Archive

Intel's Unreleased GPU Gets New Shader Compiler, Etc | Posted on: 30/06/2009 @ 7:50

Earlier this month we reported on Linux support for a new, unreleased Intel IGP after several commits hit the Intel driver's X.Org DDX driver (xf86-video-intel). This code added a new mobile and desktop component but of course not many details regarding this next-generation Intel graphics processor have been revealed. Within the code this new chip is currently referred to as IGDNG, which we take ...

Inno3D GeForce GTX 295 Platinum (Single PCB) | Posted on: 28/06/2009 @ 22:00

Single PCB GTX 295s Still Very Rare! | Posted on: 28/06/2009 @ 0:10

Nvidia still has yet to ship any meaningful quantities of the new single PCB GTX 295 card to their partners, so these new cards have become rather rare. While the normal dual-PCB 295 cards are readily available the newer revision appears to be harder to track down with only a few vendors with stock. As [...]

AMD DirectX 11 White Paper Released | Posted on: 26/06/2009 @ 17:30

With Microsoft Windows 7 set to be released in October 2009, rumors are flying rampant in the video card industry as DirectX 11 graphics card will also be launching at the same time. Read on to see one of the first white papers on DirectX 11 released by AMD.

Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 512MB | Posted on: 25/06/2009 @ 21:30

I was a little noncommittal in recommending the 4670 and I suspect that IÂ’m pretty much in the same boat with regards to the 4650. On the one hand, these are inexpensive cards with impressive performance for the price, but on the other hand, for very little extra, much more capable cards can be had. But letÂ’s say, for example, you had sixty bucks and only wanted to play WoW or the Orange ...

Zotac GeForce GTX 295 Review | Posted on: 24/06/2009 @ 19:39

“Zotac recently provided their flagship single cored GPU the GTX 285 AMP! Edition. I was very impressed with it but for those that want/need more there is another alternative. Zotac have sent us the top of NVidia\'s GPU range... the GTX 295. This is a dual core and dual PCB monster in a single form factor almost identical in size to the GTX 285. \"

NVIDIA 190.xx Linux Driver Leaks Onto The Web | Posted on: 24/06/2009 @ 1:50

The latest stable NVIDIA Linux driver release is in the 185.xx series, but NVIDIA developers have been hard at work on the forthcoming 190.xx driver series. Among other features, this next major driver update is expected to bring their talked about OpenCL support. It will probably be some weeks still before NVIDIA even publicly releases a Linux driver in the 190.xx series, but currently for ...

Nvidia fight back – Direct X 11 | Posted on: 24/06/2009 @ 1:40

It seems that AMD and Nvidia must be shopping in the same place. AMD picked up it’s weapon of choice yesterday and threw down the gauntlet to Nvidia. AMD were on the understanding that they would have the edge of rival company Nvidia, due to rumours of extensive time being spent on Open CL among other [...]

Scan 3XS NVIDIA ION system: Atom in a £700 system? | Posted on: 23/06/2009 @ 13:40

Can a £700 ION-based system ever make sense? We find out.

June GPU Market Update: Price Compression Benefits | Posted on: 19/06/2009 @ 20:10

It's a great time to buy a GPU, especially if you're in the market for an AMD part. Prices are low and performance is high....

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M | Posted on: 19/06/2009 @ 13:10

After launching the GeForce 200 series last year, NVIDIA unveiled the GeForce GTX 260M and 280M GPUs for notebook computers earlier this year. The GeForce GTX 280M is currently NVIDIA's fastest notebook GPU, even though it is derived from the GeForce 9800GTX+ core rather than the GTX 280 desktop variant. This 55nm notebook GPU has 128 processing cores, supports two-way SLI, features NVIDIA ...

Gigabyte GeForce GTS 250 1GB Review | Posted on: 19/06/2009 @ 12:20

Gigabyte has taken the GeForce GTS 250 and kitted it out with double the usual memory and an impressive looking quad heatpipe powered custom cooler. We take a look to see if the result is customised perfection or more pimped out Nova.

Gigabyte GeForce GTS 250 1GB Review | Posted on: 19/06/2009 @ 10:00

Gigabyte has taken the GeForce GTS 250 and kitted it out with double the usual memory and an impressive looking quad heatpipe powered custom cooler. We take a look to see if the result is customised perfection or more pimped out Nova.

Improved Memory Security For Radeon DRM | Posted on: 18/06/2009 @ 18:40

Yesterday the TTM memory manager and Radeon kernel mode-setting code entered the mainline Linux kernel Git tree, which means it will be part of the next Linux 2.6.31 kernel release. In the 2.6.31 series this new Radeon driver will be marked as "staging" as there is still some work left to be accomplished and further testing needs to be done with this driver and different Radeon graphics cards...

Sapphire HD4890 Toxic Vapor-X 11150-01-40R | Posted on: 18/06/2009 @ 17:35

Sapphire has four ranges for most top-end products they offer: standard, Vapor-X, Toxic, and Atomic. While each is different in its own right, for most gamers it is the Toxic design that draws the most attention. Combining the Vapor-X cooling with overclocks seen on the Atomic, the Toxic brand is the most elite air-cooled video card Sapphire offers. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the ...

ASUS EN9400GT GeForce 9400GT HDMI Video Card | Posted on: 18/06/2009 @ 17:32

Home Theater Personal Computers have been on the rise in recent years but most HTPC cases have a major flaw that makes them inherently tricky to deal with, their size. Some say size doesn\'t matter, well that may be true for some things in life but when it comes to HTPC\'s, if it\'s small it means limited air flow and thus it\'s cooling capabilities are limited. It also means that you just can\'t ...

Review: Zotac GTX 295 Infinity | Posted on: 18/06/2009 @ 17:20

This review comes down to a very simple equation. World's fastest graphics card + watery cooling = world's fastester graphics card. Got it? Good.Zotac's latest Infinity edition takes the doubled up PCB of a GeForce GTX 295 and wraps it neatly around a copper cooling block. You provide the water cooling pump and hey presto, you pretty much reach the limits of your CPU for in-game frame rates. ...

Review: Zotac GTX 295 Infinity | Posted on: 18/06/2009 @ 11:20

This review comes down to a very simple equation. World's fastest graphics card + watery cooling = world's fastester graphics card. Got it? Good.Zotac's latest Infinity edition takes the doubled up PCB of a GeForce GTX 295 and wraps it neatly around a copper cooling block. You provide the water cooling pump and hey presto, you pretty much reach the limits of your CPU for in-game frame rates. ...

NVIDIA Privately Releases OpenCL Linux Driver | Posted on: 17/06/2009 @ 17:20

Back in May we shared that NVIDIA was readying its OpenCL Linux driver and had submitted their OpenCL 1.0 NVIDIA drivers to the Khronos Group for certification. As of this morning, NVIDIA has now released its OpenCL driver for Linux (and Windows), but it's only available if you are a registered NVIDIA developer...

TTM, Radeon KMS Support Goes Into Linux 2.6.31 | Posted on: 17/06/2009 @ 11:30

Last week a pull request went in to bring support in the Linux 2.6.31 kernel for Radeon kernel mode-setting and TTM memory management. This initial work was proposed to enter the Linux kernel as a staging driver and then be setup as a proper Linux kernel driver in the next release, Linux 2.6.32. Linus Torvalds has criticized some of this Radeon kernel mode-setting work since there are some known ...

NVIDIA GeForce 200M series notebook GPU technology preview | Posted on: 15/06/2009 @ 14:08

After much criticism surrounding NVIDIA\'s continued use of their older G92-based architecture when it comes to refreshing their notebook line-up, today finally sees the launch of a new range of mobile GPUs which base themselves around the company\'s newer GT200 architecture. These parts promise a number of improvements and interesting developments, so in this preview we take a closer look to ...

TTM, Radeon KMS Pull Request Goes In | Posted on: 15/06/2009 @ 4:30

David Airlie has asked Linus Torvalds to pull in the TTM memory manager and Radeon kernel mode-setting code into the Linux 2.6.31 kernel. For now only the Radeon DRM uses this new TTM memory manager implementation, but once ready, so will the Nouveau kernel mode-setting code for NVIDIA hardware. VIA's DRM will likely end up using TTM in the long-run too plus potentially other vendors...

ASUS GeForce ENGTX275 vs. ASUS Radeon EAH4890 | Posted on: 14/06/2009 @ 22:50

With its HD 4890 model ATI raise a lot of dust and made huge impact on graphics card market. Despite the fact that this card should have been “just” optimized Radeon HD 4870, it was much, much more than that. RV790 is capable of withstanding frequencies that were unimaginable for “old” RV770, and just the fact that it can operate at 1GHz is completely different story. It ...

ATI Radeon Driver Re-Write Still Has Work Left | Posted on: 13/06/2009 @ 1:30

To those running ATI Radeon graphics cards on Linux, this week has been very important with several key announcements having been made. The TTM memory manager is getting ready for inclusion into the Linux kernel, which finally will allow the open-source ATI driver (and soon the Nouveau driver too for NVIDIA hardware) to have kernel-based GPU memory management. With the memory management work set ...

Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4890 1GB Graphics Card | Posted on: 12/06/2009 @ 12:00

Never satisfied with just releasing a typical product, Sapphire now offers a variety of Radeon HD4890 cards, including the factory overclocked Vapor-X Radeon HD4890 1GB unit provided for this review. This card gives the reference design RV790 GPU a slight speed boost from 850MHz to 870MHz, while also giving the GDDR5 memory a bump from 975MHz to 1050MHz.

GIGABYTE GV-R489-1GH-B Radeon HD 4890 Video Card Review | Posted on: 12/06/2009 @ 7:40

Radeon 3D Driver Rewrite Merged To Master | Posted on: 12/06/2009 @ 3:20

It has been several months coming, but the "radeon-rewrite" driver has been merged into the mainline Mesa code-base in the past hour. Red Hat's David Airlie had been working on the Radeon driver rewrite (a March '09 update) that adds buffer manager to all of the ATI Mesa 3D drivers (going back to the R100/200 series) along with working on support for DRI2 and OpenGL FBOs (Frame Buffer Objects) ...

EVGA GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition | Posted on: 11/06/2009 @ 11:50

EVGA have been tinkering away at NVIDIA’s GTX 285 and have now come out with the end result. The GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition EVGA have managed to increase the GPU clock speed to 702MHz from the original 648MHz stock clock speed. The card’s shaders have also been given a boost from a stock speed of 1476MHz [...]

ASUS GeForce GTX 285 1GB Graphics Card | Posted on: 11/06/2009 @ 7:20

Radeon KMS Code Goes Up For Review | Posted on: 11/06/2009 @ 1:10

Less than a day after the TTM memory management code was pushed out for review, the ATI kernel mode-setting driver is now getting ready for entrance into the Linux kernel too. Jerome Glisse has now announced on the kernel mailing list (as well as the DRI development list) that the Radeon KMS code is ready for review. This code, which is dependent upon the just-proposed TTM memory manager, places ...

NVIDIA ION Linux Performance | Posted on: 09/06/2009 @ 14:00

Earlier this year NVIDIA introduced the ION, which is their new system platform that pairs a GeForce 9400M GPU with an Intel Atom processor to make it an appealing platform for those desiring a netbook or nettop computer but are interested in a higher level of graphics performance than what is currently possible with Intel's integrated graphics. Products using the NVIDIA ION have been slow to ...

Palit GeForce GTX 275 896MB Graphics Card | Posted on: 09/06/2009 @ 13:50

Asus Radeon HD 4890 Voltage Tweak Review | Posted on: 09/06/2009 @ 10:40

Asus brings something unique to the crowded graphics market with it's take on AMD's Radeon HD 4890. Using the included software you're able to manually alter the card's core voltage, allowing for some serious overclocking. Volt modded overclocks made easy? We find out.

EVGA GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition | Posted on: 09/06/2009 @ 1:10

EVGA have been tinkering away at NVIDIA’s GTX 285 and have now come out with the end result. The GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition EVGA have managed to increase the GPU clock speed to 702MHz from the original 648MHz stock clock speed. The card’s shaders have also been given a boost from a stock speed of 1476MHz [...]

EVGA GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition | Posted on: 09/06/2009 @ 0:50

EVGA have been tinkering away at NVIDIA’s GTX 285 and have now come out with the end result. The GeForce GTX 285 2GB FTW Edition EVGA have managed to increase the GPU clock speed to 702MHz from the original 648MHz stock clock speed. The card’s shaders have also been given a boost from a stock speed of 1476MHz [...]

Sapphire Radeon HD 4550 512MB | Posted on: 08/06/2009 @ 23:20

Sometimes a video card needs to be just that. A card for video. Many high-end workstation motherboards donÂ’t have integrated video, but what good is a computer without a display? The Intel i7 is just the perfect example. A lot of people have the need for quad cores of number-crunching power, but theyÂ’re not gamers and, appropriately, have no desire to own a beautiful set of GTX 50 ...

MSI GeForce GTX 295 Graphics Card | Posted on: 08/06/2009 @ 6:00

Zotac GeForce GTX 275 AMP | Posted on: 07/06/2009 @ 12:40

Mit der ZOTAC GeForce GTX 275 AMP erreicht uns eine Grafikkarte die auf dem bereits seit Juni 2008 bekannten GT200-Grafikchip basiert. Bei der GTX 275 AMP hat ZOTAC in erster Linie die Spannungsversorgung. Diesbezüglich ist es ZOTAC möglich den GPU-Takt von 633 MHz auf 702 MHz zu übertakten sowie den GDDR3 Speichertakt mit 1260 MHz anstelle der standardmässigen 1130 MHz zu betreiben.

XFX Radeon HD 4770 512MB | Posted on: 04/06/2009 @ 12:10

Having already taken a look at a couple of Radeon HD 4770 offerings since the launch of AMD\'s latest mainstream part, today we examine another board featuring this same basic specification courtesy of XFX. However, rather than the small cooler seen on those boards, XFX have instead decided to stick entirely to AMD\'s initial reference board design - Is this enough to give it a leg-up over the ...

Overclocking Extravaganza: GTX 275's Complex Characteristics | Posted on: 04/06/2009 @ 10:40

Today we round out our overclocking coverage by testing the GTX 275 and turning up it's core memory and shader clocks. Find out how competitive it is with Radeon 4890....

AMD Demos DirectX 11 Capable ATI Graphics Card | Posted on: 03/06/2009 @ 14:10

Today at a press conference in Taiwan, AMD demonstrated the world's first GPU (graphics processor) capable of DirectX 11 technology. The demonstrations shows the major improvements DirectX 11 gives us over DirectX 10 and also shows us what AMD has in stored for an ATI Graphics Card coming out before the end of 2009 capable of DirectX 11. "The fusion of AMDs new ground-breaking graphics processors ...

Improve Video Quality with nVidia's CUDA | Posted on: 03/06/2009 @ 8:20

The software can dramatically improve the quality of videos captured by cell phones, digital cameras and other handheld devices as well as older videotape content. Hiding much of its forensic post production clean-up, the software uses familiar one-click touch-up tools (Figure 1). Within a few minutes, even an intern can stabilize, brighten and sharpen flawed videos.

AMD Evergreen: 40nm DirectX 11 GPU Silicon Arrives | Posted on: 03/06/2009 @ 6:30

At Computex, AMD has demonstrated working next generation DX11 hardware and shows of their first wafer of codename Evergreen parts....

NVIDIA Releases Official 180.60 Driver Update | Posted on: 03/06/2009 @ 3:20

While NVIDIA is hard at work on the 185.xx display driver series for Linux, FreeBSD, and OpenSolaris systems, as can be seen by their 185.18.14 driver release just days ago. However, for those sticking with the official NVIDIA driver updates, a new release in the 180.xx series is now available...