geforce

Nvidia's GeForce Experience aims to streamline PC gaming [[Updated]]

Nvidia wants its new GeForce Experience software to help gamers navigate the technical hurdles common to playing games on a computer. It's easy to see how it could become something more.

In closed beta as of today, the GeForce Experience presently offers two core functions. It can automate the process of updating your Nvidia graphics card software driver. It can also detect your system configuration and apply an optimal set of in-game graphics settings.

As any PC gamer can tell you, keeping your graphics card drivers current is a tedious necessity, but it's also one of the first … Read more

Acer Timeline Ultra M5 ultrabooks with Nvidia graphics arriving this month

How big can an ultrabook be before it stops seeming like one? Back at CES, the Acer Timeline Ultra M3 looked like a lot of other Acer Timelines: thin and full-featured, but not particularly "ultrabooky."

A few months later, we got some in-depth hands-on time with the Acer Timeline Ultra M3-581TG, featuring impressive Nvidia graphics and last-gen Intel processors. It turns out that that M3 won't see the light of day in the U.S., but its successor -- the Timeline Ultra M5 -- will, and it'll be available to order by the end of June.

Read our first take of the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5.… Read more

Ultrabook with game: Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3-581TG, hands-on

Are you ready for large-screen ultrabooks? Well, hopefully the answer's "yes," because they're coming to stores whether you like it or not. The differentiating factors on what constituted an ultrabook -- thin, portable, power efficient, SSD, no optical drive, lack of dedicated "high-end" graphics, longer battery life -- have started to go out the window. Witness the 15-inch Samsung Series 9 and HP Envy 14 Spectre, for starters.

As far as the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3-581TG is concerned, it may make you question your entire perception of the category. DVD drive? Check. Dedicated high-end Nvidia graphics? Check. Larger hard drive options? Check. Portable? Well, not exactly, compared to 13-inch ultrabooks. The Ultra M3 is 4.4 pounds, but it is .79 inches thick. Of all of these, the biggest novelty of this Timeline is that it's the first ultrabook (as defined by Intel) to feature Nvidia graphics. It won't be the last.… Read more

Powerful, big-screen ultrabooks may presage new MacBooks

Is the new Acer ultrabook the writing on the wall for laptops this summer? If so, new, 15-inch class MacBooks could have Air-like thinness while offering bulked-up horsepower.

CNET Asia has gotten its hands on a powerful new ultrabook, the Aspire Timeline Ultra M3.

The M3 would easily stick out in a crowd of ultrabooks because of size alone: it has a 15-inch display (most ultrabooks to date are at most 14-inches and many of them smaller than that) though it's still slim, at just under 0.8 inches.

But where it really distinguishes itself is inside. There lies … Read more

Asus U31SD-A1 laptop review: Graphics and good battery life equal back-to-school special?

The term "thin and light" has a flexible meaning in the laptop world. Currently, to be truly thin, a PC must be in the same range as the MacBook Air. Still, plenty of thicker 13-inch laptops still exist that would have been considered thin a few years ago, but seem merely normal today. The Asus U31SD-A1 is just that sort of laptop. Its thickness is more akin to a 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro, but Asus' laptop lacks an optical drive. We reviewed a nearly identical Asus U31JG laptop a few months ago, noting that it was a solid … Read more

Acer's new 13-inch TimelineX 3830TG-6431 reviewed: Portable power and a great price

A few years ago, the Acer TimelineX was one of the first of what we then called "thin and light" laptops, 13-inchers with sleeker, lighter frames, long battery life, and a more easily portable design than a standard notebook.

The TimelineX series still exists, and Acer's latest version features newer Intel second-gen Core i-series processors and impressive Nvidia graphics. Still, the landscape has expanded to include many thin laptops: the Sony Vaio S and Toshiba Portege R835, and the extremely thin Apple MacBook Air and Samsung Series 9. The $779 TimelineX 3830TG-6431 is thin, but not as … Read more

Buy.com has the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB Graphics Card for $204.99, after $55.01 savings, plus free shipping.

Save $55.01 on the EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB Graphics Card from Buy.com >> Regular price is $260 >> Sale price is $204.99 >> Savings $55.01 (21.16%) >> Click here for deal

Mac Mini suits up with MacBook silicon

Apple has standardized on low-end but reasonably snappy Intel-Nvidia technology for the redesigned Mac Mini released Tuesday and recently rolled-out 13-inch MacBook Pro.

In short, both the 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Mini offer Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz processors and an Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chip. Moreover, this standard silicon is only a stone's throw from the white MacBook, which comes with the same graphics but does not offer the higher-end 2.66GHz Intel processor.

As spelled out by CNET's Rich Brown in his review of the new Mac Mini, performance is good … Read more

Hands on: Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro

We have our hands on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro here at CNET, and have been putting it through its benchmark paces. In the meantime, we've been eager to see what differentiates this 2010 update from the 2009 version. While we had a wish list of features we wanted to see included and were disappointed that a handful were omitted, there are some key improvements that we're glad to see.

The 2009 13-inch MacBook Pro was one of our favorite laptops, and we were greatly hoping that the 2010 update would feature Intel's new Core processor series. It turned out that Core i5 and i7 CPUs are only in the 15-inch and 17-inch 2010 MacBook Pros, while the new 13-incher still has a Core 2 Duo processor that's been bumped to slightly faster versions.

It's a bit disappointing, as it puts the aluminum 13-incher a step behind its older brothers for the time being, and makes the 2010 MacBook Pro 15-inch the leader of the new MacBook pack.

On the other hand, there are other modest but notable improvements. The integrated Nvidia graphics have been updated to Nvidia's new GeForce 320M processor. It's an improvement over the already serviceable GeForce 9400M integrated graphics the 13-inch MacBook Pro has had since fall 2008, and should help this MacBook keep pace with current games. It's not a high-level processor, but it's far more than any thin portable laptop in this range usually has.

Most importantly, the battery life on this new MacBook Pro has been boosted again. This year's boosts, according to Apple, come from a combination of CPU efficiency and new battery chemistry, despite having a similar-size integrated battery in the same slim chassis. Our early benchmarks show six hours of run time on our video playback battery drain test, approaching an hour longer than last year's model. … Read more