Force3D has, today, announced the specifications of its first SKU powered by AMD's HD 4870 GPU. A core speed of 750 MHz, paired together with 512 MB of GDDR5 memory running at a frequency of 3.6 GB/s are the order of the day, whilst technicalities such as the presence of 800 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface prove commonality with AMD's HD 4850 offering. Using Extreme settings, Force3D's own 3DMark Vantage results claim that their HD 4870 iteration has a speed advantage of 58% over the HD 3870X2.

As of 3PM CET the NDA for the Radeon HD 4850 Series has been lifted. Since this came as a surprise to everyone our reviews are not finished yet now finished.

MSI HD 4850 | PowerColor HD 4850

I just received an E-Mail from AMD stating that some RV770 info can be posted today:

Effective 9:00 AM EDT on Thursday, June 19th, AMD will be lifting the embargo preventing the publishing of ATI Radeon HD 4850 performance previews. These performance previews may include ATI Radeon HD 4850 benchmarks, photos of the ATI Radeon HD 4850 hardware, information printed on related packaging or photos of the packaging itself and related pricing information.

The head of ATI Technologies claims that the recently introduced NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200 GPU will be the last monolithic "megachip" because they are simply too expensive to manufacture. The statement was made after NVIDIA executives vowed to keep producing large single chip GPUs. The size of the G200 GPU is about 600mm2¬¬ which means only about 97 can fit on a 300mm wafer costing thousands of dollars. Earlier this year NVIDIA's chief scientist said that AMD is unable to develop a large monolithic graphics processor due to lack of resources. However, Mr. Bergman said that smaller chips allow easier adoption of them for mobile computers.

AMD is possibly developing a low-power processor to compete with Intel's "Atom" in the emerging Mobile Internet Device (MID) market. The new processor to counter the Atom will be a low-power AMD64-based design according to leaked slides obtained by Hexus. The processor will feature an integrated memory controller, 16-lane 800MHz HyperTransport link, 256KB of L2 cache, and a 1GHz core clock. The new rumored processor with its integrated northbridge and memory controller is expected to have a TDP of 8W compared to the 1.6GHz Atom N270's 6.5W TDP (2.5 W for the processor and 4W for the Northbridge).

At the International Supercomputing Conference, AMD today introduced its next-generation stream processor, the AMD FireStream 9250, specifically designed to accelerate critical algorithms in high-performance computing (HPC), mainstream and consumer applications. Leveraging the GPU design expertise of AMD's Graphics Product Group, AMD FireStream 9250 breaks the one teraflop barrier for single precision performance. It occupies a single PCI slot, for unmatched density and with power consumption of less than 150 watts, the AMD FireStream 9250 delivers an unprecedented rate of performance per watt efficiency with up to eight gigaflops per watt.

AMD today announced the new ATI Radeon HD 3870 for Mac & PC Edition, delivering the power to go beyond high-definition visual computing for work and play. Optimized exclusively for Apple Mac Pro systems, the ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC edition can help drive productivity with built-in 256-bit 512MB GDDR4 frame buffer memory and 320 stream processors to deliver maximum performance for graphics-intensive applications such as 3D modeling, animation and games. Users also can expand visual workspace using twin dual-link DVI ports to connect two 30" Apple Cinema HD displays.

AMD and Havok today announced plans to jointly investigate the optimization of physics effects utilizing AMD's full line of products. With over 100 developers and 300 leading titles already using Havok's physics engine - Havok Physics - the company has clearly defined its position as the leading developer of game physics. By working together, both companies are demonstrating their commitment to open standards and continued support for the needs of the game community.

AMD today announced that it has reached a new milestone in the mobile graphics industry as the first 3D graphics technology provider to achieve OpenGL ES 2.0 conformance certification. AMD OpenGL ES 2.0 mobile graphics technology, which will be included in AMD processors, is based on the same AMD Unified Shader Architecture powering the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console.

AMD today introduced four new Quad-Core AMD Opteron SE processors to help IT managers take a new approach to "scaling up" their datacenter in order to address demanding enterprise-computing environments. Rather than invest in traditionally large and expensive enterprise-class proprietary hardware, the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron SE processors empower businesses to affordably and easily scale up a datacenter by moving to servers that can offer enterprise-class functionality at industry-standard pricing.

First-tier makers NVIDIA and AMD are dissatisfied with Intel's ownership of the USB 3.0 specification, CNET reported yesterday. The next-generation high-speed USB 3.0 specification is aiming to become standard in 2009. It will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0 and at the same time as widespread as the current USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 will also retain full compatibility with USB 2.0 and presumably USB 1.0. The main investitors behind the USB 3.0 specs include Intel as well as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC, and NXP Semiconductors. "The challenge is that Intel is not...giving the specification to anybody that competes with CPUs and chipsets," said a source close to AMD who is familiar with the dispute. As a result AMD, NVIDIA, VIA Technologies and probably others could be driven to create their own USB 3.0 specification that may lead to a lot of frustration and money lost on development. "We are going to be forced to create a secondary specification ... new open host controller standard for USB 3.0." the AMD source added. "They could spend the time, engineers and money developing their own host controller spec," an Intel source said. "In the past they have chosen to let us do the work and then benefit from the fruit of our labor." Continue reading the full story here.

Several hours after AMD announced their new Puma platform, Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD) has stepped up as the first manufacturer to confirm they will be using the Turion X2 Ultra-based technology in their latest Satellite notebooks. Six models in the Satellite range will be offered with AMD Athlon Dual Core QL, Turion Dual Core RM and Turion Ultra ZM processors. These new models include Satellite P300D, Satellite A300D, Satellite M300D, Satellite U400D, Satellite L300D and Satellite L350D series. Toshiba's AMD-powered Satellite series will be available this summer from a variety of major consumer electronics and computer stores nationwide.

Chip maker Intel was fined USD $25.4 million (£13m) by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday for taking advantage from its dominant position in the microprocessor market against rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The Commission fined Intel because it was offering discounts to Samsung Electronics Co. and Trigem Computer Inc. that were against the Korean antitrust rules. Intel had offered about $37 million in rebates to Samsung and Trigem for over two and a half years on the condition that they wouldn't buy from Advanced Micro, according to commission's statement. Intel said it was very unhappy with the ruling and will further review the South Korean commission's decision. "We are disappointed with the decision. We feel the commission has overlooked or ignored key evidence that demonstrates Intel's business practices have been fair and lawful," Intel's Asia Pacific regional spokesman Nick Jacobs said in a statement. "Once we've had a chance to review the findings in detail it is possible that Intel will request a further review and, if necessary, an appeal which will permit a court to review the case independently." Since 2005, Intel has also been hit by anti-trust cases in the US, Japan and Europe.

Computex 2008, AMD today also launched ATI XGP (External Graphics Platform) Technology, a new external PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 graphics platform, designed to deliver enthusiast-class desktop graphic performance and true multimedia upgradeability to notebooks. ATI XGP is an exclusive technology that capitalizes on PCIe 2.0 to deliver enthusiast-class graphics via a connected cable to an externally powered and cooled device.

Computex 2008, AMD today announced the availability of its next-generation notebook platform, delivering the ultimate HD visual performance and increased energy efficiency on the go. The platform features new AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processors with ATI Radeon HD 3000 Series Graphics for superior 3D performance and HD image quality, with industry-leading wireless for greater throughput and range. AMD customers overwhelmingly embrace the new platform, as evidenced by more than double the number of design wins compared to the last major AMD Turion processor introduction. These new notebook designs come from leading OEMs including Acer, Asus, Clevo, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, MSI, NEC and Toshiba.

Addressing customer demand for higher performing, uni-processor x86 solutions, AMD today introduced three new Quad-Core AMD Opteron 1300 Series processors for one-socket servers and workstations. Global tier-one OEMs including HP and Dell plan to incorporate the new processors into upcoming platforms, and global supercomputer leader Cray is now shipping Quad-Core AMD Opteron 1300 Series processor-based Cray XT4 systems and upgrading some of the world's fastest supercomputers to incorporate Quad-Core AMD Opteron 1300 Series processors.

Foxconn this week released two new motherboards targeted at people who use AMD processors. I'll leave only a link to the system specs for the first one, the A79A-S. Being tagged as a "Digital Life" motherboard it's not in our best interest. The second one - FOXCONN Quantum Force Destroyer is another story. Based on the NVIDIA 780a SLI MCP that supports the latest AMD Phenom/Athlon/Sempron processors and HyperTransport 3.0 technology it represents the first Quantum Force solution for the AMD platform. As such it comes with a total of four PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots providing up to 3-way SLI support or even 4-way graphics (no SLI). In addition, just like every other Quantum product, the Force Destroyer comes with Foxconn's proprietary Quantum BIOS, custom heatpipe cooling solution, Quantum Lap motherboard tray for convenient workbench installation, and the Quantum Flow kit which improves airflow when two or more graphics cards are installed. You can find a complete rundown on this features as well as the full motherboard specs within the official press release here.

AMD today announced growing industry support for the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor among global OEMs continues with IBM's launch of three updated System x servers. Designed to address customer priorities such as energy efficiency, performance, scalability, and virtualization, the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor-based servers from IBM offer an exceptional power-efficient platform for today's most demanding datacenters.

AMD's Puma platform is expected to be formally launched at the beginning of Computex 2008, TG Daily reported today. On June 3rd, the Puma mobile platform will debut featuring the Griffin CPU named "Turion Ultra", a mobile version of the 780G chipset (RS780M), and the integrated Mobility Radeon 3200 graphics chip. Targeting business and consumber markets, Puma will be used in all major notebook form factors with 12.1-inch 13.3-inch, 15.4-inch and 17-inch displays. Discrete graphics options for the Puma platform will include ATI Mobility Radeon 3450, 3650 and 3850 graphics chips. Solid State Drives will also be available as an option, but since Puma is not targeted at the extreme laptop offerings, SSDs will be put aside. There's no information whether Puma and Turion Ultra will be available in volume from day one of its introduction. More information will follow after the start of Computex 2008.

I'm sure all of you guys know all the goodies that will be coming with the launch of the next series of high-end cards from AMD. In case you need a recap of the awesomeness headed our way, please check out the source link. Anyways, enough propoganda. For those of you who are interested in buying the latest high-end offerings from AMD, the current rumor says that we should see new cards in August 2008 for a price far below the current rumored prices of the high-end NVIDIA cards. NVIDIA cards have traditionally been more expensive, and the GTX280 is supposedly going to cost nerds somewhere in the ballpark of $500USD. There is no confirmed pricepoint for the new cards from AMD. However, we can be fairly confident that it will be quite a bit less than $500USD. Another interesting rumor to note is that there will be a much larger difference between the HD4870 and the HD4850, as opposed to the comparatively small difference between the HD3870 and the HD3850.

ASUS has prepared a full list of motherboards that will support AMD's 140W CPUs. This is necessary for AMD's upcoming Phenom 9950 2.6GHz processor that has 140W TDP. CPUs with TDP of 125W are also supported by these motherboards. The following list is not full, more 140W CPU ready ASUS motherboards are expected to be announced soon:

AMD today announced the first commercial implementation of Graphics Double Data Rate, version 5 (GDDR5) memory in its forthcoming next generation of ATI Radeon graphics card products. The high-speed, high-bandwidth GDDR5 technology is expected to become the new memory standard in the industry, and that same performance and bandwidth is a key enabler of The Ultimate Visual Experience, unlocking new GPU capabilities. AMD is working with a number of leading memory providers, including Samsung, Hynix and Qimonda, to bring GDDR5 to market.

From the company powering the visual experience of the two most popular gaming consoles in the world today, AMD announces AMD GAME!. This program is designed to help consumers select perfectly suited PCs for high-definition gaming. AMD GAME! platforms combine the powerful balance of multi-core processors, exceptional HD digital media, and next-generation graphics processing power. Industry leaders including Acer, Alienware, Logitech and Microsoft are joining AMD to ensure consumers can easily identify PCs that deliver HD gaming and entertainment experiences out of the box.

Sun Microsystems today announced the availability of its first Sun Fire and Sun Blade systems powered by Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, bringing new capabilities, increased performance and expanded scalability to customers that purchase or upgrade to these quad-core systems.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) might be planning to outsource some of its CPU production to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) in the second half of the this year it was reported today. This move will help AMD to clear some of its manufacturing equipment and help lower the company's operating costs.

Although Hector Ruiz, CEO of AMD did not mention any plans to outsource production during the company's recent investors conference, the industry sources revealed that TSMC has already started testing procedures for a SOI manufacturing process in order to land manufacturing orders for AMD's Fusion CPUs. The increase in outsourcing could allow AMD to sell off some of its manufacturing equipment and help lower the company's operating costs, noted sources at AMD's partners. AMD's current goals are to return to profitability in the first half of 2009 and to grab back a 30% worldwide market share by the second quarter in 2009, noted the sources.