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Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

Posted at 15:48 by Alex Watson with 19 comments

Well, this time it's real - probably. Nvidia PR man Brian Burke just posted a picture of a Ferm-based graphics card - which he called the GeForce 100 - on Twitter.

In the tweet, Burke says it's running the "Unigine Heaven" DX11 benchmark.

Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

Here it is!

You may now commence your speculations about how it will stack up against the new Radeon HD 5970.

And speaking of Twitter, don't forget you should follow bit-tech!

Written on 18th November 2009
Tags directx 11, fermi, gpu, hardware, nvidia

Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Posted at 18:17 by Podcast with 9 comments

We're back with another Hardware Podcast - so good it's spelled in capitals. Rich, Harry and Clive get together to talk about all the hot (and just power-efficient) hardware of the last fortnight. Tune in to hear what we think of Intel's Atom (clue - it's not very good, is it?) VIA's new Nano processor and news on what Intel's up to.

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Written on 5th November 2009
Tags 965, alienware, amd, c3 stepping, cpus, dream pcs, hardware, i7 930, i9, intel, m17x, podcast, processors, six-core, via nano, windows 7

Hardware Podcast 6 – Nvidia has a Fermi, snigger, and the new F3 is epic

Posted at 19:35 by Podcast with 10 comments

The sixth Hardware podcast sees Antony, Clive, Harry and Rich chat about all the latest hardware goings on. Discussed in the episode is Nvidia’s new GPU architecture, Fermi. Yes, yes, Nvidia’s got a Fermi – stop sniggering at the back!

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Written on 8th October 2009
Tags buyers guide, competition, discussion, f3, fermi, hardware, nvidia, podcast, prize, samsung, spinpoint, ssd, win, zeno clash

Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

Posted at 17:32 by Podcast with 12 comments

The fifth (or first) Hardware Podcast sees the chaps talk about Intel's Core i5 and i7 LGA1156 processors and they're stupid naming convention. And discuss why maybe it won't seem so stupid in a few month's time. Also up for debate is the HD 5870, the Asus Mars graphics card and Nvidia's odd drivers.

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Written on 24th September 2009
Tags asus mars, branding, core i5, hardware, hd 5870, lga1156, podcast, vision, windows 7

The CoolIT Domino ALC: low cost liquid cooling still has problems

Posted at 11:21 by Richard Swinburne with 35 comments

Since several Domino ALCs found their way to the bit-tech labs, I for one have been using them extensively. CoolIT claimed the cooling and price are comparable with the ThermalRight Ultra Extreme except with fewer compatibility issues as the ALC's water block will never interfere with any memory or heatsinks around the CPU socket, and it'll cool anything thrown at it. It's a sealed system - there's no taking it apart and CoolIT reckons it'll last several years before needing a refill - "with constantly upgradable mounting brackets, you'll never need another CPU cooler", it boldly claims.

I took these claims literally, but despite impressive first discussions, things have gone downhill at almost every turn. In no particular order, here are my experiences...

Written on 29th April 2009
Tags akasa, domino alc, fail, hardware, liquid cooling, mirage, upgrading

80Plus Gold - this year's fad in the PSU industry

Posted at 15:09 by Richard Swinburne with 2 comments

Last year we had 12V DC-DC at CeBIT and then 80Plus Silver at Computex, but this year CeBIT is awash with companies showing off 80Plus Gold parts due out in the next few months. Gold is an efficiency standard of 87 to 91 percent, with a 0.9 PFC across the whole range, whereas Silver was only a few stops shorter at 85 to 87 percent.

We have spoken to almost every major PSU manufacturer to discuss what they see in 80Plus Gold: if it’s important or just a marketing fad for the industry.

Written on 12th March 2009
Tags 80plus, fad, gold, hardware, power supply, psu

Nvidia's Hybrid SLI technology no longer matters

Posted at 13:39 by Tim Smalley with 5 comments

One of those technologies that showed so much promise, but delivered so little last year was Nvidia's Hybrid SLI technology. We covered this in quite a lot of depth even before the actual products arrived. And when they did arrive, they weren't exactly brilliant.

To me, the most interesting part of Hybrid SLI was in fact Hybrid Power, which would essentially allow gamers to switch off their power hungry graphics cards when they weren't being used for gaming or GPU computing and instead use a more power-efficient integrated GPU to drive your display. And it was the one reason to introduce the GeForce 9800-series because a number of the cards in that line up were simply re-hashed G92 based GeForce 8-series products that featured Hybrid Power technology.

Ever since Nvision ended a massive bombshell, where Nvidia announced that it was to open SLI out to Intel's X58 chipset, we've been wondering where Hybrid SLI - and in particular Hybrid Power - stood in the DIY market today. We managed to get some answers that shed a lot more light on Nvidia's plans for the technology than our previous attempts where the water wasn't left quite as clear.

Written on 26th February 2009
Tags hardware, hybrid power, hybrid sli, nforce, nvidia

What else do we need?

Posted at 16:18 by Richard Swinburne with 19 comments

What else can motherboard manufacturers do to increase the features and sell us new things?

We've got plenty of everything these days: SATA, USB, Gigabit Ethernet, HD sound - it's all "good enough". Motherboard manufacturers are stretching to include energy efficiency wherever they can, and more recently, extreme overclocking and cool designs to draw people into upgrading but for the most part the core hardware levels have remained the same for several years. We're still looking at six to eight USB on the rear I/O, six SATA (sometimes more) on the board and a couple of Gigabit Ethernet sockets.

What have northbridges become? Nothing much - what more can you do with PCI-Express? We've hit two/three/four lanes of x16 or x8 at a squillion MT/s and it's now all pretty normal.

Written on 10th February 2009
Tags efficiency, energy, gaming, hardware, motherboard, netbook, sata, usb

Intel to release Core i7 975, new D0 stepping soon?

Posted at 15:21 by Tim Smalley with 2 comments

Although most of the world is hurting right now because of the economic slowdown, Intel looks set to release a new high-end Core i7 processor in the coming weeks or months following some early benchmark results which have appeared on the Xtreme Systems forums.

Intel to release Core i7 975, new D0 stepping soon? Intel to release Core i7 975, new D0 stepping soon

Xtreme Systems honcho Charles 'Fugger' Wirth teamed up with Corsair, Gigabyte and Intel to break the 3DMark05 world record, stealing it back from Team Finland, who put AMD back on top in this benchmark for the first time in a long time. He broke the previous record of 45,474 with his pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2s humming along at their stock speeds and clocked up a new highest score of 47,026.

Written on 3rd February 2009
Tags core i7, hardware, intel, overclocking, world record

So, I built my new gaming machine last night

Posted at 12:55 by Tim Smalley with 33 comments

I've been wanting to build my new PC for some time now because I've been having my fair share of issues over the past few months, but it's not as new as many of you would expect. I've been running a quad-core processor since 2006 and I haven't felt the need to upgrade it yet, even though Intel has now released its true successor, Core i7.

I'm still running a QX6700 and this is the third system upgrade the same processor has gone through. I guess it's a testament for how forward looking Intel's quad-core processors were - performance enhancements came with the 45nm Penryn core and then there's even more performance available with a Core i7, but I'm more than happy with how much performance there is on tap with my QX6700.

So, I built my new gaming machine last night So I built my new PC last night

I've merely upgraded some parts of my system that were either on their last legs or just getting a bit long in the tooth.

Written on 2nd February 2009
Tags gaming, gaming machine, hardware, system upgrade, windows 7

Archive for the ‘hardware’ tag

Nvidia posts picture of a real Fermi card

Hardware 8 - Many CPUs, Dream PCs and mobile gaming

Hardware Podcast 6 – Nvidia has a Fermi, snigger, and the new F3 is epic

Hardware Podcast 5 - Core i5 and i7, Radeon HD 5870

The CoolIT Domino ALC: low cost liquid cooling still has problems

80Plus Gold - this year's fad in the PSU industry

Nvidia's Hybrid SLI technology no longer matters

What else do we need?

Intel to release Core i7 975, new D0 stepping soon?

So, I built my new gaming machine last night

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Archive for the ‘hardware’ tag

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