As we approach the six month anniversary of the award-winning GCN Architecture, we thought we’d take a minute to look at what has made this one of our most successful GPU architectures of all time, starting today with a high-level overview.

Now, when people ask us for the five-second version of the story, the GCN Architecture’s success really comes down to one thing: performance. Be it in absolute frames per second, visual fidelity, or efficiency—topics we’ll cover at length in the weeks ahead—every one of the many innovations in the GCN Architecture is all about giving you the best possible product.

Moving from last generation’s AMD Radeon™ HD 6970, the GCN Architecture’s radical re-design yields radical numbers: Up to 4.5x the compute performance, up to 2.5x the tessellation performance, and up to 95% lower idle GPU power consumption.^1-3

Massive Compute Performance

Enabling 350% better compute performance was a matter of building the right GPU at the right time.³ As open compute languages like OpenCL™ and C++ AMP take flight, Graphics Core Next helps AMD build the graphics cards destined to power the killer apps of tomorrow.

We achieved such a dramatic improvement by optimizing first for higher utilization of compute resources. At every opportunity, a product based on the GCN Architecture intelligently manages workloads in a way that yields more performance to applications.

Efficiency was a corollary goal. By transitioning to the industry’s first 28nm process, we could enable an architecture that not only packed more compute units into a given space, but more complicated and capable compute units. Any of our GPUs can offer more performance than analogous products from prior architectures, and our biggest dies offer a positively stunning 3.79 TFLOPS of compute performance with the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970.

Most importantly, we made this power easy to utilize. With support for major industry languages, like OpenCL™ and C++ AMP as I mentioned, we simplified coding for the GPU with standardized scheduling and optimizations. In other words, we strive to provide consistent and predictable performance to minimize the effort of designing GPGPU applications.

The proof lies in the incredible software being produced by AMD’s partners, each supporting an array of GPU-acceleration features.

From browsers to video editing, AMD Radeon™ products can leverage GPU acceleration in some of today’s best and brightest applications.

Built for ULTRA Settings

Today’s enthusiasts expect more of their GPU than ever before, and rightfully so. The last year has introduced a string of titles with fabulous graphics, like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Battlefield 3. When designing the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970, the ultimate form of the GCN Architecture, we knew we had to build a GPU that was primed to power games like these at ultra settings.

With new features like SSAA and MLAA 2.0, an industry-leading 3GB frame buffer, and blistering performance at resolutions like 5760×1080 (or higher), the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 enables the experiences gamers deserve.

From 3GB of ultra-fast GDDR5 and a slew of new image quality features, our press agree that the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 knows how to play the game.

The DNA of Efficiency

And who says a high-performance GPU can’t be green? Beginning with all of the 28nm AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series desktop products, we’ve designed and implemented a great feature called AMD ZeroCore Power technology.⁴

AMD ZeroCore Power allows a single GPU to virtually shut down when your monitor goes into the long-idle suspend state with an amber light. Instead of consuming 18-24 watts–as is the case with our past and competing products–AMD ZeroCore Power-enabled products consume less than 3W. That’s a reduction in idle power of up to 95%.³

AMD CrossFire™ technology users benefit even further. Upon exiting a game, AMD ZeroCore Power will dynamically migrate all secondary GPUs to the low-power AMD ZeroCore state. These secondary GPUs are available for activation at any time, but they consume virtually no power while they remain idle—even their fans stop spinning!

AMD ZeroCore Power technology is exclusive to AMD products, and reduces idle GPU power consumption by up to 95% versus past and competing products.

Just the Beginning

Today’s overview is just a taste of the cutting-edge technology woven into the fabric of the GCN Architecture. As we move through May into June, I’ll be exploring many and more of these topics in fine detail to fully illustrate how the world’s fastest and most advanced graphics leverages Graphics Core Next to enable truly next-gen experiences in gaming and compute.⁵

Never settle, friends.

Robert Hallock is a Product Marketing Manager at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only.  Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.

Substantiation:

1. Results based on average FPS measurements in SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Pro (AES256) benchmark at 1920×1080 comparing an AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 (23.1) vs. an AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 graphics (5.1) on the following system: Intel Core i7 (3.3GHz), MSI X79A-GD65, 16GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24, Windows 7 Ultimate RTM 64-bit. [GDRT-9]
2. Results based on average FPS measurements in Unigine “Heaven” benchmark at 2560×1600 set to extreme tessellation and no anti-aliasing comparing an AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 (80) vs. an AMD Radeon™ HD 6970  graphics (30.6) on the following system: Intel Core i7 (3.3GHz), MSI X79A-GD65, 16GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24, Windows 7 Ultimate RTM 64-bit. [GDRT-10]
3. Results based on average FPS measurements in SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Pro (AES256) benchmark at 1920×1080 comparing an AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 (23.1) vs. an AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 graphics (5.1) on the following system: Intel Core i7 (3.3GHz), MSI X79A-GD65, 16GB DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24, Windows 7 Ultimate RTM 64-bit. [GDRT-9]
4. AMD PowerPlay™, AMD PowerTune and AMD ZeroCore Power are technologies offered by certain AMD Radeon™ products, which are designed to intelligently manage GPU power consumption in response to certain GPU load conditions. Not all products feature all technologies – check with your component or system manufacturer for specific model capabilities.
5. Based on GCN Architecture, the world’s first 28nm graphics architecture, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 and HD 7950 graphics achieve 3DMark® 11 scores in excess of X2700 and X2200, respectively. These results are the two highest scores achieved by single-GPU graphics cards on stock platforms as of 26 January, 2012. System configuration: Intel Core i7-3960X (3.3GHz), MSI X79A-GD65 8D, 16GB DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24) and Windows® 7 64-bit. Testing based on AMD Catalyst™ 8.921.2. The NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580, NVIDIA’s highest performing single-GPU graphics card, was evaluated using NVIDIA ForceWare 290.53 BETA and scored X2124. GRDT-4

The GCN Architecture and its associated features (PCI Express® 3.0, AMD ZeroCore Power technology, DDM Audio, and 28nm production) are exclusive to the AMD Radeon™ HD 7900, HD 7800 and HD 7700 Series Graphics.

With our upcoming launch of “Trinity” (now shipping!), we are excited to report that, in addition to an outstanding multimedia experience delivered by the AMD HD Media Accelerator, users can finally game on an ultrathin-and-light notebook with great battery life.   We don’t just mean play any old game at minimal-quality settings, either—you can play today’s hottest new titles, like Battlefield 3 from DICE and DiRT Showdown from Codemasters, in stunning high definition. “Trinity” powers a brilliant gaming experience, with an increase in graphics performance of up to 70% over the competition, thanks to the latest AMD Radeon graphics technology.[i] Suffice it to say, our partners at Codemasters are excited for “Trinity” as well!

“Graphics power today’s entertainment lifestyle and with the AMD A-Series APUs, customers will have a richer visual experience when playing DiRT Showdown,” said Clive Moody, Executive Producer, DiRT Showdown. “The arrival of the Second-Generation AMD A-Series APUs delivers a superior visual quality and outstanding performance with a full panel DirectX 11® gaming experience that’s second to none.”

If you’re like Codemasters and you can’t wait to get your hands on “Trinity” then we highly encourage you to take a look at the new HP ENVY Sleekbook, just announced by HP (pictures below). As thin as 19.8 mm and starting at less than 4 pounds, the new, 15.6” HP ENVY Sleekbook, powered by “Trinity,” delivers an incredible gaming and multimedia experience with outstanding battery life. For more on the HP ENVY Sleekbook, stay tuned to the HP ENVY home page, as the HP ENVY Sleekbook with AMD “Trinity” is expected to be available in the United States on June 20 with an MSRP starting at $599.99 per HP’s recent major announcement.

For years, PC gamers have clamored for an affordable, ultrathin-and-light notebook with great battery life that is capable of playing the latest games. With “Trinity,” gamers’ dreams are finally coming true!

Neal Robison is the director of ISV Relationship Management at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only.  Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.

Get Dirt Showdown Free

Overview

Features

Developed by: Codemasters

Published by: Codemasters

© 2012 The Codemasters Software Company Limited (“Codemasters”). All rights reserved. “Codemasters”®, the Codemasters logo and “DiRT”® are registered trademarks owned by Codemasters. “DiRT Showdown”™ and “EGO”™ are trademarks of Codemasters. Ford Motor Company Trademarks and Trade Dress used under license to Codemasters. All other copyrights or trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are being used under license. Developed and published by Codemasters.

Why You Should Attend
AFDS is not a marketing event. It’s not about selling one brand or component. AFDS is where you discover the latest technology advancement from the experts who are redefining where the industry is headed.

Who Attends AFDS
The best in the industry converge at AFDS to share what they are working on and to collaborate with you. Here’s just a small sample of companies expected to attend AFDS. Microsoft, ARM, Square Enix, Nixxes Software, Corel, ALTELL, ArcSoft, MulticoreWare Inc, Adobe, ViVu, Sony Computer Entertainment, and Nuvixa.

What You’ll Learn
Get actionable, hands-on training in:

• OpenCL™
• Multi-GPU
• OpenGL
• GPU/APU

Claim your seat at our most popular sessions for gamers

Compute in the Future of Gaming
With DX11 capable hardware now the norm for gamer spec PCs and the next generation of consoles on the horizon, AAA games development is about to take a very interesting turn towards compute-based solutions.  This talk will offer an insight into some of the techniques now possible with compute and what this means for games over the next 5 years.

See David Perry, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Gaikai deliver his keynote Delivering Console Quality Video Games from the Cloud

Perry will present Gaikai’s progress on trying to help grow the video game industry by using virtual CPU and GPU cycles in the cloud.  This talk would be of interest to people interested in the topics: video games, high performance clouds, custom servers, broadband usage, IPTV, Facebook, Tablets, proximity networks, low latency experiences, low friction experiences & accessibility.

Learn more and Register

Try to remember how your PC looked 10 years ago. Mine was grey, beige and had a green button for power. Today, the computer’s physical appearance and performance (eg. cooling) is just as important as the computational performance you get on screen. With an AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 graphics card you’re getting amazing hardware that only deserves a matching setup.

In this article I’m going to look at a couple builds that are definitely not dull grey boxes. We’ve taken our AMD CPU, RAM, and Video Cards and installed them in 3 different chassis. I just need to throw in a hard drive and wire everything together and I’ve got myself a LAN party.

All images are for illustrative purposes only and no endorsement of AMD or by AMD is implied.

Common Hardware:

Processor:  AMD FX 8150 Processor with Liquid CPU Cooling System

RAM:  AMD  Radeon™ Memory Entertainment Edition 4GB DDR3 x 2

Video Cards:  AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 graphics card x 2

Motherboard:  ASUS Crosshair V Formula

For all the following builds I’ll be using AMD hardware. This includes everything from the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 Graphics card to the AMD branded Liquid CPU Cooling System.

On to our first setup…

Setup A:
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos II
PSU: Seasonic Platinum Series 860W

When the ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 GPU was released 2009, I was in awe. The ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 GPU was a beast; not only in sheer performance, but also in physique, spanning just over 12 inches. This graphic card was definitely no lightweight and was troublesome (if not impossible) to fit into certain chassis.

Fast forward to 2012, we have the AMD Radeon™ HD 6990 GPU and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU. I measured these boards to be roughly 12 and 11 inches in length respectively. So for the moment the largest cards haven’t gotten bigger, but do we still have the same trouble fitting these graphics cards into a chassis?

With our first setup, there is definitely no issue fitting the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GPU. The race-car inspired Cosmos II is a self-proclaimed Ultra-Tower. Supporting up to 10 fans and 13 HDDs, as you can see below the chassis also comfortably fits 2 of our AMD Radeon HD 7970 GPU’s in AMD CrossFireX™ technology mode.

Setup B:
Chassis: Enermax Fulmo & Enermax Fulmo GT
PSU: Enermax Revolution87+ 850W

Sure, extra space is great in chassis’ for routing cables and better airflow, but if you’re like me and living space is a bit more limited, opting for a Mid-Tower over a Big Tower is a reasonable compromise.

Our 2 x AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 GPUs fit quite well in Fulmo (Mid Tower) chassis. For those of you still debating whether to go mid or big, Enermax has made it easier (or more difficult) to make the decision with a nearly identical bigger brother Fulmo GT (Big Tower).

Setup C:

Chassis:  Thermaltake Level 10 GT

PSU:  Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1200W

A big focus on this article has been on fitting the components inside the chassis’, but what if you’re looking for maximum style points? For those who want the red and black color scheme and curvy style inside and out. The Level 10 GT is a definite option.

Another thing to point out is that I’ve paired each of these chassis’ with a matching power supply unit. All selected PSUs have also gone through our AMD Gold Certification to ensure they are up to the task of running our graphic cards in AMD CrossFire™ Technology mode, but I’ll throw out some brownie points to Thermaltake with their Toughpower Grand 1200W. The design complements our AMD hardware quite nicely.

It also comes in white. (Snow Edition)

These enthusiast chassis’ definitely had little issue fitting our AMD hardware, and look great while doing so. So which setup is your favorite?

David Tjong is on the Technical Marketing team at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only.  Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.

The sequel to Rebellion’s highly-acclaimed 2005 game Sniper Elite, Sniper Elite V2 continues to offer gamers the most authentic World War II sniping experience by putting them in the middle of war-torn Berlin amidst the frenzied final battle between German and Russian forces.

With an emphasis on learning to handle the anticipation and pressure of the hunt, players are forced to use skill, patience and cunning to achieve their missions as they find themselves facing life-altering choices.

The celebrated “bullet cam” from Sniper Elite makes its return and will be more gratifying than ever. Skilful shots are rewarded with a slow-motion sequence of the bullet running its full trajectory from barrel to target as well as featuring graphic detail of the effects of the bullet entering and destroying a target.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRJ4LkrZSeo

Features:

• Detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability and more.
• Amazing “kill cam” technology showcases what really happens when a bullet enters an enemy’s body.
• Authentic World War II Berlin locations as well as vehicles, weapons, and uniforms modelled after the original versions.
• AMD Eyefinity support gives you full awareness of your surroundings.
• DirectX 11 support provides the ultimate visual treat.

Screenshots:

Official Website: SniperEliteV2.com

©2012 Rebellion. The Rebellion name and logo and the Sniper Elite name and logo and the Sniper Elite Eagle are trademarks of Rebellion and may be registered trademarks in certain countries. All rights Reserved. Uses Bink Video. Copyright © 1997-2012 by RAD Game Tools, Inc.

Since the launch of the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 series, AMD introduced support for DisplayPort 1.2, but it hasn’t been until CES 2012 where the technology has been demonstrated with the AMD GPUs.

Let’s take a look at some of the display technologies that were shown at CES this year.

Multi-Display Technology
Notebooks are great on the road: Portable, Wireless, and Convenient; but when you bring it home, why limit yourself to just with just one monitor? When you can have 4?

Don’t worry about messing with multiple cables. We’re talking about a single cable from your notebook. DisplayPort 1.2 enables this with Multi Stream Transport (MST) Hubs and Daisy-Chain monitors. Don’t get these confused with the DisplayPort 1.1 MST Hubs already in the market. DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hubs have support for monitors of different size, resolution, and orientation. (eg. 2 x FHD in portrait & 1 x WQXGA in landscape)

There’s no magic going on here. As you can see we have 3 monitors each individually connected to our DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hub. The only cable that is connected to the notebook is the connector on the DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hub.

Don’t get too excited just yet. This illustrated image of the DisplayPort 1.2 MST Hub is just a mockup of the possible future design. The current prototype is significantly larger and requires an external power adapter. It is expected that this technology would get smaller as the product is finalized, or perhaps even disappear if monitor manufacturers embed this technology directly into the monitor. (ie. Daisy Chaining)

4K2K resolution

Looking to move onto the next generation of display resolution?

At CES, one of the buzzwords floating around was 4K2K. 4K2K loosely refers to 4060×2160 or 3840×2160 (QFHD) resolutions, and various TV manufacturers showed their 4K2K TVs. It’s now the waiting game for them to be released. If you’re eager for a 4k2k monitor today you can pick up the Eizo Radiforce RX840 for a roughly $38,000. Although this model requires 2 DisplayPort 1.1 cable inputs.

With DisplayPort 1.2 bandwidth is effectively doubled, so why do 2 cables when we can do 1? At CES, VESA demonstrated a modified version of the monitor that accepted a single DisplayPort 1.2 cable input. That’s 4096×2160@60Hz resolution with a single cable. Needless to say, that’s a lot of pixel going through a single cable.

HDMI (Yes, we haven’t forgotten about you)
Haven’t jumped on the DisplayPort bandwagon yet? Or do you want to cling onto your HDMI cables a bit longer? The AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series has your answer for that too. Supporting the optional implementations in the HDMI specification, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series supports up to 4096×2160@24Hz. You’ll also need a TV/Monitor that supports the same optional implementation in the HDMI specification. For example, available in the market is the Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K2K projector that will support 4096×2160@24Hz over HDMI.

Keep in mind, with a maximum refresh rate of 24Hz, it’s recommended only for media consumption such movies or videos. If you’re looking for a smooth gaming experience you’ll want at least a 60Hz refresh rate.

So what Display Technology are you most looking forward to?

David Tjong is on the Technical Marketing team at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites, and references to third party trademarks, are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied.

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.4 driver:

Windows XP support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

• In addition to Windows 7 and Windows Vista support, Catalyst 12.4 now also introduces Windows XP (64-bit/32-bit) support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing: Level of Detail (LOD) Image Quality enhancements

Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA):  Significant performance enhancements

• Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series, AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series, and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
• MLAA now operates up to 80% faster than previous versions

Resolved issues:

• Elder Scolls: Skyrim : flickering square corruption is no longer observed.
• Rage : Vsync is no longer disabled after task switching.
• Enemy Territory:  Quake Wars : no longer crashes when launched in High Performance Mode.
• Stalker – Call of Pripyat : flickering is no longer observed in trees with specific Catalyst Control Center settings.
• Tearing is no longer observed on the third screen in 3×1 and 1×3 Eyefinity configurations.

>> Download Now (5760X1200)

Other resolutions:
1920X1200
6000X1200
9600X1200
960X640 (iPhone)

For centuries the Kavussari and the Forsellians have waged war. They have a fragile truce but due to their seething disgust of each other they still pit their warriors against each other in arenas rather than on the fields of war.

Those episodes of lethal combat are now broadcast throughout the galaxy, as entertainment… a spectacle known as… The Nexuiz Competition: An arena based first person shooter where you can alter the rules of the match and laws of physics while you dominate opponents in ever-changing hostile environments bleeding with hatred.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AGpeQumigk

Features:

• Technology focused – supports AMD Eyefinity, DirectX 11, and running on CryEngine 3
• Arena FPS is back – inspired by the giants of the Arena FPS genre, Nexuiz reinvents twitch gaming for the PC
• Over 100 ‘Dynamic Mutators’ serve as game-changing power-ups – Jetpacks, Uber-Nuke, Low Gravity, Big Head Mode and many more…
• 9 deadly arenas – powered by CryENGINE 3, Nexuiz sets a new graphical benchmark for a digital-only release
• Designed for competitive play -- a superbly balanced weapon set, classic game modes, and extensive stat tracking, Medals and Leaderboard support
• Play solo or online – hone your skills against bots, then wage war online against the best in 4v4 multiplayer matches

Official Website: Nexuiz.com

© 2012 IllFonic, LLC. All Rights Reserved. IllFonic, the IllFonic logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of IllFonic, LLC throughout the world. The Nexuiz game contains some copyrightable material owned by Alientrap Software used under license. Portions of this software are included under license © 2004-2012 Crytek GmbH. Exclusively published and distributed by THQ Inc. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, logos, and copyrights are property of their respective owners.