WD launches new power line networking kit :: Posted by THRASHER2
Livewire Powerline AV delivers 200Mbps
WD has introduced a rather interesting networking product that will allow users to transform home power grids into a speedy network and it's HomePlug compatible.
Although most users are shifting to wireless, we believe that the Livewire Powerline AV kit still makes sense, quite a bit of it in fact. One of the main reasons office and home users are turning to wireless is aesthetic, as nobody likes to mess around with those pesky Ethernet cables. WDÂ’s kit relies on regular power outlets, so you can forget about drills and ugly cables lining the walls.
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Dual-core Atom netbooks start to trickle in :: Posted by THRASHER2
A tad too pricey
Earlier this week Intel announced that it has started shipping Atom N550 dual-core mobile CPUs. Of course, this is not the first dual-core Atom, but it is the first dual-core that can be used in netbooks, with IntelÂ’s blessing.
Several players have already introduced their first dual-core netbook designs and although we have no doubt the new Atom N550 will deliver a significant performance boost, it appears that dual-core netbooks will be quite pricey.
Lenovo has starting preorders for the N550-based IdeaPad S10-3 in some select markets, but the price seems to be rather ridiculous. It features an Intel Atom N550 clocked at 1.5GHz, 1GB of memory and a 10-inch 1024x600 screen. For some reason Lenovo is pricing it at AUD 559,98 in the Australian market. This amounts to over 450 US dollars, which makes it rather pointless.
Asus on the other hand hasn’t gone as bonkers as Lenovo and it's offering the stylish Eee PC 1015PEM for €349 in the European market. It also has 2GB of DDR3, so it’s somewhat better spec’d than the Lenovo.
Speaking of specs, GigabyteÂ’s T1005M convertible tablet beats both the Eee and IdeaPad with its hands down. It features a multitouch capacitive 10.1-inch screen in 1366x768. It also has 2GB of memory, Express Card slot, USB 3 and eSATA. However, it will sell at close to $800. We must note that Gigabyte is aiming at a niche market, so we really canÂ’t call it overpriced.
However, it appears that regular netbooks based on Intel’s new N550 will be anything but affordable. Judging by some early listings, most will sell for more than €350, which doesn’t make them a very good deal. Oddly enough, their biggest competition comes from the same vendors and the same chipmaker, in the guise of small 11.6-inch CULV notebooks. Some are available for about €375 and at just over €400 there’s several to choose from. While they are some 10 to 20 percent pricier than N550 netbooks, they also offer bigger screens in 1366x768 and dual-core CULV processors, such as the Celeron SU2300.
All in all, dual-core Atoms are the way of the future, but at current prices they simply donÂ’t make much sense.
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SCE engineer explains PlayStation controller design :: Posted by THRASHER2
The significance of playstation_triangle, playstation_square, playstation_circle, playstation_x
Since its worldwide introduction in 1994, the PlayStation brand has captured the attention of hundreds of millions of users as an iconic mantlepiece in the history of the gaming world. As a company having former partnership ties with Nintendo in the late 1980s, upper management at Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) originally based the PlayStation controller's design on the basic button configuration established by Nintendo with its Super NES Controller. What was recently revealed, however, is the significance behind the controller's uniquely labeled input buttons and their overall impact on the PlayStation gaming experience.
In an interview with Famitsu magazine this week, original PlayStation master designer Teiyu Goto explains some technicalities of his workmanship as a 17-year creative lead behind every PlayStation console, including console controllers and other accessories. As Goto explains, he first became involved with the PlayStation project in the spring of 1993.
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Southern Islands codenames leaked in Catalyst 10.8 :: Posted by THRASHER2
Nice places to go fishing
ATIÂ’s latest Catalyst iteration has spilled the beans on a bunch of new Southern Islands codenames and there are a few interesting developments.
A total of 35 new cards were listed in the atiicdxx.da_ file, but sadly weÂ’re still no closer to some actual specs. We already reported the codenames several weeks back, but now we know quite a bit more about the new lineup.
It appears that there are 11 Cayman cards to look forward to and these babies will probably be the most interesting of the lot. Cayman should replace the highly successful HD 5800 series and with a total of 4 different chips and 11 SKUs it appears that ATI has high hopes for it. However, donÂ’t expect a bunch of Cayman-base consumer products, as it appears that 9 of them are reserved for the professional market. Two Antilles dual-GPU cards were also listed and they should be considered part of the Cayman family.
Blackomb and Barts should appear in four iterations each. Barts should replace the Juniper core and it will also be available a professional card, but we’re not sure where Blackomb fits in. Also, two Blackomb parts feature the “Gemini” moniker and frankly we don’t know what to make of it. It seems unlikely that these are dual-GPU cards, although it would be the most obvious conclusion.
Barts is followed by four Whistler cards and three cards based on the Turks core which should replace Redwoon HD 5600 cards. One of the Turk-based cards is codenamed Onega. Seymour (Skinner) also comes in four iterations, two of which are “Gemini” cards. Last in line, three Caicos based cards, one of which is codenamed Caspian. These babies should replace the Cedar HD 5400 core.
ItÂ’s quite clear that AMD has its work cut out and Nvidia has quite a few reasons to be worried. AMD seems bent on penetrating the professional market with several Cayman products. As you probably know, the professional market has been NvidiaÂ’s cash cow for years and itÂ’s one of its biggest money makers. However, itÂ’s worth noting that the leak has left quite a few unanswered questions and we will try to find out a bit more soon.
Here's the complete list:
223,CAYMAN GL XT (6700),NI CAYMAN
224,CAYMAN GL XT (6701),NI CAYMAN
225,CAYMAN GL XT (6702),NI CAYMAN
226,CAYMAN GL XT (6703),NI CAYMAN
227,CAYMAN GL PRO (6704),NI CAYMAN
228,CAYMAN GL PRO (6705),NI CAYMAN
229,CAYMAN GL (6706),NI CAYMAN
230,CAYMAN GL LE (6707),NI CAYMAN
231,CAYMAN GL (6708),NI CAYMAN
232,CAYMAN GL (6709),NI CAYMAN
233,CAYMAN XT (6718),NI CAYMAN
234,CAYMAN PRO (6719),NI CAYMAN
235,ANTILLES PRO (671C),NI CAYMAN
236,ANTILLES XT (671D),NI CAYMAN
237,BLACKCOMB XT/PRO (6720),NI BLACKCOMB
238,BLACKCOMB LP (6721),NI BLACKCOMB
239,BLACKCOMB XT/PRO Gemini (6724),NI BLACKCOMB
240,BLACKCOMB LP Gemini (6725),NI BLACKCOMB
241,BARTS GL XT (6728),NI BARTS
242,BARTS GL PRO (6729),NI BARTS
243,BARTS XT (6738),NI BARTS
244,BARTS PRO (6739),NI BARTS
245,WHISTLER XT (6740),NI WHISTLER
246,WHISTLER PRO/LP (6741),NI WHISTLER
247,WHISTLER XT/PRO Gemini (6744),NI WHISTLER
248,WHISTLER LP Gemini (6745),NI WHISTLER
249,ONEGA (6750),NI TURKS
250,TURKS XT (6758),NI TURKS
251,TURKS PRO (6759),NI TURKS
252,SEYMOUR XT/PRO (6760),NI SEYMOUR
253,SEYMOUR LP (6761),NI SEYMOUR
254,SEYMOUR XT/PRO Gemini (6764),NI SEYMOUR
255,SEYMOUR LP Gemini (6765),NI SEYMOUR
256,CAICOS GL PRO (6768),NI CAICOS
257,CASPIAN PRO (6770),NI CAICOS
258,CAICOS PRO (6779),NI CAICOS
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Apple bans iPhone from Green Campaign :: Posted by THRASHER2
Is not saying why
Peddler of broken dreams, Apple is refusing to say why it has delivered a huge snub to a campaign to make electronics greener. According to the Guardian, Apple's relationship with the Green movement has always been tense, but lately things had been improving.
That could change after Apple opted out on a voluntary labelling scheme which would have given a green ranking scheme for mobile phones on sale in Blighty. The scheme gives phones a rating of zero to five based on their environmental footprint and major manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung have signed up. The network O2, which is launching the rating system said 93 per cent of the devices its customers use will be covered.
The scheme was launched in partnership with sustainability advisers Forum for the Future, and scores handsets on the ecological impact of their raw materials, the manufacturing process, packaging, how long they are likely to last, energy efficiency and how easy they are to reuse or recycle. Apple tried to direct hacks who were asking if Jobs' Mob had something it wanted to hide to reports penned by its tame press which indicated how environmentally friendly its products were.
Gary Cook, IT sector analyst for Greenpeace International said that some outfits did not like the idea because they felt it was giving away too much competitive advantage. “But consumers also deserve to know the full story. While Apple has recently made important strides in eliminating toxic chemicals from its products and the reporting of their environmental footprint, it still lags behind others in transparency," he pointed out.
Using the methodology, O2 rated the Sony Ericsson Elm the most sustainable mobile phone with 4.3 out of five. The reason the Elm did so well was because of its high score on "functionality"which kills off the need for separate devices such as a camera, MP3 player and satnav, saving the energy that would be required to make them.
This is fair enough but would not Apple have done very well on that score. It might be that it feared being ranked lower than other cheaper products on the grounds that Apple expects you to junk it every year and upgrade.
Seven phones tied in second place with a score of 4.0: the Nokia 1800, Nokia 6700, Nokia C7, Samsung GT-S8500, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro and Sony Ericsson Zylo.
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Acer and Asus cook up luxury netbooks :: Posted by THRASHER2
Dual-core Atom to take on AMD Ontario
Asus and Acer are gearing up to launch a couple of luxurious netbooks in Q4 and both models will be inspired by supercar brands.
Asus plans to introduce the Lamborghini-themed Eee PC VX6, a 12.1-incher with a dual Core Intel Atom N550 and Nvidia ION 2 graphics. It should ship in September or October at a price tag of (ouch) $699.
Acer is readying a Ferrari themed 11.6-inch that will feature something a bit more exotic under its red bonnet. It will be based on AMDÂ’s upcoming Ontario processor and it should appear later in the year.
Acer also plans to introduce an Android smartphone dubbed Liquid E Ferrari, while Asus is readying a 15.6-inch Lambo notebook powered by Intel Core parts.
And Top Gear will be back on the air in November. Not sure about the Stig though.
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Only Core i7 Sandy Bridge has eight threads :: Posted by THRASHER2
Core i3 only two
The new thing about the second Core generation codenamed Sandy Bridge is that only the top branded CPUs will have feature hyperthreading.
Hypertreds don’t do that much but they do show you that you have „eight cores“ in Windows task manager and you will only see eight threads with top Core i7 CPUs.
Core i5 CPUs will be a native quad-core CPUs but they wonÂ’t support hyperthreading. This will be exclusively reserved for Core i7 2000 series parts. Core i3 native dual-cores will only support two treads which is step down from current Core i3 CPUs that feature two cores and support four threads.
The trend of lack of Turbo support in Core i3 generation will continue with new Sandy Bridge based Core i3 2000 series CPUs.
This is the branding and performance distinction that Intel wants to make clearer in 2011 as most people got confused with Core i branding, as Core i5 and Core i7 were overlapping in many performance and feature characteristics. Now the distinction should be more clear, but it looks to us that in most cases you will get less for the same money.
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Next-generation DDR4 SDRAM expected to reach 4.2GHz+ speeds :: Posted by THRASHER2
Incorporates new topology and 3D IC stacking techniques
Last week, Japanese website PC Watch published an interesting piece in which a basic outline was given of DRAM memory technology evolution from DDR3 to DDR4 over the next few years. Following the recent MemCon 2010 event last month in Tokyo, the site has combined the roadmaps of several DRAM manufacturers in the industry and aggregated them into prediction charts on what they expect DDR4 to offer.
Based on the first chart, it appears that the consensus of manufacturers expect DDR4 to really hit the market in 2015. In other words, none of these IC specifications should be anything for system builders to be concerned over for quite some time.
The JEDEC standards group has announced its intentions to finalize the DDR4 specification sometime in 2011 and begin commercial production in 2012. However, the next generation DDR4 SDRAM memory technology is expected to introduce a radical change to the topology of the chipset memory subsystems on desktops, notebooks and in enterprise server environments. As bit-tech mentioned back in April, Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge-E platform based on socket LGA 2011 is expected to feature quad-channel DDR3 memory, or one DIMM per channel in order to maximize memory bandwidth available to the rest of the system. This type of implementation would require a Point-to-Point memory controller design, where parallelism shifts from the DIMM channels to the memory controller itself.
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Cuts come to Red Storm :: Posted by THRASHER2
Layoffs affect 38 employees
Developer of the Ghost Recon series, Red Storm Entertainment, has been hit with cuts in what is being spun a “realignment of production priorities” by owner Ubisoft. The employees of the developer, located in North Carolina and currently working on Ghost Recon Future Soldier, were apparently surprised by the move.
According to the whispers that we hear, a number of long-time employees have been whispering about the possibility of layoffs for sometime, but they were still surprised when the news was announced. The layoffs will affect 38 employees, according to what we have been able to learn. The decision will have no affect on the release of Ghost Recon Future Soldier, according to our understanding, and it is still on track for release next year, although a specific release date has yet to be announced.
The spin as to the drivers behind the decision seem to center around a plan said to allow the studio to better focus on the development of multiplayer experiences, according to a statement released by Ubisoft. Apparently, those affected by the layoff will be able to pursue openings at other studios within the Ubisoft family.
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Best Buy to sell used game titles :: Posted by THRASHER2
Rolling out new trade-in program
Best Buy is rolling out a new used video game trade-in program. While this is not the retailerÂ’s first attempt at such a program, the company has looked at and tested several concepts, including self-service kiosks that handled trade-in functionality. The program will start this weekend in 600 retail locations nationwide.
The Best Buy trade-in program will allow users to bring in titles for in-store credit. The in-store credit will be issued to customers on a Best Buy Gift Card that can be used to purchase anything in the store. Best Buy will also be selling used titles, as well, once the retailer builds up some inventory.
Best Buy will also be accepting trade-ins via its web site. In this process, customers will ship the games to Best Buy and receive a Gift Card for the trade-in amount in between 7 and 14 days after their trade-ins have been processed. Trade-in values will apparently be the same on in-store trade-ins as well as trade-ins done using the web site.
Best Buy has been looking for a way to tap into the used video game space, but at the same time they have been concerned about hurting the sales of new titles. This has caused the company to be very concerned about the way a trade-in program would work and how used titles might be sold within retail stores. The higher profit margins on used titles is appealing to Best Buy, but it is unknown if gamers will flock to retailers entering this market space rather than going to a specialty video game retailer such as GameStop. Best Buy is said to be optimistic about the potential of this trade-in program and its long-term upside potential.
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Is a Red Dead Redemption movie in the works? :: Posted by THRASHER2
Apparently, Brad Pitt said to play John Marston
RockStarÂ’s Red Dead Redemption is said to be one of the hottest properties in Hollywood right now, and apparently the popular video game appears very close to spawning a movie. The rumor mill has been working overtime, but it is close to certain that we will see a movie adaptation of the video game on the big screen as a big budget Hollywood action western.
The bigger rumor is that Brad Pitt is apparently first in line to play the lead role of John Marston in this movie. The decision to go with Pitt could be a good one, if the actor is willing to star in the video game adaptation.
Of course at this point, it seems like a lot of rumors and talk. Our sources tell us that RockStar is apparently telling everyone that will listen that it is only a rumor and no deal has been made. Of course, whispers that we heard tell us that actually it is a good idea and many would like to see it happen, but we are a long way from that point. Make of it what you will; but it does seem that this talk has at least some legs to it and you never know, it might actually happen. Just donÂ’t look for it to happen soon.
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Garmin recalls 1.25 Nuvi GPS devices :: Posted by THRASHER2
Could drive you off a cliff
Garmin has announced a massive recall affecting 1.25 million Nuvi GPS devices. The recall is voluntary and it was announced due to faulty batteries which appear to present a fire hazard.
Several Nuvi series are being recalled, the 200W, 250W, 260W and the 7xx series. Garmin said it would replace the faulty batteries free of charge and insert a spacer on top of the battery, next to the PCB.
For more details check out GarminÂ’s blog,
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Zotac outs CULV nettops and ITX boards :: Posted by THRASHER2
ION 2 graphics on board
Zotac has announced a couple of rather interesting nettops and ITX boards aimed at somewhat more demanding users who believe Atom processors are for the meek.
ZotacÂ’s new ZBOX HD-ND22 and HD-ND21 are based on IntelÂ’s CULV platform rather than your run of the mill Atom. The ND22 uses a dual-core Celeron SU2300 processor clocked at 1.2GHz, while the ND21 is based on the 1.3GHz Celeron 743 single-core processor. Obviously, both should outperform Atom systems with ease, but just to make sure Zotac has added Nvidia ION 2 graphics to the mix.
In addition, the nettops also allow for some upgradeability, as they ship with two DDR3 slots. They feature a single 2.5-inch drive bay, HDMI and DVI outputs. Zotac also has a habit of offering nettop barebones, which is always a good idea as it offers consumers more flexibility.
Speaking of which, Zotac has also introduced two CULV ITX boards that will allow enthusiast to build their own HTPCs or nettops from the ground up. They pack the same CPUs and graphics as the nettops, but they also feature eSATA and VGA, as well as a PCIe x16 slot for some meaty discrete graphics.
Sadly we still donÂ’t know the price. If Zotac manages to keep in reasonable, we might be looking at some of the best nettop and ITX solutions on the market. WeÂ’re also wondering why not a single vendor chose to offer ION graphics on CULV notebooks.
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Eurocom puts ATI Mobility HD 5870 against Nvidia GTX 480M :: Posted by THRASHER2
ATI comes out as a winner
Eurocom, one of the more popular high-end system builders, has decided to test Nvidia's current flagship mobile solution against current ATI Mobility flagship and although we are looking at a test of a single GPU against Crossfire solution, the results are very interesting. Eurocom offers both solutions in its Leopard 18.4-inch notebook, and after couple of tests it is clear that the ATI Mobility HD 5870 CrossfireX is much better than the Nvidia GTX 480M.
Tested configuration of Eurocom's Leopard included Intel's Core i7 940XM 2.13GHz CPU, 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory and a 256GB SSD drive, paired up with a single Nvidia GTX 480M 2GB GPU and two ATI Mobility HD 5870 GPUs with 1GB of GDDR5 per GPU. When it comes to performance, ATI Mobility HD 5870 CrossfireX scores 18274 in 3DMark06 while Nvidia GTX 480M scores 15626 in the same test. Unfortunately for Nvidia, performance isn't the only thing where ATI wins as the dual GPU solution draws only 10W more while offering 17 percent higher performance.
To make things worse, Nvidia's GTX 480M GPU is over US $200 more expensive than the dual-GPU ATI option. Eurocom also pointed out that ATI's dual-GPU solution is much easier to cool down as it offers more diffused heat generation as we are talking about two GPUs that need 55W of power while Nvidia's GPU is a single solution that needs 100W of power.
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H264 video encoding will be free forever :: Posted by THRASHER2
Could kick start the standard
The group that licenses patents for the widely used H.264 video encoding and streaming technology has committed to charge no royalties ever for use by Web sites that use it for freely available video. In February, the MPEG LA previously had declared free streaming wouldn't require royalty payments through December 31, 2015.
However it has now lifted that limit forever in a move to kill off any hesitation to use the standard. Many felt that because it was going to charge for the use of its codec they would not use it. Adding a fee to streaming costs could have driven users to free rival video encoding technology, notably WebM from Google. But is not clear what MPEG LA's cunning plan to make money based on the standard will be.
MPEG LA currently makes its cash by charging royalties for use in other areas, including Blu-ray drives and disk reproduction, broadcast television, cameras, and video editing software. The rise of new codecs will make the video content of the Web a lot more interesting in coming years.
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Commodore resurrects 64 with Atom and ION :: Posted by THRASHER2
DonÂ’t you (forget about me)
HereÂ’s some news that should warm the hearts of the Breakfast Club generation, or the Perestroika/Glasnost generation in Eastern Europe.
Commodore has announced the PC64, an exact replica of the legendary 64, packed into a quaint plastic chassis which still looks lest plasticky than most 80Â’s stars. Well, the ones who are still alive that is.
Of course, its insides were brought up to date. The 8-bit MOS CPU made way for a dual-core Atom D525 at 1.8GHz and 4GB of DDR3 memory. It also packs 1TB of storage and thatÂ’s a lot of tapes by 64 standards. In keeping with the times, Commodore will also offer HDMI output and an optical drive. No word on pricing, but good old fatty should be back by the end of the year
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Thermalright HR-02 dissected :: Posted by THRASHER2
Review: Passive solution for Core i7 (Fudzilla.com)
We've already written about Thermalright's HR-02 CPU cooling, one of the pretty hefty solutions claiming to pack enough punch to passively cool a Core i7. As sceptical as we are, we've had our doubts as well, but Thermalright has proven to be right on the money. In fact, semi-passive operation will help the HR-02 in cooling a Core i7 930 at 2.8GHz and even a Core i7 965 Extreme at 3.2GHz.
HR-02 has a large dissipation surface making it easy for the passive cooler to release heat. Like any other passive cooling solution, HR-02 too requires at least some basic airflow within the case. HR-02 performance will naturally be improved if you strap it with a fan, but since the HR-02 was designed to passively cool Core i7 CPUs at reference voltages and clocks, a decent airflow within the case will do the trick.
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Microsoft leaks IE9 screenshot :: Posted by THRASHER2
Minimalistic
Microsoft Russia has released a screenshot of the new Internet Explorer 9 and we can happily report that thereÂ’s not much to report. In this case itÂ’s more about whatÂ’s missing, than whatÂ’s there.
The UI has apparently undergone an massive overhaul and it looks a lot cleaner, simplistic even. Actually it looks quite a lot better than the 8, as most of the menus appear to be hidden. My Favorites? Nowhere to be seen. History? Who needs it, just browse ahead and don't look back.
Frankly, it looks quite a bit better than the old version and we can only hope that the UI will be simple and intuitive, but itÂ’s still a bit too early to say.
On the tech front IE9 should deliver a few new features and improvements, including optimized JavaScrip implementation and HTML5 support, CSS3 extensions, Direct2D and support for H264 video.
Microsoft is expected to out the beta version on September 15.
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Nvidia's GTS 450 gets fully spec'd :: Posted by THRASHER2
192 CUDA cores and 789MHz GPU clock
We have already seen everything that can be seen regarding the upcoming Nvidia GF106 based GTS 450 card. First there were drawings of the PCB, then the clock speeds and pictures of the GPU, but one thing that eluded the press lines was the number of CUDA cores inside this GF106 GPU. Heise.de managed to score that number as well and according to their sources, GTS 450 will happily run with 192 CUDA cores.
If you somehow managed to miss the info regarding this card, we will give a short recap of all specifications. The upcoming Nvidia GTS 450 card is based on the 40nm GF106 GPU and has a die area of around 240 mm². The GPU has 192 CUDA cores and works at 789MHz for the GPU, 1566MHz for Cuda cores or simply shaders, and 3608MHz for 1GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 128-bit memory interface. Of course, we are talking about a card that supports DirectX 11, as well as all Nvidia technologies.
This card should compete against AMD's Radeon HD 5700 series, but as it was the case with recently released Nvidia cards, they are "just a bit" too late. If you take a glance at the specs, the GTS 450 might end up faster than the HD 5750 but might end up slower than the HD 5770, a key AMD card in the mainstream market. It is also important not to forget AMD's upcoming HD 6000 series that is looking pretty good on the paper and it's just a few months away.
The Nvidia GTS 450 is scheduled to show up sometime during September.
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New Celeron 3500 2.7GHz expected :: Posted by THRASHER2
Dual core 45nm
Intel plans to introduce the new Celeron E3500 and it plans to clock it to 2.7GHz. this will be 100MHz faster than current performance king among Celerons the E3400.
The specification is not that impressive but for some $52 Intel plans to offer a 2.7GHz-clocked dual core that works at 800MHz FSB, has 1MB cache and 65W TDP.
The funny thing about this CPU is that it looks almost identical to Pentium E5400 as it's clocked the same, has the same TDP, FSB support but the Pentium has 2MB cache while the Celeron has 1MB. You can easily tell that they are both made out of 45nm dual-core Wolfdale, pre-Nehalem core.
The launch date might be as early as this coming Sunday August 29th, as we reported back on June here.
The new Pentium E5700 at 3.0GHz is also expected to launch at the same time.
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XFX HD 5970 4GB Black Edition previewed :: Posted by THRASHER2
WeÂ’ve heard rumors of XFXÂ’s HD 5970 4GB card some time ago and weÂ’ve been trying to land a sample since March. Today is finally the day, weÂ’ve received the biggest graphics card package ever, as you can see from the picture below. This is an XFX HD 5970 4G Black Edition package compared to a 15-inch laptop box.
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We have a couple of pieces of interesting information coming out of AMD this morning, one of them regarding AMD’s continued use of the ATI brand, the other about an inexpensive, active DisplayPort-to-DVI dongle that should make to cost of entry into multi-screen Eyefinity more palatable for budget conscious consumers.
Wait, what? Can it be true? Is 
Here's some interesting fodder to chat about at the water cooler. 
One of the more curious items spied at this week's Computex trade show in Taipei, is an Asus laptop prototype with a built-in mini projector. There is still not too much known about the unlabeled notebook, other than that the laptop has a large space above the display's bezel, in which a working, pivoting mini projector is housed.
For years, 
The real question is: what isn't 
It's not official, because it's not a number that 
The venerable institution that is the 126-year-old Oxford English Dictionary may no longer be made available in print, with the OED's publishers seriously considering an online-only release for the forthcoming third edition.
Chip giant Intel has purchased the wireless chip division of Germany's Infineon for £900 million.
Google has confirmed plans to use GPU acceleration to give the latest version of its Chrome browser a serious bump-up in speed.
Venture capitalists provide cash, guidance and resources to help new businesses thrive - businesses like Google, which might still be stuck in a garage if it weren't for VCs' early investments. 
Google is planning on developing a paid-for on-demand movie service via YouTube by the end of the year, according to latest reports.
AMD has decided it's time to put ATI firmly in the bin. The chip manufacturer bought graphics giant ATI back in 2006 and has traded off the name ever since. 
LG has announced that it will show off the new LEX8 television at IFA, with what it terms 'NANO Lighting Technology'. 