PowerColor rolls out low-profile HD 5750 :: Posted by THRASHER2
The HTPC beast
In order to keep HTPC users happy, PowerColor has decided to roll out a new low-profile HD 5750 that features a rather neat looking dual-slot, dual-fan cooler. The new PowerColor HD 5750 should be available in next few weeks with a price set at around US $25 more than a standard version, probably due to the special cooler.
The new HD 5750 Low Profile features 720 Stream processors, works at 700MHz for the GPU and 4600MHz for 1GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. The card comes with DVI, HDMI and D-Sub outputs and has support for AMD's Eyefinity. The cooler comes from Arctic Cooling and we are quite sure that it will do a good job in keeping the HD 5750 GPU temps at a decent level, although two small fans might make more noise than we would prefer.
According to our info, the card might end up on retail shelves as early as next week, depending on the region. The price should end up at US $25 more than a standard HD 5750, which means that it might retail at around US $150, or €130 in Europe.
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AMD cuts desktop processor prices :: Posted by THRASHER2
$3 to $22 drop
Xbit has gone through AMDÂ’s latest price lists and concluded that the chipmaker has slashed prices on a number of desktop parts.
Most of the changes were cosmetic, as AMD was less than keen to shave off more than a few bucks from current prices. However, some processors dropped up to $22, which is quite a nice cut.
The Phenom II 965 is now priced at $165, while 955BE, 945 and 925 parts sell for $145. All Athlon 500 series dual-cores now sell for $93. Of course we are talking about prices for 1000-unit tray orders.
Bargain hunters are probably a bit more interested in Athlon parts, but they did not see as many price cuts as the Phenoms, probably because they already offer much better value for money than anything Intel has to offer. All Athlon II X4 6xx parts are still priced at $99.99, while X3 4xx parts cost $76. Dual-core Athlon II X2 2xx parts sell for $66 to $69.
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New iPod Touch coming :: Posted by THRASHER2
Be still my beating heart
In the absence of any thing resembling promotion from Apple, the IT press has had to look in rubbish bins to find news of coming hardware. In this case the rubbish bin, an update to iOS4.1 beta, has revealed a new iPod touch is in the works.
iOS 4.1b3 includes three new “Configuration Descriptors” within its USB configuration files that list Apple as its maker. Within the code there is a fourth-generation iPod touch which is called the “iPod 4.1. If Apple was going to simply revise the iPod touch’s existing design it would be called the iPod 3.2.
To earn a 4.1 handle, the iPod would need to have some major hardware changes. Word on the street suggests that it would be like the slim but broken iPhone 4 with dual cameras, FaceTime support, AppleÂ’s A4 processor and Retina display.
There is also reference to “iProd 2.1? which is a second-generation iPad. The original iPad had a configuration descriptor of iProd 1.1 prior to its announcement. The other strange reference is to “unknownHardware” with a unique Apple product ID of 20547. We guess this will be the new iOS-powered iTV.
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New dual chip card comes from ATI :: Posted by THRASHER2
Next generation 40nm in 2010
We've just learned that ATI's next generation, let's call it Radeon 6000 series, is going to get a new high-end card. We are talking about a dual-chip card based on new 40nm chips that are expected to get slightly faster than the current generation. The best part is that it comes in 2010.
We see the new performance chips as a tweaked version of the highly succesful Cypress core, but this time they will introduce support for the new HDMI interface as well as new UVD – Eyefinity. Eyefinity will become more functional and cheaper to implement on multiple monitor setups.
Of course the core itself will be slightly improved, but we donÂ’t expect a spectacular performance increase. It will be faster than the current generation, that much is clear, but we still don't know much about Nvidia's answer to this card.
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Gamers want XFX Fermi cards :: Posted by THRASHER2
Nvidia to blame
Gamers want XFX based Fermi cards, we've heard it ourselves and the company sources have confirmed it on a few occasions.
The story is quite simple, Nvidia is still punishing XFX for going with ATI chips and they are simply not happy that this long time Nvidia-only supporter wanted to turn to the red side.
As Nvidia is not powerful enough to punish guys like Palit and the companies around this brand, it tends to focus its hate on XFX.
XFX long time brand supporters want Fermi cards, they wanted Geforce GTX 480, they would go for GTX 470 and especially some overclocked GTX 460 cards, but Nvidia still doesnÂ’t let XFX do what it knows best.
ATI is profiting here as XFX is turning all of its talent and sales force on their products and some special cards such as Radeon HD 5970 with a massive overclock and 4GB of memory. Gamers are the ones to suffer as some of them only want XFX cards and nothing else, but still some of them want Nvidia and nothing else.
The ball is in NvidiaÂ’s court and in the meantime XFX are selling more and more AMD cards and more customers switching to ATI just because XFX is doing well. Unless Nvidia's sales machine reasons, they are risking losing all XFX fans to ATI. With BFG out of the picture this is the last thing that Nvidia needs, especially now that ATI has never been stronger.
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Intel announces plans to buy McAfee :: Posted by THRASHER2
$7.68 billion
Intel has announced plans to acquire insecurity outfit McAfee for $7.68 billion. The chipmaker believes the move will provide it with an edge in the security market and the ability to blend security features into new devices.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced that the integration will improve security for internet users and their devices and the first results of the new partnership will be released in 2011.
Some analysts were surprised by the announcement, as McAfee and Intel donÂ’t seem like a match made in heaven. The fact that Intel is primarily a chipmaker also raised questions on how it could directly benefit from such a deal, as itÂ’s not heavily involved in software development. Others believe the deal makes sense, but that Intel overpaid for McAfee.
In related and somewhat more entertaining news McAfee has identified actress Cameron Diaz as the celebrity most likely to lead users to a malicious site in search results. Well it all depends on what users are searching for, but we can see where this is going.
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Geforce GTX 470 drops to €250 :: Posted by THRASHER2
LetÂ’s fight Radeon HD 5850
Nvidia has decided to put a lot of pressure on Radeon 5000 series. If all goes well in a few months ATI will launch its Radeon 6000 series, and today, in late August, Nvidia decided to drop the price of Geforce GTX 470.
Geforce GTX 470 was doomed ever since Nvidia launched GTX 460 based on a new GF104 chip as the price performance ratio was great. If we go further back, GTX 470 was never a hot seller as the ones who have waited for Fermi always wanted the more expensive and yet faster GTX 480 and GTX 470 was always a second choice card. Today GTX 470 based on old and quite hot GF100 sells for just under €250 for Asus card, while most of these cards still sell for €275. The timing is great as now is the peak of back-to-school shopping spree.
This looks like a new birth for GTX 470 as this 607/ 838MHz clocked card matches the price of Radeon HD 5850 and performance wise it comes close to Radeon HD 5870. If you care about TDP, then Radeon HD 5000 series is still a better choice, but if you want the performance better than 5850 at the same price, this is the card to consider.
ATI still hasn't dropped its price as Radeon HD 5850 sells for some €240 - €250 while Radeon HD 5870 sells for at least €337 and more.
You can get an Asus branded Geforce GTX 470 for €249.90
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Phenom II X6 in the lab :: Posted by THRASHER2
Review: Affordable Hexa-Cores (fudzilla.com)
It has been a while since we tested some CPUs. Since about three months AMD is selling it's first Hexa-Core generation, namely the Phenom II X6 1055T and the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition. Both CPUs are still manufactured in a 45nm SOI process, but still keeping the TDP envelope of 125W. That's the same TDP as many other Phenom II X4 but with two cores less. We were lucky and got a sample of the new 95W TDP version of the 1055T which is an incredible achievement for AMD to fit six cores in such a TDP.
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Geforce GT 430 planned :: Posted by THRASHER2
The new, yet cheaper Fermi derivative
Nvidia plans a new card and the official brand is Geforce GT 430. We also heard that there is a GF106-based Geforce GT 450 coming but this time we got some spec for the slower of two.
The Geforce GT 430 core works on 700MHz and we donÂ’t know the shader clock or the number of them. The memory works at 900MHz and the memory interface of choice is 128-bit.
The card is naturally PCI 2.0 x16 compatible and the package size is 29x29mm with 973 PFCBGA balls. The internal device name is 0x0DE1 and we still are seeking to find if this is a retail or OEM only card. We kind of expect to see it in sales and the launch date is still unknown.
We expect to see this card surfacing officially in a few weeks.
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Amazon to end XBLA game sales :: Posted by THRASHER2
Will continue to see the points, however
When Microsoft announced that it would be teaming up with Amazon to sell Xbox Live Arcade games directly though the Amazon site for delivery to your Xbox we didnÂ’t really know how successful this plan would be. We now apparently have our answer, as Amazon has posted a notice that says that they are no longer selling Xbox Live Arcade games directly from the Amazon Web site; but instead they will continue to offer the sale of Microsoft Xbox Live Points.
While Amazon isnÂ’t commenting on exactly why the sale of the Xbox Live Arcade games has ended, it has been assumed (according to whispers that we hear) that sales were not exactly setting Amazon on fire. The big draw, however, was the ability to purchase Xbox Live Arcade titles for their real world money price, rather than having to purchase points and then use the points to make a purchase. The advantage, of course, was no wasted points, as you only spent what you wanted to buy.
Recent changes by Microsoft in the way that points are sold combined with a number of efforts to re-price items to be sold has perhaps led buyers to be able to use their points in a more efficient manner; which perhaps might have contributed to the lack of appeal in purchases from sources such as Amazon.
We suspect, however, that this isnÂ’t the last time that someone will try to sell gamers on the idea of purchasing titles via the Web using real money instead of points, and getting a code to redeem on Xbox Live to download their purchase. We continue to hear a number of rumors that several other parties might be interested in such an arrangement with Microsoft as the transition to digital downloads continues to become more prevalent.
Sources tell us that even a major gaming retailer is looking at being able to give shoppers the ability to buy right at the store and have their purchase cued up and ready for download when they get home. DonÂ’t expect an announcement till next year, however, while these companies work on getting the infrastructure and technology in place to handle these types of transactions. Of course, AmazonÂ’s recent decision to change direction could impact these plans.
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Xbox Slim hard drive now for sale :: Posted by THRASHER2
Same price as the old 250GB hard drive
Microsoft has now confirmed what we actually already knew. The company will offer a separate or upgrade 250GB hard drive for the Xbox 360 Slim. Those buying the Xbox 360 Slim Arcade will now be able to purchase the 250GB hard drive to add it to their system at some point in the future should they choose to, or want to add a hard drive to their system.
As has been the trend in the past, Microsoft will not be giving those who want to purchase the separate or upgrade 250GB hard drive any kind of a price break; but instead they will continue to charge $130 for the privilege of being able to purchase the compatible 250GB hard drive. Of course, the price is expensive, but it is the same as the 250GB hard drive for the older Xbox 360 units.
Despite the sticker shock, as with separate or upgrade 250GB hard drive units that Microsoft has sold in the past, it will include Hexic plus a number of Xbox Live Arcade game demos pre-loaded on the unit.
The new 250GB hard drive for the Slim Xbox 360 units does not include a transfer cable, which does seem to make sense since most users that could buy one at the present time would be upgrading from the Arcade console and not a Slim unit that would already have a 250GB hard drive. Of course, Microsoft is still selling the transfer cable separately should you want to upgrade from the older version hard drive to a slim console that uses the new hard drive.
Some buyers of the Xbox Slim Arcade bundle might question the wisdom of a hard drive purchase at all; given the 4GB of flash memory in the new console and the fact that with the additional USB ports on the back it would be easy to purchase two low-cost USB 16GB flash memory sticks, and use those for storage by leaving them plugged into the rear of the console all the time. With over 32GB+ of available storage when you count the internal flash storage as well, it does make a compelling case to consider going this route, as the cost of 16GB USB flash drives is very rock bottom when compared to the cost of the 250GB hard drive from Microsoft.
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THQ will raise online access to $10 :: Posted by THRASHER2
If you donÂ’t buy it new, that will be the price
THQ will be joining Electronic Arts in raising the purchase of its multiplayer access pass to $10 if you donÂ’t buy the game new and get the free online access code within the game. The company first experimented with selling online access for $5 with its previous release of UFC 2010 that was released earlier this year.
The first THQ title that will move to offering the online access pass cost to $10 will be WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw, which is slated for an October 26th release. The use of the multiplayer online access pass codes contained within the purchase of new titles has apparently done little so far to curb the sale of used titles, but it does appear to have brought down the cost of these used titles, as retailers have responded to the use of these codes by selling used copies of these titles for a bit less.
Despite a lot of grumbling by many about this move by developers and publishers, it does seem that the majority of those complaining are those who rent games rather than buy them. An analyst that we spoke with told us, “It does seem to have made little difference in used sales yet, other than the fact that those who want to be able to play multiplayer are buying the titles new if multiplayer access is something that they have to have.”
While other publishers are watching Electronic Arts and THQ very closely to see what impact this decision has on the bottom line, no other publisher has yet announced that they will be moving in this direction. In the meantime, however, it seems that all publishers are in agreement that they need to examine every way possible to increase revenue from the titles that they release. We do suspect that more publishers will join Electronic Arts and THQ in moving in this direction. It seems to only be a matter of time.
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Intel 2011 extreme Core i7 is 990X :: Posted by THRASHER2
3.46GHz for Q1 2011
Intel's top Extreme Edition CPU for Q1 2011 just got a name. It will be called Core i7 990X and as you can imagine it will be faster than currently fastest Core i7 980X.
The new CPU comes in Q1 2011 and itÂ’s based on Gulftown 6 core and as we reported before not on Sandy Bridge new 32nm architecture. Sandy Bridge stops at four cores while Gulftown is six core 32nm CPU.
The clock speed of Core i7 990X is 3.46GHz, some 130MHz faster than Core i7 980X's 3.33GHz. with the help of Turbo Core i7 990X will overclock to 3.73GHz and the CPU still has six cores, twelve hypertreaded cores as well as QPI at 6.4GT/s. The CPU is unlocked and it will allow some further overclocking and it still doesnÂ’t have any integrated graphics core.
The platform packs a 3-channel memory controller and the TDP is quite easy to guess, 130W. Overall we donÂ’t see many reasons to be excited about Core i7 990X as this is just slightly faster version of the 980X.
So the Core i7 has the same old Westmere – Gulftown 32nm core that continues to be the top six core CPU that is set to dominate the top SKU desktop offer as well as top of the Xeon market. The price again easy, $999 when it gets available in Q1 2011.
Let me remind you that before Core i7 990X comes at some point in Q1 2011, there wonÂ’t be any new Intel six-core in the meantime, you are simply stuck with Core i7 980X until the 990X comes.
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