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Nvidia's Quadro K5000 GPU coming to a Mac Pro near you, and it's fast
Graphics card maker Nvidia has announced that its brand new Quadro K5000 GPU will be available inside of Apple's Mac Pro computers, and Engadget recently got a chance to see the new cards in action. The cards will offer 4 GB of graphics memory and some superfast performance, and will be able to support up to the new 4K video standard (which is what the television manufacturers are planning as a resolution after the current 1080p). As you'd expect, Engadget says everything ran very impressively. Adobe Premiere Pro ran without a hitch, even when including plenty of video effects and processing. But that isn't really a surprise, as a super card like this shouldn't struggle in a demo situation. We'll probably need a brand new Mac Pro with one of these in it to really know for sure how the card works. Anyone have five or six grand they can spare?
NVIDIA Quadro K5000 GPU for Mac offers significant Premiere Pro performance boost, we go hands-on
NVIDIA just announced that its new Quadro K5000 GPU will be available on Mac Pros, offering 4K display compatibility and support for up to four displays, not to mention 4GB of graphics memory and about 2x faster performance than the Fermi-based Quadro 4000. While the Kepler-powered chip won't actually hit Apple systems till later this year, we got a first look at the K500 on a Mac here at IBC. NVIDIA demoed Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro CS6 on a Mac Pro with dual K5000 GPUs. As you'll see in the video below, with 11 streams of 1080p video at 30 fps in Premiere Pro (and one overlay of the NVIDIA logo), GPU acceleration handles the workload seamlessly, letting us add effects in real time without any processing delay. Switching to software rendering mode in the editing program shows a night-and-day difference: video playback is extremely choppy, and processing moves at a crawl. Even with two K5000 chips in this desktop, Premiere Pro utilizes just one, but After Effects takes advantage of both GPUs. In this program, NVIDIA showed us ray-tracing, a computationally intensive 3D imaging feature, which only became available in After Effects with the release of CS6. Like in Premiere Pro, the program runs smoothly enough to let us edit images in real time. Take a look for yourself by heading past the break.
HP takes EliteBook W-series on a trip to Ivy Bridge, throws in Z220 Xeon workstation for good measure
HP has been rolling out a steady stream of Ivy Bridge-based upgrades over the past few weeks, and now it's the turn of the pro-oriented EliteBook W-series to get the long-awaited upgrade. The 8470W, 8570W and 8770W draw on Intel's faster dual Core i5 and quad Core i7 chips with respective choices of 14-, 15.6- and 17.3-inch screens. All of them pack AMD's FirePro for video duties, although big spenders at the larger two sizes can opt for one of NVIDIA's Quadro K-series graphics chips as well as an IPS-based display for color-sensitive work. Options will get you niceties such as a 24GB SSD cache, 3G and up to 16GB of RAM, although the EliteBooks' signature military-spec resistances to dust, shock and temperature are thankfully par for the course. The range costs $1,329, $1,449 and $1,699 as you move up the screen size ladder, and all three will be available before June is over. If you prefer your workstations to be more powerful but slightly more stationary, you're still welcome in HP's world: the equally fresh Z220 desktop carries Intel's new quad-core Xeon E3 processor or, if that's a bit too rich for your blood, a Pentium or quad Core i7. AMD FirePro and NVIDIA Quadro video cards are both made-to-order upgrades, and the modern underpinnings add both USB 3.0 as well as headroom for up to 32GB of RAM, if the fear of paging to disk keeps you awake at night. HP has both tower and small form factor versions of the Z220 starting off at $699, and they too will be ready to stretch IT budgets later this month. %Gallery-156730%
Dell Precision R5500 lets four graphics pros work on one PC, we wish it did gaming
Workstations aren't normally our focus, but when Dell shows off a new Precision system that lets four media pros share its graphics hardware at once, you can be sure the company has our attention. If your IT chief springs for a Precision R5500 with four Quadro 2000 cards, each of those cards can take advantage of a graphics pass-through in Citrix's virtualization to render 3D models at speeds much more like what you'd get if the Quadro were sitting in your own PC. Before you have visions of four-player Modern Warfare parties after-hours at work, the inherent barriers of distance and the virtual machine itself will likely rule out any game sessions.
Sandy Bridge E squashed into $3,000 Clevo P270WM gaming suitcase
If you thought Intel's super-charged Core i7 CPUs were only for desktops, then AVADirect reckons it can change your mind. The company's Clevo P270WM notebook comes strapped to the back of either a six-core i7-3930K or an over-sized i7-3960X, while still leaving plenty of room for dual GeForce GTX 580M graphics, a Bigfoot Killer WiFi adapter, three hard drives and four memory slots offering up to 32GB of RAM. Topping it all off is a 3D-capable 17.3-inch Full HD LED glossy display and backlit keyboard. The base configuration with the 3930K processor, single graphics card and 750GB HDD will set you back over $3,000, and if you have to ask how much the NVIDIA Quadro graphics option costs then you're probably better off with something like this.
NVIDIA opens Windows 8 developer program with support for Kal-El tablets
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know Microsoft's Build developer conference is going on right now in Anaheim, California, and Windows 8 is the belle of the ball. Earlier today, Windows chief Steven Sinofsky spilled more details about the OS, touting the minimum requirements and NFC support, while we fessed up to having had some quality hands-on time ourselves. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company's hardware partners are also ready to start talking. NVIDIA just opened its Windows 8 developer program, and says it'll embrace not just x86-based PCs, but Tegra-powered tablets as well. Specifically, that means support for its forthcoming quad-core Tegra platform, codenamed Kal-El, along with PCs packing GeForce, Quadro and Tesla cards. Any developers who happen to be hanging around the Anaheim Convention Center can sign up at NVIDIA's booth, though there's also an online registration page for everyone else. Find that at the source link, along with the full PR after the break.
HP EliteBook 8460w, 8560w, and 8760w mobile workstations all go on sale
If Dell's latest 17-inch powerhouse is too beastly for your next business trip, HP has begun selling its trio of new EliteBook mobile workstations, with screen sizes as small as 14 inches. In the case of both the 14-inch 8460w and the 15.6-inch 8560w, you get discrete graphics standard and can choose a $1,000 Core i7-2820QM processor, among less pricey options. (With the 15-inch iteration, you can also opt for a 1 billion-color DreamColor display.) Admittedly, you will have to step up to the 17-inch 8760w if you want a Core i7-2920XM CPU, AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro graphics with up to 4GB of memory, and up to three hard drives with RAID 5 support. As promised, they're going for $1,299, $1,239, and $1,899, respectively -- in case your corporate card's just begging for its next hit. [Thanks, Fuzzball]
Dell's new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10
We got a dose of details on Dell's new Precision M4600 and M6600 workstations yesterday, and though impressed by their specs, we were left without answers to two very important questions: when can we get them, and how much will they cost? There must be some mind readers in Round Rock, because today Dell revealed that the machines will make their debut on May 10 with prices starting at $1,678 for the M4600 and $2,158 for its 17-inch big brother, though prices surely escalate quickly from there. Turns out, the laptops also have optional IPS and four-finger multi-touch displays for your viewing pleasure and RAID support for your (and your employer's) peace of mind. That's some stellar hardware for some serious coin, so interested parties should start brown-nosing the bossman immediately -- or maybe just get a second job. PR's after the break.
Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 specs emerge in leaked manual
Since we first peeked the new Sandy Bridge-equipped Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 back in February we haven't heard much about these mobile workstations. We still don't have prices or a release date, but a leaked manual has finally delivered some specs -- and CAD enthusiasts won't be disappointed. Both the 15.6-inch M4600 and the 17-inch M6600 can be configured with up to a Core i7 Quad Extreme 2920XM and 32GB of RAM. The smaller, 6.3-pound M4600 comes standard with a 1GB AMD FirePro M5950 and can be upgraded to an NVIDIA Quadro 2000M with 2GB. The more beastly 7.5-pound M6600 starts with a 2GB FirePro M8900 and has options ranging all the way up to a 4GB Quadro 5010M. Both machines also come packing two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of USB 2.0 connectors, an eSATA jack, and an IEEE 1394 port, giving you plenty of room to plug in all the external drives, cameras, scientific instruments, and cat-shaped mouse cozies your little heart desires. [Thanks, Wolf]
NVIDIA brings the Fermi-packing Quadro 4000 to the Mac Pro
For most Mac users, upgradeable anything is starting to sound like a distant memory, but Mac Pro users bought that big ol' box for a reason: expandability. Now NVIDIA is here to make it worth their while, releasing the mid-range Quadro 4000 graphics card with that latest / greatest Fermi architecture. With 256 CUDA cores and 2GB of GDDR5 memory, the card should slice through just about anything a pro app (Photoshop, Maya, Snood) can send it, and probably wouldn't mind popping out a FPS session now and then just to stretch the legs. Of course, when we say "mid-range" we aren't talking cheap: NVIDIA's MSRP is $1,199, a good bit more than the card's $700-ish PC-compatible counterpart. It should be available this month.
Lenovo unleashes cut-rate ThinkStation E20 workstation on an unsuspecting public
Kids, are you a corporate buyer of CAD and DCC (digital content creation, duh!) systems looking to save a few pennies in a difficult economic environment? Well, you're in luck: we've dug up yet another demure, innocuous Lenovo with an oversized novelty handle for you, the ThinkStation E20. Shipping with your choice of an Intel Core i3, i5, Pentium, or Xeon 3400 Series processor and either Intel Core HD or NVIDIA Quadro graphics, this guy supports DDR3 memory and carries certifications from Autodesk, Siemens, Dassault Systemes, among others. If that weren't enough, the company is really pushing the green thing, with more than half of the plastic here coming from post-consumer recycled materials. Available sometime mid-month at prices starting at $599, so start save those pennies! You didn't really want that Tesla GPU anyways, did you? PR after the break.
Alienware's MJ-12 8550 workstations sport up to eight cores
It's always a lucky day for the writer who gets to cover a new Alienware release, because you wouldn't be doing your readers justice without building your own fantasy rig on the retail site and seeing just how high you can jack the price up. So today is especially thrilling, because we got to throw together two $12,000+ workstations without breaking a sweat: the Intel Xeon-powered MJ-12 8550i and AMD Opteron-powered MJ-12 8550a. This being Alienware and all, you can load up either machine with two top of the line chips, creating either a 2.8GHz quad-core Opteron 2220 monster or an outlandish 1.86GHz octo-core Xeon 5320 beast. Add to that 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA Quadro FX 5500 graphics (or 2 FX 4500's in SLI on the 8550i), 16GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, up to four HDD's (max storage: 3TB; max coolness: 600GB worth of 15,000 RPM drives), and two dual layer burners -- and well sir, you've got yourself quite a workhorse right there. Unfortunately for the average consumer whose games and apps aren't optimized for multi-core processors, these specs wouldn't really translate to blazing fast performance for day to day tasks -- plus both rigs only ship with XP, which might be a dealbreaker in and of itself. Since not everyone is gonna want to blow twelve grand on their email and web surfing box, (much) cheaper configurations are available, with both the "a" and the "i" starting at $2,550.
