AMD Radeon HD 7870 Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan

For our readers who don’t really know who Colorfire is, we can say that it is a subsidiary brand belonging to the well-known Chinese video card manufacturer Colorful. Colorfire is preparing to launch a new custom design of AMD’s Radeon HD 7870 graphics adapter.

The new card is called Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm and is powered by a Pitcairn GPU that has a frequency of 1 GHz. It comes with 1,280 shaders and 80 texture units all using GDDR 5 memory running at 4800 MHZ effective speed. Colorfire’s Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm comes complete with AMD’s UVD3 video decoder, Eyefinity and ZeroCore technologies. The cooling system consists of five nickel-plated heatpipes cooled by a very large single cooling fan.

Mydrivers reported that The fan has 12 centimeters in diameter, although it doesn’t seem so large by looking at the pictures. Colorfire’s  Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm has a 12-phase current supply, and no details on pricing are available yet.

Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan
Image credits to Mydrivers

Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan
Image credits to Mydrivers

Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan
Image credits to Mydrivers

Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan
Image credits to Mydrivers

Colorfire Radeon HD 7870 Xstorm Custom Video Card with 120mm Cooling Fan
Image credits to Mydrivers

Read more »

AMD Brazos 2.0 E2 2000 Processor in Q4 2012

AMD’s new Brazos 2.0 platform can be characterized as bringing higher working frequencies and Turbo Core technology to the same Zacate low-power CPU architecture. The new APUs fit in the same FT1 sockets, and they also bring USB 3.0 support by using the new A68M chipset codenamed Hudson-M3L.

Another important addition to the Brazos 2.0 support is the chipset-based RAID 0.1 support and the Gb Ethernet MAC 10/100/1000, along with two USB 3.0 ports next to 8 USB 2.0 ports with no specific USB 1.1 support. The new chipset also has the same 4.7W TDP that the first generation Brazos chipset had. We’re talking, of course, about the well-known A50M chipset. The new E2 2000 processor reportedly comes with the same Bobcat dual-core configuration and the same 80 shader cores for the iGPU.

The difference is that the CPU frequency is increased from 1700 MHz to 1750 MHz, while the GPU base frequency is now 538 MHz instead of the 523 MHz for the E2 1800, and the Turbo iGPU speed is 700 MHz compared with just 680 MHz for the E21800. The TDP remains the same, which shows that AMD has optimized its design and TSMC’s 40nm manufacturing process has matured.

AMD's Zacate Low Power Processor
Image credits to Anandtech

Read more »

Intel Atom 22nm Coming in Q4 2013

Intel’s low-performance Atom D7500, D2550 and D2500 is all that the company is planning to offer for nettop and low-power desktop systems for the next year and a half. Many of our readers were hoping to see a more capable desktop version of Clover Trail, but Intel doesn’t have such plans.

The world’s biggest CPU designer is planning to skip releasing desktop versions of its Clover Trail and Medfield architecture. We’re not saying that such versions were ever in its plans, but considering how low the performance abilities of the current Atom processors are and the fierce competition from AMD’s Brazos 2.0, many were already thinking about upgraded desktop Atom CPUs. Intel’s Medfield is a quite capable low-power chip, and clocked at over 2 GHz it might have been able to give Qualcomm’s SnapDragon S4 and AMD’s Brazos 2.0 a run for their money in the netbook and low-power desktop market. Current Atom versions are clearly inferior in performance and 3D abilities compared to AMD’s Brazos 2.0, and they are also far behind ARM implementations such as Qualcomm’s SnapDragon S4.

Fudzilla reporting Intel has no plans to upgrade its desktop low-power Atom lineup and will only release improved versions in Q4 2013. These improved Atom processors are currently codenamed Bay Trail and will be built in 22nm technology. Bay Trail will have to fight a plethora of dual- and quad-core ARM Cortex A15 processors by then, and they will also have to face AMD’s new Jaguar low-power cores paired with new GCN iGPUs. We don’t believe Bay Trail stands a chance in front of such fierce competition, but considering that Intel might decide to license a more powerful 3D core from PowerVR, we’re not betting on any side for now.

Intel Atom Logo
Image credits to Intel

Read more »

Windows Phone 8 Get Curved Keyboard for Single-Hand Use

Windows Phone 8, the next-generation mobile operating system from Microsoft, is set to arrive on shelves in the fourth quarter of this year, with a nice range of new features and updates from the previous platform releases.

One of the elements that might become available for Windows Phone 8 users at some point, but that has not been announced yet, is a keyboard specifically crafted for use single-handedly. The keyboard, which was spotted in a leaked presentation from Microsoft Research, sports a curved design, which would make it great for use with the thumb. Windows Phone 8 was rumored before to be set to receive a keyboard optimized for use with a single hand, yet Microsoft did not make official any plans on the matter. However, chances are that this curved keyboard will make an appearance on devices powered by its mobile operating system, either in the next major OS flavor or in a future one. As can be seen in the screenshot to the left, available courtesy of WMPoweruser, some of the keys have been put together, yet users should be able to type without having to actually look at the keyboard.

Moreover, the news site notes that the new design of the on-screen keys should leverage the disambiguation regarding the words that are being typed. When announcing Windows Phone 8, Microsoft did say that there would be some enhancements brought to its input methods, but all that it unveiled was extended support for national Soft Keyboards, such as a new design for Korean. Provided that Microsoft is indeed planning the inclusion of this new single-hand use keyboard on its Windows Phone 8 devices, chances are that Windows Phone 7.8 users will also receive it. What remains to be seen is whether it will become available right from the start, or it will be pushed to users later, through a new software update.

Windows phone 8 to get curved on-screen keyboard
Image credits to WMPoweruser

Read more »

Office 2013 Icons Leak, Show More "Metro"fication

Microsoft’s Office 2013 productivity suite is expected to become available in a beta flavor later this summer, with a nice range of goodies packed inside, including a new, Metro-fied user interface.

We already had the chance to have a look at some of the visual changes that Microsoft plans on packing inside the new application version, and now we can have a look at the manner in which its icons have been changed. Each of the previous Office releases brought along redesigned icons for the applications included in the suite, and the upcoming Office 2013 is no exception. The guys over at LiveSide.net have managed to get hold of some of the icons destined to accompany the suite, such as those for OneNote 2013 and Excel 2013. Just as mentioned above, both of them show increased influence from the new Metro user interface that dominates the Windows 8 platform. The OneNote icon comes with the “Keep tabs on your life” tag on it and with a perspective that is in line with the new Windows 8 logo, as well as with the Office 2013 logo. The letter N present on the icon denotes OneNote, and it should make it easier for users to identify the app.

Apparently, all Office 2013 applications will receive the same treatment, including the Excel 2013 icon that can be seen to the left. In line with the icons for OneNote and Excel attached to this article, we can assume that the leaked icon that was spotted a while ago in a Microsoft presentation was denoting Outlook 2013 (image available courtesy of Picturepan2 at LiveSino.net). Although nothing is official on all these, specific info on Microsoft’s plans for Office 2013 should become available later this month, when the beta of the application will be made official (it might be launched as Office 2013 Preview, LiveSide suggests).

OneNote 2013 icon
Image credits to Liveside.net

Excel 2013 icon
Image credits to Liveside.net

Outlook 2013 icon
Image credits to Picturepan2 at LiveSino.net

Read more »

ASUS AMD Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II

Nvidia is getting ready to announce the GeForce GT 600 series for the high volume mid-range market, so AMD and its partners are getting ready to counteract the launch. ASUS is showing a great deal of care and work, especially for the China region.

Therefore, ASUS is now preparing a special version of its DirectCU II HD 7850 graphics cards that’s specifically made to achieve better performance and cooling results than the reference AMD Radeon HD 7850 design. As reported by VR-Zone, The new version will come with two extra 8-millimeter cooling pipes next to the usual three heatpipes inside the DirectCU II cooling system. We can only see three heatpipes in the pictures, so we'll have to wait until the final product is pictured to see the exact number. Also, the PCB is slightly modified when compared with ASUS’ HD 7850 DirectCU II and the HD 7850 DirectCU II TOP. The PCB of the ASUS' Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II features a high-quality 6+2+1 phase VRM that uses ASUS' SuperAlloy chokes, high-grade LFPAK MOSFETs, Japan-made solid capacitors, tantalum capacitors, along with the Digi+ VRM controller.

The card is fueled by two 6-pin PCIe power connectors and also has a black metal back-plate that helps with the heat dissipation and gives additional structural integrity to the device. ASUS’ Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II doesn’t have the highest speeds on the HD 7850 DirectCU II line from the manufacturer, but it is, nevertheless, clocked higher than AMD’s reference design. The GPU’s frequency is 910 MHz, while the memory is clocked at 1250 MHz. That’s clearly faster than AMD's reference clock speeds of 860/1200 MHz for the GPU/memory. The price is estimated to be ranging anywhere between $200 and $240, which is about €157 to €181 EUR for the European buyers.

ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II video card
Image credits to VR-Zone

ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II video card
Image credits to VR-Zone

ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II video card
Image credits to VR-Zone

Read more »

World’s First Dual Mode Touchpad Mouse by Gigabyte

Well-known mainboard manufacturer Gigabyte has just announced the world’s first dual mode touchpad mouse, on its official website.

The company’s novel pointing device is called Xenon and can act both as a touchpad and as a mouse. It comes with Aivia’s Painter software bundles and it uses Gigabyte’s Free-Scrolling Technology. Gigabyte’s Xenon is a wireless mouse with a large touch surface on the upper side. Pushing one of the side buttons will activate Xenon’s touchpad function. The radio signal is specified to work up to a distance of 10 meters and the mouse uses two AAA batteries to power it.

The resolution is a very decent 1000 dpi and report rate is 125 reports per second. Gigabyte’s Xenon dual mode touchpad mouse is covered by a two year warranty and it is compatible with all Microsoft operating systems beginning with Windows 98 and ending with Windows 7.

Gigabyte Xenon Dual Mode Touchpad Wireless Mouse
Images credits to Gigabyte

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with 5.5" screen, narrower body confirmed to arrive September

We reported earlier this month that Samsung is currently working on a Galaxy Note sequel, which should be announced and/or released sometime this fall.

According to the first rumors on the unannounced Galaxy Note 2, Samsung plans to put one of its newest Exynos system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution inside this smartphone. In addition, the device should boast a large 5.5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display, which might be of the same quality as Galaxy S III's PenTile screen. It's been also rumored that Galaxy Note 2 will be equipped with 1.5GB of RAM, but given the fact that some Galaxy S III models are already shipping with 2GB of RAM onboard, this won't make it stand out. Today, GSMArena claims that the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display has been confirmed by a trusted source close to the matter.

Moreover, the cited source also claims that the Galaxy Note 2 will come with 2GB of RAM instead of the previously rumored 1.5GB of RAM. Apparently, the next Galaxy Note device will be a bit narrower than the original model and will feature a Galaxy S III-like form factor and design. The smartphone will be powered by Samsung's Exynos 5250 chipset with dual-core ARM 15 processor, but this information has yet to be confirmed. No word on the amount of megapixels of the main camera, but rumor has it that Galaxy Note 2 will boast an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back with improved sensor. More importantly, Samsung decided to move the release date of the Galaxy Note 2 to September, though previous rumors claimed the smartphone will arrive in October.

The reason behind the South Korean handset maker's decision seems to be the fact that Apple plans to launch the iPhone 5 in October, so Samsung want to grab as many customers as possible before the Cupertino-based company comes forward with its latest product.

Samsung Galaxy Note

Read more »

AMD to Sell Intel Servers with Red Hat Certification

Some months ago, AMD finalized the acquisition deal regarding SeaMicro, a company building ultra-dense servers using Intel’s Atom and Xeon processors. Now, AMD will use SeaMicro’s technology and experience in different servers based on its own processors.

It is quite obvious why AMD invested in SeaMicro and why Intel was not happy about the deal. On the other hand, SeaMicro, now part of AMD, already has serious products designed with Intel’s processors, and it also has related contracts on which it has to deliver.

Therefore, AMD is in a strange situation now where it puts out press releases about Red Hat certifications for servers containing Intel processors. Obviously, the words “Intel”, “Xeon” or “Sandy Bridge” are nowhere to be found in AMD’s press release.

Future AMD Server Based on SeaMicro Technology
Image credits to AMD

Future AMD Server Based on SeaMicro Technology Presentation
Image credits to AMD

Read more »

PowerColor Single-Slot AMD Radeon HD 7750 Video Card

Traditional AMD video card manufacturer PowerColor has just launched the new Radeon HD 7750 video card on its official website. The new graphics adapter features a LowProfile PCB and a modest single-slot cooling system.

The card is built on AMD’s “Cape Verde” graphics processing unit that comes with a very small 123-square millimeter die size, containing 1.5 billion transistors. The default GPU speed is 800 MHz when working in full load 3D mode. In 2D mode, the frequency of the GPU will drop to a low 300 MHz. The 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory is clocked at 4500 MHz when in 3D mode, but it drops to 600 MHz when working in 2D.  The memory and the GPU work on a tight 128 bit BUS, so playing games with very high resolutions will be a little tricky. The “Cape Verde XT” GPU is part of AMD’s GCN architecture and comes with much improved GPU compute performance. The GPU has 512 unified shader processors, 32 texturing units and 16 ROPs.

Compared with the AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition, this is a cut-down “Cape Verde” GPU, with two of its 10 CUs (compute units) disabled and a 20% lower clock speed. In our opinion, it would have been better if the cooling system were completely fanless, but we have a feeling that a larger copper heatsink would have been more expensive to make than the use of a 40-millimeter fan. On the other hand, fanless cooling designs usually come with a modest price premium, as they do offer increased acoustic comfort and must also provide an extra charge, as these cards are more likely to come in RMA. Pricing has not been made available yet.

PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 Single Slot LowProfile Video Card
Image credits to PowerColor

PowerColor Radeon HD 7750 Single Slot LowProfile Video Card box
Image credits to PowerColor

Read more »