| A Quick History of Multi-GPU Video Cards Posted: 30 May 2014 10:08 AM PDT  Join us as we look back at the storied history of multi-GPU cards
The Voodoo-line of graphics cards might be long gone, but their impact is still felt today. They ushered in a new era of consumer PCs with relatively powerful video cards that could power the ultra demanding games of yesteryear like Quake and Unreal. It all started with the 3Dfx Voodoo2 and has continued on with modern cards like the Titan Z and R9 295X2. Some of these boards were more important, popular, and successful than others, but they're all important in the history of consumer graphics cards. Before we run down the list, it's important that we explain what exactly a GPU is. The term was first coined as part of Nvidia's marketing for the GeForce 256. The company defined it as "a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second." For our purposes we're sticking with the idea that a GPU is any processor that's specifically made to render pixels. Do you own any dual-GPU cards? |
| Acer Announces Iconia Tab 8 Tablet with Full HD 1080p Display Posted: 30 May 2014 09:20 AM PDT  Acer's newest tablet rocks a quad-core foundation and Full HD 1080p IPS display
The tablet market isn't growing at the same clip it was a year ago, but growing it is, prompting tablet makers to come out with new devices. Acer just launched its Iconia Tab 8, an 8-inch Android slate with a Full HD 1080p (1920x1200) In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with Zero Air Gap technologies to reduce light reflection and offer higher contrast with brighter, crisper images and better readability under sunlight. It also features an anti-fingerprint coating to reduce fingerprints, which Acer says makes it easier to clean and read. Underneath the hood you'll find an Intel Atom Z3745 quad-core processor (2MB cache, 1.33GHz to 1.86GHz). Other features include dual stereo speakers, 802.11n Wi-Fi with MIMO, up to 7.5 hours of battery life, microSD card slot, front- and rear-facing cameras, and Android 4.4 KitKat. All this comes wrapped in a slim chassis with a metallic finish measuring 8.5mm and weighing 360g. The Acer Iconia Tab 8 will be available in the third quarter of this year. No word yet on price. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Chief Satya Nadella Discuss "Post-Post PC Era" Posted: 30 May 2014 09:01 AM PDT  Nadella sees this as the beginning of the post PC era
We're not big fans of the term "post PC era" because it implies that PCs are dead. However, it depends on the context and what you're describing. Certainly it's true that PCs are evolving -- mobile form factors are trendy right now, including lightweight notebooks, 2-in-1 hybrid devices, tablet PCs, and even smartphones. That said, if you were to sit down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, he'd tell you we're entering the post-post PC era. "I think we're at the very beginning of what I describe as the post-post PC era," Nadella said at Re/Code's Code Conference, InformationWeek reports. What he means by that is we're in an era where highly personalized digital experiences are more important than the very devices themselves. To give an example of this, he brought up Skype Translator, a Skype app that offers near real-time translation of speech so that users from two different parts of the world who speak different languages can communicate with each other. This is the type of thing that offers a personalized experience, whether you're using a smartphone, notebook, or some other device. In the end, it's just a matter of semantics. We tend to like Lenovo's perspective on things, which is that we're living in a PC Plus world rather than a post PC era. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Futuremark to Add 'Sky Diver' Test to 3DMark for Gaming Laptops and Mid-Range PCs Posted: 30 May 2014 07:25 AM PDT  A fourth benchmark is being added to 3DMark
Futuremark's collection of benchmarks are handy when it comes to evaluating hardware, comparing computer parts, and rooting out potential problems. For testing graphics cards and integrated graphics, 3DMark is the go-to benchmark, and it's about to get even better. At Computex next week, Futuremark will show off Sky Driver, a new 3DMark benchmark test for DirectX 11 gaming laptops and mid-range PCs. The new test is intended for mainstream DirectX 11 graphics cards, mobile GPUs, and integrated graphics. It slips in beneath Fire Strike, which is for high performance gaming PCs, and above Cloud Gate (notebooks and typical home PCs) and Ice Storm (tablets and entry level PCs). "With 3DMark, you can benchmark the full performance range of modern DirectX 11 graphics hardware. Where Fire Strike is like a modern game on ultra high settings, Sky Diver is closer to a DirectX 11 game played on normal settings," Futuremark explains. "This makes Sky Diver the best choice for benchmarking entry level to mid-range systems and Fire Strike the perfect benchmark for high performance gaming PCs." Sky Diver will be rolled out as a free update for all editions of 3DMark. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Ubisoft Working on a Patch to Tame Watch Dog Issues on PC Posted: 30 May 2014 07:02 AM PDT  Watch Dog's appetite for video RAM seems to be the root cause of performance problems on the PC
After all the anticipation and patient waiting, Ubisoft's Watch Dogs title arrived on PC and several different game consoles earlier this week. Unfortunately, performance on the PC isn't up to par. Users have complained of lag, stuttering, and weird graphical anomalies when playing Watch Dogs, all of which appear to be due to the game's heavy reliance on VRAM. That's the bad news. The good news is that a performance patch for Watch Dogs on PC is coming. Sebastien Viard, graphics technical director for Watch Dogs, explained the issue in a handful of Twitter posts. "Watch Dogs can use 3+ GB of RAM on NG consoles for graphics, your PC GPU needs enough VRAM for ultra options due to the lack of unified mem," Viard tweeted. Unlike graphics cards for the PC, next-generation consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 don't have dedicated RAM for graphics -- both consoles share 8GB across the entire system. Apparently this is causing issues on the PC with the way Watch Dogs is coded. There are some steps you can take while you wait for a patch. First and foremost, be sure you're running the latest graphics card drivers from AMD and Nvidia. And secondly, Viard suggests turning down texture quality, level of Anti-Aliasing, or even display resolution. "Making an open world run on NG & CG consoles + supporting PC is an incredibly complex task, the team did a fantastic job. Congrats, guys!," Viard tweeted. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: OCZ Vertex 240GB SSD, Intel Core i5 3470, and More! Posted: 30 May 2014 05:55 AM PDT |
