Frankfurt Auto Show 09: Top 10 Supercars

So the recession is supposed to be bad for the supercar, right? Not quite so much as you may have thought. The Frankfurt Motor Show isn't quite overflowing with ultrafast metal, but the super sporting cars that are here are not only interesting, they're astonishingly good. The Ferrari 458 Italia alone is worth the trip. However, even among these high-performance heroes, we can't escape the inevitable onset of increased environmental consciousness. Some of these supercars are surprisingly eco-friendly, and some of them will soon do without an internal-combustion engine altogether. But don't worry — these conceptual electric inspirations still deploy significant amounts of road-ripping firepower. In the final analysis, we have to conclude that the recession hasn't killed the supercar, but it might just have caused it to evolve. Here are 10 of the most significant high-power highlights unveiled in Germany.

Ferrari 458 Italia

Fans of the Ferrari Formula 1 team may be looking at this masterpiece and wondering: Is this where it all went wrong? The wonderful new Ferrari 458 Italia road car is such a comprehensive statement of intent and is so packed with F1-grade technology that you can't help wondering if the entire company got distracted. It might just explain Ferrari's relatively lackluster Grand Prix performance this year. Frankly, we don't care. The 458 is Ferrari's best-looking car for a generation. It revs to 9000 rpm, produces 570 horsepower, gallops from zero to 62 mph in just 3.4 seconds and doesn't hit the wall until 202 mph comes up on the speedo. Awesome!

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

We all had a good chuckle here when Mercedes actually went ahead and proclaimed that the SL's signature gull-wing doors were the only retro styling references on its new SLS supercar. So it's just pure coincidence, then, that it also has the front-end look and general proportions of the 1954 300SL? Not that it matters. This is a fabulous thing, and Mercedes will sell bucketloads; Ferrari and Aston Martin really need to watch out. And if the 571-horse 6.2-liter V8 engine doesn't do it for you, the all-electric version that's coming later maybe will — easily as fast, zero emissions.

Audi R8 Spyder

September isn't exactly the most obvious time to launch a new convertible, but what the heck. Unlike some other roofless exotica we could (and will) mention — *cough* Lamborghini *cough* — the Audi R8 Spyder has a fully automatic folding fabric roof that operates at up to 31 mph, offering easy protection should it start to rain. The Spyder launches with a 525-horsepower 5.2-liter V10 engine that runs to 62 mph in just 4.1 seconds and has a 194 mph top speed. Gone are the coupe's trademark "side blades," but there is an engine cover, gills and additional carbon fiber. Meanwhile, Audi's all-electric e-Tron concept, also on the stand, offered a staggering 3,319 lb-ft of torque.

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster

It's exactly two years since Lamborghini unveiled the Reventon at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. And to celebrate, the Raging Bull has gone and lopped the top off. It must have been one heck of a party. Anyway, the result is the Reventon Roadster. Lamborghini will build just 20. Even at more than $1.6 million (plus tax), we're pretty sure they have already sold out by this point. A 670-horse 6.5-liter V12 engine provides the action — 3.4 seconds to 62 mph and a top speed of 205 mph — while jet fighters inspire the visual drama. Einstein is required to reassemble the roof, though.

Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Some of us were all for inserting the limited-edition $231,000 911 Sport Classic into this list — what with the return of the ducktail, the Fuchs-like alloys and cool, light-gray paint. Trouble is, a) the ridiculous price, and b) the fact that it's parked next to the brand-new 911 GT3 RS. The GT3 RS on display is also gray, but with bright red accents, and stabs you in the eye from a distance. It will, without doubt, redefine the supercar track-day experience. The price tag buys 450 naturally aspirated horsepower, the world's biggest rear wing and, oh yes, dynamic engine mounts. We'll take three.

Aston Martin Rapide

The Aston Martin Rapide, seen in full production guise for the very first time here at Frankfurt, costs twice as much as the Porsche Panamera. But it is easily three or four times as elegant and proves that a 4-door supercar can actually look really, really good. It's lovely. With four "swan wing" doors and four full-size seats, it'll transport you and the concubines (or, indeed, the family) in superior style and comfort at speeds of up to 188 mph. Zero to 62 mph takes just 5.1 seconds, with power provided by Aston's hand-built 477-horse 6.0-liter V12 engine.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

OK, OK, so this is a concept or prototype, not a car ready for sale. But take a close look at that silhouette; the basic outline isn't as far-fetched as the twiddly bits might suggest. And neither is the underlying technology. Welcome the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics, the first ever 3-cylinder supercar. And it's a diesel. Even so, this turbocharged triple — essentially half a standard BMW straight six, likely appearing in a 3-Series soon — produces 163 ponies. Together with twin electric motors this is enough to accelerate the Vision as fast as an M3, while the 155 mph top speed is subject to electronic restraint.

Hamann Gallardo Victory

The Reventon Roadster not quite hairy enough for you? Or are you a Gallardo owner looking for a bit of the Reventon's jet-fighter feel but unable to quite stretch to the new roofless Reventon's massive price tag? Well, German tuner Hamann might have the answer to your prayers with its 500-plus-horsepower Victory upgrade package for the Gallardo. Known for its wild tuning packages and even wilder body-kit and paint-work conversions, Hamann's take on the Gallardo includes a roof scoop and "swan wing" doors to make up for the fact the baby Lambo doesn't get slick scissor doors like "real" Lambos. Jet-fighter warning stickers — including one saying "beware of blast" between the up-rated exhausts — finish the look.

Maserati GranCabrio

This is easily the most glamorous car on show at Frankfurt 2009. But even without seeing it in the metal, you can just tell it has been built to pose. It's a boulevard cruiser extraordinaire. It's the brand-new Maserati GranCabrio, and it is gorgeous. Yet it is also surprisingly practical. Based on the Maserati GranTurismo, the GranCabrio inherits that car's sultry curves and its genuinely spacious 4-seat interior. It's not necessarily one for the most committed of drivers — though it still packs a 470-horse 4.7-liter V8 engine — but we assure you, even going slowly this convertible will make you look superstar good.

 

Lotus Type-124

Why Type-124? Well, all Lotuses have a number, the Evora being the Type-122. The Type-123 — an as-yet-unannounced model under development — is likely to be the new Esprit. That leaves 124 for this new Lotus racer, which, apparently, is appropriate given that it will first compete in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, or the "industry Le Mans," as Lotus refers to it. From the waistline up, the Type-124 is recognizably Evora-based and all the more beautiful for it; this is one stunning racing car. So, does it hint at a forthcoming hotter Evora? We'll see, but race experience with the Type-124 could influence whether future, hotter Evoras use an Elise/Exige style supercharger or a capacity bump for extra power.

Frankfurt Auto Show 09: Top Cars That Won't Come to America

This year's Frankfurt Motor Show was quite an eye-opener. We saw plenty of highly efficient diesels, futuristic electric vehicles and plug-in electric hybrids, and even some spectacular supercars. The unveilings revealed more than just metal. They showed that the worldwide auto industry just might be making a comeback. Unfortunately for you Yanks, many of the vehicles uncovered in Germany will never leave Europe. So, we thought it would be nice to give you a view of what you will probably never be able to drive on your native soil. Cheers.

Citroen DS3

Fed up with the MINI? It's understandable if you are, for MINIs have pushed well past the boundaries of exclusivity. In Europe, it's even worse. So Citroen's DS3 could — and should — be the next logical step. It's idiosyncratic in all the good ways that Citroens used to be, the sort of left-field automobile that is always filled by a Saab in the movies. It's a similar size to the MINI, with personalization opportunities that go on as long as you have the patience to dig into the options list. Underneath, it's the new Citroen C3 supermini, but hey, who's looking?

Ford C-Max

This 2010 C-Max is Ford's offering in the sensible compact MPV segment. The original C-Max was the best driver out there, and this new model expands the concept by offering a long-wheelbase 7-seat option. Based on the Max concept seen at the Geneva salon last March, it has Ford's new high-efficiency, low-carbon-dioxide EcoBoost engines. And you will eventually be able to buy one of these, albeit in uglified Grand C-Max form, but not until 2011. Just don't expect the space you'd normally expect in a 7-seater.

Renault Zoe

Shocking, Renault showed four electric concept cars in Frankfurt. Zoe — cute name — is a compact, 4-seat supermini for short daily journeys in urban areas. It features scissor doors at the front and butterfly doors at the rear, a 70 kW motor for a 100 mile range, 21-inch alloy wheels and a retractable rear spoiler for greater aerodynamic efficiency. So what, I can hear you saying, it's a concept. True, but the technology is that shared with Nissan in its Leaf. And that's a car you will be able to buy in the U.S.

Volkswagen Scirocco R

R-rated (for "racing-rated") VWs have in recent years been blessed with a V6 engine that lately grew to 3.2 liters. This Scirocco R has to make do with a mere 2-liter four banger, but with turbocharging it pumps out 261 horsepower while offering better mileage than you could ever dream of with the V6. After a long period in hibernation, this latest Scirocco is the perfect solution for those who found the Audi TT too anodyne. The R version gets a styling makeover, with massive front air intakes, a rear roof spoiler and a zero-to-60-mph time of 6.4 seconds. It looks perfect.

Jaguar XJD

You won't have missed Jaguar's new luxury saloon, the 2010 XJ. Large and imposing, it tosses aside the old Jaguar design heritage in favor of a radical new blueprint. It looked simply great at Frankfurt, and is scheduled arrive in the U.S. in December. But what you won't get is the diesel version. This state-of-the-art unit produces 275 horsepower, which means that in the XJ's lightweight aluminum body it will reach 60 mph in six seconds flat and return 40 mpg. Best of all, it doesn't sound like a diesel.

MINI One Diesel

For some bizarre reason, no doubt best known to the BMW marketing department, you have not been able to buy a diesel version of the current MINI in base level trim. Hang on. Doesn't diesel equal better mileage, which equals saving money? Is anyone in at MINI? Well, apparently they are and now you can get a budget MINI in dirty-fuel form. Satisfied with the 50 mpg you get in your gas-powered MINI? Well, Europeans get an additional 20 mpg! There's a touch less power; 90 horsepower instead of 110 in the MINI Cooper D, but anything that helps turn in better mileage is welcome these days.

Kia Venga

Kia continues to have sales success, even though most of its small cars are confined to Europe and its domestic South Korean market. So important are these ultracompact cars in Europe that Kia has three in the same class — the Soul, the Rio and now the Venga. It boasts C-segment interior space on a B-segment footprint, all achieved by building it tall and installing a sliding rear seat. Every engine gets the stop-start fuel-saving technology that will surely come to every new car soon. You have to hand it to Kia. It bombards us with new models that get better every time. This one is even designed and built in Europe.

Weismann MF5

No apologies for once again including this iconic German brand in Cars You Can't Get. These meticulously engineered roadsters combine classic style with underpinnings that are state of the art. New for Frankfurt is the MF5. Powered by BMW's shock-and-awe 5-liter V10 engine, there is more than 500 horsepower at your right foot that translates into zero to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 195 mph. The base price is $275,000. Just 55 will be built.

Peugeot RCZ

Isn't it about time someone else built an Audi TT? Well, now Peugeot has and it's called the RCZ. The double bubble of the concept car is retained, so like the TT, this is a car that hasn't suffered much in the move from show star to production automobile. A touch smaller than the TT, the price reflects this, but it will surely be a fave with the fashionistas who care little about the lower levels of performance. With two trim permutations and a whole book of options, this is the automobile that Peugeot ought to bring to the States.

Porsche 911 Sport Classic

This one will make U.S. Porsche collectors green with envy. Imagine owning the 1973 911 2.7 RS (and they all do, believe me), then bringing it up to date. That's the Sport Classic. There are the imitation Fuchs alloy wheels, a ducktail spoiler and a double-bubble roof to free up more room for your crash helmet. It's a pastiche of the original, of course, a reworked Carrera S with a few more horses, special gray paintwork, a pair of stripes and a lovely interior. Just 250 are to be built and sold at not far short of twice the price of the base 911.

Technology in Radeon HD5870

When we first saw the Evergreen architecture demoed at Computex this past June, AMD was already riding high on the claim that its new RV870 architecture would be the first to support the new DirectX 11 API from Microsoft and that NVIDIA would be months behind them in execution.  Even if that is the case, AMD needs to prove to gamers and developers that DX11 is something WORTH having, and hopefully worth having before NVIDIA's responses are available.

AMD is proud of its architectural advancements and "firsts" as they like to call them including the introduction of GDDR3, GDDR4 and GDDR5 memory technologies as well as new process technologies like 65nm, 55nm and the now infamous 40nm from TSMC.  Technological firsts are great but only if they result in a better product than the competition; that didn't occur in every instance though.

computing workloads ARE changing and the advent of software technologies like OpenCL and DX Compute are going to be able to move more and more processing from solely running on the CPU to running on both the CPU and GPU more efficiently.  AMD continues to be in a great spot for this change, owning both a solid CPU solution in their Athlon and Phenom lines as well as the entire Radeon team.

Along with those changes in computing methods comes Microsoft's attempt to standardize GPU computing called DirectX Computer.  The new Radeon HD 500 series of parts will be the first to support new Shader Model 5 features and is already well on its way to becoming OpenCL 1.0 and possibly even 1.1 compliant.  And as this slide points out, in terms of raw compute power, the new Evergreen GPUs will have nearly triple the single precision floating point power compared to NVIDIA's current GT200 parts.

Where will that power go?  AMD is telling us, as are the individual developers, that DX11-based content is a lot closer than you think including titles that implement DX Compute!  You can see that some key titles like the new "Aliens vs Predator" and upcoming "Stalker" title will at least by using SOME kind of DirectCompute features.

There are other features that are being introduced with DirectX 11 that are interesting including a required tessellation engine, better texture compression and new multi-threaded performance advancements.  I know that many users will point to the lack of development for DX10 as a reason to simply shrug off DX11 but that likely won't be the case this time around.  The runtime for DX11 fully supports DX10 hardware and the new API will NOT be exclusive to Windows 7 - it will be ported to Vista sometime this year.

The new Shader Model 5.0 support includes new instructions that improve sample coverage information for pixel shaders, data fetches of sample values in single textures and more that will benefit game developers with applications for edge detection AA, faster shadow filtering and occlusion, etc.  There are TON of details on these new functions and their uses if you are interested a simple look around Google will net you more reading that you probably want to take on.

few games that were implementing DirectCompute 11 above and this list here tells us some of the areas those titles and other upcoming games will optimize for.  Obviously the sexiest answers are for physics, AI and ray tracing, though information isn't really abundant yet on any implementations of these potential advantages.  For example, it's likely that middle-ware companies will develop a DX Compute physics engine that will compete with NVIDIA's PhysX - that would great a great open-standard for GPU-accelerated physics going forward.

Even though tessellation has been a feature in AMD's GPUs since the days of the HD 3800, it has yet to be used in any meaningful way.  During our time with developers last week we heard from at least a couple that were excited about the benefits of a DirectX-based tessellation engine standard.

Tessellation allows developers to create additional geometry data with very little performance hit using dedicated hardware for the functionality.  In the image above you can see the base level wireframe of the Alien and Predator and then a tessellation-enhanced version on the right.  Clearly there is more detail in the Alien model that will smooth out the look of the character as the camera zooms in.

Order independent transparency allows for GPU-based calculations on the z-depth of different characters or sections of characters and thus allows for stacked transparent objects to be rendered more realistically than simple alpha blending.

Obviously the benefits of render post-processing are laid out here pretty plainly - effects like depth of field, motion blurs and smoothing could all benefit from this API advancement.  Think of it as the ability to run a Photoshop-style filter across the entire screen for each frame.

Ambient occlusion is a very computer-intensive task and render post processing provides another avenue for that image quality enhancement as well as creating shadows that are dynamic based on their physical relation to the subject.

As I mentioned before, AMD wants everyone to believe that DX11 will be relevant sooner rather than later so that their advantage with an earlier release of DX11-ready hardware is not wasted.  They offer up this exhibit: games coming out in the near future that utilize DX11 in some fashion.  Obviously the killer titles here are DiRT 2, STALKER and Aliens vs Predator, but how much of an advantage you get from DX11 on each of these titles has yet to be seen.
Luckily for AMD, the new Evergreen series of GPUs has more to stand on that just DirectX 11.

Superb ASUS EAH5870 CrossFire

ATI CrossfireX multi-GPU performance scaling of two the Radeon HD 5870 accelerators, which has been possible thanks to some generous, and speedy sample assistance by ASUS. Before you proceed, make sure you have finished reading the main review which has a broader scope on the accelerator, the technologies that go into making it, and a glittering photo-shoot.

Radeon HD 5870 performance..

AMD introduces two new cards: the ATI Radeon HD 5850 and the ATI Radeon HD 5870. A third product, called "ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity6 Edition" has also been announced but it is simply a HD 5870 with six DisplayPort outputs. If you were drooling to see the HD 5870 X2 launched today, then you'll have to wait a few more months.

All the new cards are based on AMD's "Cypress" graphics processor, which could be described as RV870 equivalent. But (at least for now) AMD has done away with calling their GPUs by the Ryxxx codenames and uses the engineering codenames and the graphics card product names only.

ATI Radeon HD 5870 DX11 Video Card Review

the most anticipated video cards of all time, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 5850! These are the world's first and only DirectX 11 graphics cards, and yes, they are out before Windows 7 or a DirectX 11 ready video game has even hit the market. Truth be told, AMD has WHQL certified drivers out for Windows 7 and the new Radeon HD 5000 series is a monster to say the least.

Many of you might be asking yourselves right now, how was AMD able to get out the world's first DirectX 11 graphics card before Intel or NVIDIA? Or you might be wondering how AMD was able to re-take the single card GPU performance crown without NVIDIA catching on? Well, the answer was to keep the 40nm manufacturing process the same and continue to squeeze the most out of the GDDR5 memory interface that AMD has been using now for four generations of graphics cards.  By keeping the pillars of the video card the same, AMD was able to focus on features and adding more transistors. It seems they have done a good job at that as they have more than doubled the number of transistors on the Radeon HD 5870 when compared to the Radeon HD 4870 graphics card. While doubling the performance usually means higher prices you can smile knowing that the Radeon HD 5870 is launching at $379 and the Radeon HD 5850 is at $259.

The design goals that the AMD engineers followed were provided to Legit Reviews and can be seen in the marketing slide above. Clearly the goal of the Radeon HD 5000 series was to add DirectX 11 support, but it also targeted the performance of the card and the goal was to double the performance level of the previous Radeon HD 4800 series of GPUs. If that goal wasn't already lofty enough they wanted to build upon the stream computing platform and add new features like ATI Eyefinity Technology and image quality enhancements. Basically, AMD had a fairly large wish list of features and improvements they wanted to make and was able to pull it off!

The end result is something like this: The ATI Radeon HD 5870 video card has over 2 TeraFlops of compute power thanks to 1600 stream processors running at a core clock speed of 850MHz.  The 1GB GDDR5 frame buffer running at 1200MHz is good enough for more than 150 GB/sec of memory bandwidth. Considering that the card has a max power draw of 188W and supports three display outputs (each at up to a screen resolution of 2560x1600), you find yourself with a graphics card that walks all over the ATI Radeon HD 4870.

The only negative is that the Radeon HD 5870 uses slightly more power at load, but for double the performance we are shocked that the difference is only 1.17x as the number of transistors more than doubled. When comparing the Radeon HD 5870 to the Radeon HD 4870 the difference between the two cards is impressive. The 150+ GB/sec GDDR5 memory interface is more than enough for most of your GPU reviews.

The ATI Radeon HD 5870 has 20 SIMD engines that each have 16 Thread Processors. A thread processor contains 5 stream cores, so this is how the Radeon HD 5870 has 1600 total stream processors. The GPU has a grand total of 80 Texture Units, which means that each Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) engine has 4 Texture Units available to it exclusively.

AMD awaiting OpenCL certification for Radeon HD 5800 series

 

Processor chip company Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has submitted details to the Khronos graphics industry group that it states show that its ATI graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture is compatible with OpenCL.

AMD said it is awaiting certification from Khronos, the industry body that was founded in 2000 to promote standard for graphics and media. The submission puts AMD closer to being the only semiconductor provider to offer both GPU and central processing unit (CPU) development environments for OpenCL, AMD claimed.

OpenCL, or Open Computing Language, is a framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms consisting of CPUs, GPUs, and other processors. OpenCL includes a language based on C99 for writing kernels and APIs to define access to other software. It is one of the candidate mechanisms to enable parallel processing on multicore processor ICs.

AMD said that its ATI Stream technology leverages OpenCL to help developers divide software workloads between the CPU and GPU for more efficient execution. AMD delivered a beta release of an OpenCL software development platform for x86-based CPUs on Aug. 5, 2009, which was certified conformant by Khronos on Sept. 3, 2009.

The ATI Stream SDK v2.0 for CPU and GPU software development using OpenCL is planned for release later this year, AMD said.

If AMD gets its certification it will be the first semiconductor manufacturer to offer both CPU and GPU with OpenCL support, the free standard that hopes to dethrone NVIDIA CUDA.

[Rumour] Nvidia may rebrand GT 200 parts to 300

perhaps Nvidia's harshest critic, reports that Nvidia is going to continue their notorious policy of rebranding GPUs between generations, yet again.

While the GT300 products are on schedule for a Q4 '09 launch and previews in September, the announced derivatives are nowhere to be seen. On the other hand, if all goes according to plan, ATI will have an entire generation of products - from entry level to dual-GPU monster - publicly available before Nvidia's GT300 hits stores.

The GT300 die is rumoured to have a massive die size in excess of 500 mm², much like the GT200. And like the GT200, once again, the derivatives are missing. It is worth noting that the GT200 derivatives were announced almost a year late - and are still awaiting widespread availability.
Take G80, for instance,it was a spectacular GPU back in 2006, when it took the graphics world by storm. Since then, it was shrunk from 90nm to 65nm in fall 2007 for another star performer - the G92 core. Branding confusions ensued, where the G80 based 8800 GTS ended up slower than both G92 products - 8800 GT and 8800 GTS (again, only differentiated by the memory sizes). A "next-generation" G92-based 9800 GTX was introduced, which ended up not much faster than the 8800 GTX. Then came the ATI's HD 4000 series - and the G92 was shrunk, once again, to 55nm G92b in summer 2008 - this time branded as 9800 GTX+, with clock speeds increased and prices cut to compete with ATI's mainstream HD 4850. By this time, the all-powerful flagship of 2006 was just a mainstream product. Fast forward to 2009, and Nvidia does it again - putting out a thermally improved 9800 GTX+ as GTS 250. By the middle of 2009, thanks to the HD 4770 launch and further price cuts of HD 4850 and HD 4870, the once invincible $800 product (8800 Ultra) was selling in the mid-range for $130, subsequently losing out on the price-performance battle. Unfortunately, many consumers assumed GTS 250 was a "next-generation" product, and sales remained strong. This is why Nvidia attracted harsh criticism from several enthusiasts.

As we head to DX11, ATI have an entire bunch of Evergreen cards releasing - and Nvidia have just the high-end performance parts. Their latest entry level 40nm parts may put up a fight, but they would be competing against ATI's improved DX11 entry level products. As reported by Jon Peddie Research, the GPU market has shifted more towards mainstream/entry-level products, while Nvidia have only the high-end GT300 launching any time soon. This creates a big void in the market for Nvidia, much like with GT200. What Charlie Demerjian is suggesting is that Nvidia will once again shrink/rebrand their favourite cores, like the G92b or the GT200b, to the GT 300 generation, to fill up the void.
What is worrying is, where will the G92b performance stand when ATI's Evergreen cards are rumoured to almost double performance over the previous generation? Let's hope Nvidia have unprecedented performance in store from their GT300 cards, come the previews in September, and they can rush in its derivatives no later than Q1 '10, and avoid needless rebrands. Let's also hope that they have learned from their mistakes and are not underestimating ATI's Evergreen parts. They simply can't afford to compete with dies half their size, which is what happened in the HD 4800 vs. GTX 200 battle.

The first and only GPU that supports DirectX 11, Windows 7

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today introduces the next generation of video cards: the HD5800 series. Equipped with the first and only GPU to support Microsoft DirectX® 11, the HD5800 will provide the ultimate gaming and Windows 7® experience.

The HD5800 series also supports ATI’s exclusive Eyefinity technology. Eyefinity maximizes your field of view across up to three displays; with dual DL-DVI / HDMI / Display Port onboard design, gamers can easily get lost in the action. Compatible with ATI Stream technology, users will be able to transcode videos from their PC’s to mobile media player in less time and with minimal effort.

PowerColor’s HD5800 series will include the HD5870 and HD5850. The HD5870 has an unparalleled 1600 stream processors, clocks in at 850MHz core speed and 1200MHz of memory speed; accelerating your PC with nearly 3 teraFLOPs of computing power. The HD5850, with its 1440 stream processors, 725MHz and 1000MHz GPU and memory clock speeds, respectively, is loaded with the latest features and technology for immersive computing.

DiRT2 Edition: Unleash DirectX® 11 gaming power through the world’s most powerful GPU
To deliver the latest DirectX® 11 gaming power, PowerColor announces a special bundle: the HD5800 DiRT2 Edition.

DiRT2 is a world tour of adrenaline-fuelled extreme off-road events in stunning real-world locations. With the support of DirectX® 11 technology, this latest game delivers the most realistic, immersive and exhilarating racing experience to gamers.

KONNET HDMI Cable Bundle: Bring you maximum HD Gaming Experience
To deliver life-like gaming experience, PowerColor bundles the HD5870 with KONNET’s FidelityHD standard HDMI cable and KONNET’s ExpressHD HDMI cable with the PowerColor HD5850. Both HDMI cables are version 1.3 and support 480i/p, 720i/p and 1080i/p high definition video display and digital audio, with 24K gold plated connectors to provide maximum conductivity and minimum data loss. The special duos are ready to bring you the ultimate HDTV experience.

The PowerColor HD5800 series lineups are available today at Newegg / NCIX / Komplette / RDC / Grosbill / Snogard / Mindfactory / Alternate / HOH / APP / Overclock / Ebuyer / Unitcom.

Anara Tower, arguably the most beautiful building in the world

Ranked no.9 tallest building in the world on coming 2020.

Dubai is already housing some of the most fascinating skyscrapers ever built on our planet. Be it Burj Dubai or Burj Al Arab, all the skyscrapers built in this part of the world are the best ever built by anyone. Here is another skyscraper, which too like some others in Dubai, will be ranked among the tallest man-made structures on Earth. Called the Anara Tower, it’s scheduled to be built next year.

Tameer unveils design of 'Anara' after intensive global design competition. Leading realty developer, Tameer Holding, will be unveiling the design of its 600 meter-plus, Sheikh Zayed Road skyscraper during this year's Cityscape in Dubai, following an intensive global design competition that brought several global offices of design firm, Atkins into competition against each other for the privilege of designing the landmark project.

CEO of Tameer, Ghassan Sakhnini, said the design of 'Anara' Tower represents the convergence of arts and culture in Dubai, in line with the firm's desire to produce a form that would be instantly recognizable on the local, regional and architectural scale.

'Like Dubai itself, great art comes from great vision. 'Anara' is not only a masterpiece in its own right, it is designed to enhance the well being of all residents and it is destined to become the most coveted address in Dubai.

  Based on current world rankings, the colossal mixed use project will be amongst the world's tallest structures and will comprise an extravagant mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom luxury apartments as well as palatial penthouses with at least one of the penthouses planned to include a private elevator and a private pool and will be the most valuable in the Middle East.

Hosting some of the world's finest shops, boutiques and purveyors of fine goods, Anara will be complemented with picturesque retail space customized in synergy with its intended Art Gallery.

Anara tower consists of 125 stories ,combining 300 branded apartments, 5 star boutique hotel with 250 rooms and luxury branded hotel apartments, 4 sky gardens, health spa, pool and sports courts. It is all equipped with opulent amenities with 168000 feet ².

This tower will conform to LEED certification requirements of at least silver rating, by maximizing water and energy efficiency and will also include some form of renewable energy generators for its monstrous power needs.