Over the past few weeks we have taken a look at the cards from the NVIDIA stable - the GTX 470 and the GTX 580 which were both amazing cards in their own right and achieved high scores in our tests. But now it's time to take a look at the Red side, AMD's. They recently launched the 6800 Series of GPUs and XFX was kind enough to send us one. The AMD HD 6850 is based on the ‘Barts’ core and in comparison to previous generations offersimproved tessellation, eyefinity and performance.The first thing that we noticed as we took the card out of the box was how small and light it was. At just 235mm in length, it should fit in almost any modern chassis. In comparison, the GTX 470 and GTX 580 look like hulking monsters. XFX have used a non-reference design and have used dual fans to help with heat management. The copper heatpipes jutting out of the side help in giving it a more rugged look, but at the same time they also make direct contact with the GPU which helps in cooling. One very cool design, although superficial, is the XFX logo carved into the I/O panel. It doesn’t serve a purpose, but it looks good.In terms of connectivity options, the XFX HD 6850 has two DVI-D ports along with one Displayport 1.2 and one HDMI 1.4a port. On the other end of the card; we have a single 6-pin PCIe connector that takes care of all its power needs.

AMD (NYSE:AMD) today launched the ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 graphics processor, a groundbreaking product that harnesses the state-of-the-art 40 nanometer manufacturing process for the desktop PC market, delivering best-in-class performance and energy efficiency at anticipated launch prices as low as $991. The ATI Radeon HD 4770 graphics card is the newest addition to the award-winning ATI RadeonTM HD 4000 series.· The new card features third-generation hardware support for the latest DirectX® 10.1 games like Battleforge, HAWX, S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky and Stormrise, delivering higher game performance and improved visual quality when compared to DirectX® 10.
· The ATI Radeon HD 4770 continues the AMD tradition of bringing industry-leading technology to market that drives a superior user experience. The ATI Radeon HD 4770 makes use of the latest GDDR5 memory technology, providing incredibly high data rates for fast game performance.
· Gamers looking to get the most value out of their graphics hardware investment can scale their performance using ATI CrossFireX™ technology, allowing a second ATI Radeon HD 4770 card to be added for a near-linear increase in performance.2
· The ATI Radeon HD 4770 graphics card allows users to enjoy HD digital content3 with incredible visual fidelity. The new card helps enhance the definition and clarity of lower resolution media, and through the second generation AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0) technology, users can be assured of smooth video playback, crisp images, and vibrant colors on all HD content including Blu-ray discs.4 With support for HDMI, picture-in-picture (PiP) and the latest HD audio technologies like 7.1 surround sound, the new graphics card enables an impressive cinema-quality home entertainment experience.
· Celebrating the company’s 40th Anniversary, AMD continues its heritage of focusing on the design and development of new products and platforms that deliver compelling user experiences at an exceptional value. By combining new AMD Athlon™ X2 7850 processors, AMD 7-Series chipsets and ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 series graphics cards, AMD enables a PC platform that can bring HD video to life while delivering massive performance headroom and video processing acceleration.3

“Consumer pressure in this economic downturn is shifting demand to lower prices and the price band around $100 has the highest demand and highest volume,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD.5 “AMD has responded with the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4770, targeting this market with cutting-edge technologies like 40 nm processors, support for DirectX 10.1 gaming and GDDR5 memory. This strategy stands in stark contrast to the old “trickle down” technology approach some still use to address this important segment.”

“As a leading source of cutting-edge game development tools, Emergent has a passion for delivering realistic, visually stunning game play as well as improved performance,” said Doug Kubel, vice president, Product Development, Emergent. “By supporting DirectX 10.1 in the Gamebryo LightSpeed development system, we are able to deliver improvements in both image quality and frame rates. DirectX 10.1 graphics hardware like the ATI Radeon HD 4770 makes it possible to fully unlock the experience delivered by the combined power of DirectX10.1 and Gamebryo LightSpeed.”

April 6th is gonna be a big day for AMD as they are going to launch a slew of new cards. As we have told you back in February, Radeon HD 4890 (RV790) is slated for April release and the confirmed date is now 6th of April. Interestingly, we also heard RV740 is pulled in from May to early April release so AMD will probably launch the new cards on the same day.

Radeon HD 4890 (RV790) is still 55nm based and is basically a higher clocked version of RV770. The RV790 card comes with 10 layers PCB and is 9.5" long witha new dual slot cooler. We told you previously, there are 2 versions; standard and OC edition. The OC edition will come later in April. The price for standard 512MB edition is US$199 while the price for 1GB OC edition is US$299.

Radeon HD 4750 and 4770 is 40nm based and we already have seen a preview of it. Price of HD 4750 is expected to be around US$99 while HD 4770 is priced at around US$119. Apparently, the yield is so good that AMD decided to pull in from May to early April release to give GeForce GTS 240 and 9600 GT a run for its money.

It is clear now, that AMD's next performance GPU, theRV790 will be built on the 55 nm manufacturing process. To build on this information, sources tell German website Hardware-Infos that one of the factors that will help the new GPU perform better and run at higher clock-speeds than its predecessor, the RV770 does, is the newer improved 55 nm manufacturing process it will be built on. Going by the foundry-partner codename "55GT", the RV790 may get a little help from its superior silicon fabrication, which invariably makes it more expensive to manufacture.

One of the reasons behind why AMD is starting its 40 nm GPU lineup with a mainstream GPU such as RV740, is that the 40 nm process needs further development by foundry companies. It hasn't developed to the level that safely permits manufacturing high-end GPUs with stellar transistor-counts. For the same reason, NVIDIA's 40 nm conquest will be flagged off by the entry-level GT218 GPU. High-density circuits builton the current 40 nm process are known to be very prone to electrical leakage.

RV790 engineering-samples undergoing testing are known to be coming in two flavours according to the source: a base model and an overclocked model. The base model comes with the same exact clock speeds as the RV770XT: 750/900 MHz (core/memory), while the overclocked model is known to come with clock speeds of 850/975 MHz (core/memory). To achieve that 100 MHz increment in core frequency, the voltage is known to be stepped-up from 1.24 to 1.30 V. Products based on this GPU are known to surface by April.

Sunnyvale, California-based AD has unleashed a new product as part of the company's range of ATI Mobility Radeon graphics solutions. Designed to boost the performance for portable computer systems, the chip maker has unveiled, at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, its latest Mobility Radeon HD 4000-series graphics chips, its next-generation series of notebook graphics processors. According to the company, the new solutions are capable of providing up to twice the performance capabilities of their predecessors, the HD 3000 series of mobile GPUs.

"We’re proud to highlight ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4870 as the first notebook GPU to support specially designed, ultra-high bandwidth GDDR5 graphics memory to unleash the full-throttle gaming experience normally reserved for the high-end desktop gaming rigs," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD, Graphics Products Group. "Now, notebooks equipped with one or a pair of these speedy graphics processors can take on just about any PC game and run them smoothly at their maximum option settings."

The new Mobility Radeon HD 4800-series graphics processors are the industry's first solutions that boast the GDDR5 memory technology, enabling twice as much memory bandwidth as the GDDR3 and GDDR4 standards. This significantly increases the performance capabilitiesof all the upcoming gaming laptops designed by leading PC makers. Meant for gaming, these new 55nm notebook GPUs are capable of providing up to 800 stream processors, compared to the 320 stream processors available for the HD 3800 series of graphics chips.In addition, the new Mobility Radeon HD 4000-series GPUs have been designed with energy efficiency in mind, providing a balance between optimal performance and reduced power consumption. According to AMD, its high-performance Mobility Radeon 4870 GPU is capable of providing a 60-percent increase in performance-per-watt, coming with technologies such as the ATI PowerPlay, ATI PowerXpress and ATI Switchable Graphics.

Systems running on the HD 4000-series graphics processors have already been designed by leading system makers, such as ASUS, MSI and others, with availability expected to begin as early as Q1 2009.

XFX seems to be ready with its initial lineup of graphics cards. Some European retailers have even begun listing their products and pricing. While there's nothing really interesting about the way XFX is pricing its cards, the way it's cards seem to be certainly interesting. Pictured below are its first two models based on the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870 graphics processors.

Some surprises: Both use black coloured PCB, neither are 100% reference ATI design, and in fact, XFX designed its own cooler for the Radeon HD 4850 512 MB (model: XFX HD485X-YDFC). The Radeon HD 4870 in the picture is the 1 GB variant (model: HD487A-ZDFC). Bothaccelerators use AMD reference clock speeds. These cards will be released within the first two weeks of this month. More information as we come across.

AMD, the chip rival for Intel has released “the fundamental Linux code” that is needed to develop open-source 3D-acceleration drivers for its R600 and R700 ATI graphic-processors series.
The news is intended for those who want to create drivers for potent GPU series of ATI Radeon HD 2x00, HD 3x00 (both R600), and Radeon HD 4x00 (R700). Also, unleash of open source code is good for Linux-lovers who have access to the R600/700’s 3D powers.
The announcement made by GPU to support the recently released open-source OpenCL 1.0 allowing GPU to be used for general-purpose computing (GPGPU), it is expected that GPUniverse is moving slowly toOpen Source Software (OSS) model.
The OSS future looks bright for GPUs. The segment was still new to AMD as Intel is open with its drivers. OSS development should proceed swiftly, both in 3D acceleration and GPGPU.

Enthusiasts can now cool their computers utilizing miniaturized versions of technologies used in refrigerators and air conditioners; graphics card cooling solutions soon to follow
Thermaltake today announced an initiative with AMD to redesign the revolutionary Xpressar micro refrigeration cooling system for use with ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series graphics cards. First introduced in a specialized case designed to achieve CPU temperatures much lower than standard liquid cooling systems, the Xpressar technology will be modified for use as a graphics cooling solution. When commercially available, the Xpressar graphics solution could reduce graphics processor temperatures byas much as 20°C when compared to common liquid cooling products.
The Thermaltake Xpressar micro refrigeration cooling system utilizes a miniature version of the compressor cooling module commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. To streamline installation, the graphics cooling module will utilize a compact design, occupying only the drive bay area in the computer.
“The Thermaltake micro refrigeration cooling system makes sense both from a technology standpoint and from a need to continually introduce advances in computer cooling,” said Dr. Gamal Refai-Ahmed, AMD Fellow and lead thermal architect, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “By moving beyond the limits of air cooling, we potentially open up a whole new level of performance for graphics technology.”

“This kind of phase change cooling may not be headline news, but a DC inverter type compressor that comes in such a compact size will be a new experience for the overclocking community,” said Kenny Lin, CEO of Thermaltake. “With an Intelligent IC controller to solve condensation problems, we expect many enthusiasts to take advantage of our Xpressar micro refrigeration cooling system when building cutting-edge systems.”

Overwhelming interest in the first Thermaltake Xpressar cooling solution indicates micro refrigeration cooling technology is already gaining traction around the world. The Xpressar graphics solution is one of many specialized micro refrigeration cooling products Thermaltake hopes to introduce to deliver optimum cooling solutions to a worldwide audience of PC enthusiasts.

AMD, the cut throat competitor for Intel has announced the launch of its last pair of dual-core Athlon chips fabbed at 65nm.

Both, the new Athlon64 X2 processors fabbed at 65nm are tagged with the model number 7750, but one is available only to OEM PC builders and runs at 2.5GHz, whilst the other is an unlocked Black Edition chip with the listed speed of 2.7GHz.

The new chips have 512KB of Level 2 cache memory on each processor core and 2MB of shared Level 3 cache. Both the chips are part of AMD’s Cartwheel desktops platform thatalso includes its 780G chipset and ATI Radeon 3200 integrated graphics parts.

The OEM model costs low as compared to overclockable Black Edition. The Black Edition costs $79.
AMD has recently released the first of its Shanghai line of server processors built on its latest 45nm fab technology.

SAPPHIRE Technology is now introducing the SAPPHIRE ATOMIC HD 4870 X2, an exclusive new dual GPU water cooled version of the standard ATI HD 4870 X2 card. Because the article is written in Greek which is not my strongest language, I'll stick to the specs and pics, after all that's all we need. As usual, the SAPPHIRE ATOMIC HD 4870 X2 comprises of two complete HD 4870 graphics systems on a single PCI-Express card connected by an on-board PCI Express Gen 2 bridge chip. Each GPU has 1GB of GDDR5 memory, making a total of 2GB on-board memory. Core clock speed for this model is 800MHz, there are 2x800 stream processors, the memory clock speed is 1000MHz with 512-bit memory interface. What's so special in this model is the full cover liquid cooling provided by the famous OEM coolingexpert Asetek. The water-block cools both GPUs, all memory chips, the bridge chip and all the power elements. Two Dual Link DVI outputs are provided as well as TV-Out. Additionally the card's bundle includes a CCL UV lamp and Sapphire USB memory stick with drivers. The card will be available starting December 18th for a MSRP of $649.

WITH NVIDIA'S GTX 295 announcement just around the corner, the satanic rumourmill - as Nick fondly puts it - is in overdrive once again, fuelled by leaked specs and a vivid imagination, it seems.

What are we talking about? Well, several Chinese forums were a-buzz today with talk of a RV775XT and RV775Pro, alleged derivatives of the current RV770 marchitecture with some odd bits and pieces of additional tech - smaller dies on the same process without a re-design, for example. This included a return to GDDR4, die sizes mysteriously shrinking on a 55nm process, and some extra stream processors and TMUs.

The most interesting part of the posts was the one about DAAMIT having refined the fabbing process resulting in better yields that would allow it to put out parts with lower redundancy, that is, less silicon set aside for the eventuality of a manufacturing defect. This would mean some serious cherry-picking taking place and a limited supply of cards, at best, not to mention the economics of the thing...

We rang up ATI's Chris Hook about this and he clarified several points about those specifications. The general consensus is that someone compiled fragments of possible products and put them in a nice looking table. While, in good PR fashion, not admitting or denyinganything we threw at him, he did help us figure out what's wrong with the info.

ATI won't be launching anything in January, that's more or less guaranteed. A refresh to the current range of cards will be launched over the course of 1H-09, but not as early as January (CeBIT sounds like as good a time as any). That will include a delayed RV740 derivative and a suped-up RV770, which should receive the HD 49xx moniker. GDDR3 and GDDR5 will remain the memory bits and pieces, but ATI has dropped GDDR4 for good... too expensive and too much like GDDR5, said the Cap'n. Now the juicy bit is that AMD has narrowed down the 40nm parts launch to the first half of 2009 too, so between the derivatives and the shrinks there will be plenty of options on the market in 2009.

Last, but certainly not least, the 58xx series cards will be reserved for Q4 2009 and will pair up with Microsoft's DirectX 11 launch. So fanbois and fangoils, you'll have to wait a while.

There was more but we were sworn to secrecy, under penalty of death by Sasquatch buggery. We'll keep it to ourselves.

AMD AM3 processors (Athlon X4, Phenom II X3, Phenom II X4) will get a new 55nm chipset by Q3 next year. AMD 880G chipset will form part of the AMD Live! "Pisces" platform.

AMD 880G will feature a integrated Radeon HD 3450 (RV620) DX10.1 graphics core, DDR3 support, HyperTransport 3.0, Universal Video Decoder 2 (UVD 2), Hybrid Crossfire with a discrete Radeon HD 3450 graphics core through a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, Display Port/HDMI/DVI/SurroundView support. AMD 880G will be paired up with SB710 Southbridge offering 12 USB ports and 6 SATA ports.

AMD is also touting much on their new OverDrive 3.0 that support AM3 platforms featuring Smart Control that boost clockson demand, Application Specific Profiles that optimise system settings upon application detection and Hardware Monitoring support with fan control.

Dell has launched the Studio XPS desktop - a premium PC that features the new ultra fast Intel Core i7 processor - in India.The Studio XPS desktop starts at Rs. 86,400 with 24" flat panel, 512MB ATI Radeon HD4580 graphics card, Blu-ray disc drive, built-in HDMI port and can be customized with a variety of complementary high-performance components.

"The Studio XPS desktop combines powerful features and technology with a stylish design and is the perfect choice for people who are expanding their multimedia horizons" said Girish Mehta, Director of Consumer Marketing Dell India. "By bringing this level of performance to the desktop, we are enabling creative journeys of self discovery and self expression."The Studio XPS desktop packs a lot of the same performance and features found in full-size high-performance gaming rigs into a smaller, more compact mini-tower featuring glossy black finish. All systems share the new Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technology of Intel's new Core i7 processor. This technology provides dynamic speed increases on demand and results in up to 65 percent performance improvement for the latest multithreaded applications.

The PC has support for up to 1TB of hard drive space and features 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista so it can take advantage of up to 12GB tri-channel DDR3 memory. The PC also has a plethors of ports - eight USB 2.0 (four front, four back), two IEEE 1394 (4-pin front, 6-pin back), microphone/line in (front and back), built- in 7.1 audio support (six connectors), S/PDIF, eSata (all back).

AMD has released its new Shanghai platform, signaling a move to 45nm. The first chips out the door are quad-core Opteron parts, which AMD claims will deliver up to 35 percent more performance and up to a 35 percent decrease in power consumption when idle.

"This enhanced AMD Opteron processor represents the most dramatic performance and performance-per-watt increases for AMD products since the introduction of the world's first x86 dual-core processors nearly four years ago," Randy Allen, AMD senior VP for Computing Solutions Group, said in a statement. "Simply put, the quad-core AMD Opteron is the right technology at the right time."Shanghai, which is essentially a refresh of Barcelona and not an entirely new architecture, supports DDR2-800 memory and comes with a tweaked Direct Connect Architecture. The current batch of 75-watt Shanghai chips will be followed up by a launch of 55-watt Opteron and an SE 105-watt part in Q1 2009. And according to CNet, a desktop platform (codenamed Dragon) consisting of 45nm Shanghai desktop CPUs along with AMD 700 series chipsets and ATI Radeon HD 4000 graphics will also see the light of day in the same time frame and attempt to compete with Intel's Core i7 platform.

Will Shanghai get AMD back on track? Hit the jump and give us your take.

The magazine ZDnet reports that in the instructions for manufacturers of components for Windows 7, Microsoft does not encourage the development of hybrid graphics technology.

The hybrid systems have a graphics controller embedded on the motherboard and a dedicated graphics card for software requiring better performance. For a laptop, the life of the battery will be slightly improved with the use of graphics controller. To the great displeasure of ATI, Nvidia and Microsoft OEM stated:"Windows 7 does not offer native support for hybrid graphics systems. We strongly encourage manufacturers not to develop such systems could be unstable and unpleasant for the user."

At the time of writing, the record in question is no longer available on the official site and it is being edited. Microsoft would be in the process of amending this section?

Who says thin is in? Not Palit, who has just introduced a massive three-slot graphics card based on AMD's dual-GPU ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2. Dubbed the Revolution 700 Deluxe, the new card owes its wide load to a giant heatsink consisting of a two-fan cooling solution outfitted with heatpipes and a plethora of connection options.

The Revolution 700 Deluxe comes equipped with DisplayPort, HDMI, Dual-Link DVI, and D-Sub (VGA) connections, so while you might have to worry about how you're going to cram this card inside your case, you at least won't face any problems connecting it to nearly any type of display.Other specs include 2GB of GDDR5 slightly overclocked at 3800MHz (compared to 3600MHz reference), 750MHz core clockspeed, DirectX 10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support, and a 512-bit memory interface resulting in 2.4 teraFLOPS of graphics horsepower.

No price has yet been set for the mammoth videocard, but according to TGDaily, Palit spokesman Darren Polkowski said it sell in a similar price range as other 4870 X2 cards.

Is three slots too much? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

We still find it hard to get our minds off that graphics monster, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 card from Palit. However, it looks like users are bound to get the exact same graphics card from two of ATI's partners, namely Palit and the ex-NVIDIA exclusive Gainward. That's right, pictures of a tri-slot Gainward graphics card, looking strangely familiar to Palit's behemoth, have recently surfaced on the Internet.

It could be that the tri-slot, dual-fan, heat-dissipating solution has become the latest in the design of high-end graphics cards, since we couldn't otherwise explain why Gainward decided to create a card that uses the same cooling solution as the one designed by its competitor Palit. In addition, the Gainward card is also said to have been featured with the same factory overclocked core and memory speed, so it's safe to say that it will deliver the same level of performance as Palit's proprietary design.Turning to the available technical specifications of the overclocked "Spartan," enthusiasts will be happy to hear that the card comes with no less than 2GB of GDDR5 memory, working at a speed of 3800MHz, while the two graphics processors have been set to work at a 750MHz core frequency. Expected to become part of the company's range of "Golden Sample" cards, the yet-to-be officially unveiled product also includes features such as D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity options, for users who want to connect it to different high-quality displays.

Unfortunately, it appears that a few other features are also similar to those of Palit's graphics monster, in that they both lack a specific release date and price point, at least for the time being. However, no matter which of the two cards will be released first on the market, users are bound to get the same level of performance from either one.

With the launch of ThinkServers, Lenovo has expanded its popular Think range of enterprise computing solutions in India. Lenovo’s ThinkServer range comprises of ThinkServer TS100 Rack, ThinkServer TD100 Tower, ThinkServer TD100x Tower, ThinkServer RD120 Rack and Thinkserver RS110 Rack.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack are aimed at small offices for simple applications, whereas the ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD120 Rack is developed for medium-sized businesses that involve additional capabilities. All the ThinkServers come pre-loaded with management tools that include:
# ThinkServer EasyStartup – A hardware configuration tool to get the servers up and running quickly
# ThinkServer EasyUpdate – An update utility to easily identify, download and install hardware and firmware updates
# ThinkServer EasyManage – A full featured tool that works with LANDesk to manage the performance of one or more servers from a single console.The ThinkServer servers work with Microsoft Windows Server or SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell.

All these ThinServers incorporate Easy LED Diagnostics that enables server administrator to easily diagnose hardware issues; and Advanced ECC Memory to smoothly minimize the chances of system downtime due to memory failure.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower and RS110 Rack are single-socket servers, while the ThinkServer TD100 Tower, TD100x Tower or RD120 Rack are double-socket servers.

The ThinkServer TS100 Tower is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo and Xeon 3200 Series processor and sports Intel 32101CH9R chipset, an 8 GB Memeory, SS/HS 4×3.5″ SATA/SAS or HS 8×2.5″ SAS storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 graphics with external DDRII 64 MB memory.

Powered by Intel Xeon 3000 and 5000 series processor, the ThinkServer TD100/TD100x Tower features Intel 5000 ICH7R chipset, a 32GB/48GB Memory, SS/HS 4×3/5″SAS or SATA OR SS/HS 8×3.5″ SAS or SATA storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 graphics with external DDRII 64 MB memory.

Next is the Thinkserver RS110 Rack that comes equipped with Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual, Core 2 Duo/Quad and Xeon 3000 Series processor, Intel 3210ICH9 chipset, an 8 GB memory, SS/HS 2×3.5″ SATA/SAS or SS/HS 4×2.5″ SAS storage, CDRW/DVDROM drives and ATI ES1000 with DVO graphics.

Lastly, the ThinkServer RD120 Rack employs Intel Xeon 3000 and 5000 processor, Intel 5000 ICH7 chipset, a 48 GB memory, CDRW/DVDROM drives and a storage options such as 6 x 3.5 inch HS SAS or 4 x 3.5 inch HS SAS Plus tape, 8 x 2.5 inch HS SAS Plus Tape, DDS6 Internal Tape Option supported on either 2.5-inch SAS or 3.5-inch SAS.

Lenovo’s ThinkServers are expected to hit the Indian market by this month for a starting price of Rs 45,000.

AMD today introduced the ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 graphics card, raising the performance bar for graphics cards priced at less than $150 (USD) and presenting gamers with even more affordable access to award-winning ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series performance. Like all ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series products, the new offering delivers class-leading game performance and superior HD multimedia capabilities, as well support for the latest DirectX® 10.1 games soon to be released for the holiday season.

“The ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card is another example of how AMD’s scalable design strategy is paying off,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “With a single chip we have been able to quickly and efficiently bring to market graphics card designs ranging from below $150 through $549 SEP, with leading performance in every segment. The ATI Radeon HD 4830 continues that great trend, providing tremendous value to gamers for less than $150.”

“The $100-$150 graphics card price band represents the ‘sweet spot’ of the desktop PC graphics market where the consumer gets the most graphics performance per dollar spent,” said Dean McCarron, founder and principal, Mercury Research. “This is where the latest graphics technologies reach the mainstream PC audience, and this is the level that most PC games target.”Resetting the performance bar below $150

The ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 graphics card delivers outstanding value to gamers. With the launch of this card, even the most intimidating games that were previously unplayable on a graphics card selling for less than $150 can now be enjoyed at playable frame rates, even when using image enhancements such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. For those gamers looking to get even more performance out of their gaming rigs, ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 cards support ATI CrossFireX™ technology allowing gamers to combine as many as four cards in one PC.

Phenomenal HD multimedia experience

More than just a gaming card, the ATI Radeon HD 4830 offers up exceptional HD multimedia performance as well. All ATI Radeon HD 4800 series cards allow users to enjoy HD digital content with uncompromising visual fidelity while helping to enhance the definition and clarity of lower resolution visual media. AMD’s second generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0) ensures users experience smooth HD video playback, and sharp, crisp images and vibrant colors through ATI Avivo™ HD technology. Combined with capabilities like picture-in-picture, and support for the latest HD audio technologies like 7.1 surround sound, the ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card serves up an impressive cinema-quality home entertainment experience.

Ecosystem support

The ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card is supported by a dozen add-in-board companies offering custom designs of the products. Partners include ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GECUBE, GIGABYTE, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology and VisionTek. It is expected to be available immediately.

Dell announces that its Alienware Aurora Desktop is now available exclusively at Best Buy. Offering a remarkable gaming experience and stunning graphics, this desktop will be available at 200 stores in the US and through BestBuy website.

“People are defining themselves by the products they choose and groups they associate with,” says Michael Tatelman, vice president, global consumer sales and marketing, Dell. “Individuals who choose the Alienware Aurora are saying I am a serious gamer and user who demands the best in personal computing.”

This high-end gaming desktop offers ultimate entertainment. It packs in powerful features including AMD Phenom X4 9550 quad-core CPU, Dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPUs with a combined 1GB of GDDR3 graphics memory, 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive and 4GB of DDR2 memory.“Best Buy constantly looks for the most exciting and in-demand consumer electronics to offer shoppers,” says Keith Bryan, director of desktop computing, Best Buy. “The addition of the Alienware Aurora is no exception. Its quality, design and performance features can draw people to Best Buy who want to experience Alienware first hand and experience a new standard in personal computing and gaming.”

The Alienware Aurora desktop retails for $1,699.99 (approx Rs. 83,333).