Cu aproape o saptamana inainte de lansarea noului cip grafic DX11 al nVidia – GF11 aka FERMI [GTX 470 si GTX 480], Unigine lanseaza versiunea 2.0 a benchmark-ului sau pentru DirectX 11: Unigine Heaven Benchmark.
 
Aceasta versiune include fata de original mai multe teste de geometrie, implementeaza agresiv iluminarea dinamica, rutine de fizica implementate pe GPU, screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO), dinamic sky, ciclu zi-noapte precum si teste mai agresive de tesselation. In aceasta versiunea aveti posibilitatea de a seta nivelul de teselare pentru benchmark: Extreme sau Moderate.
 
Unigine Heaven Benchmark v2.0 poate fi descarcat gratuit de aici: http://unigine.com/download/
 

 

 

Problemele cu yield-urile de 40 nm la TSMC’sau accelerat dezvoltarea si reorganizarea Globalfoundries, viitorul partener al ATI/ADM in ceea ce priveste producerea cipurilor pe 32 si 28nm.
 
Parteneriatul intre ATI/AMD si Globalfoundries va incepe in primul sfert al lui 2010 iar primele cipuri care vor beneficia de noul proces de fabricatie vor fi procesoarele proiectate de AMD. Dupa ultimele discutii se pare ca ATI doreste sa faca un pas inainte si sa faca trecerea direct la producerea cipurilor pe 28nm in cazul procesoarelor grafice [viitoarea serie 6000], trecand peste procesul de fabricatie de 32nm.
 
Nu ar fi prima data cand se intampla asta, seria 2900 a folosit un proces de fabricatie de 80nm iar seria 3000 a trecut direct la 55nm, trecand peste procesul de fabricatie pe 65nm.
 
Puteti discuta acest subiect si pe forum:
http://www.pcgamingxtreme.ro/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=75
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

In timp ce nVidia intampina tot mai multe probleme cu Fermi / GT300, ATI anunta astazi lansarea Radeon HD 5970, prima solutie dual GPU din seria 5000 si in acest moment cea mai puternica placa grafica de pe planeta.
 
ATI Radeon HD 5970 are o putere de calcul de aproximativ 5 TeraFLOPS, full suport in hardware pentru DirectX 11 si este construita pe un proces de fabricatie [litografiere] de 40nm [0.04 microni].
 
Specificatiile ATI Radeon HD 5970 sunt urmatoarele:
4,3 miliarde de tranzistori
2 GB DDR5 la 1 Ghz
725 MHz frecventa GPU
3200 procesoare shader / stream processors
4.64 TFLOPs putere de calcul
160 unitati de texturare
64 unitati ROP 
 
Imaginile si benchmark-urile au fost preluate de pe TECHSPOT, unde de altfel puteti citi un review complet: http://www.techspot.com/review/221-ati-radeon-hd-5970/
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pe langa faptul ca datorita problemelor intampinate in procesul de fabricatie la TSMC s-a amanat lansarea GT300 pentru aprilie-mai 2010,  se pare ca FERMI mai are si alte probleme. VR-Zone a facut o analiza detaliata. Numele de cod al Fermi este GF100, contine 3 miliarde de tranzistori si are o dimensiune de 500 mm^2. In comparatie cu Cypress [ATI 5870], care are nu mai putin de 2.15 miliarde de tranzistori, cip-ul de la nVidia ar parea un monstru. Se pare insa ca specificatiile “on paper” impresionante nu ofera in practica performanta la care ne asteptam.
 
In primul rand, desi performanta unitatii de calcul in dubla precizie este impresionanta, GF100 nu are nici o unitate de calcul in simpla precizie – care are un rol extrem de important in ceea ce priveste performantele in jocuri. Mai mult, cipul se pare ca nu functioneaza la frecventele pe care si le-a propus nVidia, acest lucru fiind alt factor care penalizeaza performanta. Frecventa tinta a fost de 1.5Ghz pentru procesoarele shader iar frecventa reala – calculata in functie de performantele masurate ale placii este prognozata la 1015 – 1230 Mhz.  In momentul in care nVidia are toate aceste probleme cu Fermi, ATI detine coroana celui mai rapid GPU si a umplut planeta de 5870/5850 si versiunile mainstream ale seriei 5000.
 
Intreg articolul de pe VR-Zone il aveti mai jos:
 We all know it is constantly being delayed – but at the end of all those delays, what we were expecting was a stellar product from Nvidia. However, with today’s press release, certain inconvenient details are revealed. Let’s forget about the delays for now, and just consider the product itself.
 
The first Fermi GPU – GF100 – as we know for a while now, is a 3 billion transistor giant, taking a die size of around 500 mm². Compare this with the 2.15 billion transistor, 330 mm² Cypress on the same 40nm TSMC process, and you would be expecting a different class of product. Unfortunately, the details revealed today about cast an uncertain shadow over this basic assumption.
 
The first thing worth noticing is a complete and total absence of Single Precision performance figures or any comparison to direct competition – i.e. ATI’s GPGPUs. It is clear that Fermi’s real performance advantage would be Double Precision performance – had it hit the right clock speeds.
 
However, today’s press release suggests Nvidia have missed target speeds by a lot. To be fair, Tesla products do clock lower, though not by much. In fact, GTX 280 and Tesla C1060 were clocked the same. Even taking a generous increase for Geforce products, things are still uncertain. As a result, DP performance is rated at between 520 GFlops and 630 GFlops. Suddenly, ATI Radeon HD 5870 – which wasn’t even supposed to be a direct competitor – is performing right on par with 544 GFlops against Fermi’s supposed strong point.
 
Consider Single Precision – far more important for gaming graphics, and things turn rather ugly. GF100′s target speeds were reported to be 1.5 GHz for the shaders. Based on the 520 / 630 GFlops figures, the shader clocks can only be estimated at 1015 MHz and 1230 MHz respectively.
 
The SP theoretical performance from 512 CUDA cores? Between 1.05 TFlops and 1.26 TFlops. Even less than 1.05 TFlops, considering the lesser part is likely to have units disabled. Now, no amount of overclock can bridge the enormous gap to the smaller, already available HD 5870, which stands pretty at 2.72 TFlops. Even the mainstream HD 5770 clocks in at 1.36 TFlops! Barring a different clock speed for SP units, or other technology we are unaware of, this is a dismal performance from the Fermi shaders. Sure, Nvidia’s shaders are much more efficient, but this is just too massive a gap to claw back.
 
Then comes the price. A previous-gen C1060 released at $1699, falling to $1199. Compare this with fellow Geforce model, GTX 280, released at $649, falling quick to $500, and finally $300. The price of a next-gen C2070 is a whopping $3999. Nearly double the price as the previous generation C1060. Clearly, these are expensive products to make, so how much can Nvidia sell a Geforce version of Fermi for? Even the cheapest Tesla 20 variant, the C2050 costs $2499, nearly 50% more than the GT200 based C1060 flagship. Can Nvidia sell the $3999 Tesla product at $399 as a Geforce product?
 
So far, we are comparing GF100 to Cypress. Where, in reality, GF100 should be compared to Hemlock. 4.64 TFlops vs. 1.26 TFlops is not much of a comparison at all, however, CF limitations, ATI’s less efficient shaders aside.
 
The other, much less common rumour is the possibility of a dual-GPU Fermi product. Well, considering “Typical” power of Tesla 20 is 190W, this will be highly unlikely, at least for a while. Not to mention, Geforce products might end up clocked higher. A HD 5870s peak TDP is 188W, lower than GF100′s “typical” power! TDP is expected to be 220W, at least, and that is just too hot for a dual GPU product.
 
And we have not factored in the fact that GF100 is nowhere to be seen, and are unlikely to be on shelves in quantity for at least 4-5 months. Any further delays, and we will be looking at new products from AMD.
 
In the end, AMD have a solid product already available that is efficient, economical, scalable. Nvidia have ink on paper – and even that is not looking as promising as we may have hoped for. At this moment, we can only hope for “hidden” or “magical” gaming features which might bring about a revolution in how GPUs work. Short of that, all signs point to Fermi being in real trouble.

DirectX 11 e ultimul si cel mai nou API de la Microsoft pentru programarea jocurilor 3D. Seria 5000 de la ATI ofera in premiera suport in hardware pentru DirectX 11. Contraatacul nVidia se lasa asteptat. Pana atunci, sa vedem cum arata DirectX 11 si ce face el pentru noi, gamerii.
 
Aceasta stire o puteti discuta si pe forumul nostru:
http://www.pcgamingxtreme.ro/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34
 
Incep prin prezentarea tech demo-ului Ladybug, oferit chiar de AMD/ATI:
 

 
Primul joc de calibru cu suport DirecX 11 va fi DiRT 2, joc care se va lansa in decembrie 2009 in versiunea de PC:
 

 
Printre jocurile care vor implementa suport DirectX 11 amintim Alien vs Predator, Assassins Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 si urmatorul Crysis. Toate acestea sunt programate pentru o lansare in 2010. Iata ce au de spus si programatorii despre noul API de la Microsoft:
 

 
Unigine a dezvoltat de asemenea un tech demo / benchmark care suporta DirectX 11:
 

 
Tech demo prezentat de nVidia:
 

 
Si asa ar trebui sa arate jocurile viitorului, construite pe fundamentul DirectX 11:
 

 

 

 

Alaturi de DiRT 2, care va sosi pe PC-urile noastre in Decembrie 2009, lista jocurilor care suporata API-ul DirectX 11 se va intregi cu Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
 
AMD just sent over a list of DirectX 11 game titles and when their expected release dates are going to be. It looks like DirectX 11 is finally starting to pick up some speed, which is great news for ATI Radeon HD 5000 video card series owners as you have a card supporting DX11. A new name has appeared on the DX11 game list and that would be Battlefield: Bad Company 2!
 
This is a big title game, so that should help boost sales for AMD. DiRT 2 is coming out on December 1st, so it looks like DirectX 11 is about to get a shot in the arm with these major game titles. NVIDIA’s GT300 ‘Fermi’ graphics solution for DirectX 11 is missing in action and is rumored to not be coming out in volume until April 2010. If that is the case AMD has a six month head start on DX11!
 

 

 

 

Codemasters a publicat cerintele de sistem pentru versiunea de PC DirectX11 a Dirt 2:
 
Recommended Specifications: Enhanced for DirectX 11:
OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core i7 or AMD Phenom II
Memory: 3GB
HD Space: 10GB
Video Card: ATi Radeon HD 5700 Series
 
 

ATI HD5970 a aparut deja pe oferta unor magazine online. Pretul de lista pentru Sapphire ATI HD5970 se situeaza intre 505.39 si 514.46 de euro. Acceleratorul grafic de la Sapphire este identificat de un part number 21165-01-50R.
 
Specificatiile lui ATI HD5970 sunt urmatoarele: 2 GB DDR5 [2x1GB], 2 GPU-uri la 725Mhz si 2 x 1600 stream processors. Procesul de litografiere este de 40 nm, este oferit full suport DX11 si este prima placa dual GPU de la AMD din seria 5xxx.