When AMD launched its Radeon R9 295X2, we praised the GPUs performance and its impressive water liquid cooling system, but noted that the price, at $1500, was quite high -- even given these positive characteristics. AMD's Never Settle Forever bundle helps to sweeten the deal, since it's worth about $150 at retail...Read more...
It has been almost two years since AMD launched the FirePro W9000 and kicked off a new battle in the workstation GPU wars. Today, we're reviewing the company's FirePro W9100 -- a new card based on the same Hawaii-class GPU as the desktop R9 290 and R9 290X, but aimed at the workstation market and professional...Read more...
It has been almost two years since AMD launched the FirePro W9000 and kicked off a new battle in the workstation GPU wars. Today, we're reviewing the company's FirePro W9100 -- a new card based on the same Hawaii-class GPU as the desktop R9 290 and R9 290X, but aimed at the workstation market and professional consumers. Does...Read more...
SFF (small form factor) rigs can be tricky; depending on the configuration, they can be decent if underpowered machines or performance beasts, and although many system builders are putting out whole lines of the compact computers, you’ve in some cases only been able to configure them so much, often limited by...Read more...
Crytek -- developers of the CryEngine and the hit Crysis series -- is, by all accounts, in significant trouble. Reports of problems are mounting at multiple publications as employees speak out about missed paychecks, layoffs, and multiple staff departing in the wake of non-payment. Eurogamer is reporting that Crytek...Read more...
Sometimes, it's just better to build something yourself - even microprocessors. That's something that Russia proved this week as it was announced that the government would be funding a project to build a custom CPU, codenamed Baikal. The deal is worth "dozens of millions" of dollars, and supercomputer designer...Read more...
According to AMD, there are 3 billion personal computers worldwide and some 30 million servers, and they consume approximately 1% and 1.5% of all energy consumed annually. The cost for all that juice is between $14-$18 billion, and the company believes it can do better--25 times better, actually. AMD is planning to increase the efficiency...Read more...
Turn out the lights, the party's over. Graphics card vendors enjoyed a boost in sales thanks in large part to the Bitcoin mining craze (along with other forms of virtual currency, like Litecoin) that everyone seemed to get caught up in, but the thing about these cryptocurriences is that they're exceedingly difficult...Read more...
Over the past few weeks, I've spent a significant amount of time with Watch Dogs. The game is infamous for not running very well on PCs -- and after some legwork, I've figured out a hefty chunk of the reason why: Ubisoft royally screwed up its suggested VRAM (graphics card frame buffer) settings. Watch Dogs...Read more...
Nothing really pauses for long in the technology industry, and when it comes to microprocessors, that pace of change is typically even more rapid. AMD's keeping things fresh by announcing a few key managerial changes this week, all wrapped up under its "multi-year strategic transformation." In essence, the company is...Read more...
The EU does not fool around when it comes to handing out fines, and it also apparently does not second-guess itself. The European Commission levied a hefty fine of 1.06 billion euro (or roughly $1.44 billion USD) at Intel for anti-competitive practices back in 2009, and after years of legal supplication, the decision...Read more...
One of the ongoing questions around AMD's Mantle API is how much support it would garner in actual shipping titles. True, EA had committed to adding support to the Frostbite engine, but that's the kind of announcement that can be quietly swept under the rug or might be integrated into the engine but with a minimal...Read more...
We've known for several days that EA would unveil a new chapter in the Battlefield universe at E3 2014, but the company has done more than that -- it also launched a surprise beta test for the upcoming Battlefield Hardline. The new game will be an urban cops-and-robbers shootout that drops players into the boots of...Read more...
Earlier this week, AMD's Chief Financial Officer, Devinder Kumar, gave a presentation at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Technology Conference. He covered several aspects of AMD's several year turnaround, its focus on new product strategies, and the company's long-term goal to earn 50% of its revenue from the...Read more...
Small form factor PCs are all the rage these days, and the boutique builders are no exception. Increasingly, companies are looking for ways to push the envelope in terms of what they offer in a compact rig, and to that end Maingear built a liquid-cooled system called the Epic Torq. The system offers closed-loop liquid...Read more...
AMD has had a tough time competing with Intel on the desktop lately, but when it comes to mobile technology, in the notebook arena, performance, value and power efficiency are measured against a very different yardstick. That's not to say that CPU throughput and IPC isn't important in a notebook, not by a long...Read more...
AMD has had a tough time competing with Intel on the desktop lately, but when it comes to mobile technology, in the notebook arena, performance, value and power efficiency are measured against a very different yardstick. That's not to say that CPU throughput and IPC isn't important in a notebook, not by a long shot, but multimedia...Read more...
Zotac is busy on the mini PC front, and the company has a quartet of the little buggers to show off at Computex. The four fanless systems all bear the C-Series moniker and run either AMD A6 APUs or Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 chips. “Many users demand a completely silent PC for audio production, video and audio editing, content playback...Read more...
Ubisoft’s “Watch Dogs” has been a hotly anticipated title--a franchise, even--and both AMD and NVIDIA are releasing graphics drivers for the game’s release. This game is a demanding one, to be sure. NVIDIA says that minimum requirements include an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 (2.66 GHz) or AMD...Read more...
Over the past nine months, we've seen the beginnings of a revolution in how video games are displayed. First, Nvidia demoed G-Sync, its proprietary technology for ensuring smooth frame delivery. Then AMD demoed its own free standard, dubbed FreeSync, that showed a similar technology. Now, VESA (Video Electronics...Read more...
CyberPowerPC isn’t the only boutique gaming PC maker building tiny PCs this week. iBuypower announced a new rig of its own called the HEXA Ultra Compact Performance System, which is available in both Intel and AMD flavors. On the Intel side, the HEXA will come with the Intel Core i7-4770R with Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics while the AMD...Read more...
The SFF gaming PC craze is in full swing, and CyberPowerPC has lent the “Fang” moniker to a pair of the little beasts. The company is rolling out the Fang Mini R9 (which is based on an AMD platform) and the Fang Mini Pro (which is based on Intel), both of which are available today. How small is small? The...Read more...