ATI

I have been watching closely with Apple's direction in their products using alternative source rather than the state of the obvious. When we talk about CPUs, we would associate ourselves with Intel. The alternative CPU product would be from AMD. When are dealing with graphics, naturally we will talk about Nvidia as they are the mainstream graphics manufacturer today. The alternatives would be from ATI ( Parent company is AMD) and from Intel. We do have a small quantity of notebooks using VIA's Chrome 9 graphics engine.

Having said that, Nvidia is dominating both desktop and notebook discreet graphics segment while ATI is gaining ground on Nvidia. Intel, on the other hand, remains silent about their direction but so far as to say, Intel still still dominating the world's integrated graphics engine with their Intel HD graphics irrespective of whether it is a desktop or a laptop. More significantly, most of today's laptops are equipped with Intel's integrated graphics. Not bad for Intel, eh?

From experience, integrated graphics will not only save energy, it is also a cheaper option when it comes to budgeting for a laptop/netbook. A good look at the current netbook market will see that any netbook which is fitted with an Nvidia graphics, usually the 9300/9400 GM, will see that the price of the netbook will cost more than a similar netbook with an Intel graphics. The argument for using the Nvidia ION platform is that it will boost the graphics quality in terms of better frame rates while playing games and it allows users to watch HD movies and so on. The downside is that it will most probably use more energy than the Intel graphics.

Presently, there are many laptop manufacturers who are interested in providing hybrid graphics. The idea is to use an integrated graphics card when the user is not using the laptop/netbook for graphic intensive acitivies. Once graphics intensive tasks have been identified, the system will automatic switch to a more powerful graphics engine.

These days, ATI is proving itself to the world as the better graphics card manufacturer than Nvidia. We did have news about the overheating on various Nvidia GPUs due to bad heatsink/drivers but we seldom have such problems with ATI's GPU. Besides, ATI's graphic cards are always cheaper than Nvidia's.  Why would you want to waste more money on Nvidia when ATI is proven to be a better graphic manufacturer? We are concerned about less heat and a graphic card using less energy. ATI can do a better job than Nvidia these days. The question is why do you still want Nvidia?

Power Saving Mode

Recently, I have tried to improve the performance of my laptop. So far, I have managed to use RivaTuner to overlock the ATI graphics card. This is important because I could not change the integrated ATI graphics engine on the laptop. Therefore, the only thing which I could do is to overclock the GPU and the memory.

With 8GB of installed memory and an upgraded T9600, it shows on the Windows Experience Index that the CPU rating went up from 6.0 to 6.4 (the old cpu was a P8600). As with memory, it went up from 6.0 to 6.4 (upgraded from 4GB to 8GB). My next project was to try upgrading the graphics Index from 5.0 to around 5.2 without the need to change the hardware as I could not do so.

Finally, using RivaTuner, I could achieved 5.2 on the graphics after overclocking the GPU from 500mhz to 800mhz and memory - 800mhz to 950mhz. In doing this, I have seen that the Pixel Fillrate has increased from 2.7 GPixels/s to 3.2 GPixles/s and the memory Bandwidth has increased from 12.8 GB/s to 15 GB/s. After overclocking the GPU, I could see a significant improve on the graphics. I have to disable Powerplay when after overclocking as Powerplay will not work at all.

In a nutshell, after overclocking the GPU, the system will not be able to reduce the gpu and the memory clock speed to save battery but it will certainly increase performance. Things are running alright until something caught my mind - GPU temperature. Before overclocking, the gpu temperature will settle around 40c but after overclocking, it is always at a constant 56c. In order to cut the heat, the laptop's fan would have to kick in. As a result of this, the laptop is significantly noisier than before. The overclocking had a knockon effect on the battery too. With a 9 cell battery and with minimal usage of Microsoft Office, it should last around 5 hours easily without overclocking. After overclocking, it would only last around 3 hours or so.

After running the machine for a few days, I have decided to call it a day and uninstall RivaTuner and revert the gpu back to its default value. After doing this, I could see that the system fan hardly kicks in and the gpu temperature maintain at around 40c. The cpu temperaturer also dropped after I have shutdown overlocking of the gpu. It is now running at a cool 32c all the way instead of 48c.

Stay away from overclocking folks...

Overclock ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

If you have a laptop and it is running on the ATI HD 4570 with 512MB or 1GB memory, certainly you would wish that the OEM would have stuff a better graphics card inside, right? No fear! If you are thinking of overclocking the GPU, it is not difficult though. One word of advice is that I am not responsible for your actions!

Overclocking has been one of my favourite past time. In the early days, I have managed to overclock a Pentium Pro 180 to work like a Pentium Pro 200. I even managed to overclock the PP180 to 250mhz. Nontheless, it was quite tough to overclock surpass 200mhz due to the restrictions on the motherboard then. The benefit then was the menu responded much faster than before on the Windows 95v2.

As for overclocking the GPU, it is hardly a solution for it as you can always do so using RivaTuner to overclock and GPU-Z to reach out on your GPU's ID. Back then, I would be really happy if my pc is running on a Gforce TNT2 with 32MB of memory. Most of the time PCs would come with Intel's integrated graphic memory.

Bear in mind that I am talking about a desktop and nothing about a laptop. Do you know why? The reason is because the gap in performance between a laptop and a pc would be just too wide. In another word, at that time, people would not be able to play graphic intensive games on their laptops and the battery life would suffer too.

Fast forward fifteen years later, I have seen the gap in performance between a laptop and a pc have narrowed. Presently, you have similar graphics card for a laptop and also for a desktop with the only exception that the graphics card for a laptop would be more expensive and it is not easy for someone to change their GPU unless the laptop is using an MxM from Nvidia (Sorry ATI fans..there's nothing like Nvidia for you).

For the moment, let's talk about laptop GPU. Nowdays it will be very easy to find a laptop equipped with an ATI HD graphics card. This is far more reliable and produce better performance than the Intel integrated graphics card e.g. Intel GMA 500, 950 and so on. We are talking about discreet graphics card. One benefit of using a discreet graphics card is that the graphics card will not be using the system memory as it has its own dedicated memory.

Some of you might think that it is possible to overclock an Nvidia or an ATI HD graphics card on a laptop. Absolutely. You could overclock your laptop's GPU so long as you are just not too extreme in overclocking. Otherwise you might seeing artifacts and the GPU would just shutdown as a result of producing too much heat. I do have to remind you that if you are thinking of overclocking a laptop GPU, do it at your own risk.

Apart from that, why not overclock then? Go ahead!!!

In overclocking a laptop GPU, you do need a programme called RivaTuner and another software utility called GPU-Z. Download RivaTuner and install it onto your laptop but don't run it yet. Fireup GPU-Z and look at the Device ID which you could find it in the middle of the 'Graphic Card' tab. It should look something like this - '1002-xxxx'.

We are just interested with the 'xxxx' part. Now, get into the installation folder of RivaTuner and open a file called rivatuner.cfg. You need to use notepad to open it. Once you have opened the file, look under the heading of [1002], you will see a line of command which starts with RV710. RV710 is the chipset for your HD4570. At the end of the line, just add the device ID plus 'h' at the back of it...It goes like this - 'xxxxh'. Save the *.cfg file and then fire up RivaTuner.

The rest is up to you guys!!! Happy overclocking!!!

Windows 7 Using More Memory?

After reading through this page, I could not help myself but to wonder why have I purchased Windows 7 for a start. I do understand that with Windows 7, it is best to have more memory as it is a 64 bit OS. I have even upgraded my memory to 8GB.

Unfortunately, it is not a bed of roses for me though after upgrading the memory to 8GB, previously being 4GB. Before upgrading my OS to Windows 7, I was using Windows Vista Premium and there was no problem in me playing any games. With the upgrade of my laptop to Windows 7, my laptop would shut down after 5 minutes of playing Crysis!!! What is going on over there? I just don't get it though.

At this moment, I could not play any games. The fan on the Dell Studio 15 would be spinning quite loudly even though I have remove the heatsink and the fan to clean the entire area as it was filled with dust. Having done that, I still get shutdowns whenever I play Crysis!!! Does this mean that I have a problem with the Dell Studio 1555? The BIOS on the laptop runs on A09 and I have no way of downgrading the BIOS as Dell's BIOS upgrade utility will not allow me to do it.

Windows 7 definately use more memory. That was why I have upgraded the memory capacity from 4GB to 8GB. However, it is quite unfortunate that the laptop will just shutdown after five minutes ot playing Crysis. I think there is something wrong with the OS or the BIOS itself.

This would prompt me to get a game console and not rely on the laptop to play games! Oh well...

Update: 21/02/2010 - Although I have solved the problem of my laptop shutting down every five minutes when playing Crysis, I think it is important that Dell were to release their updated BIOS for the Dell Studio 15 when possible.

Direct X 11

I am using an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512MB of memory. Whilst being disappointed with Dell for the updated graphic driver, I told myself that I would have to do something which Dell would not have done.

In fact, I've managed to download the latest ATI driver for their desktop HD 4550 series graphics card and then use Mobility Modder software to modify the desktop ATI graphics driver so that I can install it on my laptop.

For your information, the firmware which Dell has listed it on their website was based on Catalyst 9.8. Well, there's Catalyst 9.12 right now, ready to be installed on all desktops which use the ATI graphics card. I don't see why I should be using a crippled driver from Dell!

Nevertheless, I've managed to install the Catalyst 9.12 firmware and it has increased my laptop experience! I could play Street Fighter IV in a smoother way and I like it!

I would recommend people to use desktop graphics driver if they are running on an ATI chipset. You will be able to use desktop drivers once you have modify the firmware. Besides, with the updated 9.12 firmware, my laptop is now running on Direct X 11!!! Excellent!

Core i7 for Laptops

Recently Intel as announced their upcoming Quadcore CPU, the Core i7 for laptops. It was meant for OEMs to introduce the mobile quadcore to consumers at a much later time. However, by looking at this website, it seems that Dell has started selling Intel's latest offering - The mobile Quadcore. This is the 'consumer' version of the quadcore for mobile computing because we already had the extreme quadcore for laptops under the 65nm Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Quad Extreme which uses 95w to 150w depending on the cpu itself. Such power hungry chip requires special cooling materials and fan. It was also mentioned that the Core 2 Quad under Kentsfield was a slap of two cpus in one. Quadcore mobile computing was still at its infant stage as it was still very power hungry for a quadcore mobile computing.

That is where the Core i7 mobile computing steps in. It is a remarkable piece of technology. Intel has managed to scale down the power requirement for the new cpu. Rated at 45w, it's the best mobile quadcore so far from Intel. Yes, you will be getting a large 6MB of L3 cache (some comes with 8MB of L3 cache) with 2MB of L2 cache in total for each cpu and that is similar to AMD's X4 but it's more power efficient than AMD's X4 II til date. It's also faster than AMD's X4 II with turbo mode.

I think Intel has made a point over here. Over the years they have tried to fit a proper quadcore into a laptop and it seems that they have made it this time. However, the TDP is still quite high as compared to the Core 2 Duos especially the P range. I'm into the P range as it offers the same performace of the T range but at a lower TDP (10w lower to be exact). Now, the question is whether you need a quadcore for your everyday life...Hum... I think it is unecessary right now. Wait for Intel's offer of a quadcore cpu with in build GPU!!!

ATI desktop Driver on Laptop

If you try to install ATI desktop drivers for laptop, you will get an error. That is because the software will not allow laptop uses to update their ATI drivers. What they will be left with is to always check on their laptop manufacturer's driver page for any ATI graphic updates. Chances are slim though. I don't think you can update your laptop ATI driver by using ATI desktop graphic drivers. What you need is actually a modder software to fool the ATI graphic driver to install it on your laptop, thinking that it is a desktop and not a laptop.

What is required to do so is to download the latest catalyst driver from the ATI website and then download modder for ATI. After downloading the ATI driver, extract it into a folder but do not install it. Fire up the ATI modder and it will patch the ATI driver. After patching the driver, double click on the installation to start installing the newest Catalyst driver on your laptop!!! It works!!!

Netbooks - Do you really need it?

2007 was the year where people started looking at Asus's Eee PC 701. It is cheap and affordable but it only comes with a screen size of 7". It runs on a strip down version of a full Linux distribution and it has only 1GB of memory. Back then, the keyboard on the Eee PC 701 was small and with a tiny track pad. However, it comes with bluetooth, 3x USB ports, a digital camera and also a 8GB SSD hard drive.

The problem with the Eee PC 701 is that one can't store much information in it. There has to be something to be done on the improvement of the so called 'netbooks'. Then comes the 900, 901 and the 1000 series of the Asus Eee PC. Companies like HP, Sony and Dell quickly picked up the potential of the netbook saga to make more money and came up with their ingenius products. From Dell, they have launched the Mini 9, followed by the Mini 10, then Mini 10v and the mighty Mini 12. Samsung also launched their own version of the netbooks with the Samsung NC10, NC110, NC120, NC310 and the NC20. HP also released their mininote netbook range but it was not really that popular. Sony just released their P series VAIO netbook with features a 8.9" screen.

For a typical netbook, you will find an Intel Atom N270 or the N280 CPU coupled with 1GB of memory and 160GB hard drive and comes completely with 3x USB, bluetooth and a digital camera. It will be lightweight so that it will be easier for buyers to carry it around. Screen size will be around 10" except for the Mini 12 (12.1") and the NC20 (12.1"). Recently, Acer came out with their own larger than 10" netbook called Acer 751h (11.6"). It uses an MID CPU ( Intel Atom Z520) with similar specifications of a typical netbook. Unfortunately, the said netbook was not well response from the public so Acer has to reduce its price. From what I have researched, the Acer 751h is rather slow as compared to a typical netbook which runs on the N270 or the N280 CPU. Intel Atom N series CPUs are single core with hyperthreading, similar to the Z series CPUS. It is different from VIA's U2250 Nano CPU which is only a single core CPU without hyperthreading.

However, there are many advantages of the VIA's Nano CPU. It features support of a 64bit OS and it has NX extension which you will not find it on a typical Intel Atom CPU. Having said that, the VIA Nano is slightly slower than a typical Atom during multitasking as it does not support hyperthreading. The winner of the netbook CPU war will be within Intel's grasp with their release of a second generation of Atom CPU which features a dual core CPU. At that time, not even the mighty AMD Neo can take the crown from Intel.

AMD has released their AMD Neo to compete with Intel's Atom. The specifications of the AMD Neo is similar to VIA's Nano but it is more power hungry. One good thing is that users will be able to benefit from using AMD chipset as it comes with their ATI HD graphics card. Not to worry though as Nvidia's Ion platform will also be featuring an Intel Atom CPU with their own Gforce 9400M graphics card. Certainly, the graphics boost from using an Integrated Intel GMA 500 will be significant. I just could not wait until the Nvidia Ion platform is released. A more recent addition to the netbook family will be the HP's DV2. It comes with a single core AMD Neo CPU with 512KB of L2 cache. It runs much faster as compared to the VIA's Nano U2250 but lose out to the Intel Atom N280 when it comes with the Nvidia 9400M graphics card. The HP DV2 is also very expensive so stick with the Samsung NC10 if you want a 10" netbook and the Samsung NC20 if you are looking for a 12.1" netbook.

Let's talk about the advantages of using a netbook. We know that a netbook is convenient as it is lightweight. However, users should not expect a netbook to perform on par with a typical laptop because a typical laptop will have double the L1 cache and L2 cache and running on dual core instead of hyperthreading (in the case of the Intel Atom). A typical Intel Atom N270 will see that they have 32KB of L1 cache and 512KB of L2 cache. It is being manufactured on a 45nm wafer and running on a maximum speed of 1.6Ghz. Power consumption for the Intel N270 is at 4W. Compare this to an Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (3MB L2 cache, 1066mhz FSB, 25W (power consumption) and runs at 2.6Ghz).

One can't compare performance of a netbook to a typical laptop because the netbook is only used for simple execution of programmes while a typical laptop can handle multitasking way much better than a netbook with their enlarged L2 cache and also their speed. Don't ever expect peformance of a netbook to be on par with a laptop. It does not work that way. If you multitask a lot, forget about the netbook. Get yourself a laptop with dual core and more L2 cache. With Intel delaying the launch of their latest dualcore Atom for netbook to 2010, I think we should just adopt the wait and see for now. Forget about netbook.

Dual core Atoms

I was so tempted to get my hands on one of the more famous netbooks which is widely aceepted as the best netbook around- the Samsung NC20. However, after doing a research, I found out that Nvidia is going to release their upcoming Nvidia Ion platform which basically add an Nvidia graphics to the much needed Atom CPU.

The problem with many netbooks is the the graphics is not one of the best ones as manufacturers are trying to sell more units rather than to provide a better value of servce to customers. Eventually customers realized that pairing the Ato. With Intel's GMA graphic card is not going to improve any performance of the netbook. That is where Nvidia is stepping in. Those guys at Nvidia is going to install an Nvidia Gforce 9400M on any netbook which pairs it with an Intel Atom CPU.

I del that it will be a good idea because it will improve on a netbook's overall performance although the Cpu supports hyperthreading. Wait, we are expecting an upgrade to the much needed N280 CPU or the N330 dual core CPU. Lady luck is on our side as Intel is going to release More dual core Atoms based on their Pineville chipset and it will be a first dual core CPU for netbooks as the current N330 dual core is just for desktop mobo.

I think I am going to wait for the release of the Pineville dual core CPU paired with an Nvidia GPU. Stay tuned. For those people who can't wait until the new arrival of the new CPU from Intel, they may want to check out on Samsung's NC10 for their 10.1" offering and NC20 for their 12.1" offering. Don't get the Acer Aspire 751 or the Dell Mini 12 as they are under performing 12.1" netbooks. The Lenovo's Ideapad S12 will be a good choice by it is not available until next month.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Integrated Graphics

I have never liked integrated graphics in a desktop or in a laptop otherwise. I do have a reason for it - The lack of speed. This is pretty important because I don't want to wait more than five seconds for my laptop or for my desktop to open a window or jerky while I am playing a game. That is where integrated garphics lack - The raw power.

I have never bought a motherboard with an integrated graphics before. I have made up my decision after playing on my friend's computer. He was using a cheap motherboard with Intel integrated graphics card and guess what? I had to wait longer than I should to start an application which could have been done 30 seconds ago!

When people say that integrated graphics are taking over from discrete graphics, it does not mean that more people are buying desktops with integrated graphics. I think the report must have missed out on the question of why integrated graphics is so readily accepted in the society. Right now, we are in the middle of a financial crisis. Any savings will be welcomed. Well, integrated graphics is a cheoper alternative to a discrete graphics so many people will go after it.

If you google, you will find that most of the discrete graphics were stationed in a netbook. All netbooks come with an integrated graphics. Well, if you notied, most of the people now days are going after netbooks so it is not surprising that the sale of integrated graphics have rocketted. It is a trend now to buy a netbook. It comes with a small screen of up to 12" wide with an Intel Atom CPU or VIA and the maximum memory that a netbook can handle will be 2GB. Most of the netbook comes with a maximum memory cap of 1GB.

Well, do you think many people are after integrated graphics? I don't think so. I think most people will agree that more integrated graphics have been sold due to the sale of more netbooks! Do you agree?

VIA VX855

It appears that VIA is doing something out of the oridinary these days. First, it was the release of VIA Nano CPU which boast better performance to watt ratios. Next, Samsung featured the VIA Nano in their netbooks lineup like the NC10 and NC20. Now, they are going to release the upcoming VIA VX855 Media System Processor which is capable of running 1080p HD on netbooks!!!

That is a breakthrough. Why? Look at Intel. They are going to release Atom CPU codename GN40 which, will be able to handle 720p HD but not blu-ray playback. Oh yes, forget about 1080p because the CPU will not be able to handle such complicated tasks. The next question would be...What about Nvidia with their Ion platform then?

The Ion platform will give customers the boast as the graphics will run on a Gforce 9400GS. No doubt that it will be able to run HD at 1080p but one thing for sure though, it is going to put a dent in customer's pocket. Why? It is going to be more expensive than the Intel's offering. Well, what lies in between then?

Hum...It will be VIA, ofcause... Their Chrome 9 Graphics card seems to be promising. We will see about it though.

Nvidia Gforce 250 GTS

Nvidia will be releasing the ever awaited mid range graphics card to consumers. Yes, it is non other than the Gfirce 250 GTS. Based on my research, the 250 GTS is nothing more than the Nvidia Gforce 9800 GTX+ which I am using anyway. One difference between those two cards is that the memory address will be different. On the GTS is 512 bit where else on the 9800 GTX+, it is 256 bit. In that case, if you already using a Gforce 9800 GTX+, why bother buying the 250 GTS then? I think it will be better for you to stick with your curreny 9800 GTX+ and save some money for the next best thing - SSD on your desktop!!!

Yes, both OCZ and Intel have begin shipping their high capacity and also high performce SSDs. I am pretty impressed! However, make known that at this point in time, there is no suggestion to install one of them on your rig because it is not affordable as compared to a laptop. Well, for those laptop lovers, here me out! You'll soon be enjoying the fruit of Intel and OCZ on SSDs. It will be great! Hum...I am still hanging on to my seven years old laptop...it can't even take SATA hard drive...Only IDE!!! The best that I can do with it is a 250GB IDE from WD. I am stuck with a 160GB at the moment and I think it is sufficient. What do you think?

Graphics Card update

What would come into your mind when people ask you about pc graphics card? Surely you do have some idea as to the type of graphics card available in the market, right? If you don't, do not panic as I am here to help. Just to inform you that I am only going to give you the information as a guidance only.

I have been an ATI fan for ages. I remember using their x1000 series grpahics card for some time: That was before AMD bought over the Canadian company for a large chunk of money. I remember not being happy with the takeover of ATI by AMD but it is inevitable.

I find that ATI cards are cooler and quiter than Nvidia graphics card. However, after the merger of AMD/ATI, Nvidia have retained the crown at high end graphics. Nvidia came out with 5000 series cards, then 6000 series, then 7000 series, followed by 8000 series, 9000 series and now the 260, 280 and 295 cards.

Nvidia seems to regain the title of the best graphics card manufacturer with the release of 295GTX. The card, similar with other graphics cards in its category, will require two molex six pin from the power supply. The card is really fast.

Surely ATI is not going to give up. Their HD4870 with GDDR5 memory set a record with the most stream processor on earth! Not even Nvidia's 295GTX can compete with it based on the number of stream processors - 900 in total!!! What say you?

However, with the release of 295GTX from Nvidia, the company have regained the crown. I am sure that ATI will not give up easily. I still prefer the ATI HD4850 as the price is affordable and the performance is not too bad compared to HD4870.

In a nut shell, if you are thinking of a budget card, go for either the ATI's HD4830 or Nvidia's 9500GT. As for midrange card, go for either ATI's HD4850 or Nvidia's 9600GSO. High end is definitely either ATI's HD4870 or Nvidia's 9800GTX+.

S3 Graphics

Going back in time, just imagine you are Dr Who (that is if you like to watch Dr Who series) and you are sent back to the 1990s. What do you think the world is offering you in terms of computer graphics loaded into a personal computer (pc)? You do have a few choices (companies)but not much. One of which is S3, the second is Nvidia and the third would be Diamond. Many people would go for the choice of S3 because it is cheap and cheerful. I was one of them.

Back in the days, when the first version of Pentium was at the top of the chart (before Pentium 2 was announced), S3 was really a good buy. It offers graphics card at a reasonable price and many people went to purchase it. S3 was then the Intel Extreme graphics card now. The difference is that S3 was an add-on PCI card while Intel extreme graphics are onboard graphics. Back then you do have DVVM graphics (onboard graphics) but many people will choose to get an add-on graphics. I remember when I had my Pentium Pro 180 with Jetway motherboard, I had the S3 Virge 3D (4MB) installed in it.

You have to remember that back then, in 1996, 4MB of graphics card memory is heaven to many. Many computers were running on 1MB of memory at that time. Look at the present, you do have 128MB as the lowest minimum memory requirement nowdays for games and applications although servers tend to use only around 32MB of graphics memory as they don't need graphics too much. I am using 512MB of graphics memory right now and I feel that I should have 1GB or more but it is just too costly to do so.

S3 is quite well known to be a computer creating energy efficient graphics cards all along. Well, after its peak days, it went through some turbulence and now it is back!!! I am so happy that S3 is back!!! After looking through its product, I think I might use one of their graphics card for day to day applications as it is very energy efficient. Although S3 is no match for AMD or Nvidia, they might cut their lead as more people are looking towards energy efficient graphics cards nowdays. The problem with present day graphics cards is that they consume a lot of electricity (around 155W for a Nvidia 9800GT X2).

If S3 is able to create a graphics card similar to the Nvidia 8800GTX with 50 percent reduction on the electricity consumption, I will get one for myself. S3 rules!!!

Graphics Card Anyone?

I have to say that I am glad to see that ATI under the arms of AMD is growing stronger than ever! Oh yes, ATI has released the HD 4870 which is very affordable to consumers unlike the GT200 by rival Nvidia - expensive. I have to say that ATI is very good in releasing the HD 4850 and HD 4870 because consumers like you and I will buy them. Why? It is the champion for consumers! What is more important is that Nvidia is having some problems in their mobile chipset now days and they have to fork out a lot of money to replace them.

No doubt that Nvidia has released the ultimate graphics card - The GTX 260 but it is not necessary the best. It is overclockable and it produced very good frame rates but you would have to sacrifies on the heat that is to be produced and increased power consumption. Most of all, the noise is unbearable to me.

I think right now i would just stick to my good old Nvidia 6800GT. It is silent and keeps my pocket happy, don't you think so? I am not looking into overclocking anytime soon but for those who has deep pockets, go for the ATI HD 4870. You will not be disappointed with it.

Nvidia's problem

It seems that Nvidia is having a bit of a problem now. They have just released a statement stating that they have forked out a one off US$ 200 million in repairing or replacing faulty notebook graphics card. Well, as we know, Nvidia has been the front runner in providing notebooks with quality graphics card. With many notebooks are affected, I am not sure how much are they going to spend in replacing all of the faulty ones.

I think Nvidia should have a close eye on the production line instead of coming out with better models of graphics card all the time. I think now days people will be aiming for ATI graphics card instead of Nvidia. Personally, I am still using Nvidia's 8600GT with 512MB of memory graphics card. Well, I like it because it is a silent graphics card without any fan on it. Guys, 0db! How does it being cooled? Good question.. It is cooled by a patended Silent II cooler by Gigabyte. It is pretty good though for less than £60.

We have the mighty 8800 series up to 280 GTX but they consume a lot of power. I think a silent graphics card will do the job. Besides, it is a 8600GT anyway.. Should have bought a Silent 9600GT from Gigabyte. I don't know whether they have 8800GTS with passive cooling system. I Will try and see. Anyway, right now, the 8600GT is sufficient.

AMD/ATI vs Nvidia

If you noticed lately, the desktop GPU scene is rather nasty. In one hand, you have the AMD/ATI's HD3870, HD4850 and HD4870 not mentioning the ultimate HD4870 X2 competing against Nvidia's 8800 series, 9800 series and top of the range GTX 260 and GTX 280. What is most interesting now is that the pack between AMD/ATI is paving the way to a greater height and they are now ready to compete with Nvidia.

Two years ago, ATI lost the crown in their desktop GPU to Nvidia when Nvidia launched their Gforce 6000 series and then followed by the 7000 series GPU.Since then, ATI was not able to match the power consumption and the performance of those cards. Since last year, ATI has taken back some of the lost glory of Nvidia through HD 3800 series. Those cards are not spectacular and could not match Nvidia's 8000 series GPU but nevertheless, price and performance wise, they can match Nvidia.

Nvidia produced many GPUs for both desktop and notebooks. Their famous GPU for notebook would be the 8400 series or 8600 series up to the very high end 8800M .Recently, they have released the 9000 series GPU for laptops. You can find it in Alienware, Rock and also on Dell laptops. They even featured on SLI configuration. I can just imagine the power consumption using high end GPUs as a waste of money. If you don't really play graphic intensive games or studio work, I don't think it is necessary for you to buy high end graphics card. I don't do it anyway. My pc's graphics card is a Gigabyte Silent 8600GT with 512MB with GDDR3.It is not a high end graphics card but it is sufficient for me. It is cheap at around £50 and good for my waller. Do you really need a Gforce 8800GT? I do know that the performance is good but power consumption is relatively high with Gforce 8800 and ATI HD3870 and above. Think about reduction in power consumption.

We have been talking about saving electricity. Newer graphics card by ATI and also Nvidia got to use a lot of electricity hence the problem of increased in electricity consumption of many households. If you have deep pockets, Nvidia's 8800GTX Ultra or the ATI HD 4870 will be sufficient.Presently, it looks like ATI is gaining a lot of ground compared to Nvidia and this is a battle which has no end. It is also good for consumer as in choices.

Nvidia 9600 GT

The Nvidia 9 series of graphic card is out in the market!!! Well, with the series 9 graphics card, it performed much better than the Nvidia 8600GT on paper. Well, according to Tomshardware, the 9600GT could not beat the ATI HD 3870 in performance wise. I don't see the reason why even though I am using one of Nvidia's product at the moment but it is a different issue. I was looking for silence and thus only Nvidia can offer me with a near silent graphics card. ATI back outon silencing their graphics card. I don't know why but I think ATI is more interested in other areas.

Anyway, the Nvidia 9600 GT performance could not match the 8800GT at all. Oh well, you are talking about a more expensive card ( on the 8800GT). Well, I hope to get one piece of the 9600GT and try out on my own.