GloFo demos working 20nm TSV silicon

New method of stacking chips, without mortar

 

Globalfoundries has demonstrated a working 20nm chip using through-silicon vias (TSV). Glofo has been looking at TSV as a method of stacking chips and TSMC and Nvidia have also dabbled with stacked designs

 

Glofo claims it can use copper as the TSV fill material and that TSVs could be used in the transition from 28nm to 20nm. Of course, AMD will be the top client for Glofo’s 20nm process, but it is still unclear whether Glofo will be able to start producing TSVs at 20nm

It is still unclear when the 20nm TSV process will be ready for volume production, and it might take a while. Globalfoundries believes that the promise of 3D chip stacking will soon be a reality, but then again we’ve heard this before

However, the fact that it already has working silicon is a very encouraging sign

EVGA responds with GTX 680 Mac Edition

The GTX 680 for your Mac Pro

 

It looks like the Mac market is the new frontier for discrete graphics makers, as after Sapphire's HD 7950 Mac Edition, EVGA has stepped up and  announced the new EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition

The EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition looks like your standard GTX 680 graphics card except for a small Mac Edition label. It uses standard dual-slot blower style cooler, feature two dual-link DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort 1.1 outputs and support four displays

Based on the GK104 Kepler GPU, the GTX 680 packs 1536 CUDA cores and works at 1006MHz base and 1058MHz Boost clocks and packs 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz and paired up with a 256-bit memory interface

Some of new and key features listed by EVGA for the GTX 680 Mac Edition include Nvidia GPU Boost technology, support for four concurrent displays, Nvidia SMX Engine and CUDA technology, OpenGL 3.2 (4.3 in Windows) support and Boot Camp support

The new EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition is currently listed but not yet available over at EVGA's store with a US $599.99 price tag which is US $100 more expensive than yours standard Geforce GTX 680.

You can find more here

Asus officially launches GTX 670 DirectCU Mini

Highest performance per centimeter

 

Pictured earlier in March, the GTX 670 DirectCU Mini has now been officially announced by Asus and the strange card can easily claim the title of the world's highest performance graphics card, ahem, per centimeter

The new Asus GTX 670 DirectCU Mini is quite shorter than your average GTX 670 (24.13cm) as it is a mere 17cm long. Since small form factor PCs based on mini ITX motherboards are quite popular these days we are quite sure that Asus' GTX 670 DirectCU Mini will do good in retail/e-tail

According to info, the new Asus GTX 670 DirectCU Mini works at 928MHz base and 1006MHz boost GPU clocks and features 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz. It needs a single 8-pin PCI-Express power connector and comes with two DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI outputs

Asus noted that its exclusive DirectCU thermal design that combines a heat-spreading vapor chamber and the CoolTech fan keeps the card up to 20 percent (or 7.5?C) cooler than the reference GTX 670. The new graphics card is also much quieter despite its small size

Unfortunately, the price or the availability date have not been announced

Xbox Next controller similar to 360

Some small tweaks, but not much different

 

The controller to be used in the Next Xbox, or 720 if you will, is apparently very similar to the controllers used by the Xbox 360. Other than some minor tweaks, it appears that Microsoft has decided that it is hard to improve on a good thing

Reports claim the controller has the same two analog sticks, same D-pad position, same triggers, same bumpers, and, of course, the center power button. It is difficult to say if the buttons have been improved at all; but it is said to be bit smaller in overall physical size, with attention given to refining the contours and shape of the controller. Still, it is said to be quite similar

Seagate shipping 4TB drives with 1TB platters

Cutting costs, upping performance

 

Seagate has started shipping the world’s first 4TB drives with 1TB platters. The company claims the four-platter approach helps reduce costs, while at the same time improving performance

It is simple math really, higher density results in higher transfer speeds, and using fewer platters helps keep things simple and cheap. Seagate claims the drive can deliver data rates of up to 146MB/s, while consuming 35 per cent less power than the competition

The new drive spins at 7200rpm and it features 64MB of cache. According to Maximum PC, the new drive has already been listed for as little as $190.

AMD announces Sky Series GPUs for cloud gaming

 

Takes on Nvidia's GRID

 

AMD has now officially announced its new Radeon Sky Series graphics cards aimed at cloud gaming platforms

Featuring three products based on Graphics Core Next architecture and either Tahiti or Pitcairn GPU, the Sky Series aims to lead the way in performance and define cloud gaming experiences for gamers, according to AMD. David Cummings, Senior Director, AMD Professional Graphics noted that real time gaming through the cloud represents a significant opprtunity that AMD wants to lead in thanks to its extensive graphics hardware and software capabilities and that, by closely working with CiiNow, G-Cluster, Otoy and Ubitus, will deliver exceptional AMD Radeon gaming experinces to the cloud

Short note was also made regarding the AMD RapidFire technology that will be behind this seamless experiance by enabling highly efficient and responsive game streaming as a power of flexible cloud gaming technology. A quick check at AMD's site explains that AMD RapidFire is a combination of hardware and software that enables cloud gaming partners to benefit from an open API that should simplify the manipulation of key hardware contros in order to provide HD visual quality, minimal latency and optimal network bandwidth. It also provides support for direct access to the Sky GPUs from virtual machines like VMware SEX/SXi and Citrix XenServer in order to provide greater density and more simulataneous game streams from a single server

As noted earlier, the Sky Series features three different SKUs, the Radeon Sky 900, Radeon Sky 700 and the Radeon Sky 500. The flagship Radeon Sky 900 is a dual-slot, dual-GPU solution, based on two Tahiti GPUs The GPU works at 825MHz and it has 6GB of GDDR5 memory (3GB per GPU) paired up with a 384-bit memory interface. It delivers 480GB/s of memory bandwidth, the TDP stands at 300W, and it supports AMD RapidFire and PowerTune, but lacks AMD ZeroCore Power tech

Next in line is the single-GPU Tahiti-based Radeon Sky 700 that is also a full-height/full-length dual-slot graphics card. It works at 900MHz for the GPU and comes with 6GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 384-bit memory interface. It features 264GB/s of memory bandwidth and the max TDP set at 225W. AMD RapidFire, PowerTune and ZeroCore Power technologies are on board as well

Last but not least is the AMD Radeon Sky 500. This full-height/full-length single-slot graphics card is based on Pitcairn XT GPU (aka HD 7870), works at 950MHz for the GPU and packs 4GB or GDDR5 memory paired up with a 256-bit memory interface. The max TDP is set at 150W, has 154GB/s of memory bandwidth and features the full set of AMD technologies

According to the feature and benefits tab at AMD's "cloud gaming" site, AMD Radeon Sky Series graphics cards can support up to six simultaneous HD game streams per GPU and thus maximize available space in cloud gaming data centers. According to AMD, this was tested on CiiNow cloud services with AMD Opteron 6380 16-core server, Colfax CX 125-N44 1U rack mount server and one AMD Radeon Sky Series model 700 GPU

Interestingly enough, AMD claims that these are designed for silent operation and simplify thermal design for servers with passive cooling

You can check out AMD's cloud gaming part of the site here

Microsoft to merge RT with Blue

Blue screen of death for RT

 

Software giant Microsoft will no longer launch products under its Windows RT line and will instead merge the product line into the software giant's next-generation Windows, codenamed Blue

According to Digitimes, quoting its famous unnamed sources, the PC supply chain had pushed the Windows on ARM (WoA) platform aggressively. But the Windows RT's name misled most consumers into believing that the operating system is able to support all existing x86 Windows programs

The fact that it had a lack of apps, as well as compatibility problems also did not help. The next-generation of Windows will appear at the Microsoft Build Developer Conference 2013 in June. Most Asian supply chain experts think that Wintel PC demand will drop down the loo before Intel and Microsoft's next-generation products show up in the second half of the year

More here

OCZ extends its Far Cry 3 bundle

Now includes all Vector models

 

Earlier last month, OCZ decided to launch a Far Cry 3 bundle that was available with its flagship Vector SSD, but only with 256GB and 512GB models

Today, we have been informed that the bundle was extended to the entire Vector SSD range, so even those that buy the cheapest 128GB Vector SSD will be able to download the Far Cry 3 game

The special offer is available for North America, South America, EMEA and Asia regions but excludes Africa and China. The download code expires on July 14th, 2013 so there is more than enough time in case you did not already download your copy

All you need to do is, of course buy an OCZ Vector SSD, and head to this OCZ dedicated site

MSI launches two Bonaire cards

Single design with and without factory-overclock

 

MSI has offically announced its own HD 7790 graphics cards and decided to go for a single design that will be available with and without factory-overclock

To be known as the MSI R7790-1GD5 and the MSI R7790-1GD5/OC, the cards feature a custom cooling solution with a single center-placed 10cm fan with Propeller Blade technology, dual heatpipes and an expanded heatsink

The standard, MSI R7790-1GD5 works at reference 1000MHz for the GPU and 6000MHz for 1GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 128-bit memory interface, while the MSI R7790-1GD5/OC ended up with a slight GPU overclock to 1050MHz. Based on the Bonaire XT GPU, the cards feature 896 stream processors and both have DisplayPort, HDMI and two DVI outputs

Both cards should be available pretty soon with a suggested price of around US $149.99 for the standard, reference clocked version

Gainward launches two GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards

Gainward Golden Sample

 

Gainward has launched two GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards and one will be a part of Gainwards' impressive "Golden Sample" series

Interestingly enough, Gainward decided to scrap Nvidia's reference design with a blower-style fan and use its own custom solution with two fans on the Golden Sample, and a single-fan version on the reference clocked card. In case you somehow missed them, the GTX 650 Ti Boost is based on the GK106 GPU, packs 768 CUDA cores, works at 980MHz for the base, 1033MHz for boost GPU clock and comes with either 1 or 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz and paired with a 192-bit memory interface

The more interesting Gainward GTX 650 Ti Golden Sample works at 1006MHz base and 1072MHz boost GPU clocks and even slightly overclock memory clock set at 6108MHz

Both cards should be available pretty soon

Havok announces Project Anarchy

Complete 3D mobile game engine for free

 

Today at the 2013 Game Developers Conference, Havok announced and unveiled its new Project Anarchy, a complete end-to-end mobile 3D game production engine that will be free on many mobile platforms without any restrictions

Project Anarchy will include Havok's Vision Engine and will have access to Havok's Physics, Animation and AI tools, already used in some impressive game titles like Skyrim, Assassin's Creed and others

Ross O'Dwyer, Head of Developer Relations at Havok noted that Havok is impressed by what the AAA industry created with their technology so far and that they are delighted to be able to offer professional grade tools to mobile developers for free

The free download that Havok plans to release this Spring will also include a broad range of game samples and tutorials. Havok also launched a dedicated www.projectanarchy.com site in order to promote and support developers by building an online community, encouraged to do free sharing and collaborative development of extensions and customizations

MSI launches couple of GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards

The Gaming Series is here

 

Following the launch of the Nvidia GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics card, MSI decided to launch a couple of SKUs including two versions cooled by famous Twin Frozr III cooler that will be a part of the new Gaming Series lineup

Two standard GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards from MSI will be recognizable by a cooler that has a 100mm center placed fan and will be sold under N650Ti-2GD5 BE and N650Ti-2GD5/OC BE model names. The reference clocked one works at 980MHz (1033MHz boost) GPU clock and feature 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked 6008MHz and it is paired up with a 192-bit memory interface. The OC version works at 1006MHz base and 1072MHz boost clock while the rest of the specs remains the same

Earlier this month at Cebit, MSI announced the arrival of its new Gaming Series branded products that will include both graphics cards and motherboards. MSI decided that the GTX 650 Ti Boost is good enough to be a part of this series and has launched two models, both cooled by MSI's Twin Frozr III cooler. The N650Ti TF 2GD5 BE and the N650Ti TF 2GD5/OC BE both feature same cooler. The first one is reference clocked while the OC version works at 1033MHz base and 1098MHz boost clocks

All new MSI GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards should be available pretty soon

EVGA launches Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost Superclocked

Alongside reference one

 

It appears that EVGA will be taking up the Geforce GTX 650 Ti Boost challenge as has launched two versions, the reference clocked GTX 650 Ti Boost and the Superclocked factory overclocked version

In case you missed it, the GTX 650 Ti Boost is based on GK106 GPU with a total of 768 CUDA cores and comes with either 1GB or 2GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 192-bit memory interface. The reference GPU clock is set at 980MHz but it can "boost" up to 1033MHz. The memory works at 6008MHz

Although both announced EVGA GTX 650 Ti Boost graphics cards use the same blower style cooler, the Superclocked version works at 1072MHz for the GPU base and 1137MHz for the GPU boost clock while 2GB of GDDR5 memory remained at reference 6008MHz

Both cards are compatible with EVGA's PrecisionX 4.0.0 overclocking/monitoring software and come with a standard 3 global warranty, something that EVGA is quite proud of. According to EVGA, both cards should be available pretty soon with a price of US $169.99 (€139/£123.00 exc VAT) for the reference one and US $179.99 (€147/£130.00 exc VAT) for the EVGA GTX 650 Ti Boost Superclocked version

You can find them both here

Nvidia releases Geforce 314.22 WHQL drivers

In case you want to play Bioshock Infinite

 

Nvidia has released a new version of its Geforce driver, the Geforce 314.22 WHQL. The launch coincides with the appearance of Bioshock Infinite and the GTX 650Ti Boost, the new driver brings quite a few performance improvements in Bioshock Infinite and various other games

The new driver brings performance improvement of up to 41 percent in Bioshock Infinite, up to 60 percent in Tomb Raider, up to 23 percent in Sniper Elite V2 and up to 13 percent in Sleeping Dogs, all on GTX 680 graphics card and when compared to 314.07 WHQL drivers. The new driver will also work on other graphics cards and bring some performance improvements as well but but with different results

The new driver also brings some improvements for GTX 680 SLI systems with up to 21 percent improvement in Sniper Elite V2, up to 14 percent in Sleeping Dogs, up to 10 percent in Star Craft II and up to 15 percent in Civilization V. It also adds or updates SLI and 3D Vision profiles for some games

You can find the new driver here

ADATA slims down its SSDs

Down to 7mm

 

ADATA Technology has announced that all of its, existing and forthcoming, solid state drives will feature a thinner and lighter case making them extremely suitable for slim-design notebooks and Ultrabooks

According to ADATA, the new 2.5-inch 7mm SSDs will be 26 percent thinner and somewhat lighter with no loss of speed, capacity or durability. In order to make them backward compatible, all SSDs will also ship with a 2.5mm plastic holder that will make them fit snuggly in the existing 9.5mm slots

With this move, ADATA aims to remain a leader in solid state technology

Kingston announces new HyperX memory kits

Black PCB and signature heatspreaders

 

In order to celebrate its 10th anniversary of its HyperX brand, Kingston Technology has announced new HyperX Beast and entry-level Black line of DDR3 memory kits that will use black PCB and matching Black signature heatspreaders

The HyperX Beast, aimed at enthusiasts and overclockers, will be available in various dual and quad-channel kits in capacities from 8 to 64GB and speeds of up to 2400MHz. According to Kingston, the HyperX Beast 2133MHz 64GB and the 2400MHz 32GHB kits are the fastest and highest capacity certified Intel XMP-ready kits on the market

The HyperX Black line aimed at entry and mid-range markets, will be available in 4GB and 8GB modules and thus as an 8GB of 16GB dual-channel kit and will be available with 1333MHz and 1600MHz frequencies

According to Lary Yang, HyperX business manager at Kingston, they managed to match good looks with high performance with the new HyperX Black and Beast lineup

The HyperX Beast and Black line will be available in variety of CAS latencies and will need 1.5 to 1.65V of voltage

You can check out more about the HyperX Beast here and you can find the HyperX black line here

Nvidia officially launches GTX 650 Ti Boost

Battles AMD on two fronts

 

Nvidia has officially launched its newest mid-range graphics card in order to counter the recently launched AMD Radeon HD 7790.

The GTX 650 Ti Boost is based on the same GK106 Kepler GPU as the GTX 650 Ti and the GTX 660, the new card features 768 CUDA cores, 64 texture units 24 ROPs, works at 980MHz base and 1033MHz boost clock and will be available with either 1 or 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz and paired up wtih a 192-bit memory interface

By launching two versions with 1GB or 2GB of memory, Nvidia manages to battle both the HD 7790 1GB graphics card in the US $149 range as well as the Radeon HD 7850 2GB in the US $169 price range. Few days earlier, or to be precise on Friday, when we wrote about the GTX 650 Ti Boost, Nvidia planed, or at least told its partners, that the GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB will go after the HD 7850 and thus should be priced accordingly at around US $189, but a few days later, Nvidia decided to drop the price down to US $169 in order to better cope with AMD's offering. These prices make the GTX 650 Ti Boost 1/2GB quite a decent match for AMD's offerings on both fronts, but we'll get to details a bit later

Performance and specification wise, the GTX 650 Ti Boost has a lot more to do with the GTX 660 rather than the GTX 650 Ti. The GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB on average, depending on the game and the benchmark, certainly breathes down the HD 7850 2GB neck and is even slightly faster in some if not most scenarios. Unfortunately, Nvidia did a clever thing and most if not all sites are doing the GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB review and compare it to the HD 7790 which honestly does not sound fair as we are not talking about the same price range

Judging by the slides that we saw earlier, Nvidia certainly wanted to go after the HD 7850 and the HD 7790 now simply sounds like collateral damage. Unfortunately, prices go up and down and we are sure that AMD has at least some room to adjust their pricing and offer great value with those bundled games

Currently, as far as we can see, the HD 7850 2GB sells four around US $180 with various rebates at Newegg.com which makes it about US $10 more expensive than the GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB. The HD 7790 1GB should be selling for US $149.99 which is pretty much what Nvidia wants for the GTX 650 Ti Boost 1GB graphics card

In Europe, the GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB should go for €149 for the 1GB and €169 for the 2GB version. A quick check of our favorite EU price search engine reveals that you can actually buy the HD 7850 2GB graphics card for about the same amount of money and, of course, the HD 7790 1GB also is pretty much in line with the GTX 650 Ti Boost 1GB €149.

We have yet to see a GTX 650 Ti Boost 1GB review but judging from these first GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB reviews, AMD's HD 7790 will certainly be in trouble and we are quite sure that they will justify it with the Never Settle Reloaded bundle that adds Bioshock Infinite game coupon. Same thing can be applied to the HD 7850 and the GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB, as although it does come on top, performance wise (in some if not all situations), AMD can easily say that their card has more value thanks to the bundle, which in this case adds both the Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider games

You can check out some of the review links below

Anandtech.com
Techpowerup.com
Tweaktown.com
Hothardware.com
Hardwareheaven.com
Hardwarecanucks.com
Hexus.net
Bjorn3d.com

Archos 97 Titanium hits retail/e-tail

Available at Amazon.com for US $249

 

Archos 97 Titanium has appeared at Amazon.com with a US $249 price tag. Although it was announced back in January, it appears that it is just hitting some of the major US retail/e-tail shops

In case you missed it, the 97 Titanium is a part of Archos' Titanium lineup that also includes the 70 Titanium, 80 Titanium and the 101 Titanium. The premium offering is exactly the 97 Titanium that should be, at least according to Archos, a direct competitior to the new iPad thanks to its Retina-class 9.7-inch 2048x1536 IPS touchscreen and aluminum back casing. It is based on a Rockchip Cortex A9 dual-core chip clocked at 1.6GHz and paired up with quad-core Mali 400MP4 GPU

The rest of the specs include 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage expandable by microSD card slot, front 2-megapixel and rear 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, WiFi, and all the other usual features expected to be found on a similar tablet. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

You can find it and order it here

Radeon HD 7850 1GB going EOL

  

Too close to HD 7790

 

We managed to confirm with some of our sources that Radeon HD 7850 1GB is indeed EOLed and will not be produced any more. According to our sources, the reason most likely lies in the fact that the HD 7790 gets too close to it, performance wise, and it simply does not make sense for partners to have both cards

Back when we first wrote about the HD 7790, AMD was planning to force its partners not to make factory-overclocked versions as it could cannibalize the sales of the HD 7850 but it looks like it was easier for partners to simply EOL the HD 7850 and stick to reference and factory-overclocked HD 7790 models

Although there are some rumors that the HD 7850 EOL reason lies in the memory chip availability, our sources suggest that it is highly unlikely as that would influence some other cards as well and the real reason is exactly the HD 7790.

On the other hand, a quick check and our sources reveal that the HD 7850 1GB is still widely available and there are is still plenty of stock so it will stay with us, at least for a while

Sapphire launches HD 7950 Mac Edition graphics card

Designed for Mac Pro desktops

 

Seen and detailed at Cebit 2013 earlier this month, Sapphire has now officially launched its new HD 7950 Mac Edition graphics card designed to be used with Mac Pro desktop systems

The new Sapphire HD 7950 Mac Edition, based on AMD's GCN architecture, will bring a new level of graphics perfomance improvement to Mac Pro users in a wide range of applications including gaming, audio or video editing and content creation. According to Sapphire, the HD 7950 Mac Edition will bring over 200 percent improvement in games, up to 30 percent in general benchmarks and up to 300 percent in graphics intensive benchmarks when compared to the Nvidia 8800GT which is commonly used in Mac Pro systems

Although there are no precise details regarding the clocks, Sapphire noted that the card comes with 3GB of GDDR5 memory and delivers up to 2.87 TFLOPS of single precision compute power as well as hardware support for Open GL 4.2, Open CL 1.2 and AMD HD3D tech and APP acceleration. It also comes with all advanced post-processing and scaling operations, courtesy of AMD GCN architecture, including de-blocking de-noising, automatic de-interlacing, Mosquito noise reduction and edge enhancement as well as advanced image quality enhancement technology, such as adaptive anti-aliasing and 16x angle independent anisotropic texture filtering

It features two mini DisplayPort outputs with a maximum reoslution of 3840x2160 per display under Mac OSX as well as a Dual-link DVI port with HDCP (2560x1600) and 3GHz HDMI 1.4a port (3840x2160 maximum resolution). As noted by Sapphire, the new HD 7950 Mac Edition works on all Apple Mac Pro models from 2010 with an available PCI-Express x16 slot and needs two 6-pin PCI-Express power coonectors that are supplied with the card

For those PC users that simply like the look of the new HD 7590 Mac Edition, Sapphire decided to include a dual BIOS switch that switches between non-UEFI MAC OS X/Windows BIOS and UEFI hybrid BIOS for Windows

Unfortunately, Sapphire did not shere any details regarding the price or the availability date

Intel shows off new web-based TV design kit

Getting ready for show time

 

Chipzilla has unveiled a new reference design kit for a Web-based TV set-top box. The box will use an Atom processor and Hillcrest Labs' motion control technology

According to a press release, the fact that the remote alongside Hillcrest's Freespace Motion Engine software will give subscribers the ability to control their TVs with "mouse-like navigation and point-and-click simplicity." Intel is showcasing the software at the TV Connect 2013 conference in London

Chipzilla thinks that operators want better ways to help consumers find and navigate shows and applications

"With Freespace, we're creating an out-of-the box, motion-ready reference solution for operators and OEMs globally," an Intel spokesman said

Intel plans to release an Internet-based TV service and box this year. The chipmaker will provide the hardware and services to consumers and that the box would use a camera that could detect who is in front of the TV. Intel's kit is intended to allow equipment manufacturers to make set-top boxes and media servers based on the dual-core Atom CE5300.

The chip giant says it pre-integrated a media engine, broadcast stacks, virtualization, and motion control technology to reduce testing. Intel intends to make the reference design available to manufacturers next month

AMD brings HD 7790 launch forward

  

Reviews coming on Friday, 22nd of March

 

According to our sources, AMD has brought the official launch of the Radeon HD 7790 forward and first reviews should be up on Friday, 22nd of March

The decision for the new official launch date did not change many things as the retail/e-tail availability is still expected in April, but we guess that AMD wanted to have a head start in order to do as much damage possible to Nvidia's GT 650 Ti Boost graphics card. The sample cards should already be in the hands of selected members of the press, according to our sources

To make things even sillier, Nvidia came up with the GT 650 Ti to counter the AMD Radeon HD 7790, and now AMD is countering that with a preemtive launch. It is a good thing these guys didn't run the US or USSR during the Cold War. We'd all be a layer of fine, irradiated dust right now.Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap. Ed

In case you missed it, the Bonaire based Radeon HD 7790 is expected to feature 768 stream processors and a 128-bit memory interface, at least according to early GPU-Z screenshots. It needs a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector, should be available in versions with 1 and 2GB of GDDR5 memory and feature two DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs

The Radeon HD 7790 aims to fill the gap between the HD 7770 GHz Edition and the Radeon HD 7850 graphics and should be priced accordingly

ASUS plans Intel based Andriod phone

Atom goes main stream

 

The dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell on earth yarn which claims that ASUS has plans to launch an Intel-based Android smartphone in June

The report comes from Digitimes quoting its typewriters, er upstream manufacturing sources, so there might be nothing in it. However if it is true it means that ASUS will be targeting the mainstream market segment with an Intel Atom Z2580 device
The phone is said to share some characteristics with Lenovo’s K900 and will sport a display ranging from 5-5.5”.

Little else is known about the phone. Intel has been trying to push its Atoms in the emerging markets, such as India and Africa, versus developed markets which is already saturated by the competition from Qualcomm, Nvidia and Samsung with its Exynos chipsets. So this would be a change of tactics

More here

Sony announces mid-range Xperia L smartphone

4.3-inch dual-core smartphone

 

In addition to the Xperia SP high mid-range smartphone, Sony also revealed a slightly cheaper Xperia L 4.3-inch smartphone based on Qualcomm's MSM8230 chipset

The 4.3-inch 854x480 touchscreen is far away from 720p screens usually found in higher priced smartphones, but it should be enough for most consumers. Sony decided to go for Qualcomm's MSM8230 chipset that features two Krait CPU cores clocked at 1GHz, paired up with an Adreno 305 GPU. The rest of the specs include 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage space expandable by microSD card slot

Just like the mid range Xperia SP, this Xperia L also features 8-megapixel Exmor RS sensor camera with HDR-mode for both pictures and video mode as well as a dedicated shutter key. It also features a front 0.3-megapixel VGA camera for video calling

Connectivity wise, the Xperia L will feature 3G HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC support. It should feature 1900mAh battery and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS

Unfortuanately Sony did not reveal any details regarding the price of the Xperia L, either, but according to rumors and early listings it should be priced at less than €300 in Europe. The Xperia L should also be available in black, white and red color in Q2 this year

Nvidia release Geforce 314.21 beta drivers

 

Tomb Raider performance/stability fixed 

 

Nvidia has released a new Geforce 314.21 beta driver that is mostly aimed at improving performance in Tomb Raider 2013.

The new beta driver improves performance and stability in Tomb Raider and adds a couple of new SLI and 3D Vision profiles. As you remember, there was a considerable performance difference between otherwise comparable Nvidia and AMD GPUs. Nvidia already apologized and explained that the company only received a final version of the game a few days before the launch and it has been working closely with Crystal Dynamics to resolve all game issues as quickly as possible

The most noticable issues were with a huge performance hit when TressFX hair was enabled as well as some game crashing on 600-series graphics cards that should hopefully be fixed with the new Tomb Raider update and Nvidia's Geforce 314.21 beta driver update

You can find the new beta driver here

AMD releases Catalyst 13.3 beta 2 driver

  

Tomb Raider, Far Cry 3 and Sim City 5 fixes

 

AMD has released Catalyst 13.3 beta 2 driver that fixes performance issues in some of the latest titles, including Tomb Raider 2013.

The full list includes performance improvements of up to 16 percent in Sim City 5 and up to 5 percent in Far Cry 3 as well as latency performance issues noticed in Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution

AMD also resolved slight corruption seen in Tomb Raider with TressFX hair enabled for Crossfire and single GPU configurations

As it was the case with all most recent driver updates, this one is also compatible with AMD Radeon HD 5000, 6000 and 7000 series desktop graphics cards as well as AMD Mobility HD 5000, 6000M and 7000M series graphics cards

You can find the AMD Catalyst 13.3 Beta 2 driver here

Samsung Galaxy S4 coming to UK on April 26th

Pre-orders start March 28th

 

Although there is still no word regarding the price of the new Samsung Galaxy S4, some UK carriers and retailers/e-tailers have announced both the availability and the pre-order dates set for April 26th and March 28th

It is no wonder that most, if not every UK carrier will be offering Samsung Galaxy S4 including Three, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, O2, EE and Tesco Mobile, as well as some retail/e-tail shops, including Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U. According to current information, EE, Orange and T-Mobile will start taking pre-orders from 28th of March while availability is expected on 26th of April

There are, of course, some differences between offers from various carriers as some will charge extra for the LTE while other will give it for free, once LTE service is available

You can check out more over at CNET.co.uk

Lenovo unveils new 14-inch ThinkPad T431 Ultrabook

A new era for the ThinkPad

 

Lenovo has turned a new page with its Thinkpad line of notebooks by announcing the new ThinkPad T431 that features no less than 26 design changes that should mark a new era in Thinkpad history

According to Lenovo, the new Thinkpad comes as a result of an 18-month research and developement process that resulted in 26 major design changes, but it still retains the recognizable look and feel of a good old Thinkpad. Despite the fact that it fits all the Ultrabook parameters, Lenovo wanted to make sure that it is still a rugged and durable Thinkpad that meets the mil-SPEC 8 standard

Built around a 14-inch 1600x900 matte display with 250 nits of brightnes and the thinnest bezel on any T-series Thinkpad so far, the new Thinkpad T431 ended up with 331x226x20.6mm (13.03x8.89x0.8-inches) dimensions and 1.63kg (3.6-pounds) weight. The rest of the specs include up to 3.3GHz clocked Intel Core i7-3687U CPU, Intel HD graphics, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 1TB of HDD space or SSD option, 720p webcamera, optional backlit keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet and WWAN connectivity options, VGA output, card reader, two USB 3.0 ports and bunch of other expected features including a 47WHr (3-cell) sealed battery

In addition to a slimmer and more clean design and thinnest bezel so far, the main design change is with the touchpad as the standard and quite recognizable Thinkpad touchpad has been replaced with a new button-less version developed by Lenovo and Synaptics. As you can see it does not feature any buttons, it is quite larger and supports up to 20 different gestures

The new Thinkpad T431 will be available with either Windows 7 or Windows 8 OS and Lenovo already hinted that we might see versions with a touchscreen in a near future. It will be available as of April with a starting price of US $949.

Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note should get Android 4.2.2

Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II to end at Android 5.0

According to the first pre-list compiled by Sammobile.com, Samsung plans to deliver an Android 4.2.2 update to a wide range of devices, including the Galaxy S II and, the first-gen Galaxy Note as well as update some of the recently released devices to Android 5.0.

The compiled pre-list comes from an insider that revealed details to Sammobile.com and includes a wide range of devices that will see Android 4.2.2 as their last update, including the Galaxy S II/Plus/Advance, Galaxy S III mini, Galaxy Ace 2 and the first Galaxy Note. The insider also revealed Samsung plans to update Galaxy S III/III LTE, Galaxy S 4, Galaxy Note 8.0, Note II and Note 10.1 to Android 5.0.

The information also reveals that a bunch of mid-range 2012/2013 devices will be getting a value pack update. Of course, the official announcement regarding the Android 5.0 update is expected as soon as Google officially announce it at its Google I/O event and we guess that we will see the Android 4.2.2 update-list confirmation somewhere around that timeframe as well

Of course, since this is a pre-list, Samsung could still add or remove some devices from it

You can check out more here

First Radeon HD 7790 pictured

  

Tested in 3DMark

 

It was just a matter of time before we see some pictures of the upcoming Radeon HD 7790 based on the Bonaire GPU, and Sweclockers.com managed to get their hands on one, post some pictures and even do some testing in 3DMark

Although the GPU-Z v0.6.8 does not officially support the new Bonaire GPU, some info gathered from it can be accurate as it is reported by the driver. Of course, the amount of stream processors, memory interface and TMU/ROP count might be slightly different than what the actual screenshot shows. If the GPU-Z screenshot ends up to be true, we are looking at 768 stream processors and a 128-bit memory interface

The pictured card comes from Sapphire and will be a part of their Dual-X series. It features custom PCB and Sapphire's own dual-X cooler with two 80mm fans. The new HD 7790 will apparently need a single 6-pin PCI-Express power connector and feature two DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs

Sweclockers also did some test with the 3DMark Fire Strike and 3DMark 11 benchmarks and compare it to the Radeon HD 7850. The new HD 7790 graphics card (or at least this SKU from Sapphire) ends up just slightly slower than the HD 7850 which is pretty much in line with what we have been hearing for quite a while

According to the mentioned GPU-Z screenshot, the Sapphire HD 7790 Dual-X might end up clocked at 1075MHz for the GPU and 6400MHz for either 1GB or 2GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 128-bit memory interface

According to earlier rumors, the new HD 7790 is scheduled to appare in retail/e-tail as of next month and should fit,l price and performance wise, between the HD 7770 GHz Edition and the Radeon HD 7850 graphics card

You can check out more here. via Techpowerup.com