2 x Radeon 9800 PRO better than R420?
Everything for you Jedies
Knockona: the new processor core with 64-bit AU-32i instructions support
2 x Radeon 9800 PRO better than R420?
While ATI is unhurriedly preparing to release its R420 GPU, some companies, not satisfied with a lull in the 3D graphics market, conduct their own experiments to achieve unprecedented performance on existing solutions. On this background today Sapphire introduced its Atlantis RADEON 9800 PRO MAXX 256MB on 2 x R350 (Radeon 9800 PRO) GPUs.
Such unusually configured board has nevertheless the same clock rates, as the single-chip version, 380/680MHz. But the performance...
P.S. For those of you serious people, this card is real! We luckily "caught" it in transit to Germany via Moscow in our airport. Actually it´s a non-working sample designating one company´s cancelled development. Stay tuned on April 1!
Everything for you Jedies
Peripheral makers do everything to make virtual reality comfortable for gamers. While you can´t surprise anyone with a "laser gun" or a sensor glove, there must be something serious for close combat. Japanese Hori Ne addressed this issue with its Hori Katana: Soul Controller (rumoured to be dated to Onimusha 3 release.)
This katana is a wireless sword that reacts to player motions and makes the game character do the same. As you can see, the sword has a number of buttons for complete control over the "virtual self" (this is it, the Soul Controller:). To protect surrounding furniture from your thrusts and slashes, the blade is foldable. No information on the sword price and regions where it is to be sold is available, but the novelty is rumoured to go on sale in USA soon. Being 960mm in length, the Soul Controller weighs 680g.
Knockona: the new processor core with 64-bit AU-32i instructions support
Our Japanese colleagues from PC Uotchi today shared the information abou the new Knockona core supporting 64-bit AU-32i instructions and fully compliant with MD64 instructions. The published details, especially the photo of Knockona made with an electronic microscope is just shocking.
Knockona is nothing else but a basic version of Presskit core equipped with an additional AU-32i block that handles instructions in the following way: the chip decoder transforms them into the so-called MicroOOOPs which after cache tracing are processed in the separate 64-bit Realtime Universal Instruction Zapper (RUIZ) that, in its turn, translates MicroOOOPs into assembler for execution and then back using the CQQ (Convert Quadword to Double Quadword) module similar to CQO (Convert Quadword to Octword) used in MD64. Of course, the processor supports other modern technologies like HT (Horizontal Tab), VT (Vertical Tab), LT (Le Grand Theorem), etc. Besides, all technologies will be supported by Maccrosoft in its future software.
And now the most interesting — the photo of RUIZ made with an extremely powerful electronic microscope. You can see the MicroOOOPs, all 64, walkind down the pipeline. What can I say, it´s ingenious and simple!
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