Apple announced a GPU Replacement Program along the lines of its HDD Replacement Program, dating back to 2011, for mid-2011 iMacs, which had its run at the markets from May 2011 to October 2012, more specifically, iMacs equipped with AMD Radeon HD 6970M. Apple says that both the 1 GB and 2 GB variants of the graphics boards inside these iMacs could fail. Telltale signs include artifacts on the screen, including white or blue vertical lines or a solid black display. Apple is offering free repair and replacement for affected iMacs, and refunds to people to paid to get the issue fixed, prior to this announcement.

Here are the first pictures of ASUS' premium DirectCu II graphics card designed around AMD's Radeon HD 7970 GPU. The design is based on giving the GPU a powerful cooling solution, backed by a custom-design PCB. Since its cooling solution spans across three expansion slots, one of the three expansion slot brackets is productively used to provide additional display connectivity. To begin with, the PCB uses a 10+1+1 ASUS Digi+ VRM that draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. It supports heavy overclocking, and provides several voltage tuning features.

A common metal heatsink spans along the length of the card, making contact with VRM and memory components. On top of this sits the DirectCu II heatsink. This heatsink uses a large aluminum fin-stack heatsink to which heat from the GPU is conveyed by six heat-pipes, which make direct contact with it. The heatsink itself isn't very thick, but what makes the card span across three slots are its two 100 mm fans. The GPU is clocked out of the box at 1000 MHz (vs. 925 MHz reference), and 5.60 GHz/1400 MHz actual memory (vs. 5.50 GHz/1375 MHz actual reference).

SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced a new model in its successful HD 6900 series of graphics cards - the HD 6970 2GB with a new super efficient Dual fan cooler and Dual BIOS giving users the choice of fast, quiet operation or performance tuning.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 6970 has the same internal architecture as the standard model, with 1536 stream processors and 96 texture processing units, and clock speeds are 880MHz for the core and 1375Mhz (5.5Gb/sec effective) for the 2GB of GDDR5 memory. This new design has two 90mm fans with thin impellers that can move the same amount of air at 10% lower rotation speeds than conventional fans, keeping noise low, and their special dust repelling bearings contribute to high reliability.

Celebrating the launch of the much anticipated Battlefield 3 game, SAPPHIRE Technology is introducing the SAPPHIRE HD 6970 BF3 Special Edition - featuring two SAPPHIRE exclusive technologies, SAPPHIRE FleX and Vapor-X cooling as well as performance enhancing options for the enthusiast and access to a FREE copy of the full game!

The SAPPHIRE HD 6970 BF3 Special Edition is based on AMD's award winning second generation DX 11 graphics engine with the powerful configuration of 1536 stream processors and 96 texture processing units delivering smooth and detailed graphics to the latest generation of games and applications. SAPPHIRE FleX technology allows the direct connection of three DVI monitors in Eyefinity mode without the need for special adapters, making it the simplest solution to multi-screen enjoyment, and the highly efficient SAPPHIRE Vapor-X cooling enables performance to be maximised whilst keeping noise levels low.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, today reveals the ultimate edition of the HD 6970: Devil 13 HD 6970. Designed to fulfill the most demanding HD titles, the Devil 13 HD 6970 has default clock settings at 880 MHz core speed and 1375MHz memory speed. An OC switch means gamers can easily increase 10% frequencies to 960 MHz core and 1425 MHz memory, boosting up gaming performance to the next level.

HIS unveiled a new Radeon HD 6970 graphics card that makes use of its IceQ cooler design, which features what the company calls Eyefinity RTS (ready to see). Simply put, this card lets you set up 3-display Eyefinity without needing to connect any of the displays to the mini-DisplayPort connectors. The third display can be connected to the HDMI 1.4 port, instead.

The feature weeds out the need for hard-to-find mini-DP active dongles. An increasing number of full HD monitors support the HDMI interface, they naturally support DVI, and hence this card makes setting up a 3-display Eyefinity a lot easier, in essence, "ready" out of the box. That aside, the card sticks to AMD reference clock speeds of 880 MHz core and 5.50 GHz memory, and features 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. Pricing and availability information is not known.

It's that time again, when bagging some rad graphics hardware is as easy as showing off your PC tuning skills and filling up a form in GPU-Z 0.5.5. PowerColor is back on board with us, and this time what we're giving away will come with the bragging rights of being perhaps the only people in the world to have it! Presenting, PowerColor and TechPowerUp Pimp my Rig Contest 2011!

You stand to win a rare, one of its kind PowerColor dual Radeon HD 6970 X2 prototype, which is designed by its makers to be one of the fastest, most tweakable graphics cards. There's just one prototype on the planet that's fully finished for the consumer, and you stand to win it! All you have to do is get the lowest possible 3DMark 03 score in default settings (of 3DMark), submit the validation link of your feat along with other details in the "PowerColor Giveaway" tab of GPU-Z 0.5.5. That's right, you don't need the fastest hardware to win this contest, just your skills.That's not all! You can still leave things to Lady Luck. From the pool of valid entries, we will randomly pick one person, who will bag an awesome new PowerColor Radeon HD 6870 X2 dual-GPU graphics card! So there's simply no reason not to try!

For more information, download GPU-Z 0.5.5, and click on the "PowerColor Giveaway" tab. Good luck!

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.

Shuttle, a world-leading PC manufacturer focused on high-performance small form factor desktops, today announced the availability of the Shuttle H7 5800G Pro and H7 5800P Pro extreme performance PC models for purchase through Shuttle's USA online shop, starting today.

Ready for gamers and enthusiasts, the Shuttle H7 5800G Pro features a 3.06GHz Intel Core i7 950 quad-core processor (up to 3.33GHz Core i7 980X Extreme Edition), NVIDIA GeForce performance graphics (up to GeForce GTX 580 or Radeon HD 6970), 4GB DDR3 memory (up to 16GB), and 500GB hard drive (upgradeable to SSD), starting at $1,299.99 MSRP.

Gigabyte is constantly revising designs of its already-launched graphics cards. This time around, it's the Radeon HD 6970 WindForce 3X (GV-R697UD-2GD). This custom design graphics card sticks to AMD's reference clock speeds, but creates some overclocking headroom with its WindForce 3X cooler, and a strong VRM on the PCB. The new revision 2.0 packs an NEC/Tokin Proadlizer, which is a high-grade multiphase capacitor, that helps in conditioning the power to the GPU.

Apart from this small yet important change, everything else is the same. The PCB uses Gigabyte's Ultra Durable VGA+ construction, which includes 2 oz copper PCB, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, ferrite core chokes, hand-picked tier-1 GDDR5 memory chips by Samsung or Hynix, hand-picked GPU, and clock speeds of 880 MHz core and 5.50 GHz GDDR5 effective memory. There is 2 GB of memory. Expect the new revision to cost roughly the same as the original.

While between the GeForce GTX 580 and Radeon HD 6970, the former is clearly the faster graphics card, the two share a disputed lead over each other in their dual-GPU avatars, GeForce GTX 590 and Radeon HD 6990, attributed to the HD 6990 sustaining clock speeds closer to those on its single-GPU implementation, and a better electrical design. While NVIDIA is fixing the electricals on a revised PCB design scheduled for release in the weeks to come, companies like ASUS are wasting no time in designing their own PCBs that can let the two NVIDIA GF110 GPUs sustain clock speeds identical to those on the single-GPU GTX 580. This would pose serious competition to the HD 6990. To ward that off, PowerColor is working on a new Radeon HD 6970 X2 graphics card, which has two AMD Cayman GPUs clocked on par with single-GPU HD 6970, and having the same overclocking headroom.

The new card from PowerColor is not just an overclocked HD 6990, but also has the overclocking headroom of the HD 6970. Further, unlike the HD 6990, it uses Lucid Hydra technology. The PLX-made, AMD-branded PCI-Express bridge chip is replaced by a LucidLogix-made bridge chip that gives each GPU PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth. Users can run the two GPUs in either AMD CrossFire (with Hydra features disabled), or enable Lucid Hydra Engine features, and let the two GPUs work in tandem with any other graphics card installed in the system, that uses GPUs of any make and generation.

Over the past few months, HIS 6000 IceQ X Series has granted stunning awards and become one of the Most Wanted graphics cards in the market. So what about its award-winning IceQ Series? Today HIS unveils its long awaited IceQ series - HIS 6970 IceQ Turbo & Standard 2GB GDDR5. Endorsed by the worldwide media, HIS award-winning IceQ technology is ready to take another step forward.

Equipped with Black Hole Impeller and 4 heatpipes, HIS 6970 IceQ Series effectively optimizes cooling performance by dissipating the heat from the core area, thus enabling it for high levels of gaming performance. In addition, it cools down the GPU temperature dramatically compared with the Reference Cooler, allowing you to maximize your over-clocking potential. What's more? The professional fan shroud provides a high efficiency and low noise fan operation.

Apple today updated its signature all-in-one iMac with next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, groundbreaking high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime HD camera. Starting at $1,199, the new iMac is up to 70 percent faster and new graphics deliver up to three times the performance of the previous generation.

"Our customers love the iMac's aluminum enclosure, gorgeous display and all-in-one design," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With next generation quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, Thunderbolt technology and a FaceTime HD camera, we've made the world's best desktop even better."

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.

Eurocom Corporation, the leading mobile technology developer launches the AMD HD 6970M MXM 3.0b graphics module for embedded systems. The AMD HD 6970M graphics module is ideal for Eurocom embedded customers that require the absolute best in terms of graphical performance and processing. The module is also ideal for hardware designers developing small form factor PCs, embedded workstations and notebooks.

The industry standard MXM 3.0 specification for graphics subsystems allows for improved cooling capability, reduced power and height, enabling engineers to create smaller, more efficient embedded systems, reduce development time and costs and introduce new designs faster to market.

MSI, the leading global graphic card and motherboard manufacturer, today unveiled its two flagship cards: the N580GTX Lightning and the R6970 Lightning. These cards are specifically designed to handle the extreme overclocking which eager gamers and media outlets around the world have been waiting for. Industry-leading Power4 architecture and Twin Frozr III dual-fan cooling with innovative Propeller Blade technology brings together a solid power supply with advanced cooling technology. This results in huge boosts to overclocking potential and stability, enabling the air-cooled N580GTX Lightning to break the 1GHz core clock barrier with ease. The Lightning series of graphic cards is designed to offer the ultimate in overclocking capabilities and is the superior choice for overclocking enthusiasts seeking to set new world records.

Gigabyte unveiled its latest high-end graphics card, the Radeon HD 6970 WindForce 3X. Based entirely on an in-house design, the card uses a Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB that makes use of 2 oz copper layers, and high-grade chokes, MOSFETs, and capacitors. Cooling is care of Gigabyte's workhorse high-end VGA cooler, the WindForce 3X. It makes use of a dense aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by several heat pipes, and is ventilated by three fans.

The card is slightly overclocked, 900 MHz core against 880 MHz reference, and 2 GB of memory clocked at 5500 MHz. That apart, the GPU packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors, and connects to the memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. Display outputs include two DVI, and one each of full-sized HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2. Gigabyte didn't give out pricing.

ASUS has launched an entire range of DirectCU II-enhanced graphics cards that include the latest technologies from both AMD and NVIDIA GPU rosters. On the AMD side, ASUS offers the HD 6970 and HD 6950 graphics cards with DirectCU II while for NVIDIA, the GTX 580, GTX 570 and new GTX 560 Ti all ship with the advanced cooling technology.

Based on ASUS DirectCU, which uses copper heat pipes in direct contact with the GPU core for up to 20% cooler performance, DirectCU II adds a custom cooler that uses twin 100mm fans for a massive 600% increase in airflow on HD 6970, HD 6950, GTX 580, and GTX 570 DirectCU II cards. ASUS has also launched the GTX 560 Ti DirectCU II TOP graphics card with dual 80mm fans for the best performance in its segment through doubled air power.

Announcing the winners of the second and final month of PowerColor and TechPowerUp GPU-Z giveaway (January 2011). We picked up three lucky winners from a pool of 20,000 entries, from all over the world. Spanning across December 2010 and January 2011, the contest gives six lucky winners some rad graphics hardware from PowerColor. Here are the winners:

• Danny from Israel, wins PowerColor Radeon HD 6970
• Steve from United Kingdom wins PowerColor Radeon HD 6870 PCS+
• Grant from United States wins PowerColor Radeon HD 6850 PCS+

Huge congrats, guys! PowerColor will contact the winners directly and arrange for shipping of the prizes. This concludes the giveaway. We would like to thank PowerColor for making the giveaway possible. TechPowerUp will return with more interesting contests such as this.

Hightech Information System Limited launches its HIS 6970 & 6950 Fan Turbo 2GB GDDR5 graphics card. Offering the latest and greatest features like AMD Eyefinity technology,
AMD HD3D technology and DirectX 11 support, the new 6900 Turbo Series provides flawless image quality and unbelievable performance to the gamers at every advantages. The HIS 6950 Turbo has over-clocked its core clock speed to 840MHz and memory clock at 5,120MHz, delivering serious high-definition gaming frame rates.

The HIS 6970 Turbo supplies the same 2GB GDDR5 but at a maximum core clock speed of 900MHz and memory clock of 5,600MHz. The utmost speed will let you enjoy the high resolution and fast frame rates which directly translate into superior performance and ultra-high bandwidth.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, today expands its award-winning PCS+ series into the HD6970 series with the PowerColor PCS+ HD6970. Featuring all the latest technology, the PowerColor PCS+ HD6970 clocks in at 940MHz core speed and 1425MHz memory speed, easily accelerating gaming machines with nearly 2.9 teraFLOPs of computing power and delivering amazing gaming performance.

The PowerColor PCS+ HD6970 is equipped with a unique dual fan cooling solution; built with two large 92mm cooling fans, heat is easily dissipated from the 3x 8 ø large heat pipes and copper base which fully cover's the GPU. Temperatures are cooled up to 20% when compared to reference boards. The advantage of the dual fan cooling design is optimization of the air flow in a using a lower fan speed, providing a quieter working environment and better a user experience.

Sapphire is readying a new custom-design Radeon HD 6970 2 GB graphics card. The card uses a PCB that closely resembles the AMD reference-design PCB, but comes in blue color. It also uses a custom designed cooler that uses a traditional blower channeling air through a dense aluminum fin canal block. The most peculiar feature is a round rotary knob, which lets you switch between the two BIOS ROM chips on board, thereby letting you maintain two hardware-stored clock and fan profiles. This knob appears to be coin-turned. The Radeon HD 6970 packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors, and connects to 2 GB of memory over a high-speed GDDR5 memory interface.

Priced point of US $279, AMD's new 1 GB Radeon HD 6950 stands testament to the competitiveness AMD left for itself in the performance segment, a crucial market segment. AMD's Radeon HD 6950 with 1 GB of memory will be launched by partners soon, along with 1 GB Radeon HD 6970. The two will compete with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 560Ti which is slated for 25th of this month.

The new Radeon HD 6950 was able to shed $21 of its price by halving its memory amount. The original 2 GB version sells for an average $300. The 1 GB cards use eight 1 Gbit memory chips over a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. Memory clock speeds and bandwidth remain unchanged. Apart from memory amount, partners will most likely use cost-effective board and cooler designs. Apart from the HD 6950, AMD will also introduce "Turbo" variants of the Radeon HD 6870, which will feature very high GPU core clock speeds.

While it may not have toppled NVIDIA's fastest single-GPU graphics card, AMD's Radeon HD 6900 series sure stepped up competition in the high-end segment, with Radeon HD 6970 competing with GeForce GTX 570, and the HD 6950, which can be unlocked to the HD 6970, having a class of its own. To further increase competitiveness, and probably to ward off the GeForce GTX 560 threat, AMD is reportedly directing partners to add 1 GB variants of the HD 6950 and HD 6970.

Currently 2 GB of GDDR5 memory is standard for both SKUs. With half the memory and cost-effective choice of PCB and components, AMD partners can significantly reduce prices at the expense of some performance, but end up with equal or better price-performance ratios to GTX 570 and the upcoming GTX 560. The two new SKUs will be available soon. Pictured below is a Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 2 GB. Sapphire is said to be one of the first with HD 6900 1 GB series.

ASUS displayed a huge new graphics card based on the AMD Radeon HD 6970 GPU. The EAH6970 DirectCu is perhaps the largest among the company's graphics cards that use a "direct-copper" GPU cooler in which heat pipes make direct contact with the GPU die. Such is the size of the cooler, that the card requires three expansion slots in your system. To make optimal use of the expansion brackets, ASUS wired out all TMDS links from the GPU, yielding a display connectivity consisting of two DVI and four full-sized DisplayPort 1.2 connectors.

The GPU cooler makes use of a large aluminum fin array which uses at least three 8 mm thick copper heat pipes. The aluminum fins are cooled by the airflow of two 120 mm fans. The card uses 2 GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface, it packs 1536 VLIW4 stream processors. The card also seems to be using a 9-phase VRM that allows software voltage control. Power is drawn in from two 8-pin PCI-E power connectors.