AMD/ATI’s Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 are the video cards to pick up if you’re looking to build a new gaming rig. An excellent balance of price and performance really shook up the video card landscape and it was no accident. This was a planned attack which began in 2005.

AnandTech has the back story which involved gutsy moves, new ways of thinking and patience. I was surprised to find out that AMD/ATI decided to not only use both a new manufacturing process and a new architecture which focused on price/performance, but they also decided to use GDDR5 memory when it wasn’t even properly speced yet.

When the options were either make the chip too big or make the performance too low, ATI looked elsewhere: let’s use a new memory technology. Again, put yourself in ATI’s shoes, the time was 2005 and ATI had just decided to completely throw away the past few years of how-to-win-the-GPU-race and on top of that, even if the strategy were to succeed it would depend on a memory technology that hadn’t even been prototyped yet.

The spec wasn’t finalized for GDDR5 at the time, there were no test devices, no interface design, nothing. Just an idea that at some point, there would be memory that could offer twice the bandwidth per pin of GDDR3, which would give ATI the bandwidth of a 512-bit bus, but with a physical 256-bit bus. It’s exactly what ATI needed, so it’s exactly what ATI decided to go with.

What a gamble.

The USB 3.0 was set in stone earlier today which means manufacturers can start developing devices for it. Don’t expect any consumer level devices until late 2009 or 2010 though; it takes awhile for manufacturers to adopt and implement these things.

USB 3.0 AKA SuperSpeed promises to deliver up to 5.0 Gbps (625 MB/second). That’s ridiculous! According to the specifications the Bus power is the “same as for USB 2.0 with a 50% increase for unconfigured power and an 80% increase for configured power”. It is also supports duplexing for high speed simultaneous sending and receiving of data.

Sounds like good stuff.

It has been rumored for some time now, but it looks like Microsoft is indeed aiming for a holiday 2009 Windows 7 debut. Well, that’s for the general masses. Manufacturers and other well connected tech heads will most likely get their hands on Microsoft’s next operating system some time in middle of 2009.

No hard dates have been set yet, but seeing how momentum has been built over the past few months, it looks like Microsoft will be meeting their targets. We’ll get a better sense of things once the beta hits testers later this year.

It’s finally here. The successor to Conroe, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor that started Intel on this unrelenting march towards success. AnandTech and The Tech Report have great writeups and benchmarks on the new Intel architecture. They’re fast little processors, but as it stands: these chips are for the high end user.

As impressive as these performance gains are, the affordable and “mainstream” line of Core i7s are scheduled for mid-2009 launch. While the current crop of Core i7’s will be using the LGA-1366 socket interface, the upcoming mainstream line will be outfitted for LGA-1156 sockets.

So then I will wait.

By that time DDR3 memory should cost a little less which hopefully means I will be able to go triple channel without much fuss. I’m also hoping Intel will be very kind with the pricing. After all, this new architecture is making AMD look very silly and slow.

PDC2008 was happening today and apparently there was a Windows 7 reviewer’s workshop where members of the press could get their hands on an early build of Windows 7. NeoWin and ZDNet were there and took plenty of screenshots of all the newness.

I’m a fan of the changes. The ability to throw gadgets anywhere on your desktop is a definite plus and that “Jump Lists” feature sounds brilliant. I can’t wait to try out this new OS for myself.

For those of you wondering why Windows 7 is debuting so quickly, remember this: Windows Vista was late.

As I wait for my Dell Inspiron Mini 9 to arrive, Dell Japan announced the newest addition to their Mini lineup of netbooks: The Dell Inspiron Mini 12. The Japanese model’s specifications are quite similar between it and the smaller cousin:

• CPU: Intel Atom Z520 @ 1.33 GHz
• Memory: 1 GB DDR2 RAM
• GPU: Intel GMA 500
• Screen: 12.1″ @ 1280 x 800 WXGA
• Wireless: 802.11b/g, Bluetooth
• Storage 60 GB or 80 GB
• Operating System: Windows Vista
• Webcam included
• Weight: 2.27 lbs
• Height: 0.92″

The North American version of the Dell Mini 12 is expected to debut in mid-November for under $600 USD. I wonder which will happen first? The arrival of my Mini 9? Or the debut of the Mini 12 in North America?

Have you seen the new MacBooks?! Oh, they’re so sexy! Yeah, they’re pricier than the PC counterparts, but just look at it! Go over to Apple’s site and watch their video. Beware of self tooting though. There’s a lot of it.

How much is this going to cost though? Well none of those new ones are sub-$1000. The 13″ model starts at $1399 CAD. It ain’t cheap, but who said being hip and cool was?

Check out Apple.ca for more info.

It’s called Windows 7. It’s about time Microsoft hopped onto the numerical bandwagon. Apple and their Mac OS have been doing it for years. Here’s their reasoning for sticking with the simple name:

The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We’ve used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or “aspirational” monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new “aspirational” name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.

Nice and simple. I like it. Looking forward to hearing more about the new OS, Microsoft.

Did you hear? AMD is dividing into two companies. One half will design chips and the other half will manufacture them. I bet you’re scratching your head wondering how that will save them money. The new manufacturing company, dubbed Foundry Company, will not only be working closely with the design half of AMD, but it will also manufacture chips for other companies.

This proposal still needs to be approved by shareholders and is “expected to be completed by 2009″.

That popular online seller of PC parts is no longer exclusive to Americans! Newegg.ca finally launched.

It looks like Newegg.com and the prices seem reasonable. I wonder how it stacks against DirectCanada.com. I’d check myself, but I have nothing to buy.