AMD 69xx Official Announcement/Launch Delayed Until December 13th. #amd

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)

End the world with Newegg’s “Ultimate PC Combo”

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]

Packin’ the *affordable* heat: MainGear introduces the Phenom X6 powered VYBE

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…

Soon to be available Phase Change Memory promises 300x write performance/10x write endurance. (We want it now)

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.

How much does that graphics card of yours really suck down?

I’ve always wondered exactly how much my custom rig pulls down in heavy sessions. With a dual 5850 setup and oc’d Core i7, it certainly has a reputation for a rampant appetite. But is it really as bad as people claim? The general consensus is that a high end dual graphics card set up will pull in at least 400w by themselves, not including the processor, which itself is a power thirsty piece. Then of course you have hard drives, fans, lights, memory, etc., etc. Today you can consider a large chunk of that “is my power supply big enough” unknown hysteria finally answered thanks to the fine folks at XbitLabs. Xbit’s feature article today went on to test 23 of the most popular graphics cards. The power consumption numbers they came away with may surprise you.

For example, a pair of stock clocked ATI 5850′s running Crysis only pull roughly 244w together (so that’s 122w per card) and 163w in a balls-to-the-wall all out GPU stress test. Not bad at all! Give the 5850 some extra juice in the form of 1000/1000MHz core/memory clocks and you end up with a little more aggressive 276w per card. Nvidia doesn’t fair so well if energy consumption is one of your pet peeves, with the ATI 5850′s cousin — the Nvidia GTX 275 — consuming almost 220w during peak Crysis sessions to the 5850′s 122w. And that balls-to-the-wall GPU test? The Nvidia GTX 275 again comes in higher at 218w.

For those curious about the top of the line cards such as the ATI 5970 and Nvidia GTX 295, just know that both cards consumer a lot of power. The 5970 manages to stay well below 400w with a 355.9 showing in the GPU stress test with Nvidia toping the charts with a nice round 400w power draw during the same GPU test. Clearly, if you’re running these top of the line cards, you’ll need a beefy power supply. Going the dual/tri/quad setup? Then a 1k+ PSU should definitely be considered.

For some, energy consumption isn’t anywhere near the forefront of their mind. And that’s ok. But for those who were curious or really wanted to know, XbitLab’s little study is an awesome piece of information for gamers, pc builders, and geeks alike. I know for myself at least, I feel a lot better about my 750w Corsair HX purchase. It is now obviously more than enough for my setup. XbitLabs did all the hard work, now we geeks need to take it, learn it, and spread it. Go ahead and give it a read.

• XbitLab’s “Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Cards test/review/study

Overclockers Forums

Destroy your enemies with the Digital Storm Black OPS gaming PC.

The basis of any good gaming computer is a ridiculously fast (and large) graphics card and equally fast processor. There are a ton of mainstream and more niche gaming PC companies to choose from. On the whole, there isn’t too much variation between the actual internal specs as it is more of a difference in the cases each custom PC maker users. The sea of information regarding gaming computers can be quite daunting to say the least, so why not let me give you a helping hand?

If you’re looking for something different in a gaming PC, one that looks just as impressive on the outside as it does the inside can be found with the Black OPS Gaming PC by Digital Storm. The biggest talking points for the Black OPS PC’s are the sub-zero liquid cooling and “Twistedboost” overclocking process that should get those 1′s and 0′s moving at break neck speeds.

If you’re looking for hard specs, seeing as this is a top-o-the-line beast, nothing less than the best will do. That means the fastest Intel Core i7′s, 1,333+MHz RAM, the latest graphics cards from Nvidia and ATI w/ Crossfire and SLI support and a no holds barred cooling system are all present. In regards to the latter, just look at the cooling system and tell me it isn’t pretty. Definitely a looker wouldn’t you say?

Prices start between $1,709 – $3,102, with checkboxes weighing heavily on your wallet.

[Product Page: Digital Storm]

Geeky-Gadgets > GizmoWatch

Radeon HD 5870 X2 is a massive, massive card

As sad as it is, I don’t have a pimped out gaming PC. I’ve lusted for one for years. I don’t have a preference as to pre-built or custom though I know custom is the way to go for us picky folks. Still, other things keep getting in the way. In the world of gaming PC’s, the gamers #1 concern is a big burly graphics card. One that will move pixel based mountains and pwn Crisis framerates like a champ. Once such card that could be capable of such has so graciously allowed itself to be snapped is the Radeon HD 5870 X2. Mind you this is an early engineering sample of the card. Regardless, all you need to concern yourself with is the size of this card. It’s huge. 13.5″ huge to be exact. Really nothing else to say. Just sit back and stare. (Don’t stare with your mouth open though. Then you just look dumb…)

CrunchGear > HardOCP