EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Published by Codrut Nistor, on June 17th, 2008, in the categories: Video Cards
Tired of your old video card? When talking about video cards, it seems "old" means less time with each year that passes, even less. Recently, NVIDIA and ATI are releasing new video card generations at a rate that's absolutely insane, and only a small part of the large computer users crowd can keep up with this. The good part is that, for most people, buying a card that was high-end less than a year ago becomes more and more affordable, and today I will tell you about the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB, an excellent addition to any average gaming computer.
When looking at the NVIDIA 8800 cards available, we have the 8800 GT, the more powerful 8800 GTS and 8800 GTX, and the "king of the hill," the (once) almighty 8800 Ultra. The catch is that while the 8800 GT delivers outstanding gaming performance for everyone, the 8800 GTX and Ultra have a much lower performance/price ratio, so that's why I have chosen this card today. Regarding the producer, I am sure that, for most of you, EVGA needs no introduction, and for the others, it's enough to say that you'll get lifetime warranty for any card you buy from them!
Ok, so what's so special about the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB, after all? Obviously, there's the lifetime warranty, and the reliability backed up by it, but other than these two, you'll get a video card based on the NVIDIA 8800 GT reference design, powered by the G92 GPU, of course.
Using the world's first PCI Express 2.0 GPU, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB has a GPU clocked at 600MHz, 512MB of DDR3 memory running at 1.8GHz, with a 256 bit bus, 112 stream processors, and a bandwidth of no less than 57.6GB/s.
When talking about support for latest technologies, I am sure you'll be just fine with DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0, OpenGL 2.0, as well as the chance of setting up two of these cards in a SLI configuration. Even more, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB features NVIDIA's Quantum Effects technology for physics processing, as well as the second generation PureVideo HD technology, able to greatly enhance HD video.
If you want to use two monitors on this card, there's no problem, because the Dual DVI-I connectors are all you need. As most cards manufactured in the last year, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB was labelled as "built for Microsoft Windows Vista," but that's not the best part of it...
At last, you should know that these cards have a very good overclocking potential, and the price is simply amazing, because you can find the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB for prices as low as $159, and there is still enough room for them to become even cheaper, with the NVIDIA 9xxx series unleashed on all fronts!
When looking at the NVIDIA 8800 cards available, we have the 8800 GT, the more powerful 8800 GTS and 8800 GTX, and the "king of the hill," the (once) almighty 8800 Ultra. The catch is that while the 8800 GT delivers outstanding gaming performance for everyone, the 8800 GTX and Ultra have a much lower performance/price ratio, so that's why I have chosen this card today. Regarding the producer, I am sure that, for most of you, EVGA needs no introduction, and for the others, it's enough to say that you'll get lifetime warranty for any card you buy from them!
Ok, so what's so special about the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB, after all? Obviously, there's the lifetime warranty, and the reliability backed up by it, but other than these two, you'll get a video card based on the NVIDIA 8800 GT reference design, powered by the G92 GPU, of course.
Using the world's first PCI Express 2.0 GPU, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB has a GPU clocked at 600MHz, 512MB of DDR3 memory running at 1.8GHz, with a 256 bit bus, 112 stream processors, and a bandwidth of no less than 57.6GB/s.
When talking about support for latest technologies, I am sure you'll be just fine with DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0, OpenGL 2.0, as well as the chance of setting up two of these cards in a SLI configuration. Even more, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB features NVIDIA's Quantum Effects technology for physics processing, as well as the second generation PureVideo HD technology, able to greatly enhance HD video.
If you want to use two monitors on this card, there's no problem, because the Dual DVI-I connectors are all you need. As most cards manufactured in the last year, the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB was labelled as "built for Microsoft Windows Vista," but that's not the best part of it...
At last, you should know that these cards have a very good overclocking potential, and the price is simply amazing, because you can find the EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB for prices as low as $159, and there is still enough room for them to become even cheaper, with the NVIDIA 9xxx series unleashed on all fronts!
NVIDIA GT200
Published by Codrut Nistor, on June 16th, 2008, in the categories: Video Cards
I am sure that soon, we'll be able to play Crysis in full graphics glory on our 37-inch LCDs, but that moment has not arrived yet. I don't know why, but I can feel the ATI HD4xxx series will blow NVIDIA away... Anyway, don't take that for granted - it's just my wild guess. Until then, we have two new graphics monsters from NVIDIA, released earlier today - the GTX260 and the GTX280!
While the G80 chip has 128 shader processors and 681 million transistors, the new GT200 comes with no less than 1.4 billion transistors and 192/240(GTX260/GX280) processing units. The interesting part is that these enthusiast-level graphics cards will eat up to 182/236 watts, which is pretty impressive, but wait until we get to the technical specifications!
Oook, here you go: GTX280 - 1296 MHz core, 1107 MHz memory, 1024 MB memory capacity, and 933 GFlops processing power, no less than 80% more than the 8800 GTX (518 GFlops); GTX260 - 1242 MHz core, 999 MHz memory and 896 MB of memory. To make things even more interesting, both the GTX260 and GTX280 support 3-way SLI configurations!
Expected to become available starting June 26 for $399 MSRP(GTX260) and $649(GTX280), the graphics cards integrating these two GPUs will surely deal a blow to the 9800 GX2 and AMD's HD 3870 X2, but that's only true for those looking to get highest performance possible, without looking at the price. "Bang per buck"-wise, there are plenty of better solutions allowing you to play the latest games without problems.
While the G80 chip has 128 shader processors and 681 million transistors, the new GT200 comes with no less than 1.4 billion transistors and 192/240(GTX260/GX280) processing units. The interesting part is that these enthusiast-level graphics cards will eat up to 182/236 watts, which is pretty impressive, but wait until we get to the technical specifications!
Oook, here you go: GTX280 - 1296 MHz core, 1107 MHz memory, 1024 MB memory capacity, and 933 GFlops processing power, no less than 80% more than the 8800 GTX (518 GFlops); GTX260 - 1242 MHz core, 999 MHz memory and 896 MB of memory. To make things even more interesting, both the GTX260 and GTX280 support 3-way SLI configurations!
Expected to become available starting June 26 for $399 MSRP(GTX260) and $649(GTX280), the graphics cards integrating these two GPUs will surely deal a blow to the 9800 GX2 and AMD's HD 3870 X2, but that's only true for those looking to get highest performance possible, without looking at the price. "Bang per buck"-wise, there are plenty of better solutions allowing you to play the latest games without problems.
AMD+Intel
Published by Codrut Nistor, on June 16th, 2008, in the categories: News
Despite the fact AMD is being owned by Intel when it comes to desktop processors, it's good to see they are still able to work together. How's that? Well, AMD and Havok, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corp. said they are working together to optimize the Havok physics engine for AMD's processors, as well as trying to do the same thing for the ATI GPUs. Challenging enough?
According to Rick Bergman, AMD's senior vice president and general manager of graphics products group, "As the complexity and visual fidelity of video games increases, AMD wants to take advantage of opportunities to improve the game experience. By working with the clear market leader in physics software, AMD can optimize our platforms to consistently deliver the best possible visual experience to the gamer."
While planning to optimize all Havok technologies for AMD x86 superscalar processors, AMD and Havok are also into using the ATI Radeon GPUs to get closer to various aspects of real-world physics simulation in the future.
What about Ageia? Well, their legacy remains with NVIDIA, and by 2010, I am sure we'll see fights over the physics acceleration field between NVIDIA and AMD & Havok.
Before being acquired by Intel, Havok was working on a physics engine called Havok FX, able to work directly with GPUs for performing physics calculations, but that project was stopped since then. According to Davio O'Meara, Havok's managing director, "The feedback that we consistently receive from leading game developers is that core game play simulation should be performed on CPU cores. The clear priority of game developers is performance and scalability on of the CPU. Beyond core simulation, however, the capabilities of massively parallel products offer technical possibilities for computing certain types of simulation. We look forward to working with AMD to explore these possibilities."
It's always good to see there is a way for enemies to work together, although this is not as interesting as Intel and AMD working together on a CPU, for example(yeah, right!).
According to Rick Bergman, AMD's senior vice president and general manager of graphics products group, "As the complexity and visual fidelity of video games increases, AMD wants to take advantage of opportunities to improve the game experience. By working with the clear market leader in physics software, AMD can optimize our platforms to consistently deliver the best possible visual experience to the gamer."
While planning to optimize all Havok technologies for AMD x86 superscalar processors, AMD and Havok are also into using the ATI Radeon GPUs to get closer to various aspects of real-world physics simulation in the future.
What about Ageia? Well, their legacy remains with NVIDIA, and by 2010, I am sure we'll see fights over the physics acceleration field between NVIDIA and AMD & Havok.
Before being acquired by Intel, Havok was working on a physics engine called Havok FX, able to work directly with GPUs for performing physics calculations, but that project was stopped since then. According to Davio O'Meara, Havok's managing director, "The feedback that we consistently receive from leading game developers is that core game play simulation should be performed on CPU cores. The clear priority of game developers is performance and scalability on of the CPU. Beyond core simulation, however, the capabilities of massively parallel products offer technical possibilities for computing certain types of simulation. We look forward to working with AMD to explore these possibilities."
It's always good to see there is a way for enemies to work together, although this is not as interesting as Intel and AMD working together on a CPU, for example(yeah, right!).
LG GGC-H20L
Published by Codrut Nistor, on June 12th, 2008, in the categories: Optical Drives
No matter what brand we are talking about, I must say I am disappointed with most optical drives available on the market today. Of course, I wasn't able to try them all, but it seems the lifespan of these devices is much shorter than before(one of my friends still has a Teac 8X CD writer, and after more than 8 years and burning probably more than 5000 discs, it still works like a charm), according to my own experiences, and those of my friends. Anyway, today I have to tell you a few things about the LG GGC-H20L, a Blu-ray/HD DVD Combo Drive that can be a useful upgrade from that DVD writer most of us have at this time. Unfortunately, I can't tell you how well is going to work this drive in 2012, but probably most of its current and soon-to-be users will change it in the meantime. Ooook, so let's see what do we have here...
We all know the HD DVD format lost the war, but there are still plenty of HD DVD discs around, so why not be able to use the best of both high end formats - the Blu-ray and HD DVD? That's exactly what the LG GGC-H20L allows you to do, apart from using the good old CDs and DVDs, of course. Its main drawback may be the fact that it can't burn Blu-ray and HD DVD, but you can't have them all, after all...can you?
Using the SATA interface, the LG GGC-H20L has a 4MB buffer and the following performance specifications:
Read Speed
DVD-ROM Read: 16x, Max
DVD-RAM Read: 5x, Max
CD-ROM Read: 40x, Max
BD-ROM/R (SL) Read: 6x, Max
BD-ROM/R (DL) Read: 4.8x, Max
BD-RE (SL/DL) Read: 2x, Max
HD DVD-ROM (SL) Read: 3x
HD DVD-ROM (DL) Read: 3x
Write Speed
DVD+R Write: 16x
DVD+RW Write: 8x
DVD+R DL Write: 4x
DVD-R Write: 16x
DVD-RW Write: 6x
DVD-R DL Write: 4x
DVD-RAM Write: 5x
CD-R Write: 40x
CD-RW Write: 24x
Access Time:
BD-ROM: 180ms
HD DVD-ROM: 210ms
DVD: 160ms
CD: 150ms
The writing modes supported for DVD discs include Disc-At-Once, Incremental Recording, Restricted Overwriting, Sequential Recording and Random Recording, while CDs can be burned using Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once or
Packet Recording (fixed & variable).
The LG GGC-H20L supports both 80 and 120 mm discs, and the list of supported disc formats for writing is pretty long, including DVD+R DL 8.5GB, DVD+R 4.7GB, DVD+RW 4.7GB, DVD-R DL: 8.5GB, DVD-R 4.7GB, DVD-RAM, DVD-Video, as well as CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-Extra or CD-Text.
Having 146 x 41.3 x 185 mm without bezel, and a weight of 870g, the LG GGC-H20L offers good all-around performance, and apart from not being able to burn Blu-ray and HD DVDs, as I mentioned above, has only another (minor, for most of us) drawback - the fact that it does not allow Bitsetting of DVD+RW media.
At last, I should add a very strong argument for considering the LG GGC-H20L is its price - for under $200, you get a drive capable of reading both Blu-ray and HD DVD media, as well as burning CD and DVD discs. What else can you ask, for its price?
We all know the HD DVD format lost the war, but there are still plenty of HD DVD discs around, so why not be able to use the best of both high end formats - the Blu-ray and HD DVD? That's exactly what the LG GGC-H20L allows you to do, apart from using the good old CDs and DVDs, of course. Its main drawback may be the fact that it can't burn Blu-ray and HD DVD, but you can't have them all, after all...can you?
Using the SATA interface, the LG GGC-H20L has a 4MB buffer and the following performance specifications:
Read Speed
DVD-ROM Read: 16x, Max
DVD-RAM Read: 5x, Max
CD-ROM Read: 40x, Max
BD-ROM/R (SL) Read: 6x, Max
BD-ROM/R (DL) Read: 4.8x, Max
BD-RE (SL/DL) Read: 2x, Max
HD DVD-ROM (SL) Read: 3x
HD DVD-ROM (DL) Read: 3x
Write Speed
DVD+R Write: 16x
DVD+RW Write: 8x
DVD+R DL Write: 4x
DVD-R Write: 16x
DVD-RW Write: 6x
DVD-R DL Write: 4x
DVD-RAM Write: 5x
CD-R Write: 40x
CD-RW Write: 24x
Access Time:
BD-ROM: 180ms
HD DVD-ROM: 210ms
DVD: 160ms
CD: 150ms
The writing modes supported for DVD discs include Disc-At-Once, Incremental Recording, Restricted Overwriting, Sequential Recording and Random Recording, while CDs can be burned using Track-at-Once, Disc-at-Once, Session-at-Once or
Packet Recording (fixed & variable).
The LG GGC-H20L supports both 80 and 120 mm discs, and the list of supported disc formats for writing is pretty long, including DVD+R DL 8.5GB, DVD+R 4.7GB, DVD+RW 4.7GB, DVD-R DL: 8.5GB, DVD-R 4.7GB, DVD-RAM, DVD-Video, as well as CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-Extra or CD-Text.
Having 146 x 41.3 x 185 mm without bezel, and a weight of 870g, the LG GGC-H20L offers good all-around performance, and apart from not being able to burn Blu-ray and HD DVDs, as I mentioned above, has only another (minor, for most of us) drawback - the fact that it does not allow Bitsetting of DVD+RW media.
At last, I should add a very strong argument for considering the LG GGC-H20L is its price - for under $200, you get a drive capable of reading both Blu-ray and HD DVD media, as well as burning CD and DVD discs. What else can you ask, for its price?
Fastest Computer On Earth
Published by Codrut Nistor, on June 10th, 2008, in the categories: News
"Fastest computer on earth" is a very interesting topic, because every time I think that fastest computer available on this planet about two decades ago was slower than my desktop computer I have now I get chills down my spine. The most interesting part is that after I found out about the new supercomputer holding the crown, I got some serious chills, because I don't know if I'll ever have that amount of processing power on my desk, and I am not planning to leave this world anytime soon. Now, let's leave my thoughts aside and see some of the technical specifications of the fastest computer on earth, shall we?
Pictured above, the IBM Roadrunner is currently the fastest computer on earth, and it got this label earlier this week, when it reached the performance level it was designed for, exactly 1.026 petaflops! This computer was built for the US Department of Energy, and it consists of almost 6,500 AMD Opteron dual core processors and almost 13,000 IBM PowerXCell 8i CPUs, all packed in TriBlades that are connected by Infiniband.
Using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS, the Roadrunner covers almost 12,000 square feet (1,100 square meters), and each of the TriBlades I mentioned above has four Opteron cores, four PowerXCell 8i CPUs, 16 GB Opteron and 16 GB Cell RAM. Not that impressive, after all... but if we go up, we'll end up with the final cluster, having the following configuration:
- 6,480 dual-core Opterons with 51.8 TB RAM (in 3,240 LS21 blades)
- 12,960 Cell cores with 51.8 TB RAM (in 6,480 QS22 blades)
- 216 System x3655 I/O nodes
- 26 288-port ISR2012 Infiniband 4x DDR switches
- 296 racks
Say whaaat? Now, that's what I can really call a supercomputer! In fact, it's the fastest computer on earth, so this is the ultimate computing machine, not "just another IBM mainframe."
Pictured above, the IBM Roadrunner is currently the fastest computer on earth, and it got this label earlier this week, when it reached the performance level it was designed for, exactly 1.026 petaflops! This computer was built for the US Department of Energy, and it consists of almost 6,500 AMD Opteron dual core processors and almost 13,000 IBM PowerXCell 8i CPUs, all packed in TriBlades that are connected by Infiniband.
Using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS, the Roadrunner covers almost 12,000 square feet (1,100 square meters), and each of the TriBlades I mentioned above has four Opteron cores, four PowerXCell 8i CPUs, 16 GB Opteron and 16 GB Cell RAM. Not that impressive, after all... but if we go up, we'll end up with the final cluster, having the following configuration:
- 6,480 dual-core Opterons with 51.8 TB RAM (in 3,240 LS21 blades)
- 12,960 Cell cores with 51.8 TB RAM (in 6,480 QS22 blades)
- 216 System x3655 I/O nodes
- 26 288-port ISR2012 Infiniband 4x DDR switches
- 296 racks
Say whaaat? Now, that's what I can really call a supercomputer! In fact, it's the fastest computer on earth, so this is the ultimate computing machine, not "just another IBM mainframe."
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