Items tagged with 680
There’s just something about high-end, custom graphics cards that makes us a little giddy. Perhaps it’s their menacing appearance--even the fastest, most powerful processors just look like their lower-end counterparts when sitting side-by-side. But a hulking custom graphics card, with an elaborate, oversized cooler and fierce heat pipes wrapping around a gargantuan heatsink just looks freakin’ cool no matter how you slice it. Whip out a high-end graphics card and a CPU in front of a casual geek and we promise you they’ll point to the graphics card and blurt out, “What the heck is that?” far more often than not. That’s exactly what happened the first few...
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There’s just something about high-end, custom graphics cards that makes us a little giddy. Perhaps it’s their menacing appearance--even the fastest, most powerful processors just look like their lower-end counterparts when sitting side-by-side. But a hulking custom graphics card, with an elaborate, oversized cooler and fierce heat pipes wrapping around a gargantuan heatsink just looks freakin’ cool no matter how you slice it. Whip out a high-end graphics card and a CPU in front of a casual geek and we promise you they’ll point to the graphics card and blurt out, “What the heck is that?” far more often than not. That’s exactly what happened the first...
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We’ve been hearing about NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture since about September 2010. It was back at that years’ NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, that company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang first publically disclosed that Kepler would offer massive performance per watt improvements over Fermi and previous-gen architectures and that GPUs based on Kepler would arrive in 2011. Well, the launch date has obviously slipped. How Kepler’s power efficiency looks, we’ll get to a little later. The rumor mill kicked into high gear over the last few months, and has been consistently churning out more and more Kepler scuttlebutt (whether true or false) coincident with Radeon HD 7000 series launches....
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We’ve been hearing about NVIDIA’s Kepler architecture since about September 2010. It was back at that years’ NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference, that company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang first publically disclosed that Kepler would offer massive performance per watt improvements over Fermi and previous-gen architectures and that GPUs based on Kepler would arrive in 2011. Well, the launch date has obviously slipped. How Kepler’s power efficiency looks, we’ll get to a little later. The rumor mill kicked into high gear over the last few months, and has been consistently churning out more and more Kepler scuttlebutt (whether true or false) coincident with Radeon HD 7000 series...
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When AMD released the Radeon HD 2900 XT in May of last year, we were left with a bitter taste in our mouths. Not because the product was all that bad, but because it seemed AMD was content to leave NVIDIA uncontested at the high-end of the 3D graphics card market. If you remember, when the Radeon HD 2900 XT launched AMD had targeted the mid-range GeForce 8800 GTS, and not NVIDIA’s high-end 8800 GTX or Ultra. It seemed as if AMD just didn’t want to be in the fight for 3D graphics supremacy any longer and enthusiasts like yourselves, who seek nothing but the highest performing products, were left with only a single option. Thankfully things have changed in the last few months. ...
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While making our way through various exhibits at CES, Dave and I got a chance to get hands on time with AMD's upcoming ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics card. As we mentioned in our initial coverage of the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series back in November, the 3870 X2 is a dual-GPU powered card that leverages ATI's CrossFire technology. Here's an up close and personal look at the card... The ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 In The Flesh We can't disclose any specifications just yet, but can say that the 3870 X2 has a pair of R670 GPUs on single PCB coupled together via a PCI Express fanout switch from PLX. Frame Buffer memory configurations are likely to...
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Not too far back, there was a time when it was inconceivable that a motherboard had anything other than a green or mustard colored PCB that had a few sockets for the CPU and DIMMs, maybe a hard drive connector or two, and a floppy drive connection. Keyboards and mice were typically PS/2 based, although a COM port sufficed for those still attached to their serial mice, and the list of input/output options were quite few. The late 90's brought about the rise of the Universal Serial Bus, a new standard for interfacing with devices intended to retire legacy serial and parallel ports (although that still has yet to fully come about). Integrated LAN options as well...
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Just in case you missed the fresh link at the top of the page, we wanted to let you all know that we’ve just posted a new article in which we evaluate the features, overclockability, and performance of Gigabyte’s over the top GA-N680SLI-DQ6 motherboard. Here’s a snip from the piece... “In this article, we're going to showcase yet another Gigabyte-built mobo - the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 - that seemingly out does every other desktop motherboard in a number of key areas. How do four Gigabit LAN controllers, 10 SATA ports, 100% solid-state capacitors, and a unique wrap-around, passive, cooling apparatus strike...
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Gigabyte has almost always been a well respected brand amongst PC enthusiasts, but it seems the company has come on very strong in the last year or so. Gigabyte has released a number of highly praised motherboards is recent months, like the GA-P35T-DQ6 and GA-965P-DQ6 2.0 that were all lauded for their feature sets, performance, and overclockability. In this article, we're going to showcase yet another Gigabyte-built mobo - the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 - that seemingly out does every other current desktop motherboard in a number of key areas. How do four Gigabit LAN controllers, 10 SATA ports, 100% solid capacitors, and a unique wrap-around, passive, cooling apparatus strike you? And did we...
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DFI recently launched their first nForce 600 series chipset-based motherboard, the LANParty UT NF680i LT SLI-T2R, and we've just finished and posted up our evaluation of it. Unlike most other nForce 680i LT-based products, DFI's offering is not simply a re-branded reference design and it offers a host of additional features that allow it to compete favorably with more expensive, full-blown nForce 680i SLI motherboards. It's even got a custom, removable chipset cooler that you've got to see. Click the link below and check it out… DFI’s LANParty NF680i LT SLI-T2R...
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While they are still not known as a tier 1 player in the motherboard market, on par with the likes of MSI, Asus, or Gigabyte, DFI is a still a highly regarded name in many circles. DFI is one of the few companies in the market which are genuinely in tune with what overclockers and enthusiasts are interested in. Their LANParty series in particular has garnered piles of awards and is often used in many "extreme" overclocking projects due to the flexibility provided by their products. LANParty boards are flashy and over-the-top, but at their core, they have been solid through and through. DFI has been somewhat quiet as of late, their last major board to receive a lot of attention...
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Hello Everyone! Hot on the heels of the holiday weekend, Intel is launching a new flagship quad-core processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX6800. As its name implies, the new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has frequency parity with its dual-core counterpart, the Core 2 Extreme X6800 - sans the "Q". At 2.93GHz this makes the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel's highest clocked quad-core desktop processor to date. Click the link below and check it out... Read The Article Right Here!...
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Hot on the heals of the holiday weekend, Intel is launching a new flagship quad-core processor targeted at hardcore power users and PC enthusiasts. As its name implies, the new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has frequency parity with its dual-core counterpart, the Core 2 Extreme X6800 - sans the "Q". At 2.93GHz this makes the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel's highest clocked quad-core desktop processor to date. Other than its higher frequency though, the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 doesn't differ from Intel's previous high-end quad-core processor, the 2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6700, in any way. But what the QX6800's higher core frequency offers is an answer to any performance advantage the higher clocked...
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Today, NVIDIA is looking to fill the gap between the 650i SLI and 680i SLI chipsets with a new product, the nForce 680i LT SLI. This chipset, which is a trimmed down version of the full-blown 680i SLI, is targeting the $199 price point. But even though it's priced more affordably, the 680i LT SLI doesn't skimp on features, overclockability or performance. We've got a full evaluation posted of an nForce 680i LT SLI board from EVGA already posted for your perusal... Click Right Here To Check It Out!...
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Nvidia had been somewhat slow getting out of the gate with their initial Intel Core 2 compatible chipsets. Their first nForce 4 and nForce 5 series products for the Core 2 weren't very well received by enthusiasts, who mostly opted for more stable and less power hungry Intel based chipsets, unless Nvidia's SLI technology was an explicit requirement. While it has taken them a bit longer than expected to get their footing for this new processor architecture, it seems like Nvidia is truly hitting their stride with the nForce 600 series of products. Currently, Nvidia is producing three chipset products in the nForce 600 lineup for Intel processors. At the high-end,...
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GIGABYTE Launches Quad SLI-Ready GA-N680SLI-DQ6 -- Industry's Most Richly Featured Next Generation Gaming Platform -- GIGABYTE UNITED INC., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today launched the highly anticipated GIGABYTE GA-N680SLI-DQ6 high end gaming platform, featuring the advanced NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCP chipset, support for the record-setting Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core processors and delivering the uniquely innovative GIGABYTE 6-Quad technologies. In addition to native 1333 FSB support for the latest Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core processors, the GA-N680SLI-DQ6 features the nForce 680i chipset with support for SLI technology, including two PCI Express x16...
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There are only a few motherboard makers today who don't design boards with the enthusiast in mind. It's been proven that the enthusiast market, as small as it is, gets the most press coverage of any segment of motherboards. Thus, enthusiast markets do have the ability to influence purchases of an entire company's range of motherboards. Unfortunately, motherboards which are truly designed for the enthusiast are few and far between. Sure, it's easy to put some flashy heatsinks and some basic overclocking controls in to try to lure the casual gamer to their brand - but the true enthusiast demands more. Near unlimited access to timing controls, efficient cooling systems, flexible...
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Remember those nForce 680i SLI SATA problems [H] reported on last week? Well, it looks like there was definitely an issue with some boards and EVGA/NVIDIA have posted a potential fix in the form of a beta BIOS. The P23 BETA BIOS is now available, this BIOS addresses SATA issues. Please keep in mind that this BIOS should be treated as a BETA release. If you read through the thread, some people have had good luck with the update, while others are still having issues. Some of the issues, however, are not related to the SATA fix, so they may not have been addressed yet, or may not be widespread...
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[H] has posted an alert outlining some possible issues with NVIDIA's flagship nForce 680i SLI chipset. They site reports from around the web and explain some of the issues they've experienced in their own lab. "Some of the nForce 680i motherboards have some serious storage issues that can render a system build useless. Not all nForce 680i boards exhibit this problem. The problem does not seem to be confined to certain system configurations as some motherboards will work with a specific configuration while others will not. The problem also seems to spread across all 680i motherboards regardless of brand judging from feedback across...
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NVIDIA Introduces the Heart of the Definitive "Megatasking" Computing Platform New NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI MCP-based Motherboards with New AMD Athlon 64 FX-70 Series Processors Redefines the Ultimate PC Category SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 6, 2006 - NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today introduced the immediate availability of the new NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI media and communications processor (MCP), designed specifically for the new AMD Quad FX Platform with Dual Socket Direct Connect Architecture. The exclusive core-logic launch partner for AMD Quad FX processors, the NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI MCP provides processing...
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NVIDIA's two major launches last week marked a significant advancement in both 3D Graphics and PC Motherboard feature-set and performance. The launch of NVIDIA's G80 GPU with their GeForce 8800 series of graphics cards was the advent of the first truly DX10 capable GPU architecture on the market. Furthermore, upon its introduction, the nForce 680i SLI was widely acknowledge as the most feature-rich chipset for the Intel Core 2 dual-core and quad-core platforms to date; even more-so than Intel's own P965 and 975X Express chipsets. In industry speak, there's no question these two launches smacked of PC tech-geek nirvana, not to mention...
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FLY with EVGA'S New NVIDIA 680i SLI Motherboard Contest Want to Fly Like Superman? EVGA has brought you products that make your computer fly for years, but now it's time to make our customers fly as well. EVGA has partnered with Zero G to bring our customers an amazing weightless experience. Imagine free falling 10,000 feet, without a parachute! Zero G makes it possible by flying a plane to approximately 34,000 feet and then going into a nose dive for 10,000 feet before pulling up. This rollercoaster effect will generate 25-30 seconds of weightlessness on each drop. This is the same type of training that NASA uses for astronauts. 3 Grand Prize Winners Will Be Chosen! Top 100 Scores will...
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