The latest hardware news…
Asus Lamborghini VX3
System setup:
12.1″ WXGA 1280X800
Intel Mobile Penryn T9500 2.6GHz 6MB 800MHz FSB
3GB DDR2 667
nVidia GeForce 9300M G 256MB DDR2
Windows Vista Ultimate 32
It sounds like Nvidia is not going to require users to buy an Ageia card after all. In fact, it may be that the physics coprocessor is going the way of the VGA chip.
As part of Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings report, Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang revealed that the company will port the Ageia code base to its GeForce graphics chips using the CUDA technology, allowing them to run on an idle GPU.
“Physics processing and the AGEIA engine happens to be extremely computationally intensive,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, in a transcript provided by SeekingAlpha. “It requires just a lot of processors to deliver the type of real time performance that the games need.
“Our strategy is to take the AGEIA physics engine, which has been integrated into tools and games all over the world, and we’re going to port the AGEIA physics engine onto CUDA,” Huang added. “You know, you heard in my comments that CUDA has now shipped into 50 million processors, GeForce 8 series processors and over the next several years, we’ll ship a few hundred million more. The ability to port the physics engine on top of CUDA and accelerate the physics is going to add a ton more value to gamers around the world.
“Our expectation is that this is going to encourage people to buy even better GPUs. It might and probably will encourage people to buy a second GPU for the SLI slot and for the highest end gamers, it will encourage them to buy three GPUs, potentially two for graphics and one for physics or one for graphics and two for physics, or any combination of — you know, any dynamic combination thereof,” Huang said.
Huang also said that the Ageia technology could be run on any one of a number of cores inside the GPU, as well as across the idle GPU.
Nvidia’s fourth-quarter net income rose 57 percent to $257 million, or 42 cents per share, from $163.5 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago, Reuters reported. Revenue rose 37 percent to $1.20 billion. The company’s GPU business was up 11 percent on the strength of the 8800GT, but Nvidia’s consumer business dipped 18 percent.
Approaching the February 20th release date, Futuremark’s 3DMark Vantage was pictured once more. This time we have some benchmark scores. The 3DMark Vantage RC0 build interface and some of the future tests are pictured below. The card that was running the benchmark and scored 4203 marks is supposed to be a GeForce 8800 GTX.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?52632
Ubisoft has announced that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for PC, PS3 and X360 will hit North American retailers on March 18th, with the publisher offering up special limited edition for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. Priced at $69.99, the limited edition of the Sin City shooter will pack a poker chip keychain and a video disc filled with strategy movies, interviews, and a peek at the upcoming Tom Clancy RTS EndWar. Feel free to visit Rainbow Six Vegas 2 home page for more info.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?52808
By now, we suspect most of you are aware of Intel’s extreme enthusiast platform – a.k.a. Skulltrail – that couples a pair of quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors with the dual-socket D5400XS motherboard, for a total of eight cores of high-performance goodness. We recently evaluated Skulltrail and have our thoughts on the platform posted for you all available right here.
What you may not be aware of at this point is that some of Intel’s partners also plan to introduce enthusiast-class motherboards complete with dual LGA771 sockets, similar to the D5400XS. Asus, for example is prepping the Z7S WS motherboard you see pictured below…
Nokia has just launched its latest mobile phone behemoth - the Nokia N96. The N96 is pretty similar to the Symbian 60 powered N95 but along with the 5MP camera and builtin GPS it has 16GB of internal memory and a 2.8-inch screen. This model also has a built-in DVB-H receiver for digital TV signals in Europe and Asia, and a kickstand for desktop viewing. There are also new backlit touchbuttons on the face, dialpad and top slider section of the phone.
The one to watch Most advanced multimedia computer optimized for entertainment Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo, Finland - Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N96, a multimedia computer truly optimized for video and TV. With a large 2.8″ screen, 16 gigabytes of internal memory and support for high-quality videos in a wide range of formats, the dual-slide Nokia N96 represents an exciting new chapter in mobile media. The Nokia N96 multimedia computer is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated sales price of approximately 550 euros, before subsidies or taxes.
“In 2007, the Nokia N95 became an icon of convergence of Internet and mobility. With over 7 million units sold to date, the N95 has changed the way people use their mobile device. The Nokia N96 we introduced today builds on the success of N95, further enhancing the experience,” says Jonas Geust, who oversees Nokia’s Explore category. “Through the power of the Internet, video and TV are becoming even more prevalent in people’s lives. With its large, bright screen, and a range of high-speed connectivity options and the enhanced Nokia Video Center, the new Nokia N96 is a personal window to entertainment.”
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We already had a hunch that these were just around the bend, but it seems that today’s the day for pre-orders to start. Sony’s SZ7 lineup — which consists of the VGN-SZ780, VGN-SZ740, VGN-SZ680 and VGN-SZ640 — is now up on the firm’s own website, and while the estimated ship dates range from next week to unknown, there’s no feeling like securing your spot in line. Head on down to the read link if you’ve been pinching that holiday bonus ’til these hit the e-streets — just make sure you’ve got $1,429.99, at the very least.
GameSpot has managed to acquire some new Far Cry 2 screenshots as part of an article about the game. You can see all five of the new screenshots below, with all of the older screenshots available to look at here.
If ETEN is going to show us something new at the 3GSM Conference in Barcelona in February, it will definitely be the Glofiish V900 PDA. Apart from the ordinary PocketPC device, this one sports many TV and Radio broadcast standards such as DVB-H and T-DMB. It should also support DAB digital radio as well as DVB-T terrestrial TV.
The V900 has a Samsung 667MHz processor and 128MB of RAM. All the specs are not confirmed yet and we don’t know if the device will have a touch screen or GPS chip onboard.
We will tell you more after we’ve visit ETEN’s booth in Barcelona.
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We already caught sight of shiny little number pictured above these thanks to the generous folks at the FCC, but Toshiba’s just now gotten official with it, along with two that we haven’t seen, but heard about in the company’s 2008 roadmap. That one above is the Portege G910, a follow-up to the company’s G900, which packs a 3-inch WVGA display, a 2 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6 and tri-band 900/1800/1900 GSM/EDGE support, in addition to 2100 HSDPA. If that’s not your thing, you can also look forward to the Blackberry-esque G710 (pictured after the break), which boasts GPS but no 3G, and the rather, um, unique-looking G450 “modem phone” (also after the break), which boasts 3G but no GPS (among other differences). Look for all three to hit Europe in March, with the G910, G710 and G450 running roughly $880, $440 and $290, respectively.
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