25692280
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
We already know that delving inside the second, i.e. measuring frame times instead of frame rates, can provide some novel insights on multi-GPU performance. As it turns out, using the same technique shows unexpected things happening in Battlefield 3 with the latest mid-range GPUs, even when those are running in single-GPU mode. Nvidia cards seem to exhibit large and frequent frame latency spikes in some sections of the game. Although average frame rates hover close to 60 FPS, rapid frame latency oscillations occurring inside each second affect the illusion of motion, making the game feel slightly jumpy and not completely fluid. AMD Radeons exhibit a similar problem, but to a much lesser degree and not in the same levels of the game.
23950630
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Microsoft let out an interesting bit of news early this morning: Internet Explorer 10 won't support plug-ins in its Metro incarnation. That means no Flash support. Apparently, the only way to get Flash to run will be to toggle over to Windows 8's classic "desktop" mode and use IE10 in there. Justifying the move, Microsoft says not supporting plug-ins in the Metro version of IE10 "improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers." Interesting... all of that sounds awfully familiar.
23941578
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
At the Intel Developer Forum today, Intel announced that it has started shipping its new 710 Series solid-state drives to customers. These next-generation enterprise SSDs are meant to replace the X25-E series. Because they're saddled with 3Gbps SATA interfaces, they shouldn't break any performance records. However, they offer much higher capacities than the X25-E series ever did: 100GB, 200GB, and 300GB, which will set you back $649, $1289, and $1929, respectively. Intel reached these capacities using not single-level-cell flash memory, but a variant of its 25-nm multi-level-cell NAND flash tuned for endurance. Purportedly, a 300GB 710 Series drive can write up to 1.1 petabytes over its lifespan, compared to just 30TB for a consumer-level 320 Series drive of the same capacity. Users can increase endurance an additional 40-90% if they increase the overprovisioning percentage manually.
21331912
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
We've seen some solid-state drives on PCI Express cards before, but OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid may very well be the first solution to combine solid-state storage and a mechanical hard drive on a single PCI Express x4 card. Using Dataplex caching software from Nvelo, the RevoDrive Hybrid uses its solid-state component (a RAID 0 array of SandForce-based SSDs) as a cache for an onboard mechanical hard drive. The caching scheme is reportedly so effective that "a 5,400-RPM drive can be used without sacrificing much performance," according to The Tech Report's coverage. OCZ hasn't hashed out all of the details yet, but it expects the RevoDrive Hybrid to start at $350 this July. The base configuration should couple 60GB of solid-state storage with a 500GB mechanical drive.
21163214
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
You might know Cayman as the graphics chip inside AMD's Radeon HD 6900-series graphics cards. Today, AMD announced that the new GPU has made its debut in the world of professional workstation graphics as part of new FirePro V7900 and V5900 cards. The new FirePros are priced at $999 and $599, respectively, and they both benefit from Cayman's much-increased geometry processing throughput. Also, the V7900 is the first $999 FirePro card to feature four display outputs, while the V5900 is the first $599 model with 2GB of RAM. AMD says the two cards should be available today in pre-built machines from the likes of HP and Dell.
20999892
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Although Slashdot users may not agree on what constitutes an affordable graphics card, there's no denying that competition between AMD and Nvidia has delivered plenty of bargains around $200. Today, Nvidia adds a new option with the $199 GeForce GTX 560. This review summarizes the performance picture with an interesting scatter plot illustrating the almost linear relationship between price and performance as you move through the mid-range graphics market. Paying a little more always seems to grant you a few more frames per second, making factors like noise levels and power consumption more important when choosing between cards.
18980186
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
In the wake of Intel's announcement that all existing Sandy Bridge chipsets have a bug that causes degraded Serial ATA performance, top-tier motherboard makers Asus and Gigabyte have made public statements regarding their return policy for affected boards. Asus is promising 'hassle-free return and/or replacement', while Gigabyte says owners of affected boards are entitled to a full refund or replacement—and it recommends that users seek refunds. Both companies are advising users to contact the original place of purchase to proceed. On a related note, Gigabyte has announced that new Sandy Bridge motherboards with bug-free chipsets will be available in volume in April.
18936592
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Early adopters of Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors, beware. Intel has discovered a flaw in the 6-series chipsets that accompany the new processors. The flaw causes Serial ATA performance to "degrade over time" in "some cases." Although Intel claims "relatively few" customers are affected, it has stopped shipments of these chipsets and started making a revised version of the silicon, which won't be ready until late February. Intel expects to lose $300 million in revenue because of the problem, and it's bracing for repair and replacement costs of $700 million.
18429084
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Today at CES, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang shocked attendees by announcing Project Denver, a "high performance ARM core" designed in-house at Nvidia. Project Denver will include both a next-generation ARM-based processor component and a graphics processor on the same silicon. Huang gave strong hints that a yet-to-be-announced version of Windows will run on the chip, too.
17095784
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Are netbooks starting to grow up? On one side, Intel is pushing its recently release Atom N550 processor, which has two cores, four threads, and a netbook-friendly power envelope. On the other, Nvidia is still promoting its next-generation Ion graphics chip. Asus' Eee PC 1015PN is the first 10" netbook to combine the two, and according to the first full review of the system, it actually manages to deliver solid performance, seven-hour battery life, and some measure of gaming capability. The build quality beats that of cheaper netbooks, too. Unfortunately, at $430, the Eee PC 1015PN doesn't look like such a good deal compared to affordable CULV laptops like Dell's Inspiron M101z. The system could be an attractive choice if Asus slashed the price, though, and it bodes well for the netbook category as a whole.
15693318
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
A little over four years have passed since AMD purchased ATI. In May of last year, AMD took the remains of the Canadian graphics company and melded them into a monolithic products group, which combined processors, graphics, and platforms. Now, AMD is about to take the next step: kill the ATI brand altogether. The company has officially announced the move, saying it plans to label its next generation of graphics cards 'AMD Radeon' and 'AMD FirePro,' with new logos to match. The move has a lot to do with the incoming arrival of products like Ontario and Llano, which will combine AMD processing and graphics in single slabs of silicon.
14678918
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
We've all seen performance benchmarks comparing Nvidia's newly released GeForce GTX 460 to the competition from AMD, but value comparisons like this one are more unusual—and helpful, if you're on the market for a new graphics card. Apparently, Nvidia's current batch of DX11 cards are slightly better deals than the competition from AMD when you look at them from a pure performance-per-dollar perspective. (Other factors do come into play, of course, like power consumption and noise.) It looks like the Radeon HD 5800 series in particular is overdue for a price cut.
14562866
submission
EconolineCrush writes:
Intel's Xeon 5600 series is the latest batch of CPUs to tap the company's cutting-edge, 32-nano fabrication process. Code-named Westmere-EP, these new server and workstation CPUs add two cores and 4MB of cache per socket while remarkably staying within the same thermal envelopes as their predecessors. When pitted against the last Xeon generation, the new chips predictably offer better performance and power efficiency. Intel's power-optimized Willowbrook server motherboard may be even more impressive, as it enables a dozen-core Xeon L5640 system to consume just 66W at idle.
14360046
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
A member of the Tech Report forums reports that his iPad's charging cord literally melted in the middle of the night, and the iPad it was connected to became searing hot—hot enough that the user dropped it and caused some damage. Melted charger cables and searing-hot (or combusting) batteries are nothing new, and they've led to mass battery recalls in the past. After getting in touch with Apple, however, the user was simply told he was responsible for damaging the device by dropping it, and that the iPad was out of warranty for having jailbroken software installed.
