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Santa Clara, CA — NVIDIA on Monday, Feb 04, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AGEIA Technologies, the industry leader in gaming physics technology. AGEIA’s PhysX software is widely adopted with more than 140 PhysX-based games shipping or in development on Sony Playstation3, Microsoft XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii and Gaming PCs. AGEIA physics software is pervasive with over 10,000 registered and active users of the PhysX SDK.

Like graphics, physics processing is made up of millions of parallel computations. The NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT GPU, with its 112 processors, can process parallel applications up to two orders of magnitude faster than a dual or quad-core CPU. More at NVIDIA.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — AMD on Monday, Jan 28, announced the immediate availability of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics processor, expanding the visual boundaries of PC entertainment well beyond the 1080P High Definition (HD) threshold.

The industry’s first graphics processor to break the Teraflop (one trillion floating point operations per second) barrier, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 nearly doubles the performance of the award-winning ATI Radeon HD 3870 introduced in November 2007.

Through an elegant yet aggressive design, the 55 nanometer process-based ATI Radeon 3870 X2 combines two ATI Radeon HD 3870s on a single graphics board, connected through integrated CrossFire technology.

ATI Radeon 3870 X2 is also the first performance-leadership graphics product in the world to support Microsoft’s upcoming DirectX 10.1 technology. The ATI Radeon 3870 X2 delivers a new class of price and performance leadership with unbelievable enthusiast value at a suggested retail price of US $449.

This launch follows on the success of the recently released ATI Radeon HD 3400 and ATI Radeon HD 3600 series graphics products, completing a comprehensive portfolio of next-generation 55nm GPUs that deliver unparalleled price, performance and energy efficiency from entry-level to performance-leadership class products. More at AMD.

Dec 25, `07 — Nvidia will launch the mid-range part for its GeForce 9600 GPU series, codenamed D9P or G94, in February 2008, DigiTimes is reporting citing graphics cards makers.

“The G94, the first mid-range GPU to feature a 256bit memory interface, is expected to pose a strong challenge to AMD’s Radeon HD 3850 (RV670PRO) of the same class, the sources commented.

The sources revealed that while Nvidia’s latest entry-level G98 (D8M) GPU, made at the 65nm process, has started shipping since early December, the G94 will make its debut on February 14. The G94 will also be made on a 65nm process at TSMC, the sources added.

The G94, with its official price temporarily set at US$169, features 64 stream processors and supports PureVideo Gen 2, the sources said.” More at DigiTimes.

SANTA CLARA, CA— Extreme gaming just got a whole lot better. On Dec 13, NVIDIA extended its SLI technology, which enables the use of multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) on a single computer, allowing up to three GeForce graphics cards to be used in a single machine.

Now hot, new, graphics-intensive titles, such as Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and Unreal Tournament 3, can be played at the highest resolution possible, with all the graphics settings cranked to the max, and antialiasing applied for the first time.

NVIDIA’s new 3-way SLI delivers up to a 2.8x performance increase over a single GPU system, giving high-end gamers 60 frames per second at resolutions as high as 2560×1600 and with 8x antialiasing. 3-way SLI technology means you no longer have to dial back the image quality settings on the newest PC games. For example, gamers with 3-way SLI can play Crysis at high resolutions such as 1920×1200 with all the advanced DirectX 10 effects such as motion blur, ambient occlusion, and soft shadows turned on.

The heart of a 3-way SLI system is an NVIDIA nForce 680 SLI MCP motherboard and three GeForce 8800 GTX or GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics cards. With 3-way SLI, gamers can harness the power of 384 stream processors, a 110+ gigatexel per second texture fill rate, and over two gigabytes of graphics memory for no-compromise gaming performance.

3-way SLI gives gamers the flexibility to scale their graphics processing power with one, two, or three GeForce GPUs, depending on their desired price and system configuration. 3-way SLI systems are available from leading gaming PC system builders and the components needed to build your own 3-way SLI system are available from leading retailers. More at SLI Zone, nVIDIA.

On Wednesday, Dec 12, Albatron announced the 8800GTS-512X, a new “Enthusiast” GeForce 8 Series VGA card that will give top-of-the-line cards something to take notice of because consumers are going to get a nice surprise when they catch a peek at the price tag.

The board features 65 nm process technology, which was first introduced with the Albatron 8800GT-512X in October 2007. But there’s no comparison: the 8800GTS-512X is, quite simply, big brother.

Specs:
- Fast and Cool: 65nm Process Technology plus 650 MHz Core
- Fast just got faster: PCI 2.0 and 1940 MHz GDDR3 memory
- PureVideo HD
- 8800GTS-512X include two DVI connectors and a 7-pin HDTV-out connector
- Supports Dual-Link HDCP and is SLI ready
- The board is 4.376″ by 9″, is dual-slot in width and has a PCI Express x16 connector (PCIe 2.0)
- “Several hundred’s of dollars less than $700″ (don’t know how much that would be!)

More at Albatron.

Dec 07, ‘07 — Apple Leopard users say their systems have taken to randomly flashing the color green, InformationWeek reports.

InfoWeek further writes, “A poster to Apple’s support forum named “Matthew Hickey1″ recently reported that his Leopard-based PowerBook displays the green flashes whenever he tries to close applications.

Numerous follow-up posts indicate that the problem isn’t unique to Hickey’s machine. Other users of Leopard, officially known as Mac OS X 10.5, say they’ve experienced the weird green flashes. Apple support forum member “bob812″ likens them to “a strobing effect.”

So far, Apple does not appear to have a fix for the issue. “I was on the phone with support for three hours trying to resolve the problem but no luck,” wrote “DJS223.”"

Comments on Apple Discussions:

User “Matthew Hickey1″ Posts:
“Before anybody suggests it, no I haven’t been drinking or taking drugs….

I’m curious if anybody else has noticed a random green flash (like the flash that photobooth provides only green) from time to time when closing applications or performing other similar tasks. I can’t decide whether it’s some kooky “feature” or whether there are compatability problems with my ATI X800 graphics card, or whether my display has decided to give up.

Anyone? ”

User “Chrissli” writes:
“I also have a 30″ and get these green flashes, but these are not the only graphic errors I have. I also have problems when entering time maching (1 third of the screen seems to be slower) and i sometimes get small green flashes behind the dock.

Also my menu bar is not transparent.

When I switch my resolution to a lower one, the problem is gone.

I have a radeon 9650.”

User “Andrew Hoyt” writes:
“Yes! I have gotten green and purple flashes (at first I thought this was a feature) and my time machine appears exactly as in the picture you linked. I can still use it, it’s just crazy.

I have an ATI Radeon X800 XT for a graphics card, I am thinking that could be a problem. I did a clean install of Leopard on another disk and got absolutely no problems.

Tried archiving and installing on my main drive array- no such luck, still flashes.”

More at InformationWeek, Apple Discussions.

Taipei, Taiwan — December 06, ‘07 — ASUS today released the world´s first EN8800GT graphics card model with 1GB graphics memory with Qimonda – the new EN8800GT/HTDP/1G.

This powerful graphics card features the latest generation of NVIDIA GPUs; and with an unparalleled large onboard memory size, is designed to provide feature-rich DirectX 10 gaming and the best multimedia playback at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings. Moreover, with the integrated new SmartDoctor feature, users will have the option to overclock the Shader Clock for more than 10% graphical performance boosts, while the unique Glaciator Fansink design keeps the GPU temperature 7ºC cooler than reference designed boards.

Unprecedented 1GB GDDR3 Onboard Memory from Qimonda for Best Graphical Output
“The ASUS EN8800GT/HTDP/1G is the first EN8800GT model in the world to leverage the Qimonda DRAM that comes equipped with 8pcs of 1GB GDDR3 graphics memory,” said C.P. Wu, General Manager of ASUS Graphics and Multimedia Business.

More at ASUSTeK.

SAN JOSE, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 01, ‘07 — Samsung Electronics announced today that it has developed the world’s fastest memory, a GDDR5 (series five, graphics double-data-rate memory) chip that can transfer data at six gigabits per second, which is more than four times faster than that of memories in state-of-the-art game consoles today.

Samsung’s GDDR5, which will be introduced at a density of 512 Mbit (16Mb x 32) chips, is capable of transmitting moving images and associated data at 24 gigabytes per second.

“We’re pushing image enhancement to a limit never before realized, enabling the smoothest, clearest animation that gamers have yet to experience,” said Mueez Deen, Marketing Director, Graphics Memory, Samsung Semiconductor. “Samsung’s 512Mb GDDR5 will enable the kind of graphics hardware performance that will spur software developers to deliver a new level of eye-popping games.”

The new Samsung graphics memory operates at 1.5 volts, representing an approximate 20 percent improvement in power consumption over today’s most popular graphics chip – the GDDR3.

Samples of Samsung’s new GDDR5 chip have been delivered to major graphic processor companies last month and mass production is expected in the first half of 2007.

Samsung expects that GDDR5 memory chips will become the de facto standard in the top performing segment of the market by capturing more than 50 percent of the high-end PC graphics market by 2010.

Related:

Hynix Introduces Industry’s First 1Gb GDDR5 DRAM

Samsung Intros Its Highest-Speed DDR2 Main Memory and Fastest Graphics Memory

Taipei, Taiwan — Nov 30, ‘07 — DigiTimes is reporting on AMD’s plan to drop the price of its Radeon HD 3850 and 3870 GPUs by around $20, citing sources at graphics card makers.

DigiTimes further writes,”In response to AMD’s plans, Nvidia also notified its partners that it will consider following up with price reductions of its own, causing several makers to delay mass orders to prevent themselves from absorbing the price damage, according to the sources.”

The original official Radeon HD 3850 and 3870 prices were US$179 and US$219. More at DigiTimes.

SANTA CLARA, CA—November 19, 2007—This holiday season a new era of PC games, featuring advanced new graphics effects, will immerse gamers in cinematic realism like never before. Games like Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, and Call of Duty 4 are sure bets to be at the top of the holiday gift list for the significant gamer in your life.

And to supply the best visual experience when playing these new games, a new generation of notebook PCs equipped with ultra-modern GPUs (graphics processing units), such as the just-released GeForce 8800M notebook GPUs from NVIDIA, will soon be available for order from notebook makers.

Delivering the best performance for both DirectX 10 and DirectX 9, the GeForce 8800M GTX and GeForce 8800M GTS GPUs fill the top enthusiast GPU product positions in the popular NVIDIA GeForce 8M Series product line, continuing the company’s five generations of performance leadership in notebook GPUs. The new GPUs feature NVIDIA’s new, extremely efficient, unified architecture that delivers astounding levels of performance compared to previous generation GPUs.

In addition to serving as the core of a great, notebook gaming platform, the NVIDIA GeForce 8M Series GPUs feature the NVIDIA PureVideo HD engine for superior quality playback of HD DVD, Blu-ray, and HD movie downloads. The GeForce 8M Series also contain NVIDIA’s PowerMizer technology that intelligently balances battery life and performance.

“Alienware’s philosophy when designing the industry’s most powerful 17 and 15-inch notebooks was the commitment to using only the best components designed around the most current technologies,” said Frank Azor, Executive Vice-President for Alienware’s Product Group and Marketing. “Alienware proudly announces that our next generation notebooks, the Area-51 m17x and Area-51 m15x, launching early next year, will feature the raw power and vivid detail of NVIDIA’s GeForce 8800M GTX.”

Notebooks with the new GPUs will soon be available for order from notebook makers worldwide including Alienware, Eurocom, Gateway, and Sager in North America; AIRIS, Chiligreen, Cizmo, Cybersystem, Ergo, Nexoc, Novatech, Plaisio, Rock, and XXODD in Europe; MouseComputer in Japan; and Pioneer Computers in Australia. More at nVIDIA.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Nov 19, ‘07 — Kingston today announced it is shipping 1066MHz ValueRAM designed specifically for the new AMD Phenom Processor. Kingston worked closely with AMD on the launch of the Spider Platform, comprised of the new Phenom Processor, ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series graphics card and the AMD 7-Series Chipset, to ensure peak memory performance. Kingston’s 1066MHz ValueRAM modules help take advantage of Phenom’s ability to deliver true quad-core performance.

“The new Phenom processor from AMD will give high-performance and multi-threaded applications room to excel,” said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. “DDR2 1066MHz ValueRAM desktop memory has been designed and tested to complement AMD’s new chipset and CPU technologies, giving high-end users the ultimate experience.”

Memory is essential in optimizing the performance of the new Spider Platform. Kingston’s DDR2 memory modules help fuel Phenom’s four natively integrated processor cores, breaking system bandwidth barriers and turbo-charging platform performance.

Kingston DDR2 ValueRAM 1066MHz Specifications
Part Number                    Capacity and Features                                    MSRP (US only)
KVR1066D2N7/512           512MB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7-20 @ 1.8V)              $ 89.00
KVR1066D2N7/1G            1GB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7-20 @ 1.8V)                  $ 178.00
KVR1066D2N7K2/1G        1GB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7-20 @ 1.8V) kit of 2       $ 170.00
KVR1066D2N7K2/2G        2GB 1066MHz (CL7-7-7-20 @ 1.8V) kit of 2       $ 340.00

SAN JOSE, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Nov 19, ‘07 — Samsung announced today that its highest-speed DDR2 main memory and its fastest graphics memory have been designed to work smoothly with the new AMD Phenom processors and new ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of graphics processing units (GPU) for desktop PCs.

AMD Phenom processors provide a high-speed L3 2MB cache to enhance the information flow between processor cores, main memory, and graphics and video accelerators.

The Samsung 512 megabit (Mb) DRAM (dynamic random access memory), capable of 1066 million data transfers per second, is Samsung’s fastest DDR2 chip and is available in densities up to 1 gigabyte (GB) per module.

“AMD is delighted that Samsung is producing a high performance memory solution well suited for our new AMD Phenom processors,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president of marketing and strategy, AMD. “Samsung’s leading-edge GDDR4 and GDDR3 graphics memory can provide a significant performance boost for systems that use our ATI Radeon HD GPUs.”

Samsung’s fastest memory chip – its GDDR4 1.2Ghz has been designed to be fully compatible with AMD’s new ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPU. ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of GPUs transfer data at 72 gigabits (Gbps) per second, while consuming less power than current ATI graphics processors. In addition, Samsung’s 900Mhz GDDR3 is engineered to work seamlessly with the ATI Radeon HD 3850 GPU. Samsung’s 1.2 Ghz GDDR4 is offered in a 16Mx32 configuration, while the 900 Mhz GDDR3 is available in a 8Mx32 configuration.

The AMD Phenom processor incorporates four natively integrated processor cores and provides a system bandwidth of up to 14.4 Gbps of high bandwidth I/O. The ATI Radeon HD 3800 series is designed for Windows Vista, with the ability to navigate the Windows Aero 3D user interface.

Samsung‘s 1.2 Ghz GDDR4 and 900 Mhz GDDR3 are now in mass production. Samsung’s DDR2-1066 DRAM is planned to be mass produced beginning at the end of the year.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — November 19, 2007 –Rewriting the rules for enthusiast computing, AMD today unveiled its new platform codenamed “Spider”, with the first true quad-core processor supporting scalable graphics for The Ultimate Visual Experience. The AMD Spider platform combines the introduction of AMD Phenom quad-core processors, ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series graphics processors with Microsoft DirectX 10.1 support, AMD 7-Series chipsets with CrossFireX and AMD OverDrive software. The AMD Spider platform is a major milestone on the path to Accelerated Computing, AMD’s vision for platform-level acceleration through co-processing.

AMD’s Spider platform advances enthusiast computing by delivering the most sophisticated multi-GPU enthusiast platform ever with ATI CrossFireX technology. The combination of the energy-efficient 55nm ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of graphics processors and the increased system bandwidth of PCI Express® Generation 2.0 and HyperTransport 3.0 technology, provide optimal processing power for a scalable HD multi-GPU experience. AMD design and manufacturing innovation has enabled the AMD Spider platform to easily scale to three or four graphics processors and deliver a true gaming supercomputer.

HD Technology
With HyperTransport 3.0 technology, AMD Phenom processors have more system bandwidth than ever before with up to 14.4 GB/second of high bandwidth I/O. When combined with the additional bandwidth of AMD PCI Express 2.0 chipsets and graphics processors, the AMD Spider platform enjoys maximum bandwidth to support smooth 1080P video playback, enhanced multi-GPU and high-speed disk and network interfaces. With the only true quad-core processor and infrastructure flexibility with AM2+ socket, AMD processors are designed to be compatible with future 65nm and 45nm AMD Phenom processors to deliver key performance gains.

The addition of UVD ensures exceptional platform efficiency and image quality in HD-DVD and Blu-ray decoding for both H.264 and VC-1 specifications. Big screen gaming and entertainment is also made easy with enhanced HDMI connectivity with integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video.

Scalable Platform Performance
The multi-core design of AMD Phenom quad-core processors, based on Direct Connect Architecture, features an integrated memory controller designed to support memory speeds up to DDR2 1066, 128-bit floating point units and AMD’s Balanced Smart Cache for rapid access to memory, with a shared L3 cache for leading-edge performance on multi-threaded software.

Availability and pricing
AMD Phenom processors 9600 (2.3GHz) and 9500 (2.2GHz) are now available for $283 and $251 respectively in 1,000-unit pricing. The ATI Radeon HD 3850 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory begins at US $179 MSRP and the ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512MB GDDR4 memory from US $219 MSRP, available from AMD’s selected graphics products partners.

Seoul, November 15, 2007 - Hynix Semiconductor today introduced the industry’s first 1 Gigabit GDDR5 Graphics DRAM.

GDDR, Graphics Double Data Rate, is an ultra high speed Graphics DRAM that processes graphic data in electronic devices such as personal computer and game consoles. As high definition digital media players market continues to expand, demand for high-speed and high density GDDR products is rapidly increasing.

The industry’s first 1Gb GDDR5 from Hynix is also the fastest and highest density graphics memory available. It operates at 5Gbps bandwidth and processes up to 20 Gigabytes of data per second with a 32-bit I/O, ideal in applications with high definition video and cinematic and photo-realistic graphics content. A bandwidth of 20 Gigabytes per second offered by the Hynix 1Gb GDDR5 can process more than 20 hours of DVD quality video.

The fifth generation graphics memory GDDR5 improves data processing speed by more than two times than that of GDDR3, the current mainstream graphics DRAM device. With its improved speed and power characteristics, GDDR5 is projected to succeed GDDR3 and dominate the graphics DRAM market from the 2nd half of 2008.

Hynix plans to start mass production of GDDR5 in the first half of next year to meet the increasing demand for high performance graphics DRAM. More at Hynix.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — November 15, 2007 –AMD today announced the introduction and immediate availability of the ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of graphics processing units (GPU).

As the world’s first series of graphics processors to deliver Microsoft’s DirectX 10.1 support, 55nm process technology and tri and quad multi-GPU support with ATI CrossFireX, the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series ushers in a new era of enthusiast gaming performance at mainstream price points.

The ATI Radeon HD 3800 series will be introduced in two variants at launch, from US $179 MSRP, the ATI Radeon HD 3850 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and from US $219 MSRP, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512MB GDDR4 memory. The launch of the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series redefines the enthusiast segment and puts high performance gaming in reach of more users than ever before. This innovative new series of graphics products also represent the first step in the launch of AMD’s upcoming enthusiast platform codenamed “Spider.”

The ATI Radeon HD 3800 series also introduces the world to ATI CrossFireX, AMD’s innovative next-generation multi-GPU technology designed to deliver unprecedented performance scaling with support for two, three and four graphics processors in CrossFire configurations. At launch, the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series will support dual-GPU CrossFire with tri and quad-GPU support scheduled for January 2008.

Graphics bandwidth is also greatly enhanced with the introduction of PCI Express 2.0. Delivering over 16 gigabytes per second of bi-directional bandwidth, PCIe 2.0 doubles the bus data rate over the previous generation. The combination of PCIe 2.0 and HyperTransport3 on next-generation AMD platforms provides a dramatic increase in the amount of system bandwidth for high definition, multi-GPU PC gaming.

With the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 3850 and ATI Radeon HD 3870, AMD has answered the call of HD video enthusiasts with top-to-bottom support for the Unified Video Decoder (UVD). The addition of UVD ensures exceptional platform efficiency and image quality in HD-DVD and Blu-rayTM decoding for both H.264 and VC-1 specifications. Enhanced HDMI functionality also continues on this series of products with integrated HDCP and audio for HDMI video. More at AMD.