AMD Brings Next-Generation HD Gaming and Multimedia Features to the Mainstream

– ATI Radeon HD 5670 is the first graphics card with support for Microsoft DirectX 11 and ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology for under $1001 –


AMD introduced the ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card, the latest addition to the award-winning line-up of the world’s first and only graphics products to fully support Microsoft DirectX® 11 gaming and computing, as well as new innovations such as ATI Eyefinity technology. Priced at less than USD $1001 the ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card enables a superior HD gaming experience in the latest DirectX® 11 titles, employs ATI Stream technology to boost performance in video playback and productivity applications,2 and helps enable the full Microsoft Windows® 7 experience.

Big performance, small price: The ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card delivers up to 620 GigaFLOPS of compute power and GDDR5 memory, delivering unprecedented gaming performance for under USD $100 in the latest DirectX® 11 titles such as Codemaster’s Colin McRae™: DiRT® 2™, EA Phenomic’s BattleForge™, GSC Game World’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat™ and Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 as well as DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL titles. In some of today’s most popular games, the ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics processor showed a more than 20 percent performance improvement over the closest competing product in its class.3

Panoramic computing hits the mainstream: The latest in ATI Eyefinity technology enables up to three displays to be used with a single ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card4, delivering the most immersive gaming experience with a graphics card for under $100.

Accelerate with ATI Stream technology: ATI Stream technology speeds up video transcoding and improves video playback performance with applications such as Adobe Flash, and helps to deliver video enhancements that produce better visual quality with sharper, more vibrant images.2

“AMD recently celebrated the shipment of its two millionth DirectX 11 graphics chip. AMD has already enabled DirectX® 11 support for the majority of the PC market and today’s introduction of the ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card is yet another clear indication of AMD’s commitment to address the strong market demand for DirectX 11-capable graphics cards,” said Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Group. “Combined with the successful launches of the ATI Radeon™ HD 5970, ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 series and ATI Radeon™ HD 5700 series, AMD has defined the DirectX 11 gaming experience like no other, bringing graphics innovations like ATI Eyefinity technology and ATI Stream technology to millions of consumers worldwide.”

“DICE prides itself on delivering the best possible experience to gamers, and ATI Radeon™ graphics cards help us to do that with Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 through the use of DirectX® 11 and our Frostbite engine,” said Johan Andersson. “The fact that AMD has now shipped two million DirectX® 11 graphics processors demonstrates how excited gamers are by the awesome performance and feature set of the latest ATI Radeon™ products.”
Supporting Resources
Pictures: See photos of the ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 graphics card, on Flickr
Product page: ATI Radeon™ graphics product information

Product page: Discover a new realm of panoramic computing with ATI Eyefinity technology

Video: It’s so easy to upgrade your PC’s graphics, even a monkey can do it· Video: See the performance difference DirectX® 11 makes in EA Phenomic’s BattleForge™, on YouTube
Video: Game developers share their thoughts on DirectX® 11, on YouTube
Learn more about DirectX® 11: See the difference it can make, on AMD GAME!
Twitter: Follow AMD graphics news on Twitter at @ATIGraphics
Facebook: Become a fan of AMD technology on Facebook
About AMD

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and technology partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home and play. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, ATI, the ATI logo, Radeon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
1. SEP of ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 512 MB is USD $95.

2. ATI Stream technology works with applications that have been specifically encoded to take advantage of its features and functionality.

3. In games including FEAR (4xAA, 8xAF), Unreal Tournament 2 (4xAA, 8xAF), Prey (4xAA, 8xAF), Riddick - AoDA [4xAA 8xAF], Chronicles of Riddick AoDA (no settings; 4xAA, 8xAF; 8xAA, 16xAF), ET: Quake Wars [4xAA 8xAF], World in Conflict (no settings; 4xAA, 8xAF; 8xAA, 16xAF), Devil May Cry 4 (no settings; 4xAA, 8xAF; 8xAA, 16xAF) and Battleforge(no settings; 4xAA, 8xAF; 8xAA, 16xAF), the ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics card delivers game performance that is at least 20% faster than the competition. Based on internal testing, using AMD Phenom X3 8650 processor (B3 2.3 GHz), Gigabyte MA790GP/ASUS M3N-HT DLX motherboard, 2GB DDR2-800 (timings 5-5-5-12), Windows 7 RTM x64, ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics, 1GB GDDR5 775e/1000m, 8.69 ATI driver or Nvidia GT 240 512 MB GDDR5 550e/1340sc/850m, 195.55 Beta driver. All benchmark data based on 1680x1050 resolution.

4. To enable more than two displays you require one or more panels with a DisplayPort connector or an active DisplayPort adapter. The number of attachable monitors will vary based on model and operating system.

Full Tilt Poker's FTOPS XIV Starts Today

- Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Offers More Than $16 Million in Guaranteed Prize Money Over 25 Pro-Hosted Events


FTOPS XIV, the fourteenth running of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series,begins today, Wednesday November 4th. Featuring 25 pro-hosted events, FTOPS XIV offers more than $16 million in total guaranteed prize money. There are six events that will guarantee at least $1 million in prize money:

- Event #1, a $200 + $16 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em tournament with $1 million guaranteed, starting at 21:00 ET on Wednesday, November 4th

- Event #10, a $300 + $22 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em tournament with $1.5 million guaranteed, starting at 18:00 ET on Sunday, November 8th

- Event #12, a $1,000 + $60 No-Limit Hold 'em 6-max tournament with $1.5 million guaranteed, starting at 21:00 ET on Monday, November 9th

- Event #17, a $300 + $22 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em 6-max Rebuy tournament with $1 million guaranteed, starting at 21:00 ET on Wednesday, November 11th

- Event #22, the $2,500 Two-Day Event, a No-Limit Hold 'em tournament with a $2 million guarantee, with antes from the start, beginning at 14:00 ET on Saturday, November 14th

- The FTOPS Main Event, a massive No-Limit Hold 'em tournament with $2.5 million guaranteed, starting at 18:00 ET on Sunday, November 15th View the full schedule at

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/promotions/full-tilt-online-poker-series/schedule.php .

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

Two new events have been added to FTOPS XIV. Event #2 is a 7-Game tournament at 14:00 ET on November 5th, designed to test all-around poker skills. Event #18 is a cashout tournament at 14:00 ET on November 12th, giving players the option to cash out their chips while the tournament is still running. Each event offers a guaranteed prize pool of at least $150K.

Buy-in to either tournament directly for $200 + $16 or satellite into any FTOPS event for as little as $0.50 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

FTOPS XIV precedes MiniFTOPS, which will feature the same 25 FTOPS XIV events at only 1/10th of the buy-in. More than $3 million in guaranteed prize money will be won when MiniFTOPS runs between December 9th - December 20th.
See the full MiniFTOPS schedule at
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/mini-full-tilt-online-poker-series/schedule .

To learn more about FTOPS XIV, go to http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/full-tilt-online-poker-series-gateway .
About Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker(TM) is the host of a worldwide virtual poker cardroom service. It is not in the business of betting or wagering and does not participate in the games as a player. It merely provides a service to those

who wish to test their skills against others for fun, prizes or money. It is duly regulated and licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and in the United Kingdom by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. With innovative graphics, superior customer service and a safe, secure interface, the software is geared to enhance and personalize the online poker experience.

Although virtual poker is legal where the games are hosted and played, it may not be legal where individual players are located. Players at all skill levels may download the software at www.fulltiltpoker.com but it is their responsibility to determine if participating in the games is permitted under the laws of the jurisdiction where they are located.

EA hooks Playfish, cuts jobs

       Electronic Arts plans to cut its workforce by 17% as it tries to align its business with a transforming video game industry.
       The company announced the lay-offs of 1,500 people just hours after it said it would pay at least $275 million to buy Playfish Inc, a maker of social online games popular on Facebook, MySpace and the iPhone. The lay-offs are expected to save about $100 million a year.
       "We are focusing on what works and what matters," chief financial officer Eric Brown said in an interview.
       Digital content makes up about 12%of EA's revenue. But it's growing, while industry sales from packaged video games are on the decline.
       The cuts are in addition to the 1,100 jobs the company already slashed this year as part of a restructuring plan to shift focus to hit games.
       On Monday, EA posted a net loss of $391 million, or $1.21 a share, in the fiscal second quarter, wider than the loss of $310 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier.
       The company behind games such as "Madden NFL 10" and "The Beatles:Rock Band" reported net sales of $788 million in the July-September period,down 12% from the same time a year earlier.
       These results only paint a partial picture of how EA performed during the quarter. When counting deferred revenue from packaged games with online components and games that are completely digital, EA reported adjusted earnings of $19 million, or 6 cents per share. That is up from an adjusted loss of $20 million a year earlier, and it compares with average analyst estimates of 7 cents per share.
       With the acquisition of the two-yearold start-up, Playfish, EA is diving further into the lucrative world of social online games, which tens of millions of people play on Facebook, MySpace, the iPhone and other platforms.
       Broadpoint Amtech analyst Ben Schachter said games on social networks "are a dynamic space, and the deal suggests EA sees a big potential for this market."

New PS3 streaming service

       Sony and Netflix announced last week that PlayStation 3 owners will soon be able to use the console to stream movies and TV shows to their television sets or computers.
       Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. and the movie rental company said the new service would launch next month and would be provided at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States.
       Netflix and Microsoft reached a similar deal more than a year ago involving the US software giant's Xbox 360 videogame consoles.
       Netflix, which lets members download films over the Internet or mails DVDs to their homes, has more than 11 million US subscribers.
       Sony has sold 9 million PS3 game consoles in the US and the PS3 last month captured the top spot in game console sales for the first time, according to industry tracker NPD.
       "The PlayStation 3 system has always been about more than just gaming,"Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton said.
       "It will soon be the only platform in the industry to offer consumers such a variety of convenient options for enjoying movies and TV shows," he added in a statement.
       Netflix co-founder and chief executive Reed Hastings said the Sony agreement was in line with the company's strategy of making the movie rental service available on more devices.

Makers target smartphones

       Tetsuya Ide doesn't own an iPhone,but the teenage computer boffin is betting that Apple's hit gadget is the key to having a new generation of video game players in the palm of his hand.
       He's not the only one. Video game console titans Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are facing growing competition from the increasing popularity of games played on mobile telephones or Internetenabled gizmos.
       "A game's creativity used to depend on the hardware," said Ide, a 19-yearold computer programming student who is developing an iPhone game as part of his studies.
       "A successful game now is one that's simple and reaches a wide network of people," he told AFP at last weekend's Tokyo Game Show.
       Major industry players have also begun to recognise the potential of smartphones as a springboard to reach casual gamers,due to the runaway popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch, both of which debuted two years ago.
       "Cellphones are a very promising platform," said Kazumi Kitaue, chief executive of Konami Digital Entertainment,publisher of video games including the Metal Gear and Silent Hill series.
       "The appeal is that everyone owns one. A family with three children may have one PlayStation 3, but three cellphones with which they can download and play games," he said.
       Making games for mobile phones also enables developers to reduce costs in the face of the worst global economic downturn in decades.
       "They won't have to spend a great deal of money and effort developing new software," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Enterbrain Inc., a video game magazine publisher.
       "They'll be able to capture a client base through the iTunes store," he added,referring to Apple's portal for downloading music and games.
       With their high-resolution images,role-playing games for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 consoles often demand budgets comparable to those of Hollywood blockbusters, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
       In contrast, a cellphone game can cost just a few thousand dollars to develop.
       Media Magic, a company that develops games for Japanese cellphones, is among those firms that seek a bright future for games for the iPhone.
       "We saw the iPhone as a threat in the beginning. But since the same device is used all over the world there is greater opportunity for a bigger market," said Mitsuru Oshibo, a content developer with the firm.

Video games to be classified

       The Culture Ministry plans to send draft legislation on video game ratings to the cabinet for approval before adding it to the 2008 Film and Video Act.
       Minister Teera Slukpetch yesterday said the draft had been modified by the Council of State to divide games into seven categories based on users' age groups.
       "The new draft is aimed at controlling improper and violent video games from being distributed in the country and,importantly, to limit players' ages," Mr Teera said.
       Film and Video Classification Office director Pradit Prosil said distribution of game content that damaged the country's image and reputation or opposed good moral conduct was banned.

10 games you can count on

       A slew of top-notch titles are slated for release this season, writes Seth Schiesel in New York
       There is no way to sugarcoat it: the 2009 holiday season appears to have the weakest lineup of bigbudget titles in the last several years.
       But that is not necessarily a bad thing.In recent years many game publishers have been far too enamoured of the idea that a big game can succeed only if released after Labor Day. The problem has been that so many major games were being released within weeks of one another that excellent games sometimes went unnoticed.
       Now publishers are wising up, realising that a top game can generate wordof-mouth buzz and sustainable sales over many months, if not years. That makes the holiday season a bit less important, which is why publishers have been content to let a raft of major titles originally slated for late 2009 slip into 2010. And besides, it is going to be difficult for any game this holiday season to compete in popularity with the commercial monster known as The Beatles:Rock Band .(By the way, the scheduled lineup for next year, beginning in January, is stellar, and 2010 may well go down as the best year ever in gaming.)
       That said, dozens of top-notch games are scheduled for release this fall, with titles aimed at children, adults and players of all skill levels. They range from casual diversions to ultraimmersion virtual realities that can easily occupy hundreds or thousands of hours.
       Here, then, in alphabetical order, are 10 games to watch for this fall.
       Aion
       World of Warcraft has been dominant in online role-playing for so many years (coming up on five) that it may be difficult to imagine that another game could steal a significant number of Warcraft players. Certainly the contenders have come and, mostly, gone.Aion has the best chance yet; its fantasy environments look far better than Warcraft 's, and the gameplay is solid.
       Released September 22 by NCsoft for Microsoft Windows.
       Assassin's Creed II
       The first Assassin's Creed set the player as a killer in the Middle East during the Crusades. The sequel is set in Renaissance Italy. Entire cities, including Venice and Florence, will be at players' disposal to explore and exploit as they wish,hiding and sneaking before striking from the shadows.
       To be released Nov.17 by Ubisoft for PS3, Windows and 360.
       Borderlands
       It can be hard to trust a game that goes through a major redesign midway through its development, as Borderlands did. But I'm a sucker for any postapocalyptic combat simulation that gives me millions of possible gun configurations to play with. To be released Oct.20 by 2K Games for Sony's PlayStation 3, Windows and Microsoft's Xbox 360.
       Brutal Legend
       The Beatles are nice, but sometimes you want to rock out to something a bit harder.Brutal Legend is the story of a heavy-metal roadie (voiced by Jack Black) who winds up in a hair-band fantasy land. Unlike Rock Band or Guitar Hero , this is not actually a music game but an action-adventure romp with a hard-rock theme (including more than 100 heavy-metal songs in the soundtrack).
       To be released Oct.13 by Electronic Arts for PS3 and 360.
       Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
       Without question the most anticipated title of the fall for core gamers,Modern Warfare 2 is expected to succeed its predecessor as the most sophisticated and intense yet accessible digital rendition of today's battlefields. Of course it's still a game, but Modern Warfare 2 ,set largely in Central Asia, is meant to get players as close to the action as possible without actually strapping on a flak jacket.
       To be released Nov.10 by Activision for PS3, Windows and 360.
       Dead Space: Extraction
       This prequel to last year's gory, bileinducing survival-horror hit Dead Space is coming only to Nintendo's usually family-oriented Wii console. That is a bold, impressive choice for Electronic Arts, the game's publisher; the Wii needs more games for adults, and Extraction is quite welcome in that vein, so to speak.
       To be released Sept.29.
       DJ Hero
       With all the attention being paid to The Beatles: Rock Band ,DJ Hero is set to hit store shelves under the radar. It won't stay there for long. There are millions of music fans out there who happen to prefer hip-hop and dance music to classic guitar rock. Activision has brought in big-time talent like Eminem, Jay-Z and DJ AM, who died last month, to consult on the game,which features a mock turntable controller.
       To be released Oct.27 for PlayStation 2, PS3, Wii and 360.
       Dragon Age: Origins
       There aren't a lot of old-school singleplayer fantasy role-playing games around anymore. Anyone who hankers for the days of Ultima Bard's Tale Might & Magic and Baldur's Gate will almost certainly have to play Dragon Age , which is being developed by the role-playing royalty at BioWare .Get ready to hack, slash and start throwing magical fireballs around.
       To be released by Electronic Arts on Nov.3 for Windows and 360 and later that month for PS3.
       New Super Mario Bros. WII
       Few games require less introduction than Super Mario Bros . This version,however, will be the first to allow multiple players at the same time. That alone should make the game worth buying.After all, how could you own a Wii and ignore Mario ?To be released sometime between October and year's end by Nintendo for the Wii.
       Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box
       Perhaps the most cerebral game on this list, the new Professor Layton is the sequel to one of last year's sleeper hits,Professor Layton and the Curious Village .At their core the games are simply a collection of dozens of brainteasers,riddles and puzzles. But their charm stems from their woodblock-style art direction and quirky storytelling.
       Released last month for the Nintendo DS hand-held console.