| Giveaway: Bracketron Case | If outdoor adventures are in your future this summer, enter to win a Bracketron Sport Case with Mount Strap from MacNN and keep that iPhone, iPod or other electronic device safe from the elements. |
At the 2012 IBC show, Nvidia unveiled the Quadro K5000 for the Macintosh Pro. The Kepler-based K5000 is currently the most powerful professional class GPU for the Macintosh, providing both faster processing and lower power usage than its predecessor, the Quadro 4000.
Dell has just announced four newly updated Precision tower workstations for business professionals with Intel's 32nm, eight-core Xeon E5-2600 processors. Other than the new chip, the towers get an externally-removable power supply that doesn't require any tools. It is lockable and has a built-in handle that lights up green when it's functioning properly.
HP confirmed that Intel was launching its long-in-the-making Xeon E5 workstation processors after it introduced a trio of new Z workstations. The regular Z420, mid-tier Z620, and flagship Z820 can all use the new E5-2600 chip line, which scales up to eight cores in one chip and has new ceilings for memory. At its extreme, the Z820 can have 16 cores across two processors, 14TB of storage, and a very large 512GB of error-correcting memory.
Cleveland-based AVADirect is accepting pre-orders for a new gaming portable that integrates one of the refreshed, Sandy Bridge-E Intel Core i7 desktop processors into a laptop form factor. The Clevo P270WM is a 17.3-inch desktop replacement that can come equipped with either a 3.2GHz or 3.3GHz Extreme Edition chip. It can also house dual NVIDIA mobile graphics chips in SLI.
NVIDIA has posted results for its third quarter of 2012 that it credited to the rise of smartphones and tablets using the Tegra 2. Revenue for the quarter was $1.07 billion, up 4.9 percent from the prior quarter, and grew 26.3 percent over $843.9 million recorded in the same period last year. The Consumer Products group, which includes the Tegra 2 chips, saw its revenue grow 14 percent over just the spring alone.
NVIDIA is represented at the currently ongoing Microsoft Build conference, and it has announced the launch of a developer program for tablets running on Windows 8 and with NVIDIA's Kal-El quad-core, next-generation Tegra processor. The company's GeForce, Quadro and Tesla cards will also be covered under the program. Developers will have the tools to create for x86- and ARM-based tablets and PCs as well.
At the currently ongoing International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, NVIDIA showed off its new GPUDirect for Video technology that will let app developers create more realistic on-air graphics. It allows industry-standard video I/O devices to communicate directly with the company's pro-oriented Quadro and Tesla GPUs with very low lag. The solution, as NVIDIA sees it, will not only speed up real-time processing of video streams in broadcast and production work but also in manufacturing, healthcare and government agencies.
The Dell Precision M6600 desktop PC that's due to ship on May 10 is now available for purchase in the UK. The 17.3-inch notebook has some high-end options, including a quad-core 2.5GHz Core i7, as much as 16GB of RAM, 512GB of solid state storage space and a 2GB NVIDIA Quadro 4000M graphics processor. A 1080p display with multi-touch support is another high-priced option.
HP has added two new product ranges to its lineup in new the Elitebook ‘w’ series notebooks and an expanded Z Workstation line, the Z210 series. The new ‘w’ series, which is to signify that they are mobile workstations, includes the HP EliteBook 8760w, 8560w and 8460w. As one might expect of desktop replacement notebooks, the new range is highly specified and incorporate graphics options including a choice of the AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro with up to 4GB of dedicated VRAM available on the 8760w. Intel Sandy Bridge, second-gen Core i7 or Core i5 power the devices.
NVIDIA on Tuesday unveiled the Quadro 400 GPU. It's made for professional designers and engineers and for programs such as Autodesk's AutoCAD and other 3D-heavy apps. It consumes 32W and is small enough to fit inside most any workstation and small form-factor system.
NVIDIA has launched a new driver release for Quadro 4000 Mac users. The update supports Mac OS X 10.6.7 and supports the4000's CUDA architecture with the CUDA 3.2 driver update. The update repairs issues introduced in Apple's OS 10.6.7 update, released Monday. It is a necessary driver for installing the 4000 in Mac Pro 2010 and 2009 models.
Dell on Tuesday focused some attention on its pro-level Precision and Optiplex systems. Its most Precision M4600 and M6600 are the most genuinely new models and also the most secretive. The two should replace the 15.6-inch and 17-inch existing workstation notebooks and are likely to use Intel's 2011 Core (Sandy Bridge) processors along with new workstation graphics and a slightly refreshed design.
Lenovo is about to launch three new ThinkPad notebooks with Intel's new Sandy Bridge CPUs, according to posts on Chinese technology website PC Online. They include the 15.6-inch T520, 14.1-inch T420 and 12.5-inch X220. All share the new Core i5 CPU and Windows 7 Home Basic in China, though Home Premium is more likely in the US.
Dell is planning to upgrade many of its pro notebooks to take advantage of Intel's Sandy Bridge processors and other breakthroughs, according to multiple leaks. The Latitude E6420 and E6520 would be direct replacements for the existing, respective 14- and 15.6-inch model that would both use faster processors. The Dell Lab insider doesn't list specs for the E6420 but said the E6520 would have chips ranging from a dual 2.1GHz Core i3 through to dual 2.7GHz and quad 2.3GHz Core i7 options.
NVIDIA today brought its Fermi graphics architecture to the Mac at last by launching the Quadro 4000 for Mac. The workstation-class video supports the same features as its Windows counterpart and focuses heavily on general-purpose computing. It gives a lift to OpenCL in Snow Leopard and can greatly accelerate apps that are using NVIDIA's own CUDA language as well, such as video processing in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.
Lenovo marked two milestones today, starting with a unique upgrade to the ThinkPad T series. The T410, T410s and T510 are the first known business notebooks to use NVIDIA's Optimus graphics switching and can switch to or from their dedicated NVS 3100M video and Intel's integrated chipset. The option of switching to Intel's slower but more miserly video when on battery gives them as much as a third more battery life, or about an hour of extra time.
NVIDIA today brought its current-generation Fermi graphics to less expensive workstation cards through two models, the Quadro 2000 and Quadro 600. The two have been pared back to 192 cores and 96 cores respectively but promise more performance than the parts they replace. The Quadro 2000 is said to be about 50 percent faster in geometry rendering than the FX 1800 it replaces, while the Quadro 600 is about twice as capable as earlier starter workstation cards.
Following up on today's announcement from NVIDIA, HP said it will soon ship its most powerful notebook, the EliteBook 8740W, with the Quadro FX 5000M. The 17-inch notebooks also have up to 16GB of RAM and can be outfitted with Intel's Extreme Edition Core i7 chip.
NVIDIA today began shipping its long promised Fermi-based Quadro workstation graphics cards. They share the same, DirectX 11-capable (and OpenGL 4.1) cores as the GeForce 400 series and are theoretically up to five times faster than the models they replace. At the top, the Quadro 6000 has a large 6GB of GDDR5 video memory and can handle as many as 1.3 billion triangles per second across its 448 processing cores.
PC maker Dell has upgraded its 17-inch Precision M6500 notebook to support as much as 32GB of RAM. Dell achieves this using four DIMM slots, with each packing an 8GB stick. The amount doubles its previous best and is much more suited to workstation-level tasks such as 3D modeling or simulations, many of which normally need a desktop.
Lenovo on Thursday took the covers from its first large all-in-one desktop for pros. At 23 inches, the ThinkCentre M90z has both more workable area than the 19-inch A70z with a 1080p, multi-touch screen but has room for faster components. It carries either Core i3 or i5 processors and has the option of an SSD for storage.
Toshiba late yesterday rolled out the Tecra M11 as its key mid-range pro notebook. The 14-inch system gets a completely new redesign with a texture designed to reduce fingerprints. Inside, it gets much faster processors that start with a 2.13GHz Core i3 and scale up to a 2.4GHz Core i5; an NVIDIA Quadro NVS 2100M at the high end gives it dedicated workstation graphics.
PC maker MainGear has released its Quantum SHIFT workstation PC for creative pros. Unlike its gaming PCs, the SHIFT can be ordered with up to three NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics cards. The full tower can also house up to 96GB of RAM, with processor choices that include Intel's quad-core 3.2GHz Core i7 or the six-core, 3.33GHz Extreme Edition.
Dell this morning formally began sales for a slew of faster-performing pro notebooks. The Precision M4500 is now ready to order and is treated as Dell's fastest regular-size notebook. It supports the same quad-core 2GHz Core i7 and optional tertiary SSD drive as the M6500 but with a smaller 15.6-inch LCD. In its base trim, it ships for $1,549 with just a 2.4GHz Core i5, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and a read-only drive, but it comes with a Quadro FX 880M for graphics and scales up to DVD burners and Blu-ray, 500GB drives and a 1080p screen.
HP last week showed off its new range of Workstation PCs, including the first small form factor available globally, the Z200, as well as the Intel Xeon 5600-series, six-core processor-powered HP Z800, Z600 and Z400. All are new for 2010, and include a range of firsts for HP as well as the newer Intel processors.
HP this morning overhauled its most powerful EliteBook to take advantage of new leaps in technology. The 8740w packs Core i5 and i7 processors, up to the quad-core 1.73GHz Core i7. Reinforcing the speed image are a pair of USB 3.0 ports for fast external drives and much more powerful graphics that include either a Quadro FX 2800M, Quadro FX 3800M or FirePro M7820.
Eurocom has recently released the first ever six-core notebook PC, the D900F Panther. The 17-inch desktop-replacement is knowingly thick and uses the space to house the 3.33GHz Core i7-980X or Xeon 5600 for desktop-level performance. It can be configured with either a screen with a resolution of 1920x1200 or 1680x1050, as well as up to 24GB of DDR3 RAM. The notebook can also house four hard drives, each sized at 640GB for a 2.56TB total capacity.
Dell continued its pro notebook updates this morning by launching a new mid-range Precision model. The M4500 replaces the M4400 and, despite a much more common 15.6-inch display, has many of the performance features of the 17-inch M6500. It can run up to a quad-core 2GHz Core i7 for a processor and supports the larger system's 64GB SSD mini-card, a $220 option that gives the M4500 a fast OS drive without sacrificing room for a regular hard disk.
Lenovo as part of its launches today updated its highest-end ThinkPad W series with a few company firsts. The W701 is the first ThinkPad with USB 3.0 and should now support the 5Gbps standard for very fast external hard drives and future peripherals down the line. Its large case also now supports as much as 16GB of DDR3 RAM (up from 8GB) and should handle even very demanding visual editing.
Lenovo on Tuesday said it will soon add the E20 desktop system to its line of ThinkStation entry-level workstation PCs. Aimed squarely at those working in the computer aided design and digital content creation fields, the E20 will offer Intel's Core i3, Core i5, Pentium and Xeon 3400-series processors. At the same time, newly offered in the range is NVIDIA's Quadro discrete graphics cards, with the FX 1800 as the most capable. Base systems will ship with Intel Core HD integrated graphics.
Dell has sent word that its Precision M6500 pro notebook will get several new features and options. The system will now have the option of Intel's newer dual-core processors, including both the Core i5 and i7; previously, it was limited to only quad-core i7 models that justified the high $2,749 price. USB 3.0 will also be new and should make the Precision the first PC at Dell to get the 5Gbps ports.
As reported previously, HP has begun shipping its updated Elitebook models, the 8440 and 8540. The base configuration for the 14-inch 8440p hinges on a 2.4GHz Core i5, 2GB DDR3 RAM, Intel's integrated graphics and a 250GB hard rive. The 15-inch 8540p upgrades to a 320GB drive and NVIDIA's Quadro NVS 5100M graphics.
HP with its CES introductions today has focused most on upgrades to its high-end professional notebook. The EliteBook 8440p, 8440w, 8540p and 8540w all use the familiar aluminum/magnesium chassis but get dramatic performance updates: they replace the Core 2 Duo with either mobile Core i7 or new Core i5 processors. All four are home to brand new NVIDIA Quadro FX and NVS graphics cores that should provide faster 3D rendering.
Pro desktops at HP were served today by the launch of a new workstation and a pair of small desktops, including the first ever Windows PC to lack toxins. The fastest in the line is the company's latest Z series workstation, the Z200; a step below the Z400, it will be the company's new entry level workstation and should use Core i3 and Core i5 as well as the Xeon 3400 series quad-core chips. Its performance aims at the mid-range with up to 16GB of RAM, Quadro FX 1800 video and options like a Blu-ray burner or an X-Fi Titanium sound card.
Lenovo finished its ThinkPad updates with four new systems that all use Intel's new mobile Core i5 and the four-core i7. The W510 mobile workstation is the flagship and switches to a new 15.6-inch LED-lit screen that covers a 95 percent color gamut. The same display now also has the option of multi-touch input and a color calibrator previously only available on the W700.
NVIDIA has quietly scaled back the ambitions of its Fermi-based hardware, a document (PDF) on its own site may have revealed. A specs sheet for the Tesla 20 now shows even the faster hardware using 448 visual processing cores versus the publicly promised 512. It has also ramped down the internal clock for these individual cores to at most 1.4GHz, slightly lower than the current generation.
(Updated with pricing) Dell today upgraded its most powerful notebook line today by launching the Precision M6500. The new mobile workstation updates to Core i7 quad-core processors and scales up to a 2GHz Core i7 Extreme. It claims an additional performance crown as the first notebook anywhere to use NVIDIA's Quadro FX 3800M, supplying an extra level of speed beyond the 3700M in 3D rendering.
NVIDIA this evening provided an early look at the next generation of its graphics processors. Nicknamed Fermi, the architecture for future GeForce, Quadro and Tesla chipsets will jump from 240 cores to a much larger 512 and should be much faster in each core courtesy of some industry-first techniques. Fermi chips will be the first GPUs to have a real cache hierarchy, with Level 1 caches to keep specific information on hand and a single, shared Level 2 cache for larger tasks; they will also have a new GigaThread engine that can transfer data in both directions at once and handle "thousands" of tasks at once.
Intel's upcoming Core i7 four-core parts for notebooks, nicknamed Clarksfield, should be much faster per clock cycle compared to their existing Core 2 Quad counterparts based on tests published today. Although normally clocked at just 1.73GHz, the mid-range Core i7-820QM is seen in PCPro benchmarks often coming close to, matching or outperforming the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme that costs significantly more than the expected $750 for the newer chip. The edge comes despite extra handicaps on the test system versus the Dell M6400 Covet used for comparison, as the Core i7 system had just half the RAM (4GB), a slower-spinning 5,400RPM hard drive and a more mainstream GeForce GT 240M graphics chip versus the workstation-grade Quadro FX 3700M in the older PC.
NVIDIA has released version 2.2 of the CUDA toolkit and SDK. The new version of CUDA profiles C coded applications to use the computers GPU in addition to the CPU. This can enhance the computer's overall processing speed. The update also includes the ability to zero-copy, or to read and write directly from pinned system memory rather than send it through the graphics memory system. Using the technique requires either a GeForce 9300/9400 (or 9400M) integrated graphics core or else a GeForce GT 200 series board.
NVIDIA this morning remedied the absence of a pro video card for the new Mac Pro by launching the Quadro FX 4800 for Mac. Very similar to the Windows version, the Apple-friendly model has 192 graphics cores and a large 1.5GB of onboard memory that helps it antialias 3D visuals even with high detail or at high resolution. Unique to the Mac version is native support both for the expected Mac side as well as Windows when in Boot Camp.
CyberPower on Wednesday released its high-spec graphics processing workstation, the Power Mega 1000. The headline specs of the PC include Intel's new 2.66GHz Core i7 processor set on an X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX-capable mainboard and NVIDIA's Quadro NVS 420 x16 PCIe graphics card, which is capable of driving up to four 30-inch displays. This can be achieved by connections on the card that are comprised of a dual DisplayPort/dual-link DVI port.
HP on Monday announced the upcoming release of three new Z-series workstation PCs. The flagship Z800, mid-range Z600 and entry-level Z400 are powered by Intel's Nehalem-era Xeon processors and require no tools to access and service all of their components, including their power supplies and motherboards. The modular interior design is cable-less, while the exteriors are designed by BMW Group Designworks USA and thought to add extra appeal to normally plain pro systems. The flagship Z800 Workstation is meant for highly-advanced applications such as 3D animation, broadcast video or medical imaging.
Dell this morning put the finishing touch on its newer-wave pro notebooks by launching the Latitude E6400 XFR. The significant overhaul improves on the already rugged design of the earlier XFR system by switching to a newer material known as PR-481. By giving the notebook the material as its main shell, the company says the E6400 can take drops from up to four feet while turned off (three feet while on) and last longer in extreme cold or heat. A special sealing approach also gives it a IP-65 rating against dust and water.
Maingear is following a different tack on high-end PCs Thursday by releasing the Remix, a mid-tower PC built specifically as a creative workstation. The system is tailored most towards visual editors and can come with a Quadro CX video card to accelerate filters, H.264 video encoding, and other features in Adobe's CS4 suite as well as other apps that recognize NVIDIA's CUDA acceleration language. Musicians are also catered to with sound insulation to cut down on fan noise and a built-in M-Audio PCI interface for recording instruments.
NVIDIA on Tuesday announced the upcoming release of the Quadro NVS 420 graphics card, the first low-profile professional graphics card that fits into small form-factor desktops. Meant for use in business applications, the card can support up to four 30-inch external displays with resolutions as high as 2560x1600 but has a maximum 40W power consumption friendly to compact systems, while a variable-speed fansink manages heat and noise levels accordingly.
Flash and memory card maker PNY on Thursday announced the release of two new ultra high-performance graphics cards with the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 and Quadro FX 4800, which offer 4GB and 1.5GB of DDR3 RAM, respectively. The FX 5800 is the first GPU in the industry with 4GB of memory, and both are based on the second-generation NVIDIA architecture, improving performance and capacity by roughly two and three times compared to previous platforms, the company claims.
NVIDIA on Tuesday switched focus to its highest-end workstation cards with the unveiling of the Quadro FX 4800. The chipset is based on the same architecture as the GeForce GTX 260 and carries 192 programmable shader cores but is tuned for 3D modeling and other pro apps: it carries a full 1.5GB of memory for higher-detailed models and textures, supports 30-bit color output and allows 32X full-scene antialiasing. The 4800 is roughly twice as fast as previous cards, the company claims.
NVIDIA on Monday established a new flagship video card for its workstation line. The Quadro FX 5800 is a major improvement over the earlier 5600 that brings 240 visual effects cores, or nearly double the old model's 128, but stands out as the first-ever video card with 4GB of onboard memory. The capacity allows for extremely large textures and geometry and also enables apps with CUDA general-purpose computing support to feed very large data sets: 4D modeling that factors in time is now more realistic.
NVIDIA on Thursday announced the release of two new entry-level graphics processing solutions for workstations with its first Quadro FX 470 integrated mainboard GPU and the Quadro FX 370 Low Profile standalone PCIe card meant for use in small form factor desktop PCs. Either GPU is certified for CAD and digital media apps by software makers that include Autodesk and Adobe. Both new NVIDIA products feature 128-bit precision graphics processing and 32-bit floating point precision, filtering and blending, along with advanced color compression and early z-culling. They have full-scene antialiasing capabilities as well and support OpenGL 2.1 and DirectX 10 for 3D work.
