This makes the card as much as 20-percent faster than a standard GTX 780.

The company has added a new Hybrid Vapor Chamber Heat Pipe Cooler that is said to transfer heat 30x more efficient than copper. Twin 90mm fans are specially designed with grooved blades to reduce noise while increasing cooling efficiency. In a press release, KFA2 said that the GTX 780 HOF edition has been completely redesigned and populated with the highest quality components possible.

Today NVIDIA announced a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment that will give those who purchase new NVIDIA GeForce-based GPU's the highly acclaimed Batman: Arkham Origins video game. The new title in the Batman series features an expansive Gotham City, and introduces a new original prequel storyline set several years before the events that took place in Batman; Arkham Asylum, and Batman Arkham City.

"The Batman: Arkham games are visually stunning and it's great that we are able to continue building upon the amazing graphics with Batman: Arkham Origins," said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "With NVIDIA's continued support, we are able to deliver an incredibly immersive gameplay experience."

And if you're attending PAX PRIME this weekend, anyone attending the sneak peek of Batman: Arkham Origins will also have the chance to purchase a bundle package at the special kiosk inside the NVIDIA booth, and will receive a limited-edition Batman lithograph. Eligible GPU's include the GeForce 660, 660TI, 670, 680, 760, 770 or 780 high-end graphics cards.

Now this is some exciting news from VideoCardz.com, who is reporting that NVIDIA is working on two new video cards that we should see in the very near future. The first of which brings back the Ultra moniker, something I've been missing for years, and a dual Kepler GPU.

The two GPUs in question would land as the GeForce GTX Titan Ultra, and the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 790. The GTX Titan Ultra would be a GK110 part, which is the same silicon found in the GTX Titan and GTX 780, but it would have all of those 2880 CUDA cores enabled for some serious graphics bench pressing. RIght now, the GTX Titan has 2688 CUDA cores enabled, and the GTX 780 has just 2304 CUDA cores enabled. This should give the GTX Titan Ultra a nice boost over its predecessor.

NVIDIA isn't stopping there though, as we should expect a GeForce GTX 790 sometime in the future. This would pack in two GK110 cores, but we don't know how many CUDA cores NVIDIA would enable per GPU. We should expect two fully-enabled GPUs on the GTX 780, as they'd need to be cut down to not leap over the 300W threshold.

If you've ever stared at your multiple graphics cards set up and thought to yourself "man that SLI bridge sure is ugly," then a fresh announcement from EVGA is sure to put a smile on your face. Earlier today, EVGA announced what amounts to a cosmetic upgrade for enthusiasts who run multiple NVIDIA graphics cards.

The EVGA Pro SLI Bridge is an aesthetically pleasing replacement for the typical ribbon cable-based SLI bridge that comes with all NVIDIA SLI compatible graphics cards. While it offers nothing in terms of better performance, it should really clean up the look of multiple GPU setups and give enthusiasts just a little more bragging rights about the bling in their case.

The bridge appears to be made out of plastic and features brushed aluminum panels on top with the EVGA logo front and center. Things are accented by backlighting that is provided by small LEDS shining through EVGA logos on each panel. This backlighting will only work when the bridges are used on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700-series or later graphics cards, including the GeForce GTX Titan. EVGA says that the bridges are compatible with all brands of NVIDIA graphics cards and will be available in the coming weeks.

You can always count on NVIDIA to release something that gets your wallet craving an emptying, and today is no different with the announcement of their new professional-grade GPU, the Quadro K6000.

NVIDIA are calling their new Kepler-based, professional GPU "the fastest and most capable GPU ever built." It has replaced the Quadro 6000, and features an insane 12GB of DDR5 RAM, 2880 streaming multiprocessor cores, ultra-low latency video I/O and the ability to pump graphics out to four simultaneous monitors at 4K resolutions. Yeah, nice, isn't it?

Just how fast is NVIDIA's Quadro K6000? Well, Nissan have said they can nearly load almost-complete vehicle models using NVIDIA's new GPU. Impressive. It's actually not too badly priced either, comign in at $2250.