We covered a number of hardware-related topics this past week at TG Daily, including Buffalo’s USB 3 external HDD, overclocking ATI’s Radeon 5970, Core i7-based iMacs showing up DOA and a modded Sony UMPC that runs four operating systems.
ATI reveals Radeon 5970 overlocking details
ATI revealed a critical engineering decision that led to the successful production of its Radeon HD 5970 graphics card.
Nvidia accelerates GPU pixel processing ??
Nvidia successfully patented a method of optimizing the GPU pixel processing pipeline. According to company spokesperson Hector Marinez, patent no. 7609272 “helps” the shader process textures in a way that makes “full” use of any extra circuits.
Elements of patent no. 7609272 has already been implemented in a number of Nvidia GPUs, including the GeForce 6 family of products. The patent was also featured in the RSX – or Reality Synthesizer – GPU co-developed by Nvidia for the Sony PlayStation 3.
Drobo gets bigger, more expensive
Data Robotics launched the Drobo S, an updated storage device with five drive slots and an eSATA port. DR says the Drobo S can transfer data up to 50 percent faster than the original Drobo and can survive the failure of up to two drives.
Modded Sony UMPC runs four operating systems?
A MicroPC Talk member named “anh” radically modded a Sony UX490 UMPC to run four operating systems, including Windows 7/Vista/XP and Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.7.
Report: Core i7-based iMacs are showing up DOA
An unknown number of Core i7-based iMacs reportedly arrived DOA with cracked screens.??
Robot exhibition opens in Tokyo
??The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) introduced its new humanoid Taizo, a two-foot-high articulated robot designed to teach elderly people to exercise.
Buffalo Tech debuts USB 3 external HDD
Buffalo Tech debuted the “first” SuperSpeed USB 3.0 external hard disk drive. The next-generation HDD is reportedly capable of delivering transfer rates of up to 625 MB per second, or five Gbits per second.
Japanese firm launches dual screen notebook
Kohjinsha launched its DZ Series dual screen notebook. The system features two 10.1-inch LCDs, each with a 1024×600 resolution and backlit by LEDs.
ATI clarifies 5970 FurMark benchmarking results
AMD’s Dave Baumann told TG Daily that FurMark benchmarking results indicated the 5970 was functioning as per its design specifications.
“The Legion FurMark results tell me that the 5970 is doing exactly what it was designed to do. There are protection measures in place that kick in when thermal or power levels exceed maximum permitted levels, so the card was taking the correct actions to protect both itself and the motherboard.”?
OCZ to show off USB 3.0 solid state drive
??Symwave and OCZ announced they will demonstrate an external hard drive at the CES show in Las Vegas. The drive uses Symwave’s USB 3.0 storage controller and will deliver 10 times the transfer rate of USB 2.0 – which transfers data at 5Gb/s.
The Intel Itanium is tottering towards death??
A report from senior analyst Jon Peddie suggested that Intel’s 64 bit flagship microprocessor, the Itanium, is dead in the water. In his latest musings, Peddie, the CEO of Jon Peddie Research, said that the “Itanium is trying to sneak out the back door.”
Sony pins its hopes on 3D TVs
A report in the Wall Street Journal stated that Sony has high expectations for 3D TVs. Indeed, Sony apparently believes that 3D compatible televisions will represent nearly half of the TVs it sells within the next three years.
