Radeon HD 3800 Series - Peace and Quiet

The new RV670 will be christened as Radeon HD 3800 series.



This is what will sell as Radeon HD 3850($149-$179):

* 55nm RV670PRO GPU at 668 MHz
* 256MB GDDR3 memory at 828 MHz DDR (1.66 GT(/s)
* 10.69 GPixel/s fillrate
* 52.99 GB/s memory bandwidth
* 320 Unified Stream Processors
* 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing support
* ATI Avivo HD
* ATI PowerPlay power saving technology
* Game Physics processing capability
* HDMI support

As far as higher performing part, the 3870($200-$230) is considered, specs are following:

* 55nm RV670XT GPU clocked to 775 MHz
* 512MB GDDR4 memory clocked at 1.2 GHz DDR (2.4 GT/s)
* 12.40 GPixel/s fill-rate
* 76.80 GB/s memory bandwidth
* 320 Unified Stream Processors
* 24x Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing support
* 55nm process
* ATI Avivo HD
* ATI PowerPlay power saving technology
* Game Physics processing capability
* HDMI support

It seems that AMD may finally be catching on to the fact that most people do not want their computers to sound like leaf blowers. The new cooler on the Radeon HD 3850 is a single slot solution rated at a wonderfully low 31 db (at least compared to the jet engines on previous cards). The faster Radeon HD 3870 will sport a dual-slot cooler, but it is rated at a modest 34 db. These are not perfectly quiet, but compared to previous attempts and even to their direct competitors they are much more tolerable. NVIDIA's 8000 series, including the 8800GT, usually hum along at 40+ db.

AMD is telling its graphics card partners that they should focus on the GDDR3 part - the $150 HD3850 - while GDDR4 part - the dual-slot 3870 - should be used "to complete the offering". So it seems AMD is going to mostly focus on the 3850, the part that is going to succeed the 2600XT in that price bracket, and is set to absolutely dominate the Geforce 8600GTS and its own previous $150 part, the Radeon 2600XT.

The Radeon 2600XT and Pro will have their prices slashed, sending the boards in a lower price bracket, while the prices of 2400Pro and 2400XT will go into the range between the large packs of crisps and the family packs of detergents. For that, AMD will use more and more of those 55nm parts called RV615 and RV635.

Second wave of cards will include 3850 AGP with 256 and 512MB GDDR3 memory, 3870 with 512MB and 1GB of GDDR4 memory. Those boards are expected to hit the market just in time for Xmas.

Weekly Top 20 Mandarin Chart

Vic Zhou "I'm not F4" managed to capture number 1 at G-Music Weekly Top 20 Mandarin Chart (26 Oct --> 1 Nov)



He also attending many events and TV programs for promoting his new album. And here you may watch the MV of Ai Ni Hen Ni (Love You Hate You):

Zai Zai's Album Signing paralyzed Xi Men Ting, F3 unexpectedly showed up

Vic Zhou was deeply honored last night during his Album Signing and Concert at the Xi Men Ting parking lot when Jerry, Vanness and Ken unexpectedly showed up that made him really surprised. Japanese and Korean fans already didn't care whether their LV signature bags dropped to the floor as they were already out of control, screaming and rushing in for F4's unexpected reunion.

Last night, reporters was pleasantly surprised, when Jerry actually came up with an idea and said, "Because Vic is the first F4 to come up with an album, and also the first to release 3 albums, so I suggested to Ken and Vanness to go to his Album signing and concert. Everyone agreed so we all came together." Because Zai Zai wasn't aware when F3 suddenly appeared before him, he got a bid scared and shouted, "Why did you come here? I simply want to cry! You are really my good brothers." However, F3 only stayed for 10 minutes and quickly left, but the fans loud screams continued for a very long time.

Vic Fans Gathering for New Album

Yesterday (27/10) 1:30PM, the first gathering on Taipei South Harbor 101 was packed by fans from Taiwan and nearby, such as Hong Kong. Nearly 3000-4000 (but some news paper said it's almost 5000), went to Vic's album launching yesterday. His good friends, Vanness, Patty and Allan Ke sent him flowers with congratulatory notes. The atmosphere was so lively, and his fans roared when he started singing.



A single card attracted fans and reporters which said : "You are not F4, I am not Da S." When the reporters asked about it, Vic even clarified "I am not F4, she is not Da S, she was Xu Xi Yuan." A-ha! ;-)

Zai Zai new album "I'm not F4"

Taiwanese singer and actor Vic 'Zai Zai' Zhou Yu Min launch new album "I'm not F4" all across Asia.

The single "I'm not F4" is composed by Taiwan pop king Jay Zhou, whose work is in extremely high demand in the music world. Vic happened to come across him one day and jokingly asked whether he would like to write a song for him and that's how Vic's new title song, I'm Not F4 (Track 2), was born. The song is a reflection of Vic's inner self, as he wants to let his fans know who he is as an individual beyond being an actor and a member of F4. Vic let his presence be felt on his new album, participating every step of the way, from finding and selecting songs to the track arrangement. His devoted followers are sure to find the all new Vic through the music on I'm Not F4.

The MV has been circulating around web for the past few days. In the music video, the singer plays an entertainment star who gives up the busy life under the spotlight for his girlfriend.





Vic promoting his new album:



Album homepage :
http://www.sonymusic.com.tw/pop/vic/index.php
http://www.sonybmg.com.tw/album/album_info.php?al_prodno=88697191922

http://www.geocities.com/tjinsen/f4/imnotf4.htm

Ferrari's Raikkonen wins F1 race and title

Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Formula One world title, beating Britain's Lewis Hamilton to the biggest prize in motorsport as the McLaren driver suffered a race of extraordinary bad luck and finished in seventh.

Raikkonen, who headed home a Ferrari one-two ahead of Felipe Massa and the 'other' title rival Fernando Alonso, beat the Spaniard and Hamilton by just one point to claim the closest championship for 13 years.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/10/7020.html

http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2007/10/7026.html

RD790 is now AMD 790FX Chipset, consumes only 8W

AMD decided to brand the RD790 as 790FX. This suggests that 790FX was originally intended for Phenom FX processors. AMD's chipset with integrated graphics, will be named 780G (successor of the 690G).

Summary:
AMD 790FX - Dual PCIe x16 CrossFire support + 3, 4 way CrossFire
AMD 790X - Dual PCIe x8 CrossFire support
AMD 780G - Single channel PCIe x16 + integrated DX10 graphics
AMD 770 - Single channel PCIe x16

The Register has posted some information about MSI's new motherboard based on the AMD 790FX chipset (formerly RD790). The board is designated as the K9A2 Platinum.



The Inquirer reports that AMD's 790FX chipset will only gobble up 8 watts of power. Compared to Nvidia's latest that is 40 watts less. That is pretty amazing if true.

In a battle of high-end chipsets - the Nforce 780 versus 790FX - it will be interesting to see how the MCP+BR04 (48W TDP) battles against the RD790 NorthBridge. This eats only 8W and is a native PCIe 2.0 chip. This is a 40W difference And even when Southbridge chips are calculated, ATI's own RD790+SB600 (later SB700) combination is a winner for low-power systems.



Nvidia's C72 and MCP72 come with king-size coolers, over 5cm in height - it has to dissipate 48W.



This small thing left of CPU cooler, below Digital PWM (Nvidia still uses old analogue 4/8-Phase voltage regulation) is an 8W TDP chip - the RD790 Northbridge.

Price Reduction & Toliman Update

Advanced Micro Devices has notified its partners that starting from the 8th of October, it plans to decrease the pricing of some of its dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 chips. The price corrections will allow the world’s second largest maker of x86 microprocessors to get better positioned for holiday season. This will be a great opportunity to upgrade customers to dual-core, as the AMD Athlon X2 5000+, 5200+, 5600+, 6000+ and 6400+ processors will be more affordable. Here is the pricing:



AMD plans to launch the new Triple-Core processor family by Q1 next year and it will be called Phenom 7-series instead. The codename for the Triple-core processors is Toliman, a 65nm quad-core Agena core based with one core disabled.

VR-Zone has learned that there will be 2 models at launch; Phenom 7700 and 7600 clocked at 2.5GHz and 2.3GHz respectively. Both will be AM2+ based, 3 x 512LB of L2 cache, 2MB of shared L3 cache and has TDP of 89W. We can expect DVT samples to be available by January, production by February and launch by March 2008. Further down the roadmap, we can see 3-core Heka based on 45nm quad-core Deneb with one core disabled supporting AM3 in H1 2009.

AMD "Spider" Package

AMD is to launch three series of products for Q4'07. AMD Phenom, RD790 and RV670 are all supposed to arrive in at the same time. AMD is calling its CPU+GPU+Chipset package "Spider"



Theo Valich managed to get the chance to play around with the demo machine AMD set up in cooperation with Sapphire. The processor for this system is no other than long-awaited Agena. The motherboard was Sapphire's own RD790 creation.



The two graphic cards were the new ATI RV670 worked in Crossfire, hidden in huge Thermaltake chassis. These boards had a dual-slot cooler, and power consumption is such that it can run just from the PCIe 2.0 slot alone. However, in order to keep the compatibility with PCIe 1.1 motherboards on the market, six-pin PEG connector was used.

Do you DARE ? Unleash the power of AMD

It has been a hot and wild speculation of what AMD meant by this:



Dare to feel your heart pound, your pulse race, and your breath catch in your throat? To open yourself up for a jolt of sheer adrenaline that just might eat you alive? To bring home a beast that’s leaping and snarling on the end of its leash? Like Mother Nature, AMD has a dark side — and on September 25, 2007 it will be revealed to the world. So what it really comes down to is...



Yesterday AMD unveiled the curtain of mystery with the introduction of the AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition processor.

It lets you take control of processor performance, and do it all on your own terms. The AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Black Edition processor 5000+ is a jolt of adrenaline for your PC. High-performance and dual-core, it delivers tunable performance with an all-too-tempting dark side.

A customizable clock multiplier helps you tackle multiple demanding applications like never before. Tunable performance means you can be as bold as you dare. The more-than-doable price means you can smash barriers, without breaking the bank.

Processors available soon at favorite online participant. Until then, get free downloads of special graphics, including chassis cling, stickers, tattoos, and more. In the meantime, customize your gear with Black Edition artwork (JPG poster).

AMDZone has learned that this processor will fit into the 65 Watt envelope and will cost $136. And here is the review from AMDZone.

HardSpell managed to overclock it until 3.5GHz.
Penstar Sys has reviewed the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition.