ATI busts out Radeon HD 5830, covers all bases

Whether you wanna call it the affordable high end or the really supercharged midrange, ATI has decided that there is a space to be filled between its scorching 5850/70 cards and the only somewhat slower 5770 SKU. So let’s all meet the $239 HD 5830, shall we? As is par for the Evergreen course, it’s a 40nm DirectX 11 card, and while it matches the 2.15 billion transistor count of the 5850, the new contender makes do with only 16 ROPs and 1,120 stream processors. To compensate for that processing loss, the core clock is raised to 800MHz while maintaining the 1GHz memory speed of the elder 5850. If this sounds like the 5830 will basically be composed of 5850 chips that didn’t quite make the high grade, good, because that’s exactly what’s happening. Internet reviewers have already had some time to play around with ATI’s latest card, and if we can draw a consensus, it would be that while the performance is pretty much spot on between its nearest siblings, the price is that little bit too steep to make the HD 5830 an easy recommendation.

Read – AnandTech
Read – HotHardware
Read – HardOCP
Read – PC Perspective
Read – Legit Reviews
Read – ExtremeTech

ATI busts out Radeon HD 5830, covers all bases originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI Launches GE600 laptop for gamers who need ‘low-keyed luxury and nobleness’

MSI Launches GE600 laptop for gamers who need 'low-keyed luxury and nobleness'We try not to single out auto-translated press releases that have funny phrases in them, but when your English missive promises a laptop with “low-keyed luxury and nobleness,” well, it’s hard to ignore. That’s what’s on the docket with MSI’s GE600, a gaming and general entertainment machine that’s been given a (rather subtle) golden hue for the luxe crowd. More importantly it features a discrete ATI Radeon HD5730 video card with 1GB of memory and DirectX 11 compatibility, Intel Core i5 processors, up to 500GB of storage, and a 720p-capable webcam. At 2.7kg (5.95lbs) it’s not the lightest machine, but few DX11-compatible notes are exactly svelte these days. No word on price or availability, but we’re going to go ahead and guess it’ll cost less than other golden portable offerings.

MSI Launches GE600 laptop for gamers who need ‘low-keyed luxury and nobleness’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AnandTech goes behind the scenes of ATI’s RV870 / Evergreen GPU development

Anyone familiar with the constantly shifting release dates and delays that characterize GPU refresh cycles will have been impressed by ATI’s execution of the Evergreen series release. Starting out at the top with its uber-performance parts, the company kept to an aggressive schedule over the winter and can now boast a fully fleshed out family of DirectX 11 graphics processors built under a 40nm process. The fact that NVIDIA has yet to give us even one DX11 product is testament to the enormity of this feat. But as dedicated geeks we want more than just the achievements, we want to know the ins and outs of ATI’s resurgence and the decisions that led to its present position of being the market leader in features and mindshare, if not sales. To sate that curiosity, we have our good friend Anand Shimpi with a frankly unmissable retrospective on the development of the RV870 GPU that was to become the Evergreen chips we know today. He delves into the internal planning changes that took place after the delay of the R5xx series, the balancing of marketing and engineering ambitions, and even a bit of info on features that didn’t quite make it into the HD 5xxx range. Hit the source link for all that precious knowledge.

AnandTech goes behind the scenes of ATI’s RV870 / Evergreen GPU development originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ATI Radeon HD 5450 focuses on multimedia features, neglects gaming

It’s rare to see a rumor — hell, even a roadmap — pinpoint the timing of new releases quite so accurately, but our earlier report of ATI refreshing the middle and lower parts of its lineup turned out to be bang on. Following in the footsteps of the HD 5670, we have the Radeon HD 5450, which drags the entry price for DirectX 11 and Eyefinity multi-monitor support all the way down to $50. Course, the processing power inside isn’t going to be on par with its elder siblings, but that also means the 5450 will run cool enough to be offered with half-height, passive cooling solutions as seen above. ATI’s focus here is on media PCs, with a DisplayPort, um… port, alongside HDMI 1.3a, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming support. For the money, you really can’t argue with all this extra multimedia juice, but if you must have benchmarks to sate your soul, check out the early reviews below — they’re full of bar charts and performance comparisons, don’t you know.

Continue reading ATI Radeon HD 5450 focuses on multimedia features, neglects gaming

ATI Radeon HD 5450 focuses on multimedia features, neglects gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP now shipping select Envy 15 models with USB 3.0

Welcome to the most recent benchmark we’ve been referring to as “the future.” HP has become what appears to be the first company to actually ship a laptop featuring USB 3.0. According to a rep speaking with CNET, if you order an Envy 15 with a Core i7 processor and an ATI 5830 GPU, the new ports come along for the ride. Feeling patient? Not to worry, we’re pretty sure this crazy USB 3.0 thing isn’t an isolated incident — expect more machines to support it soon enough, including HP’s own EliteBook in just a few weeks’ time.

HP now shipping select Envy 15 models with USB 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ATI Radeon HD 5670 brings DirectX 11 and Eyefinity to the budget-minded market

AMD and ATI have got yet another GPU contender under their sleeve, and this one’s got quite a one-two punch. The Radeon HD 5670 can boast DirectX 11 and Eyefinity support are for a suggested price less than one Benjamin Franklin. The usual suspects have weighed in on the card, and the consensus is that this is a “solid value” that outperforms its analogous NVIDIA GeForce GT 240. That’s not exactly an A+ grade, but we weren’t expecting it to go toe-to-toe with its older brothers costing hundreds of dollars apiece. AnandTech also points out that some DX11-compliant games (e.g. Battleforge, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) couldn’t pull off manageable framerates. Hit up the source links for more thorough analysis, and join us after the break for the official presser. One last word of advice, as noted by TweakTown: make sure the model you pick up uses GDDR5 (instead of GDDR3), as it could make a world of difference.

Continue reading ATI Radeon HD 5670 brings DirectX 11 and Eyefinity to the budget-minded market

ATI Radeon HD 5670 brings DirectX 11 and Eyefinity to the budget-minded market originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ATI serves up DirectX 11-compatible Mobility Radeon GPUs, helps nerds fall in love

DirectX 11 has been chewed up and spit out by desktop GPUs over the past few months, but until CES 2010, laptops at large were left out of the raving. This week, AMD has introduced what it’s calling the world’s first mobile graphics with DX11 compatibility, and the Mobility Radeon HD 5870 — which just so happens to be featured in ASUS’ recently revealed G73jh — is leading the way. The HD 5800, HD 5700, HD 5600 and HD 5400 series are all new at the show, and each one comes with baked in support for ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology and helping tech-adoring geeks find their soulmates (as is clearly shown above). Hit the source link for more details on each, and figure on seeing these filter out to new ultraportables, mainstream rigs and gaming lappies in the seconds, days and weeks ahead.

ATI serves up DirectX 11-compatible Mobility Radeon GPUs, helps nerds fall in love originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung and ATI team on SyncMaster MD230 mega-displays for wide-eyed gamers

When it comes to gaming, it’s hard to overdo it on the display front. Sure, Samsung and ATI have given it their best shot with the new SyncMaster MD230 displays powered by ATI’s updated Eyefinity6 tech, but somehow we’ll still be hungry for more by the time next year rolls around. Still, the MD230 is pretty wild, with six-screen or three-screen configurations retailing for $3,099 and $1,899 respectively, with each screen running at 2560 x 1600 for a total of 12x the resolution of 1080p across the six displays in total. It obviously takes a brand new ATI card to accomplish this (and a little help from that beefy DisplayPort plug), but we’re sure if you’re willing to drop $3,099 on your display, you can scrounge up the cash for the GPU. The displays should start shipping early this year.

Samsung and ATI team on SyncMaster MD230 mega-displays for wide-eyed gamers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS ROG G73jh launches with Core i7, Radeon HD 5870, bragging rights


Power hungry, are you? ASUS has just the rig for you, as it just launched its newest Republic of Gamers laptop here at a CES press event. The G73hj is doing its darnedest to make every other gaming lappie out there look downright weak, with this one boasting a Core i7-720QM CPU, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 8-channel HD audio, up to 1TB of HDD space and DirectX 11 compatibility thanks to the internal ATI Radeon HD 5870. You’ll also get a spacious 17.3-inch display, a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, Blu-ray / DVD combo drive, 8-cell battery, a 2 megapixel webcam, 802.11b/g WiFi, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1, an 8-in-1 card reader and a mini-VGA connector. Naturally, Windows 7 Home Premium will be running the show, and this thing is far from being slim and sexy. There’s no word yet on a price and release, but we’ll keep you posted.

Update: We nabbed a quick hands-on, check it out!

ASUS ROG G73jh launches with Core i7, Radeon HD 5870, bragging rights originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Refreshed CyberPower Black Mamba gaming rig: downright awesome (for rich people)

One might expect a smallish outfit like CyberPower to start the new year off with merely a fizzle, but the “bang” is firmly in place with this one. The company has just announced its refaced (and re-energized) Black Mamba gaming PC, complete with Intel’s freshest Core i7 Extreme CPU, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, twin 64GB Kingston SSDs, 2TB of SATA II storage space, a pair of watercooled ATI Radeon 5870 GPUs, a 4x Lite-On Blu-ray drive and a 12-in-1 media reader for good measure. You’ll also get a tweaked BIOS that gives you more flexibility when it comes to overclocking, and the bundled Razer input peripherals ensure that even your mouse and keyboard needs are addressed. Best of all, this pristine piece of gaming goodness can be ordered up right now — problem is, you’ll need a bare minimum of $3,800 to cover the cost of acquisition. But hey, that 2009 tax refund should cover that in just a few months, right?

Refreshed CyberPower Black Mamba gaming rig: downright awesome (for rich people) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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