Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is a fast tool to remove driver leftovers from your system. It's very important to remove your drivers on a proper way, because driver leftovers can cause problems like stability and startup problems. You can use it if you want to update/remove drivers from your system. Driver Sweeper 2.6.0 features a lot of additional entries compared to the previous version and improves most removal methods.
Currently we are testing a handful of R6800 cards from AMD's board partners and we ran into a curiosity yesterday.
One of the 6850 cards we tested was showing above baseline performance, which made us wonder as to why and how that was happening at reference clocks. This morning we had an inquiry in our mailbox of that board partners with the report that the 6850 card they had send out has 1120 active shader processors instead of the 960 shader processors that should be active for the 6850.
This means that there are no laser cuts on the Barts GPU for the 6850, and that also means that it's likely you can flash a R6870 BIOS into the 6850. Now first off, if you decide to try that, you do it at your own risk, if things go wrong ... it's your loss and warranty does not apply.
Bare in mind that the R6870 BIOS will run the graphics card at 900 MHz and that is a critical point here, the PCB design of the 6850 is different and the cooling is not as good. You could of course lower the GPU clocks a little. Also the 6850 of course only has one 6-peg connector instead of two on the R6870. Still, the 6-pin 75W is a PCI spec not a treshold or absolute limitation.
All in all interesting stuff for the uber-tweakers out there. Oh and COULD is the keyword here okay ?
** update -- as it is right now looks like a BIOS update is not possible and that the extra shaders are dealt with at ASIC level.
Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is very easy to use. You only have to select the drivers you want to clean. he current supported drivers are NVIDIA (Display and Chipset), ATI (Display), Creative (Sound), Ageia (PhysX), MMouse, ASUS and Realtek (Sound). The Guru3D - Driver Sweeper is fully tested on Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows & 7 RC. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are supported.
Version 2.6.0 holds the following changes:
New:
Updated:
Fixed:
Download:
AMD have just released AMD Catalyst 10.10 for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP.
Highlights of the AMD Catalyst
Hightech Information System (HIS) Limited is proud to unleash the revolutionary new HIS RadeonTMHD 6850 & 6870 graphics cards. We have both cards in house for a review real soon.
Loaded with HD3D stereoscopic technology and three main pillars- Eyefinity, EyeDefinition and EyeSpeed, the new HIS Radeon HD 6850 & 6870 bring an incredible experience of application performance and flawless high-resolution imagery for fully immersive gameplay.
Whether it
TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today announces the latest video card series: the PowerColor HD6800 series. Following the award-winning HD5000 series, the advanced HD6800 series features all the essential technology that can immerse the gaming experience and speed up all the daily applications, aim to bring all gamers the most incredible gaming performance.
PowerColor
NVIDIA released its 3DTV Play software, this application software is designed to interact inbetween NVIDIA 3D Vision-enabled systems to 3D HDTVs.
NVIDIA today announced the availability of its highly anticipated NVIDIA(R) 3DTV Play(TM) software, which allows users to connect NVIDIA 3D Vision(TM)-enabled notebooks and desktops to 3D HDTVs for the ultimate high-definition, big-screen entertainment experience.
With NVIDIA 3DTV Play software, any compatible NVIDIA GeForce(R) GPU-powered system can be connected to a HDMI 1.4 3D HDTV. The combination enables users to view 3D photos and videos, and play nearly 500 games in breathtaking 3D environments, including StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Mafia II, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. When using compatible video playback software(1), NVIDIA 3DTV Play software users can watch Blu-ray 3D blockbusters on 3D HDTVs in full 1080p stereoscopic 3D, enjoying rich, HD digital surround sound through an HDMI connection to a compatible audio/video receiver(2).
NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is bundled with a new family of Dell XPS laptops announced today, which also includes high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 400M GPUs and battery-friendly NVIDIA Optimus(TM) technology. The new systems, which come in 14-, 15- and 17-inch screen sizes, provide a powerful multimedia system for consumers to enjoy their 3D content on 3D HDTVs.
"The new family of XPS systems provides the best sound and video ever offered in Dell laptops," said Sam Burd, vice president, Dell Consumer & SMB Product Group. "And now with the addition of NVIDIA's 3DTV Play software, we can bring the thrilling 3D experience to an entirely new market by enabling consumers to enjoy life-like, 3D entertainment in the comfort of their living rooms."
Starting today, NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is available to consumers in three convenient ways:
Free upgrade to NVIDIA 3D Vision PCs - NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is available as a free upgrade for all 3D Vision PCs via the latest Release 260 GeForce drivers for desktop GPUs, and Release 260 Verde Notebooks drivers for notebook GPUs. Download the latest drivers at http://www.nvidia.com/drivers.
Available on 3DTV Play PCs - NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is bundled on preconfigured PCs and notebooks. This includes select Dell XPS notebook models, and home theater PC (HTPCs) models from ASRock and Zotac. NVIDIA 3DTV Play software will also be bundled with a variety of new computer systems that will be announced in the coming months.
Available for Purchase in November 2010 - NVIDIA 3DTV Play software will be available for sale next month at NVIDIA.com as an upgrade for existing PCs that include an NVIDIA GeForce GPU and Microsoft Windows 7.
"3D Games, video and photos on a big screen 3D HDTV is an amazing experience," said Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision at NVIDIA. "GeForce PCs with 3DTV Play software enable users to play nearly 500 games on a 3D TV. That's far more than any other platform."
NVIDIA 3DTV Play software, a feature of NVIDIA's award-winning 3D Vision technology, is designed and supported by NVIDIA to ensure the highest standards of quality, delivering industry-leading performance, capabilities and reliability. It supports industry-standard HDMI 1.4 3D HDTVs and compatible 3D glasses from all major TV manufacturers, and runs on Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 PCs. With the addition of compatible playback software and A/V receivers, NVIDIA Fermi architecture-based GeForce GPUs users can experience HD 24-bit multi-channel audio at up to 192 KHz, or lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD audio bit streaming.
A complete list of NVIDIA 3DTV Play software-supported 3D HDTVs and A/V receivers can be found at: www.nvidia.com/3dtvplay.
Gigabyte released their GeForce GTX 460 Super Overclock edition. This card features the WindForce cooler and a 815MHz core, 1630MHz shaders and 1GB GDDR5 clocked at 4000MHz. This compares quite nicely to the stock cards which feature a 675MHz core, 1350MHz shaders and 3600MHz memory. Pricing and availability is unknown, we already have a sample in the lab for testing though. Hopefully next week.
GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, introduces a powerful new addition to its Super Overclock Series: GTX 460 SOC (GV-N460SO-1GI). To qualify for Super Overclock Series, a GPU must go through GIGABYTE
Microsoft announced it sold over 240 million Windows 7 licenses since the operating system started shipping a year ago. About 93 percent of new consumer PCs were running Windows 7 in September, and the operating system gained more than 17 percent of the global operating system share worldwide.
DigiTimes also reports that a GeForce GTX 580 graphics card will be with us in late November or early December. The card is said to perform 20% better than the existing GeForce GTX 480 and to feature a new graphics chip, the GF110.
After GF110, Nvidia is also set to gradually unveil its GF112, GF114 and GF119 in 2011 with market positions similar to its GF104, GF106 and GF108, respectively. The company is also preparing to announce 28nm Kepler GPUs by the end of 2011 and is currently developing Maxwell as Kepler's successor.
The folks at ggmania report that a couple weeks ago DICE Senior Gameplay Designer, Alan 'Demize99' Kertz tweeted that him as well as other Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 2 veterans are working on Battlefield 3. Aside from that, Mr. Kertz also made a post in the EA UK forums explaining how weapons were tweaked on console and PC in Bad Company 2. He talks about how PC needs special attention and intends to give it just that.
Early on BFBC2 our PC playtest feedback showed that weapon feeling was lacking. It just wasn't as much fun to shoot the guns on PC as on console. With controls being the big gameplay difference (mouse vs pad) it quickly became clear that simply put the original weapon tweaks, which were done on the PS3, weren't working on PC. The guns all had a bit of base inaccuracy, that with a gamepad wasn't really noteworthy, but on PC it really prevented players from taking advantage of the mouse input. On 2142 one of the key things about the guns is that they were all deadly accurate, they lost damage over range sure, but if you could put the crosshairs on the target you could hit it. Sure, some people feel like an AR should be more accurate than an SMG or carbine. I feel like the issue is "ARs should be better at range" and thus, they do better damage over range than the SMGs.
In response to the feedback on PC, I completely retweaked the accuracy. The next playtest it was immediately obvious that it was a change for the better, and surprisingly it also made gamepads feel much better as well.
Fundamentally I think it is an error to have different core gameplay on console vs PCs. PC gives a player more input control and if a gun feels good on PC it feels good on console. I won't "dumb it down" by lowering the recoil or changing the damage model or other such silliness.
PC and Console Battlefield players want similar gameplay: Epic sprawling Battlefields, and also tight infantry fights. Balanced weapons and land/sea/air vehicles with a rock-paper-scissors emphasis. Squad and teamplay, where no one player can be a do-it-all super soldier, and communications systems to support teamplay. And a deep and rewarding system of progression with deep and varied gameplay that keeps you wanting to go 1 more round. Everyone also wants it to be easy to play with their friends.
Consoles generally are less tolerant of overly complex interfaces. They have less buttons, you need more elegant interfaces. Deep systems work well though if they have a straight forward interface. The fun is not in figuring out how to use the system, it's in figuring out how to best use the system.
PC players have their own set of requirements. They tend to play only on PC, and they know their PCs have capabilities beyond that of a console. The gap is narrowing, but PCs still have a clear advantage in memory. PC players also demand a PC interface, a server browser, and anything that feels like it might have been "ported" from a console is going to get flamed hard. They are more forgiving of complex systems and will tear any design down into its parts to really figure out how it works. It's a damn sight harder to please a PC player, they have higher expectations.
It's too early to talk BF3 specifics. But it's never too early for me to acknowledge that PC players have a fear that BF3 will be "consolized." PC gaming is alive and well, BFBC2 has proven that and no one at DICE or EA can argue with the numbers. Battlefield 3 needs an extra bit of special attention on the PC. I intend to give it that attention, tradition and our community demand it.
Radeon HD 6850 & 6870 CrossfireX review
We review the Radeon HD 6850 and 6870 in CrossfireX mode.
Will performance double up ? Will modern games be properly supported ? And how much power do these multi-GPU setups really consume ? We'll find out all of it in today's test of course, just a little extra something something from Guru3D of course.
I can already tell you this though, this was the first time ever we had no issues with drivers, and yeah, in most cases the CrossfireX scaling was just extraordinary good.
Check out the full article right here at this URL.
AMD Radeon HD 6850 & 6870 reference get tested
We review the Radeon HD 6850 and 6870. These two product are segmented in the upper range of the mid-range area, and in fact will be positioned directly against the competition's GeForce GTX 460 series.
The new mid-range series 6800 promise to deliver a very decent chunk of gaming performance, a set of new features and as always, will carry a nice price tag. Wanna find out more about these hot new product ?
Well, have a look at this direct URL.
