Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today launched AMD GAME!, a program aimed at providing "a better experience for the mainstream (core) gamer" by helping to educate them on buying a PC that's capable of playing today's games. The program, separate from the PC Gaming Alliance, has a lot of support from hardware makers and retailers. We talked with AMD Gaming Strategist Brent Barry to get a better understanding of the program.

They're the ones featuring atrocious fantasy box art which tries to create a link between the cutting-edge graphics card inside and some poorly rendered ice queen, wolf-man and/or wizard grasping a glowing bauble. Alright, so that doesn't narrow it down in the slightest -- you'll have to look out for AMD's new ATI Radeon HD cards by their general model numbers (38XX) and their pleasing price tags ($179 - $219).

Recent tests place the DirectX 10.1-compliant Radeons slightly behind Nvidia's latest budget solution, the GeForce 8800 GT, though they compare favorably with other mid-range cards. Reviewers also seemed to like the series' 55nm chipsets and the resulting reduction in both heat and noise. If you're wondering how well these cards respond to Crysis situations, peer past the break for a comprehensive set of benchmark links.

[Via Engadget]

The Merc reports about a federal antitrust probe -- the best kind of probe -- into the graphics-card industry. Nvidia and ATI -- through recent buyer AMD -- have been served with subpoenas asking for company documents that go back to the late '90s. The Justice Department wants records about "customers, product lines, competition, pricing of products, prices of competitors' products, market studies, and product volumes," according to Nvidia mouthpiece Michael Hara, as quoted in the article.

The feds haven't described the exact nature of the investigation and haven't made any allegations, saying only that it relates to "anti-competitive practices." But the probe is most likely about collusion and price-fixing between graphics card companies. Basically, competing companies agree to set similar price points, keeping them artificially high, while limiting the affect of market forces to lower prices.

Could this mean the beginning of the end of $600 -- or more -- enthusiast graphics cards? Have console prices been (slightly) higher because of artificial GPU costs? As consumers, we can only hope, but it'll take many months before we learn if the companies broke any laws.

After some initial rumblings that indicated otherwise, AMD has reaffirmed their desire to attach the ATI brand to several of their forthcoming product lines. "The ATi name will live on at AMD as our leading consumer brand, and so will the Radeon brand and other ATi product brands," says spokesperson Eric DeRitis. "AMD's executive management knows very well the power and value of branding, and ATi's branding is some of the most valued in the global technology industry. As such, we plan to keep it. Period."

The nature of the products to be branded as such have yet to be fully disclosed, but already AMD is hinting at providing more integrated graphics solutions. Indeed, the branding may become especially vital when faced with the widespread (and arguably correct) perception that "integrated graphics" is merely a shorter term for referring to that worthless piece of tech that came with your computer and can barely push two frames per second in the latest Tiger Woods game. According to their marketing manager for Europe, AMD sees integrating graphics acceleration directly into the CPU as the next logical step.

"So, in much the same way as a floating point unit is now integrated into the processor, I would expect to see joint single pieces of silicon for certain specialist markets too." Richard Baker restrains the idea a bit, though, and says that AMD won't "integrate some steaming great big quad-core CrossFire engine into a CPU; that would be crazy. But if you're looking at entry level parts for emerging markets, where a very simple GPU could be integrated, then that could be possible."

The true fallout of the AMD/ATI deal will likely become most evident once the new product lines show up which, if Baker is to be believed, could happen as early as next year.

Read - AMD stays hand over ATI brand axe
Read - AMD hints at integrated graphics and physics acceleration in CPUs

Previously:

• AMD to buy ATI for $5.4 billion
• Nvidia on ATI: "basically throwing in the towel"
• ATI responds to Nvidia, clears up post-takeover rumors

Not too long after Nvidia CEO, Jen Hsun-Huang, described AMD's purchase of ATI as a "gift" and as a sign of their main competitor "throwing in the towel," comes this retort from the newly formed CPU-GPU monster:

"The PC market is a tough place to be without any friends. ATI now has all the resources of AMD behind it, and will be producing faster, more compact GPUs and reaching the channel more effectively than ever before. Nvidia's words are bravado, designed to confuse the market while the company tries to find a way to compete now that it's standing alone."

Oh my, such comments are in desperate need of thermal paste and an officially endorsed heatsink and fan combination! Or, um, burn. While Nvidia is hardly "alone" in the market, the point ATI makes is not entirely without merit. In a considerably competitive hardware market, combining resources and technology couldn't easily be labeled as a terrible strategy and certainly not as a white flag flapping in the wind. Both companies have valid points -- we'll see which is more convincing once they start releasing their next generation of wares.

The rest of AMD's response is aimed at several rumors that have cropped up since the original takeover announcement. They pledge to remain committed to GPUs and to support graphics solutions on Intel platforms, rubbishing the suggestion that Intel is revoking ATI's license. Perhaps that's where Nvidia and ATI can agree: having a strange PC hardware format war would be unpleasant for all parties involved.

[Via Voodoo Extreme, thanks devian!]

In the aftermath of AMD's acquisition of ATI, ZDnet blogger Jason O'Grady ponders Apple's next move with regards to graphics chips. While this isn't an issue for the MacBook and Mini product lines (both use the dreaded integrated graphics solution), the iMacs and MacBook Pros currently use the ATI Radeon X1600, while the Power Mac G5s ship with an Nvidia GeForce 6600.

Should Intel sever its ties with ATI, where would this leave the Intel Macs, including the forthcoming Mac Pros (rumored to be switching back to ATI)? Over the past year, it seems Mac gamers have been in an endless state of confusion with the CPU transition, Rosetta and Universal binary technologies, the introduction of Boot Camp, and now a potential GPU change.

What are your thoughts on the future of Mac gaming? Should Apple continue offering solutions from both graphics providers, and are Jobs and Co. doing enough to promote the Mac as a gaming platform?

It seems that graphics powerhouse Nvidia is reacting rather well to news of AMD scooping ATI off the corporate shelf and filling in coupons to the value of $5.4 billion at the checkout counter. Speaking to BusinessWeek Online, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang described the purchase as a "gift", presumably whilst reclining in a henhouse, sipping cocktails and counting objects of some kind. He went on to say that ATI was "throwing in the towel, leaving us as the only stand-alone (graphics chip) company in the world." Of course, not being a stand-alone graphics chip company hasn't stopped Intel from competing in that market, so perhaps winning the "who can be the last stand-alone company" competition isn't all that important.

More importance can be found in the repercussions of such a large purchase. There are concerns that AMD's debt-to-capital ratio might take a turn for the worse after the company took out a $2.5 billion term loan to cover some of the purchase. Intel and Nvidia's chummy relationship may also prove to be a stumbling block should ATI's graphics chips ever be locked out of Intel machines. Still, AMD cautiously considers the potential benefits, such as major cost reductions and an entry point into the Intel-dominated laptop arena, to be worth the price and effort.

Mr. Huang's expectations may turn out to be accurate in the long run, but in an industry that was once ruled by 3dfx Interactive (remember Glide?), anything can happen.

CNET has heard from "a reliable source" that Dell has indeed bought Alienware, the high-end PC vendor.

It's obvious that Dell wants a bigger piece of the PC gaming pie, considering their XPS line of systems and the fact that hardcore gamers are willing to pay a pretty price to eke out higher framerates and screen resolutions.

The question is whether Dell was actually willing to buy its way into gaming credibility and if it would move the company into the realm of AMD-powered game/workstations or not. More word when we have it.

[Via CNET, Evil Avatar]