AMD Catalyst 10.5 Drivers Now Available

AMD has released its Catalyst 10.5 driver suite to the public, which now support 120Hz displays for the ATI Radeon HD 4000 and HD 3000 series. ATI Overdrive has also been enhanced, delivering full support for overclocking functionality on supported HD graphics cards, AMD said.

The latest driver package also resolves a handful of issue across a variety of Windows platforms, including:

• Battlefield 2: Badk Company maps no longer takes unusually long to load (all Windows OSes)
• Alt-Tabbing to desktop and back into Mass Effect 2 game no longer causes the display to go black (Windows 7)
• HBR (high bit-rate) audio now functions properly (Windows Vista)
• Resident Evil 5 now launches properly with a HDMI display connected to an AGP card (Windows XP

Driver Download
Release Notes (PDF)

Nvidia Beta 256 Drivers Now Available for Download

We're not sure why exactly Nvidia chose to make the leap from version 197 to 256 for its latest drivers, but whatever, designation aside, the first beta release for the 256 driver-set is available now, and it includes a whole bunch of goodies.

Release 256 are the first drivers to incorporate Blu-ray 3D acceleration for the PC (see here for system requirements), just in time for the first 3D Blu-ray movie due out June 1st, Nvidia says. The new driver also includes new settings in the Nvidia Control Panel for 3-way SLI customers that enable 48x SLI Anti-aliasing (96x for 3-way GTX 400 series PCs).

You'll find a lot of buzz words accompanying Release 256, including CUDA 3.1 and OpenGL 4.0 support, as well as a new SLI and PhysX configuration page. What you won't find, however is support for Nvidia's 3D Vision Surround, which the GPU chip maker promises to include in the second release targeted for the end of June.

Driver Download (includes notebook platforms)

Rumor: Nvidia to Dub Dual-GPU Fermi Card "GTX 490"Rumor: Nvidia to Dub Dual-GPU Fermi Card "GTX 490"

The latest chatter from the graphics rumor mill is that Nvidia is hard at work readying a dual-GPU fermi part the company plans to call "GTX 490."

According to kitguru.net, which "continue[s] to look under the rocks in Taiwan," the GTX 490 will in all likelihood use a pair of GTX 470 processors. From what they gather, the power draw will be around 375W. That means you can probably expect some downclocking under the hood, as the GTX 470 draws 215W as a standalone card.

There really aren't any other details to go on, though that could (and probably will) change by the time Computex rolls around. It will be interesting to see how the GTX 490 stacks up against ATI's recently introduced 4GB iteration of its dual-GPU HD 5970 card.

Nvidia GTX 465 Details Leaked to the Web

Computex is less than two weeks away, and it's during that time many are expecting Nvidia to announce a new graphics card, the GTX 465. Well, thanks to Turkish site Donanimhaber, the same site that accurately revealed GTX 470 and 480 specs ahead of launch, we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Nvidia's upcoming GPU.

According to Donanimhaber, the GTX 465 is being built around the same GF100 core as the 470 and 480, but with five out of the 11 stream clusters turned off. That brings the stream processor count down to 352.

The core clockspeed will race along at 607MHz, the same as the GTX 470, while the stream processors will come clocked at 1,215MHz. You can expect 1GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit memory bus, along with two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.

Pricing is estimated to be around $300.

AMD Beefs Up Budget Graphics Line with HD 5570

PIQOO | www.piqoo.blogspot.com

While the world waits for Fermi, AMD continues to target the entry-level with sub-$100 DirectX 11-capable videocards. The newest entrant to this market segment is the just-announced ATI Radeon HD 5570 low-profile graphics card.

"AMD recognizes that small form factor PCs are becoming more popular and low profile graphics upgrade options have been limited to date," said Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Division. "Customers purchasing small form factor PCs are looking for improved performance while gaming, watching HD video, or working with the latest productivity applications. The ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics card delivers all of this at a price that won't break the bank."

Specs include a 40nm GPU clocked at 650MHz, 1GB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 900MHz, a 128-bit memory bus, and 400 stream processors. And in addition to DX11, the HD 5570 supports Eyefinity and full 1080p HD playback. Finally, AMD rates the TDP at 45W.

Look for this one to sell somewhere between $75 to $80.