Welcome to the TechPowerUp 2011 PC technology Christmas special. We hope that you will enjoy reading it while tucking into your turkey, Christmas presents and a little too much wine... In this article, we go through the technology of 2011 that has had the most significance, the most impact and was generally the most talked about. It's not necessarily the best tech of 2011 which is the most significant though, since lemons can be just as significant as the ground-breakers in how they fail to deliver - and the backlash that goes with it.

January: Intel Sandy Bridge i5 & i7

Released on January 9th, the new Intel Core i5 & i7 processors were based on Intel's second generation Core architecture built on a 32 nm production process (HEXUS review). They included an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) physically on the same piece of silicon along with HyperThreading. These new dual and quad core processors soundly beat all previous generations of Intel processors in terms of processing performance, heat, power use, features and left AMD in the dust. Therefore, Intel badly needed some competition from AMD and unless you have been living under a rock, you will know how that turned out in October with the launch of Bulldozer. Sandy Bridge was a sound win and is generally considered to be the only architecture worth considering at this point. The i5-2500K is currently at the sweet spot of price/performance. It comes at a stock speed of 3.3 GHz, but typically overclocks to an amazing 4.5 - 5 GHz with a decent air cooler and without too much difficulty in getting there. Models in the budget i3 range were released at various times later. See this Wikipedia article for details.

Unbeknownst to many, AMD launched the Radeon HD 6930 in some markets. The company apparently doesn't want this launch to disturb reviewers from key high-volume markets, who have their hands full with Radeon HD 7970, and so the HD 6930 got a limited launch. For one, the HD 6930 is most certainly launched in China, and so Expreview gave it a run against the HD 6950 1 GB. The Radeon HD 6930 is carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, on which other HD 6900 series products are based. It features 1280 VLIW4 stream processors, 1 GB or 2 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and clock speeds of 750 MHz (core), 1200 MHz or 4.80 GHz effective (memory). Very few partners made English press-releases about this SKU, HIS was among them. The company launched an IceQ-X graphics card on Monday.Performance summary follows.

AMD is reportedly working on a new Radeon HD 6900 series single-GPU graphics card based on the "Cayman" silicon, the Radeon HD 6930. This SKU will be designed to make things very competitive for the non-Ti GeForce GTX 560 from NVIDIA. In its most recent salvo, NVIDIA launched a limited edition GeForce GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, targeting select markets in the winter shopping season. Tests showed it to be very competitive with HD 6950 and HD 6970, and is priced accordingly, at $289. AMD's new SKU will be designed to heat things up in the sub-$200 market where GTX 560 non-Ti and HD 6870 are trading blows.

Carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, the GPU in its HD 6930 configuration will carry the codename "Cayman-CE". It will feature 1280 advanced VLIW4 stream processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface that will hold 1 GB of memory. The core will be clocked at 750 MHz, and the memory at 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz effective). Most AIBs will reuse their cost-effective HD 6950 1 GB board designs with the new SKUs. The new Radeon HD 6930 is expected to be priced around $180.

Inno3D is among the select few with a limited-edition GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 CUDA cores, the Hong Kong-based company launched its GTX 560 Ti 448SP HyperCore graphics card. The card features an in-house GF110 board design by Inno3D, and a new custom design single-fan cooler. Based on the 40 nm GF110 GPU, it features 448 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory over a 320-bit memory interface. It features slightly overclocked speeds over reference speeds; 760 MHz core, 1520 MHz CUDA cores, against reference speeds of 732/1464 MHz. The memory clock sticks to specifications, at 950 MHz (3.80 GHz effective). Like every other GTX 560 Ti 448, this card will be available in limited quantities, and only in select North American and European markets.

Chinese company Yeston released a new Radeon HD 6790 graphics card for gamers on a tight budget. It makes use of cost-effective cooler and PCB designs to make itself available at a price-point of 799 RMB (about $125). The familiar-looking cooler borrows its design from the likes of MSI Cyclone. It consists of a copper-plate base which makes contact with a heatsink with spirally-projecting fins and two 8 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat-pipes; these heat-pipes pass through two aluminum fin arc structures on either sides of the main heatsink. Ventilation is care of a central 80 mm fan.

The PCB uses a cost-effective 3+1 phase VRM to power the 40 nm Barts LE GPU, making use of common coil-type chokes and DPAK MOSFETs. The card is one of few HD 6790 offerings out there, that draw power form just one 6-pin PCIe power connector (most designs use two). The GPU features clock speeds of 840 MHz core and 1050 (4.20 GHz effective) memory; and is aided by 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. It packs 800 stream processors. Display outputs include two DVI, and one each of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2.

EVGA released a new Batman: Arkham City-themed GeForce GTX 580 graphics card. Carrying the model number 015-P3-1582-A1, this card carries NVIDIA clock speeds of 797/1594/4050 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory effective). Apart from the game-themed cooler shroud sticker and a themed box, we can't really see what's new with this product. Perhaps it has a voucher for a copy of the game?

Based on the 40 nm GF100 graphics processor, GeForce GTX 580 is the single fastest GPU on the planet. It packs 512 CUDA cores, and 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory bus. The GTX 580 also packs features Batman: Arkham City can benefit from, such as PhysX. Available on American retailer Newegg.com, the EVGA GTX 580 Batman: Arkham City Edition is priced at $529.99. At $30 over the base model GTX 580, it has got to pack a copy of the game.

Palit unveiled a new limited-edition GeForce GTX 560 Ti based non-reference design graphics card, the Palit GTX 560 Ti Twin Light Turbo. The card's design is based on a black colored PCB (Palit uses a red-colored one on its regular GTX 560 Ti cards), and a unique GPU Cooler design. The heatsink follows essentially the same structure as the one featured on Gainward Phantom cards, in which heat is conveyed to the aluminum fin stack by four heat pipes, but the fans that ventilate the card are located on the side of the heatsink facing the PCB, rather than on top of it. The fans draw in air from the heatsink. Palit claims that the cooler has a noise output of less than 10 dBA.

The clock speeds of the card are not given out, yet. Like every other GTX 560 Ti, this card makes use of a 40 nm GeForce Fermi 114 GPU, is DirectX 11 compliant, packs 384 CUDA cores, and makes use of 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Display outputs include two DVI, and one each of D-Sub and HDMI (full-size). There is one SLI connector that allows 2-way SLI with any other GTX 560 Ti card, and power is drawn in from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Availability and pricing information is not known at the moment.

ASUS is ready with a new silent (passive-cooled) graphics card based on the AMD Radeon HD 6770 graphics processor, the ASUS HD 6770 DirectCu Silent. ASUS designed a new passive GPU cooler from ground up, which makes use of heat pipe direct-touch design, which ASUS refers to as DirectCu (direct copper). The cooler is essentially a large aluminum fin heatsink that uses four nickel-plated copper heat pipes, conveying heat to a large aluminum fin stack, that is longer than the card's PCB itself.

Based on the 40 nm "Juniper" silicon, the HD 6770 is a rebrand of the HD 5770, it packs 800 stream processors, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface to hold 1 GB of memory. The core is clocked at 850 MHz, and memory at 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz effective). The card draws power from one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. It uses high-grade "Super Alloy" VRM components, that are efficient, and don't lose energy to high-pitched noise on load. The card's display outputs include one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI 1.4a. There's no word on the pricing and availability.

Microsoft's leap of faith into the tablet OS market which is dominated by Apple iOS and Google's Android OS, with Windows 8 operating system will be driven by two distinct hardware platforms - x86, led by Intel and its Clover Trail Atom platform, and ARM, and its swarm of client manufacturers such as Samsung, Qualcomm, etc. The third player out to claim its share of the pie is AMD, with its Brazos-T platform. Similar to Intel's Clover Trail, Brazos-T is an x86-based platform, it uses an ultra-low power accelerated processing unit (APU), codenamed "Hondo".

Hondo is a low-wattage, low-footprint APU that packs two x86-64 "Bobcat" architecture cores, an AMD Radeon HD 6250 DirectX 11 compliant graphics core, single-channel DDR3 IMC, and integrated PCI-Express. Like Clover Trail, it is a 2-chip solution, with the other chip being the "Hudson" M2T chipset, which provides an array of display connectivity options, SATA and USB connectivity. The key feature with Hondo APU is its low power consumption of just 2W, and TDP of 4.5W. The chipset is designed to consume just 1W. Both the APU and chipset are built on the 40 nm process. The platform is slated for Q2 2012, just in time for Windows 8 tablets to hit the market.

EVGA released the first consumer-channel graphics card based on NVIDIA's GeForce GT 545 graphics processor. The GT 545 has been an OEM-only SKU. Based on the 40 nm GF116 silicon, the GT 545 has 144 of the chip's 192 CUDA cores enabled, the same 192-bit wide memory interface, but making use of DDR3 memory instead of GDDR5 on the GeForce GTX 550 Ti. Clock speeds set at 720 MHz core, 1440 MHz CUDA cores, and 900 MHz (1800 MHz effective) memory, churning out memory bandwidth of 43 GB/s. There is 1.5 GB of memory.

EVGA's implementation resembles NVIDIA's reference design. It uses a short full-height PCB, and a single-slot cooler. Display outputs include one each of HDMI 1.4a, D-Sub, and DVI. It can pair with another card of its kind in 2-way NVIDIA SLI. Backed by 10 year warranty (if purchased this month), the EVGA GeForce GT 545 1.5 GB is priced at US $150.

Acer has just placed an order for 80,000 pieces of AMD Z-series accelerated processing units. Based on essentially the same design as Fusion "Zacate", Z-series APUs are designed to have lower TDP and to be of higher quality, so they could be deployed in enterprise and IPC (industrial PC) environments. The AMD Z-01 is Acer's choice, this chip combines two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.00 GHz with AMD Radeon HD 6250 DirectX 11 compliant graphics, and a DDR3 memory controller. The TDP of the entire chip stands at 5.9W, it is built on the 40 nm process at TSMC.

Acer's first tablets based on AMD Z-01 will run Windows 7, since Android 3.0 (codenamed "Ice Cream Sandwich") is not going to be out any time before the end of 2011. Acer isn't the only big tablet-maker opting for AMD Z-series over Intel's Atom Pine Trail platform, MSI is also reported to be working on x86 tablets running AMD Z-series. Manufacturers are opting for Z-series over Pine Trail, because the latter has both higher price and TDP. With its relatively faster iGPU, Z-series should be able to drive graphics-intensive custom user-interfaces on tables sized up to 10.1-inches. Industry sources expect AMD to ship up to 500,000 units of the chip in the second half of 2011.

HIS rolled out a new custom-design Radeon HD 6790 graphics card, the HIS HD 6790 Fan. "Fan" editions are known to bring with them airy fan-heatsinks that rely a fair bit on the fan's airflow and the way it's channeled, rather than adding weight to the heatsink. Apart from being custom-design, the card features reference clock speeds of 840 MHz core and 1050 MHz (4200 MHz effective) memory, and is loaded with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, the HD 6790 has 800 stream processors enabled, along with its full memory bus width. Display outputs on this card include two DVI, and one each of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2 (full-size). Expect standard pricing of US $160.

VIA Technologies revealed its upcoming 4-core processor, simply called "QuadCore". The chip comes in BGA packages, and is simply a multi-chip module (MCM) of two Nano X2 dies built on the 40 nm process. One of the first models is the QuadCore L4700, which is clocked at 1.20 GHz with a BClk of 266 MHz. Using the Adaptive Overclocking feature, the processor can bump clock speeds up to 1.46 GHz provided the thermal solution by the manufacturer can keep up, while keeping the chip within its thermal constraint of 27.5W TDP. Each of the two dies can independently up speeds based on their individual loads and temperatures.

The VIA QuadCore L4700 features four x86-64 cores split between two dual-core dies that share a V4 front-side bus clocked at 1333 MHz. The processor has a total L2 cache of 4 MB, also split between the two dies. On the feature-set front, SIMD extensions up to SSE3 are available, so is VIA Virtualization Technology, and Padlock Security Engine, which is a fast hardware random number generator that speeds up AES encryption. The processor itself doesn't feature on-die memory controller or integrated graphics, and continues to rely on the chipset for memory and graphics. VIA's QuadCore L4700 is expected to be released in Q3, 2011, at least one can expect VIA-made demo platforms to be shown at Computex.

Gigabyte rolled out its second factory-overclocked custom-design Radeon HD 6970 graphics card model, the GV-R697OC2-2GD, or the Gigabyte HD 6970 WindForce-3X OC2. The card makes use of the same exact Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB used on the GV-R697OC-2GD, as well as the WindForce-3X cooler, but comes with higher clock speeds of 920 MHz core and 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz GDDR5 effective) memory; compared to 900/1375 (5500) MHz on the GV-R697OC-2GD, and 880/1375 (5500). In all three cases, Gigabyte didn't tinker with memory clock speeds.

The PCB makes use of 2 oz copper layer, and high grade components such as ferrite-core chokes and Japanese capacitors. Its cooler uses a large heat pipe-fed aluminum fin array ventilated by three 80 mm fans. Based on the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, the Radeon HD 6790 packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors, and a 256-bit wide high-speed GDDR5 memory interface. Gigabyte did not give out pricing/availability information.

NVIDIA is set to launch its next upper-mainstream GPU, the GeForce GTX 560 (not to be confused with GeForce GTX 560 Ti) on May 17. Designed to compete with AMD's Radeon HD 6790, the new GTX 560 is based on the same GPU as the GTX 560 Ti, the 40 nm GF114. It has 336 out of 384 CUDA cores enabled, while most other specifications of the GPU are untouched. The core clock speed is said to be not less than 800 MHz, making it faster than GeForce GTX 460, which otherwise has the same specifications while being based on the older GF104 silicon.

PowerColor is readying a new single-slot AMD Radeon HD 6850 graphics card. The advantages of single-slot aside, the new card will also support 4-way CrossFireX. So now you can pack four of these cards into pooly-designed motherboards with adjacent PCI-E x16 slots, or you can sneak one into the slot that happens to be the bottom-most one. PowerColor's HD 6850 Single-Slot Edition uses a custom PCB design which is not much longer than the reference design, it uses a typical single-slot cooler design with tightly-packed aluminum fin air channels to which heat is fed by a copper plate. Air is flown through these channels by a blower.

Apart from 4-way CrossFireX capability, the PowerColor HD 6850 Single-Slot Edition uses nearly complete display connectivity, with one DVI, a full-size HDMI 1.4a, and two DisplayPort 1.2. Power is drawn in from a single 6-pin power connector. The card uses AMD reference clock speeds of 775 MHz core and 1000 MHz (4.00 GHz effective) memory. There's 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface onboard. Based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, HD 6850 features 960 stream processors, and full DirectX 11 compliance. More details and pictures are awaited of this intriguing new card.

When the entry-level Radeon HD 6450 launches this 19th April, it will not be alone. AMD will back it with product launches of both the Radeon HD 6570 and Radeon HD 6670, according to fresh reports. With it, AMD will have completed its Radeon HD 6000 series product launches, in almost all price-points, top to bottom. Incidentally, the three were also launched together as OEM-only products back in February.

Based on the 40 nm Caicos silicon, HD 6450 packs 160 stream processors, and a 64-bit wide GDDR5/GDDR3 memory interface, designed for low-profile, single-slot graphics cards. The HD 6570 and HD 6670, on the other hand, are both based on the 40 nm Turks GPU, both feature 480 stream processors and 128-bit wide GDDR5 interface. The two are differentiated with the HD 6570 having lower clock speeds.

MSI, the world-renowned graphics card and motherboard manufacturer, officially releases the latest R6790-2PM2D1GD5 graphics card based on AMD's next-generation Barts GPU core utilizing the 40 nm manufacturing process and 1GB GDDR5 memory. The R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with MSI's exclusive Afterburner overclocking software that supports GPU over-voltage, offering up to 25% more overclocking potential!

The MSI R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with stereoscopic 3D capability and has the ability to output video to four displays from a single card via AMD's Eyefinity technology. The heatpipes directly contact the GPU head spreader, and coupled with 9cm PWM fans this exclusive thermal design provides 50% more cooling efficiency when compare to reference design. An All-Solid Capacitor design ensures a long lifespan and stability under extreme operating conditions.

AMD today launched its latest graphics card targeting the US $150 sweet-spot, the Radeon HD 6790. The new GPU is intended to make 1080p gaming accessible to even more gamers. It is based on the 40 nm "Barts" silicon (on which HD 6800 series is also based), and features 800 VLIW5 stream processors, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 1 GB of memory. The core is clocked at 840 MHz, and memory at 1050 MHz (4.20 GHz effective).

The AMD Radeon HD 6790 might be rarely available in a reference design, rather, AMD's AIB partners are allowed to come up with their own board designs. The new GPU will be launched by various AIB partners, including Sapphire, HIS, XFX, PowerColor, VisionTek, Club3D, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ColorFire, etc. Target price is US $149.99.

PowerColor seems to be in a hurry to release its Radeon HD 6790 graphics card (model: AX6790 1GBD5-DH), so much so that it's already listed on popular retailer Newegg.com for US $149.99. Powercolor's card sticks to stock frequencies of 840 MHz core, 4.20 GHz memory, and features 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. The HD 6790 is said to have 800 out of 1120 of stream processors on the 40 nm Barts GPU enabled.

PowerColor's card uses a more cost-effective cooler design than the one found on some of its Radeon HD 6800 series graphics cards. Display outputs include one each of DVI, full-size HDMI 1.4a, and mini DisplayPort 1.2. The card draws power from just one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. The HD 6790 will be officially released later this week on Thursday.Pictures Courtesy: Newegg.com

A little later next week, AMD will unveil its new upper-mainstream SKU, the Radeon HD 6790. After pictures Sapphire's card, it's MSI's turn. The MSI R6790 looks to be making use of the same non-reference PCB MSI used on other Radeon HD 6800 series graphics card, with a similar single-fan VGA heatsink. MSI's cooler uses a long aluminum fin array to which heat is fed by three direct-touch copper heat pipes. The Radeon HD 6790 is based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, with 800 stream processor enabled, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Display outputs include two each of DVI and mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and one full-size HDMI 1.4a.

Sapphire is ready with its Radeon HD 6790 graphics card, all the more reason to believe that if not all, some AIB partners were ready for a 3/31/2011 launch before it got delayed to next week. Sapphire's HD 6790 is a non-reference design card that in many aspects resembles the company's base model HD 6870. It By the looks of it, it uses the same PCB, same exact cooler, but a different rear panel. Sapphire's card packs 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 40 nm Barts-LE GPU, it features 800 stream processors, and clock speeds of 840 MHz core, 4.20 GHz memory. It draws power from two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors. The rear panel resembles HD 6850, with two DVI, and one each of full-size HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2.

Sapphire is readying a new non-reference design AMD Radeon HD 6950 2 GB graphics card that boasts of superior out of the box display connectivity to the reference design. Called the Sapphire HD 6950 FleX Edition, the card features the same exact display output connector configuration as the reference design (two each of DVI and mini-DisplayPort 1.2, along with HDMI 1.4a), but can run a 5-monitor Eyefinity setup, of which three can run over DVI without needing an active adapter. The package might include a number of dongles and cables to help set up such a display array. Even if not for gaming, Sapphire sees professional applications for such a setup.

The Radeon HD 6950 is based on the 40 nm Cayman GPU, it has 1408 VLIW4 stream processors, and connects to 2 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. Sapphire's card uses a non-reference design PCB and cooling assembly. The PCB draws power from two 6-pin power connectors; the cooler makes use of a large heatsink, ventilated by a central 80 mm fan. The card can pair with three more Radeon HD 6900 series graphics cards in CrossFireX. Expect Sapphire to release the card to market soon.

Just a little later this week, NVIDIA will unveil the GeForce GTX 550 Ti mainstream graphics processor (GPU), successor to GeForce GTS 450. NVIDIA partners seem to be ready with their products based on the new GPU. One of NVIDIA's largest partners, Galaxy, is even ready with a highly overclocked model with its core running at 1 GHz (900 MHz reference), and 1150 MHz (1025 MHz reference) memory speed. Galaxy's card will use the HOF (Hall of Fame) identifier, which is supposed to indicate the company's highest level of factory-overclock speeds.

Based on the 40 nm GF116 silicon, the GeForce GTX 550 Ti packs 192 CUDA cores, and a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB of memory, that's right, 1 GB, not 768 MB or 1536 MB. It looks like NVIDIA will be doing a mixed density memory chip setup. We can hypothesize that four of the six chips are 1 Gbit (128 MB), amounting for 512 MB; and two 2 Gbit (256 MB), amounting for the other 512 MB. Galaxy's HOF card will use a 3+1 phase VRM to power the card, and feature a dual-slot cooler. Its display connectivity includes one each of DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort.

One of the first partner-branded NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti graphics cards surfaced, listed on a European online store, priced at a little over €159. It is carrying PNY's part number GMGX55TN2H1IZPB, and doesn't carry the XLR8 branding. Based on the 40 nm GF116 silicon, the PNY GeForce GTX 550 Ti packs 192 CUDA cores, and clock speeds of 900/1800/1025 MHz (core/CUDA cores/memory actual). It packs 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. €159 does look like a steep price, but there's a lot of uncertainity surrounding it.