Nvidia brings cheap Quadro

Nvidia has launched its new professional Quadro series, which is the low profile Quadro FX 380 LP. The card is optimized for AutoCAD and certified for 3ds MAX and other Autodesk software. It just for $169, which is the cheapest of all Quadro ever launched. It is the DirectX 10 card with Shader Model 4.1 and it has 512MB of DDR3 and 16 CUDA cores, or shaders, so it’s not exactly a very powerful solution. DVI and DisplayPort are two features which is good choice for designers on a budget or hobby users. 28W is the power consumption.

C3 stepping Phenoms started shipping

AMD has started shipping C3 stepping Phenom II processors. With no change in TDP ratings, but the new stepping will allow for some lower operating voltages and power consumption. Both new Phenom II 945 and 955 Black Edition are still rated at 95W and 125W respectively. AMD already decreased the TDP in Phenom II CPUs previous revision. The price is same as that of C2 versions, which is around €120 for the 945 and €130 for the 955 BE.

Before AMD’s transition into 32nm, Stepping 3 would be the last revision.

nanoETXexpress-SP – based on Intel Atom processor: Computer as tiny as credit card

In future, we are going to see even more smaller computers. A German company, Kontron is introducing a credit card size computer that will allow the manufactures to produce even more smaller computers.

This new module by Kontron measures just 55mm x 84mm and contains an Intel Atom processor, a gig of RAM, SDIO/GPIO switching via BIOS, and optional implemented SDVO connections. It has a compatible extensions to the PICMG COM Express specification, following the pin-out type 1 definition. Now what does that means to us? Well that means that it can control upto 2 displays independently.

There an interface for VGA, DVI/HDMI too that can be used for SDTV as-well-as HDTV connections.

The new processor supports desktop Windows, Linux and Windows CE operating systems. Price is not yet disclosed

[kontron]

ATI Radeon HD 5970 dual-GPU specs unveiled

Fudzilla unmasked the specs of ATI Radeon HD 5970 dual-GPU, yet to be released officially. The HD 5970 packs dual RV870 runs @  725MHz and 2GB of GDDR5 RAM runs @ 1000MHz on dual 256-bit buses. After reading it once you may recognize they are HD 5850 clocks, which is very much right. Also the HD 5970 has 2 x 1600 stream processors and 2 x 80 texture units, which are two times more than that of HD 5870. It is also heard that an acute scarcity of the HD 5000-series cards is faced by AMD. No information about the power consumption levels. However, Hemlock will still remain the king for AMD’s GPU performances.

Hynix announces second generation 1 GB DDR3 chips

Hynix has announced 2nd generation 1GB DDR3 chips (using 54nm process technology) that operate at 1.5V. It has 30% less power consumption than the previous generation. Hynix will commence mass production later this month.

NVidia Tegra Smartbooks with Google Chrome OS – Thumbs-up

In starting of September, the rumor blew from China that Lenovo and Acer could be releasing NVidia Tegra based Smartbooks which will run Google Chrome OS. According to the latest news bits, these Tegra based Smartbooks could actually land by the end of this month.

For those who have doubts about the upcoming Tegra platform, it can handle HD playback with ease with power consumption even lower than the Atom processors that are used in wide variety of netbooks right now

Intel Atom processors to get even smaller, more power-frugal in future

Though not detailed, but a brief idea of the master plan for the Intel’s roadmap for it’s Intel Atom processor was unmasked at a presentation at IDF 2009. As it can be clearly seen, the presentation shows the processor getting smaller and smaller and focus being on reducing the power consumption as much as possible.

Could this be the sign of running x86-based hardware in the palm of hands in the coming few years?

11.6” netbook ‘eNote Turnkey Solution’ to be launched by VIA – packs WiMax

There is a new 11.6-inch recently unveiled by the VIA called the eNote Turnkey Solution. This netbook comes with a VIA Nano (1.3GHz) processor and VIA Chrome9 Graphic chipset that is HD capable. It has an 11.6-inch display with1366 x 768 resolution. Other specs are standard.

It is possible to get one with 2GB RAM too. This netbook won’t be sold by the VIA directly. It may be ordered by the OEMs. They can configure it with WiMAX, HSDPA or EVDO modules. There is wide choice to choose between operating systems too, including Linux.

The only thing not to like about this netbook is its small battery having capacity of just 2600mAh. Its weight is 1.3kg.

No information regarding its pricing is known so far

Hummingbird – ‘Another’ 1GHz Smartphone processor for the Need For Speed!

Most of our readers must be well acquainted with the 1GHz Qualcomm processor known as Snapdragon that set the mobile world on fire as it was the fastest smartphone processor till date. Samsung is now joining the ARM Race by unveiling their first 1GHz processor meant for mobile devices – Hummingbird processor.

Some features of the upcoming Hummingbird processor:

• Modifiable L2 memory cache
• Delivers 2000 DMIPS at 1 GHz
• Features an ARM NEON multimedia extension
• Less Power consumption
• Data & instruction cache of 32KB
• High operating clock performance

It may be that Samsung will be supplying this 1GHz processor for the iPhone 4G (which will be released in 2010) although we would love to see this implemented in MIDs

Samsung unable to find netbook buyer for its 1.8-inch HDD

Samsung launched its huge 250GB 1.8-inch HDD in the month of July 2009, but it was unable to attract any buyers for it. It seems as if the market for 1.8-inch market is now dying. Samsung’s new 1.8-inch HDD offers reduced power consumption against all 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch hard disks and has improved shock protection.

Interestingly, all hard disk manufactures left the 1.8-inch hard disk market, but Samsung and Toshiba. Last year, Toshiba came up with 120GB, 240GB and 250GB 1.8-inch hard disks, but they did not receive a tremendous response from various laptop or netbook manufactures.

Clearly, gone are the days that netbooks are shrinking. Most of the netbook manufactures are now coming up with bigger and bigger netbooks. Due to the increased sizes of current netbooks, netbook manufactures are easily able to use the standard 2.5-inch hard disks instead of the smaller 1.8-inch ones and thus has reduced the demand by a lot.