AMD will be inside the Xbox 720 according to Fudzilla and Semiaccurate.  Yep, I'm a bit slow on this latest news, but this has been speculated for some time.

AMD has released Catalyst 12.1 today. You can download the 64 bit Windows 7 here.  Here are the updates on it.

 

AMD HD3D technology support enhancement
· Enables support for AMD HD3D technology in conjunction with AMD CrossFireX configurations
· Delivers a new Stereo 3D mode over HDMI 1.4a connections - 1080p at 30Hz is now enabled on supported displays.


AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center enhancements – Application Profiles
· AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver enables users to create per application profiles to individually control 3D and CrossFireX settings for Direct3D applications
· Please be sure to select the “Restore Factory Defaults” option under the Catalyst Control Center Preferences menu before using the new application profiles feature – this ensures there are no compatibility issues between previous drivers and the new AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver with regards to application profiles

 

AMD has also released the 12.2 preview Catalyst.  You can pick it up here, but don't if you have a 7900. Keep using that specific driver.  

 

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.1 Linux driver:

This release of AMD Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems
· SLED 11 SP2 early look support
· Ubuntu 11.10 production level support

We have also just released the AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview:
The AMD Catalyst™ 12.2 Preview includes all of the features found in AMD Catalyst™ 12.1, plus additional fixes that are not included in the AMD Catalyst 12.1 release. Details can be found in the AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview release notes: http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst122Previewdriverrreleasenotes.aspx

Grab the AMD Catalyst 12.2 Preview here: 

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst122Previewdriver.aspx

Please note that AMD Radeon HD 7900 users should keep using the 8.921.2 RC11 driver found here (the 12.2 preview does not supported the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series): http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/RC11Driver.aspx

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.2 driver:

AMD Eyefinity 2.1 technology enhancements
· Additional resolution support: Users can now choose from a larger set of resolutions when running AMD Eyefinity
· Dynamic Configuration Changes: Switching between different display configurations will occur automatically when physically plugging/un-plugging displays
· HydraVision enhancements: The Windows Task bar can now be moved and resized based on users preference
· Profile Manager improvements: Increased support for Display Groups (including 5x1) and Extended configurations within the Profile Manager

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Yes, I know back in 2006 Nvidia released the 7900GT and GTX.  Sure, forget 6 years ago, and welcome the brand new never used name Radeon 7900.  There is a new driver just for it for Windows 7 64 bit version 8.921.1 RC11 available for download here.

 

Yep, AMD has been showing off their Lightning Bolt technology at CES.  No, they are not LARPing, but if they hired that guy from the video to help market it I would give them kudos.  Lightning Bolt is a cheaper alternative to Intel's Thunderbolt.  Anandtech has more details here.

 

The technology is designed to be very simple and affordable. On the notebook side is a mux that combines power, DisplayPort and USB 3.0 into a single DP-like cable. The other end of the cable would connect to a Lightning Bolt breakout box that would provide USB 3.0, DisplayPort and power ports.

Extremetech asks if Intel was cheating on an Ivy Bridge GPU DX11 demo at CES.

 

In a move that casts yet another shadow over Intel’s ability to craft a decent integrated GPU, the engineers from Santa Clara were caught cheating at its CES 2012 press conference last night. Mooley Eden, the general manager of Intel’s PC group, was on stage to show off the the DirectX 11 capabilities of Ivy Bridge’s HD Graphics 2500 GPU — but instead of actually driving a lap in F1 2011, Eden cheated and pressed play on a pre-rendered video in VLC.

I've had quite a busy few weeks, my wife and I welcomed our new daughter, Lila, 6 weeks premature, and I've moved, and renamed Tek Republik to Game Republik.  We are now located at 5310 Guadalupe.  I'm gearing back up to get news going on the site, and pump out some reviews as time allows.  

AMD has released their new Radeon HD 7000 series today. I'd love to review, but I"m in the middle of moving Tek Republik to a new location by the end of the year, and I just welcomed a new daughter, Lila albeit 6 weeks premature 3 weeks ago.  Things have been busy as can be.

 

AMD has released their new Radeon HD 7000 series today. I'd love to review, but I"m in the middle of moving Tek Republik to a new location by the end of the year, and I just welcomed a new daughter, Lila albeit 6 weeks premature 3 weeks ago.  Things have been busy as can be.

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AMD To Appoint Dr. Lisa Su as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Business Units AMD Organizes Global Business Units to Best Address Customer, Partner Needs

SUNNYVALE, Calif. —12/15/2011
AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced today that Dr. Lisa Su, 42, has agreed to join the company as senior vice president and general manager, global business units. She will report to president and chief executive officer Rory Read. Dr. Su, who was most recently senior vice president and general manager, networking and multimedia at Freescale Semiconductor Inc., will oversee AMD’s business units focused on the Client, Commercial, Graphics, Professional Graphics, and Game Console markets.

“We are fortunate to have Dr. Su join our leadership team,” Read said. “As one of the most respected and technically astute executives in the global semiconductor industry, she brings an impressive track record of business execution driving leading-edge microprocessor technologies, developing deep customer relationships, and transforming organizations while growing market share.”

Dr. Su will oversee the team responsible for driving end to end business execution of AMD’s product solutions including strategy, product definition, and business plans to ensure AMD consistently delivers industry-leading solutions. She will also have responsibility for driving alliances and partnerships with software developers to facilitate the development of a complete software ecosystem that can take advantage of the capabilities in AMD’s differentiated products.

Dr. Su joined Freescale in 2007 as chief technology officer, where she led the company’s technology roadmap and research and development efforts. She was promoted to senior vice president and general manager, networking and multimedia in 2008, and was responsible for global strategy, marketing, product management and engineering for their embedded communications and applications processor businesses. Prior to her tenure at Freescale, Dr. Su spent thirteen years with IBM in various engineering and business leadership positions, including vice president of the Semiconductor Research and Development Center responsible for the strategic direction of IBM’s silicon technologies, joint development alliances and semiconductor R&D operations. Prior to IBM, she was a member of the technical staff at Texas Instruments in the Semiconductor Process and Device Center (SPDC).

Dr. Su has bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was named Fellow of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) in 2009. She has authored or co-authored more than 40 technical publications and was named MIT Technology Review’s Top 100 Young Innovators in 2002. She will begin her employment with AMD on January 3, 2012 and will be based in Austin, Texas.

Resources
Bio and photo for Dr. Su
About AMD
AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD’s server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD’s superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

Gigabyte sends news that they are sponsoring an overlcocking competition on HWBot.   You must use any AMD APU on any Gigabyte Socket FM1 or A55 series motherboard.  You can find full details here.

The GIGABYTE ‘Xmas and New Year Contest’ is open to all Overclockers using any AMD APU on any GIGABYTE socket FM1 A75 or A55 series motherboard, using any cooling solution. The contest winner will take home a GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 motherboard, with second and third place taking a GA-990FXA-UD3. Good luck everyone!

Fudo discerns that AMD's Tahiti class high end Radeon 7970 may need almost 300 watts with the 7950 drawing a bit less juice.

If you do some simple math this means that the HD 7970 will have a maximum power draw under 300W while the HD 7950 will need more than 225W. The PCI-Express motherboard slot offers up to 75W of power, 6-pin adds another 75W and 8-pin can pump 150W of power. This is a pretty strange move as the HD 6950 ended below 225W and thus needed only two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors but that will apparently change with the HD 7900 series.