NEWS

Today, nVIDIA has launched it’s newest high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX 680. The GTX 680 is a replacement of the GeForce GTX 580, which was released way back in November 2010. The GTX 680 uses the new 28nm process and utilizes the new Kepler architecture, which succeeds the Fermi architecture that was found in the previous 400 and 500 series.

According to most reviews, the new GTX 680 performs well, with it generally outperforming AMD’s three-month old Radeon HD 7970 in most games within a margin of 5-25%. The GTX 680 is also very energy efficient, as the idle power usage seems to be extremely minimal, with load power consumption being less than the HD 7970 .

nVIDIA has launched the GeForce GTX 680 with an MSRP of $499.99 USD, which makes it $50 cheaper than the Radeon HD 7970. It will be interesting to see how AMD responds, as the current price for the Radeon HD 7970 now makes it a hard sell against the cheaper (and generally faster) GTX 680.

In the meantime, reviews of the new flagship nVIDIA card can be found below.

Sources:

AnandTech: NVIDIA GTX 680 Review: Retaking the Performance Crown
Hard|OCP: NVIDIA Kepler GPU GeForce GTX 680 Video Card Review
Guru3D: GeForce GTX 680 review
Tech Report: Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 680 graphics processor

Blizzard announced that they will be releasing Diablo III on May 15 for PC and Mac platforms. Initial retail price is $59.99. Digital pre-orders are starting today, over at Battle.net.

Hopefully, Blizzard will stick to this date, although I wouldn’t be too surprised if it is delayed again.

Source: AnandTech – Diablo III Coming on May 15

For those eagerly awaiting the release of Diablo III, Computer and Video Games has posted the first twenty minutes of gameplay in Diablo III on YouTube.

Computer and Video Games is also offering giveaways of beta keys for Diablo III on Facebook and Twitter. The only requirements are that you must be registered on Computer and Video Games and you must be a fan of their Facebook page.

Sources:

Computer & Video Games – Diablo 3: First 20 minutes of gameplay
Computer & Video Games – Diablo 3 beta key givewaway today – Full Details

Windows 8: The New "Windows" Logo

For those interested in testing out the beta version of Windows 8, the Consumer Preview is now available to the public for download. Microsoft is offering two versions for download, a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. Unlike the previous Windows 8 Developer Preview that was unveiled last fall, the consumer preview of Windows 8 is more fully featured and will likely be similar to what we will be seeing in the final retail release version of Windows 8 later this year.

I won’t be going over what’s new in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, as many sites like Gizmodo have already gone over some of the new features. Aside from the new MetroUI (which I have previously commented on), there are some other impressive features in Windows 8, such as Storage Spaces (a new storage pooling option which is very similar to the Drive Extender technology seen in the first version of Windows Home Server), as well as built-in Hyper-V virtualization features.

Granted, with the significant amount of changes, not everyone will like Windows 8, as the MetroUI interface is a very touch-oriented user interface that is geared towards touch-based devices and not so much for traditional keyboard and mouse computers and laptops.

You can grab the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (directly from Microsoft) here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso

Sources:

Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO Images
Gizmodo – Windows 8 Consumer Preview Hands On: No Going Back

The long-awaited Raspberry Pi (a mini ARM-based computer) is now available for purchase, after being in development for quite some time by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. For those that are not familiar with Raspberry Pi, it is a credit-card sized computer utilizing cost-effective components to create a cheap, affordable computer for $25-$35 per unit.

It has several ports such as composite VGA and HDMI for video output, USB 2.0 ports, 3.5mm audio jack, RJ45 ethernet port, and a SD/MMC/SDIO card reader for storage. There are two different units, a Model A and a Model B. Model A is priced at $35 and will feature two USB 2.0 ports and a ethernet port, while Model B is priced at $25 and will only have one USB 2.0 port and no ethernet port. It is capable of running ARM compiled distros of Linux, offering a full computing experience. It has been shown to be capable of running 1080p videos on XBMC, which makes it very suitable for use as an HTPC.

Right now, traffic on the Raspberry Pi vendors’ websites is extremely high, as there seems to be great demand for these units. Raspberry Pi is expected to be available internationally, but will be initially available in limited countries, due to limited supply. You can currently purchase the Raspberry Pi units from Premier Farnell and RS Components.

Source:

Raspberry Pi