Tech News and Gossip thread...

[Astrotoy7]

Its about time desktop tech moved in the optical transmission direction

 

In other news, AMD is poised to (finally) unleash Fusion in late 2010. Will it change computing as we know it, or just basic desktop and the HTPC markets?

 

mtfbwya

[Char Ell]

Fusion sounds great for a notebook PC or other similar form factor, so long as it can play 1080p video without too much difficulty. I'm not seeing how Fusion will replace discrete graphics solutions though, at least not in the short term.

 

Saw this bit of news today and it brought a grim smile to my face.

 

CNBC: Nvidia Lowers Sales Outlook; Shares Fall

Wedbush Securities analyst Patrick Wang said Nvidia's problems are specific to the graphics chip business and its product lines. He said demand has been weak for Nvidia's new Fermi product.

 

...

 

Nvidia said cost increases led to a greater-than-expected shift to lower-priced graphics chips, and personal computers running lower-end integrated graphics.

So it appears that NVIDIA's Fermi project hasn't done so well thus far (ya think?) and makes me wonder if NVIDIA will ever try implementing a new architecture on a new manufacturing process again.

 

Also mentioned in the CNBC article, the International Trade Commission has ruled against NVIDIA and other companies in their patent dispute with Rambus. The ITC issued an order barring the importation of any chip made with the disputed technology. I'm not sure if that means NVIDIA graphics chips can no longer be shipped into the U.S.A. but that would be really bad news for NVIDIA if that were the case.

 

In the final bit of NVIDIA news, Fudzilla reports that NVIDIA plans on shipping a GF104 with all 384 SP's enabled as a replacement for the GTX 470 as soon as the GTX 470 sells out of its current inventory. I know Astro doesn't care much for Fudzilla reports but this is what I'm waiting for. My only fear now is that it will be priced higher than what I want to pay, considering how the GTX 470 is already priced well above my USD$250 price point.

[Astrotoy7]

So it appears that NVIDIA's Fermi project hasn't done so well thus far (ya think?) and makes me wonder if NVIDIA will ever try implementing a new architecture on a new manufacturing process again.

 

lolz, does that mean AMD are the perceived 'winners' of this perennial pi$$ing contest, even though they have also lost a megawad of money for the last few quarters(and then some)??

 

Fermi hasn't been a compelling product for various reasons. Heat/power draw/performance. I definitely haven't felt the need to upgrade from my 295. I'll see what the 28nm kit turns out like next year.

 

I think a lot has to be said for the effect of the console market too, the new variants of the PS3 and Xbox360 have sold bucketloads. Heck even *I* have a 360 now. Considering titles like RDR or FFXIII don't make it to PC, or titles that do make it get their late+DRM(like AC2), I'm sure I'm not the only 'pc gamer/enthusiast' type that has jumped into consoles this year.

 

mtfbwya

[Char Ell]

I think a lot has to be said for the effect of the console market too, the new variants of the PS3 and Xbox360 have sold bucketloads. Heck even *I* have a 360 now. Considering titles like RDR or FFXIII don't make it to PC, or titles that do make it get their late+DRM(like AC2), I'm sure I'm not the only 'pc gamer/enthusiast' type that has jumped into consoles this year.

 

mtfbwya

Perhaps. I bought a PS3 Slim shortly after they were announced. I have yet to actually play a game on it though. In fact I remember when I took my PS3 to the counter to buy it the clerk asked me what games I was going to get with it. I was like, "Oh. Yeah. I need to get a game with this too." So I ended up buying Pure but thus far I've only used my PS3 for folding proteins and playing Blu-Ray movies.

[Astrotoy7]

@Char - its a shame the US doesn't have playTV yet, you could at least also use it as a PVR. I know lots of HTPCers that have a PS3 just for this purpose and linked together with their pcs via ps3 media server

 

Make sure you check out RDR though

 

In other news that may make nvidia fanboys giggle, expreview reports:

 

GTX460 1GB in SLI outperforms the 5970 4GB

 

Not that we needed benchies to tell us that 4GB of GDDR5 on a dual GPU card is a stupid idea...but its good to have some numbers.

 

mtfbwya

[stingerhs]

ran into a very informative article on the up and coming PCI-E 3.0 tech. in short, a 16x slot will have a total of 32GB/s bandwidth with a total of 1GB/s bandwidth in each direction for a single lane. probably nothing too exciting for gamers unless you want to run SLI/Crossfire, but its great news for anyone running CUDA or Fusion based apps on a workstation.

 

article here

[Q]

GTX460 1GB in SLI outperforms the 5970 4GB

 

Not that we needed benchies to tell us that 4GB of GDDR5 on a dual GPU card is a stupid idea...but its good to have some numbers.

I suspect that it won't be long before we see a dual-GF104 card.

[Astrotoy7]

I suspect that it won't be long before we see a dual-GF104 card.

 

Surely nothing will hit the market until the move to a 28nm process is completed - otherwise the thing will run way too hot?!!

@stingerhs... pcie-3 specs are amazing - if only pc gaming devs could code with such things in mind - sadly pc games are still being made targeting single core performance and factoring in lower end kit.

 

* * *

 

In other news:

 

*The Net Neutrality debate has reared its ugly head again, with Google and Verizon musing on creating premium internet services for the well moneyed, and potentially leaving others out in the cold. I know a lot of people are jumping up and down about it but the details are far from confirmed, so its impact on the average user is nothing more than speculation at this point.

 

*Good news for Canadian x360 owners, who can now officially use their console as an IP TV device. We'll be getting something similar here in Oz later this year too. Not sure what is happening with it in the US.

 

*No one was surprised, but Google Wave officially pronounced as dead. Features will be rolled into existing services, which is how they should have done it in the first place

 

*NPD and an number of other number crunchers have been recently affirming that Android is now the Highest selling smartphone OS in the US. No surprises really, and Apples ongoing Antenna debacle didn't hurt android either

 

mtfbwya

[Astrotoy7]

Wow! The HTC Desire HD aka the HTC Ace has been spotted on the webz, sporting a luscious 4.3" screen and Android 2.2

 

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Expreview has a couple of 'exclusive' reviews up of boutique high end cards..

 

Zotac GTX 460 2GB Edition

 

GTX 480 with 512SPs

 

 

cmon nvidia... the world is ready to be done with GF100... give it up... and no-one wants these load temps >> bleh (huggles GTX295)

 

*cough*

 

speaking of power consumption, AMD seem intent on milking it for all its worth.... as if their high end kit is significantly cooler lolz

 

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mtfbwya

[Astrotoy7]

US folks may be pleased to know that the highly anticipated Droid2 is not far away - and will sport a limited R2-D2 edition.. More info/pics of the actual phone as they become available...

 

http://www.droiddoes.com/r2d2/

 

 

mtfbwya

[Jae Onasi]

I'm so geeking out right now.

[Astrotoy7]

I'm so geeking out right now.

 

Check out the back of the phone Jae

 

 

Apparently they were being shown off at Celebration V - not sure what the front looks like yet, but in the pic above at the back you can see another device that looks the same and has some chrome beveling on it.

 

I imagine it wont look hugely different from the standard droid 2. I'm not a fan of hardware keyboards myself, but they are great for gaming - you can even get a game gripper for the droid, which is pretty cool now that android has a nes/genesis/snes/gba and ps1 emulator. For those that prefer a touchscreen only droid, there is the DroidX(see a few posts back) or the HTC Desire, which comes out soon in the US as well.

 

Speaking of SW Geeky@Android - there is a cool looking adobeAIR app for android that simulates the XWing Targeting computer from ANH - you can use it to track 'distance to target' via GPS, or simply as a clock. Replete with R2 chirps and Red Squadron chatter....cant wait to check it out More info Here

 

 

 

 

mtfbwya

[Negative Sun]

OMG! Pure want!!!

[Astrotoy7]

OMG! Pure want!!!

 

Here's some more pics negsun - just rememebr because it is currently a Verizon exclusive, you will need to wait until some unlocked versions will appear that will work in the UK. If you're really keen on it - keep your eye on/contact a place like clove.co.uk The droid1 was officially released in the UK as the Milestone, so the D2 will likely get an official release, but this may or may not include the R2 edition

 

 

 

The game gripper I mentioned above is here - as you can see it utilised the hardware keyboard quite nicely. The vid below is on the Droid1

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mtfbwya

[Astrotoy7]

Some interesting news from the tablet market recently:

 

ASUS blames drop in netbook sales on iPad.

 

Also, HTC teaming up with Google to release a ChromeOS tablet in late November

 

It will be interesting to see how these go. There hasnt even been a convicning android based tablet to date - whilst chromeOS may be more useful as a productivity device - there still is quite a strong demand for a viable android tablet out there.

 

 

Google has also released this HTML5 showcase page - if you want to see what HTML5 is capable of - visit it and have a look/play

 

http://studio.html5rocks.com/

 

Engadget also did an interesting preview of XboxLive integration with the new Windows Phone 7 Platform. I was hoping Limbo would have been one of the cross platform games - but not so apparently. Still, looks interesting - seems like MS are quite serious about WP7 as a gaming platform.

 

 

Read their full preview and watch the video HERE

 

mtfbwya

[Astrotoy7]

lolz... responding to the net neutrality proposal contriversy of Google/Verizons evil plan to selectively control wireless data traffic, NMA News are at it again

 

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mtfbwya

[Char Ell]

Wow. Apparently Google= according to these peeps.

 

Was anybody else surprised about Intel's announced acquisition of McAfee?

CNET - With McAfee deal, Intel to bake in security

 

It's not clear to me how this is going to work out long term. Short term I can see Intel pushing OEM's to include McAfee along with Intel CPU's. Maybe AMD will decide they need to keep up with Intel and buy Symantec?

[acdcfanbill]

well, as long as it's not another try at palladium/tpm i don't care much

[Negative Sun]

It's been kinda slow news-wise lately, here's an interesting one though:

 

nVidia moves into retail

 

Uh oh, someone's in dire need of some extra cash to keep shareholders happy lolz

[Char Ell]

I honestly don't remember a great deal about the PC graphics market prior to 2005 as I didn't pay close attention to it prior to that time. It seems like a lot of the "old timers" remember 3dfx making this same move into retail back in the day and failing miserably. I'm sure NVIDIA's AIB partners are not real happy about NVIDIA's decision to move into their territory, even if it's just Best Buy for now. I've got to think that PNY is especially miffed as that is the graphics brand I've noticed on the occasional trip to my local Best Buy.

 

So where are the AMD supporters? Word on the web (a.k.a. Fudzilla) is that the new Radeon HD 6000 series launches in a week's time. Alas these will be AMD Radeon's. RIP ATI.

 

P.S. Welcome to Team LFN Negative Sun. It's about time you joined up and got to folding some proteins.

[Negative Sun]

How did you notice did I finish a WU yet lolz?

Yeah it's just CPU folding because my GPU sucks/doesn't exist lolz, but at least it's something, I want my badge!

 

I know it's sad about the Ati brand name going I miss my old Radeon 9800, good memories there first playing KotOR, at least we still have AMD, for now...

 

Though this isn't exactly going in the right direction:

AMD posts Q3 loss

 

Especially not compared to:

Intel boasts $11B record quarter

$3 billion net profit is more than AMD's entire turnover...insane.

[Char Ell]

You've completed 4 work units thus far. Keep up the good work!

Team LFN stats page

 

Yes, AMD still in the red though I figure this time it's bloodstains left from slaying of ATI. On the earnings conference call CEO Dirk Meyer did say, "We'll be introducing our second-generation of DX11 technology into the market with some launch activities actually next week. We'll be shipping all the family members of that product line I'll call it, by the end of this quarter, and total volume think in terms of several hundred thousand, or hundreds of thousands of units." Source: Anandtech. Other sources are reporting launch is next Friday, Oct. 22, so we should have some performance figures to discuss next weekend. I wonder when and what NVIDIA will respond with. Someone on Expreview's (Chinese language) forums posted about a GTX 580 in the works that got picked up by pcgameshardware.de (German language) and subsequently Fudzilla. So I'm not too sure how reliable this info can be considered. I'm still waiting for a fully enabled GF104 to be released.

 

Intel's financial performance has been nothing less than impressive, especially considering the current state of the global economy. Must be nice to have such a large share of the CPU market.

[Char Ell]

The graphics wars are heating up again. AMD introduced the Radeon 6870 and 6850 a couple of weeks back. However if you were expecting these to be the replacement for the the 5870 and 5850 then your expectations have not been met. Apparently AMD is realigning their Radeon naming conventions. Whereas x8xx numbers in the past have usually been the top end GPUs AMD/ATI released, they have now become the second tier GPUs.

 

Anandtech - AMD’s Radeon HD 6870 & 6850: Renewing Competition in the Mid-Range Market

TechReport - AMD's Radeon HD 6850 and 6870 graphics processors

 

So from what I've read AMD is realigning their Radeon naming conventions to make room for the Fusion series of products. While that may be true this still smacks of NVIDIA's notorious renaming schemes. I guess as long as AMD sticks with this revised naming scheme for a few years then I won't lump them in the same "pick-whatever-new-name-out-of-your-arse" bucket as NVIDIA.

 

So anybody planning to pick up one of the new Radeon 6000-series cards?

 

Next up in the graphics war looks to be NVIDIA'x GeForce GTX 580 with AMD's Cayman series, the Radeon 58xx replacement, following closely behind.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Benchmark Charts Leaked

[Q]

The NDA on Intel's new Sandy Bridge CPU architecture has lifted a couple of days before the official launch. The skinny is that it boasts about a 15-17% IPC advantage over Nehalem, which is, incidentally, the same advantage Nehalem presently enjoys over Core 2, and that its 32nm process allows for monster overclocks (4.4GHz), even with the stock heatsink. Overclocking will only be possible by changing the multiplier, requiring an unlocked "K" model, which will carry a small price premium of ~$11-23, depending on the model.

[acdcfanbill]

hurray for hardware drm