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Apple's big iMovie iOS update includes green screen and more
It looks like Apple is taking the casual filmmaker a little more seriously. Its latest update for iMovie for iOS -- out today -- comes with a new green screen effect, better still image support, 80 new soundtracks, graphic overlays and more.
Watch AMD's E3 keynote in just 15 minutes
If you want to get up to speed with AMD's announcements at this year's E3 but don't have time to sit through the entire presentation, step this way. We've edited out all the fluff to give you the main highlights and talking points, all packaged neatly into a 15 minute video. You'll get the scoop on the new Radeon 5700 XT and the RX 5700, plus a load of side-by-side demos showing off its graphics prowess against the competition.
Apple's revamped Mac Pro uses new Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs
Apple's revamped Mac Pro isn't just a showcase for the company's industrial design chops -- it also marks the introduction of new AMD graphics technology. The new system will use the Radeon Pro Vega II, a GPU that's built on the 7-nanometer architecture of the Radeon VII (sorry, no Navi yet) with a workstation focus. The base processing power isn't that much different with up to 14 TFLOPS of single-precision computing power, but the memory is another matter. The Pro Vega II touts a whopping 32GB of high-bandwidth HBM2 RAM to handle demanding tasks like 8K video editing or running two 6K displays.
AMD will share its graphics technology with Samsung
AMD stole the spotlight at Computex 2019, where it shared details on its third generation Ryzen CPUs and first Navi GPUs. But that's not the only big news AMD has in store. Today, the company announced a multi-year partnership with Samsung, in which AMD will license its Radeon graphics IP for use in Samsung smartphones and other mobile applications.
NVIDIA is bringing pro-level Quadro RTX GPUs to laptops
NVIDIA has succeeded in shrinking its beefy Quadro RTX 5000 graphics hardware to bring it to laptops. The silicon offers 3,072 CUDA cores and 48 RT cores, paired with 384 Tensor cores and 16GB GDDR6 RAM, same as the version available for desktops. And, much like the previous version of the RTX 5000, the mobile edition is designed for professionals who do a lot of heavy graphics or video work.
NVIDIA teases something 'super'
NVIDIA's Computex press event will likely represent big news for PC gamers. The GPU maker has posted a teaser on its GeForce YouTube channel hinting that "something super is coming." The brief clip only shows an embossed metal "super" logo, but that's enough to suggest that it could represent one or more souped-up graphics cards. If so, there might already be an inkling of what to expect.
These gaming laptops pack the latest Intel and NVIDIA hardware
If you prefer your PC gaming in portable form, you're enjoying an embarrassment of riches right now. Intel has unveiled gaming-friendly 9th-generation Core laptop processors, while NVIDIA has unveiled GTX 16-series mobile GPUs that promise solid performance without giant budgets (or giant coolers). That also means a lot of PC makers introducing systems, though, and that's a lot to wade through if you're in the market. Don't worry -- we've rounded up some of the bigger introductions to help you keep track of what's new.
NVIDIA's GTX 1650 GPU delivers modern gaming for $149
NVIDIA's cutting-edge Turing architecture has been gradually making way to more affordable graphics cards, and now it's finally reaching the entry level. The company has introduce the GeForce GTX 1650, a starter GPU that aims to provide the perks of modern games (such as complex shader effects) at an easier-to-swallow starting price of $149. It's a significant step down from the GTX 1660, but NVIDIA is betting that you won't mind in light of improvements over predecessors.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1660 Ti will lead to cheaper gaming laptops
If you were wondering when, or if, NVIDIA would bring its GTX 1660 Ti GPUs without ray-tracing cores to laptops, the answer is "definitely" and "now." It unveiled both GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1650 Max-Q GPUs, promising up to 50 percent more gaming performance than last-gen GTX 1060 laptops and up to four times the performance of GTX 960M. Better still, the GTX 1650 laptops will start at prices as low as $799, putting 100 fps 1080p gaming in reach for more users.
Razer's new eGPU box packs more power and Chroma RGB support
Razer's back with another external GPU case, and this time it's beefier than ever. Like other eGPUs, the Razer Core X Chroma is designed to bring desktop-level graphics to ultraportable laptops, and this iteration features a 700W power supply, USB and Ethernet connections and space for three slot-wide desktop graphics cards. It also comes with a unique Thunderbolt dual-chip design, which helps distribute load and will prevent losing keyboard and mouse connectivity when you're plugging it into your computer.
I tried, failed and finally managed to set up HDR on Windows 10
You've been hearing a lot lately about high dynamic range (HDR) arriving to Windows 10 for gaming, movies and graphics. You may have also heard the rumors that there's not a lot you can do with it, it's underwhelming and can be incredibly difficult to set up. As someone who edits video and photos and enjoys both Netflix and gaming in HDR, I decided to see how much of that was actually true. After many weeks of setup and trying, I'm here to tell you that the rumors are accurate: HDR on Windows 10 still isn't ready for prime time, and if you want to give it a try, prepare for some pain and disappointment in exchange for minimal benefits.
AMD is edging closer to breaking NVIDIA's graphic dominance
After AMD released its seven-nanometer Radeon VII graphics card with impressive-looking performance, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang responded by essentially trashing it. "The performance is lousy and there's nothing new," he told PC World. "No ray tracing, no AI. It's 7nm with HBM memory that barely keeps up with an [NVIDIA RTX] 2080." NVIDIA's CEO doth protest too much, perhaps, but he's right to be worried. According to a CES performance tease, the Radeon VII actually beat the RTX 2080 in several video-editing and 3D-animation tasks. It also bested the RTX 2080 when playing Strange Brigade and other titles, especially at 4K resolution. While NVIDIA just adopted 12-nanometer tech for the RTX series, AMD has moved on to seven-nanometer designs for the Radeon VII. Rather than criticizing its rival's performance, NVIDIA notably attacked AMD's lack of (NVIDIA-exclusive) features like ray tracing, G-SYNC and AI-powered DLSS anti-aliasing. However, that has yet to prove useful for gamers and doesn't help content creators at all. If ray tracing doesn't pan out and AMD keeps pushing the chip-design envelope, the next couple of years could get rough for NVIDIA.
Watch AMD's CES press event in under 9 minutes
AMD didn't just respond to introductions from Intel and NVIDIA at CES 2019 -- it came out swinging. The chipmaker had plenty to show at its press event, and frequently claimed a performance edge over its rivals. The centerpiece was undoubtedly the Radeon VII, the first 7-nanometer graphics processor aimed at gamers. However, AMD had a little something for everyone, whether it was third-generation Ryzen CPUs for desktops, Epyc chips for heavy-duty number crunching and a talk about the hardware behind Google's Project Stream. That's a lot to digest, but our recap should help catch you up in a hurry.
AMD prevails in patent fight with Vizio over TV graphics
AMD's legal blitz against TV makers over graphics patents has claimed a major casualty. The US International Trade Commission has issued a final determination that Vizio and chip supplier Sigma Designs violated an AMD patent for a parallel pipeline graphics system. The Commission has ordered Vizio and Sigma to "cease and desist" making products that violate the patent, and has banned them from importing any existing products. Vizio is no longer allowed to bring some of its TVs into the US, then, although it's not certain just how much damage this does to the company's bottom line.
AMD's Radeon Pro WX 8200 is for content creators on a budget
AMD has been pushing Intel on the CPU high-end with new, more budget-minded offerings like the 32-core Ryzen Threadripper, and now it's doing the same to NVIDIA. Just ahead of Siggraph 2018, AMD launched the Radeon Pro WX 8200, a card aimed not at gamers but workstation-using content creators. With 8GB of ECC RAM, the Vega 10-powered offers 10.8 teraflops of performance, close to that of AMD's flagship Radeon Pro WX 9100. However, the WX 8200 is less than half the price at $999, while significantly outperforming NVIDIA's similarly-priced Quadro P4000.
NVIDIA's budget GTX 1050 3GB is for gamers, not crypto-miners
Despite the looming arrival of its next-gen graphics cards, NVIDIA quietly unveiled a new budget model, the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB. It's positioned between the regular 2GB GTX 1050 and the 4GB 1050 Ti, with a faster base clock but lower memory bandwidth of 84 GB/second compared to 112 GB/s for the other two models. The 3GB of memory makes it suitable for modern games, but less desirable for crypto-mining, which (in the case of Ethereum) requires graphics cards with 3GB of VRAM at a minimum.
Western Digital unveils its new 4K-ready NVME gaming SSD
While it tries to craft a microwave-assisted 40TB hard drive by 2025, Western Digital is releasing storage solutions for the nearer future. The company introduced the Black 3D NVMe, an SSD designed to run 4K and Ultra HD graphics quickly and seamlessly, which should suit gamers and high-end video producers.
Dell's new XPS 15 has faster chips in the same bezel-less body
Dell has just revealed its new spring lineup, and among the all-in-ones and gaming PCs taking centre stage is the revamped Dell XPS 15 -- and it's the most powerful version yet. While it looks largely the same as its 2017 predecessor, with an identical chassis, what lies beneath packs a serious punch.
Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 845 is a graphics powerhouse
Qualcomm recently let journalists benchmark the upcoming Snapdragon 845 on its own reference smartphone, and the results look promising for the Galaxy S9 and other new devices. On the one hand, CPU improvements were merely incremental, despite a switch to new ARM Cortex designs. On the other, Qualcomm's new Adreno 630 GPU performed impressively, especially considering the power draw, putting rivals like Samsung and Huawei on notice. "There is need for more radical change to keep up with Qualcomm," said Anandtech.
Samsung starts producing GDDR6 RAM for next-gen graphics cards
You can start getting pumped about the next generation of graphics cards, as Samsung has announced that it's building the first-ever 16-gigabit GDDR6 chips using its 10-nanometer class technology. The news isn't a complete surprise, as Samsung previously said that GDDR6 was coming when it unveiled 8-gigabit DDR4 RAM chips last month and won a CES 2018 Innovation Award in November.
