Hasta La Gadget!

NVIDIA is filling in what it presumes to be holes in its next-generation GPU lineup, adding the 40nm G210M, GT 230M, GT 240M and GTS 250M, with GDDR3 memory ranging from 512MB to 1GB, to its existing GTX 280M, GTX 260M and GTS 160M laptop graphics cards. Apparently the new cards sport “double the performance” and “half the power consumption” over the last generation of discrete GPUs they’re replacing. The cards are SLI, HybridPower, CUDA, Windows 7 and DirectX 10.1 compatible, and all support PhysX other than the low-end G210M. Of course, with integrated graphics like the 9400M starting to obviate discrete graphics in the mid range — even including Apple’s latest low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro — we’re not sure what we’ll do with eight different GPU options, but we suppose NVIDIA’s yet-to-be-announced price sheet for these cards will make it all clear in time.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

NVIDIA pops out five new mobile GPUs to fill invisible gaps in its 200M series lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So much for all those Rambus / NVIDIA fireworks we know you were hoping for — the two companies just announced that the patent infringement proceedings begun last year have come to a close and the International Trade Commission has been asked to drop its investigation. According to the statement, “Rambus has conceded that NVIDIA products do not infringe on its four patents before the ITC.” That’s that — guess we’ll just have to get our kill-crazy destruction kicks elsewhere.

Update: Sigh — Rambus has told MarketWatch it disagrees with NVIDIA’s release, and that it’s still litigating five more patents before the ITC. Round and round we go.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Rambus drops patent suit against NVIDIA Update: only part of it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stating that NVIDIA’s Ion platform has already snagged wide industry support would be a gross understatement, but for whatever reason, Maingear decided to skip out on all the Computex revelry and blaze a trail of its own. Hailed as the planet’s greenest gaming PC (which is certainly up for debate), the Pulse is an energy efficient small form factor PC that offers up Ion graphics. Said configuration is available with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs and an 80+ certified 300-watt power supply; those who care more about frame rates than Ma Earth can opt for a GeForce 9800 GT ECO, which — despite being a discrete, power-hungry GPU — still swallows some 40 percent less power than a standard 9800 GT. You’ll also find WiFi support, room for an optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner, upwards of 8GB of RAM and room for a single 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. The whole box checks in at just 7.6- x 8.3- x 11.4-inches, and it’s available for order right now starting at $799. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Maingear introduces eco-friendly, Ion-powered Pulse SFF PC

Filed under: Desktops

Maingear introduces eco-friendly, Ion-powered Pulse SFF PC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Low-power processors aren’t just for netbooks: These computers-on-a-chip are going to be powering our smartphones and other diminutive gadgets in the forseeable future. So what’s the difference between the Atoms, Snapdragons and Tegras of the world?

Intel Atom
The current reigning king of low-cost, low-power processors, Intel’s Atom flat-out dominates the netbook market. Its single- and dual-core processors are also some of the most powerful on our list, despite having abilities roughly equal to, in Intel’s own terms, a 2003-2004 vintage Celeron. Based on the x86 architecture, the Atom is capable of running full versions of Windows XP, Vista (though not all that well), and 7, as well as modern Linux distros and even Hackintosh. While it requires far less power than a full-power chip, it’s still more power-hungry than the ARM-based processors on our list, requiring about 2 watts on average. That’s why netbook battery life isn’t all that much longer than that of a normal laptop.

You can find the Atom in just about every netbook, including those from HP, Dell, Asus, Acer, Sony, Toshiba, MSI, and, well, everyone else. The 1.6GHz chip is the most popular at the moment, but Intel is definitely going to keep improving and upgrading the Atom line. However, you’re unlikely to catch an Atom in a handset; it’s low-power, yes, but low-power for a notebook. Battery life on an Atom handset would be pretty atrocious, which is why Intel’s sticking to netbooks for now.

Qualcomm Snapdragon
Based on ARM, which is a 32-bit processor architecture that powers just about every mobile phone (and various other peripherals, though never desktop computers) out there, Snapdragon isn’t competing directly with the Intel Atom—it’s not capable of running full versions of Windows (only Windows Mobile and Windows CE), it’s incredibly energy-efficient (requiring less than half a watt), and is designed for always-on use. In other words, this is the evolution of the mobile computing processor. It’s got great potential: Qualcomm is trumpeting battery life stretching past 10 hours, smooth 1080p video, support for GPS, 3G, and Bluetooth, and such efficiency that a Linux-based netbook can use Snapdragon without a fan or even a heat sink. Available in single core (1GHz) or dual-core (1.5GHz), it can be used in conjunction with Android, Linux, and various mobile OSes.

Unfortunately, Qualcomm is still holding onto the notion that people want MIDs, and is championing “smartbooks,” which are essentially smartphones with netbook bodies, like Asus’s announced-then-retracted Eee with Android. Snapdragon’s got promise, but we think that promise lies in super-powered handheld devices, not even more underpowered versions of already-underpowered netbooks.

We’re frankly not sure when we’ll see Snapdragon-based devices sold in the US. We’re sure Snapdragon will end up in smartphones at some point, as at least one Toshiba handset has been tentatively announced, but the only concrete demonstrations we’ve seen have been in MIDs, and Snapdragon themselves spend all their energy touting these “smartbooks.” Snapdragon’s Windows Mobile compatibility suggests we may see it roll out with Windows Mobile 7, if Tegra hasn’t snapped up all the good handsets.

Nvidia Tegra
Nvidia’s Tegra processor is very similar to Snapdragon—both are based on ARM architecture, so both are designed for even less intense applications than the Atom. Like Snapdragon, Tegra isn’t capable of running desktop versions of Windows, so it’s primarily targeted at Android and handheld OSes, especially forthcoming versions of Windows Mobile. What sets Tegra apart from Snapdragon is the Nvidia graphics pedigree: The company claims smooth 1080p video, like Snapdragon, but also hardware-accelerated Flash video and even respectable gaming (though no, you won’t be able to run Crysis). They also go even further than Qualcomm in their battery life claim, suggesting an absolutely insane 30 hours of HD video.

While Snapdragon tends to be loosely associated with Android, Tegra is an integral part of Microsoft’s plan for next-generation Windows Mobile devices. Instead of focusing on “smartbooks” and MIDs, which we think are part of a dead-end category, Tegra’s commitment to pocketable handhelds could spell success. We’ve seen proof-of-concept demonstrations of Tegra already, but its real commercial debut will come with Windows Mobile 7—and if WM7 doesn’t suck, Tegra could take off.

Others
We haven’t included certain other processors, especially VIA’s Nano, due to intent: The Nano requires lower power than full-scale processors, but at 25 watts, it’s not even really in the same league as Atom, let alone Snapdragon or Tegra. The VIA Nano is really targeted at non-portable green technology, and looks like it’ll do a good job—it outperformed Atom in Ars Technica’s excellent test, and stands up to moderate use with ease. AMD’s Puma (Turion X2) is in a similar boat: It’s certainly markedly more energy-efficient than AMD’s other offerings, but as it’s targeted at laptops (not netbooks) with a screen size greater than 12-inches, it’s not quite right for our list here.

These low-power processors aren’t just, as we so often think, crappier versions of “real” processors. They’ve got uses far beyond netbooks, especially in the near future as the gap between netbooks and smartphones narrows.

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Ever tried watching Hulu or YouTube on a netbook? If your machine didn’t crash immediately, it probably choked and struggled its way through the clip. Nvidia’s latest system-on-a-chip, Tegra, could make your next netbook a veritable video powerhouse.

“It is basically a full motherboard on a PCB (printed circuit board) the size of a pack of gum,” says Mike Rayfield, general manager of the handheld GPU, or graphics processing unit, business at Nvidia.

At the Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan, Nvidia said PC manufacturers such as Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron and Mobinnova plan to release Tegra-based netbooks by the end of the year.

Tegra is the latest of several attempts by chip companies to carve out a slice of the rapidly growing netbook market, where sales are expected to nearly double to 21 million units this year from the year before.  Most netbooks run Intel’s Atom processor, which isn’t powerful enough to handle the demands of video or audio playback. Nvidia, whose GPUs are optimized for rendering video, animation and graphics, is betting it can fix that. However, to get a foothold in netbooks it will compete not only with Intel but also Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, a chipset that promises better power management, and Via’s Nano. The Nano appears in only a few netbooks but powers the Samsung NC20 to surprisingly good results in Wired.com’s review.

Tegra includes an 800-MHz ARM CPU, a high-definition video processor, an imaging processor, an audio processor and an ultralow-power GeForce GPU in a single package. The different processors can be used together or independently while consuming very little power, says the company. And devices based on Tegra could be available to consumers by the end of the year.

“This is the  most advanced ultralow-power computer on a chip,” says Rayfield. “We think it will bring the high-resolution experience we are used to on notebooks and desktop computers to netbooks and other mobile internet devices.”

Last year Nvidia launched Ion, a family of chips that aim to bring better graphics capability to low-cost computing devices. Tegra is completely different, says Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research.

“Ion is a chipset that pairs graphics capabilities with an Intel Atom CPU,” he says. “Tegra takes the graphics core and combines it with a CPU that is not an x-86 class.”

The Tegra family will include the Tegra 650 processor, which can run Windows Embedded CE or Google Android, and the Tegra APX 2500 processor, targeted at Windows Mobile smartphones.

The idea is to make mobile devices more powerful, capable of running high-definition video, even as they improve on power efficiency, says Rayfield. The Tegra 650 can offer about 130 hours of audio processing and 30 hours of high-definition video playback.

“What we are talking about here is that with Tegra you can get 120 times longer battery life while listening to music than with the Atom processor and about 10 times more than Snapdragon,” he says.

Still, netbook makers are not likely to rush into Nvidia’s arms. Nvidia is betting the appetite for music and video will drive demand for its products but it may have underestimated the stranglehold that Intel exerts. “In the netbook market, their chances with Tegra are not great,” says McCarron. “So it is possible that we could see them emphasizing Tegra-based devices in geographies such as China that are more receptive to non x-86 architecture.”

Photo: Tegra chip/Nvidia