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IBuyPower dishes Dragon-based gaming desktops under $1,500
Yet again, IBuyPower is stepping out with a few new gaming rigs for the bargain-minded among us. The most recent duo to be outed by the company is the Gamer HAF 91B and the Gamer Fire, both of which are based on AMD's latest Dragon platform and Phenom II CPU. The former gets going at just $999 and includes the Phenom II X4 920 processor, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 500GB SATA II hard drive, a dual-layer DVD writer, ATI's 512MB Radeon HD 4850 graphics card, a CoolerMaster HAS 932 case and a 550-watt power supply. The more fiery sibling ups the ante with a Phenom II X4 940 CPU, a 750GB HDD, LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray drive and an NZXT Guardian 921 chassis. 'Course, you'll be paying $1,439 for that one, but either way you'll be keeping things below the evidently magical $1.5k mark. Order away, should you be so inclined. Full release is after the jump.
Palit's Radeon HD 4870 X2 has preposterous clock speeds, marketing hype
Hong Kong-based video card manufacturer Palit is excited about its Revolution 700 Deluxe video card -- so much so that we're a little frightened by the force of its enthusiasm. The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 GPU is no slouch to begin with, but this iteration has cores overclocked to 750MHz and 2GB of GDDR5 memory at a face-melting 3.8GHz. As imposing as clock speeds are, they likely can't measure up to the epic hype from Palit. "All other cards beware," the press release boldly cries, "there is a new king in town and it only comes from Palit!" Tap the read link for the whole thing -- best enjoyed while listening to the Mortal Kombat theme song.
Intel Core i7-equipped Falcon Northwest Mach V gaming desktop hands-on
Benchmarks and reviews of Intel's Core i7 processors are pouring in, and while mere mortals must wait till later this month to get their hands on the hardware, we spent much of our weekend working overtime with Crysis, Fallout 3, and Age of Conan on an $8,238 Core i7 965-equipped Mach V gaming desktop from boutique PC manufacturer Falcon Northwest. It's got the works and then some: liquid cooling, dual ATI Radeon 4870X2 graphics cards with 2GB of RAM on-board, 12 GB of DDR3 RAM, Blu-ray, HD-DVD (yes, you read that right), and over a terabyte of storage. Based on our dozen or so hours of grueling, utterly boring hands-on tests, all three games were plenty playable maxed out at 1920 x 1080 resolution with 4x anti-aliasing -- only Crysis ever dipped below 40 frames per second, and we never saw Fallout 3 under 60. We sincerely hope you appreciate the backbreaking, soulcrushingly hard work we do for you -- more photos and benchmarks (including Crysis) in the gallery. %Gallery-35975%
Alienware's surprise: the CrossFire X-enabled M17 gaming notebook
When it said evolutionary, it wasn't kidding around. Alienware has just taken the wraps off of a relatively uninspiring (or, unworthy of hype, we should say) new laptop: the M17. Not to be confused with the M17x, this 17-incher is the outfit's very first CrossFire X-enabled notebook, and those with the requisite coin can get one outfitted with a Core 2 Quad / Extreme CPU, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, a WXGA+ / WUXGA panel, an optional ATSC HDTV tuner, up to 640GB of HDD space in a RAID 0 array, a dual-layer DVD writer / optional Blu-ray reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet and a facial recognition sensor. As with most of its siblings, this one puts a beating on the scales at 9.5-pounds, and we're certain you can deplete that 12-cell battery in no time flat. Granted, it does get going at "just" $1,399, but you can expect that figure to head far north when you add anything drool-worthy to the build sheet.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AMD debuts dirt cheap ATI Radeon HD 4550, HD 4350 graphics cards
NVIDIA managed to generate quite a bit of interest with its $59 GeForce 9400 GT graphics card, and it looks like rival AMD is now taking things one step further with not one but two cards that are even cheaper. Those include the $55 ATI Radeon HD 4550 and the $39 ATI Radeon HD 4350, which pack 512MB and 256MB of memory, respectively, along with some other surprisingly not too shabby specs. Namely, each card packs DirectX 10.1 support, an HDMI port with support for 7.1 channel audio, upscaling "beyond 1080p," and even support for ATI's CrossFireX technology in case you want to pair two of them up. As usual, you can expect the cards to be available from a whole host of different manufacturers, at least some of which should have cards available by October, if not sooner.[Via bit-tech.net]
ATI Radeon HD 4670 and 4650 released, tested
ATI just announced its new mainstream graphics cards, the Radeon HD 4670 and 4650. At the heart of both cards is a 55nm 320-core TeraScale GPU, which is a modified version of the RV770 chip found in the Radeon HD 4800 series -- it's a lower spec chip, but it has essentially the exact same feature set. The $80 HD 4670 has 512MB of GDDR3 RAM, while the $60 HD 4650 uses 512MB of GDDR2 memory; both are relatively power-sipping with 60 watt and 50 watt draws respectively under full load. Should be out soon -- HotHardware just tested an HD 4670 and found it to be quite a performer, check it all out at the read links. Read - ATI Radeon HD 4600 series PR Read - HotHardware test
AMD touts the ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2 as the 'world's fastest graphics card'
AMD (ATI) has just launched its newest assault against competitor Nvidia in the ever-continuing graphics arms race. It is touting the awkwardly-named ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 as the fastest graphics card ever made, with 2.4 teraFLOPS of processing power. (In comparison, Nvidia's RSX GPU found in the PS3 promises performance of 1.8 teraFLOPS. ATI's chip in the Xbox 360 promises 1.0 teraFLOPS.)The performance is achieved by simple arithmetic: combining two ATI Radeon HD 4800 series GPUs into a single card, and a whopping 2GB of onboard memory -- the most of any graphics card on the market. The HD 4870 x2 is the first card that supports AMD's upcoming "Cinema 2.0" effort. However, until there's software that supports the endeavor, purchasers of AMD's latest cards will have to simply appreciate playing current games like Oblivion at 2560x1600 with 24X AA -- y'know, the way games are supposed to be played.The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 is immediately available from various "e-tailers" with a pricetag of $549 SRP. A cheaper, less powerful little brother, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2, will be available in September at an estimated price of $399.
AMD doubles up, announces ATI HD Radeon 4850 X2 and 4870 X2
Sure, times might be tough at AMD, but that's not stopping the crew at ATI from gunning for NVIDIA's newest gear -- the company just announced the new HD Radeon 4850 X2 and 4870 X2. Aimed at the "super high-end" of the market, the $399 4850 X2 and $599 4870 X2 feature two GPU chips on a 625 or 750MHz bus, respectively, with up to 2GB of 900MHz GDDR5 RAM. ATI says that there's a 20 percent overhead from pairing up the processors, so the X2s should offer 180 percent of the single GPU cards -- certainly enough to outgun a single NVIDIA GTX 280, and reportedly enough to match a dual-280 setup depending on the game. We'll see for sure when the inevitable flood of benchmarks hits when these bad boys arrive next month -- any gamers out there going to take the plunge?Read - ExtremeTechRead - CNET
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 gets previewed
AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4870 has been a bit of a mystery since word of the card first leaked out alongside the slightly lower-end Radeon HD 4850, but it looks like things are finally clearing up, with AMD itself first getting official about the card and the first hands-on previews of the card now turning up. As [H] Enthusiast reports, it looks like this one was well worth the wait, with it saying that its gameplay experiences with the card were "phenomenal." That includes being able to play Crysis at 1920x1200 with all in-game settings cranked to "high" -- a recipe for disaster on most cards, but apparently more than playable on the 4870 X2 (with some other suitably high end hardware to match, of course). What's more, the site says the card's performance could get even better by the time it's officially released, as its test card was using a beta firmware that still leaves some room for improvement. Until then, you can hit up the link below for all the current numbers.
PowerColor PCS HD4850 graphics card packs 2GB of memory
Remember how we all swooned over Diamond's ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT in June of last year? At the time, that was pretty much your only shot at seeing 1GB of memory on a single graphics card. Fast forward to now, and we've got what's widely believe to be this planet's very first 2GB card. The PowerColor PCS HD4850, which is based on the RV770 core, comes with 800 stream processors and two whole gigabytes of GDDR3 memory. And just think, next summer you'll be sticking your nose up to find GPUs emerging with "only" this much memory. So fickle, we are.[Via PCLaunches]
PhysX on ATI effort gets helping hand from NVIDIA
Eran Badit of NGOHQ.com has already made some considerable progress getting PhysX to run on AMD hardware, and it looks like he's now getting a helping hand from a somewhat unexpected source, with NVIDIA itself reportedly giving the project its blessing. Apparently, NVIDIA has even gone so far as to invite Badit to join its developer program, which gives him access to documentation, SDKs and, most importantly, direct access to hardware and NVIDIA engineers, a move that Badit describes as "impressive, inspiring and motivating." Badit is decidedly less impressed by AMD, however, which has apparently been unwilling to provide with any hardware or support for the project. That stubborn stance, he surmises, can only be due to AMD's backing of Intel's Havok physics engine, which NVIDIA would no doubt like to have out of the picture (hence its willingness to help here).[Via TG Daily]
AMD Radeon HD 4870 X2 images leaked, rumored for August release
Is this the Radeon card destined to leapfrog NVIDIA's performance leading GTX 200 series? We'll know in August (or soon thereafter), that's the rumored release date for AMD's Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card. As the X2 name implies, the card packs a pair of RV770-based GPUs and should be ready to sample with 2GB (!) of that "world's fastest" GDDR5 memory by the end of this month. It's worth noting that the leaked images show a total of 1GB of GDDR5 (16 Qimonda GDDR5 chips) on that black PCB. AMD will then make the 4870 X2 (RV770XT) cards available to its partners in mid-August, hitting retail soon after for an estimated $499 according to sources over at DigiTimes. Read -- Leaked images Read -- August launch
PotBS video contest offers graphics card bounty
The Pirates of the Burning Sea community site has posted a neat guide to making videos of their game, covering a number of different programs, and the finishing touches that can turn a good movie into a great one. It's certainly a nice guide, but you might wonder if there is any particular reason that Flying Lab Software is educating their players so -- and of course, there is.A new series of contests are on the way for PotBS subscribers, and the objective is to come up with some top-notch tutorial videos. The first contest is based around the art of Boarding Combat, and the winning video should be something that can explain to new players exactly how to succeed at this. The creator of the best video will sail away with a GeCube ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics card, and entry closes on the 30th of June. You can visit the competition page to get all the specific requirements, and begin your career as a pirate teacher.
ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card gets official
Just five days after ATI fessed up with an official release of its Radeon HD 4850, along comes a similar announcement for the just-leaked Radeon HD 4870. This dual-slot beast is finally being outed on the record, and at the very least, Diamond Multimedia's version will come stocked with 512MB of DDR5 memory, a clock speed of 725 MHz, 900MHz memory speed and 800 stream processors. The unit also provides CrossFireX upgradeability and should be available here soon from your favorite online retailer.
Force3D, Asustek, GeCube roll out Radeon HD 4850, 4870 series cards
AMD has already gotten its official business with its new Radeon HD 4850 series out the way, and it now looks like the flood of various iterations is in full swing, with at least three manufacturers already pushing cards out the door. Among the first out of the gate is relative upstart Force3D, which has not only let loose a Radeon HD 4850 card, but a Radeon HD 4870 as well, the latter of which AMD still seems to be staying mum about. As HEXUS.net reports, however, this particular version will boast a core frequency of 750MHz, along with 512MB of GDDR5 memory and an effective clock speed of 3,600MHz. According to DigiTimes, Asustek also has a pair of similar Radeon HD 4870 cards set for release, along with a pair of HD 4850 cards packing 1GB and 512MB of DDR3 memory, while GeCube seems to be content to launch just a single 4850 with 512MB of DDR3 memory. Hit up the links below for the full rundown of specs, which unfortunately doens't include prices just yet.Read - HEXUS.net, "Force3D jumps the gun, launches its Radeon HD 4870"Read - DigiTimes, "Asustek and GeCube launch ATI Radeon HD 4850-based graphics cards" [Via TG Daily, thanks Kris120890]
ATI Radeon HD 4850 gets official: available immediately
Considering that we've already seen AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4850 benchmarked, it's not like we really needed some official verbiage to cement our belief that the unit was real. Nevertheless, said verbiage certainly doesn't hurt, and that's precisely what's been delivered this morning. The HD 4850 is a single-slot PCIe 2.0 card featuring 512MB of DDR3 RAM, a 625MHz clock speed, 993MHz memory speed, 480 stream processors and support for CrossFireX / DirectX 10.1. We're also told that at least Diamond Multimedia's HD 4850 is available as we speak from a number of fine retailers, thus we presume everyone else's version of the card shouldn't be too far behind.
RV770-based AMD Radeon HD 4850 gets benchmarked
Judging by the fact that AMD tipped the whole world off to its upcoming RV770-based GPUs earlier this week, we don't suppose it'll be too upset that a 512MB MSI Radeon HD 4850 happened to land a little early in the PC Perspective labs. Design wise, there's nothing too out of the ordinary -- a single-slot cooler design, twin dual-link DVI ports, single 6-pin PCIe power connector and one goofy looking monster that you'll never see again once this thing gets installed. Care to see how it fared when facing the pressures of modern day gaming? You know where to look.
AMD offers up ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition
Hey Mac users, tired of looking longingly at that PC-lovin' ATI Radeon HD 3870? AMD has teased you long enough, and at long last, the Mac & PC Edition has arrived. This card is optimized for use within Apple's Mac Pro systems and includes 512MB of GDDR4 RAM, 320 stream processors, PCI Express 2.0 support and twin dual-link DVI ports for treating that pair of 30-inch Cinema HD displays like they ought to be treated. Check the read link for the full list of specifications, and get set to drop $129 when this one lands later this month.[Via TUAW, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
AMD gets official with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 and PowerXpress
AMD's on a roll at Computex, and it's keeping the stream alive with two more decently important announcements. First off, the company is making the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 official, which is said to "triple top-of-the-line graphics performance in comparison to the previous generation ATI Mobility Radeon GPUs." The unit also enables laptop makers to include CrossFireX technology for the first time, so yeah, there's that. Moving on, we've got the low down on its PowerXpress technology, which enables users to "double or triple the performance of the integrated graphics processor when plugged into a wall socket or extend their battery life by over an hour while on the go." In actuality, it's a variant of ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology for lappies, giving folks the option to switch between a Mobility Radeon HD 3400 series GPU and an integrated AMD M780G without the need for a reboot. If your eyebrows just perked up, you can snag said tech on select Fujitsu-Siemens machines right now. All the gory details are linked below -- enjoy!Read - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3800 gets officialRead - ATI PowerXpress shipping on select Fujitsu-Siemens laptops
Next-generation ATI Radeon cards to pack GDDR5 memory
A full six months after Samsung took the wraps off of GDDR5 memory, along comes word from AMD that the next-generation ATI Radeon graphics cards will boast said technology. Apparently AMD will be tapping Qimonda for its supply of GDDR5 modules, which should boost gaming performance as well as benefit stream processing, "where GPUs are applied to address complex, massively parallel calculations." As Hot Hardware points out, the release comes just weeks away from the rumored debut of the Radeon 4000 series, so if our deductive reasoning is sound, we'd surmise that the looming Radeon 4800 will indeed feature GDDR5.[Via Hot Hardware]