PCOMPUTEX.BLOGSPOT.COM: August 2008

Sunday, August 10, 2008

BEST VGA CARD 2008

HIS Radeon HD3870x2 (1GB Memory)

by Dean Barker (1/28/2008)

Introduction

ATi has been playing catch up to NVidia for a while for the performance crown. They obviously have been getting tired of that with today's official release of their next gen card. The Radeon HD3870x2 Card shoehorns two HD3870 GPUs onto one card with each core having 512MB of memory. One gig of onboard memory total... You gotta love the way that rolls off your tongue. Let's say it again, one gig of onboard memory. Dual GPUs are nothing new. NVidia released the GeForce 7950 GX2 a while back except the NVidia GX2 had two PCB boards with a GPU on each. ATi has a much cleaner look with both GPUs being on one PCB.

The Radeon HD3870x2 was originally slated for release on January 23 but that was postponed due to "driver issues" until today, the 28th. This seems odd as there has not been a driver update since the 8.1 Catalyst release on the 16th of this month. A street price is uncertain at present but I'm guessing from tid bits here and there and the card's positioning for it to be in the $500 range. That seems to suggest that the Radeon HD3870x2 is quite a card.

HIS continues to be a premier ATi partner and as such has supplied us with a sample of the Radeon HD3870x2. With the card's official release being today it is in reference design trim not having the benefit of HIS's near famous IceQ3 Cooler or factory overclock. I'm sure they are tweaking this card at their factory now to find how much farther they can push the performance. Until then, let's see what the reference Radeon HD3870x2 packs under the hood.

Specifications

Graphics Engine: Dual ATi Radeon HD3870 (R680)

Interface: PCI-Express

Engine Clock: 825MHz

Memory Clock: 1800MHz

Memory Type/Size: GDDR3/1GB

Memory Interface: 2 x 256-bit

Stream Processing Units: 640 (2 x 320

Max Resolution: 2560x1600

VGA Output: Yes with adapter

TV-Out: HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out

Built in HDMI and 5.1 surround audio

ATi AVIVO HD video and display technology

Unified Video Decoder (UVD) for Blue-Ray and HD DVD

DVI: two ports

Native CrossfireX support

What you get

A nice round out of cables and adapters comes with the HIS Radeon HD3870x2 to allow end users full functionality for HDTV options. Aside from the card, we find a driver CD, a DVI to HDMI adapter, two DVI to VGA adapters, HD Component Out, Installation guide, CrossfireX bridge, HIS' hip little pocket screwdriver with level and LED light along with an HIS case badge.

Pg 1 - Introduction
Pg 2 - The Card
Pg 3 - Operation / Temperature / Test Bed
Pg 4 - Crysis / NFS: Pro Street
Pg 5 - STALKER / Image Quality / Overclocking
Pg 6 - Conclusion

POSTING BY

http://www.overclockercafe.com/

Friday, August 8, 2008

ACER ASPIRE ONE

Computex Acer has launched its Eee PC wannabe, the Aspire One, pitching the product to Brits at just £199 including VAT - even though it's "not a low-cost notebook", according to the company.

The One's specs largely match those of its rivals: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor; 512MB of 533MHz DDR 2 memory with a single SO-Dimm slot for more; and an 8.9in, 1024 x 600, 262,000-colour LED-backlit display. There's a 0.3-megapixel webcam in the screen bezel.

Acer's Aspire One: Eee-beating price?

As per usual with Small, Cheap Computers™, the One comes with a choice of Linux or Windows XP Home. The former is fitted with 8GB of solid-state storage, while the XP model packs an 80GB hard drive, a higher price and a lower battery life.

Under XP, expect two-and-a-half hours out of the standard, three-cell battery, or five hours if you buy an optional six-cell power pack. Run Linux instead of XP, and those numbers rise to three hours and seven hours, respectively, Acer said.

The One uses Intel's 945GSE chipset, so it's got HD audio on board and basic 3D graphics support. The machine has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and 10/100Mb/s Ethernet for networking, three USB 2.0 ports, 3.5mm audio sockets and VGA - again par for the SCC™ course.

Smooth

However, the One has two memory card readers: one for SDHC that's intended as a storage booster, and a separate multi-format reader for data transfer. The former is presented as a single file system integrated with the main drive - clearly, Acer expects Linux users to load the slot up with a big SD card and keep it there.

The One contains two Mini PCI slots, one for the Wi-Fi and a second to take upcoming optional HSDPA or WiMax modules. The HSDPA unit runs at up to 3.6Mb/s, but Acer said it will be upgradeable to 7.2Mb/s and 2Mb/s HSUPA soon.

The battery life may be weak, but there's no arguing with the One's price: £199 for the Linux version and £299 for the XP model. It'll be made available - later this month - in a choice of blue or white, with pink, red and black models following down the line.