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Mar 25

Acer launches Aspire Ethos line with swanky 5943G and 8943G models

Posted in: ati, CoreI5, CoreI7, laptop, Laptops, radeon, Today's Chili

Acer’s aspirational laptops have a new Ethos to them now, and it clearly has something to do with entertainment. The newly revealed 18.4-inch 8943G sports a 1920 x 1080 resolution and a true 5.1 surround sound setup, meaning that somewhere within its shell reside five miniature speakers and a sub. Processor options range all the way up to the quad-core Core i7-820QM, which offers 8MB of built-in cache and a 1.73GHz clock speed that cranks all the way to 3.06GHz when required. ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics and up to 1.28TB of storage (2x 640GB) complete the overkill recipe. The 5943G is basically a scaled down version, offering as it does 1366 x 768 resolution across a 15.6-inch display, a 2.1 internal speaker arrangement, and a merely adequate 640GB storage maximum. The rest of the specs are shared, including a 4,800mAh battery, which should perish quicker than you can say “desktop replacement.” Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

Gallery: Acer Aspire Ethos

Acer launches Aspire Ethos line with swanky 5943G and 8943G models originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 23

Alienware’s Core i7-980X-infused Area-51 desktop gets reviewed, puts other rigs to shame

Posted in: benchmark, CoreI7, desktop, intel, processor, reviewed, Today's Chili

Surely you recall that snazzy new Alienware Area-51 desktop that popped up last week with Intel’s flashy Core i7-980X Extreme Edition within, right? The benchmarking gurus over at Hot Hardware have since put the stratospherically priced ($4,569 as tested) rig through its paces, and suffice it to say, there’s hardly a machine on the planet that’s faster than this rig today. Put simply, the test machine — which was equipped with a pair of ATI Radeon HD 5970 cards — bested every other gaming desktop they’d seen, with the only shortfall coming up in the HDD tests. Naturally, SSD-equipped rivals were a good bit faster there, but nothing’s stopping you from swapping out those traditional platters and installing a bit of NAND yourself. Ah, why bother with the details — if you’re looking for “quite literally the fastest desktop PC on the earth,” this can definitely be it with the right configuration. Hit that source link for the mind-boggling benchmarks and a hands-on video.

Alienware’s Core i7-980X-infused Area-51 desktop gets reviewed, puts other rigs to shame originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Hot Hardware | Email this | Comments

Mar 21

Digital Storm’s Davinci workstation gets down with Core i7-980X, Quadro graphics

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, intel, NVIDIA, processor, Today's Chili

Creative professional. Hear that much? If that’s how this all-too-structured world views you, you just might be due a new rig — particularly if you’re thinking of stepping into 4K territory. Digital Storm is offering up a rather unique solution in its Davinci, which opts for a 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition (yeah, that new Intel chip) instead of a more traditional Xeon. You’ll still get an NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800 (768MB) GPU, 12GB of DDR3 memory, Windows 7 Processional and one of the nicer liquid cooling systems that we’ve seen, which may or may not be enough to sneak a little Crysis in between edits. Too bad the base price base rings up at $4,995, but look, that next indie film you’re producing is totally hitting it big.

Digital Storm’s Davinci workstation gets down with Core i7-980X, Quadro graphics originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Hot Hardware | Email this | Comments

Mar 19

iBuyPower crams Core i7-980X Extreme Edition into Paladin desktop line

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, gaming, intel, PC, processor, Today's Chili

If you somehow held off on buying a Core i7 rig as soon as they popped out last year, you’re in luck — and your poor Pentium II system is flat out of it. Just about everyone has updated their gaming desktop lines this week with an option to splurge on Intel’s 3.33GHz (or more) Core i7-980X Extreme Edition processor, and iBuyPower is no different. Said PC builder is now offering the chip within four of its Paladin desktops, and given that the stock clock speed is far too sluggish for your own greedy self, the Paladin XLC V3 ships in an overclocked configuration that promises a 30 percent boost in performance over the stock silicon. The rigs also ship with 6GB or 12GB of DDR3 memory, the latest and greatest ATI / NVIDIA graphics cards, an optional Blu-ray burner and a fresh copy of Windows 7. The lowest-end rig gets going at $2,159, while the aforesaid XLC V3 will set you back $4,409; the whole gang is available to customize as we speak.

Gallery: iBuyPower crams Core i7-980X Extreme Edition into Paladin desktop line

iBuyPower crams Core i7-980X Extreme Edition into Paladin desktop line originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Hot Hardware | Email this | Comments

Mar 16

Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition hits a slew of new gaming desktops

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, intel, processor, Today's Chili

Intel’s six-core, twelve-threaded Core i7-980X Extreme Edition has turned the hardcore gaming community on its head, and just about everyone is scrounging around in a (mostly futile) attempt to locate $999. For those in dire need of an entire system replacement, it seems that today’s the day to start looking. Shortly after we heard that this 32nm Gulftown chip would be landing with Alienware and Origin PC rigs, a veritable plethora of other outfits have shown up to make similar announcements. Digital Storm has popped an overclocked (4.4GHz) version into its Black|OPS machine (which conveniently starts at $5,642, while CyberPower is now offering the silicon in its Black Mamba, Black Pearl and Gamer Xtreme 3D machines. Maingear’s also sliding said CPU into its world-beating Shift “supercomputer,” and anyone shopping a high-end Velocity Micro system will also see the option. We suspect most every other PC maker in existence will be following suit soon, so if your prefab PC builder hasn’t yet jumped on the bandwagon, just hold tight. Real tight.

Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition hits a slew of new gaming desktops originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Maingear, Digital Storm, CyberPower, Velocity Micro | Email this | Comments

Mar 16

Kingston’s 2,400MHz HyperX memory kit offers the world’s fastest Intel-certified RAM

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, intel, memory, Today's Chili

For those among us finding it hard to decide what blisteringly fast DDR3 sticks to pair with their Core i7, Intel has decided to do its own compatibility certification list (see link below). And since the happiest memory maker is usually the one atop the pile, we have to imagine Kingston is feeling pretty sunny right now, as its 2.4GHz HyperX memory kit has scooped the top spot away from Corsair’s 2.33GHz offering. Running at 1.65 volts and offering 9-11-9-27-2 timings, this is now officially the RAM to own if you’re after headline-grabbing stock speeds. We also love the fact Kingston acknowledges “benchmarkers” as a distinct group alongside gamers and enthusiasts — finally some appreciation for those misunderstood souls. Whatever you describe yourself as, you’ll be able to get on the latest speed bandwagon in the second quarter of this year. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Kingston’s 2,400MHz HyperX memory kit offers the world’s fastest Intel-certified RAM

Kingston’s 2,400MHz HyperX memory kit offers the world’s fastest Intel-certified RAM originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 14

Origin PC offers overclocked 4.3GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition on Genesis desktop

Posted in: CoreI7, desktop, intel, PC, processor, Today's Chili

You know what’s better than a stock 3.33GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition CPU? Not much, but we’re guessing that a 4.3GHz overclocked version of the same chip just might be. If you’re thinking the same, and you’ve got $1,044 to spare in order to find out, upstart gaming rig maker Origin PC has the means to get it to you. The outfit’s Genesis desktop can now be ordered with Intel’s freshest slab of silicon for $895, or you can snag an extra gigahertz for another $149. We know you’ll make the right call.

Origin PC offers overclocked 4.3GHz Core i7-980X Extreme Edition on Genesis desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 11

Intel Previews New ‘Gulftown’ Six-Core Processor

Posted in: Games, intel, Notebooks, processor, Today's Chili

Intel’s first 32-nanometer, six-core processor is ready for prime time. It’s clunky moniker aside, the chip called the Core i7-980X Extreme edition will offer some serious artillery for gamers and heavy multimedia users looking for a faster processor.

The chip is based on Intel’s platform codenamed “Gulftown” and will include features that improve on computing speed and power efficiency.

Intel launched the first of the Core i7 chips in November 2008. The family of Core i7 chips will be almost four to six times faster than the earlier platform, says Intel.

The first of the Core i7 chips were based on the 45-nm circuitry, a step ahead from the previous 65-nm generation. The latest chip takes it to the next level with a 32-nm process so Intel can pack in more computing power and manufacture the CPUs more cheaply.

The new Core i7 chips are based on a newly designed Intel microarchitecture called Nehalem, which includes major design changes in areas such as power management and integrated memory control.

The chips use “hyperthreading” technology, which gives the chips the ability to execute 12 threads simultaneously on six processing cores, greatly increasing their speed.

The Core i7-980X chip has 1.17 billion transistors with 12 megabytes of Level 3 cache. The processor uses the Intel X58 Express chipset and has a clock speed of 3.33 GHz, reports Extreme Tech, which offers some benchmarks. Intel is yet to announce the entire technical specifications of the chip.

The Core i7-980X chip will be available at the same price as the i7-975 chip released last year. The i7-975 chip can simultaneously process eight threads on four cores.Intel hasn’t said exactly when we will see the latest chips in high-end gaming desktops though it is expected to be in the next few weeks.

See Also:

Photo: Core i7 chip/Intel

Mar 10

Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition ‘Gulftown’ review roundup

Posted in: benchmark, CoreI7, intel, processor, reviewed, Today's Chili

Six cores. Twelve threads. A new flagship processor in Intel’s stable. Here at GDC in San Francisco, the world’s most widely recognized chip maker is dishing out its latest desktop CPU, and to say it’s a niche device would be greatly understating things. We spoke to a number of Intel bigwigs at tonight’s media event, and everyone confessed that the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition was a low quantity, high performance device aimed specifically at gamers and content editors that simply refuse to live anywhere other than on the cutting edge. Intel’s planning on selling these in retail, standalone form for $999 (MSRP), while they’ll soon be available in a variety of gaming rigs from the likes of Dell, Alienware and whoever else wishes to keep with the times. As for Apple? The company stated that Steve and Company “sort of call their own shots,” and that we’d have to dig at Apple if we really wanted to know what their refreshed Mac Pro would hold. We chuckled, nodded in understanding, and then learned that this here slab of silicon is a bit ahead of the software out there, with Intel noting that only games optimized for 12-thread use and benchmarking utilities that did likewise would really demonstrate the performance boost. ‘Course, anyone who spends a great deal of time multitasking will appreciate the extra headroom, and power users can always find ways to make use of more horsepower. Oh, and for what it’s worth, the company stated that this will be its lead desktop chip for some time to come, and if you’re looking for a mobile version in the near future, you can keep dreaming.

As for the critics? Just about everyone with a benchmarking license managed to get one of these in-house, and everyone seems to feel (mostly) the same way. There’s no denying that this is Intel’s speediest consumer chip ever, but you won’t find 50 percent boosts just anywhere. Yet. When the software catches up, though, there’s no doubt that this chip will make even the other Core i7s look downright sluggish. 50 percent more cores and 50 percent more threads than the prior kings of the line leads to fantastic gains when serious number crunching is involved (audio and video editors, we’re staring at you), with some tests showing upticks in the 30 to 50 percent range. As a bonus, the power consumption here is also extremely reasonable, with the shift to 32nm enabling it to even use less power in some circumstances when compared to the Core i7-975 Extreme Edition. Dig into the glut of reviews below if you’ve got a cool grand with “chip upgrade” written on it — you’ll be glad you did.

Read – Hot Hardware
Read – AnandTech
Read – Techgage
Read – Computer Shopper
Read – Bit-Tech
Read – PC Perspective
Read – Neoseeker
Read – Hardcoreware
Read – TweakTown
Read – PC World
Read – TechReport
Read – Benchmark Reviews
Read – Hardware Canucks
Read – Overclockers Club
Read – Hexus
Read – Legit Reviews

Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition ‘Gulftown’ review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source Intel | Email this | Comments

Mar 08

Dell jazzes up Vostro lineup with new look and Core 2010 processors, keeps prices in check

Posted in: CoreI5, CoreI7, hands-on, laptop, Laptops, Today's Chili

We’re starting to bank on the small business-oriented Vostro for a really compelling blend of features and price. Sure, it’s usually not the sexiest kit on the block (though the Vostro V13 would beg to differ), but it’s hard to argue with the stellar pricetags. Dell’s just thrown down a big 3000 series refresh to the Vostro lineup, with the Core i5 and Core i7 options across the line, and even a Core i7 Quad Core option for the 17-inch Vostro 3700. And it isn’t just spec upgrades — the 13-, 14-, 15- and 17-inch boxes all are available in silver, red or bronze, and are made of fairly sturdy stuff. Though the 17-inch 3700 is the mightiest of the bunch, we’re particularly taken with the 13-inch 3300 which starts at $699 and boasts a rather thin chassis, onboard optical drive and Core i5 power. Thankfully, all of the models are available with discrete graphics options, ramping up to a 1GB NVIDIA graphics option on the 3700. It sounds as if there will be some killer deals to be had, and you should be able to configure these puppies on Dell.com starting today. In the meantime feast your eyes on the colorful systems below and hit the break for the official press release.

Gallery: Vostro 3000 series hands-on