Tag Archives: ReviewRoundup

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and 780 review roundup: Kepler’s still kicking in 2013

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and 780 review roundup Kepler's still kicking in 2013

Now that we have the low-down on NVIDIA's two mainstream heavyweights, the GTX 770 and the GTX 780, we figure it's time to move beyond specs and official slide decks and bring together some reviews from the specialist sites. Both cards contain the same Kepler architecture as NVIDIA's 2012 line-up, with no huge leaps in evidence, but they either add more of this silicon (in the case of the GTX 780) or drive it harder (in the case of the GTX 770) in order create new options for enthusiasts and for those upgrading from a card that is two or more generations old. At the same time, these products represent a major shift in NVIDIA's pricing strategy. At $649, the GTX 780 is priced much higher than its direct ancestor, and it aims to approach Titan-level performance without hitting the same thousand-dollar high. Meanwhile, the GTX 770 costs just $399 and yet is said to replace last year's flagship cards like the GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, which are still being sold for $450 and upwards at some retailers. Read on and we'll summarize how these claims have stacked up against reality.

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AMD Radeon HD 7990 review roundup: fast, quiet, but no world beater

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Now that the veil has been lifted from the AMD Radeon HD 7990, it's time for the usual enthusiast review sites to reveal their thoughts -- and benchmarks -- on the latest graphics card from Sunnyvale. As we've mentioned, the 7990 has effectively two 7970 GPUs on board, promising over 8 TFLOPS of power and the chops to handle full 4K resolution under maximum settings. However, it's a pricey little thing at around $1,000, which doesn't set it too far away from the competition and its unique cooling system means an airy case is a must. What do our sample of reviewers think? Find out in our roundup after the break.

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Crucial M500 SSD review round-up: 960GB at $600 is cheapest in class, available now

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DNP Crucial M500 SSD review roundup 960GB at $600 is cheapest among peers, available now

Crucial's budget-friendly yet high-capacity 2.5-inch M500 SSD has finally cropped up for sale today, as have the reviews of it from the usual enthusiast sites. While it's still not exactly low-cost, many applaud the fact that the company's $600 960GB drive is the cheapest near-1TB model you can get on the market. It uses Micron's 20nm MLC NAND flash, a SATA 6 Gb/s controller and is the first to implement the new 128Gb MLC NAND die. According to Benchmark Reviews, it certainly bests its m4 predecessor with peak speeds that reach 500 MB/s read and 400 MB/s write, with 80,000 IOPS in operational performance.

Both TweakTown and Anandtech concur that it's not quite as fast as its closest competitor, the Samsung 840 Pro, but as Anand Lai Shimpi said in his review: "If you need the capacity and plan on using all of it [960GB], the M500 is really the only game in town." TechnologyX, however, gives the nod to the 480GB model, if only because it's about $200 cheaper if you're willing to compromise on space. Crucial also offers the M500 in 120GB and 240GB for $130 and $220 for those with smaller wallets. If you're keen to see the full breakdown on this tiny wonder, head on over to the sources to judge for yourself, or just click on the Crucial link below to get your own.

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Source: Benchmark Reviews, Tweaktown, Anandtech, TechnologyX, Crucial

NVIDIA GTX Titan review roundup: the fastest single-GPU card ever tested

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NVIDIA GTX Titan review roundup the fastest singleGPU card ever tested

Looking to cut to the chase? Those yearning for the fastest single-GPU powered graphics card ever tested need look no further... for the moment, anyway. NVIDIA's beastly GTX Titan has been making the rounds on test benches across the world, and while demo titles and stress factors varied somewhat, the overall conclusion seems pretty unanimous. The folks at Hot Hardware proclaimed: "In every benchmark or game we threw at it, regardless of resolution, the GeForce GTX Titan clearly outpaced the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition and the GeForce GTX 680, sometimes by margins over 50 percent." Meanwhile, the crew at AnandTech stated: "It's simply in a league of its own right now, reaching levels of performance no other single-GPU card can touch." Oh, and it can totally play Crysis 3. For those needing any additional convincing, you'll find a plethora of links below; in other news, you still need a grand to buy one. Huzzah!

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Source: Hot Hardware, AnandTech, PC Gamer

AMD Trinity review roundup: good bang for your entry-level buck

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DNP AMD Trinity review roundup not bad for the price

It's never easy playing second fiddle, but AMD is trying their best to keep Intel on their toes with its latest line of Trinity desktop chips. We were introduced to the Trinity last week, but now the official reviews are in from the usual specialist sites. The consensus seems to be that it provides solid performance for the price. The Trinity A10-5800K is in the same class as the Core i5 but sells at $130 on NewEgg, which is the going rate for the Core i3-3220 (Guess those price leaks were true). Hot Hardware notes that both the A10-5800K and the A8-5600K offer improved performance and decent overclockability, stating that it offers "roughly a 10 percent kicker in CPU performance" and "15 - 17 percent increase in GPU performance." As for power consumption, Anandtech claims the Trinity isn't quite as good as the Core i3, but "compared to Llano, Trinity is a bit more efficient" so it looks like there's improvement from past AMD chips. TechSpot points out the Trinity also requires a new Socket FM2 motherboard.

Like most reviews, Hot Hardware recommends the Trinity chips as a solid choice for those who want an entry-level system. However, those hungry for power are probably still going to go Intel. Legit Reviews states that the AMD Trinity will do just fine for everyday use and some light gaming, leaving the pricier Intel chips for performance-chasers. Definitely peruse the links below for more details before considering a purchase.

Read - Hot Hardware
Read - Tom's Hardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Legit Reviews
Read - Benchmark Reviews

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AMD Trinity review roundup: good bang for your entry-level buck originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti review roundup: impressive performance for around $300

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti review roundup impressive performance for around $300

No one's saying that $300 is "cheap," but compared to the GTX 670 and GTX 680 before it, the newly announced GeForce GTX 660 Ti is definitely in a more attainable category. The usual suspects have hashed out their reviews today, with the general consensus being one of satisfaction. A gamechanger in the space it's not, but this Kepler-based GPU managed to go toe-to-toe with similarly priced Radeon GPUs while being relatively power efficient in the process. That said, AnandTech was quick to point out that unlike Kepler reviews in the past, the 660 Ti wasn't able to simply blow away the competition; it found the card to perform around 10 to 15 percent faster than the 7870 from AMD, while the 7950 was putting out roughly the same amount of performance as the card on today's test bench. HotHardware mentioned that NVIDIA does indeed have another winner on its hands, noting that it'd be tough to do better right now for three Benjamins. Per usual, there's plenty of further reading available in the links below for those seriously considering the upgrade.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti review roundup: impressive performance for around $300 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAnandTech, HotHardware, Tech Report  | Email this | Comments

AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition review roundup: a big, bad bruiser of a graphics card

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AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition roundup review a big bad bruiser of a graphics card

You know the routine: we looked this revamped card's spec sheet a few hours ago, so now it's time to find out how it fared in independent tests and whether it's worth the $499 outlay. On the face of it, this powerhouse of a card ought to be a champ, since it comes $50 cheaper than the original's launch price (although that non-GHz Edition has now dropped to $449) and brings crucial improvements in clock speed and memory bandwidth. In practice? Well, it wins -- but only on points. Read on for more.

Continue reading AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition review roundup: a big, bad bruiser of a graphics card

AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition review roundup: a big, bad bruiser of a graphics card originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 06:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 review roundup: a $99 card that fails to keep Kepler’s promise

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NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 review round-up: a $99 card that fails to match Kepler's promise

NVIDIA blew reviewers away with its flagship GTX 680, but building cards for the low-end is a whole different challenge. The GT 640 hits the $99 price point, where it sits right between the AMD Radeon HD 7750 at $109 and the last-gen Radeon 6670 at around $80. As it turns out, these rivals pull off something of a pincer movement, leaving NVIDIA's card little room to retaliate. The GT 640 contains a 28nm Kepler chip, but it's a cutdown version of the silicon with just 384 CUDA cores, a poor memory bandwidth of 28.5GB/s and no GPU Boost feature -- which means the card can't boost its 900MHz to make use of thermal headroom. These limitations have a significant impact on the benchmarks, as you'll see in our little review roundup after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 review roundup: a $99 card that fails to keep Kepler's promise

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 review roundup: a $99 card that fails to keep Kepler's promise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell XPS One 27 review roundup: an all-in-one PC worth owning

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Dell XPS One 27 review roundup an allinone PC worth owning

Let's be honest here: there hasn't been an overly compelling option in the all-in-one PC space in a really, really long time. Not to say there weren't decent options, but that "blow you away" factor has been missing for a good while. No more. Dell's wildly handsome XPS One 27 has hit the ground running, and it's garnering near-universal praise across the web. While it boasts a somewhat steep price point ($1,399 and up), packs a touchpanel option and is landing just months before Windows 8's debut, critics at large seem to have fallen back in love with the AIO form factor thanks to this one machine.

Hot Hardware lauded the Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA Kepler graphics, and they had a tough time controlling their adoration for the Samsung PLS panel that stole the show. PCMag struggled to find cons, noting that the rig managed to put "almost every technology and feature we're looking for in a compact stylish chassis." AnandTech, however, rightfully points out that the lack of a touchpanel is no big deal in the land of Windows 7, but not providing the option for those looking forward to a Metro-fied Windows 8 experience may end up hurting the value proposition in the long run. Hovering over that buy button? Restrain yourself a bit longer while you dive into the source links below.

Dell XPS One 27 review roundup: an all-in-one PC worth owning originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceHot Hardware, PCMag, PCWorld, CNET, AnandTech  | Email this | Comments

AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down

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AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down

If you've been following AMD's game plan over the last couple of years, then you probably won't be totally shocked by what follows. That said, reviewers' verdicts of the new high-end Trinity laptop APU, the 2.3GHz quad-core A10-4600M, do include some dizzying highs and despairing lows, which are still kinda surprising in their own way. Like how? Well, HotHardware found that AMD's chip beats Intel's Ivy Bridge (with integrated HD 4000 graphics) by 30 to 50 percent in some games, albeit with a few stumbles over immature DX11 drivers. Similarly, AnandTech's handy table above shows just how far ahead Trinity is across fifteen common titles. On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips. For example, Hexus's Geekbench scores put the APU 40 percent behind last year's Dell XPS 15z, which is totally underwhelming. So, as usual, it'll all depend on what you need a laptop for -- but if you're after something that costs $699 or less, handles regular day-to-day tasks okay and can also play current games with decent frame-rates, then you'll be keen to conduct further research at the links below.

Read - HotHardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Hexus
Read - PC Perspective

AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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