Radeon 2900XT. Photos of retail version

As you know Radeon 2900XT version is officially released today. Several luckies even already tested it. What can I say? I’m dissapointed. Even Ruby won’t save AMD. Video card is similar to Geforce 8800GTS, but costs less (recommended price is $399). It needs more power (215 W) and is more buggy. During tests games exit with errors. I hope AMD will fix problems in future drivers. And now several photos of the 2900XT:

This photo shows excellent???? the exact site of the card:

Video card needs “just” 550-600 W PSU and special 8-end joint:

And here are cables, that you need to connect to your Radeon 2900XT. If you connect only one, without 8-end joint you can forget about overclocking

That’s all folks.

P.S. By the way there is continue of the story for buggy PC. I will write soon.

P.P.S. Sorry for few updates. I’ll try to do my best

Written by mente on May 14th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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Revolution again?

Do you like something innovative? For example first smartphone fully open sourced and based on Linux. I don’t think that anyone can be surprised by mp3 player. But what about this one? It is called Cowon D2 and it has several innovative features. Which one? Just look at the picture

Nothing innovative? It just looks like nothing interesting. This is first player which has touchscreen! And not small touchscreen like my watches, but really big one. Almost like on Pocket PC. Of course with such screen this device can play videos. No high-def, but do you need it? Let’s look on it’s specifications taken from product’s page:

Here we see 2.5 inch touchscreeen as I told you. Other is usual stuff for portable mp3 player. 52 hours for playback is a lot. I don’t think it’s true, but I hope for good things. What’s next:

Specifications are usual for such sort of players. What can I mention is that Cowon D2 supports not only mp3 and wma, but flac, ogg, ape. Another company that produces player with multi support is iRiver. There are several editions of Cowon D2. Black and white as you see on the picture. And 2 GB and 4 GB editions.

If all of what I have written impresses you - run and buy it. As for me - I’ll stay without player. Read books

Written by mente on April 12th, 2007 with no comments.
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AMD is almost ready to launch R600

Do you remember Ruby’s comparison? Well, according to this post AMD has working model of “new” Ruby. But it’s not the main spot. AMD has working R600 video cards. It’s just working prototypes for manufacturers. If manufacturers are happy, customers will be happy too (I hope). AMD still needs time to make sellable video card. Also card is needed to be reduced in size. But I hope they’ll do it quick enough.
Thinking about R600? You must start saving money, if you want to be in the first flight. Because it launches at the beginning of March

Written by mente on February 3rd, 2007 with 2 comments.
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PCI Express 2.0 Specifications

On this week PCI-Sig has released PCI-Express 2.0 specifications. General improvements are:

• Dynamic link speed management allows developers to control the speed at which the link is operating

• Link bandwidth notification alerts platform software (operating system, device drivers, etc) of changes in link speed and width

• Capability structure expansion increases control registers to better manage devices, slots and the interconnect

• Access control services allows for optional controls to manage peer-to-peer transactions

• Completion timeout control allows developers to define a required disable mechanism for transaction timeouts

• Function-level reset provides an optional mechanism to reset functions within a multi-function device

• Power limit redefinition enables slot power limit values to accommodate devices that consume higher power

But the main improvements are:

• The interconnect bit rate is doubled from 2.5GT/s to 5GT/s to support high-bandwidth applications
• Power source is doubled from 75W to 150W. Also 8-pin power-connector can provide additional 150W
• The higher bandwidth will allow product designers to implement narrower interconnect links to achieve high performance while reducing cost

• Reverse support of PCI-Express 1.x video cards and motherboards

I want to discuss the main improvements. The interconnect bit rate is doubled. But do you know that video cards don’t use all bandwidth of PCIe? They always enlarge bit rate for future purpose, but this future never comes. New PCIe specifications come faster. Improvement for power source has 2 sides. First side - video card can be more powerful and use more power (good side). Second side - we have new 8-pin power connector (bad side). You’ll have to buy it before video card (of course if video card uses more than 150W). And of course, reverse support. It’s great that you can connect your old PCIe 1.x video card to new motherboard with PCIe 2.0 support and reverse. Upgrade step-by-step, as I call it.

Summarize this new standard. All improvements are extensive. PCI Express is developed. And it has big future

Written by mente on January 17th, 2007 with 2 comments.
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Discrete Graphics for Mobile Systems

Users of mobile systems with weak mobile card now can breathe free. Asus presents XG Station. As for me - very interesting gadget. With his help you can play on notebook with the help of stationary video card and monitor. How you will ask? Just look at the picture above.

Taken from Vr-zone.com

As you can see this station connects with notebook and monitor. It has built-in video card 7900GS, but you can replace it with more powerful. As for me very interesting now gadget. Now I don’t have to keep desktop. Just monitor. The incredible benefit is that there is no competition. What do you think about this gadget? Will you buy it? It will be available since Q2 2007. I’m waiting!

Written by mente on January 3rd, 2007 with 2 comments.
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Game Exhibition

According to Reuters there is an exhibition about games in London. Who was there please e-mail me or just express your feelings in comments

Written by mente on October 25th, 2006 with no comments.
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Asus increases notebook series by 3 models

Asus thought that its notebook series are small and added 3 new models. Each one is oriented for business. So let’s look at each model separately.

First model is called R1F. Its tablet PC which as it was written “offers a smart balance of mobility and performance with comprehensive security features that protect with both software as well as hardware solutions, providing a secure and convenient computing experience for business professionals on the go”. Interesting, how does it differ from existing models except new hardware? I don’t think there is built-in hardware firewall or some other protecting system. What I really like at this model is handwritten support. It’s really nice! Also LCD is converting up to 180 degrees, but if you’re not big business man, who shows presentations on notebook (actually real business man shows it on projectors) you won’t need this feature.

The other model is called R2H. It looks like Pocket PC, but it’s really Table PC. This notebook has built-in web-camera to communicate with other world. Also as R1F it has handwritten input support. This is actual for this notebook, because there is no other input . This system is weak comparing to others, but much enough for office applications. And my opinion is its battery lives much more than R1H. So this notebook is oriented for beginning businessman.

And last notebook is called Lamborghini VX1. It’s classic notebook with many features. Long-lasting battery, slim design, wireless connections. This notebook is oriented for really big business man. According to its price - $4888. Not anyone can afford it.

P.S. By the way, Lamborghini edition which was always Asus top-model has “only” 7400GS video card. So gamers, forget about this model.

Written by mente on October 19th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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Notebook users can be not only users, but gamers

NVIDIA has released new mobile graphics card GeForce Go 7950 GTX. Man, this card faster for my desktop… Interesting what about energy usage. Still battery problems are remembered. And if this video monster will be provided with AMD processor? What batteries will we need to keep it all power on? And cooling systems? I wonder what performance this video card will have. If more than 7600GT desktop version I’ll be surprised. And who will be the customer of this product? Extremely mobile and rich gamers. Very small area of usage. But it will be. If the price goes down at nearest future, they’ll become more moderate

Written by mente on October 13th, 2006 with no comments.
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Zune. Does it deserve our attention?

Speaking again about Microsoft. Have you ever heard about Microsoft’s new mp3 player called Zune? No? Well, then you probably live in a cave… Just joking.??

Zune is a new Microsoft’s mp3 player. It’s positioned like a famous Apple iPod’s rival. Saying secret - it’s full copy of iPod. It will have even the same service, like iTunes, but with other name. When only Zune be released it will has one specification - 30 gb model. And no TVs and movies! But for what there is big display? Microsoft says it will make it later. They promise to spend huge money on advertising Zune. I want to believe… Like Mulder’s poster at his office. Of course they will spend money, but will be the result positive? No one can say exactly. We must see what Apple will answer

Written by mente on September 19th, 2006 with no comments.
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Try single disc for both new DVD formats

As you know Microsoft and Sony are real rivals on the market of DVD formats. Sony tries to advance with it’s Blu-Ray. Everything was good, until Microsoft introduced own “next” dvd format - HD-DVD. As for me each format has advantages and disadvantages. Blu-ray is fast and big. HD-DVD is a bit smaller, but much cheaper. But only customer will choose the best dvd format.
It was preamble. Now three employees from Warner Bros (funny, heh?) patented dvd disc which will have both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray layer. Now it’s really strange - why have only one layer of one standard if you can have both of it? But there is rising question - each format has itself few layers. How they will fight with it? I don’t know. We’ll wait till some press release. As for me I don’t see future for this innovation. But it’s my opinion. And what’s yours?
Via Reuters

Written by mente on September 19th, 2006 with no comments.
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