Well, this really is awfully misleading, but it sure is awesome. The idea is that a normal CPU processes things one at a time, like the single-paintball robot, and a GPU has parallel processors that can do (in this case) 1100 times the work in a single stroke. Well, considering CPUs are moving to serious multi-core architecture and GPUs are being used to do CPU work, the whole demonstration is a… → Read More
AMD is, I think, releasing press releases just for giggles. This one is pretty insubstantial, but it linked the neat demo video above so it’s worth mentioning. Essentially, AMD is attempting to extend its current (and possibly short-lived) dominance by emphasizing how well the conquering 4800 series works with DirectX 10.1. I have to say, the lighting tools shown in the extremely long ping… → Read More
SLI rendering has gained a lot of popularity lately, even to the point where people are making SLI rigs of pre-SLI’ed cards like the 9800GX2 and the 4870X2. The problem is that drivers and motherboards aren’t really set up to take advantage of two cards. Sure, it works a lot better than one card, but Hydra feels that it’s time mobos got an integrated SLI controller that works out… → Read More
I’ve been saying this a lot this year: it’s a good time to be in the market for a video card! NVIDIA and AMD are firing volley after volley of significant improvements and price reductions. Although NVIDIA’s on-GPU physics processing is compelling, AMD’s new 4870 X2 (essentially two of the impressive 4870 cards stuck together) provides an insane amount of power for the… → Read More
Those special PhysX-enabling drivers and demos we told you about a couple days ago are now live on NVIDIA’s site. If you have a GeForce card of any recent vintage (think 8-series and higher), go get set up now! I can’t from my MacBook Pro, but as soon as I get home I’m going to throw down on a little Warmonger; the new Red Faction whetted my appetite for destruction and this game… → Read More
Son, I remember the days when chips were 55 meters! Ain’t no one ever even heard of a nano back then. Had troops o’ monkeys cartin’ ice packs to and from the walk-in freezer just to keep that machine from meltin’ down and burying us all in hot copper — dag nabbit! Seriously, though. Nvidia’s newest, fastest cards are being done on a 55nm process, which allows… → Read More
Damn, when I first heard about the GeForce 260 and 280 I thought it was checkmate. No one expected much of the new line of Radeons in the first place given ATI’s lackluster offerings lately, and combine that with the improvement in the 65nm 280 — I think I was justified in thinking so. But the Radeon 4850 came out a little later and jaws dropped. It offered nearly the performance of… → Read More
You may remember Matrox. They were a significant competitor back in the days when the graphics card scene was TNT2 vs. Voodoo3. The dark horse was always Matrox, whose dual-display-oriented cards always perplexed and intrigued me. I still don’t use more than one monitor but it’s far more common these days, with people like our own Doug, who is rocking I believe four monitors at this… → Read More
Or maybe over the next week or so. With the release of the ATI HD 4850 and NVIDIA’s new 55nm-based 9800GTX+, the price/performance ratio is really nice right now. Of course, as with all components, the longer you wait, the better the deal is, but if you’re looking for an upgrade right now, these new releases will drop quite a few prices across the board. The 4850 is available for less… → Read More
I could tell you about the list of improvements as long as my arm, including vastly increased memory bandwidth, 65nm fabrication, and huge increases in shader and thread counts. I could bore you with more technical specs and statistics. But I think what you really need to know is that it runs Bioshock at 2560×1600 with 4x anti-aliasing and 8x anisotropic filtering at nearly 60fps. If… → Read More
If you’re in the market for it, this silent Asus 9600GT is a great deal right now. The hardware and performance are quite good enough to play Call of Duty 4, Team Fortress, or World at War, but the price is a drop in the bucket. It competes on a par with the 8800GT and Radeon 3870, and has the benefit of being completely passively cooled. Bad news if you’re an overclocker, but great… → Read More
I’m a gamer, and I try to keep on top of things when it comes to video cards, but in the last couple years it’s been increasingly difficult. I remember when the choice was TNT or Voodoo. That was easy to remember (hard to choose though). Now you’ve got this smorgasbord of 4-digit numbers, several three-letter designations which say nothing in and of themselves, and then… → Read More
Nvidia’s 9600GT is a huge value: DirectX 10 support, great performance, and they work fantastically in SLI if you’ve got the mobo for it. With this deal, you can get two 9600GTs, set them up in SLI, and get waaay more performance than a single card at the same price point. Or just do one and you’re getting more than enough to play games at a decent frame rate. Shipping is free on… → Read More
There was a big to-do yesterday with the release of the GeForce 9800 GX2, the dual-GPU supercard from Nvidia. Reviews were cautiously positive, but Bit-Tech had a mysterious problem: constant overheating. They did some testing and found that on some nForce 700 mobos (in their tests, the Asus Striker II), the placement of the nForce 200 chip made for a hot pocket of up to almost 200 degrees… → Read More
The first reviews are showing up for Nvidia’s beast of a single-slot card, the 9800 GX2. In case you don’t remember it from when it showed on the scene, the GX2 is basically a pair of 8800s in a native SLI, one-PCI-express slot configuration. It costs an arm and a leg (~$600) and it’s very, very powerful. And how does it stand up? The consensus seems to be that the 9800 GX2… → Read More
I don’t plan on upgrading just yet, especially considering how much this thing is certain to cost, but if the performance of the 9600 is any indication, this new line is going to be great. 512MB of 0.8ns DDR3 memory with a 256-bit interface, nice high clock speeds, and a new architecture, looks like a winner. It also supports 3-way SLI, which I’m sure is as over-the-top as it sounds. → Read More
The only word that comes to mind is “impractical.” From every perspective, this video card is just ridiculous. It’s enormous for one thing, with two PCBs stuck together, and it looks like an matte black air conditioner for another. It’s essentially two 8800s in a native SLI setup, with a gig of RAM and 256 stream processors. For the layman, that basically means it’s… → Read More
Looking for the right time to jump into the DirectX 10 game? Now might be your chance. ZipZoomFly.com has a DX10-compatible GeForce card bundled with the full version of Relic Entertainment’s popular Company of Heroes game for $99 after a $20 mail-in-rebate. The card itself is made by XFX (Pine Technology) and has 256MB of GDDR3 memory, uses a PCI Express slot, and has dual DVI inputs. Offer… → Read More
So you’ve got your Windows Vista and you want to get a hold of a little bit of that DirectX 10 action, but your bummer of a video card is being a buzz kill? That sucks. You’re supposed to upgrade that, but who’s got that kind of scratch laying around? Those cards cost an arm and a leg and probably some other stuff. Sit down, dweeb, Foxconn’s got you set. Today the… → Read More
Nothing beats free stuff. Whether it’s a free ice cream cone or a free iPod, both are just so, so sweet. Those of you who still shell out $1000 a year to upgrade your PC for games will be happy to know that Valve and ATI have struck a bit of a deal that runs in your favor. Owners of ATI RadeonT graphics cards will be able to download free games from Valve’s Steam service. So you have a… → Read More
This is the Radeon X2800XT with CrossFire technology. It’s a mammoth of a video card. And if rumors hold true, it’ll hit the streets this April at NAB in Las Vegas. But you won’t be able to buy this guy off the shelf just then. No, the X2800XT with CrossFire will be incorporated into the updated MacPros we’ve been hearing about. And that’s an exclusive deal, pal. → Read More
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