AMD today rolled out this month's major Catalyst software suite release, Catalyst 11.8 WHQL. The software provides the latest WHQL-signed drivers for AMD Radeon GPUs, AMD accelerated processing units (APUs), and AMD chipsets with integrated graphics. This release sees the fusion of AMD Overdrive System (CPU) with GPU overdrive. Both AMD processors and Radeon GPUs can be tweaked using a single application in the Vision Control Center. CPU Overclocking in Vision Center, however, is only supported on Black Edition processor models.

In the GPU driver front, Catalyst 11.8 brings a few major performance improvements, including a 10% performance improvement for Crysis 2 DirectX 11, for both non-Anti-Aliasing, and application enabled Anti-Aliasing modes; 8% performance boosts in FEAR 3 DirectX 11 with application enabled Anti-Aliasing; and a significant 20% boost in Call of Duty Black Ops for single and multi-GPU setups. AMD has redesigned Morphological Anti Aliasing (MLAA) code to boost performance of all applications with MLAA enabled, by up to 30%.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.8 WHQL

ASRock released a new mini-ITX form factor motherboard that runs socket FM1 AMD A-Series "Llano" APUs, the A75M-ITX. As the name suggests, it's based on the AMD A75 chipset. Like most other decent mini-ITX motherboards from reputed manufacturers, the A75M-ITX puts much larger motherboards to shame when it comes to connectivity and features it provides in its tiny board-space. The board draws power from standard 24-pin ATX with 4-pin CPU power. The FM1 socket is powered by a 4-phase VRM, it is wired to two full-length DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, and the lone expansion slot, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16.

Storage options include four internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and one eSATA 6 Gb/s. There are four USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel, two USB 2.0 ports, and six USB 2.0 ports by internal header. Display outputs include HDMI 1.4a and D-Sub. There's gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio, which includes optical SPDIF output. ASRock's new motherboard is priced in Japan at the equivalent of US $115.

In its latest presentation to industry partners, AMD detailed its upcoming Deccan low-power computing platform, targeting the market Intel's Atom and VIA's Nano processors do. AMD is currently behind the "Zacate" and "Ontario" processors, which deliver high performance/watt x86 computing at low power draw and costs. The company's future platform will be called "Deccan," consisting of processors codenamed "Wichita" and "Krishna," targeting the ULV desktop and netbook markets, respectively. With the next generation, AMD is looking to take advantage of the 28 nanometer manufacturing process to put four x86-64 cores based on the Bobcat architecture on a single piece of silicon, with an integrated memory controller and AMD Radeon discrete-class graphics.

The biggest change here isn't the fact that there are four cores, or that it's built on 28 nm, but that Wichita and Krishna are completely single-chip. The FCH or Fusion Controller Hub has been completely fused into the APU silicon. Motherboards and notebook logic boards will have just one big chip, with no "chipset" of any form. This makes AMD's Wichita and Krishna the industry's very first true x86-based consumer SoC (system on chip). The integrated memory controller now supports DDR3-1600 MHz memory. The integrated AMD Radeon graphics is set to get a performance and SIMD boost, as well, including a Secure Asset Management Unit (SAMU). AMD's next generation APUs are slated for 2012.

MSI just rolled out its CR430 multimedia laptop computer with the new generation AMD dual-core E-450 CPU and AMD Radeon HD 6320 discrete-class display chip under the hood. The new processor and graphics chip mark a huge improvement over previous generations with power that puts them on par with discrete graphics card. What's more, the CR430 also sports SRS PC Sound with superior cinema-class stereo surround sound, which coupled with MSI's exclusive Cinema Pro image enhancement technology, maximizes display performance to provide you the ultimate multimedia experience.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that in addition to offering outstanding performance and top-of-the-line sound, the CR430 multimedia laptop computer comes with a chicklet keyboard and nickel-plated touchpad keys with a nice, solid feel. The multipoint touchpad can be used to scroll as well as to change the size of and rotate pictures, making your digital life just that much more enjoyable.

An industry pioneer and continual innovator, Thermaltake is the leading performance brand in PC thermal solutions, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the e-Sports hardware market, with "delivering the perfect user experience" as the optimized mission. With a design perfected through an revolutionary sense of style, highly exclusive appointments and cutting-edge technology, the extensively updated Thermaltake Spacecraft VF-I mid-tower chassis will be available from mid August, 2011.

The new Thermaltake Spacecraft VF-I mid-tower chassis embodies the unique design for eSports look and feel, that encourage space addicts to explore cyberspace with endless possibility, together with an external USB 3.0 connection, the water cooling support for internal 240mm radiator; it is designed especially for Micro-ATX and ATX motherboards, also it now benefits from the impressive ventilation performance of the HDD, CPU and "VGA" Air Cooling Systems. In terms of the unique mechanical design and enhanced thermal system of the Spacecraft VF-I mid-tower chassis, it is a great alternative for DIY users of all levels. Allowing for flexibility, easy maintenance and upgradeable possibilities, the advanced features make the new Spacecraft VF-I mid-tower chassis be an accessible e-Sports chassis in the market.

The certified fan-heatsink that comes with the CPU is perhaps the first thing enthusiasts get rid of, from their machines. The bundled heatsinks are almost never built in a way that allows you to squeeze the most out of your CPU. It looks like AMD is deciding whether to change this notion with some of its top-tier 8-core "Bulldozer" FX-series processors. The company reportedly plans to bundle self-contained liquid-based coolers with their processors.

Over the last couple of years, consumers have taken a liking for $100 self-contained CPU water coolers, kits that include the block with a motor, pre-fitted tubing to the radiator, which latches onto the common 120 mm rear fan hole of most cases. Bundling water coolers indicate two things: firstly, that the top-end FX-series chips will be hot, secondly, AMD is trying to woo enthusiasts. AMD could have asked its cooler OEMs to come up with a heavy tower-type fan-heatsink, but it chose water-cooling instead. So the move to pack water-cooling could either work for AMD's image (wooing enthusiasts), or against it (to convey that FX chips are so hot that nothing short of water-cooling is fit for them). Pictured below is a popular self-contained water-cooler by Corsair.

The world-renowned motherboard and video card manufacturer MSI has officially announced the all-new AMD Llano series motherboard - A75A-G55 today. In addition to continuing the motherboard advantages of the first model A75MA-G55 and scoring P1646 points for 3DMark 11's built-in display performance record, it also displayed MSI's superb R&D strength, crossing the OC Genie II technology onto the AMD Llano platform. There are no complicated settings, and it only requires one button (step) and one second to easily boost the system's overall performance by 110%.

It is the simplest and easiest overclocking tool whether it's for beginners or advanced computer enthusiasts. In addition, different from the AMD Dual Graphics technology used by other manufacturers, the MSI A75A-G55 motherboard can even work with MSI's video card overclocking software, Afterburner, to increase performance. The overall 3D operation performance can be increased to a maximum of 390%, again showing the outstanding features and multiplied effects of MSI's motherboard and video cards.

Team Group Inc. makes an active plan and layout to break into the industrial class and server memory module market in 201. Facing the emerging cloud computing market, Team Group is optimistic about the future potential of cloud technology. To satisfy the customer's need for a more flexible customized server production, Team Group has been actively trying to cut into the industrial class memory module market by means of its advantages in strong R&D and procurement.

Team Group's Registered DIMM memory module comes in two clock specifications, DDR3 1066/1333, and a selection of three capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. The 16GB was made under a more stringent technological standard than the industry's norm and a more rigorous product testing. It is double-sided and dual-layered to achieve the maximum capacity. The Registered DIMM is compatible with the latest chip sets such as Intel 5500/5520 and AMD SR5670/5690 to provide servers with the most stable memory storage space, making it the best partner for building a cloud server.

ECS announced a trio of socket FM1 motherboards supporting AMD A-Series APUs. It includes an ATX motherboard targeting the home/gamer PC market, the A55F-A, a micro-ATX board targeting HTPCs, the A55F-M2, and another one targeting office desktops, the A55F-M3. Featuring in ECS Black Series, the A55F-A has just about all the goods to make up a budget gaming PC based on the A-Series APU. Budget gamers can start off with the integrated GPU (which is quite fast for 720p gaming), and then add discrete graphics cards. The extra room of standard ATX is wasted by three legacy PCI slots. There's plenty of connectivity, including USB 3.0, eSATA 6 Gb/s, five internal SATA 6 Gb/s, etc.

The A55F-M2 ticks all the checkboxes for an HTPC motherboard, one that doesn't rely on discrete graphics and yet has the resources for quality 1080p video playback. In this case, taking advantage of the powerful integrated GPU of AMD A-series, and HDMI 1.4a output (making it Blu-ray 3D ready). The HDMI port gives out 7.1 channel digital audio, or there's 6-channel analog audio to fall back on. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports are internal, to run all the 3 TB hard drives you can afford to throw in. The A55F-M3 is a compact micro-ATX board with just about enough features to make for an office desktop based on the AMD A-Series APU platform. There's no fancy connectivity, there's SATA 6 Gb/s to support the latest hard drives and cheap SSDs in the future, analog D-Sub video output (not very future-proof), and bare essential connectivity.

The Khronos Group today announced the immediate release of the OpenGL 4.2 specification, bringing the very latest graphics functionality to the most advanced and widely adopted cross-platform 2D and 3D graphics API (application programming interface). OpenGL 4.2 integrates developer feedback and continues the rapid evolution of this royalty-free specification while maintaining full backwards compatibility - enabling applications to incrementally use new features, while portably accessing state-of-the-art graphics processing unit (GPU) functionality across diverse operating systems and platforms.

The OpenGL 4.2 specification has been defined by the OpenGL ARB (Architecture Review Board) working group at Khronos, and includes the GLSL 4.20 update to the OpenGL Shading Language. The OpenGL 4.2 specification contains new features that extend functionality available to developers and enables increased application performance. The full specification is available for immediate download here.

At first glance, one would have discarded the news as some company's attempt to use the AMD brand to sell memory modules, but it is indeed AMD selling memory. AMD is selling Radeon-branded DDR3 memory modules to the consumer market, not just OEMs, which were spotted in stores in Japan. AMD is selling certified DDR3 memory in three segments: Entertainment, UltraPro Gaming, and Enterprise. Entertainment deals with DDR3-1333 MHz modules that are best suited for home and business client PCs, UltraPro Gaming deals with DDR3-1600 MHz modules suited for gaming PCs of all shapes and sizes, while Enterprise deals with registered un-buffered DDR3 memory for use in AMD Opteron-driven servers and workstations.

While baffling, the move to sell its own-branded memory makes some sense. High performance DDR3 memory kits sold in the market today that operate at DDR3-1600 rely on Intel eXtreme Memory Profiles (XMP), a proprietary SPD extension by Intel to let users set the marketed speeds easily. AMD platform motherboards don't support XMP, leaving it at an obvious disadvantage. Radeon-branded memory use JEDEC profiles for 1600 MHz, along with certified timings and voltages to run stable and perform optimally. It might also be using AMD's own SPD extension called "Black Edition profiles", but CPU-Z doesn't seem to be able to spot that. Pictured below is the Entertainment 2 GB module, which uses AMD-branded memory chips. In Japan, the 2 GB module is priced at the equivalent of US $20. Other pricing information is unknown for the moment.UPDATE (11/8): We contacted AMD to talk a little bit about these new memory products that surfaced literally out of nowhere. AMD told us that these are channel products, and as such they don't plan to sell it in a big way on the retail market:

AMD does not manufacture memory and does not plan to sell system memory directly to our customers. AMD is currently determining if the sale of AMD Radeon-branded memory through channel partners is a viable opportunity and as such it has appeared in some regions for purchase through retail.

ASUS unveiled its first socket FM1 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, catering to the premium HTPC and small form-factor (SFF) markets. Like with similar mini-ITX boards, the F1A75-I Deluxe crams in all the connectivity features it can on its tiny PCB, outdoing even large ATX boards. It is based on the AMD A75 chipset. The FM1 socket supports AMD's A-Series "Llano" APUs, and is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM. It is wired to two full-length DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory. The board draws power from standard 24-pin ATX with 4-pin CPU power.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, letting you plug in just about any PCIe addon card. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports with RAID support, and one eSATA 6 Gb/s. Other connectivity features include 6-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF (our only gripe), four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header), WiFi b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and DisplayPort 1.2. The HDMI 1.4a output includes 8-channel HD audio of the GPU, so the 6 analog audio channels is sort of compensated. The board features ASUS TPU performance control chip, EPU energy-efficiency chip, and a UEFI firmware with ASUS EZ-mode GUI setup program. There's no word on pricing.

AMD today released this month's major update to its Catalyst software suite, Catalyst 11.7 WHQL. The new driver introduces a few major bug fixes, and provides WHQL-signed support for the recently released AMD A-Series APUs, apart from Radeon GPUs and AMD 8-series and 7-series chipset-integrated graphics. AMD claims to have fixed all outstanding issues related to cursor-lag; a variety of system hangs noted when using HDMI or DisplayPort outputs have been fixed; a number of video playback issues, some generic and some application-specific, were resolved; the "checkerboard" pattern display corruption issue related to Eyefinity on CrossFire setups in DirectX 10 games was fixed; and flickering issues related to Portal 2 were fixed. The driver doesn't introduce any new features or performance improvements, but with greater stability, improved performance should naturally follow.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.7 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit

A list of changes follows.

AMD's first wave of FX series high performance desktop processors will hit stores on 19 September, 2011, according to industry sources. On that day, AMD will launch two 8-core models: FX-8100 and FX-8150; a 6-core model, the FX-6100; and a 4-core part: FX-4100. The much yapped about "FX-8130P" that has been a CPU-Z screenshot favourite, is not a part of AMD's finalized lineup. Earlier it was rumored that models with the "P" brand extender were unlocked parts, but now it's emerging that all parts in the FX series are unlocked. Detailed specifications are tabled below.

In the first quarter of 2012, AMD plans its second round of product launches, which consist of faster models that display existing ones from their price-points. The FX-8170 will displace the FX-8150, the FX-8120 displaces FX-8100; FX-6120 displaces FX-6100; and FX-4120 displaces FX-4100. In the meantime, AMD is working with motherboard vendors to ensure adequate propagation of socket AM3+ motherboards, and more importantly, for DDR3-1866 MHz memory to become more affordable, since FX processors yield the most optimal performance with that memory speed.

AMD today announced revenue for the second quarter of 2011 of $1.57 billion, net income of $61 million, or $0.08 per share, and operating income of $105 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $70 million, or $0.09 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $114 million.

"In the first half of 2011, AMD brought to market the most competitive client offerings in our history, reinforcing our position as a design and innovation powerhouse," said Thomas Seifert, CFO and Interim CEO. "Today's computing experience is increasingly being defined by the ability to deliver brilliant multimedia and video content with all day battery life. Fusion APUs are ideal to meet this need, positioning AMD to gain unit market share in the mobile computing space."

VERTEX3D, a brand of AMD graphics card, today launches a new series of VTX3D HD6670/6570 Digital Streamer Edition. VTX3D HD6670/6570 Digital Streamer Edition combines digital TV content with computer, using FlexiTV technology designed by Mirics.

By utilizing Window Media Center, the latest VTX3D Digital Streamer Edition can easily extend the home entertainment experience from TV to the PC. DVB-T TV signal support enable users to watch the free digital TV program on PC in HD/SD quality, allowing a casual, fun enjoyment without the limitations of a conventional TV.

SAPPHIRE Technology, a leading manufacturer and global supplier of graphics, mainboard and multimedia solutions has just introduced a new mainboard developed to support the latest A-series Fusion APU family from AMD.

AMD's A-series APUs combine - on a single chip - a Quad core CPU, interface circuitry equivalent to a Northbridge and a DX11 graphics core equivalent to a desktop level graphics card, and also incorporating a 3rd-generation UVD (universal video decoder) for the accelerated decoding of HD and Blu-ray content, including stereoscopic 3D support. This APU series together with the A75 chipset, which has native support for the latest interface standards, such as SATA 6G and USB 3.0 as well as USB 2.0 and PCI-Express Gen2, makes a powerful combination that delivers all the features required in a state-of-the-art PC.

After a modest launch of two Fusion A8 series desktop accelerated processing units (APUs) with A6-3650 and A8-3850, AMD is planning to launch a new APU that's better equipped for overclocking. The new A8-3870 APU will feature an unlocked base clock (BClk) multiplier that makes overclocking easier. Currently, a BIOS bug that is spread across motherboard manufacturers, lets users "set" a higher multiplier value for A8-3850 than it's advertised or capable of responding to, resulting in a false illusionary overclock that doesn't yield any performance improvements over the default 29x multiplier value. More on that here.

The A8-3870 APU, however, will have a genuinely unlocked multiplier, increasing the multiplier value will genuinely increase clock speeds and performance. The A8-3870 is expected to have a default clock speed of 3.10 GHz, four x86-64 cores, the GPU component with 600 MHz core clock, 400 stream processor, DirectX 11 compliant Radeon HD 6550D graphics, and dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz integrated memory controller. Leaked product cycle slides indicate that AMD will release the A8-3870 Unlocked APU in Q4 2011.

AMD's next generation of graphics processors (GPUs) that will be branded under the HD 7000 series, are reported to be PCI-Express Generation 3 compliant. The desktop discrete graphics cards will feature PCI-Express 3.0 x16 bus interfaces, and will be fully backwards-compatible with older versions of the bus, including Gen 1 and Gen 2. Motherboards sold today feature Gen 2 PCI-E slots, although some of the very latest motherboards launched by major vendors feature PCI-Express 3.0 slots.

The new bus doubles the bandwidth over PCI-E 2.0, with 1 GB/s of bandwidth per lane, per direction. PCI-Express 3.0 x16 would have 32 GB/s (256 Gbps) of bandwidth at its disposal, 16 GB/s per direction. AMD's next generation of GPUs, codenamed "Southern Islands" will be built on the new 28 nm process at TSMC, and will upscale VLIW4 stream processors. Some of the first PC platforms to fully support PCI-Express 3.0 will be Intel's Sandy Bridge-E. Whether AMD's GPUs have hit a bandwidth bottleneck with PCI-E Gen 2, or is AMD trying to just be standards-compliant, is a different question altogether.

ENERMAX is proud to announce the release of all new CPU Cooler line, ETS-T40 series. It has world leading thermal resistance value down to an incredible 0.09°C/W. With patented VGF, SEF, HDT, and VEF design, plus ENERMAX renowned Twister-bearing fan, ETS-T40 can easily cool down hot-spoil heavy-duty CPU without adding system noise. The unique spoilers design redirects the air through the windless area behind the heat pipes of 52 fins to maximize air convection rate and remove the heat that conventional design cannot reach.

ASRock unveiled the first Fatal1ty-branded AMD platform product, a premium motherboard based on the AMD 990FX chipset, ready for AMD FX series processors in the AM3+ package. The board sports the signature Fatal1ty color scheme of black and red, and is geared for high-end gaming PCs. The AM3+ socket is powered by a 14-phase digital PWM power design, which is ready for even 140W chips. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 with speeds of over 2000 MHz by overclocking.

Two of the unique selling points here is ASRock Fatal1ty XFast USB, a pair of low-latency and high-polling USB ports to plug in your gaming mouse and keyboard; and XFast LAN, which is a software layer that works to lower latency and prioritize internet bandwidth to applications. To top it off, there's a Fatal1ty-themed UEFI setup program that features some extra advanced settings.

On several earlier articles like this one, we were versed with the model numbers and even possible prices of AMD's next-generation FX series desktop processors, but the clock speeds stayed under the wraps, that's until a table listing them out was leaked. AMD's FX-series consists of eight-core FX-81xx parts, six-core FX-61xx, and quad-core FX-41xx parts, probably harvested out of the Zambezi silicon by disabling modules (groups of two cores closely interconnected with some shared resources). Most, if not all, FX series chips have unlocked multipliers, making it a breeze to overclock them. All chips come in the AM3+ package, feature 8 MB of L3 cache, and 2 MB L2 cache per module.

Leading the pack is FX-8150, with a clock speed of 3.6 GHz, and TurboCore speed of 4.2 GHz, a 500 MHz boost. The next chip, FX-8120, has a boost of close to a GHz, it has a clock speed of 3.1 GHz, that goes all the way up to 4 GHz with TurboCore. This will be available in 125W and 95W TDP variants. Next up is the FX-8100, with 2.8 GHz clock speed, that goes up to 3.7 GHz, another 900 MHz boost. The scene shifts to 6-core chips, with FX-6120, no clock speed numbers were given out for this one. FX-6100, on the other hand, is clocked at 3.3 GHz, with 3.9 GHz Turbo. The FX-4100 is the only quad-core part with clock speeds given out by this source: 3.6 GHz, with a tiny 200 MHz boost to 3.8 GHz. You can see that there is no pattern in the turbo speed amounts specific to models, and hence we ask you to take these with a pinch of salt.

In May, HIS announced long awaited HIS 6970 IceQ Turbo and Standard IceQ models, which received ardent response. HIS always makes great products even BETTER! To set up Eyefinity in a more flexible way, HIS just launched HIS 6970 IceQ Mix, providing an easier way for gamers to run both AMD & NVIDIA GPU and enable Eyefinity via HDMI output.

What's more, Dirt 3 game coupons and 4 cables: DisplayPort toDisplayPort Cable, HDMI to DVI Cable, HDMI Cable and DVI to VGA Adapter are also included in this model to deliver you serious high-definition gaming frame rates with Eyefinity 5 in a more user-friendly way.

Eurocom Corporation, a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable notebooks is adding AMD's newest AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU to their extensive options list of high performance notebook computers. Eurocom will offer both HD 6970M and HD 6990M in its products. The addition of the AMD Radeon HD 6990M offers users a new level of high performance GPU computing in single and CrossFireX (dual) configurations. Eurocom will also offer the AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPUs separately to existing customers as an upgrade option.

"Together with support from Eurocom, AMD is able to provide notebook users with the world's fastest single mobile graphics processor - AMD Radeon HD 6990M," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of the graphics division, AMD. "AMD's graphics offer massive computing power for mobile users and hardcore gamers can experience even more gaming performance through AMD CrossFireX technology."

AMD today launched the AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU - the world's fastest single mobile graphics processor - an uncompromising GPU that delivers massive computing power to mobile users. The AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPU was measured to be up to 25% faster than any other announced notebook enthusiast GPU1. Furthermore, hardcore gamers can experience additional gaming performance through AMD CrossFireX technology.

Ultra-fast performance and portability is imperative for enthusiast mobile gamers who crave technology that helps deliver an incredible gaming experience with the latest graphic-intensive titles. With the arrival of the AMD Radeon 6990M GPU and the recently launched AMD A-Series Accelerated Processors (APU), AMD is pushing graphics capabilities to the limits for a wide range of notebook form factors and price points while enhancing the experience through technologies like AMD CrossFireX and Dual Graphics, (using a combination of AMD Radeon GPUs or an AMD Radeon GPU and an AMD APU).