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Samsung's latest ATIV laptop gets a 4K screen, discrete graphics
Samsung's ATIV Book 9 series has mostly targeted Ultrabook buyers with lightweight, powerful and pricey models like the ATIV Book 9 Plus. However, the company's latest model, the ATIV Book 9 Pro is now suited for demanding users like gamers and graphics pros, thanks to workstation-class specs. It's equipped with the latest sixth-gen Intel Core i7 CPUs, a 15.6-inch 4K display with optional NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M graphics and 6.5 hours of battery life, all squeezed into a 4.45 pound all-aluminum body. Like other ATIV Book 9 models, it also features a slim, tapered front profile.
Alienware M17x and M18x land new NVIDIA GTX680M graphics option
Never one to let high-powered mobile gaming hardware pass it by, Alienware has announced that its endlessly-tweaked M17x and M18x will both get the chance to dance with NVIDIA's latest GPU belle. The refreshed M17x can be augmented with the GeForce GTX 680M alongside an option for NVIDIA 3D Vision, while the M18x can sample the same Kepler delights in either single or dual-card SLI configurations. Both customization options are promised to arrive before the end of the month -- ready for all those games we've just seen at E3.
NVIDIA details top-tier GeForce GTX 680M Kepler GPU for Ultrabooks, other laptops
When NVIDIA took the wraps off its family of 28nm Kepler GPUs, it promised some mobile chips designed for Ultrabooks were soon to follow. Two and a half months later, we haven't seen that many laptops running the 600M series, save for the Acer Aspire M5, which isn't even on sale yet. Now, though, we're about to see a lot more: in advance of Computex, a computer-centric trade show about to be overrun by Ultrabooks, NVIDIA is spilling details on the GeForce GTX 680M. As the top-tier offering in the mobile Kepler lineup, it packs a 720MHz engine clock, 1,344 CUDA cores and a 256-bit memory bus powering up to 4GB of GDDR5 RAM. As a refresher, all of Kepler's GPUs make use of a new GPU Boost feature, which automatically increases the clock speed if the GPU isn't already taxed. Meanwhile, VSync promises smoother rendering, with fewer jagged edges. So which PC makers are planning on using this thing? Well, Clevo is on board, and NVIDIA says to expect some fresh models from MSI and Alienware, too. Stay tuned, folks.
ASUS Zenbook UX32VD unveiled, packs discrete graphics to flaunt that 1080p screen
New high-resolution Zenbooks are on their way, but ASUS has now revealed another addition that's packing its own discrete graphics. Like its recently unveiled siblings, the Zenbook UX32VD still packs a 1920 x 1080 IPS panel and "the latest Intel Core processor" -- likely something from the Ivy Bridge family, although ASUS is keeping schtum on the details for now. Graphical horsepower is delegated to NVIDIA's GT620, while the UX32VD also had a hybrid HDD on show at the event, not the standard SSD -- explaining why this new model is slightly thicker than the UX31A. Alongside a lack of processor specifics, there was no info on prices or release dates at the Taiwan press event but for now, Engadget Chinese have posted their full impressions at the source below. Ultrabook and graphics mavens can hit up the Google translation for a few more details. %Gallery-155120%
NVIDIA: there's nothing 'Ultra' about Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks unless you add Kepler
This is a vaguely awkward message for NVIDIA to be putting out. On one hand, the company is best buddies with Intel and is hoping to see its next-gen GPUs bundled with a large portion of the Ivy Bridge notebooks that will ship this year. But to reach that target, it must risk irking Chipzilla by emphasizing the limitations of Ivy Bridge's integrated graphics. That's exactly what happened at a recent presentation, when NVIDIA told us there'll be "nothing Ultra" about the performance of a regular Ivy Bridge Ultrabook because the integrated HD 4000 graphics will only handle around 43 percent of current games. By contrast, if you add in a GeForce GT 640M you'll find that 100 percent of current games are playable with frame rates over 30fps and high detail settings, including Battlefield 3, Batman: Arkham City, Crysis 2 and many others. If you leave the lightweight Ultrabook spec behind and combine Ivy Bridge with a GT 670M GPU then you can go even higher -- as we just discovered in our review of the MSI's GT70 gaming laptop. Fortunately, Intel was pretty magnanimous about HD 4000 when it briefed us, and readily accepted that enthusiasts will still want discrete graphics, so we don't imagine the slide above will cause too many hurt feelings.
The Engadget Interview: AMD's Sasa Marinkovic
This isn't the easiest time to be an AMD fan. The company's eight-core FX-8150 desktop chip was widely panned on the review circuit, and then NVIDIA's GTX 680 graphics card ran off with Radeon HD's thunder. Even when you look at notebook processors, where AMD has long excelled with its Fusion APUs, the hype wars currently favor Ultrabooks and Ivy Bridge. Affection for the gamers' brand and its ATI back-story may make this stuff uncomfortable, but the predicament is already starting to mess with AMD's balance sheet. Which raises the obvious question: what's to be done? Sasa Marinkovic, AMD's Head of Desktop and Software Product Marketing, bravely took up the challenge of providing his side of the story -- even after we warned him that we'd try to disrupt his flow with accusatory glances. In the end, we did get him to acknowledge some recent hard knocks, particularly with respect to the FX chips and their (lack of) single-threaded performance. But we also got some insight into the mind of a chap who remains genuinely and abundantly confident about his employer's future. Read on and see for yourself.
Rumored NVIDIA GTX 680 specs surface online, photos prove it does indeed exist
As NVIDIA readies its 28nm family of Kepler graphics cards, more and more details are starting to trickle out. Just yesterday, NVIDIA teased an Acer Ultrabook packing a mysterious new GT640M card based on the Kepler architecture. Today, we're seeing information about the GTX 680 surfacing on multiple sites. China-based PCOnline posted specs it claims to have received from an internal NVIDIA source, including a 1,536 CUDA core count, 1,006MHz core frequency, 195W TDP and 6Gbps memory. If it turns out to be true that it supports 2GB of 256-bit GDDR5 VRAM, that would fall short of AMD's Radeon HD 7970, whose 384-bit bus serves 3GB of GDDR5 memory. Then again, these specs don't quite match what was previously rumored, so perhaps there's still room for some surprises. No word on a release date or price, so for now you'll have to make do with parsing those source links.
Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 brings an NVIDIA Kepler GPU to the ultrabook party
Acer unveiled several new Ultrabooks at CeBIT last week (we spent time with the V5 and V3) but its M3 may be the most special one of all. NVIDIA mentions it will not only be the first with a discrete GPU -- beating Lenovo's T430u to the punch -- but that the included GeForce GT640M is based on the long-awaited 28nm Kepler architecture. That should give it enough power to run the latest games while still remaining true to the ultrabook tag with a 20mm thick frame and (promised) 8 hours of battery life thanks to Optimus technology. The 15-inch Aspire Timeline M3 Ultra also breaks the mold by squeezing in a DVD drive for games you can't get from Steam, along with options for either a hybrid hard drive / SSD or SSD-only storage setup. Neither company has included a pricetag in their joyful announcements, but these no-compromise packages are expected to begin shipping later this month.
Lenovo's ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook hands-on
Ultrabooks are all the rage this year's CES, so it only makes sense that Lenovo would want to get in on the action and bring the new, slim form factor to its lauded ThinkPad line. We swung by the company's trailer to get some hands-on with the T430u -- the first such machine that we've seen packing discrete graphics from NVIDIA. At only 21mm thick and under four pounds, the first ThinkPad Ultrabook is certainly svelte and falls on the more portable end of the spectrum for 14-inch PCs. Sadly there weren't any working models on hand, but we were able to get a good idea of what the aluminum chassis (covered in a soft-touch rubberized paint, of course) will look and feel like. The iconic red nub and unparalleled keyboard are in tow, as well as a large click pad. The demo unit was sporting a glossy screen, but when it ships early in the second half of the year it'll be packing an anti-glare panel. We were also impressed with the incredibly clean bottom panel which, while incredibly difficult to photograph, does hide the required pile of stickers and licensed keys that usually pollute the laptop's exterior. Check out the gallery below to see HDMI and SIM card slots that hide around the back and the usual cadre of SD slots, USB 3.0 and Ethernet ports that populate the sides.
Switchable graphics solutions duel it out, AMD ends up looking like a chump
At this point, NVIDIA's Optimus switchable graphics are old hat, but AMD is relatively new to the game of packing dual GPUs in a single laptop. AnandTech decided to pit the two solutions against each other and, well, lets just say AMD doesn't come out looking so great. The biggest problem appears to be stability. While performance is acceptable (though, not quite as good as it should be) the site had trouble getting four of the supposedly 16 supported games to switch between the integrated and discrete GPUs as advertised. Regular driver updates, not to mention a bit more testing, could solve the issues, but for now NVIDIA's Optimus simply outclasses its AMD counterpart. Check out the video after the break and don't forget to hit up the source link for all the details.
AMD announces the Radeon HD 6990M, has some pointed words for NVIDIA
Here are five words you've heard before: "the world's fastest notebook GPU." Why, NVIDIA made just that claim two weeks ago, when it touted the GeForce GTX 580M as the nimblest card this side of Pluto. Not so fast, says AMD. The outfit just unveiled the Radeon HD 6990M with DirectX11 and HD3D support, and it insists this is the speediest GPU on the block -- specifically, up to 25 percent faster than any other GPU that's been announced to the public. And yes, AMD's well aware of that 580M. Just like NVIDIA came out swinging, making pointed comparisons to the Radeon HD 6970M, AMD's got some fighting words of its own: the company says the 6990M can whip the 580M in the benchmark AvP and games such as Batman Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age 2, Shogun 2, BattleForge, Left 4 Dead, Metro2033, Wolfenstein MP, The Chronicles of Riddick, and ET: Quake Wars. We don't need to remind you that these numbers merely represent the story each company wants to tell. Still, you get the idea: these are the top-of-the-line cards each has to offer at the moment, and they'll likely be competing for space in your next gaming rig. As you can imagine, the 6990M joins other Radeon HD cards in supporting the company's Eyefinity technology, as well as GPU app acceleration. Let it be known, too, that while the 6990M supplants the popular 6970M as far as performance claims go, AMD tells us the 6970M will still be available for the foreseeable future. Speaking of availability, the 6990M will be offered in the Alienware M18x -- right alongside NVIDIA's 580M. Additionally, you'll find it packed inside Clevo's P170HM and P150HM. And you didn't think we forgot about specs, did you? Head on past the break to find the full PR, along with a handful of technical details straight from the horse's mouth.
NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 580M and 570M, availability in the Alienware M18x and MSI GT780R (updated: MSI says no)
We know you're going to be shocked -- shocked! -- to hear this, but NVIDIA's gone and refreshed its high-end line of GeForce GTX cards. The GTX 580M takes the place of the GTX 485M, and NVIDIA's bragging that it's the "fastest notebook GPU ever," capable, we're told, of besting the Radeon HD 6970M's tesselation performance by a factor of six. The new GTX 570M, meanwhile, promises a 20 percent speed boost over the last-generation 470M. Both 40-nanometer cards support DirectX11, OpenCL, PhysX, CUDA, 3D Vision, Verde drivers, Optimus, SLI, and 3DTV Play. As for battery life, NVIDIA's saying that when coupled with its Optimus graphics switching technology, the 580M can last through five hours of Facebook, but last we checked, that's not why y'all are shelling out thousands for beastly gaming rigs. You can find the 580M in the Alienware M17X and M18X (pictured) starting today, though you might have to wait a week or so for them to ship. Meanwhile, the 570M is shipping in the MSI GT780R as you read this, and you'll also find the 580M in a pair of 3D-capable Clevo laptops: the P170HM3 and the SLI-equipped P270WN. Handy chart full 'o technical details after the break. Update: An MSI rep has let us know that contrary to earlier reports, the GT780R is not currently available with the 570M graphics card. The company added that it will offer some unspecified laptop with the 570M sometime in the "near" future. It's unclear if that laptop will, in fact, be the GT780R.
NVIDIA teases a pair of mystery laptop GPUs running Crysis 2 (video)
Did someone say controlled leak? NVIDIA's come clean about the fact that it has some news to share tomorrow, but until then, it's being oh-so demure about what it has up its sleeve. Behold, an unnamed GPU -- two of 'em, in fact! -- running Crysis 2 in SLI mode. What you see in the short clip below is the DirectX11 version of the game running at 1080p resolution with tesselation enabled and a high-resolution texture pack. All told, the game appears to play smoothly, even with the settings cranked to the max. So just what is this thing? Looks like we'll find out in the morn, folks.
LucidLogix brings GPU virtualization to AMD notebooks, all-in-ones, keeps sharing the graphics love
Late last year, LucidLogix introduced us to Virtu, the GPU virtualization software that makes disparate GPUs play nice on Sandy Bridge PCs, and now its extending the love to AMD Bulldozer and Brazos machines. The latest version of the software, dubbed Virtu Universal, also extends GPU virtualization to all-in-ones and notebooks (on both AMD and Intel), enabling simple switching between discrete graphics and the integrated ilk. What's more, the program ushers in the debut of Virtual Vsync, which claims to bring "maximum gaming frame rates and responsiveness, while eliminating distracting and image-distorting visual tearing." Of course, we'll believe it when we see it, which, if LucidLogix has its way, should be before the ball drops in Time Square. Full PR after the break.
NVIDIA's GTX 560 desktop GPU fills an exceedingly narrow pricing niche
With Tegra 2 hogging the spotlight, sometimes it's easy to forget that NVIDIA is still primarily in the business of making GPUs for computers. Yet, here it is with the GeForce GTX 560, another graphics chip ready to be inserted into mid-range gaming rigs. This smaller sibling of the GTX 560 Ti is designed to plug right into a small price gap in the company's lineup -- right around the $200 mark. The 336 CUDA cores inside this second-gen Fermi card, predictably, perform slightly better than the GTX 460 and fall just short of the 560 Ti, but it does eke out a victory over similarly priced competition from AMD. The only thing that kept reviewers from wholeheartedly endorsing the various (and often overclocked) flavors of the 560 was the tiny difference in price between it and its relatives -- tacking on the letters Ti and its 48 additional stream processors costs as little as $15 after a mail-in rebate. Check out the reviews below for all the benchmarks your little nerd heart can handle. And don't miss the video of a GTX 560 plowing through Duke Nukem Forever, Alice: Madness Returns, and Dungeon Siege III at the more coverage link. Read - Tech Report Read - AnandTech Read - Tom's Hardware Read - Guru 3D
AMD elevates the low-end with trio of sub-$100 cards: Radeon HD 6670, 6570, and 6450
Graphics card companies don't live and die by the enthusiast market alone. That may be where the glory is, but it's the budget cards that really bring in the bacon. For the entry level, AMD just unleashed a trio of sub-$100 cards, the Radeon HD 6670, 6570, and 6450. How do they perform? Well, let's just say you get what you pay for. Reaction from reviewers has been one of mild indifference. Depending on manufacturer, fan noise does appear to be an issue, possibly precluding the cards from being a viable HTPC choice. Otherwise, even the lowly, $55 6450 is a worthy upgrade over an integrated graphics chip or a two-year-old discrete card, but it can't match the performance of NVIDIA's GT 430, which can be had for only a few dollars more. Consensus was that, with prices of the older 5000 series being slashed, purchasers can get more bang for their GPU buck by sticking with last generation cards (like the Radeon HD 5750) if they're looking for pure gaming prowess. That said, the GDDR5 flavors of the 6670 provide perfectly playable performance on most modern games (it averaged 45 FPS in Call of Duty: Black Ops) for just $99 (the 6570 runs about $79). Just beware those models shipping with GDDR3. Benchmarks galore below. Read - Hexus Read - techPowerUp 6450 Read - techPowerUp 6670 Read - Guru3D Read - Tech Report Read - Tom's Hardware 6670 and 6570 Read - Tom's Hardware 6450 Read - TweakTown Read - AnandTech Read - HotHardware
Radeon HD 6790 sneaks in at under $150, leaves reviewers wanting more for the money
As sure as snow in winter or sun in summer, AMD has yet another refresh to its graphics card portfolio this spring. The Radeon HD 6790 is only a couple of misplaced digits away from the far more illustrious HD 6970, but you should be able to tell the two apart by another, altogether more significant spec: the new mid-tier card retails at $149. Predictably, its performance offers no threat to AMD's single-GPU flagship, but the 6790's 840MHz graphics and shader clock speeds plus 1GB of GDDR5 running at an effective 4.2GHz data rate don't seem like anything to sniff at either. Reviewers agreed that it's AMD's slightly delayed answer to NVIDIA's GTX 460, and with the latter card exiting retail availability to make room for the (oddly enough) less powerful GTX 550 Ti, AMD's new solution looks set to be the better choice at the shared $149 price point. Alas, being limited to 800 Stream processors and 16 ROPs does expose the HD 6790 to being cannibalized by AMD's own Radeon HD 6850 (which can be had for sub-$150 if you're tolerant of rebates) and that turns out to be exactly what happens. A solid card, then, but one that would require an even lower price dip to make economic sense. Benchmarks await below. Read - Tech Report Read - AnandTech Read - Tom's Hardware Read - PC Perspective
2011 to bring 200 PCs combining GeForce GPUs and Sandy Bridge, first laptops to be quad-core
What's NVIDIA got up its sleeve for CES, you ask? A whole host of Sandy Bridge laptop and desktop machines, by the sound of its latest press release. The green giant of graphics has proudly announced a new record of 200 OEM design wins for Intel's incoming CPUs. The big draw of Sandy Bridge is that it's the first processor to include an integrated GPU embedded directly within its die, which is projected to improve power efficiency and overall performance -- though clearly it hasn't been impressive enough to get PC vendors to abandon discrete graphics chips. If anything, they seem to be going in the other direction and insisting on a discrete GPU as well. In other news, whether with or without NVIDIA's help, the first Sandy Bridge laptops will feature quad-core parts. Such is the word directly from Intel, with one insider adding that the dual-core debutants will get their chance a month after CES, around the middle of February. Skip past the break for NVIDIA's boastful PR or hit the source for more on Intel's plans.
ATI overtakes NVIDIA in discrete GPU shipments
You'd think with ATI having the performance, value and power efficiency lead for so long -- at least since the Radeon HD 4000 series -- NVIDIA would be in all kinds of trouble, but it's only now that AMD's graphics division has finally taken the lead in quarterly shipments. This is according to Mercury Research, whose analysts place the split at 51 to 49 percent in favor of ATI -- still a tightly contested thing, but it compares very favorably to the Red Team's 41% share in the same quarter last year. This data is concerned with discrete GPU shipments only (laptops included), whereas on the integrated front Intel continues to reign supreme with 54 percent of the market shipping its cheap and cheerful IGP units. ATI has made forward strides there as well, however, with 24.5% ranking ahead of NVIDIA's 19.8%. If Apple shifting its iMac and Mac Pro lines away from the Green livery wasn't enough, perhaps these numbers will finally start ringing some alarm bells over at NV HQ. [Thanks, Zubayer]
MacBook Pros with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics get (unofficial) discrete switching utility
We've lamented the way Apple's latest MacBook Pros switch between their integrated Intel graphics and the NVIDIA-sourced, power-sapping discrete silicon pretty much since day one (we're sorry, but Tweetie just doesn't need all the horsepower our systems have to offer). Apple has yet to pony up an official solution, but a neat little utility -- Cody Krieger's gfxCardStatus -- has been quietly evolving over the past few weeks into a decent substitute. Originally designed simply to let you know which chipset's currently in use, the latest version, 1.6.1, now allows you to toggle amongst them by hand. It's said to still be a little bit on the buggy side, but we're delighted (and not really surprised) to see that the community came to the rescue in short order when Cupertino didn't. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
