AMD today unveiled a new family of low power server processors: the AMD Opteron X-Series optimized for scale-out server architectures. The first AMD Opteron X-Series processors, formerly known as "Kyoto," are the highest density, most power-efficient small core x86 processors ever built. The new X1150 and X2150 processors beat the top performing Intel Atom processor on key performance benchmarks, including single thread and throughput performance with superior power-efficiency, twice the cores and L2 cache with a more advanced pipeline architecture, higher integration and support for up to 32 gigabytes of DRAM -- 4x more than the Intel Atom processor.

The AMD Opteron X-Series processors come in two variants. The AMD Opteron X2150, which consumes as little as 11 watts, is the first server APU system-on-a-chip integrating CPU and GPU engines with a high-speed bus on a single die. This enables customers to take advantage of leading-edge AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics technology for multimedia-oriented server workloads. The AMD Opteron X1150, which consumes as little as 9 watts, is a CPU-only version optimized for general scale-out workloads.

After bagging chip supply deals for all three new-generation consoles -- Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U, things are looking up for AMD. While Wii U uses older-generation hardware technologies, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 use the very latest AMD has to offer -- "Jaguar" 64-bit x86 CPU micro-architecture, and Graphics CoreNext GPU architecture. Chips that run the two consoles have a lot in common, but also a few less-than-subtle differences.

PlayStation 4 chip, which came to light this February, is truly an engineer's fantasy. It combines eight "Jaguar" 64-bit x86 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a fairly well spec'd Radeon GPU, which features 1,156 stream processors, 32 ROPs; and a 256-bit wide unified GDDR5 memory interface, clocked at 5.50 GHz. At these speeds, the system gets a memory bandwidth of 176 GB/s. Memory isn't handled like UMA (unified memory architecture), there's no partition between system- and graphics-memory. The two are treated as items on the same 8 GB of memory, and either can use up a majority of it.

Futuremark rolled out a major update to its 3DMark benchmark suite. Update v1.1.0 introduces Ice Storm extreme preset for the Windows version of the software (it was exclusive to the Android version), and optimizes the software for four-GPU and three-GPU setups. This could improve the scores for setups with GeForce GTX 690 Quad-SLI or Radeon HD 7990 CrossFireX. Months of work was put into getting this part right, according to the developer. Ice Storm extreme preset adds yet another way to test entry-level graphics solutions, using a DirectX 9.0c feature-level scene.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark v1.1.0

AMD today announced the new AMD Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip (SOC) platform, a single-chip solution based on the AMD next-generation "Jaguar" CPU architecture and AMD Radeon 8000 Series graphics. The new AMD Embedded G-Series SOC platform further signifies a strategic push to focus on high-growth markets outside the PC industry, with an emphasis on embedded systems. The announcement was made at this year's DESIGN West expo.

Embedded systems are increasingly driving intelligence into new areas of our lives, from smart TVs and set-top boxes to interactive digital signage and informational kiosks. This supports greater productivity and connectivity and is expected to be a strong driver for Surround Computing, an area of substantial growth in the computing industry. Among the forces that are enabling this next-generation computing era are single-chip, SOC solutions that offer smaller size, higher performance and more energy-efficient processors.

According to the latest global graphics card market share seen by Taiwanese tech industry observer DigiTimes, Palit Microsystems and PC Partner have each surpassed ASUSTek. The two relegated ASUS to the position of third biggest graphics card vendor by volume. ASUS is a vendor-neutral graphics card vendor, selling both NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon graphics cards; while Palit beat it with a predominantly GeForce-based product stack. Although Palit Microsystems is vendor-neutral on paper, it virtually stopped making AMD Radeon-based products.

Palit Microsystems runs two major brands, Palit, and Gainward, which target different global markets, and are seldom found in the same market. PC Partner, on the other hand, runs Sapphire, which focuses on AMD Radeon products, and ZOTAC, focusing on NVIDIA GeForce. Both Palit Microsystems and PC Partners also contract-manufacture graphics cards for other companies. With the surge of Palit Microsystems and PC Partner, ASUSTek is pushed down to the third place in global market-share, followed by MSI and GIGABYTE.

ACROSSER launches a new All-in-One Gaming Board, the AMB-A55EG1. AMB-A55EG1 features AMD Embedded G-Series T56N 1.65GHz dual-core APU, two DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM, which provides great computing and graphic performance is suitable for casino gaming and amusement applications. It is designed to comply with the most gaming regulations including GLI, BMM, and Comma 6A. AMB-A55EG1 is specifically designed to be a cost competitive solution for the entry-level gaming market.

AMB-A55EG1 utilizes the functions of an X86 platform, 72-pin Gaming I/O interface, intrusion detection and also various security options, and a complete line of Application Programming Interfaces to create smoother gaming development.

VIZIO announced today the pricing and availability of its spring 2013 line-up of Windows 8 PCs, equipped with 10-finger capacitive touch displays on every new model and supported by outstanding picture quality and rich audio. With select models now available for pre-order at VIZIO.com and on sale at MicrosoftStore.com, each Thin + Light and All-in-One model offers seamless touchscreen technology, powerful performance and premium entertainment enhancements for the ideal interactive Windows 8 experience.

Offering the top-of-the-line quad-core processors from both AMD (A10 APU) and Intel (Core i7), the VIZIO Touch PC line-up boasts optimal performance in an exquisitely designed, premium PC. Highlighted by 15.6" Full HD (starting at $1,189.99) and 14" HD+ (starting at $1,089.99) screen sizes, VIZIO's Thin + Light Touch models showcase an ultra-thin profile, multi-gesture touchscreen and increased battery capacity. A standard voltage quad-core processor enables the Thin + Light Touch to perform like a desktop, but is conveniently mobile thanks to an ultra-thin chassis.

AMD today announced the first availability of the AMD Elite A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), codenamed "Richland." The new AMD Elite A-Series APUs deliver innovative user experiences like facial log-in and gesture recognition, improved graphics1 and compute performance over the previous generation, and enhanced power management capabilities on a single chip.

"The high performance AMD A-Series APU continues to impress with its ability to deliver stunning graphics and immersive experiences with even more battery life. Our engineers have done a superb job of increasing processor performance while decreasing power consumption," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's Client Business Unit. "With the capabilities built into our 2013 AMD Elite A-Series APUs, including new software for gesture control, facial recognition, rich entertainment and more lifelike gaming, we are delivering an ever richer experience to end users and our customers."

Sapphire unveiled the Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition graphics card for Apple Mac Pro workstations. Featuring lateral-flow cooling assembly akin to AMD's reference design, and a glossy, curvy white cooler shroud, the card features a custom design, pitch-black PCB with the firmware required to get the card running on a Mac Pro.

The card features older Radeon HD 7950 ASIC, which lacks PowerTune with Boost; and features clock speeds of 800 MHz core, 5.00 GHz memory. It packs 3 GB of memory across a 384-bit GDDR5 interface. It draws power from two 6-pin PCIe connectors. Display outputs include a dual-link DVI, an HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPorts. The card is expected to be priced in the range of €400 and €500, a hefty premium over the roughly €250 common HD 7950 cards charge today.

AMD today announced a collaboration with Crystal Dynamics following the launch of "Tomb Raider," one of the most highly anticipated PC games of 2013, and part of the AMD Gaming Evolved program. AMD and Crystal Dynamics worked together extensively on the development of "Tomb Raider," most notably with TressFX Hair, the world's first in-game implementation of a real-time, per-strand hair physics system. This leading-edge technology imparts one of the most iconic video game characters, Lara Croft, with an astonishingly lifelike appearance. With AMD Radeon graphics, gamers can unleash the full potential of this next-generation technology.

"With the launch of 'Tomb Raider' and TressFX Hair, AMD and Crystal Dynamics have radically pushed the boundaries of realism in the PC gaming experience," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "Over the past several months, AMD has proven that the Gaming Evolved program is set to full throttle, and today's launch is a testament to AMD's ingenuity and innovation. Our team is working with the finest game developers in the world to ensure AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics deliver the ultimate PC gaming experience."

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the North American launch of its Gaming Evolved title "Crysis 3". Working closely with Crytek, elite AMD engineers optimized "Crysis 3" to enable incredible performance on AMD Radeon graphics cards, powered by the award-winning AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. The AMD/Crytek alliance accelerates "Crysis 3" with the world's fastest1 graphics processing unit (GPU), the AMD Radeon 7970 GHz Edition. This announcement comes just two weeks after the launch of the highly-acclaimed "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle from AMD.

"'Crysis 3' is designed and optimized to be played on AMD Radeon graphics. No other GPU delivers the visual experience or next-generation features of AMD Radeon," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "Our close collaboration with Crytek means the robust AMD GCN architecture is fully exploited by 'Crysis 3' code paths. We set out to deliver the best gaming experience possible for enthusiasts, and frankly we've accomplished this through the Gaming Evolved program. The best way to enjoy it is through the 'Never Settle Reloaded' bundle."

AMD's product manager for desktop graphics products Devon Nekechuk, in an interview with Japanese publication 4Gamer.net, revealed that his firm won't be launching any new Radeon GPUs in 2013, and that the company would instead play out the year on its current Radeon HD 7000 series' performance, with price adjustments and possible performance increments through driver updates. In a slide released to 4Gamers.net, AMD pointed that its Radeon HD 7900 series (high-end), HD 7800 series (performance), and HD 7700 series (mainstream), will carry on the company's mantle "throughout 2013."

This announcement is indication that GPU makers have decided to slow things down from the streak of rapid new GPU launches that lasted from some time around 2007, running up to 2012, which can be heavily taxing in terms of R&D costs for either companies. We know for sure that NVIDIA is clearing its backlog of consumer GPU development by releasing the GeForce GTX "Titan" graphics card in a couple of weeks' time, and we know from older reports that NVIDIA could launch a "refreshed" GeForce Kepler lineup, that largely retains the GeForce Kepler silicon while topping up with subtle changes (clock speeds, software features that don't involve redesigning the silicon, etc.,) but AMD coming out in the open with this announcement could change everything. NVIDIA has the opportunity to save a few coins by sticking to its current lineup (plus the upcoming GTX "Titan,") and responding to competition from AMD by price-adjustments and timely driver optimizations of its own.

AMD stumped PC gamers last October by announcing its first Never Settle game bundle that sees its various AIB partners bundle 2~4 AAA game titles with their performance-thru-extreme segment graphics cards. In a bid to overcome post-X'mas slump, and build the brand in the run up to summer, the company released its Never Settle Reloaded bundles.

Based around games that launch within Q1, the bundle covers four new AAA titles: Tomb Raider (2013); Bioshock Infinite, DMC: Devil May Cry (2013); and Crysis 3. That's right, one of the biggest PC games of this season will be freely distributed with AMD Radeon graphics cards. Those buying a single Radeon HD 7900 series graphics card get Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite; a single Radeon HD 7800 series card gets you Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider (2013).

AMD's A-series "Trinity" line of APUs may have helped make the APU outsell CPUs in 2013, but it won't be long before they're replaced by the new "Richland" A-series APUs for desktops and mainstream notebooks. "Richland" is a tweaked version of "Trinity" which sees AMD stick to the 32 nm process, and retain the "Piledriver" CPU micro-architecture, but increase CPU clock speeds, add a faster DDR3-2133 MHz dual-channel IMC, and integrate a Radeon HD 8000 series Graphics CoreNext iGPU into the silicon. Desktop APU models will take up with A##-6000 series numbering scheme.

The series will be led by AMD A10-6800K, which features every component on the "Richland" silicon unlocked, which includes two "Piledriver" CPU modules amounting to four x86-64 cores, and all stream processors on the iGPU unlocked, with the highest CPU and iGPU clock speeds enabled in the lineup. The iGPU model for this chip is Radeon HD 8670D. The A10-6800K features unlocked multipliers, making overclocking a breeze. Trailing it is the A10-6700, which features all physical components unlocked, but with slightly lower clock speeds, and locked BClk multipler. It features the same iGPU as its bigger sibling, the HD 8670D.

AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 8000M "Solar System" line of mobile GPUs, which are slated for a CES 2013 launch, were detailed in a press-deck scored by Engadget. According to the slides, the Radeon HD 8000M is based entirely on the new Graphics CoreNext (GCN) micro-architecture, supports DirectX 11.1, and AMD's equivalent of NVIDIA Optimus, the Enduro Technology, which dynamically switches between discrete and integrated GPUs, which coupled with AMD ZeroCore power technology, completely turn off discrete GPUs at low graphics processing loads.

AMD's Radeon HD 8000 "Sea Islands" family of GPUs may arrive some time in Q2-2013, but they won't arrive without a specifications overhaul. While NVIDIA is counting on performance enhancements to come out of higher clock speeds on existing silicon, while maintaining current (or lower) power-draw, with its "Enhanced Kepler" family of GPUs that will include the "GK110" juggernaut, AMD is counting on physically bigger chips with more components. AMD could step up transistor counts of its chips by as much as 20 percent, on existing 28 nm process.

According to a report, the biggest chip from AMD's fold could pack 5.1 billion transistors, amounting to 2560 stream processors, and an updated raster processing engine, with 48 ROPs ("Tahiti" has 32). While the Radeon HD 8970 maxes out the chip's capabilities, the HD 8950 could feature 256 fewer stream processors, at 2304. It could also go light on the clock speeds. AMD's performance-segment chip, codenamed "Sun" could see a similar stream processor increase to 1792, with the Radeon HD 8870 maxing it out, and HD 8850 featuring 1536. It maintains the memory bus width and raster engine layout of its predecessor.

AMD has now made available an updated version of its Catalyst 12.11 graphics drivers. Known as the Beta11, this latest release features all the goodies of previous Catalyst 12.11 Beta builds and brings improved performance in Far Cry 3 (up to 25% with 8xMSAA, SSAO enabled @ 1600p, and up to 15% with 8xMSAA, HDAO enabled @1600p) (the newly-released AMD Catalyst 12.11 CAP2 must also be installed)

To download the Catalyst 12.11 Beta 11 and Catalyst 12.11 CAP2 see this page.

According to industry sources, AMD pushed launch of its next-generation Radeon HD 8000 "Sea Islands" family of GPUs to the second quarter of 2013 (April-June). The delay comes in the wake of the company going through reorganization within its ranks, in response to poor market performance in Q3-2012. The company originally planned to launch its GPUs before the end of 2012. NVIDIA plans to launch a refreshed lineup of Kepler GPUs in 2013.

HIS gave its March-launched Radeon HD 7970 IceQ X² graphics card a design update, augmenting it with the newer Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition chip, featuring PowerTune with Boost. While the older IceQ X² shipped with 925/5500 MHz (core/memory), the new card ships with 1000 MHz core, 1050 MHz boost, and 6000 MHz memory. It packs 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide interface. The card retains its board and cooler designs, including the swanky IceQ X² heat-pipe fed dual-fan heatsink that doesn't need more than two expansion slots in your machine, and a back-plate. In all likelihood, the new card will be priced similar to the launch-price of the original, back in March (around US $450).

AMD has now made available a fresh beta version of the Catalyst 12.11 drivers. Known as the Beta 8, this latest release features all the goodies of previous betas and brings the following additions:

● Improved performance up to 5% in Max Payne 3
● Single GPU performance updates for Far Cry 3
● Improved CrossFire scaling for Planetside 2 (Crossfire scaling is still limited to ~30% at 2560x1600)
● Resolves the Skyrim lighting issue (missing a lighting pass) for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
● Resolves the hang encountered playing Dishonored on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
● AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 8 for Linux includes significant performance improvements for Left for Dead 2

The Catalyst 12.11 Beta 8 can be found on this page.

AMD is planning to officially launch its new performance-segment SKU codenamed "Tahiti LE" on November 27. According to a new HT4U report, there won't be an AMD-reference design, and its AIB partners will be free to use their existing HD 7900 series boards to carve out the new SKU. We know from slightly older reports that "Tahiti LE" is being designed to occupy a price point between the Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition and the Radeon HD 7950, and will be a limited edition, launched in select markets, to cash in on the winter shopping season.

AMD released Catalyst 12.11 Beta 7 software suite. The release is specifically designed to improve CrossFire scaling for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. It includes all changes of older Beta releases, and is based on the "Never Settle" Catalyst 12.11 driver, which is proven to improve performance on Radeon HD 7000 series graphics processors based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 7

AMD rolled out two successive quick fixes to issues related to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, when running its performance-optimized Catalyst 12.11 "Never Settle" drivers. An application crash was observed when Medal of Honor: Warfighter is run on systems with Radeon HD 7000 GPUs running in CrossFire configurations, with anti-aliasing enabled at the same time. The company pulled Catalyst 12.11 Beta 3 from its websites, AMD Support and AMD GAME, replacing it with the new Beta 4.DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 4

Club 3D unveils today its brand new Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU graphic card, the latest and fastest addition to its highly praised Radeon HD 7000 series. The Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU graphic card is a real performance beast and features the power of two Radeon HD 7970 series processors on a single card. Prepare to be blown away by the incredible speed of the Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU in the hottest DirectX 11 games with its processing power of 2x2048 Stream Processors and 6144MB memory. Experience amazing graphics with Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA 2.0) and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing technologies that help smooth out jagged edges without compromising performance.

The Club 3D Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU delivers exceptional performance at 40% faster than the Radeon HD 7970 GHz board and 45% faster than the standard Radeon HD 7970 and delivers incredible performance at great value. Combine two Club 3D Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU graphic cards to create a Quad CrossFire configuration and take your gaming performance to extreme levels.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced that its consumer line-up of Satellite laptops and Ultrabooks, Qosmio laptops as well as its All-in-One desktops featuring Windows 8 are available for pre-order starting today and will be widely available for purchase from select U.S. retailers and ToshibaDirect.com on October 26.

Toshiba's new laptops feature spacious touchpads with Windows 8 gesture support to allow users to perform gestures on the touchpad as they would on a touchscreen device. In addition, to help transition consumers to the innovative interface in Windows 8, Toshiba's new PCs come pre-installed with Toshiba Desktop Assist, a utility designed to give users easy access to their programs, control panel, as well as files and folders, similar to the Start Menu in previous versions of Windows.