iXBT Labs - News Archive

Today´s press release about new Athlon XP 3200+ with 400MHz FSB is followed by photos from our test lab. As you can see the CPU is coupled with already familiar ASUS A7N8X in the new Rev. 2.00 based on NVIDIA nForce 2 400 Ultra.

P.S. As you know from the press release, the clock speed of Athlon XP 3200+ is 2.2GHz. we know that the limit of AMD´s 0.13µm process has been 2.25GHz of Athlon XP 2800+. So, I guess it would be interesting for you to take a look at the graph below, indicating this technological border. Let’s hope that company’s main efforts focused on 64-bit Hammers will benefit the company as expected...

Soltek SL-86SPE/SL-86MP: violet boards on Springdale chipset

Today Soltek Computer announced new nicely looking violet Socket 478 ATX motherboards on i865PE and i865G chipsets: SL-86SPE/-L and SL-86MP/-L, respectively.

SL-86SPE/-L, SL-86MP/-L feature Intel 865PE/GE + ICH5 bridges, support Socket 478 Intel CPUs with 800MHz FSB (up to 1200MHz in overclocking mode), HT, up to 3Gb of dual-channel DDR 400/333/266 SDRAM, AGP 8X, Serial ATA. Besides, they have integrated 6-ch. AC97 codec, 8 USB2.0 ports; SL-86MP/-L also has integrated 2D/3D graphics.

Similar to most Soltek retail products, new SL-86SPE/-L and SL-86MP/-L will be shipped in stylish packages:

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 new stepping: now at 400MHz

Before the end of May NVIDIA plans to launch shipments of the GeForce FX 5600 "B" version. It will mainly differ by considerably higher clock speed of 400MHz vs. previous 350MHz. Memory clock speed is raised to 400MHz as well.

So, today we have two GeForce FX 5600 version in the market: GeForce FX 5600 Ultra (Final) and GeForce FX 5600. Their key specs are listed below:

As you can see, GeForce FX 5600 Ultra (Final) will require considerably less power. As for the GeForce FX 5600 256Mb clock speeds limited to 325/250MHz, this is called by 16Mx16 memory chips used.

AMD Athlon XP Barton 3200+ and 3400+ with FSB400 @ Hard Tecs 4U

"We take a look at the new AMD Athlon XP 3200+ processor based on the Barton core and with FSB400. The benchmark set included Athlon XP 2700+ with FSB333, Athlon XP 3000+ with FSB333, Pentium 4 3.06 GHz with FSB533, Pentium 4 with FSB800 and a *virtual Athlon XP 3400+* with FSB400 and 2.3 GHz core clock"

Read more at HardwareZone.

AMD officially announces Athlon XP 3200+ with 400MHz FSB

In the dawn of the new GMT day AMD announced its new Athlon XP 3200+ processor.

Similar to previous 3000+/2800+ models, the new chip features Barton core, but already supports 400MHz FSB. The actual clock speed is 2.2GHz (vs. 2.167MHz of 3000+ with 333MHz FSB). Moreover, the chip features 0.13µm process, 128Kb L1 cache and 512Kb L2 cache.

In over 1,000-unit quantities the CPU will cost $464. (Prices for 3000+ and below models were cut on May 6).

AMD already launched shipments of its Athlon XP 3200+ along with North American and European system builders offering their products. We await more info to arrive throughout the day, so stay tuned!

ATI ships RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB with DDR-II memory

ATI Technologies posted the press release regarding shipments of RADEON 9800 PRO cards with 256Mb DDR-II. It is stated that these models will be a "limited edition" evaluated $499.

RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB will feature 380/350MHz (700MHz DDR) clock speeds. The DDR-II memory will feature 256-bit bus. As you can see from the photos of ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB (photos taken from HOT Hardware, merci Christophe!), the design resembles that of 128Mb card excluding eight 16Mb DDR-II chips on the both sides with dedicated heat-sinks all over. The card is slightly longer than the 128Mb version.

NV35 Preview @ Bjorn3D

"It is no secret that the launch of NVIDIA´s FX series of cards didn´t go as smoothly as expected. A paper-launch that promised a lot, followed by silence, more silence and then a high-end product that didn´t manage to touch the main competitor´s ´old´ product — not what computer users expected. Would the FX be the start of NVIDIA´s downfall (like the delays were for Rendition and 3dfx)?

Nah, things are not as grim as some would like to portray. First of all, just because the FX was late, that does not mean NVIDIA didn´t have other products to sell. In fact — regardless of all problems, NVIDIA managed to keep their market share up. I guess all those GF4 Ti´s and GF4MX´s still sold pretty well. Second — the FX line is not just the FX 5800 Ultra. Even though the high-end card has failed to impress, the other FX products (FX5200 and FX5600) do perform well, given their market niche. So what to do about the high-end?"