Graphics

Looking at all of the markets in which it wants to compete, it's hard to see AMD making a success of 2013 without a serious merger or acquisition. KitGuru reads the financials (and tea leafs) to see what might be brewing over in Austin. While AMD has a big brand …

SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced a new graphics card in its HD 7000 series – the SAPPHIRE HD 7870 XT with Boost. Like the other cards in the HD 7000 series, the new card is based on the highly acclaimed Graphics Core Next architecture from AMD. The SAPPHIRE HD 7870 …

Many people will be heading into 2013 with plans of upgrading their system. MSI sent us their capable, but competitively priced Z77A-G45 Z77 motherboard and we are pairing it up with the monster Lightning GTX680 graphics card. We test a system using these components with the latest games and try …

In one of the world's longest detours, technology sales guru Roy Taylor will be reunited with some of his oldest friends when he takes over the worldwide channel sales role for AMD in 2013. KitGuru adds some historical context and ponders what John Byrne's decision to bring Roy inside AMD …

Today we have something special up for review, the latest VTX3D HD7870 Black which is based on a 'new revision' of the popular HD7870 graphics card. Selected partners will be releasing new versions of the HD7870 (Tahiti 'LE') with more horsepower under the hood. Just how good is the new design based on the Tahiti core previously associated with the HD7950 and HD7970?

Based in Holland, Club3D has been manufacturing graphics cards for more than a decade, but with more focus into Europe than the UK. With the appointment of a brand new distributor, it looks like expansion is the name of the game for 2013. KitGuru plays its hand close to its …

We're all aware of AMD's ‘Never Settle' campaign for Xmas, where the purchase of any decent spec card is accompanied by some cool new games for your stocking – free of charge. But it seems that the chaps at Aria have taken this one or two steps further. KitGuru plays …

If you have a lot of money and want the ultimate gaming performance, then there are only two solutions to aim for. Nvidia's stonking GTX690 or the latest HD7990 from several of AMD's leading partners. VTX3D have just launched their card in the United Kingdom and several etailers will be …

The winter months can be depressing, with saturating rain and icy snow pervading dark evenings, so why not spend some money on a new graphics card for yourself, tuck up tight in bed and game on a big high definition television set? Club3D might have the answer in the shape …

While some of these names may be unfamiliar, graphics specialist Sparkle is part of one of the world's largest manufacturers of graphics cards and its Calibre series is aimed squarely at the affordable nVidia performance market. KitGuru notices something new on the site and heads off to investigate. The Calibre …

Sparkle today releases the powerful Dual Fan series– SPARKLE GTX 660 OC Dual Fan, GTX 650Ti Super OC(SOC) Dual Fan and GTX 650Ti OC Dual Fan. The latest Dual Fan series features default overclocked setting, with up to 1006MHz core speed, the Dual Fan series delivers turbocharged performance, maximizing the …

Sparkle announced their X680/X670 graphics cards in September and today we have the flagship Calibre X680 Captain in for review. This card utilises a 2oz Copper PCB and CoolPro Cooling system, with Triple Silent PWN fans. The cooler has been specially designed to optimise airflow through the large heatsink, supported …

If you are thinking of upgrading your system before Christmas then we have two highly modified graphics cards on test today from HIS which should prove interesting. The HIS HD 7950 IceQ is competitively priced at £239.99 and features a large custom cooler and out of the box overclocked speeds. …

At CES in January 2011, Jen Hsun gave a big speech about the fruits from Project Denver, the idea of nVidia working with another company to incorporate important CPU technologies that the graphics giant lacked in its portfolio. Today, in San Francisco, AMD looks set to make a very similar …

KitGuru has spent time, possible too much time, analysing AMD's financial state in recent articles – but not really gone into any depth on Intel and what the future might have in store, financially, for the world's biggest CPU company and its investors. We pull out the trusty abacus and …

For years, nVidia has enjoyed a huge lead in workstation graphics. No secret. Quadro brings in serious profit. The connection from workstation to desktop was tenuous – as both had very different brands, markets, drivers and sales strategies. But there's one thing that Quadro gives nVidia, which could be crucial …

In October last year AMD released the FX8150 Black Edition 8 Core processor which met with a mixed reception. While the chip delivered good performance, it was priced too high and couldn't compete against equivalent Intel processors. Today we are looking at the latest AMD Black Edition, the FX8350, which …

Working in the AMD graphics team, right now, must be one of the most bizarre experiences in the world. While departments are scrambling everywhere to deal with the company's new focus into non-PC space by 2022, the graphics team are quietly doing exactly what they're required to do. KitGuru checks …

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are hoping that a new campaign will help drive sales of their graphics cards in Q4. They are bundling a series of high quality AAA games with their video cards. The ‘Never Settle' bundle campaign targets a wish list of AAA games such as Dirt ShowDown, …

Alongside the news that over 1,000 jobs would be lost to redundancy, last night's Q3 earnings call gave AMD the opportunity to discuss the changes it sees happening in the market – and how it sees itself ten years down the line. One thing was loud and clear, it won't …

During last night's Q3 financial call, AMD executives delivered the news that KitGuru has expected for almost a year – a significant reduction in workforce going forward. It simply doesn't need the same workforce going forward as it did in the past. KitGuru pulls out the abacus to calculate the …

When it comes to creating a high end graphics card, very few companies can match Asus. Today we are looking at their new Matrix HD7970 Platinum graphics card, which features a hefty metal, dual fan cooler and out of the box overclocked settings. This card uses a 20 phase VRM …

We have reviewed many ARCTIC products in the last year, and today we are looking at their latest cooler, the Accelero Twin Turbo 690. As the name would suggest this is specifically designed for the current NVIDIA GTX690 flagship graphics solution. Is this worth the hefty $169.95 asking price? The …

This is our second of two reviews today, focusing on the official launch of AMD's A10 5800K when paired up with partner motherboards. In our other review we have paired up the new AMD APU with a high end AMD discrete graphics card to see how it compares against a …

Regular readers of Kitguru may remember our review of the AMD E-350 in March 2011. I really enjoyed AMD's Fusion technology but it was never marketed properly and subsequently wasn't quite the success it should have been. AMD's A8 series chips made the headlines shortly afterwards and I particularly liked …

While AMD might struggle to match Intel's tick-tock on the CPU side of life, the old ATi graphics team has no such difficulty in pushing out next-generation GPUs. We have spoken with our sources in the Far East and discovered AMD's launch plans for the Radeon 8000 series. KitGuru orders …

Are you building a new system? Are you wanting to push some serious frame rates with a new graphics card update but concerned you can't afford the cost? Today we might just have the solution for you. We have worked with AFOX to give away not one but two of …

As we've said before on KitGuru, companies communicate in a lot of different ways. The press release is one and the annual report is another. While these don't normally contain downright lies, they are certainly spun in a very specific/positive way. But what about recruitment? It's tough to spin job …

Over time, companies gain and lose people. In the natural sequence of events, when someone leaves, they are often replaced immediately by someone else with similar experience/salary demands. Right now, that's not the case at AMD. KitGuru looks at the latest changes and believes it has found a pattern. If …

We have reviewed all of Sapphire's Flex cards to date and today we are looking at the latest, budget addition in their range, the HD7770 Flex GHZ Edition. Sapphire are shipping this card with a custom low noise cooling solution and we aim to find out if this is a …