ATI now stands unchallenged in Blu-ray audio processing, power consumption, single GPU performance, and performance per watt, DirectX 11, multi-monitor setups, anti-aliasing performance, and anisotropic accuracy. By any measure, the confluence of these qualities easily makes the Radeon HD 5000 the most significant shakeup of the GPU market in the last two years.

Pretty bold assertions, but given the detailed rundown of the HD 5000 series capabilities, it’s easy to see that this argument may have merit. Especially when you consider the benchmarks—measures of performance—pouring in from all over the net:

• TechReport
• PC Perspective
• AnandTech
• TechSpot
• Hardware Canucks
• TweakTown

But your average joe will probably drool over the HD 5000 series due to its capability to run up to nine concurrent displays. Several-monitor setups have been around for years, but this newfangled “Eyefinity” technology makes linking displays to only one video card very easy.

Such performance of course comes at a cost: the ATI Radeon HD 5870 retails for $380 at NewEgg, regardless of what brand you choose.

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Post from: The Gadget Blog

Expose those joints to constant heat, in an oven set to 200 to 275 degrees centigrade, and the lead will melt, clearing out any cracks and reconnecting the joints. After the card has seen enough baking, leave it to cool for a few hours, and it should be working once back in a computer.

At least, that’s the ideal. Advice to achieve optimum results includes not putting the card upside down in the oven, and keeping a watchful eye on the process. Melting solder joints increases the chance of gravity acting on the card chips, causing them to fall off, while it’s possible to melt the lead too much, leaving unstable connections that may cause short circuits. Oh and of course, don’t try this on a perfectly functioning video card!

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Image courtesy of ATI

Unless you don’t believe what the folks over at Anandtech have to say (and they know their stuff), their new video card buyer’s guide for this North-Hemispherean spring will be quite useful. Especially since it’s got recommendations for a variety of price points:

Hmmm… looks like ATI’s winning the current round of the never-ending battle between the maker and its arch-rival NVIDIA. According to Anandtech lately, that’s a value-for-money matter, and not performance.

Post from: The Gadget Blog