Want to know what the famous act of cutting down a graphics card to match a given price point looks like? Well, here it is, the $349 GTX 580 (aka GeForce GTX 570): it has 480 CUDA cores running at 1464MHz, a 732MHz graphics clock, and 1.25GB of GDDR5 memory hurtling along at an effective rate of 3.8GHz. Each of those specs represents a moderate downgrade from NVIDIA’s original 500 series GPU, while the physical construction — including that vapor chamber cooler — is almost wholly identical to the 580. Aside from the paintjob, the only difference is that the GTX 570 can live on a pair of 6-pin auxiliary power connectors. The best comparison for the 570, however, turns out to be NVIDIA’s former flagship, the GTX 480, as reviewers found the new card’s performance to be nearly identical to the old tessellation monster . Verdicts invariably agreed that the 570 is quieter, cooler, and more power-efficient, making it pretty much a no-brainer of a purchase in its price bracket. Of course, every recommendation comes colored with the warning that AMD should finally be unveiling its upper-tier wares next week — we’d wait the extra few days before parting with our cash. Read – HardOCP Read – Tech Report Read – AnandTech Read – Bit-tech Read – Hexus Read – Legit Reviews Read – PC Perspective Continue reading NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 debuts: the 580 goes on a power diet to fit into $349 price bracket NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 debuts: the 580 goes on a power diet to fit into $349 price bracket originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …photo: Naaman Saar Stavy / Creative Commons Some great news for gorillas and conservation: WWF reports that a survey conducted in the Central Africa’s Virunga Massif –that’s a region containing three national parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda–has found that the world’s largest population of mountain gorillas has increased by more than 25%… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Tuesday's Washington Post Style section carried this front-page headline “Pesky ant video refuses to die.” But the only new developments on the National Portrait Gallery story were security officers removing two (left-wing) protesters on Saturday and the laments of
Continue reading …Zebras are naturally barcoded. Photo via wwarby We’ve heard of barcoding trees to prevent deforestation , and tagging animals to track them for scientific purposes is an everyday practice. But what about barcoding the DNA of all animals across the planet to protect them from illegal poaching, trapping or over-hunting? The International Barcode of Life project aims to do just that by assigning a barcode to each individual speci… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …SGI is a shadow of its former self, selling its name to Rackable Systems and appearing in some disgraceful situation comedies. We like to remember the old, harder, edgier SGI, a pioneer in the computer graphics industry when it came straight outta Sunnyvale in the ’80s. Now it’s back, launching the ICE Cube Air Modular Data Center, capable of housing four racks and expandable up to 80 and a total of 97,920 cores and 143.36PB of storage. Each unit is almost entirely self-sufficient, requiring only power and a supply of water, which can come from a plain old garden hose. Cost starts at $99,000, which isn’t cheap, but we went ahead and ordered four. You know how we do it. Continue reading SGI’s ICE Cube Air Modular Data Centers can be deployed anywhere, even in the hood SGI’s ICE Cube Air Modular Data Centers can be deployed anywhere, even in the hood originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …From sea level rise, to extreme weather, to desertification, the US has among the highest risk for damages. Photo: US Army / Creative Commons . Each year there are 350,000 people dying due to climate change, with a total death toll by 2020 of five million; each year after that deaths from climate change are likely to be as high as one million people annually–that is unless we take action to soften the blow with immediate and rapid greenhouse gas emission reductions. Tha… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Carrie Underwood top winner at American Country Awards; Prince Harry to be honored at German charity gala; Oprah’s audience of 300 arrives in Australia. (Dec. 7)
Continue reading …Photo via sneakerdog Animal sanctuaries are like home base, a safe zone for animals that have been abused or displaced where, with luck, they can live the rest of their lives in happy, loving situations. From neglected pets to lab animals, from non-releasable wild animals to farm animals that narrowly escape the slaughter house, these sanctuaries will take in the worst off animals — as many as facilities can accommodate — and either house them or find suitable homes for them. Along with a safe place for animals, sanctuaries typically work … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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