11935442
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Earlier this week, AMD introduced its new Leo enthusiast platform with six-core Phenom II processors starting at just $199. By now, reviews of not just the processors themselves, but also new motherboards based on the simultaneously launched AMD 890FX chipset have made their way onto the web. The verdict might surprise you. While Intel still wins from a power efficiency pesrpective, the new Phenom II X6s dethrone the famous Core i5-750 in value comparisons, and 890FX motherboards from Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI show AMD has a more compelling overall enthusiast platform than Intel. 890FX mobos don't just have more PCI Express lanes than their Intel X58 counterparts; they have built-in Serial ATA 6Gbps connectivity and excellent all-around performance, too. Could AMD be on its way to becoming an enthusiast darling at the high end once again?
11686930
submission
EconolineCrush writes:
Surround sound makes games and movies much more immersive, but it hasn't translated well to headphones. No one's come up with a surround headphone design that's really caught on, and software-based speaker virtualization schemes don't always work right. Psyko Audio Labs thinks it's solved the problem with a new 5.1-channel headset that uses waveguides to direct sound accurately to the user's ear from five discrete speakers mounted in the headband. It's a unique approach, and one that reportedly offers a lot of positional audio precision. However, the heaphones appear to otherwise have rather poor sound quality, which seems like a tough pill to swallow given their $300 asking price.
11686092
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
One would think putting a 2.26GHz Core i3 processor and a discrete Nvidia GPU in a laptop wouldn't have the most positive impact on battery life. That doesn't seem to be the case with Asus' new U30Jc, which managed to stay up for a whopping 7 hours and 12 minutes in a real-world web browsing test using the standard battery. The key to the laptop's success seems to be Nvidia's Optimus graphics switching tech, which dynamically enables and disables the included GeForce 310M 512MB depending on what applications the user is running. Battery life and performance aside, the U30Jc seems to be a nice little laptop, with a 13.3" 1366x768 display, brushed aluminum panels, and a relatively portable size. Apparently, though, its touchpad needs a little work.
11396372
submission
EconolineCrush writes:
The Tech Report has updated its system guide, providing a comprehensive set of recommendations for desktop PCs at around $500, $850, $1400, and well over $3,000. This latest guide takes into account recent releases like Intel's six-core Core i7-980X and Nvidia's Fermi-derived GeForce GTX 400-series graphics cards. It also features a new one-off build designed to be a quiet yet powerful microATX system. Recommended reading for anyone putting together a new desktop PC.
10334482
submission
Dr. Damage writes:
Less than two years after introducing its quad-core Core i7 processors, Intel will soon unveil a six-core CPU for the desktop that works as a drop-in replacement for older Core i7-900-series parts. The first previews of the six-core "Gulftown" reveal a chip with 50% more cores and cache that fits into the silicon area and power/thermal envelope as the quad-core it replaces. Performance in multi-threaded applications scales up nicely, but clock speeds—and thus single-threaded performance--remain the same. Do we really need six cores on the desktop? That depends, it would seem, on what you do with your computer.
10077878
submission
Dr. Damage writes:
AMD has a new $239 graphics card out, the Radeon HD 5830, that might be a good upgrade for some folks. What if you're upgrading from a graphics card in that same price range that's two, three, or four years old? How much of an improvement can you expect? And is the new Radeon a good value for the money? This review compares it, and a host of today's other graphics cards, to products dating back up to four years ago, including a couple of GeForce 7900s.
9654556
submission
Dr. Damage writes:
How do current $74 CPUs compare to the $133 ones? To exclusive $1K Extreme Editions? Interesting questions, but what if you took a five-year-old Pentium 4 3.8GHz and pitted it against today's CPUs in a slew of games and other applications? The results are eye-opening.
7227922
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
While it's played up the general-purpose computing prowess of its next-gen GPU architecture, Nvidia has talked little about Fermi's graphics capabilities—so much so that some accuse Nvidia of turning its back on PC gaming. Not so, says The Tech Report in a detailed architectural overview of GF100, the first Fermi-based consumer graphics processor. Alongside a wealth of technical information, the article includes enlightening estimates and direct comparisons with AMD's Radeon HD 5870. The GF100 will be up to twice as fast as the GeForce GTX 285, the author reckons, but the gap with the Radeon HD 5870 should be "a bit more slender." Still, Nvidia may have the fastest consumer GPU ever on its hands—and far from forsaking games, Fermi has been built as a graphics processor first and foremost.
6368741
submission
EconolineCrush writes:
3DMark Vantage developer Futuremark has clear guidelines for what sort of driver optimizations are permitted with its graphics benchmark. Intel's current Windows 7 drivers appear to be in direct violation, offloading the graphics workload onto the CPU to artificially inflate scores for the company's integrated graphics chipsets. The Tech Report lays out the evidence, along with Intel's response, and illustrates that 3DMark scores don't necessarily track with game performance, anyway.
5858757
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
Eat your heart out, Matrox. Whereas most current graphics cards can only drive a pair of displays, AMD has put some special sauce in its next-generation DirectX 11 GPUs to enable support for a whopping six monitors. There's no catch about supported resolutions, either. At an event yesterday, AMD demonstrated a single next-gen Radeon driving six 30" Dell monitors, each with a resolution of 2560x1600, hooked up via DisplayPort. Total resolution: 7680x3200 (or 24.6 megapixels). AMD's drivers present this setup as a single monitor to Windows, so in theory, games don't need to be updated to support it. AMD showed off Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, World of Warcraft, and DiRT 2 running at playable frame rates on the six displays.
5683753
submission
J. Dzhugashvili writes:
We've all seen blog posts hyping up Windows 7, often with cut-and-pasted MS screenshots and feature descriptions. But what's it like to sit down and use the operating system on a desktop PC? Do new features deserve the hype? Do they work as advertised? The folks at The Tech Report have been using the final version of Windows 7 since shortly after its release to manufacturing, and they've posted an article that tries to answer those questions. A number of improvements, like the updated Backup and Restore functionality and Remote Desktop Direct3D support, have slipped through the blogosphere's radar. On the flip side, those who migrate from Vista shouldn't expect flawless compatibility or performance from the new additions. HomeGroup, for instance, interfaces in bizarre ways with the regular File Sharing interface, and Device Stage doesn't do much yet. The article also breaks down the different Windows 7 editions and explains why Home Premium now looks like a better choice for most users.
5536175
submission
AnInkle writes:
At a time when power consumption is a top concern and most applications are rarely constrained by the CPU, AMD bolsters it's lineup by releasing a new top-end 140-watt TDP rated processor. The Phenom II X4 965 clocks in at 3.4GHz and debuts at about the same price as Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9550, indicating it's not intended to steal the performance crown. Nevertheless, this processor could further enhance AMD's competitiveness across the middle of the market, where even most performance-minded shoppers make their selections. Check out The Tech Report's benchmarks and analysis for the scoop, including a careful look at total system power use and those oh-so-much-fun scatter graphs, which illustrate the value proposition among 21 processors from both teams.
5437787
submission
Dr. Damage writes:
Netbooks have grown from tiny curiosities with 7" screens into surprisingly well-rounded little computers. The latest step? 11.6" displays with 1366x768 resolution and near-full-sized keyboards, believe it or not. Two such systems are available now for under $400 at U.S. retailers: an Aspire One at Walmart and the Gateway LT3103 at Best Buy. The Gateway packs an Athlon 64 processor and Radeon graphics, amazingly enough. The Tech Report bought them both and has compared them head to head in some depth, choosing a clear winner between the two.
