Cool Tech Reviews

I got an email the other day with a bargain offer for the Acer AL2216WBD 22 inch LCD Monitor. By the time I got around to checking it out it had expired, but this monitor is currently offered at a variety of places for what seem to be really low prices (e.g. Amazon: $239.99 or less, NewEgg: $249.99) so I thought I would see what you can get for so little. The AL2216WBD specs are at first glance pretty startling: (more…)

ATI today finally launched their X1000 family:

ATI Technologies Inc. today launched a new family of graphics processors (GPUs), the Radeon® X1000 family, that outperform competing products and deliver better image quality in every price category. The top-to-bottom family, built using the cutting-edge 90 nanometer semiconductor fabrication technology, delivers better performance and image quality than ever.

The new family has a GPU that is right for everyone. Competitive gamers and enthusiasts looking for the absolute best will want the Radeon® X1800 — the fastest graphics processor on the planet. For those getting started in gaming or who are more interested in editing photos and videos, the Radeon® X1600 delivers the best image quality available, for high-fidelity editing and playback. For those who want all of the features and capabilities of the Radeon X1800 and Radeon X1600 but who are on a budget, the Radeon® X1300 will meet their needs for as low as US $79.

There’s also a separate X1800 press release and all sorts of reviews. I liked the one at ExtremeTech.

(Via Neowin) Rafal Zak has a world exclusive review at Bjorn3d.com:

Today we are looking at something special from PowerColor. Something overclockers will drool at. What if I told you we have a card equipped with its own liquid cooling system? That’s right, it’s the first card ever to be coupled with Thermaltake’s TideWater system. No other AIB used this type of solution before. The card I’m referring to is PowerColor X800 GT EVO based on R480. Let me tell you, it rocks like crazy in our system!

PowerColor is a brand of the Tul Corporation of Taiwan. All the details by following the link, but it doesn’t seem that the package provides much of a speed boost.

I haven’t dabbled with overclocking in years, so I haven’t really felt the need to jump on the liquid cooling bandwagon. It seems like just one more mechanical gadget that can go wrong although the Tidewater unit promises 10,000 hours (approx 1.14 years) before refilling and 40,000 hours before you need a new pump. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the thought of that antifreeze sloshing around inside my PC.

Riyad Emeran at The Register:

If you have even a passing interest in 3D graphics, you’ve probably been waiting for the appearance of ATI’s dual-GPU solution. It seems like aeons ago that ATI announced that it would produce a platform to rival Nvidia’s tremendously successful SLi, but now, finally I have a CrossFire system in front of me and it’s time to see if it was worth the wait, writes Riyad Emeran.

What I’m talking about is the ability to install two graphics cards in a single PC so the two cards share the load when it comes to 3D rendering - resulting in a significant performance boost when you fire up your favourite game.
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One of the most obvious physical differences between SLi and CrossFire, is the method of connection between the two cards. With SLi a small bridge is employed between the two cards that links them internally, while CrossFire uses a daisy-chained DVI cable that links the cards externally. There’s no doubt that the Nvidia solution is more elegant from a PC building point of view, but looks aren’t everything.

Another big difference between the two systems is that ATI has promised that CrossFire will work with every single game out there, whereas for SLi to weave its spell there needs to be a driver profile for each game you want to play. Of course, this doesn’t mean that CrossFire will enhance the performance of every game, but just that every game should play in CrossFire mode.

Much more by following the link, but frankly it seems that all these dual GPU systems are right on the bleeding edge with a variety of quirks. Per the reveiw, some of the ones with CrossFire may be alleviated by ATI’s next generation of graphics cards, based on the new R520 core.