Valve Inflicts European Gamers with $1 = آ€1 Equation
At the time of preparing this report, US $1.42 makes a Euro. Here's what Valve seems to be pricing its games and those of its affiliates on the Steam platform as: $1 = €1, ignoring exchange rates, meaning that if a product costs say $20 on Steam, you will be charged €20 (approximately $27.86), if you are buying from the EU. Several game titles have been priced in this fashion. Call of Duty 4, priced at US $49.99 ($59.4 after applicable taxes) is tagged at €49,99 ($70 before applicable taxes).
In reaction to this, disgruntled European gamers have started protesting this move by Valve on online forums, an example of which can be found on Valve's own Steam Users' Forums. Also found on the same board is a user group named 1€ ≠ 1$. Certain groups have even started reporting this to the European Commission Consumer Cell. The gamers allege that they have been given a largely unfair pricing scheme with products on the Steam platform, that violates trade laws. The Steam platform serves gamers from around the world with a common platform to purchase games, and coordinates multiplayer gaming and updates. An unhappy consumer base from one of the largest markets in the world could certainly impact on its revenues.
Source: Tweakers.net
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(PR) NVIDIA Ion Platform Energizes Atom Into A Premium PC Experience
NVIDIA is poised to energize the PC market by transforming Atom PCs into a premium experience found today in higher priced laptops and desktops. NVIDIA will supercharge the fastest-growing segments of the PC market آ– netbooks, small form factor and all-in-one PCs آ– by enabling these products to play rich media and popular games in high definition. At the same time, the Ion Platform will create new and exciting premium PCs that fit in the palm of your hand.
The formula is simple: Combine the highly rated GeForce 9400 GPU found in new desktop and notebook PCs with the Intel Atom CPU. This combination (code-named Ion Platform) enables the smallest premium PC experience available today, making it ideal for the exploding category of mini-notebooks and compact PCs.
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(PR) Sapphire Introduces ATOMIC Edition HD 4870 X2
Bringing the highest levels of graphics and gaming performance ever seen in the PC, SAPPHIRE Technology - the leading innovator of ATI-based graphics solutions - is now introducing the amazing single slot, liquid cooled ATOMIC Edition of its HD 4870 X2.
Featuring a closed loop liquid cooled system, the SAPPHIRE HD 4870 X2 ATOMIC brings workstation class cooling to the PC, enabling faster clock speeds and quieter operation - and delivering the fastest graphics performance ever seen in a single slot solution. Both GPU’s in the SAPPHIRE HD 4870 X2 ATOMIC are clocked at 800MHz and each has 1GB of DDR5 memory clocked at 1000MHz, making a total of 2GB of memory on board. The streamlined single slot cooler assembly on the graphics card evenly cools both GPU’s and their associated memories - enabling this dual graphics system to run with a high level of stability even when delivering the highest levels of performance - currently the fastest PC graphics available.
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(PR) SPARKLE Introduces GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB Graphics Card For Mainstream PC Gamers
SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today proudly introduced the SPARKLE GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB Graphics Card, with incredible large 1GB GDDR3 video memory, it takes gaming graphic beyond anything that's ever been possible before on a mainstream consumer computing platform.
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(PR) Thermaltake Launches the Xaser S1000 Notebook Cooler
Introducing Thermaltake Technology's top of the line product, Xaser Series Notebook Cooler. Designed with trendy and contemporary style, Xaser S1000 structures and coated with aluminum extrusion materials. It's ergonomic and elevation construction brings visual comfort; reduce eye-strain, and reducing typing discomfort.
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(PR) Corsair Launches 850 Watt Power Supply for Gamers and PC Enthusiasts
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the launch of the Corsair TX850W power supply unit (PSU), the latest addition to the award-winning TX-series of high-quality PSUs.
The TX850W has been designed by Corsair and engineered to meet the demanding requirements of PC enthusiasts, creative professionals and gamers. It is built using Industrial Grade components to ensure clean and stable voltages, and has been qualified to operate at 100% load at an ambient temperature of 50آ؛C for unmatched reliability.
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ATI Catalyst 8.12 Hotfix Released - Corrects Radeon HD 4850 CrossFire X Mode in Vista
ATI programmers have released a hotfix that corrects the black screen and boot OS failure when Catalyst 8.12 is installed on Windows Vista, and two or more ATI Radeon HD 4850 video cards are working in CrossFire X mode. This issue only occurs when two or more ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphic cards are installed in the system with ATI CrossFireX technology. One single ATI Radeon HD 4850 card will not encounter this issue. To download the hotfix for both Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit, please click here.
Source: AMD/ATI
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(PR) OCZ Intros 2000MHz Triple Channel Blade Series Memory Kits for Intel Core i7
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today introduced the Blade Series Triple Channel Memory kit, the latest maximum-performance RAM designed specifically for the Intel Core i7 processor / Intel X58 Express Chipset. At DDR3-2000 CL 7-8-7, the Blade Series harnesses industry-leading speeds at the low voltage required to safely run Core i7's triple channel mode. With the ideal combination of all the factors that formulate the ultimate memory solution- density, speed, latency, and an effective new cooling design-the Blade 2000 kit is guaranteed to please enthusiasts looking to take the hottest Intel platform to new heights.
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(PR) CoolIT Releases Domino Liquid Cooling System
CoolIT Systems announces Domino Advanced Liquid Cooling (ALC) that offers the technological advantages employed by high-end liquid cooling solutions of superior performance, quiet protection and years of maintenance-free operation that cannot be achieved by similarly priced heat sink/fan combinations. The unprecedented integrated status display and controls provide users with the ability to easily switch between multiple operation modes satisfying the need for quiet or the desire for overclocking performance.
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Creative Releases Version 2.18.0008 Sound Blaster X-Fi Driver
Creative updated drivers for its Sound Blaster X-Fi series sound cards to version 2.18.0008. The driver covers all X-Fi series sound cards based on the CA-20K series audio processors, that includes the X-Fi Titanium Series, Xtreme Gamer Series, Xtreme Music, Platinum and Elite Pro. The new drivers add to the capabilities of the sound card in a Windows Vista environment, notably Dolby Digital and DTS decode for certain models, a feature that was lost in the transit between Windows XP and Vista. DVD-Audio playback for models which included the MediaSource DVD-Audio Player application has been re-established as a feature in 32-bit Windows Vista.
Fixes relating to issues such as audio popping/crackling during AC-3, PCM or Dolby Digital through digital outputs of the card, have been brought about. The driver also fixes erratic CMSS-3D behaviour in the Audio Creation mode. The driver can be downloaded from Creative Worldwide Support website.
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(PR) VIA Announces Trinity High-Def Platform
VIA Technologies, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced a powerful new 3-chip silicon platform that brings HD performance to ultra compact systems for a far richer user experience.
While desktop PCs, notebooks and embedded devices are getting smaller and thinner, demands on system resources are growing by the day, with higher definition video content, richer Internet resources and increasingly complex image manipulation requiring more powerful processing, video and graphics capabilities. Codenamed "VIA Trinity", the new platform meets all these performance requirements using much less board real estate than traditional 4-chip platforms, yet still within a comparably low power envelope.
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SilverStone Out With Low-Profile LGA 775 Cooler
With the introduction of the LGA 775 socket around half a decade ago, Intel introduced its very familiar stock cooler whose design remained essentially the same across generations of processors on the same socket. Intel however, later introduced changes to the size of those coolers with some of its 45nm Core 2 processors, along with other entry-level chips. SilverStone worked out a LGA 775 cooler, the NT07-775, that resembles it, albeit its design methodology circles around being low-profile capable, measuring 93 mm x 36.5 mm x 93 mm (W, H, D).
SilverStone suggests this cooler specifically for 45nm dual-core processors. Its construction is similar to that of the Intel stock cooler. It consists of a copper-embedded central contact base from which forked aluminum fins project radially in a somewhat spiral fashion. The 90mm fan rotates in speeds between 1200 and 1800 rpm and has a rated noise output between 15 and 23 dBA depending on the speed. The cooler will be available in January at a price of 20 EUR.
Source: TechConnect Magazine
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(PR) Scythe Announces Christmas 2008 Survey
Scythe EU GmbH looks back on a successful year 2008. We have to owe this success to YOU, our customers. Without the confidence in our products, such a positive development would not have been possible.
Since there is always cause for criticism, we as a manufacturer try to detect and fix problems as early as even possible being in constant dialogue with distributors, resellers and consumers. Only through constant informational exchanges, it is possible to achieve our efforts to implement new ideas effectively and to develop innovative products with superior quality.
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(PR) Apple Announces Its Last Year at Macworld
Apple announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year's Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple's last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco's Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.
Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.
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GeForce GTX 295 Preview Suggests Aggressive Pricing
The newest lineup of high-end graphics accelerators by NVIDIA includes the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295. The accelerator features two 55nm G200b GPUs featuring 240 stream processors each, along with a memory sub-system of 896 MB across a 448-bit wide GDDR3 memory bus per GPU. The reference clock speeds are 576 MHz (core), 1242 MHz (shader) and 999 MHz, 1998 MHz DDR (memory).
Guru3D previewed the accelerator. While the notion that this will be the fastest accelerator only gains ground with the preview, the most interesting part of it was in the first page: the street price. The preview suggests a street price of US $499. That's $50 less than the $549 the Radeon HD 4870 X2 asked for, at launch. This indicates that NVIDIA will carry forward its aggressive pricing to counter ATI.
Image Courtesy: Guru3D
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NVIDIA Updates PhysX System Software
NVIDIA slipped in an update to the PhysX System software, version 8.11.18. The piece of software serves as a backbone to the PhysX API, and is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit variants of Windows XP and Windows Vista. It provides hardware acceleration of PhysX with Ageia PhysX cards and graphics accelerators based on the NVIDIA GeForce 8 series, GeForce 9 series (with at least 256 MB of memory) and GeForce GTX 200 series. The software has been signed on 18 November, and is yet to replace version 8.10.29 from NVIDIA's software download portal.
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA PhysX System Software 8.11.18.
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(PR) Toshiba Launches Industry's First 512GB Solid State Drives Using 43nm MLC NAND
Toshiba Corporation today announced the expansion of their line up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) with the industry's first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte (GB) SSD and a broad family of fast read/write SSDs based on 43 nanometer (nm) Multi-Level Cell NAND. The new drives provide a high level of performance and endurance for use in notebook computers, gaming and home entertainment systems, and will be showcased at International CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8 to 11, 2009.
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(PR) Micron Collaborates with Sun to Deliver NAND Flash Storage with Extended Lifespan
Micron Technology today announced it has worked with Sun Microsystems to develop a new single-level cell (SLC) enterprise NAND technology that dramatically extends the lifespan of flash-based storage for enterprise applications. The result of the collaboration has yielded production devices capable of achieving one million write cycles, a milestone that will help prepare the industry for new uses in solid state storage set to come from Sun, Micron and others. The new technology delivers the highest write/erase cycling capability of any NAND technology available on the market.
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(PR) Super Talent Ships Worldآ’s Smallest 16GB USB Flash Drives
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced that their ultra-small Pico family of USB drives will now be offered in 16GB capacities, making it the world's tiniest line of 16GB USB drives.
16GB Pico drives will be offered in four different styles that use patented closing mechanisms: retractable Pico-B; lidless Pico-C; swivel Pico-D; and sliding lid Pico-E. The Pico family represents a momentous advance in storage miniaturization, accommodating up to 4,000 MP3 songs on a drive that weighs less than a quarter.
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(PR) Lian Li Launches New Top Panel Radiator Kits for PC-A70 / PC-A7010 Chassis
Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd has launched two top panel radiator kits called the T-7024W and T-7022W. Both are suitable for the PC-A70 / PC-A7010 chassis only. The kits include a copper radiator mounted into the underside of the top panel with open vents to allow the internal fans to exhaust the heat. The outer face of the panel has multimedia ports for ease of use. These combo panels are ideal for those with water cooling kits and who want to keep the kit low profile and internalized, while keeping the functionality of cooling your PC rig at a premium.
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Shutters Down for Abit on December 31
Abit, one of the most popular brand names with motherboards, will be formally closing shop on December 31. A popular brand among computer enthusiasts, Abit has a history of churning out some of the best high-end motherboards. Bad corporate governance, along with poor decision-making at the management level, set Abit on a path towards its slow and painful end. Revived by the United Scientific Industrial (USI) in 2006, the company showed some resurgence, it also planned to diversify into peripherals such as digital photo frames, speakers, etc., alongside its desktop motherboards lineup, but evidently it didn't help the company. Post Dec. 31, the company will continue to honour its warranty and RMA commitments for up to three years according to an earlier report. Farewell Abit!
Source: TweakTown
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(PR) Patriot Memory Releases 256GB Warp v3 Solid State Drive
Patriot Memory, a global provider of premium quality memory module and flash memory solutions, today announced their 256GB Warp SSD v3. Patriot's newest Warp version boasts read and write speeds up to 240MB/sec and 160MB/s, respectively.
"Our new 256GB Warp SSD v3 now gives the consumer the fastest data-transfer rates plus all the storage space large enough to quench their multimedia thirst," says Meng Jay, Flash Product Manager for Patriot Memory. "It wasn't long ago that SSD's maxed out at 64GB with read speeds of 130MB/s, now with the Warp v3 we literally 'Warp' into capacities that most consumers demand and speeds far faster than current conventional hard drives.
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Microsoft Acts on MSIE RCE Vulnerability, Issues Hotfix
A major security remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability discovered in the Microsoft Internet Explorer set data security agencies on high alert. Microsoft noted that 1 in every 500 internet users were exposed to the vulnerability through unsafe websites. The exploit allows hackers to remotely execute code over an IE session to gain access to, and comprimise a machine.
In a security advisory updated today, Microsoft claims to have acted on the vulnerability by issuing a critical security update MS08-078 that went online at 1:00 PM, EST. The hotfix is available for all current versions of the web browser through Microsoft Update.
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NVIDIA Reference Design Atom Nettop Spotted
NVIDIA has concrete plans to take up chipset manufacturing for ULPC, and nettop platforms based on the Intel Atom processor. With its visual computing expertise and platform core logic technologies, NVIDIA hopes to cash in on the segment in need for better consumer value than what it already enjoys. VR-Zone pictured the reference design nettop PC that uses the Intel Atom processor, aided by NVIDIA's MCP79 chipset.
The chipset is monolithic, and handles the jobs of a memory controller, graphics controller, and a peripheral hub. The chipset sits on a 10-layer PCB motherboard, which gives you an idea on the component density of the MCP79. The platform supports single core and dual core Atom processors. It supports single channel DDR3 memory in speeds up to the PC3-10666 (1333 MHz), with connections to a SO-DIMM module. A GeForce 9 series integrated graphics controller provides display output through DVI-I. There is a gigabit ethernet controller, and 8-channel HD audio. The front portion of the chassis provides a larger portion of the connections, which includes the audio (including optical SPDIF), USB 2.0, and eSATA. NVIDIA will allow OEM vendors to make their own case designs housing the platform.
Source: VR-Zone
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PNY Releases Quadro FX 4800 and Quadro FX 5800 Professional Graphics Accelerators
PNY Technologies today announced the availability of two high-end professional graphics accelerators based on the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 and Quadro FX 4800 GPUs. The two are based on the GT200 architecture. The Quadro FX 5800 features 240 shader units (dubbed CUDA programmable parallel cores) and 4 GB of GDDR3 memory, while the FX 4800 features 192 shader cores with 1.5 GB of GDDR3 memory.
The amount of visual computing power at its disposal allows deployment in computing areas of oil and natural gas exploration, medical imagery, scientific visualisation, and engineering and design.
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(PR) Walton Chaintech Intros APOGEE GT Triple-Channel DDR3 Memory Module Kits
The overclocking memory module specialist, Walton Chaintech Corporation, introduces its new APOGEE GT Triple-Channel DDR3 Memory Module Kits specifically for the Intel Core i7 processor / Intel X58 Express Chipset.
Latest Intel Core i7 next generation platform supports the DDR3 memory has proven that INTEL X58 chipset’s memory controller gives amazing performance and memory bandwidth increase while using DDR3 tri-channel modules. Chaintech prepared ready for DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600 & DDR3-1866 triple-channel kits. These new modules will be available in 3GB Kit and high capacity 6GB Kit.
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RV740 Taped-Out, First 40nm GPU From AMD
The manufacturing process technologies for graphics processors that dominated the 2008 were TSMC 65nm and 55nm. While AMD made the transition to 55nm over an year ago, it was a little later when we started seeing 55nm versions of existing NVIDIA GPUs.
A month into TSMC's announcement of of its 40nm bulk production node, AMD has reportedly taped out its first 40nm GPU, the RV740. While this is no high-end GPU, it is supposed to be the first successful port of AMD's GPU architecture to the new node. The RV740 succeeds the RV730, the GPU that went into the making the Radeon HD 4670. It is a mainstream GPU that ideally should make it to the sub-$100 graphics card segment. With RV740, AMD gains some experience as a manufacturer as it works on the RV870 "Lil' Dragon", the next generation GPU from the red camp. A product based on the RV740 can be expected only after Q1 2009.
Source: NordicHardware
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Mozilla Firefox Updated to 3.0.5
Mozilla Firefox has yet another sub-version, 3.0.5 released earlier today. The browser has been updated with several security patches, bug fixes and localization features. To begin with, Mozilla patched several moderate-thru-critical vulnerabilities. The list of security fixes can be found here. Mozilla also fixed several bugs (listed here). The company expanded localization for Firefox, with stable releases in Bengali, Esperanto, Galician, Hindi, and Latvian. For more information, please refer to the Release Notes. Firefox can be downloaded from the server closest to you, from the Firefox homepage. Existing users would be updated automatically.
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BFG to Show Off its First Complete Gaming PC at CES 2009
BFG Tech has told Tweaktown that it will be putting its first complete gaming PC on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) early next year. It will feature a touch screen LCD, which judging by the image we have, allows you to control various aspects of your PC which one would imagine includes overclocking and other BIOS related settings. What it most interesting, is that they seem to be using the same LCD to replace the standard power and restart buttons usually found on a chassis. It has also been said that there will be, "maintainance-free liquid cooling and unprecedented in-home setup and maintainance servicing." Details are still vague and as yet there is no information on the configurations, availability or pricing. If you want to see the system for yourself, it will be at the MGM Grand from Thursday 8th to Saturday 10th January.
Source: TweakTown
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(PR) OCZ Technology Group Introduces New Flex EX Performance Memory Series
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the Flex EX memory series, featuring breakneck speeds demanded by enthusiasts in an updated compact form factor to maximize memory configurations on your motherboard. These premium high-density modules operate at incredibly fast DDR2 and DDR3 speeds to run the latest memory-intensive games and applications, and offer enthusiasts the thermal management necessary for the stability and performance on high-end gaming and overclocking systems.
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(PR) XFX Partners with AMD: Collaboration Gives Gamers More Options at Every Price Point
PINE today announced that its graphics division, XFX, is partnering with AMD. The collaboration will incorporate the award-winning ATI Radeon HD 4000 series GPUs into XFX’s already impressive line of extreme performance graphics cards.
“We are delighted as this partnership allows us to incorporate the current and future AMD graphics technology into our future graphics card designs, and enables our R&D teams to develop an even wider range of graphics products for our worldwide customers,” said Michael Chiu, Chairman and CEO of Pine Technology Holdings.
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(PR) AMD and iZ3D Team Up to Deliver the Ultimate Gateway to Immersive 3D Entertainment
iZ3D Inc., designer, developer and pioneer of advanced stereoscopic 3D visualization systems, is pleased to announce its recently released 3D monitor driver Version 1.09 is the first to include support for AMD with an ATI 3D DLP output.
To encourage 3D game play using ATI Radeon graphics cards, iZ3D is offering all ATI Radeon graphics card users a US $50.00 rebate on the purchase of an iZ3D monitor. After installing the iZ3D monitor and driver, ATI Radeon graphics card users have 30 days to complete a simple form online and submit it to iZ3D to get the rebate. The rebate promotion is being promoted online and will be included in ATI Radeon graphics card packages and in-store at select retailers. For more information visit 3D Rulez or iZ3D.
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Corsair Unveils DOMINATOR GT - the Ultimate Tri-Channel DDR3 Memory for Core i7
Unveiled minutes ago, Corsair is now preparing a brand new series of blazing-fast tri-channel DDR3 DOMINATOR GT modules. Just like a modern fast car, these modules have their own distinctive marks - black and red heatspreaders and special red labels. Initially, Corsair is going to launch a kit that consists of three 2GB modules operating at 2,000MHz at just 1.65V with low latencies of CL7-8-7-20. The new modules are set to become available in "very near future".
Source: HEXUS.net
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(PR) Thermaltake Intros Tai-Chi S Notebook Cooler
Consumers' all time favorite, Tai-Chi Notebook Cooler, from Thermaltake Technology, is yet joining a new force.
Tai-Chi S, latest passive notebook cooler invention from Thermaltake, was designed base on the concept of chimney effect (Tunnel Effect). Through the hollow aluminum extrusion tunnels, the cold air is guided inward. Relatively, the hot air exhausts through the holes on top of Tai-Chi S, effectively dissipate heat without the usage of fan.
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Preliminary Tests on GeForce GTX 295 Run, Leads Radeon HD 4870 X2
A Chinese technology portal, IT168 has conducted a preliminary performance evaluation of the upcoming GeForce GTX 295 graphics card. The card will be a flagship offering by NVIDIA. It will feature two G200b graphics processors. Also provided are the first pictures of the finished product, along with a burst-shot of the card and its cooling assembly. Across several game tests, the evaluation showed the GTX 295 to outperform the HD 4870 X2 by up to 80%, while providing superior power characteristics.
Source: IT168
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DFI Ready with X58 LANParty Jr
DFI is ready with the first LGA 1366 motherboard in the micro-ATX form factor, the DFI LP JR X58-T3H6, dubbed LANParty Junior, which supports the latest Core i7 processors by Intel. The motherboard measures 245 x 245mm. Despite its smaller size, it has a respectable feature-set: 6-phase CPU power circuit, six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots supporting both ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI, an additional PCI-Express x4 slot, and HDCP capable ALC 889A HD audio.
The BIOS features CMOS Reloaded, Voltage Tuning for vDIMM, vNB, vCore, vSB, vHT, frequency tuning in increments of 1 MHz, adjustable CPU multiplier, and ABS technology system. The board features as many as 7 fan headers, onboard power and reset switches, and diagnostic LED display. There is no word on the pricing or availability at this point in time.
Source: VR-Zone
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(PR) Sharkoon Intros Venga Economy Mid-Tower Case
Sharkoon announced today the expansion of its case line-up with an all new midi-ATX tower. The Sharkoon Venga Economy combines a compact and unobtrusive size with an elegant design in modern white or classic black. The front of the case features a high-gloss coating, distinctive rectangular fan vents and silver power and reset buttons as well as HDD activity and system LEDs. On the side of the front panel are two USB ports and audio connectors.
Up to four optical drives and one 3.5" external device can be installed in the front. Inside the case there is room for four hard drives and up to seven expansion cards. Cooling is user configurable with up to four case fans: an 80/ 92/120mm fan in the front, an 80/90mm fan in the rear and two 80mm or one 120mm fan in the side. The case measures 180 x 460 x 410mm (W x D x H).
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NVIDIA to Launch GT300 in Q1 2009?
The tentative release time-frames for upcoming GPUs by NVIDIA and AMD have been seesawing between early 2009 and Q4 2009 for some time now. Industrial sources tell DigiTimes, that NVIDIA will be launching the GT300 graphics processor as early as in Q1 2009. What's even more surprising according to the report, is that the new GPU will be built on the 55nm manufacturing node of its foundry partners.
In related news, NVIDIA will be showcasing its range of products based on the 55nm G200b core at CES 2009, which starts on January 8. The notable products include a dual-GPU card, the GeForce GTX 295, and the single GPU flagship product, the GeForce GTX 285. NVIDIA refused to comment on the report.
Source: DigiTimes
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(PR) Antec Introduces Next Chapter in Quiet, Elegant Computing with Sonata Elite Chassis
Antec, the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, has announced that it is launching the Sonata Elite, the latest addition to Antec's Sonata Family line of quiet PC cases. Introducing a distinct air flow design and sleek new aesthetics, the Sonata Elite offers new improvements while maintaining the original features preferred by quiet-conscious consumers.
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AMD May Further Reduce Workforce
Layoffs or workforce reductions are a common feature for just about any company in functioning amidst a global economic crisis. Market sources tell DigiTimes, that AMD may layoff another 10% of its roughly 15,000 strong workforce in January 2009. According to the sources, the layoffs would be concentrated in the manufacturing division of the company, along with some administrative positions.
Earlier this year, AMD indicated that it would be reducing its then 16,500 strong workforce by 10%, and later in November by 3%. The company declined to comment on the report. AMD trimmed its fourth quarter estimates and the company now expects its Q4 sales to be approximately 25% lower than its Q3 revenues of US$1.585 billion. The decline, according to AMD, is due to weaker-than expected demand across all geographies and businesses, particularly in the consumer market.
Source: DigiTimes
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(PR) Eee PC is Forbes Asia's Product of the Year for 2008
ASUS' Eee PC has been named Forbes Asia's Product of the Year for 2008, right after being crowned Stuff Magazine's Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year. In justifying its selection, Forbes hailed the Eee PC for "its innovation and disruption", and added that the "ultraportable" netbook had "changed the global PC industry". This new addition to the Eee PC's mantle joins numerous other awards chalked up in the media, design and industry circles over the past year, most notably NBC.com's Best Travel Gadget and the prestigious G-Mark Award.
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Point of View Announces Prince of Persia Graphics Card Bundle
Point of View today, has announced special graphics card game bundles with Ubisoft's fourth generation addition to the Prince of Persia franchise. The bundles start at the range of a GeForce 9500 GT based graphics card, and go high up the range of what Point of View has to offer. These special edition bundles can be identified with the box packaging with the new Prince of Persia theme. Inside the box would be the usual contents of a graphics card package, along with a copy of the full-version of the game.
Point of View in its press release includes a short description of the game, and on how its hardware is geared up for it. The game by Ubisoft is described by Point of View as "a magnificent game which looks like nothing you've ever seen before!", which is somewhat justified by the screenshots posted. With the incorporation of design elements such as Cel-Shading the characters are presented as something hand-drawn, as something straight out of an animation film. The Point of View bundles will be hitting stores soon. The company has a history of offering such themed graphics card bundles, with affiliations to titles such as Assassins Creed and Wall E. The full press release can be read here.
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(PR) NOX Introduces the Coolbay HX
NOX's new chassis is ready to support the maximum performance in your PC. It includes an extreme ventilation system with 4 fans and enough space for 9 drive bays to offer great versatility.
Side-door with transparent window and 200mm fan with a blue LED, and an interior finished all in black makes this NOX case unique.
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(PR) NOX Launches APEX Series Power Supplies
NOX launches in Europe the new series of modular PSUs, APEX. These are modular PSUs with Plug-n connections in 600W, 700W & 800 W represented in different colors. Its advanced modular design allows connecting only the necessary cables, saving space and improving the airflow inside the PC Case. All three models come with Active PFC (Power Factor Correction), and a ultra-silent 140mm fan with automatic fan speed control.
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(PR) Westone Releases Westone 3 In-Ear Monitors
Westone, an iconic brand name when it comes to in-ear-monitors, released the Westone 3 in-ear monitor, the world's first true 3-way in-ear monitors. Each bud includes three drivers as well as a proper 3-way crossover, with which low (bass), mid and high (treble) get an armature each. The drivers are mounted in a piggyback fashion that makes them phase-aligned, which could prevent abnormal distortions or reverberations. The set includes as many as 10 kinds of ear-tips that the user can select.
These bits of technologies make the Westone 3 a revolutionary product in its category. The Westone 3 has reached retail channels, and comes at a MSRP of US $399.
Press Release follows:
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NVIDIA's Atom Chipset Supports SLI
Picture this: a nettop/netbook/ULPC chipset that supports a gamer-grade feature such as NVIDIA SLI. Well, that's about become a reality with a certain variant of the MCP7A chipset NVIDIA is preparing for the Intel Atom processor. VR-Zone has learned that the chipset would offer all features essential to platforms it caters to, plus offering integrated GeForce graphics and supporting external graphics, including support for 2-way NVIDIA SLI. The root complex would connect to two discrete graphics devices with 8 PCI-Express lanes each.
The 'essential' features this chipset brings to the table include support for PC2-6400 memory standard (up to four DIMM slots), six SATA II channels, twelve USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE 1394 and HD Audio. There is yet another chipset in the pipeline, the MCP79 for pico-ATX and SFF platforms, which supports a single DDR3 memory channel, integrated GeForce graphics with DVI-D and HDMI support.
Source: VR-Zone
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XFX to Play Balancing Act Between NVIDIA Partnership and ATI Products
A longstanding partner of NVIDIA, XFX would soon embrace AMD to release graphics cards based on the ATI Radeon series. Its plans however are somewhat similar to what Gainward seems to be executing: to maintain strong ties with NVIDIA, while dedicating a smaller portion of its product lineup to those incorporating ATI Radeon GPUs.
Expreview spoke with an XFX official, who confirmed that the company would be taking up projects based around ATI Radeon products, while continuing to maintain its partnership with NVIDIA by continuing to have flagship products using the NVIDIA GeForce. XFX would be going as far as making sure that its products based on ATI Radeon GPUs wouldn't release in the Chinese market (a key market for NVIDIA products). The decision by XFX to work on ATI Radeon products came as a surprise to many, since XFX has been a staunch NVIDIA tier-1 partner.
Source: Expreview
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(PR) A-DATA Introduces New XPG Gaming Series Memory Modules
A-DATA Technology, a worldwide leader in high performance memory products, introduces today its entire XPG Gaming Series which represents the very best of A-DATA's cutting edge technology in gaming memories, delivering the perfect blend of performance, durability and stability with low power consumption. XPG Gaming Series features highest reliability and fulfills exceptional requirements for high-end modules at a very attractive, low price.
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Athlon X2 7000 Series Reviewed
AMD is releasing a trio of dual-core desktop processors based on the K10 architecture, under the Athlon X2 7000 series. The trio consists of the overclocker-friendly 7750 Black Edition clocked at 2.70 GHz, the 7550 at 2.50 GHz and the 7450 at 2.40 GHz. The core, codenamed "Kuma" sports a basic cache design similar to the Phenom X3 and Phenom X4 processors, with 512 KB of L2 caches per core, and a shared L3 cache of 2 MB. The updated memory controller provides native support to the PC2-8500 (DDR2 1066 MHz) memory standard. The processor now sports a HyperTransport 3.0 3600 MT/s system interface. These, apart from the other tweaks AMD introduced with the K10 architecture give it an edge over current K8 based dual core AMD chips. The core is manufactured in the 65nm node.
AMD lifted the NDA over the Athlon X2 7000 series, following which several website posted reviews on the processors. Most of these reviews covered the Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition. The chip clocked at 2.7 GHz was found to be around 15% faster than a previous-generation Brisbane chip running at the same frequency, according to X-bit Labs, whose evaluation included several synthetic and real-world benchmarks. The same review team was able to overclock the chip to 3.30 GHz (+22 %) aided by a Zalman 9700 air cooler. The Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition will be priced at US $79. Links to some of the reviews are provided below.
Bit-Tech | Hexus | HT4U | Overclockers Club | Planet 3DNow! | Tweaktown | X-bit Labs
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(PR) Futuremark ''Life of a Benchmarker'' Video Contest Begins
Futuremark Corporation is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its 3DMark benchmark suite with a video contest for gamers and overclockers everywhere. Fans of the popular benchmarking program are invited to show the "Life of a Benchmarker" in an original video with great prizes awarded to the best entries.
"We're launching this contest as a thank you to all our fans who have helped 3DMark become the number one PC gaming benchmark," said Dr. Jukka Mдkinen, VP and General Manager at Futuremark.
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Swiftech Introduces the Full-Cover Caldera HD4870X2 Water Block
Introducing the Caldera cooling system for AMD HD4870X2 graphics cards from Swiftech. The Caldera 4870X2 is a hybrid cooling system for AMD HD4870X2 reference graphics cards. It is composed of two separate elements: a water-block that cools both GPU's, and a passive heatsink to cool the rest of the components such as the GDDR5 memory, voltage regulators and the I/O chip. The Caldera 4870X2 water-block utilizes Swiftech's proven Diamond Pin Matrix technology and premium copper baseplate for the highest cooling performance. Additionally, there's a built-in white LED that illuminates throught the clear acrylic sides of the GPU water block when in operation. The full-cover water block weights in 411g and has a MSRP of $159.95. It is available now. Inside the package you'll also find 1/2" barbs, (2) plugs, thermal pads, Arctic Cأ©ramique thermal grease, mounting screws and installation guide.
Source: Swiftech
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AMD 880G AM3 Chipset Details Emerge
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is planning on releasing a new 55nm chipset by Q3 next year, that will power the company's Socket AM3 processors (Athlon X4, Phenom II X3, Phenom II X4). Codenamed AMD 880G, this chipset will become part of the AMD Live! "Pisces" platform. AMD 880G will feature an integrated Radeon HD 3450 (RV620) DX10.1 graphics core, support for DDR3 memory, HyperTransport 3.0, Universal Video Decoder 2 (UVD 2), Hybrid Crossfire with the on-board Radeon HD 3450 graphics core and a PCIe 2.0 x16 discrete card, Display Port/HDMI/DVI/SurroundView support. The 880G chipset will be paired up with a SB710 southbridge to deliver 12x USB ports and 6x SATA ports. This chipset is also said to bring OverDrive 3.0 to AM3 platforms.
Source: VR-Zone
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Intel Co-Founder Says Company Should Build Car Batteries
Former Intel CEO and Co-Founder Andy Grove has an interesting proposition for his former company. He believes that the emerging market for plug-in electric vehicles and hybrids presents a major business opportunity for Intel to become a leading manufacturer of advanced batteries. While Mr. Grove retired in 2005 he still serves as an advisor to Intel’s leadership, including CEO Paul Otellini. This would mark a major divergence from Intel’s current business model, as it would be unlikely much of their current research could be applied to such a drastically different product. In the early 2000s, Intel tinkered with producing consumer electronics, but the idea was shelved after a short time. More recently, Intel has abandoned business units that did not closely relate to its chip business. There is no doubt that the potential exists for advanced batteries to be a highly lucrative product as the public becomes ever more aware of environmental concerns and automotive manufacturers begin to design more electric and hybrid vehicles. One of the main obstacles for GM’s Chevy Volt program is the lack of advanced battery technology to power it for a reasonable amount of time. Even though it would require creation of new departments from the ground-up Intel’s financial resources make it a possible, although currently improbable, business venture. Currently there is no word from Paul Otellini on whether Intel is actively considering Grove’s advice.
Source: TG Daily
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ASUS Simplifies P6T Deluxe with P6T
Roughly a month into its release, the P6T Deluxe is the most "affordable" LGA 1366 motherboard by ASUS. This however, isn't one of the most affordable LGA 1366 motherboards there are. There is a need for ASUS to cater to the value-ended LGA 1366 segment, which already has other major motherboard vendors' offerings such as the MSI X58 Platinum, Gigabyte EX58 DS4, etc.
ASUS will be releasing a toned-down variant of the P6T Deluxe, to be named P6T. It is based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset. The CPU power circuitry consists of an 8+2 phase design. The memory is powered by a 2-phase circuit. ASUS reworked the arrangement of the expansion card slots, with uniform spacing between the three PCI-Express x16 slots (have electrical lane arrangements of x16/16/x1 or x16/x8/x8). The motherboard supports ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA 3-way SLI. A slightly simplistic component cooling has been introduced. There is a single gigabit ethernet controller. With these, ASUS looks to bring the motherboard out at an attractive price-point.
Source: XFastest
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More GeForce GTX 295 Details Trickle-in
Slated for CES '09, the GeForce GTX 295 would spearhead NVIDIA's quest for performance supremacy. The dual-GPU card consists of two G200b graphics processors working in an internal multi-GPU mode. VR-Zone collected a few more details about this card.
To begin with, the two GPUs will offer all their 240 stream processors unlike what earlier reports suggested. On the other hand, the memory subsystem of this card is peculiar. The card features a total of 1792 MB of memory (896 MB x 2), indicating that the memory configurations of the cores resemble those of the GeForce GTX 260, while the shader domains resemble those of the GTX 280 (240 SPs). The entire card is powered by an 8-pin and a 6-pin power connector. The construction resembles that of the GeForce 9800 GX2 in many aspects, where a monolithic cooler is sandwiched between two PCBs holding a GPU system each. The total power draw of the card is rated at 289W. The card has a single SLI bridge finger, indicating that it supports Quad-SLI in the same way the GeForce 9800 GX2 did (a maximum of two cards can be used in tandem).
Source: VR-Zone
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(PR) OCZ Introduces Premium Gold Series Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) Cards
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the launch of its new Gold Series Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) flash memory cards, to offer professional phographers and videographers unbridled performance combined with ample storage capabilities for high-resolution pictures and video. These premium memory cards offer photography enthusiasts incredible speeds and capacities to deliver the tailored storage they demand.
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(PR) Intel Ranks 4th in Climate Change Governance Report
Intel ranked 4th overall, and 1st for the semiconductor sector, in the first ever ranking of consumer and technology companies on climate change strategies. The Ceres report assessed 63 of the world's largest consumer and technology companies on their corporate governance and climate change practices. Check out the CSR@Intel blog to learn more about how Intel fared in the analysis.
Source: Intel
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SAPPHIRE Launches Special Water Cooled ATOMIC HD 4870 X2 Video Card
SAPPHIRE Technology is now introducing the SAPPHIRE ATOMIC HD 4870 X2, an exclusive new dual GPU water cooled version of the standard ATI HD 4870 X2 card. Because the article is written in Greek which is not my strongest language, I'll stick to the specs and pics, after all that's all we need. As usual, the SAPPHIRE ATOMIC HD 4870 X2 comprises of two complete HD 4870 graphics systems on a single PCI-Express card connected by an on-board PCI Express Gen 2 bridge chip. Each GPU has 1GB of GDDR5 memory, making a total of 2GB on-board memory. Core clock speed for this model is 800MHz, there are 2x800 stream processors, the memory clock speed is 1000MHz with 512-bit memory interface. What's so special in this model is the full cover liquid cooling provided by the famous OEM cooling expert Asetek. The water-block cools both GPUs, all memory chips, the bridge chip and all the power elements. Two Dual Link DVI outputs are provided as well as TV-Out. Additionally the card's bundle includes a CCL UV lamp and Sapphire USB memory stick with drivers. The card will be available starting December 18th for a MSRP of $649.
Source: hwbox
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(PR) MSI's First EFI BIOS, More Now Available
MSI has launched the first EFI BIOS based motherboard "P45D3 Platinum & P45 Platinum". EFI, Extensible Firmware Interface, is intended to replace the legacy BIOS firmware interface used by current PCs. It offers a new and more flexible enviroment that supports colorful graphical interfaces, multiple languages and has mouse support. The EFI BIOS will encourage users to experience the full potential of MSI motherboards. Even at this early stage MSI has seen excellent OC potential using the current generation of MSI motherboards in combination with EFI BIOS.
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(PR) Seagate To Run On 100 Percent Renewable Energy
Seagate announced a decision which will dramatically reduce its carbon footprint in Derry. The company has switched from traditional electricity supply to environmentally friendly wind power, supplied by Airtricity, Ireland's leading renewable energy company. Airtricity specialises in the development of onshore and offshore wind farms and currently has 24 wind farms in operation throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. Going forward, the electricity required to run the massive Springtown plant will be 100 per cent renewable, reducing the site's carbon footprint by 41,800 tons of carbon dioxide, which equates to 95 percent of the total carbon emitted each year by Springtown. The reduction is the equivalent to the carbon dioxide emitted by 4,500 households per year.
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Asus Plans to Launch New Omega Line of Notebooks
The new Omega line will target the high-end portion of the entry level market segment and should be available sometime next year. According to the Chinese-language Apple Daily news-paper Omega notebooks will be priced between $600-$900 USD in order to complement the Eee PC lineup. Targeting the mainstream market is a relatively new strategy for Asustek since, excluding the Eee PC, they have mainly produced notebooks for the high-end market. As of right now no system specifications or pictures have been released for the Omega, although we can reasonably expect performance similar to other notebooks in $600-$900 price bracket.
Source: X-bit Labs
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