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It may be a cheaper way to join the high-end Core i7 family, but that doesn’t mean it’s “cheap.” Intel’s Core i7-970 ($899), which just started shipping to consumers around a month ago, has just undergone a thorough looking-over at Hot Hardware, where the six-core chip was tested alongside its more potent (and in turn, more costly) siblings. If you’ve no interest in dropping over a grand for a Core i7-980X, and you aren’t about to lower yourself by purchasing a quad-core Core i7-975, this here chip might just do you proud. In testing, critics found the 970 to be quick, but hardly mind-blowing, when handling more mundane tasks; stir in a few heavily threaded applications, though, and it managed to “sail past” the quad-core contemporaries and “keep pace” with the aforementioned 980X. All told, the silicon managed to perform around 5 percent worse than the 980X, yet it rings up for around 12 percent less. If you’ve got the workflow to truly take advantage of all six cores, and you can stomach not having the absolute best, it seems as if the 970 strikes a fine balance — and hey, if you’re down with overclocking, you can probably get that 5 percent back with just a mild uptick in your energy bill.

Intel’s Core i7-970 gets reviewed: great for overclocking, still expensive originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody

Acer Aspire Predator AG7750 available, currently trying to kill Adrien Brody originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Getac’s long-standing V100 has never been a thing of beauty, but you’d think it may get a little easier on the eyes over the years, wouldn’t you? Regrettably, we’re still left looking at a fairly industrial little machine, but at least the improved innards make it that much easier to focus on the Device Manager rather than, well… the device itself. Boasting a 10.4-inch sunlight viewable display, 320GB shock-mounted HDD and an 83-key waterproof backlit rubber keyboard, the revamped V100 is ready to chew through all sorts of computations while laying low from jungle cats and pools of quicksand. The 1.2GHz Core i7 within is the real standout, and it’s joined by a multitouch-capable LCD, 2 megapixel webcam, SD card reader, inbuilt Bluetooth, optional 3G and a GPS system. There’s no telling how much this five pounder will set you back, but we’re guessing it’ll run somewhere between “way up there” and “you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Continue reading Getac tosses 1.2GHz Core i7 into ultra-rugged V100 convertible laptop, drops it from atop ugly tree

Getac tosses 1.2GHz Core i7 into ultra-rugged V100 convertible laptop, drops it from atop ugly tree originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This might be about as shocking as sunny weather in España, but Intel appears set to slash some prices and bump some speeds in its desktop CPU portfolio this quarter. According to DigiTimes and its beloved motherboard maker sources, the desktop dominator intends to introduce a six-core Core i7-970 chip, at a $885 bulk purchase price that should bring the hexacore entry price down from the i7-980X’s $999 perch, along with a 2.8GHz i5-760 priced at $205, and — intriguingly — a quad-core i5-870S designed specifically for small form factor machines and costing an appropriately inflated $351 a piece. Finally, there’s word of a most welcome price tumble for the 3.06GHz i7-950, which moves down to the $294 slot currently occupied by the 2.8GHz i7-930. All this crazy talk seems to reiterate earlier suggestions coming out of HKEPC, so we advise hitting both source links and drawing your own conclusions.

Intel set to overhaul desktop CPU range with new models, lower prices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Television may be rotting the brain of existing generations, but it’s highly likely that 3D will indeed be the downfall of mankind. Or Double Stuff Oreo cookies, one. Either way, the former is finally joining the latter in terms of availability, with Lenovo’s first 3D lappie up for order on the outfit’s webstore. $1,499 nets you the IdeaPad Y560d, equipped with a 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730, 500GB hard drive (5,400rpm), a dual-layer DVD writer, 6-cell battery, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and copious amounts of bragging rights. Oh, and did we mention you’ll need to pack along those 3D glasses in order to see the effect when soaring through your robust library of 3D games? We’ll leave it to you — we know you’ll do the right thing.

Lenovo’s 3D IdeaPad Y560d laptop now available for multi-dimensionists originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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