KFA2 GeForce GTX 580 MDT X4 EX OC Card Has Multi-Display Support

Anyone looking for a graphics card with multi-monitor support but are NVIDIA loyalists may want to check out the new device that KFA2 created.

AMD used to pride itself in its Eyefinity technology and how it allowed a PC's desktop to spread across three displays, or six in the case of Eyefinity 6.

NVIDIA doesn't precisely have something similar, although its cards can do the three-panel maneuver when there are two or more of them in SLI (in 3D too).

Still, there are some video cards, based on NVIDIA GPUs which, on their own, do pretty much what Eyefinity does.

They are made by KFA2 and belong to the MDT series, where MDT stands for multi-display technology.

The latest and greatest member of this very series has made its official debut just now.

It is an iteration of the GeForce GTX 580, NVIDIA's flagship single-GPU board.

Bearing the name of KFA2 GTX 580 MDT X4 EX OC, it has a core clock speed of 800 MHz, 512 CUDA cores working at a shader clock of 1,600 MHz and 1,538 MB of GDDR5 VRAM at 3,800 MHz.

Furthermore, the memory interface of 384 bits ultimately leads to a bandwidth of 194.2 GB/s and a texture fill rate of 51.2 billion/s.

That said, GTX 580 MDT X4 EX OC has three mini-HDMI ports, one DisplayPort and a maximum resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels or 5,760 x 1,080 pixels in triple monitor scenarios (3 x 1,920 x 1,080 pixels).

Four displays may be connected to the card at once, but only three in span mode, while the fourth, via DisplayPort, would be for a different workspace.

“The GTX 580 MDT is highly over-clocked at 840MHz with a triple LED cooling systems and the option for Multi Display, all these features combine, has produced a new level to consider when looking at the GTX 580 range ” said Graham Brown, European marketing manager.

Enthusiasts can find more information here but, unfortunately, no price was mentioned.

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AMD Radeon HD 7970 Packs 4.3 Billion Transistors – Report

AMD’s Tahiti XT graphics core, which stands at the heart of the soon to be released Radeon HD 7970, features a whopping 4.3 billion transistors, according to a recent report to hit the Web.

This is almost twice as much as Intel’s recently launched Sandy Bridge-E chips which feature 2.27 billion transistors.

What’s inside it you ask? Well, a massively parallel architecture of course that packs 32 so called Compute Units to deliver a total of 2048 streaming processors.

Some other hardware logic is also packed inside the chip, like dual geometry engines, a render back end, some L2 cache and a 384-bit wide memory controller, but as you can see from the slide provided by OBR Hardware, the largest part of the GPU is occupied by the Compute Units. 

The 4.3 billion transistors is truly a massive number, which makes us wonder where will GPU makers go from here. After all, they can’t keep on increasing the transistor count forever. 

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Samsung Galaxy Y Pro DUOS Confirmed with Dual-SIM

It looks like the Galaxy Y Pro with dual-SIM is a real device and not just a rumor. As we reported one day ago, the phone was shown in an ad, which suggests that the handset might go live this month.

The folks over at GSMArena have been tipped on this dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy Y Pro yesterday, but except for the ad that was sent via email no other details have been leaked.

However, several live pictures showing the alleged Samsung Galaxy Y Pro have just been published by GSMArena, which confirmed that the phone features dual-SIM support.

Although no other info on the phone’s specs sheet have emerged yet, we can safely assume that it will come with the same features as the original Samsung Galaxy Y Pro.

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RIM Explains BlackBerry Users How to Remove Carrier IQ

With all the Carrier IQ rumors that have been coming and going these days, it is important to know exactly how you can detect the software on the phone, but also how it can be removed.

Although many carriers and handset manufacturers came forward and said that they did not pre-load the Carrier IQ software on their handsets.

However, there as some carriers which confirmed that they use the software to improve customers’ experience, but that this is only present on some of the phones in their portfolio.

Research In Motion stepped forward two weeks ago and stated that it does not include the Carrier IQ software on any of its smartphones.

On the other hand, T-Mobile USA, one of the carriers that uses Carrier IQ “to improve call quality,” pre-loaded the software on three BlackBerry smartphones, the Bold 9900, Curve 9360 and Torch 9810.

Even though T-Mobile USA issued a statement confirming the fact that it uses the infamous software, the carrier did not reveal which phones have the application pre-installed and which ones are Carrier IQ-free.

The information on the three BlackBerry smartphones that include the Carrier IQ software came via a leaked T-Mobile internal document, which was published by the folks over at TmoNews.

In this regard, RIM felt the need to explain BlackBerry users how they can remove the Carrier IQ application from their smartphones.

Removing Carrier IQ from Android smartphones is not an easy task. This is the main reason that software security companies like Lookout and BitDefender launched dedicated applications that can be downloaded for free via Android Market.

Fortunately, this is not the case with BlackBerry smartphones. According to RIM, BlackBerry users who want to get rid of the Carrier IQ must follow the same procedure when removing a third-party application.

For more details on how to remove a third-party application from a BlackBerry smartphone check RIM’s support site here.

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CyberpowerPC Bundles Select Laptops with Intel WiDi Adapters

CyberpowerPC, a well renowned maker of custom gaming desktop PCs, gaming notebooks, and workstations, has just announced that for a limited time only it will bundle its select laptop computers with Netgear's Push2TV 2.0 adapter with support for Intel’s WiDi technology.

Paired together with notebooks that support Intel WiDi, this adapter enables users to stream 1080p video content wirelessly to a big screen TV.

The laptops that are part of this promotion are the Xplorer X6-9100 and Xplorer X6-9200 both featuring Intel’s second generation Core processors, also known as Sandy Bridge.

The CyberpowerPC Xplorer X6-9100 is built around a 15.6-inch 1920x1080 Full HD display and a Core i7-2670QM processor.

The fast Intel CPU is seconded by 8GB of DDR3 memory in a dual-channel configuration, a 640GB hard drive with a spindle speed of 5400 RPM, and an 8x DVD burner.

Graphics is handled by the integrated Intel HD 3000 GPU found inside Intel’s Core i7 processor.

Its older brother, the Xplorer X6-9200 features pretty much the same configuration as the Xplorer X6-9100 but it also includes a discrete Nvidia GT540M 2GB GPU with support for Nvidia’s Optimus technology.

Pricing for the Xplorer X6-9200 is set at $885 (677 EUR), while the X6-9100 has an MSRP of $825 (631 EUR).

In order to stream video over the air to an HDTV, all that the user has to do is to connect the Netgear adapter to the TV set and a after a few other simple steps it will be able to beam Full HD 1080P content straight to the big screen.

Users with more specific needs, can customize both of these notebooks on the company’s website by selecting from a wide range of hardware including, solid state drives, Blu-ray drives, memory, and from other gaming gear.

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Cray Delivers XMT Supercomputer Powered by Its Own 128 Thread CPUs

Noblis, an organization that provides expert technical and advisory services in systems engineering, science and tech, program management, as well as other fields, has just announced that its center for applied high performance computing has just received the addition of a new Cray XMT supercomputer.

This makes CAHPC the first facility in the United States, outside of a federal laboratory or academic facility, to house a Cray XMT supercomputer. 

When it developed the XMT system, Cray focused on delivering a scalable massively multithreaded platform with a shared memory architecture for large-scale data analysis and data mining.

As a result, the system is purpose-built for parallel applications that are dynamically changing and require random access to shared memory, which makes them inadequate for conventional HPC systems. 

At the heart of the Cray XMT stands the company’s own 64-bit Threadstorm Processor working at 500 MHz that can run a massive 128 threads simultaneously and are compatible with motherboards using AMD’s Opteron 940 socket.

"The delivery of this supercomputer is the first step in the CAHPC's mission of taking HPC out of the lab and into the field to solve real problems," said Gil Miller, Noblis Vice President and Chief Technical Officer.

"The computer and its 128 processors will be used to solve complex problems requiring access to large amounts of data. 

“Our next step is to benchmark the new XMT to see how it compares to other supercomputers," concluded the organization’s rep.

Noblis will use the new Cray XMT supercomputer in its possession to accelerate the development and commercialization of applications requiring graph analytics and to increase U.S. competitiveness and create sustainable high-tech jobs.

The Center will promote the development of High Performance Computing (HPC) applications and train the next generation of developers for HPC software.

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Zalman Outs CNPS20LQ Liquid Cooler Designed by Asetek

After leaving the water cooling scene a couple of years back, Zalman has now returned with a new closed loop solution dubbed the CNPS20LQ that is compatible with a large series of sockets from both Intel and AMD.

The design that the CNPS20LQ is based on is actually made by Asetek, a company that is well known for developing liquid cooling solutions of this type, and includes a water block and pump assembly that goes on top of the CPU and a 120mm radiator with a pre-fitted fan.

Inside the radiator there’s also a small reservoir that is filled with a liquid specially designed so that it wouldn’t require any special maintenance.

To distinguish its solution from other products based on the Asetek design, Zalman has branded the water block of the cooler with its own logo and also used a special blue finish for the sides of the radiator.

Like most other closed loop water cooler makers, Zalman bundles the CNPS20LQ together with a fan, which measures 120mm in diameter and gets its power from standard 4-pin CPU power header with PWM support.

No details regarding the acoustic performance of the fan used are available for now, but we do know that Zalman is shipping the CNPS20LQ with pre-applied thermal interface material, as Tech Power Up has revealed.

Zalman CNPS20LQ is compatible with the current AMD AM2, AM3, AM3+, FM1 sockets as well as with Intel's LGA 775, 1366, 1156/1155 CPUs, and will also work in high-performance LGA 2011 motherboards for Sandy Bridge-E processors.

No information availability was made public by Zalman so far, but pricing seems to be set at €69.90, which roughly translates into $91.3 US. However, if we would have to guess, we would say that the CNPS20LQ will arrive during CES 2012.

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RIM to Launch BlackBerry 10 Devices in Late 2012

Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion is getting ready for the release of a new set of smartphones, which will be powered by its next-generation mobile OS, the BlackBerry 10 platform, yet it appears that they will not be launched until late 2012. 

During the latest investor call, RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis confirmed the delay, explaining that the availability of a specific chip for these devices is what causes it. 

Apparently, the chip will be available in production quantity only in mid-2012, which means that the Blackberry 10 smartphones will not arrive until several months after. 

The company also says that there is now viable alternative to this, and that users will just have to wait a bit longer before these devices are released. However, the vendor promised a better user experience and said that it is focused on delivering a great industrial design for these smartphones.

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More AMD Radeon HD 7970 Details Emerge

With the launch of the Radeon HD 7970 now brought forward to December 22, more info regarding this card showed up on the Web which covers the graphics card’s overclocking and cooling performance as well as its video output options.

All the info was taken from AMD’s media presentation for the Radeon HD 7970 which was partially published by Donanim Haber just a few hours ago.

Taking a look at the reference design of the card, the first thing that one notices is that AMD has chosen to keep the black and red color scheme used for their previous Radeon cards, although this time has opted for a more curvy design.

However, the plastic shroud covering the card isn’t the only thing that was changed as a series of modifications were also brought to the video output layout and cooling assembly.

The latter has now received a next-generation vapor chamber as well as a new blower fan that is said to deliver higher airflow while also offering improved acoustics and performance.

As far as the video outputs are concerned, these have now all been arranged in the confines of a single expansion slot, a feature that was requested by many enthusiasts since this makes the HD 7970 single-slot compliant when used together with a single-slot full-coverage water block.

The outputs available were also changed as the graphics card now comes with one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort connectors, while all AIB partners are required to bundle their cards with HDMI-to-DVI dongles, and active mini-DP dongles.

Just like it was the case with the Radeon HD 6900 series, the HD 7970 also comes with a dual-BIOS setup, one containing the card’s reference speeds and one overclocked settings, and these can be easily switched via a BIOS toggle switch.

Speaking of overclocking, AMD’s media deck also revealed that the Radeon HD 7970 can reach GPU frequencies of 1GHz and beyond using only the reference cooler.

As noted earlier, the Radeon HD 7970 is now expected to be made official on December 22 with retail availability scheduled for January 9, 2012.

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AMD Pulls Radeon HD 7970 Launch Date to December 22

In a surprising turn of events, AMD has decided to bring forward the Radeon HD 7970 launch which is now supposed to arrive on December 22, instead of January 9, 2012, as previously believed.

VR-Zone has learned of this change from unnamed sources, who also said that this will be a limited launch (read that paper launch), with availability starting on January 9, 2012.

The launch date of the Radeon HD 7950 was not changed, so this GPU will arrive in the second week of January.

AMD’s Radeon HD 7970 is based on the Tahiti XT core and a recent leak revealed that it would feature 32 Compute Units, for a total of 2048 streaming cores, 128 texture units, 32 ROPs and a 384-bit wide memory bus.

This will be connected to 3GB of GDDR VRAM working at 1.37GHz (5.5GHz effective), while the GPU will be clocked at 925MHz.

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Leaked iPad 3 Parts Surface via Chinese Retailer

A Shenzhen (China) - based online seller of electronics and replacement parts has obtained a “Microphone Mic Flex Cable Ribbon Replacement for iPad 3.”

It’s no surprise that such leaks are becoming more abundant with the iPad 3 launch drawing closer. Analysts estimate the third-generation tablet will be on shelves in February.

Back to the Chinese leak, the new part is quite different from the one used in current-generation tablets.

Mike explains over at Cydia Blog that, “The new part, when compared with iPad 2, shows a different arrangement in internal circuitry, hinting a major re-design. The tail end of the part makes a 'U-turn', whereas the iPad 2's Microphone Mic Flex Cable makes almost 90-degree turn both ways.”

TVC Mall’s website sells the part for $6.48.

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Sony Ericsson Logo Ditched from London HQ

Sony Ericsson is almost a thing of the past. The Japanese giant already bought Ericsson’s stake out in the joint-venture and stated that it will ditch the Sony Ericsson brand by mid-2012.

Well, it looks like things are pretty clear, as the folks over at Slashgear have gotten word that the Sony Ericsson logo from the company’s London headquarter has been pulled down completely.

While the motives are still unclear, we can assume that the rebranding of the company has just started, though Sony officially confirmed that the first phones with its own brand will be out on the market only next year.

Spotted by the UK analyst Ben Wood, it appears that this is a permanent change rather than a temporary sign issue, so we should expect more situations like this to be highlighted in the media.

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AMD Radeon HD 7970 Tessellation Performance Apparently Huge

Looks like a slide showing the tessellation performance of the long-awaited AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics card has finally appeared.

According to it, the card loads better than the Radeon HD 6970 in pretty much every instance particularly the games S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat and Crysis 2.

The Unigine Heaven benchmark difference goes ahead and beats the above comparisons by quite a bit too.

All in all, AMD is suggesting that the Radeon HD 7970 is about 50% better than its predecessor.

We suppose a faster GPU would indeed return a visible performance rise, but we don't know what to think about the 50% figure.

Not that we wouldn't like to see such a boost, far from it, but these are, in the end, AMD's own slides, so we'll go ahead and wait until we can see some more in-depth benchmarking results.

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