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MSI made a reasonable case for AMD-based gaming when it unveiled the GX60 laptop back in September… just not for Americans looking to buy one right away. There’s a better argument now that the 15.6-inch portable is shipping to the US this week. The $1,300 asking price isn’t quite impulse level, but it’s a relative steal for a system whose quad-core, 2.3GHz A10-4600M processor and Radeon HD 7970M should handle modern games without much fuss. The 8GB of RAM, 750GB hard drive, Blu-ray drive, SteelSeries keyboard and Killer networking don’t hurt, either. As long as the GX60’s 7.7-pound weight isn’t too imposing, it might be the ticket to wielding a brag-worthy PC at the next LAN party without having to follow the Intel-owning pack.

Continue reading MSI ships GX60 gaming laptop to the US, gives us high-end AMD gaming for $1,300

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

MSI ships GX60 gaming laptop to the US, gives us high-end AMD gaming for $1,300 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 17:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI first teased PC gamers with the GX60 gaming laptop back in September by officially announcing the laptop and giving a few details about the specs, but ultimately keeping most of it under wraps. That is, until now. The 15.6-inch GX60 will be out sometime later this week and will come with AMD‘s new A10 Trinity APU with Radeon HD 7970M graphics.

On top of the processor and graphics, the GX60 comes with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 750GB hard drive, a Blu-ray optical drive, a 720p HD webcam, three USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, HDMI output, 2.1 speakers with THX TruStudio PRO sound, a 5-in-1 memory card reader, and topped off with a 64-bit version of Windows 8.

Previously announced specs that we already knew of include the full HD 1080p (1920×1080) resolution, Killer Gaming Network LAN, and a SteelSeries-designed keyboard. “MSI spared no bells and whistles in creating the GX60, packing it with cutting-edge components including the latest AMD processor,” says vice president of sales for MSI US Andy Tung. “MSI is committed to the gaming community and we believe that exceptional performance leads to unparalleled gaming experience.”

The AMD A10 chips are the chip maker’s newest and fastest accelerated processing units to date, and they offer great performance for builders on a budget. The company’s A10-5800K chip clocks in at 3.8GHz and comes with Radeon HD 7660D graphics for only $130. AMD’s cheapest APU chips offer even more a deal, with the A4-5300 clocking in at 3.4GHz with Radeon HD 7480D graphics for just $65.

MSI GX60 AMD-powered gaming laptop coming this week for $1,300 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It can’t be easy, running a modern IT department. Not only are people making ever more graphics-hungry demands on your servers, but NVIDIA and AMD are locked in an unending spec war that can make it hard to keep up with the market. The FirePro S10000 is merely the latest salvo: a dual-GPU, server-focused version of the W9000 that greatly increases overall compute power, delivering 5.91 TFLOPs of single precision calculations and 1.48 TFLOPS of dual precision performance in a single PCIe 3.0 card with 6GB of GDDR5 RAM. Even though the Graphics Core Next GPUs have been slightly underclocked to 825MHz, and even though they technically offer better performance per watt than a single-GPU configuration, their overall 375w power draw could still get you in trouble with your local power station. That level of consumption is around 50 percent higher than a regular server card like the S9000 or Tesla K10 and it may well require you to research new server cases and coolers in addition to weighing up the $3,600 cost for the component itself. See? This was never going to be straightforward.

AMD’s dual-GPU FirePro S10000 gobbles watts, spews out nearly 6 TFLOPs for server graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 05:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD has launched its latest next-gen Opteron 6300 Series processors, aiming to power the server you buy tomorrow, and the more mainstream branch of its twin enterprise chip strategy. The new chips – which promise up to 24-percent higher performance versus the Opteron 6200 processors the new range replaces – use AMD’s Piledriver core technology for reduced power consumption: that means cooler, faster servers that are cheaper to run.

The Opteron 6300 Series line-up maxes out at 3.5GHz base frequency, though there’s up to 3.8GHz on offer in AMD Turbo CORE mode. 4-, 6-, 8-, 12-, and 16-core versions are offered, with TDPs ranging from 85W in the 6366 HE low-power model, through to 140W for the 16-core, 2.8GHz 6386 S top of the line chip.

Up to four 1866MHz memory channels are supported, and AMD claims the 6300 Series is the only x86 processor to work with ultralow voltage 1.25v memory. Each CPU can handle up to 384GB of memory – spread over up to 12 DIMMs – and up to four x16 HyperTransport links (each up to 6.4GT/s).

However, AMD isn’t solely relying on x86 for its future server chip strategy. The company recently confirmed that it was developing 64-bit ARM-based server processors, borrowing architecture more commonly associated with tablets and smartphones, and repurposing it for frugal use in enterprise server rooms.

The first servers to use the Opteron 6300 Series chips are on sale today, with Dell and HP both signed up to produce systems using AMD’s new CPU by the end of the year.

AMD Opteron 6300 Series slots a 16-core Piledriver in your server rack is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony is shipping a new version of its PlayStation 4 development kit, insiders claim, codenamed “Orbis” and  based on AMD’s A10 Accelerated Processing Units. Described as “a modified PC” by VG247‘s sources, the APUs at the heart of the console-analog is supposedly a “derivative” of the A10 combined CPU and GPU Trinity chips AMD launched back in March, and is paired with “either 8GB or 16GB of RAM.”

There’s also set to be Blu-ray, in the final console at least, along with a 256GB drive “as standard.” The developers briefed by Sony this week did not say whether that would be an HDD or SDD, but it’s worth noting that 256GB as a capacity is more typically associated with solid-state drives.

Connectivity includes both WiFi and ethernet, along with an HDMI output, and in general there’s no difference in ports between Orbis and the existing PS3. Sony supposedly told developers that the goal was a machine that would be capable of satisfying “today and tomorrow’s market,” such as running 1080p60 games in 3D, but while still being “very affordable”; that challenging balance could well explain the apparent use of closer to off-the-shelf components than the Core chips at the heart of the current-gen console.

The latest machine is apparently the second in what’s expected to be a four system roll-out for developers with early access to Sony’s hardware. The first model was “essentially just a graphics card” while this second-gen version dresses that up in a PC. A third machine, expected in January, will supposedly be near to the final PS4 specifications, followed by the final version due “next summer.”

In addition to the introduction to new hardware, Sony is also using the Orbis developer system to demo the PS4′s updated interface, it’s claimed. “They’re trying to make it as fluid as possible” it’s said of the new UI, with the ability to jump out mid-game and use any other feature before returning, such as to leap into the PS Store and buy extra game content before heading back into play to actually use it. Sony expects the PS4 to be perpetually left in standby, with (optional) downloads in the background.

Orbis, as Sony is insisting on calling the PS4 in these early briefings, is expected to be announced just prior to E3 2013.

[Image credit: Tai Chiem]

Sony PS4 “Orbis” based on tweaked AMD A10 tip devs is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.