Archive for: custom
- November 11, 2010 10:55 am
If you’re anxiously holding your wallet in hand, waiting to drop a few bills on the upcoming AMD 69xx graphics cards, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer. In an email to AlienBabelTech, AMD said the following:
Demand for the ATI Radeon HD 5800 series continues to be very strong, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 remains the fastest graphics card in the world and the newest members of the AMD graphics family, the AMD Radeon HD 6850 and HD 6870, have set new standards for performance at their respective price points, and are available in volume. With that in mind, we are going to take a bit more time before shipping the AMD Radeon HD 6900 series. As of today, the NDA lift for information relating to the AMD Radeon HD 6950 and HD 6970 will be the week of December 13th. We will be providing additional information on these products, including the exact date and time of the NDA lift, in the weeks prior to launch.
So instead of November 29th being the day or reckoning, we’ll have to put off our digital adventures a couple more weeks. At that date, getting the latest and greatest 69xx GPUs before Christmas will be a race against time — especially if they don’t end up launching on the same date.
Oh, about that NDA — It’s been broken many, many times (Thanks Google)
Custom PC builders and fans of computer overclocking now have another tool to add to their collection. Popular computer hardware manufacturer, Sapphire, has released a new GPU overclocking tool called “Trixx”. Essentially, it does the same thing as several other tools provided GPU manufacturers — allows you to adjust frequency clocks and voltages on your graphics cards, as well as letting your tweak fan settings. The latter is a huge help, especially when high overclocks are concerned. Heat = bad.
As you can see from the image above, the limits rise quite considerably from ATI’s own 1,000MHz-limited overdrive tool. Granted, not every card is going to run at 1,300MHz as outline by one of the images inside. Nevertheless, the option to run free with your hardware is always nice.
- September 27, 2010 6:42 am
‘Tis that time of year again — Graphics card maker (among other things) AMD is set to unleash a flurry of new GPU hardware to lead us into the winter months and holiday season. For over a year now, their 58xx series in particular has been doing phenomenally well thanks to the ever-sinking prices and lower heatput-per-watt when compared to Nvidia’s finest. However, Nvidia’s latest update did turn up the heat (literally) on AMD once a few driver updates came out. Now, AMD’s 58xx series aren’t so speedy anymore.
Introducing, the AMD 67xx series graphics cards based off of the “Barts” 40-nm architecture. If this “mid-range” fodder isn’t to your liking, calm down. There’s plenty to glean off this new information. Namely, the 67xx cards are actually quite close in performance (on paper anyway) to the current top-of-the-line 58xx series cards. So we can all assume that the upcoming 68xx series cards will be a rather large step up — more-so than some people believed would come from this “minor” update.
Cayman/68xx series cards shouldn’t follow too far behind their more moderately paced siblings. Anyone getting excited for new AMD GPU’s? Larger shot after the jump…
**Due remember, these aren’t final stats. As such, things could change before the official launch.
I’m a member on several PC enthusiast/overclocking forums. With that said, I’ve stumbled across some truly jaw dropping machines and custom rigs. But nothing that I’ve seen can compare (power wise) to Newegg’s current “Ultimate Gaming Rig” combo deal. Just how bad ass is this thing? For the record, the discounted combo price is $6479.96. If you were to buy all the items a-la-carte, you’d be spending ~$740 more. Saving roughly 3/4 of a grand on an already $6k+ computer is nearing drop in a bucket terms, wouldn’t you say?
While we’re on the topic of price, we’ll point out that a hefty chunk of that comes from the video cards alone — (2) of the most expensive cards on the planet (ASUS ARES Radeon HD 5870 X2). Mind you, those cards cost a whopping $1,000+ (each) and come in their own carrying cases. Woah!
The parts:
- Processor: Intel Core i7 980X
- RAM: (2) CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT 6GB (3 x 2GB) Desktop Memory
- GPU: (2) ASUS ARES/2DIS/4GD5 Radeon HD 5870 X2 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 CrossFireX Support Video Card
- Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III Extreme LGA 1366 ATX Intel Motherboard
- Case: LIAN LI PC-X900R Red Aluminum ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
- PSU: Antec TPQ-1200 1200W Continuous Power with PowerCache Technology SLI Ready CrossFire Certified Power Supply
- Storage: 2 OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G 2.5″ 120GB Internal Solid State Drive + 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive + 2 Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive
- Optical Drives: LITE-ON iHES208-08 8X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM Internal Blu-ray Disc LightScribe Support + LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R Internal Blu-ray Burner
- Sound Card: ASUS Xonar Essence STX Virtual 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Express x1 Interface AMP Card
- Extra Accessories: CPU Cooler — Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler + SSD mounting kit — Rosewill RX-C200 2.5” SSD / HDD Aluminum Mounting Kit for 3.5″ Drive Bay
Yup. An insanely powerful system that decimates the bank and your wallet. And yet still I want one. I’d personally choose a different case, as the Lian-Li isn’t my favorite. But I can surely look past physical imperfections with the amount of hardware that comes packing inside. Anyone want to own up that they can actually afford such a system?
[Newegg's Ultimate PC Combo]
I’m no stranger to dishing out more money than I’d care to reveal on headphones. I think at one point I was up to eight or nine pairs spanning pretty much any style you could imagine. I’ve since honed in on my style per say, and have whittled that number down to three. Though if I were in the market, Westone has quite the pair of ‘phones that is new to their repertoire — the $950 Westone ES5 Custom.
To most, spending nearly a grand on headphones is ridiculous and cause for concern over one’s mental health. But for those blessed/cursed with uber critical ears, it’s a walk in the park flipping open that wallet for something so seemingly insignificant.
What exactly does $950 get you in ear-bud land? 120 dB SPL, 8Hz – 20KHz frequency range, 20ohm impedance, 25dB of noise isolation, and (5) — yes, 5! — balanced armatures + a 3-way passive crossover per ear. All of this comes in a lightweight body and custom ear molds (which you go and get done yourself).
Overboard? To most, again, yes. But even if you understand what these specs mean, theirs no “final say” until you pop these babies in and have at it for a long listening session. That of which, I have….not. But I can dream can’t I?
Looking for pure, blinding speed but don’t have a grand to sink on Intel’s latest and greatest I7 980X? You’re in luck. Today, AMD officially took of the wraps of their new Phenom X6 processors clocked at 2.8GHz and 3.2GHz (1055T and 1095T respectively). While not the fastest processor around, it’s definitely the strongest competition from AMD we’ve seen in many, many months. Not to mention, at under $300 for a top of the line AMD 6-core processor, it’s more than “a steal” when compared to Intel’s $1,000+ i7 980X.
Naturally, enthusiasts are already searching for online outlets to pick up a piece of AMD’s pie. But what if you’re more happy with a pre-built or built-to-order custom PC with AMD’s newest baby packed in? In that case, MainGear has something they want to show you…
Want a faster compupter? I mean, really faster? Usually we’d look at the processor (for multitaskers) or GPU (for gamers). The speed of RAM doesn’t return very much “bang for your buck” speed in most of life’s situations. That 2,000MHz+ RAM is more or less for bragging rights in all but the most extreme cases.
While I try to feature a new Elecite BlackBerry theme on the sidebar each time a new one pops out, it’s been quite a while since I’ve actually written anything about them. So here it is — Elecite’s newest BlackBerry theme: Polygon.
Yes folks, it’s time for another somewhat-crazy-though-not-so-crazy-when-you-think-about-it-and-actually-kind-of-useful gadget. Today, we’re looking at the Orange Amps All In One Computer Amplifier Speaker made by, Orange Amps. This odd looking contraption is actually a fully working guitar amp and computer all-in-one. (Ok, I’m done with all the “-” nonsense…)
