Items tagged with Ion 2
Asus is the netbook king. Does anyone deny it? The company's Eee PC line has been around for as long as the term "netbook" has been around, and while computer fads come and go, the Eee PC line keeps right on growing. The "Seashell" group has been joined by another member today, with Asus introducing the Eee PC 1015PN as their latest miniature notebook. It's a familiar 10.1" form factor, with other specifications including a 10.1" display, 1024x600 resolution, NVIDIA Ion 2 next-gen graphics, 1GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive and Intel's dual-core Atom N550. This is also an Optimus enabled machine, which means that it can switch between discrete graphics and integrated graphics without rebooting...
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Around seven months ago, we were able to review one of the more advanced netbooks out at the time, the Eee PC 1201N. It was one of the first netbooks to integrate a graphics chip known as the NVIDIA Ion. The Eee PC 1201PN retains many of the same features and nearly the exact same form factor as the original, but it utilizes the next-generation of Ion (we'll call it Ion 2 throughout), which is based on a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 210M GPU. But have the minor hardware upgrades and the Ion 2 chip made this machine powerful enough to warrant an upgrade if you purchased an older netbook with Atom and the first generation Ion under its hood? Or is this yet another marginal upgrade that is probably...
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It's been said for years by industry veterans: a lot can happen in a very short window of time when you're dealing with technology. As soon as one piece of cutting-edge tech makes it to market, the next big thing is just days, weeks or months away. In the netbook realm, that hasn't applied as much. Netbooks haven't evolved nearly as quickly as desktop and standard notebooks are evolving these days, largely because of just how difficult it is to create chips that have low power consumption and reasonable thermal characteristics, coupled with improved performance. There's also the issue of cost: netbooks are priced at rock-bottom, leaving little room for chip makers to innovate or integrate,...
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When NVIDIA switched from ION to ION-NG, it swapped from including an entire chipset over to a GPU. At the time, NV noted that some third-party manufacturers might opt to offer stand-alone products based on the second-generation ION GPU, and at least one company is doing so. Zotac, already known as a company with a wide line of ION-based products, is now selling what it calls an ION GPU-A-E. The card features 16 shader cores and 512MB of DDR3, but its memory interface is just 64-bits wide. That was considered decidedly non-optimal ten years ago; it's positively anemic today. The card's x1 slot is also restricted to version 1.1 of the PCI-Express standard, which means a maximum of 200MB/s of bandwidth....
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Zotac announced its upcoming next-generation-based Ion system at the beginning of March and has firmed up its launch plans and final system price. The ZBox (model number HD-ID11) is going to be a bit more expensive than what we were initially quoted; instead of $209.99, the ZBox will sell for $239.99. That's still significantly lower than the Zotac MAG HD-ND01 we reviewed (and liked) last winter; it's only $5 more than the lower-end HD-NS01 which is selling for $235.99 at Newegg after a $25 manufacturer rebate. It's important to remember that the Zbox is not a direct update to the MAG products. The two series use the same chassis, but the feature sets are different. The two MAG systems currently...
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Ever since NVIDIA's original ION chipset proved it was possible to pair Intel's low-power Atom processor to a relatively powerful graphics core and attain acceptable multimedia performance, the market has been curious as to what NVIDIA's Ion 2 Next-Generation Ion product might offer. This has also been a topic of some discussion between Intel, NVIDIA, and the FTC. Because Intel's next-generation Atom platform is a system-on-chip (SoC), NVIDIA had to adjust its own plans for NG-Ion.NVIDIA ION 2 Preview, Optimus Enabled...
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Ever since NVIDIA's original ION chipset proved it was possible to pair Intel's low-power Atom processor to a relatively powerful graphics core and attain acceptable multimedia performance, the market has been curious as to what NVIDIA's Ion 2 Next-Generation Ion product might offer. This has also been a topic of some discussion between Intel, NVIDIA, and the FTC. Because Intel's next-generation Atom platform is a system-on-chip (SoC), NVIDIA had to adjust its own plans for NG-Ion. That's Ion on the left, NG-Ion on the right. Parse the diagram and you'll soon realize that NG-Ion is a discrete GPU, unlike its predecessor. Specifically, it looks to be a low-power, netbook...
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Shuttle is primarily known in the PC industry for their small form factor (SFF) PCs. These tiny boxes are still mighty potent, and they're usually geared towards LAN party gamers who don't want to be bothered with taking their full-size rigs on the road. But as with most every other computer maker, Shuttle is evolving, and as the demands shift, production shifts as well. Announced this week is an all new form factor from Shuttle, one that looks nothing like the rectangular gamer boxes that have made them famous. The Shuttle Barebone XS35 is just 3.3cm thick, making it small enough for just about any application. It could be a perfect carputer, or you could install it behind your flat panel as...
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With CES scheduled to begin in just two days, NVIDIA has begun publicly hinting about the technology it plans to display at the trade show this year. According to a recent blog post, the company will showcase a new mobile technology under the "Optimus" brand name. Details are scarce; the blog only states the following: "NVIDIA Optimus technology works on notebook platforms with NVIDIA GPUs. It is unique to NVIDIA. It is seamless and transparent to the user. Its purpose is to optimize the mobile experience by letting the user get the performance of discrete graphics from a notebook while still delivering great battery life. Look for more details next month." That's quite vague, even by the standards...
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Mac users represent a small percentage of computer users--about three percent worldwide. But if Mac sales are any indication--up 51 percent in the last year--the number of Mac users are growing rapidly. One of the reasons for this is that all new Macs can also run Windows, allowing users to have access to both operating systems simultaneously via virtualization software.There are several options available for those who want to run Windows on their Macs. Apple's Boot Camp software, which comes with OS X 10.5 (Leopard), sets up a Windows partition so the system can boot directly into the native Windows OS. This way offers the highest level of Windows compatibility and performance, but precludes...
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Last year, we had the pleasure of taking a look at Dell's flagship Inspiron XPS M1710 notebook. Taking into account the top-notch components, excellent build quality, and best-of-class performance, we awarded the system our coveted Editor's Choice award. Dell has since returned to market with a minor refresh of the award-winning XPS M1710 and they're aiming to build upon their successes in the DTR (desktop replacement notebook) market. In terms of aesthetics, the revised XPS M1710 is identical to the system we previously reviewed. Given the quality finish and unique appearance of the system, this is certainly not a bad thing. In order to truly appreciate...
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Sony Lowers Price of PlayStation 2 to $129.99 FOSTER CITY, Calif., April 20 -- Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. today announced that it has made its PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system more affordable than ever throughout North America. Effective immediately, consumers can purchase the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system for a suggested retail price (SRP) of $129.99/$139.99 CND. The company expects this latest price move to fuel consumer demand even further. PlayStation 2 is the most popular gaming platform in North America, Europe/PAL territories and Japan/Asia, the only gaming platform to enjoy such widespread global success. To date, more than 101 million PlayStation...
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Hey folks, I'm just here to drop off the news. Goodnight all! Intel Files Response To AMD Complaint SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 1, 2005 - Intel Corporation today filed its response to a lawsuit recently initiated by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) regarding Intel's business practices. In the response, Intel refutes AMD's claims and states that its business practices are both fair and lawful. The Intel response explains that AMD's claims are factually incorrect and contradictory. In addition, AMD's complaint -- by attempting to impede Intel's ability to lower its prices -- would hurt consumers, not help them. "Innovation, investment, customer focus and great products have led to Intel's...
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Hot Hardware's How Much Ya Bench? - Version 2.0 Pentium !!! Coppermine 800 On The i820 Platform April 17, 2000 - By Dave Altavilla Over the past few months Intel has been releasing a myriad of processors covering all ends of the performance spectrum. Never before has the end user had so many options to choose from with respect to what host processor will be driving their systems. Whether you opt for Celeron, Pentium!!!, or Xeon, you will also have a host of flavors to choose from within that processor subset. The widest selection ever of Packages, Cache and Clock Speeds are available to choose from, regardless of your requirements. In our...
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