VizWorld.com

Anandtech has a performance preview of the new ATI Mobility Radeon 5000 Series. These are the first DirectX 11 graphics chips for the mobile arena. Of course, you need games that can support DirectX 11 to really make that worth your while. Another benefit that ATI is touting is that these graphics chips will be using GDDR5. GDDR5 runs at lower voltages, sends four bits of data per clock cycles (instead of two bits for GDDR3), and costs more.

ATI is releasing the HD 5870 as its top-of-the-line chip. The 5870 has 800 stream processors running at 700 MHz. The 5750 and 5650 are on the next level down. They have 400 stream processors running at 650 MHz for the 5700 and 550 MHz for the 5650. The 5400 series is the slowest of the group with 80 stream processors running at 750 MHz. It is this part that I would expect to see in the coming months in laptops.

[In] speaking with ATI we were informed that 70% of sales have been 4300/4500 parts – the lowest performing, least expensive offerings. 15% of sales are from the 4600 series, which is where reasonable gaming can finally enter the picture. As for the 4800 series, it’s still sitting at less than 5% (with the remainder of ATI’s sales apparently coming from older 3000 series parts).

This article is not a review, since Anandtech does not have any hardware to benchmark. Instead they are just left with PowerPoint slides from ATI showing benchmark results.

via: ATI Announces Mobility Radeon 5000 Series

Graphics, Hardware ati, gpu, graphicscards

TechRadar has compiled the “10 Fastest Graphics Cards in the World Today” on their site.

Today, AMD’s Radeon cards are market leading. And even though the prices aren’t quite as attractive as last time around, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 currently holds the title of fastest graphics card in the world.

What's more, ATI has already released a whole range of DirectX 11 compatible cards, while Nvidia is still to release even one.

The result of all this is that the current top 10 is a lot more competitive than ever before. And here it is…

If you don’t want to click through the 11-page article, the final list is:

• #10 – ATI Radeon HD 4870
• #9 – NVidia GeForce GTX260 AMP! (Zotac)
• #8 – ATI Radeon HD 4890
• #7 – Nvidia GeForce GTX275
• #6 – ATI Radeon HD 5850
• #5 – ATI Radeon HD 4870X2
• #4 – NVidia GeForce GTX285
• #3 – ATI Radeon HD 5870
• #2 – NVidia GeForce GTX295
• #1 – ATI Radeon HD5970

I take issue with a bit of the list, as it’s not really “In the World” but possibly “Easily consumer available”, as I don’t see any of the more exotic cards on the list such as the TeraRecon VolumePro or the CausticOne/CausticTwo cards.

via Top 10 best graphics cards in the world today | News | TechRadar UK.

Hardware ati, graphicscards, list, nvidia

Gizmodo has an exhaustive and comprehensive guide to digging through all the technical jargon in choosing a Video Card.

Graphics cards’ last, least penetrable line of defense against your comprehension is hardware jargon. Bizarre, unhelpful spec sheets are, and always have been, a common feature in PC hardware, from RAM (DDR3-1600!) to processors (12 MB L2 cache! 1333MHz FSB!).

I have to confess, I’m a so-called “expert” in the field and I get confused digging through the multitudinous stats and figures associated with video cards todays.  Any guide is welcome.

via Gizmodo – Giz Explains: How to Choose the Right Graphics Card – Graphics Cards.

Hardware graphicscards, howto

From the old days of the S3 Virge and the old 3dfx Voodoo, graphics cards have come  along way.  MaximumPC has a massive 9-page novel chronicling the rise and fall of video cards throughout the years.

It’s pretty amazing when you think about how far graphics technology has come. To help you do that, we’re going to take a look back at every major GPU release since the infancy of 3D graphics. Join us as we travel back in time and relive releases like 3dfx’s Voodoo3 and S3′s ViRGE lineup. This is one nostalgiac ride you don’t want to miss!

via From Voodoo to GeForce: The Awesome History of 3D Graphics | Maximum PC.

Hardware 3dfx, amd, graphicscards, nvidia, s3