Radeon R9 290X is looking increasingly good on paper. Most of its rumored specifications, and SEP pricing were reported late last week, but the ones that eluded us were clock speeds. A source that goes by the name Grant Kim, with access to a Radeon R9 290X sample, disclosed its clock speeds, and ran a few tests for us. To begin with, the GPU core is clocked at 1050 MHz. There is no dynamic-overclocking feature, but the chip can lower its clocks, taking load and temperatures into account. The memory is clocked at 1125 MHz (4.50 GHz GDDR5-effective). At that speed, the chip churns out 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth, over its 512-bit wide memory interface. Those clock speeds were reported by the GPU-Z client to us, so we give it the benefit of our doubt, even if it goes against AMD's ">300 GB/s memory bandwidth" bullet-point in its presentation.

Among the tests run on the card include frame-rates and frame-latency for Aliens vs. Predators, Battlefield 3, Crysis 3, GRID 2, Tomb Raider (2013), RAGE, and TESV: Skyrim, in no-antialiasing, FXAA, and MSAA modes; at 5760 x 1080 pixels resolution. An NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN was pitted against it, running the latest WHQL driver. We must remind you that at that resolution, AMD and NVIDIA GPUs tend to behave a little differently due to the way they handle multi-display, and so it may be an apples-to-coconuts comparison. In Tomb Raider (2013), the R9 290X romps ahead of the GTX TITAN, with higher average, maximum, and minimum frame rates in most tests.

TechPowerUp announced the latest update to GPU-Z, the popular graphics hardware information, monitoring and diagnostics utility. Version 0.7.3 brings in a few major changes, keeping in mind plans by AMD and NVIDIA to update their product stacks, a little later this year. We've added preliminary support for Radeon R7 240, R7 250, R7 260X, R9 270, R9 270X, R9 290, and R9 290X. On the NVIDIA front, we've added support for GeForce GT 625, GT 645, GT 755M, GT 745M, GTX 760M, GTX 765M, GTX 770M, Quadro K1100M, and K5100M. Support was also added for AMD Radeon HD 7600G, HD 8250, HD 8330, HD 8470G, HD 8570, HD 8570G, and E6460; FirePro W7000, and W600. GPU-Z 0.7.3 brings improved support for GeForce GTX 780 graphics cards with CHiL CHL8318 voltage controllers, and GeForce cards in general, with NCP4206 controllers.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.3 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.3 ASUS ROG-themed

The complete change-log follows.

Since the very first DirectX 10-ready graphics cards by AMD, we've been used to the "Radeon HD xyz0" nomenclature, in which "x" denoted generation, "y" market segment, and "z" variant. That all is about to change with the company's Volcanic Islands GPU family, which will be unveiled (at least to the press), later this month. Using the same "x, y, z" variables as mentioned before, the new nomenclature could look like "Radeon Ry xz i" (where the new variable "i" could denote special features).

An example of this new nomenclature could be, say, Radeon R9 280 X, where "9" denotes the high-end market segment, currently held by Radeon HD 7900 series, "2" indicating generation, and "80" denoting variant. "XT" (full-spec) chips could get the "80" marking, and "Pro" (partial-spec) chips could get the "60" or "70" marking, but it isn't fixed, and could even be "50" and "40" for lower-end parts. At this point, we can't even speculate what the "i" (special feature) could denote. For mobile parts, the letter "M" could be prefixed to the "xz" component of the model number (example: Radeon R9 M380 X). Validations for graphics cards running early drivers with this naming scheme, have been showing up on our GPU-Z Validation database for days now, and our analysis is our best understanding of their naming strings. Capiche? Can't blame you.

TechPowerUp released GPU-Z 0.7.2, the latest version of the popular graphics hardware information, diagnostic, and monitoring utility that enthusiasts and overclockers can't leave home without. Version 0.7.2 adds support for new GPUs, notably NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 760, and the new Radeon HD 8970M; improves support for Intel HD 4xxx series graphics embedded into Core "Haswell" processors, and a few more user-interface feature additions.

To begin with, GPU-Z 0.7.2 adds support for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 760, GeForce GT 740M (based on the new GK208 silicon), Tesla K10 compute accelerator; AMD's Radeon HD 8970M, HD 8490, and HD 7400D. Detection and information of Core "Haswell" integrated GPUs, are improved. A new AMD Radeon logo was added, and will show up for AMD-branded Radeon GPUs. Tooltip translations were added for Greek, French (improved), and thanks to our friends at Clube do Hardware, Brazilian Portuguese. A rare crash during DirectCompute detection, is fixed.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.2, GPU-Z 0.7.2 ASUS ROG-themed

The change-log follows.

There are many theories doing rounds about the specifications of NVIDIA's upcoming performance-segment GPU, the GeForce GTX 760. One states that it's largely similar to the GeForce GTX 660 Ti from previous-generation, with higher clock speeds, possibly 7.00 GHz memory, and GPU Boost; while another suggests a completely new core-configuration. According to a GPU-Z screenshot leaked by a ChipHell community member, NVIDIA is attempting to give the GeForce GTX 660 a successor, rather than merely retrofitting the GTX 660 Ti.

According to leaks that surfaced on ChipHell, NVIDIA is configuring a GK104 GPU with just three out of four GPC (graphics processing clusters) enabled, while keeping the memory and raster operations untouched. This approach would give the chip 1,152 CUDA cores, 96 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The card in the GPU-Z screenshot features 1072 MHz core, 1111 MHz GPU Boost, and 7.00 GHz memory.

TechPowerUp announced GPU-Z 0.7.1, the latest version of the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic tool. Version 0.7.1 adds support for new GPUs, and an experimental feature that lets you investigate power-capping on some of the newer generations of NVIDIA GPUs (needs GeForce 319.xx or later drivers). To begin with, GPU-Z 0.7.1 introduces support for NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 780 and GeForce GTX 770 graphics cards, along with support for AMD's new Radeon HD 8000M, HD 8000G, and HD 8000D series GPUs/IGPs, including the HD 8310G, HD 8410G, HD 8450G, HD 8510G, HD 8550G, HD 8610G, and HD 8650G; and a few exotic GPUs, such as GT 730M, GT 750M, GTX 780M, GRID K1, GRID K2, and HD 7730.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.1 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.1 ASUS ROG Themed

The change-log follows.

TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, diagnostic, and monitoring utility, which gives you in-depth information about installed graphics hardware, and lets you monitor various parameters in real-time. With version v0.7.0 of GPU-Z, we focused on adding and improving support for new GPUs.

To begin with, it features support for AMD Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" dual-GPU graphics card, along with support for Radeon HD 8550M, HD 7340, HD 7290, and HD 8670D "Richland" on the AMD front; and GeForce GTX 680MX, GTX 675MX, GT 218, and 9400 GT (rare GPUs), on the NVIDIA front. Voltage monitoring is improved on Radeon HD 7790.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.0 | GPU-Z 0.7.0 ASUS ROG Themed

The change-log follows.

Just ahead of a skirmish between AMD and NVIDIA in the sub-$200 market segment, which could go down later this month, TechPowerUp released GPU-Z v0.6.9, with tested support for the two contenders: AMD Radeon HD 7790, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti with GPU Boost (refresh). In addition, the new GPU-Z version gets you support for Radeon HD 8870M, GeForce GT 415, and GT 750M. For GeForce "Kepler" family GPUs, DirectX feature-set value is fixed. A number of tool-tips are added to key window elements, such as vendor logo, vBIOS extraction, render test, and screen-capture.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.6.9 | GPU-Z v0.6.9 with ASUS ROG skin

The change-log follows.

Here are the first pictures of Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 Dual-X, the company's premium offering based on AMD's new GPU. The card features Sapphire's in-house PCB and cooler designs, including an aluminium fin-stack heatsink ventilated by a pair of 80 mm fans, and a 21.5 cm long PCB. The card draws power from a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, its display outputs are similar to the HD 7850, with a pair of DVI connectors, HDMI, and DisplayPort. It can pair with another of its kind, only.

TechPowerUp announced version 0.6.8 of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility, which gives you detailed information about the installed graphics hardware, and lets you monitor key specifications in real-time, such as clock speeds, temperatures, voltages, and video memory usage. Version 0.6.8 introduces support for new GPUs, namely NVIDIA's GeForce GTX Titan, GeForce 505 (GT216), GT 640M, GTX 675MX, Quadro K2000, and K3000; AMD's Radeon HD 7480D, FirePro W8000, V8700, fake HD 6850 (based on HD 6450). GPU load monitoring method on AMD GPUs is improved, and should be more accurate. Several minor bugs were patched.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.8, TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.8 ASUS ROG Themed

The change-log follows.

TechPowerUp released version 0.6.7 of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. The new release brings some feature-additions, support for more graphics processors, and stability improvements. To begin with, we made room in the GPU-Z window to display TMU (texture memory unit) count. Support for a large number of recently-launched GPUs, including Radeon HD 7870 "Tahiti LE," mobile GeForce 600 series MX, and from Quadro family, were added.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.7 also brings a few UI enhancements. To begin with, GPU-Z remembers window position from its previous session, cutting you time for positioning it right for screenshots. Next up, when minimized, its tray icon does more than just show you the app is running. Its tooltip (visible when hovered), displays some important sensor data. A new "-tab" command line parameter allows proverclockers to script-launch GPU-Z showing a specific tab. Among the bugs fixed are one related to a crash occurring on CrossFire setups (a Catalyst-related bug), another crash occurring on NVIDIA setups when updating sensor data (GeForce driver-related bug), temperature reading on AMD "Llano" APUs is improved.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.7, TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.7 ASUS ROG Themed

The change-log follows.

TechPowerUp announced the latest version of GPU-Z, version 0.6.6, with a host of stability updates. To begin with, support was added for NVIDIA Tesla M2070 GPU compute accelerator. The issue of main window not displaying correctly with non-standard Windows font DPI settings is fixed. GPU overclock calculation was fixed for pre-Kepler NVIDIA GPUs. Crashes on systems with broken high-precision event timer implementation (HPET) were fixed, and so were several memory leaks.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.6, TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.6 ASUS ROG Edition

The change-log for this version follows.

TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem information and diagnostic utility. Version 0.6.5 features the biggest complement of changes this year. To begin with GPU-Z can now reliably extract, save, and upload BIOS from NVIDIA GeForce Kepler family of GPUs. Boost clock detection for GeForce Kepler family is improved; and real-time memory clock monitoring for GeForce Kepler GPUs without Boost is fixed. A working ASIC-quality calculation method is implemented for GeForce Kepler GPUs.

GPU clock and temperature readings are improved for AMD "Trinity" APUs, and stability increased. Support is added for a large number of new GPUs, including AMD Radeon HD 7450A, HD 7730M, HD 7700M, FirePro M4000, W5000; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti, GT 635M, GT 620M, GeForce 610M, GT 620 (GF119), GT 640 (GF118), Quadro 7000, Quadro K2000M; and Intel 4th Generation Core "Haswell" graphics. Release date and die-size measurements were added for a large number of GPUs. A large number of outstanding bugs were quashed.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.5 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.5 ASUS ROG Edition

The change-log follows.

Here are some of the first pictures of NVIDIA's upcoming GK106 silicon, which goes into building the GeForce GTX 660 graphics card. The GK106, built on the 28 nm silicon fab process, is poised to be NVIDIA's newest mainstream-performance chip that succeeds the GF116. The pictures reveal the chip package to be almost as big as the GF116 but smaller than the GK104. This can be attributed to fewer memory I/O pins (192-bit maximum bus width).

The rectangular die of the GK106 appears to have roughly the same area as that of the GF116, but with the higher transistor density of the 28 nm process, one can expect a significantly higher transistor count for the chip. If some of the pictures we're seeing are any indication the GK106 will be extremely energy-efficient, as an unknown graphics card based on it draws power from just one 6-pin power connector.

TechPowerUp launched the latest version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics sub-system information and diagnostic utility that gives you technical details of installed graphics hardware, and lets you monitor clock-speeds, voltages, temperatures, graphics memory usage, ASIC quality, and several other parameters. Version 0.6.4 adds/refines support for several upcoming NVIDIA GPUs, such as GeForce GTX 660 Ti, GeForce GTX 660, GeForce GTX/S 650, GeForce 610, and GeForce GTX 680M; Intel GMA 3600 (ROP count); AMD "Trinity" APUs (clock reading accuracy) and AMD FirePro 2270.

GPU-Z 0.6.4 also changes the way multiple GPUs in a system are sorted in the GPU selection drop-down list. They are now arranged by display-outputs. GPU-Z now correctly reads memory amount for NVIDIA GPUs with over 4 GB of memory. Support for CHL8288 VRM controller is improved giving accurate temperature readings. A number of stability issues were addressed.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.4

A list of changes follows.

MSI's upcoming GeForce GTX 660 Ti HAWK 3 GB graphics card, installed in 3-way SLI configuration was pictured. One of the three was put through 3DMark03 and 3DMark 11. The picture reveals a card that looks similar to the company's GeForce GTX 670 Power Edition. MSI used double the memory amount, by populating the GPU's 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface with 3 GB of memory (2 Gbit x 12). The card is cooled by MSI's Twin Frozr IV cooling solution. It is clocked at 1020 MHz GPU core, 1098 MHz GPU Boost, and 6.00 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory. The GPU-Z screenshot reveals more details.

While three of these cards were pictured in 3-way SLI configuration, only one of the three were put through tests. The cards were driven by a yet-unannounced GeForce 304.87 beta driver. In 3DMark03, the MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti HAWK scored 18,731 points, and in 3DMark 11 Extreme Preset, it scored X2,862 points. Both these figures are similar to those of a reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670.

TechPowerUp released GPU-Z 0.6.3, the latest version of the popular PC graphics subsystem information and diagnostic utility. The new release adds support for dozens of new GPUs, including AMD "Trinity" APU-integrated HD 7600D series, upcoming NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660; improves stability in Windows 8, and adds a large number of other stability improvements. GPU-Z 0.6.3 adds support for NVIDIA GPUs including GeForce GT 620, GT 630, GT 640, GTX 660, Tesla M2090, Quadro 1100M, Quadro 5000M, NVS 5400M, G610M, GeForce GT 620M, GT 630M, GT640M LE, and GT 660M; AMD GPUs including Trinity (HD 7600D series), HD 7570, HD 7670, HD 6610M, HD 7550M, HD 7850M, HD 7520G, and HD 7640G.

Keeping in tune with previous versions, GPU-Z 0.6.3 introduces a new killer feature: power-consumption measurement for IGPs (integrated graphics) on Intel "Sandy Bridge" and "Ivy Bridge" Core/Pentium processors. The measurement isolates the power draw of the IGP from the rest of the processor. TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.3 fixes crashes related to OpenCL detection (when using Intel drivers), with improved OpenCL drivers on Intel and AMD graphics drivers. It adds voltage monitoring for Radeon HD 7700 series. Boost clock detection is improved for NVIDIA "Kepler" architecture GPUs.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.3, GPU-Z 0.6.3 ASUS ROG Edition

The complete change-log follows.

In May, TechPowerUp teamed up with PowerColor to run this year's first GPU-Z Giveaway. Up for grabs were some groovy PowerColor Radeon HD 7000 PCS graphics cards, with Vortex series cooling solutions. Today, we are pleased to announce its winners. There is a slight change, though. The prize that was slated for the third-place, the PowerColor HD 7770 PCS+ Vortex II, is launching at a slightly later date than our contest permits, and so we have two second place winners, instead. Both second place winners get an awesome new PowerColor HD 7870 PCS+ Vortex II graphics card, each.

The Winners:

• Boris from Czech Republic - wins PowerColor PCS+ HD 7970 Vortex II
• Anurag from India and Rodrigo from Brazil - win PowerColor PCS+ HD 7870 Vortex II, each

Mad congrats to you guys from PowerColor and TechPowerUp! We hope to return with more interesting contests and giveaways to our readers!

Here are the first pictures of GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WindForce OC graphics card. As the name suggests, the card is GIGABYTE custom-design implementation of NVIDIA's upcoming performance-segment SKU, which utilizes its signature WindForce 3X cooling solution, and is overclocked out of the box. GIGABYTE's card appears to make use of a custom-design PCB, which is longer than NVIDIA reference design. According to a GPU-Z screenshot, the card comes with out of the box clock speeds of 980 MHz (core base), 1059 MHz (core boost), and 1502 MHz (~6.00 GHz effective, memory). Its specifications as reported by GPU-Z match early reports, with a CUDA core count of 1344, and 2 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit memory interface.

TechPowerUp today announced GPU-Z 0.6.1, and with it, a new graphics card giveaway in partnership with PowerColor, in which you could win some of the fastest and coolest Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards in the industry. Version 0.6.1 of GPU-Z adds support for some new GPUs on the horizon, such as NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, GeForce GTX 670, GeForce GT 640 (desktop), GeForce GT 630, GeForce 605, GeForce GTX 675M (mobile), and GeForce GTX 670M; AMD Radeon HD 7970M (mobile), and Radeon HD 7450 (desktop); Intel HD 4000 and HD 2500 "Ivy Bridge". GPU-Z 0.6.1 improves NVIDIA GPU Boost clock speed detection. A host of other stability and reliability changes were made (refer to the change-log below).

With GPU-Z 0.6.1, TechPowerUp is teaming up with PowerColor to present to you this year's first GPU-Z Giveaway, in which you could win some great graphics hardware. Up for grabs are PowerColor HD 7970 PCS+ Vortex II, PowerColor HD 7870 PCS+ Vortex II, and the yet-unannounced PowerColor HD 7770 PCS+ Vortex II. To participate in the Giveaway, simply run GPU-Z 0.6.1 (main version), click on the "PowerColor Giveaway" tab, and follow the instructions. Entries are open till June 01, 2012; multiple entries may lead to elimination. Good Luck!DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.1 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.1 ASUS ROG Edition

The complete change-log follows.

Geeks3D released the latest version of every GPU's worst nightmare, FurMark. Version 1.10 adds formal support for real-time monitoring of frequencies and power figures for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680. It also includes an improved interface, relocation of some key settings, support for new resolutions, and support for GPU-Z 0.6.0 API.DOWNLOAD: Geeks3D FurMark 1.10

The complete change-log from the developer follows.

Admittedly, this is a terrible day for news on unannounced GPUs, but we rushed it in anyway. Here are the first board shots of AMD's next-generation dual-GPU graphics card, the Radeon HD 7990 (codename: "New Zealand"). Sources told us that AMD working overtime to release this SKU, to restore performance-leadership of the Radeon HD 7900 series. The dual-GPU card, according to the specifications at hand, is bearing AMD's coveted "GHz Edition" badge, its core is clocked higher than that of the HD 7970.

But first, the board shot. Pictured below is the first picture of this beast. Right away you'll question its authenticity for using a 70 mm fan instead of a lateral-flow blower, but that design change serves a purpose. Despite its high performance, the previous-generation Radeon HD 6990 was plagued with user complaints of high noise. That's because a single, normal-sized lateral-flow blower was positioned in the center, blowing through two sets of aluminum channels, at a very high speed. With the HD 7990, AMD on the other hand, borrowed the ventilation design of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590, to a large extant. It reused the fan found on reference-design HD 7850 and HD 7770, and placed it in middle of two heatsinks.

TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, the PC enthusiast community's favorite graphics subsystem information and diagnostic utility, which gives you up to date information about your installed graphics hardware, and helps you monitor clock speeds, voltages, temperatures, and even exotic readings such as video memory usage and ASIC quality (on supported graphics cards). Version 0.6.0 introduces a host of new features, including refined support for upcoming NVIDIA Kepler architecture GPUs, such as GeForce GTX 680, and GeForce GT 6x0M; and the recently-launched AMD Radeon HD 7800 series.

GPU-Z also embraces an installer, which places shortcuts, and an uninstall entry. GPU-Z can very much also be used as a portable, standalone utility, without needing an installation (just choose not to install, and use it standalone instead). AMD altered a high-level API with its Catalyst 12.2 drivers, which GPU-Z conventionally uses to talk to the hardware. Those updating from older Catalyst versions to 12.2 won't see its effects on older GPU-Z versions, but those with Catalyst 12.2 "clean-installed", might. GPU-Z 0.6.0 addresses this issue, and should now work normally with systems running Catalyst 12.2 clean-installed. A large number of other changes were made with version 0.6.0.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.0, TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.6.0 ASUS ROG-Themed

Even as NVIDIA is inching towards the launch of its next-generation GeForce GTX 670 Ti, it is rushing out the GeForce GTX 560 SE to stem loss in competitiveness to the Radeon HD 7770. Galaxy is readying a compact, cost-effective graphics card based on the new GPU, which is pictured below. Based on the 40 nm GF114 GPU (variant: GF114-200-KB-A1), the GTX 560 SE features 288 CUDA cores, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB [(4x 1 Gbit)+(2x 2 Gbit)] of GDDR5 memory.

Galaxy's card uses a short PCB, its VRM area has been pushed to the front of the card, consisting of a 4+1 phase design. It draws power from two 6-pin power connectors. The card is cooled by a compact aluminum-fin heatsink to which heat is conveyed by copper heat pipes, and ventilated by a big (80 mm) fan. Chinese site QK123 put the card through a few synthetic benchmarks, measured power-draw, and OC performance. The GPU-Z screenshot reveals its reference speed.Benchmarks follow.

AMD's Radeon HD 7770 mid-range graphics card, which is slated for a little later this month, got its first public shot at 3DMark 11. The card was put through the Performance preset of the benchmark, where it scored P3535 points. The bench was driven by an Intel Core i7-3960X processor. The reviewer also took GPU-Z screenshots of this card, revealing low core temperature. Based on the 28 nm Cape Verde GPU, the HD 7700 is said to have 640 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, and 1 GB of memory over a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. It is designed for sub-$200 price points.