S3 Graphics has officially announced this week its Chrome S20 series, which initially comprises two PCI Express chips, both DirectX 9.0-compatible. The S27 is said to run at the highest frequency in the industry: 700 MHz. It has eight parallel pixel pipelines and four vertex engines, supports DDR or GDDR3 memory and features an open multi-GPU technology called MultiChrome. The lower end S25 is also equipped with eight pixel pipelines, but supports only GDDR2. Both 90-nm chips are limited to Pixel Shader 2.0+. The products should be available by the end of the year.
ASUS has announced a Radeon X1600 XT card equipped with a new cooling solution. The EAX1600XT Silent/TVD/256M uses copper heatpipes to transfer the heat from the GPU to a huge heatsink grill on the back of the board, where better airflow helps to dissipate it. The 16-pixel pipeline card is clocked at 590 MHz and has 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1.38 GHz.
Viewsonic will introduce in the beginning of November a 19-inch LCD display with 2 ms response time. The 1280x1024 VX922 is expected to be the first in the world to reach such speed. The company will also release, in December, the VX2022, a 3 ms widescreen model (1680x1050) with 16:10 aspect ratio. Both displays are based on Viewsonic’s ClearMotiv technology.
Futuremark announced a new benchmark tool called 3DMarkMobile06 aimed at companies developing 3D handheld devices supporting OpenGL ES 1.0 and 1.1. It claims that the software is the first to provide accurate performance measurements of embedded graphics solutions. The first version, to be available in November, is exclusive for use on 3D hardware development. Tests include image quality and pixel, vertex, post and CPU processing.
Finnish overclockers have established a new record by taking a Radeon X1800 XT GPU to 1 GHz. Sampsa Kurri and Ville Suvanto achieved exactly 1.003 GHz clock speed and 1.881 GHz (DDR) memory speed while keeping system stability. The pair used a custom-built liquid nitrogen system that cooled the graphics processor to minus-80 degrees Celsius.
EVGA has announced a water cooled version of its e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO card. It uses a system called BlackPearl consisting of a 400 W radiator and a 12-centimeter fan. According to the company, the cooler, designed by Innovatek, is up to 20 times more efficient and almost silent. The 24-pixel pipeline card is clocked at 490 MHz, has 256 MB of GDDR3 memory at 1.3 GHz and includes dual DVI and VIVO connectors.
Nvidia will soon launch another GeForce 6800 part to counter ATI’s Radeon X1600 series. The GS model, based on the NV42 chip and fabbed at 110-nm, is expected to be very similar to the GeForce 6800 GT. Though using an older architecture, the new cards will offer 256-bit interface, while the X1600 Pro and XT are both 128-bit. Suggested retail price for the 6800 GS is USD 250.
Nvidia has created an online community called CLUB SLI to gather owners of products supporting its multi-GPU technology. Users have to download a small app to check the presence of SLI components and give a few personal info. In exchange, Nvidia offers a welcome kit, consisting of a poster, wristband, custom fan grill, case badges and monitor hat; enrollment in a newsletter; and opportunity to win a trip to the company’s next product launch. Quantities are said to be limited.
Nvidia has finally launched the mobile version of its high-end GeForce 7800 GTX. The Go 7800 GTX keeps most of its desktop counterpart specs, such as 24 pixel pipelines and 256-bit interface, but is clocked at lower ratings – 400 MHz and 1.1 GHz (memory) – and features “only” six vertex shaders pipelines. Pin-to-pin compatibility allows owners of current GeForce Go 6800 Ultra to easily upgrade to the more powerful 7800 GTX.
Sapphire has launched three VGA cards based on the new Radeon X800 GTO, featuring 12 pixel pipelines, but clocked at a lower 400 MHz in comparison to the X800 GT (475 MHz). The basic version brings 128 MB of DDR memory at 700 MHz overclockable to 760 MHz with the company’s Trixx proprietary tool. The X800GTO Ultimate, which sports a new heatpipe cooling system, packs 256 MB of GDDR3 at 980 MHz and is capable of reaching 520 MHz (core) and 1 GHz (memory). Finally, the X800GT Fireblade Edition uses a dual slot fan cooler venting outside the case and includes 256 MB of 1.6 ns GDDR3 at 980 MHz overclockable to 1.08 GHz. All three models have VGA, DVI and TV-Out connectors.
Taiwanese BenQ plans to release a new 20-inch widescreen LCD monitor aimed at gamers and movie viewers. The FP202W's 8 ms response time should do away with unwanted effects such as ghost images. The monitor, expected to hit stores before the end of the year, offers 1680x1050 resolution and 600:1 contrast ratio. It also includes proprietary Senseye digital enhancement technology and a hot key for switching from digital to analog signal.
