Tag Archives: review roundup

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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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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Nikon D800 review roundup: significant upgrades to an already top-notch DSLR

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Three years is quite a long time for any one gadget to complete its product cycle -- even a high-end DSLR. The D700 remained on its flagship DSLR perch since its launch in the summer of 2008, all the way through Nikon's D800 announcement earlier this year. During that tenure, the full-frame camera became the primary workhorse for a bounty of photography pros, and it appears safe to confirm that its successor is up to the same task. The 36.3-megapixel D800 has completed its labs tour, leaving reviewers with positive impressions across the board.

As always, DPReview offers some of the most comprehensive analysis on the web, and highlights several advantages over the D800's competitor, the Canon 5D Mark III, including a higher megapixel count (36MP vs. 22MP) and a significantly lower price tag ($3,000 vs. $3,500). CNET struggles to identify cons, and praises the cam for its "stellar photos, excellent videos, speedy performance, and a relatively streamlined shooting design." Ken Rockwell brings a D800E into the reviews mix, concluding that the low-pass-filter-less flavor isn't the best fit for everyone. Finally, newcomer The Photo Brigade put the camera in the hands of Preston Mack, a professional on assignment who used the DSLR to capture a GigaPan photo for MLB.com and offered this takeaway: "I am very happy with the Nikon D800 camera. It is an amazing value." Overall, seems like quite a hit -- you'll find links to all of the above reviews just past the break.

Continue reading Nikon D800 review roundup: significant upgrades to an already top-notch DSLR

Nikon D800 review roundup: significant upgrades to an already top-notch DSLR originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel Core i7-3770K CPU review roundup: crossing the Ivy Bridge

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Ivy Bridge

Today is officially Ivy Bridge day, in case you didn't already know. Intel took the wraps off the latest member of its processor family and the internet wasted no time putting the flagship Core i7-3770K through its paces. The 3.5GHz quad-core desktop chip comes packing not only some architectural tweaks, but a brand new integrated GPU in the form of the HD 4000. Oh, and it does all this using a brand new 22nm manufacturing process and 3D "Tri-Gate" transistors. What does that mean for you, the user? Lower power consumption, better performance and, surprisingly, unbelievably fast media transcoding. When AnandTech turned its eyes towards Quick Sync, the on-die media transcode engine introduced with Sandy Bridge, the 3770K practically buried the competition. Using Cyberlink Media Espresso the new chip turned a DRM-stripped Blu-ray of Harry Potter (130 minutes of 1080p video) into an iPad friendly format in just seven minutes without taxing the CPU.

At idle, power consumption hasn't changed much, but when TechSpot put the pedal to the metal things looked quite a bit different. The new i7-3770K sucked down just 147 watts, which was even four watts less than lower clocked i5-2500K. And, of course, it delivered much better performance. In fact, in Bit-Tech's tests, the only chip that was able to routinely best it was the hexa-core 3960X Extreme Edition -- and even that CPU barely eked out its victories. While AMD's offerings simply can't compete with Intel's on pure performance or power consumption, it does still outrun run Chipzilla's GPU. The HD 4000 is, undeniably, a huge step forward for the Core line, but it falls just short of matching the A8's integrated Radeon on Tech Report's tests. For more benchmarks than your heart can handle check out the pile of links below.

Read - AnandTech
Read - Bit-Tech
Read - TechSpot
Read - Tech Report
Read - Hot Hardware

Intel Core i7-3770K CPU review roundup: crossing the Ivy Bridge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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