09/30, 5:35pm
NVIDIA Fermi
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.
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09/18, 12:15pm
Quad Core i7 much faster in benchmarks
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.
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05/08, 7:30pm
NVIDIA 2.2 released
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.
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04/20, 10:10am
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 Mac
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.
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04/15, 4:30pm
CyberPower graphics PC
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.
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03/30, 5:50pm
HP intros Z Workstations
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.
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03/10, 7:20am
Dell Latitude E6400 XFR
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.
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01/29, 3:40pm
Maingear Remix
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.
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01/21, 10:35am
NVIDIA low-profile GPU
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.
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12/18, 11:20am
PNY, NVIDIA graphics cards
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.
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12/02, 2:55pm
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800
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.
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11/10, 8:30am
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800
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.
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11/07, 1:00pm
NVIDIA Quadro FX 370 470
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.
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10/09, 3:20pm
Toshiba intros notebooks
Toshiba Canada recently bolstered its notebook lineup with four new products, including an all-new Tecra R10 premium notebook meant for business users, which the company is touting as the fastest and most secure Toshiba notebook to date, a Wednesday report reveals. The remaining three include updated ultra portable Portégé-series notebooks with the A600 and an update to the R600, while a new M750 Tablet PC was also introduced.
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09/24, 8:10am
Dell Precision M6400
Dell on Wednesday acted on its early tease and launched the Precision M6400, the company's new flagship notebook for professionals. The 17-inch notebook is Dell's fastest ever by using both the Centrino 2 platform and the size to its advantage: the system is Dell's first to use Intel's quad-core 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme processor and carries four DDR3 memory slots that can each support 4GB of memory, pushing the system up to a desktop-like 16GB in the most extreme configurations.
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08/22, 12:50pm
NVIDIA CUDA 2.0 Final
NVIDIA today formally released the finished version of CUDA 2.0. The second generation of the company's general-purpose programming language for its video chipsets supports 64-bit versions of Mac OS X and Windows Vista and adds support for instructions that can help offload more specific tasks from the main processor to the video card, such as 3D textures and hardware-accelerated interpolation of information.
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08/14, 3:50pm
NVIDIA Supports OpenGL 3
NVIDIA this afternoon was quick to announced that it was supporting the new OpenGL 3.0 standard for graphics and has already launched a software driver beta. The update is currently available only for Windows PCs but lets all GeForce 8-, 9-, and GTX-series cards plus equivalent Quadro models run most of the newer features, including the 32-bit, floating point color and textures as well as other improvements to the way it handles geometry and vertex data.
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08/12, 12:50pm
Dell Latitude 2008
Dell today launched the new Latitude line, ushering in a significant refresh of its business systems. The new models have a new streamlined design with the choice of multiple shell colors and take cues both from recent PC designs like the Studio as well as the MacBook Pro; the new systems now have backlit keyboards, a magnesium shell designed to be strong, and an extra-thin design. The mainstream models are the thinnest ever in the mid-size class, the Texas-based company claims, while its ultraportable E4200 model weighs as little as 2.2 pounds.
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08/12, 10:40am
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M
NVIDIA this morning made official upgrades to its Quadro FX notebook line that carry over lessons learned from the desktop GTX and mobile 9800M lines to pro-level graphics. Each chip is now capable of not only accelerating video but performing general computing at the same time using NVIDIA's CUDA language. The change lets the graphics processors work alongside the main system processor to speed up digital media editing, scientific calculations, and other more universal tasks.
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08/12, 7:25am
Lenovo ThinkPad W700
Lenovo on Tuesday pushed into an unfamiliar area with the ThinkPad W700. The system is the PC builder's first 17-inch system and is unusual in its focus on artists, designers, and other visual editors that would often choose Macs instead; the area to the right of the trackpad includes a stylus-oriented digitizer that can be used for precise drawing in content creation tools. It can also be mapped for the entire screen and serve as a full trackpad replacement.
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08/11, 8:25am
HP EliteBook Quad Core
HP today preceded the SIGGRAPH expo by introducing a notebook it claims breaks two records in notebooks. The 17-inch EliteBook 8730w is the first known notebook to use a true Intel mobile quad-core processor rather than repurposed desktop parts and thus has the same size and battery performance of regular 17-inch systems. The company doesn't reveal the processor but is known to be using a 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme with 12MB of Level 2 cache, trading the clock speed of some Core 2 Duo processors for better performance in video encoding and other tasks that can recognize more than two cores.
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07/30, 8:40pm
NVIDIA Candidate for Mac
Apple's rumored non-Intel mainboard platform may primarily involve a change of suppliers to NVIDIA rather than any kind of custom development, PCPer suggests. The enthusiast site notes that Santa Clara, California-based NVIDIA has been developing its first nForce mainboard chipset for Intel-based notebooks, currently codenamed MCP79, with the aim of improving several weaknesses that have affected Intel's own designs and thus Apple as well. The architecture would support all the necessary components for Intel's just-announced Core 2 processors, including a 1,066MHz system bus and the option of DDR3 memory.
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07/29, 2:00pm
AWare m15 Quadro FX 3600M
Alienware this afternoon turned its m15x gaming notebook into a 3D modeling workstation with the introduction of an option for NVIDIA's top-end Quadro FX 3600M chipset. The portable is the first 15.4-inch notebook anywhere to hold the graphics chip and uses the extra headroom for much faster work rendering 3D effects, CAD, or other projects in DirectX 10 or OpenGL 2.1 without having to resort to a 17-inch desktop replacement or else a slower graphics chipset.
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07/01, 12:00pm
HP xw4550 Workstation
HP this morning used an educational conference as an opportunity to unveil a quad-core workstation inexpensive enough to be bought by anyone: the xw4550 uses a latest-generation 2GHz AMD Opteron to offer up performance which is normally off-limits to those in school or at work. The system can handle video editing and other heavy-duty tasks while still being durable and tamper-proof enough to sit in a public place, according to its creator. The system can appropriately be locked down in hardware and software.
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04/17, 1:55pm
NVIDIA Quadrio FX 4700 X2
NVIDIA has quietly upgraded the higher end of its workstation card line via the Quadro FX 4700 X2. A professional cousin to the GeForce 9800 X2, the Quadro shares the same tactic of incorporating two mid-range graphics processors into a single card; the approach offers more performance than a single chip but without consuming more than one PCI Express slot. While core clock speeds are unavailable, the combined card holds 2GB of video RAM clocked at 800MHz (1.6GHz effective).
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03/22, 10:40am
Dell Latitude E5K and E6K
Dell will lead off the introduction of its completely overhauled Latitude E-series with mainstream models that promise both a better image and new wireless features, according to details reported today by Engadget. Besides the visual redesign, the 14-inch E6400 and 15.4-inch E6500 will be the first Latitudes in their class to bring LED-backlit displays that offer better color and light; both receive the option with a 1440x900 panel, while the larger E6500 will also have the option of a 1920x1200 screen. The systems will have the option of 256MB dedicated NVIDIA graphics (likely Quadro chipsets) to drive their sharper displays.
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