AMD ATI HD 5970 Becomes Official

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AMD has announced that the ATI HD 5970 is now official. The video card is being hailed as the fastest video card in the world. It is DirectX 11 compliant and supports ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology. The video card can drive up to three displays at once with a maximum resolution of 7680 x 1600.

EA claims that the card delivers nearly five teraflops of processing power. The dual GPUs are built on a 40nm process and have 3,200 stream processors. When the power of both GPUs isn't needed, the card powers down unused resources allowing it to use as little as 42W of power in idle mode. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:49:39 CST | by Shane McGlaun

AMD Opteron Powers Most Powerful Supercomputer in the World

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AMD has announced that their powerful six-core Opteron processors are now being used inside the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Jaguar supercomputer. Jaguar has recently been upgraded with the new six-core Opteron CPUs.

The newly updated supercomputer is capable of 2.3 petaflops/s theoretical peak performance and 1.75 petaflops/s performance on the Linpack benchmark. AMD Opteron CPUs are used inside four of the top five supercomputers. Read more

Posted on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Intel & AMD Settle Ancient Feud For $1.25 Billion

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One of the longest-running conflicts in the electronics world ended today, with the announcement (via Bloomberg.com) that Intel has agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion as part of a legal-settlement. This ends a four-year long legal battle between the two companies, and the announcement was met with an astonishing 27% jump in AMD stock.

The agreement both manufacturers came to gives them a cross-license pact that will settle all outstanding claims of breach of the prior contracts. Intel agreed to abide by a new set of business-practice provisions as well, although the details of those provisions remain unknown. This is good news for both AMD and Intel. The former company will no longer suffer from Intel's practice of giving discounts to customers that don't use AMD products. This 'embargo' has done a lot of damage to AMD over the last few years.

Posted on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:04:55 CST | by Robert Evans

AMD Teases 2010 and 2011 CPU Line

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AMD is well down the heap from Intel in a distant second place when it comes to CPU sales globally. AMD is looking to grow its market share and to do that the company needs some powerful and exciting CPUs. The company has teased its 2010 and 2011 CPU line ups and the most interesting of the new parts is codenamed Bulldozer.

Bulldozer is said to be a major revision for desktops and notebooks that makes the machines much more multithread efficient and will be optimized for pairing with graphics chipsets. A Bobcat variant will be tailored to ultraportables. The first Bobcat part expected is called Zambezi and will sport 8-cores for high-end desktops. Read more

Posted on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Early Best Buy Black Friday Deal Features $349.99 Toshiba AMD Athlon II Windows

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If you are shopping for early Black Friday deals do not miss Best Buy and Amazon online today.
Best Buy has been featuring a sub-$500 42-inch Panasonic Plasma HDTV since yesterday. Best Buy actually reduced the price of the Panasonic TC-P42C1 down to $489.99.

Today Best Buy also features a low priced Windows 7 Toshiba notebook in limited quantities.
Read more

Posted on Sat, 7 Nov 2009 15:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Launching Triple Core Athlon Processors

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One core isn't enough for many people these days, and dual core machines are starting to show their age as well. Quad cores are fantastic, but expensive and out of many people's price range. That's why AMD has just announced the coming of their first Athlon triple-core processors (via PC World).

AMD has four Athlon II X3 processors so far. These processors can handle speeds varying from 2.2 GHz to 2.9 GHz, while drawing around 95 watts of power. The X3s are designed primarily for desktops, as well as all-in-one PCs and net-tops. The X3 can handle 3D graphics, and represent a substantial advance over dual core machines.

Posted on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:48:55 CDT | by Robert Evans

New AMD Athlon II Processors Unveiled

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AMD announced several new AMD Athlon II processors today that are supposed to offer outstanding performance and low power consumption, while enabling sleek desktop PC designs and attractive price points.

In addition to the standard power processors, the full AMD Athlon II processor family now delivers high-performance, low-power dual-, triple- and quad-core processors to meet a range of computing needs. This variety and value enables OEMs and system builders to develop compelling PC solutions that address the market shift to power efficient, innovative PC designs optimized for Windows 7. Read more

Posted on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Radeon HD 5700 Series Graphics Cards Get Official

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We already know all there is to know about AMDs new Radeon 5700 series video cards including the 5770 and the 5750. The details and even pictures were leaked last week ahead of the official announcement today.

AMD has gone official with the cards that both fully support DirectX 11 and Eyefinity multi-monitors from ATI. The video cards deliver over one teraflops of computing power. The GPUs are built on 40nm technology and have up to 800 stream processors. Read more

Posted on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Acer Aspire AS5534-1121 AMD Windows 7 Laptop Available For Pre-order

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The Windows 7 launch is just 4 days away. The new Windows 7 laptops, netbooks and PCs are slowly appearing at retailers. We reported earlier about the new Samsung N130 Windows 7 Netbook and we also found the Acer Aspire AS5534-1121 Windows 7 notebook already available for pre-order on Amazon.

The 15.6 inch Acer Aspire 5534 sells for $499.99.
Read more

Posted on Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New MSI Wind U210 Powered By AMD Athlon Neo MV-40

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MSI Computer announced the availability of the new Wind U210. Weighing in at just 3.2 pounds, Wind U210 is MSI’s first notebook to feature the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6 GHz processor. The newest edition to the Wind family of ultraportables, also features a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR2 memory, and an energy efficient 6-cell battery with a 4+ hour life. Additionally, MSI included a 1.3M webcam, HDMI port, 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA port, and a 4x1 card reader in the U210.

It is a bit confusing that MSI is now also selling Notebooks under the Wind brand, which was associated with netbooks and nettops. Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Athlon II X4 CPU Review Round-Up

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AMD announced today a highly interesting new desktop CPU for the mainstream market. The Quad-core AMD Athlon II X4 is priced under $100 which is quite a bit cheaper than Intel's Quad-core offering. If the AMD Athlon II X4 performance is good enough for Windows 7 and today's HD media apps the reviews listed below should give us that answer.
The AMD Athlon II X4 620 review of Tweaktown points out that this CPU is not a technological marvel, but can be overclocked heavily. Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:07:04 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New AMD Athlon II X4 Quad-Core CPU Is Priced Under $100

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AMD today announced the first ever quad-core processor for less than $100 Suggested System Builder Price (SSBP).
By balancing the power of new AMD Athlon II X4 quad-core processors and the AMD 785G chipset featuring ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, AMD promises to deliver smooth HD visuals and the foundation for a great Windows 7 experience.

The 45nm Athlon II X4 quad-core is supposed to be energy efficient, but still provide the performance necessary to satisfy the needs of an HD media computer. See also these AMD Athlon II X4 Reviews.
Read more

Posted on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:47:53 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD ATI 4800 Series Video Cards in iMac and Mac Pro Computers

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AMD has announced that its line of HD 4800 video cards is being used inside of some of Apple's iMac and Mac Pro computers. Apple has been using NVIDIA video cards and GPUs in many of its systems, but they GPUs have been failing in many of its computers.

AMD says that its GPUs complement Snow Leopard's fully OpenCL Verison 1.0 implementation. The specification is a key enabler of ATI Stream technology that allows developers to balance application workloads across the GPU and the CPU. Read more

Posted on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Six-Core AMD Opteron EE Processor Launched

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AMD today announced the immediate availability of the new Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor at 40W ACP.
Delivering up to 31% higher performance-per-watt over standard Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors¹, the Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor is tailored to meet the demands of customers who need strong performance, but must trim out every watt possible in a server system and reduce the datacenter’s power draw.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:18:18 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Grabs Discrete Market Share Lead in Notebooks

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AMD's line of discrete Mobility Radeon GPUs have taken the market share lead in the notebook market and are inside more than half of the notebooks being sold with discrete graphics today. Jon Peddie Research pegs AMDs discrete notebook share at 53% of the total market.

AMD made a huge gain over the previous quarter with 36.5% growth and 87.27% more units sold on a quarter-over-quarter basis for the first six months of 2009. AMD cites its Radeon HD 4530 and 4670 GPUs as the reason for the massive growth. Read more

Posted on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:10:48 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New ASUS M4A785D Motherboard For AMD 785G Chipset

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ASUS announced the launch of the ASUS M4A785D Series motherboards with the new AMD 785G chipset for enhanced graphics performance through new features such as DX10.1 and UVD 2.0 support, dynamic contrast, and high-quality video scaling.

Additionally, the ASUS M4A785D Series supports up to 16GB of DDR2 memory, CrossFireX, and high-definition, 8-channel audio output. Read more

Posted on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU Review Round-up

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Today AMD launches its newest high-end CPU called the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. Like all black edition CPUs before it, this is the overclockers part of choice if you are going AMD. We have published a full AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition CPU Review today as have many other tech sites. See a round-up of AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition reviews below.

Our verdict about the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is: "The high-end Intel parts are vastly higher performance than the 965B BE we are looking at today. Where the Phenom II X4 965 BE really shines is in bang for your buck, and believe me the Phenom II X4 965 BE is shiny enough that you could go blind. If you are looking for a great performing quad core CPU that can overclock and is aimed at enthusiasts on a budget, AMD has your CPU." Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU Review

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Today marks the launch of the newest high-end Black Edition CPU from AMD. The new CPU is called the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition and it is multiplier unlocked for overclocking.

The CPU runs at 3.4GHz and will sell for $245 making it a raging bargain. This may well be the perfect CPU for a budget gaming rig or a multimedia computer offering lots of performance for the money. Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

AMD, Intel, NVIDIA Gain in Q2

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JPR research has released its numbers for graphics and multimedia firms that are used as an indicator for the PC market. According to the firm Q2 was a good quarter for the companies and the channel is gearing up for robust back to school sales.

The average change from Q1 to Q2 over the last 8 years has been 0.83%. This year the change from Q1 to Q2 was 31.29%. Shipments jumped to 98.3 million units with Intel in the lead with 51.2% of the market, NVIDIA in second with 29.2% of the market and AMD in third with 18.4% of the market. Read more

Posted on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

AMD Shows Off Worlds First DirectX 11 GPU

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AMD has unveiled the world's first DirectX 11 GPU at Computex. According to AMD the new GPU demonstrates the significantly improved computing experience set to debut at the end of 2009. That is the time frame when Windows 7 is set to launch as well.

AMD says that games and other applications will get a lot better with DirectX 11 offering features like tessellation and compute shader for more realism and better graphics. AMD says that its DirectX 11 demonstration will also help fuel developer demand, as hardware will allow for the development of games taking advantage of DX11. Read more

Posted on Wed, 3 Jun 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

AMD Athlon II X2 250 and AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition unveiled at COMPUTEX

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AMD today announced two new dual-core desktop processors at the COMPUTEX 2009 with the AMD Athlon II X2 250 and AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition.
The AMD Athlon II X2 250 is based on 45nm process technology. The AMD Athlon II dual-core processor has a TDP of 65W and can slash power consumption by up to 50% when doing basic tasks, up to 40% when running heavy workloads and up to 50% when at idle. Read more

Posted on Tue, 2 Jun 2009 03:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr