Sapphire Unveils New AMD Radeon HD 7970 OC Edition GPU
Subject: General Tech | March 15, 2012 - 10:36 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: sapphire, radeon, HD 7970, gpu, amd, 7970
Sapphire Technologies recently launched a new factory overclocked version of the AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. The new Radeon HD 7970 OC Edition promises to combine the performance of AMD's 7970 GPU (you can find our review of the 7970 here) with Sapphire's own Dual X two fan heatpipe cooler.
The Sapphire HD 7970 GPU is powered by one 8 pin and one 6 pin PCI-E power connection, and supports the PCI-E 3.0 standard and Microsoft's DirectX 11.1 technology. Other specifications include 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, a 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) GPU core, a 384-bit memory interface, and a dual BIOS switch depending on whether you want to run at stock clock speeds or use the factory overclocked profile.
Specifically, the Sapphire HD 7970 GPU features a dual bios switch that allows customers to switch between default clock speeds of 950 MHz core and 1425 MHz memory and the factory overclocked speeds of 1 GHz (1,000 MHz) core and 1450 MHz memory. When using the overclocked BIOS, the graphics card will employ more a more aggressive fan profile and also allows raises the maximum limits for overclocking the core, memory, and voltage values.
Further, the Sapphire GPU uses their own Dual X cooler that features a dual slot aluminum heatsink connected to the GPU core by five copper heatpipes. This heatsink is then cooled by two large fans, that Sapphire claims will enable quiet operation even while under load.
Accessories wise, Sapphire provides one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini Display Port video outputs. In the retail packaging, Sapphire provides an Active mini Display Port to single-link DVI adapter, HDMI to DVI adapter, DVI to VGA adapter, two PCI-E to molex power adapters (one molex to PCI-E 8 pin and one molex to PCI-E 6 pin), a mini Display Port to Display Port adapter, a 1.8 meter HDMI 1.4a cable, and a CrossFire bridge.
The new Sapphire HD 7970 OC Edition is available now from authorized retailers, and is retailing for between $580 and $630 at several retailers at the time of writing.
Podcast #192 - AMD Radeon HD 7870 and 7850, Z77 Motherboard previews, and a Steam console
Subject: Editorial, General Tech | March 8, 2012 - 04:00 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: Z77, ssd, podcsat, podcast, msi, Intel, gpu, cpu, asus, amd, 7870, 7850
PC Perspective Podcast #192 - 03/08/2012
Join us this week as we talk about the AMD Radeon HD 7870 and 7850, Z77 Motherboard previews, and a Steam console?
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:42 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:02:00 Installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview In A VirtualBox Virtual Machine
- 0:05:00 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB and HD 7850 2GB Pitcairn Review
- 0:18:30 ASUS Z77 Chipset Motherboard Preview: Formula, Gene, mini-ITX
- 0:24:30 MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) LGA 2011 ATX Motherboard Review
- 0:26:00 Visual Computing Still Decades from Computational Apex
- 0:36:00 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- 0:37:00 GDC 12: The bigger big picture, Steam Box to be announced?
- 0:40:30 MSI Shows of Next Generation Twin Frozr IV Cards at Cebit
- 0:42:30 Peter Pan presents a stylish mouse at CeBIT; Thermaltake's Level 10 M
- 0:45:45 Apple Launching Quad Core Graphics A5X Powered iPad 3 With Retina Display
- 0:49:00 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: How about a new laptop? Time for shopping!! Ultrabook? IVB maybe?
- Jeremy: Ever heard of the brown note?
- Josh: They have arrived
- Allyn: sleep lulz
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Alleged NVIDIA GK104 Kepler GTX 670 Ti Photo Leaked
Subject: Graphics Cards | March 8, 2012 - 03:41 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, graphics card, gpu, GK104, gaming, 28nm
GDC 2012 is upon us, and in addition to the Samaritan demo and some gaming goodness, we spotted a leaked image over at Legit Reviews that is allegedly a photo of a production NVIDIA GTX 670 Ti graphics card.
The cooler looks to cover the whole PCB and be of the blower design, funneling hot air of the of the front of the card and out of the case. The connectors include two DVI, one HDMI, and one Display Port. Rumors suggest that the latest NVIDIA cards will be capable of multi-display (>2) from a single card much like AMD cards have been doing for some time.
Not a whole lot is known about the upcoming GK104 "Kepler" GPUs with a good deal of certainty, but we have reported on a few leaks including that the cards will have 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM on a 256 bit memory bus, and that the cards may just be coming out in May. Due to Epic using a working Kepler GPU in their Samaritan demo, that launch date does not sound too far fetched either. On the performance front, there are conflicting rumors; some rumors state that the cards will blow AMD out of the water and other people swear the cards will not be as powerful as the rumors suggest. I suppose we'll find out soon though!
Are you still waiting for NVIDIA's Kepler GPUs or have you jumped on the latest Radeon series?
The Truth
There are few people in the gaming industry that you simply must pay attention to when they speak. One of them is John Carmack, founder of id Software and a friend of the site, creator of Doom. Another is Epic Games' Tim Sweeney, another pioneer in the field of computer graphics that brought us the magic of Unreal before bringing the rest of the gaming industry the Unreal Engine.
At DICE 2012, a trade show for game developers to demo their wares and learn from each other, Sweeney gave a talk on the future of computing hardware and its future. (You can see the source of my information and slides here at Gamespot.) Many pundits, media and even developers have brought up the idea that the next console generation that we know is coming will be the last - we will have reached the point in our computing capacity that gamers and designers will be comfortable with the quality and realism provided. Forever.
Think about that a moment; has anything ever appeared so obviously crazy? Yet, in a world where gaming has seemed to regress into the handheld spaces of iPhone and iPad, many would have you believe that it is indeed the case. Companies like NVIDIA and AMD that spend billions of dollars developing new high-powered graphics technologies would simply NOT do so anymore and instead focus only on low power. Actually...that is kind of happening with NVIDIA Tegra and AMD's move to APUs, but both claim that the development of leading graphics technology is what allows them to feed the low end - the sub-$100 graphics cards, SoC for phones and tablets and more.
Sweeney started the discussion by teaching everyone a little about human anatomy.
The human eye has been studied quite extensively and the amount of information we know about it would likely surprise. With 120 million monochrome receptors and 5M color, the eye and brain are able to do what even our most advanced cameras are unable to.
Continue reading our story on the computing needs for visual computing!!
GPU sales look a little down in the month
Subject: General Tech | February 27, 2012 - 12:24 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: jon peddie, gpu, market share
The graphics market seems to be changing, a feeling backed up by Jon Peddie's latest report on the GPU market. IGPs are dying, low end discrete is dying, and the quickest selling GPUs are integrated onto the CPU. All this means that the sales of discreet GPUs are down, with a 10.4% drop from the previous quarter as customers opt out of a GPU and simply use the one found on their CPU. AMD is slowly gaining in this market thanks to the fact that Llano is now available for those who would purchase it. One oddity that SemiAccurate notes is that NVIDIA actually still claims a share of the IGP market thanks to some sales in China.
"Word has just come in from everyone’s favorite market research group, Jon Peddie Research, that Q4 2011 was not a particularly inspiring quarter for graphics shipments. Q4 was seasonally down compared to Q3, in step with the prior years, and up slightly compared to 2010. The seasonal drop this year was particularly heavy coming in at 10.4 percent, the largest Q3 to Q4 drop since 2008."
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- Gigabit Internet for $70: the unlikely success of California's Sonic.net @ Ars Technica
- DIY quadcopter for around $200 @ Hack a Day
- Intel Joins LibreOffice @ Slashdot
- Make any photo 3D using The Gimp @ Hack a Day
- NewerTech Power2U USB Wall Power Outlet Review @ Legit Reviews
- LSI Releases Code To Manufacturers - New Increased Capacity 'SandForce Driven' SSDs Hit The Streets @ SSD Review
- Examining The SSD Industry - Researching The Controller or Processor With Wayne Eisenberg @ SSD Review
- How Far Have AMD & Intel Integrated Graphics Come Since 2006? @ Legit Reviews
- Flood-hit Thai disk fabs to pour out 140m drives @ The Register
- Weekly Giveaway #23: AMD and Gigabyte 6850 Graphics Card Giveaway Part #1 @ eTeknix
- Design, Spec and Win Your Ultimate PC. ENDS 28th Feb 2012 @ HardwareHeaven
Podcast #190 - PCAudioLabs system giveaway, the future of NAND Memory, potential Ivy Bridge delays and more!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 23, 2012 - 04:10 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: Thinkpad, podcast, piledriver, nvidia, Ivy Bridge, Intel, gpu, cpu, amd
PC Perspective Podcast #190 - 02/23/2012
Join us this week as we talk about a PCAudioLabs system giveaway, the future of NAND Memory, potential Ivy Bridge delays and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:31 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:45 Intel, PCAudioLabs and PC Perspective Rok Box System Sweepstakes!!
- 0:03:45 How We Review Laptops At PC Perspective
- 0:05:30 MSI Graphics Card Division Interview: Alex Chang Takes our Q's
- 0:09:10 Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Review: Kickin' It Old School
- 0:12:00 NAND Flash Memory - A Future Not So Bleak After All
- 0:27:15 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- 0:28:30 Mass Effect 3 is Coming, Pre-Order Now and Get Battlefield 3 (PC) Free
- 0:31:00 Intel may delay shipments of Ivy Bridge processors
- 0:35:10 VIA teams with Tensilica to roll their own SSD controller
- 0:40:53 HP dates NVIDIA on Valentine's Day. We get Z1 workstation.
- 0:46:30 Wi-Fi on Rosepoint SoC die. Intel flexes before ARM wrestle.
- 0:51:15 Of Near Threshold Voltage and Atomic Transistors
- 0:55:15 AMD and Cyclos reduces clock power usage with Piledriver
- 1:04:00 Intel becomes a 22nm foundry -- yes, for other people.
- 1:11:35 Contest Reminder - http://pcper.com/contest
- 1:11:55 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: IKEA DIODER + HOLY AWESOME https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LmEQUm1PUXU/T0W8e-KQz0I/AAAAAAAAYNA/XB64fVxgLvo/w402/engagement.jpg
- Ken: SUPAboy
- Jeremy: Hardware Leaderboard
- Josh: Get it while you still can!
- Allyn: Nintendo 1982 Game & Watch Donkey Kong (counter to Ken's pick)
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Podcast #189 - AMD Radeon HD 7750 and 7770, Mechanical Keyboards from Rosewill, Windows on ARM and more!
Subject: Editorial | February 16, 2012 - 03:49 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: WOA, rosewill, podcast, nvidia, Intel, gpu, cpu, amd
PC Perspective Podcast #189 - 02/16/2012
Join us this week as we talk about AMD Radeon HD 7750 and 7770, Mechanical Keyboards from Rosewill, Windows on ARM and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malvantano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- 0:00:29 Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:45 AMD Radeon HD 7770 and 7750 Cape Verde GPU Review
- 0:20:15 Rosewill Second Generation Mechanical Keyboard Review: RK-9000, RK-9000BR, RK-9000BL, RK-9000RE
- 0:23:20 ASUS Transformer Prime TF201 Keyboard Dock Review
- 0:25:45 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards! - 0:27:45 WOA! We wanted Windows 8 on ARM details. We got them.
- 0:31:00 Intel Haswell Processors To Launch In First Half of 2013
- 0:37:25 CTO Eric Demers to Leave AMD
- 0:41:15 OCZ Launches Z-Drive R4 CloudServ 16TB Solid State Storage System
- 0:46:00 Asustek? Your Ultrabook orders are ah pulled.
- 0:48:25 Take that Moore! Electron beam etching set to take us to the 10nm process
- 1:00:55 Email from James
- 1:02:45 Email from Dave
- 1:05:45 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: HINGES!!! YouTube video
- Jeremy: SilverSands Active Directories Migration tool
- Josh: Apparently quite fun.
- Allyn: NewerTech Power2U
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Podcast #188 - Featuring David Hewlett - White Space Wireless, AMD and NVIDIA GPU roadmaps, Hard Drives with lasers and more!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 9, 2012 - 04:08 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: wireless, whitespace, ssd, podcast, nvidia, mdt, intel 520, Intel, gpu, APU, amd
PC Perspective Podcast #188 - 02/09/2012
Join us this week as we talk about White Space Wireless, AMD and NVIDIA GPU roadmaps, Hard Drives with lasers and more!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Allyn Malvantano, and David Hewlett
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- 0:01:30 Introduction with David
- Okay, seriously, how nerdy are you really?
- What kind of hardware systems and specs do you have?
- What games are you playing today?
- 0:13:25 AMD Processor and GPU Roadmaps Through 2013
- 0:28:30 Galaxy MDT GeForce GT 520 Graphics Card Review
- 0:32:00 Intel 520 Series SSD Full Review - SandForce on Steroids?
- 0:43:00 This Podcast is brought to you by
MSI Computer , and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- 0:45:05 White Space Wireless Discussion
- Links for reference: - Wikipedia, US Radio Spectrum Chart (2003),
- 0:56:00 Increased Hard Drive Write Speed and Density - Using Frickin' Lasers
- 1:02:00 An academic collaboration leads to a GPU/CPU collaboration
- 1:07:25 AMD shows 18mm thin reference ultrathin notebook based on Trinity
- 1:11:05 Tablets / Ultrabooks in Schools
- 1:16:45 NVIDIA Kepler Graphics Cards Lineup Leak To Web
- 1:22:30 PC Perspective Office Tour - Feb 6th, 2012
- 1:26:40 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Josh: Just got one for the wife. For great justice.
- Allyn: ioSafe SoloPRO
- David: Samsung Flexible Displays
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
NVIDIA Kepler Graphics Cards Lineup Leak To Web
Subject: Graphics Cards | February 6, 2012 - 06:23 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, graphics, gpu
Although there were quite a few rumors leading up to AMD's Radeon 7000 series launch, the Internet has been very quiet on the greener side of the graphics market. Finally; however, we have some rumors to share with you on the Nvidia front. As always, take these numbers with more than your average grain of salt.
Specifically, EXP Review managed to uncover two charts that supposedly detail specifics about a range of GeForce 600 series Kepler cards from the number of stream processors to the release date. Needless to say, it's a lot of rumored information to take in all at once.
Anyway, without further adieu, let's dive into the two leaked charts.
| Model | Code Name | Die Size | Core Clock (TBD) MHz | Shader Clock (TBD) GHz | Stream Processors | SM Count | ROPs | Memory Clock (effective) GDDR5 | Bus Width | Memory Bus Width |
| GTX690 | GK110x2 | 550mm2 | ~750 | ~1.5 | 2x1024 | 2x32 | 2x56 | 4.5 GHz | 2x448bit | 2x252GB/s |
| GTX680 | GK110 | 550mm2 | ~850 | ~1.7 | 1024 | 32 | 64 | 5.5 GHz | 512bit | 352GB/s |
| GTX670 | GK110 | 550mm2 | ~850 | ~1.7 | 896 | 28 | 56 | 5 GHz | 448bit | 280GB/s |
| GTX660Ti | GK110 | 550mm2 | ~850 | ~1.7 | 768 | 24 | 48 | 5 GHz | 384bit | 240GB/s |
| GTX660 | GK104 | 290mm2 | ~900 | ~1.8 | 512 | 16 | 32 | 5.8 GHz | 256bit | 186GB/s |
| GTX650Ti | GK104 | 290mm2 | ~850 | ~1.7 | 448 | 14 | 28 | 5.5 GHz | 224bit | 154GB/s |
| GTX650 | GK106 | 155mm2 | ~900 | ~1.8 | 256 | 8 | 24 | 5.5 GHz | 192bit | 132GB/s |
| GTX640 | GK106 | 155mm2 | ~850 | ~1.7 | 192 | 6 | 16 | 5.5 GHz | 128bit | 88GB/s |
From the chart above, we can see the entire lineup of Kepler cards from the NVIDIA GTX 640 to the dual GPU GTX 690. The die size in the higher end GeForce cards is approximately 50% larger than that of the AMD Radeon HD 7970, but not much bigger than that of the GTX 580. If only we knew the TDP of these cards! In the next chart, we see alleged performance comparison versus the AMD competition.
| Model | Bus Interface | Frame Buffer | Transistors (Billion) | Price Point | Release Date | Performance Scale |
| GTX690 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 2x1.75 GB | 2x6.4 | $999 | Q3 2012 | |
| GTX680 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 2 GB | 6.4 | $649 | April 2012 | ~45%>HD7970 |
| GTX670 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 1.75 GB | 6.4 | $499 | April 2012 | ~20%>HD7970 |
| GTX660Ti | PCI-E 3 x16 | 1.5 GB | 6.4 | $399 | Q2/Q3 2012 | ~10%>HD7950 |
| GTX660 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 2 GB | 3.4 | $319 | April 2012 | ~GTX580 |
| GTX650Ti | PCI-E 3 x16 | 1.75 GB | 3.4 | $249 | Q2/Q3 2012 | ~GTX570 |
| GTX650 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 1.5 GB | 1.8 | $179 | May 2012 | ~GTX560 |
| GTX640 | PCI-E 3 x16 | 2 GB | 1.8 | $139 | May 2012 | ~GTX550Ti |
If these numbers hold true, NVIDIA will handily beat the current AMD offerings; however, I would wait for reviews to come out before making any purchasing decisions. One interesting aspect is the amount of GDDR5 memory. It seems that NVIDIA is sticking with 2GB frame buffers (or less) per GPU while AMD has really started upping the RAM. It will be interesting to see how this affects gaming in NVIDIA Surround and/or at high resolutions.
What do you guys think about these numbers, do you think Kepler will live up to the alleged performance scale figures?
Live Blog: AMD Financial Analyst Day
Subject: Editorial, Graphics Cards, Processors | February 2, 2012 - 12:31 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: reports, gpu, fad, cpu, APU, analyst, amd
Consider this fair warning: tomorrow here at PC Perspective you will learn the future of AMD. Sound over dramatic? We don't think so. After a pretty interesting year in 2011 for the company and AMD has said on several occasions that this year's Financial Analyst Day was going to reveal a lot about what the future holds for them on the GPU, CPU and APU front.
Hopefully we will learn what AMD plans to do after the cancelation of the second-generation of ultra lower power APUs, how important discrete graphics will be going forward and what life there is for the processor architecture after Bulldozer.
We will be in Sunnyvale at the AMD campus covering the event and we will be holding a live blog at the same time...right here. The event starts at 9am PST on February 2nd, aso be sure you set your calendars and bookmark this page for all the news!!
PC Perspective Upcoming Events
|
