IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 01/05/2013

(PR) Acer Announces New B6 and V6 Series Displays
Acer America is now offering its Acer B6 and V6 Series LED-backlit displays combining smart ergonomics and eco-conscious materials for both professional customers and consumers in Canada. The new monitors offer a thinner body than the prior generation and a wide array of models in various screen sizes, which feature a vertical alignment (VA) or twisted nematic (TN) panel depending on model.

The Acer V6 Series value line of displays focused on offering great quality at a good price is available in 19- to 24-inch screen sizes. The B6 Series premium line ranges in screen sizes from 22- to 27-inches and boasts a multi-function ergonomic stand, dual speakers and on select models, USB 3.0 with power-off charging for smartphones and other digital devices.

(PR) Globalfoundries and Infineon Collaborate for 40 nm Embedded Flash Process
Infineon Technologies and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. today announced a joint technology development and production agreement for 40 nanometer (nm) embedded flash (eFlash) process technology. The cooperation will focus on technology development based on Infineon's eFlash cell design and manufacturing of automotive and security microcontrollers (MCUs) with 40nm process structures. Production of the next generation 40nm eFlash MCUs will take place at different GLOBALFOUNDRIES sites, initially in Singapore with subsequent transfer to its site in Dresden, Germany.

"Next generation embedded Flash microcontrollers with 40nm process structures will further enhance our competitive strength in the automotive as well as chip card and security markets," says Arunjai Mittal, Member of the Management Board of Infineon Technologies. "We trust in GLOBALFOUNDRIES with their excellent manufacturing background and sites on different continents to fulfill Infineon's stringent quality, infrastructure security and business continuity requirements."

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AMD Readies Radeon HD 7730 Graphics Card
In an attempt to plug a hole in its product stack between the Radeon HD 7670 and the Radeon HD 7750, AMD could launch a new Radeon HD 7700 series SKU, the HD 7730. Based on the 28 nm "Cape Verde" silicon, the chip could feature 448 stream processors based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture, 28 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB of memory.

An MSI-branded HD 7730 is already doing rounds in the Chinese local market, indicating the SKU is designed for retail, and not just the OEM channel. The MSI card features 800 MHz core clock speed, with its memory clocked at 1125 MHz (4.50 GHz GDDR5-effective). With the HD 7730, AMD could also be going after NVIDIA's GeForce GT 640. It remains to be seen if the HD 7730 is a global product. The MSI card features retailer stickers from Taiwan-based retailers.

The source put the card through a few tests.

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Corsair in Acquisition Talks with Blackstone Group Consortium Member
Even as Corsair is looking to raise $78 million through an initial public offering (IPO), with a share price of $13, the company is reportedly in talks with Francisco Partners, a tech startup-focused venture capital company, over its possible acquisition. Francisco Partners was part of the consortium, which was led by Blackstone Group, to acquire Dell. This came to light when CNN unearthed an regulatory filing (PDF). Another theory doing rounds states that Corsair and Francisco Partners could be exploring other options than a buyout. In 2011, Corsair reported a revenue of $455 million, with net income of $19 million. In Q1 2012, it reported $132 million revenue, with $3 million net income. Corsair specializes in a wide range of gaming- and enthusiast-PC hardware, and peripherals.

Sources: CNN, LegitReviews

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Core i7-4770K Box Art Revealed?
Is this what Intel's 4th generation Core i7 "Haswell" retail box looks like? That is the question. For the first time in a decade, Intel could use a collage of pictures in its box-art. The running theme appears to be "creativity," with the box asking "what will you make?" You'll also notice that the box-art doesn't feature a small case-badge art. The top half of the front side could be what the badge ends up looking like. A little while ago, Intel made a cryptic Facebook post confirming a series launch along the sidelines of Computex 2013, held between 3rd and 7th June.

Source: VR-Zone

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(PR) Toshiba to Start Sales of CompactFlash Memory Card for DSLRs
Toshiba Corporation today announced that its new line of high performance CompactFlash (CF) memory cards, the EXCERIA PRO series, will go on sale from April 27th in the Japanese market. Sales will also follow in Asia, Europe and North America. The initial line-up of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB cards offers the world's highest level read and write speeds and complies with the new Video Performance Guarantee Profile 2 (VPG-65) standard.

The EXCERIA PRO CF cards integrate Toshiba's high performance NAND flash memory and specially developed dedicated firmware. They achieve a read speed of 160 MB/s and write speed of 150 MB/s, the highest level yet reported.

(PR) Samsung Unifies Fastest Growing PC Line under Newly Expanded ATIV Brand
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today announced it will expand the ATIV brand to include all of its Windows based PCs. ATIV, previously the brand for the company's Windows based convertible PC devices, now unites all of Samsung's Windows devices under one cohesive brand, representing the convergence of PC and mobile technologies. The new product names under the ATIV brand will provide customers an easy way to understand the product segments across Samsung's PC portfolio. Samsung ATIV will also offer users a consistent and seamless computing experience across Samsung's diverse PC line.

"Samsung has been the fastest growing PC brand for the past three years1, in part because of our commitment to developing solutions that meet and exceed the ever-evolving needs of our customers," said Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "Our expanded ATIV brand and the introduction of solutions like SideSync create the necessary synergy between our mobile and PC lines to create real ease of use for consumers. These synergies enable us to maintain our momentum and continue to offer our customers innovations that enhance the way they live and work."

(PR) Thermaltake Announces Water 3.0 Line of AIO CPU Coolers
For a liquid cooler, enthusiasts are not only looking for an easy and clean setup to efficiently calm the roaring CPU, more likely they also crave for the best low-maintenance solution. Thermaltake, being an industry leader in computer chassis, thermal solutions, and power supply units announces the newest upgrade and is thrilled to launch the new Thermaltake All-In-One Liquid Cooling System (LCS) Water3.0 series.

The Water3.0 lineup features the Water 3.0 Extreme, Water 3.0 Pro and Water 3.0 Performer. The new Water 3.0 Series made setting up just as easy as it cools. It is time to upgrade the simplicity of liquid CPU cooling to enjoy better cooling performance and protect the investment in the CPU as well.

(PR) ASUS Announces Xonar Essence STU External Sound Card and Headphones Amplifier
ASUS today announced the Xonar Essence STU USB external digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and headphone amplifier, based on the acclaimed design and quality of Xonar Essence ST/STX internal sound cards and going beyond their already high standards. Offering audiophile-grade performance, Xonar Essence STU delivers USB connectivity and accessible external controls.

It offers clear sound with a 120dB signal to noise ratio (SNR), strong 600ohm headphone amplifier, asynchronous USB audio and swappable Op-Amps for DIY sound modification. Precision clock tuning technology further enhances audio fidelity, making Xonar Essence STU a great choice for discerning music lovers who need a quality DAC and headphone amplifier to drive the full capabilities of high-end headphones.

(PR) Corsair Obsidian 350D Premium Micro-ATX Chassis Launched
Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components, today announced the Obsidian Series 350D High Performance Micro ATX PC case. Available with a solid or windowed side panel, the Obsidian Series 350D brings unprecedented expansion and cooling options to smaller, more portable, high-performance PCs.

Like larger cases in the premium Obsidian Series line, the Obsidian Series 350D sports a clean, black, brushed-aluminum styling. The case is also designed for fast and neat builds with tool-free access and drive installation as well as an innovative cable routing system. The Obsidian Series 350D case supports both Micro ATX and mini ITX motherboards and has plenty of interior space for liquid CPU cooling, dual 3.5" hard drives, dual 2.5" SSDs, dual 5.25" drives, and dual full-length graphics cards. It also has five expansion slots and five fan mounting points with room for two 240mm radiators. The front panel provides convenient access to USB 3.0 and audio connectors.

(PR) NuForce Releases the NE-650M In- Ear Headphones
NuForce, Inc., a leader in professional and consumer audio gear, introduces its NE-650M earphones as the latest addition to the critically acclaimed NE-600 series. The NE-650M earphones provide a high-efficiency design employing an even greater level of performance than previous models in a series already noted for exceptional bass.

Each earpiece houses an 11mm driver and an aerodynamic acoustic porting system that provide a harmonically correct tonality, a deeply layered soundstage and superb acoustic isolation. The NE-650M Earphones include a hands-free microphone with button for call answering and music playback control.

GIGABYTE Joins the HD 7990 Party
Albeit a wee bit late, GIGABYTE joined the Radeon HD 7990 launch party with a card of its own (model: GV-R799D5-6GD-B). Pictured below, GIGABYTE's offering is no different from any of the HD 7990 cards launched this Wednesday, except the company decals on the card. It sticks to AMD reference clock speeds of 1000 MHz core, and 6.00 GHz memory, featuring 6 GB of it. The dual-GPU graphics card runs a pair of 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs, each featuring 2048 stream processors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 384-bit wide memory interfaces. The card draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, outputs include four mini-DisplayPort and a dual-link DVI. On par with every other card, GIGABYTE's HD 7990 will cost $999.

(PR) QNAP Releases Turbo NAS TS-x21 and TS-x20 Series for Home Users
QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the release of the Turbo NAS TS-x21 and TS-x20 series for home users and home offices. The new models in the TS-x21 series are equipped with 2.0 GHz CPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM, and the TS-x20 series with 1.6 GHz CPU, 512MB DDR3 RAM. Both series deliver superior performance for daily routines in file storage, sharing, and data backup, and serve as ideal media centers for storing and sharing huge multimedia files.

The TS-x21 and TS-x20 series feature the brand-new Turbo NAS operating system QTS 4.0. The new QTS 4.0 integrates multi-window operations into the web-based user interface, adds cross-device file synchronization, several smart mobile apps, and more. In an era where almost everyone has at lease one mobile phone or tablet device, the QTS 4.0 fulfills people's needs of mobile data access and synchronization, and storage for huge quantities of data. What's more, the QTS 4.0's multi-window user interface introduces users to an unprecedented NAS management experience. In addition, the multimedia applications and multi-tasking designs not only increase management efficiency but also transform home entertainment.

Core i7-4960X "Ivy Bridge-E" Roughly 10% Faster than i7-3970X: Early Tests
PC enthusiast "Toppc" with the Coolaler.com, with access to a Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" sample clocked to match specifications of the Core i7-4960X, wasted no time in comparing the chip to a Core i7-3970X "Sandy Bridge-E." The two chips share a common socket LGA2011 design, and run on motherboards with Intel X79 Express chipset. An MSI X79A-GD45 Plus, with V17.1 BIOS was used to run the two chips. Among the tests Toppc put the chip through, are overclocker favorites SuperPi mod 1.6, CPU Mark '99, WPrime 1.63, Cinebench 11.5, 3DMark Vantage (CPU score), and 3DMark 06 (CPU score).

The Ivy Bridge-E chip outperformed its predecessor by roughly 5-10 percent across the board. In Cinebench, the i7-4960X scored 10.94 points in comparison to the i7-3970X' 10.16; SuperPi 32M was crunched by the i7-4960X in 9m 22.6s compared to the 9m 55.4s of the i7-3970X; CPU Mark scores between the two are 561 vs. 533, respectively; 3DMark Vantage CPU score being 38,644 points vs. 35,804, respectively; and 3DMark 06 scores 8,586 points vs. 8,099 points, respectively. In WPrime, the i7-4960X crunched 32M in 4.601s, compared to its predecessor's 5.01s. Below are the test screenshots, please note that they're high-resolution images, so please open each in a new tab.

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(PR) Logitech Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Financial Results for FY 2013
Logitech International (SIX: LOGN) (Nasdaq: LOGI) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of Fiscal Year 2013.

Sales for Q4 FY 2013 were $469 million, down 12 percent from $532 million in Q4 FY 2012. Excluding the unfavorable impact of exchange rates, sales were down by 11 percent compared to the prior year. The Company posted an operating loss for the fourth quarter of $37 million compared to operating income of $24 million in the same quarter a year ago. The operating loss included $16 million in restructuring charges and $6 million related to the impairment of goodwill and other assets. The net loss for Q4 FY 2013 was $36 million ($0.23 per share) compared to net income of $28 million ($0.17 per share) in the prior year. Gross margin for Q4 FY 2013 was 33.5 percent, down from 36.4 percent a year ago.

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HIS Rolls Out its Radeon HD 7990 Graphics Card
HIS joined the Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" party by launching its own card, which predictably, is based on AMD's reference design. Called HIS HD 7990 Fan, the card features AMD-reference clock speeds of 1000 MHz core and 6.00 GHz memory; and features the "whisper quiet" triple-fan cooling solution. The card features a pair of 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs, each featuring 2048 stream processors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interfaces. There is a total of 6 GB of memory on board. AMD's Never Settle Reloaded, with eight games, come included. The HIS HD 7990 Fan is expected to be priced at US $999.

(PR) XFX Unleashes its Radeon HD 7990
They may be titans, but we are Gods. Meticulously engineered for extraordinary DirectX 11.1 performance with 6GB of GDDR5 and two of the fastest GPUs on the planet. The XFX AMD Radeon HD 7990 break records without breaking the sound barrier, thanks to a massive heatsink backed by three whisper-quiet axial fans.

Finely tuned for the highest DirectX 11.1 gaming performance, the XFX AMD Radeon HD 7990 and Graphics Core Next is the best solution to prep your rig for extreme performance and blaze through the hottest graphic intensive games of the year. From browsers to image editors, experience faster and smoother performance in everyday apps with AMD App Acceleration. These elements incorporated in the new XFX Radeon HD 7990 allow it to be the top performing graphics card for a long time. No competitor comes close to this performance and if any one wants a true competitive gaming edge, the XFX Radeon HD 7990 is the best and only solution on the planet. And YES. It can run Crysis 3 in 3840 x 2160 with max settings.

(PR) Western Digital Announces Q3 Revenue Of $3.8 Billion
Western Digital Corp. today reported revenue of $3.8 billion, hard-drive shipments of 60.2 million and net income of $391 million, or $1.60 per share for its third fiscal quarter ended Mar. 29, 2013. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $514 million or $2.10 per share. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported revenue of $3.0 billion, net income of $483 million, or $1.96 per share, and shipped 44.2 million hard drives. Non-GAAP net income in the year-ago quarter was $619 million, or $2.52 per share.

The company generated $727 million in cash from operations during the March quarter, ending with total cash and cash equivalents of $4.1 billion. During the quarter, the company utilized $243 million to buy back 5.2 million shares of common stock. On Feb. 14, the company declared a $0.25 per common share dividend, which was paid on Apr. 15.

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(PR) TRENDnet Releases First AC1200 Wireless Adapter With a USB 3.0 Port
TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, today announces the availability of the AC1200 Dual Band Wireless USB 3.0 Adapter, model TEW-805UB -- the first Wireless AC adapter with a USB 3.0 port which maintains high speed wireless transmissions to a Windows-based computer.

TRENDnet's TEW-805UB connects to a high performance Wireless AC network at up to 867 Mbps or to a common Wireless N network at up to 300 Mbps. The intuitive installation process takes less than five minutes. A convenient adapter utility stores multiple network settings and prioritizes network connections. A Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button connects the adapter to a wireless network at the touch of the button. This compact adapter is powered by the computer.

AMD Catalyst 13.4 WHQL Drivers Released
AMD launched its first WHQL-signed Catalyst Software Suite in three months, with the Catalyst 13.4 WHQL, coinciding with the launch of Radeon HD 7990, earlier today. The Catalyst Software Suite installs device drivers and system software for AMD Radeon GPUs, IGPs, and integrated HDMI audio devices, in additional to AMD APP runtime environment, and certain media acceleration software.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.4 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

The change-log for Catalyst 13.4 WHQL follows.

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(PR) Monster Digital Debuts Overdrive 3.0 Solid State External Drives
Monster Digital, a leading innovator and developer of advanced memory and storage solutions, is introducing its first line of external Solid State Drives (SSD), which make the jump to SSD technology even easier for professionals and consumers to adopt for additional computer storage needs.

Simply put, Overdrive 3.0 is the fastest and easiest way to add storage to your computer. Inside the laser etched stainless steel enclosure is an advanced, high-speed, solid state drive that is available in four storage capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB for the suggested retail prices of $179.99, $299.99, $599.99, $1399.99 respectively.

(PR) Digital Storm Ends the Pre-Built vs. DIY Debate with VANQUISH Line of Gaming PCs
Digital Storm put an end to the age old debate of pre-built systems vs. DIY (do-it-yourself) with the launch of the VANQUISH line of gaming PCs. For years, enthusiasts have claimed they could build systems with the same high-end components Digital Storm configures for significantly less. The VANQUISH line narrows that gap to a mere $23-$58 difference making the decision a no brainer - DIY is simply not worth the hassle.

Like all Digital Storm systems, the VANQUISH line of PCs feature a carefully optimized selection of brand name, high-performance components to deliver a fluid smooth game playing experience. Digital Storm's team of engineers meticulously review every tiny detail to provide customers with the peace of mind an average "do-it-your-self" cannot match.

(PR) MAINGEAR Offers the World's Fastest Graphics with the New AMD Radeon HD 7990
MAINGEAR, an award-winning PC system builder of custom desktops, notebooks, and workstations, gives PC enthusiasts another reason to smile by offering the new AMD Radeon HD 7990 graphics solution on their award-winning desktop systems.

The new AMD Radeon HD 7990 6 GB GDDR5 graphic card option offers the fastest graphics performance to date with 806 billion transistors, 4096 stream processor and 8.2 Tflops of computing power, 48 lanes of PCI Express 3.0 for 96 GB of interGPU bandwidth and can power up to 5 simultaneous monitors with AMD EyeFinity Technology. Your system will stay quiet with the card's 3x ultra-quiet axial fans and large heatsink. PC gamers will enjoy playing the latest titles in maximum settings such as Crysis 3 and Tomb Raider in 3840 x 2160 resolutions and is ready for Ultra HD gaming at 4K resolution.

(PR) ASUS Introduces the Radeon HD 7990 Dual-GPU Graphics Card
ASUS today announced the Radeon HD 7990 graphics card, a dual-GPU offering derived from 28nm AMD Radeon graphics processors. With twin GPUs based on AMD Graphics Core Next technology and 6GB GDDR5 video memory, the ASUS Radeon HD 7990 easily handles the most demanding DirectX 11.1 PC games in ultra settings and resolutions above 1920 x 1080.

It is also ready for ultra HD 4K video, delivering the finest graphics performance and the convenience of a standard 2-slot height. With two GPUs factory-paired on the board, customers only require one free PCI Express 3.0 slot without needing to use AMD CrossFireX multi-GPU bridging.

(PR) Club 3D Announces its Radeon HD 7990 Graphics Card
Club 3D unveils today the heir of our first Radeon HD 7990. This card already crushed the competition in terms of sheer power, performance and awesomeness. But now we present its successor, the even faster Club 3D Radeon HD 7990. As the world's fastest and most advanced graphics card, it descends from generations of AMD Radeon Graphics cards that wore the same crown. And with a heritage like that, you know what you're getting: an unparalleled experience wherein gaming is everything… but not the only thing. All hail the new king.

Compared to the previous Club 3D Radeon HD 7990, which was already a stellar performer and has a track record for being the fastest graphics card in the world for some months in 2012 and 2013, the new Club 3D Radeon HD 7990 offers even better performance while being quieter, cooler and more energy efficient. It's almost impossible to imagine but even that top of range product left room for the improvement shown in this iteration. It's clear that these improvements enable better performance than any other graphics card available in the market today and at the same time operates with less noise and using less power.

(PR) EK Working on a New Water Block for AMD's Radeon HD 7990
EK Water Blocks, premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is working on a new water block for the latest, most powerful gaming pgrahics card in the world - the AMD Radeon HD 7990, codenamed Malta.

The upcoming EK-FC7990 SE water block will directly cool both GPU, RAM as well as VRMs (voltage regulation module) as water will flow directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks. EK-FC7990 SE water block will also features a very high flow design therefore it could easily be used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps.

(PR) MSI Delivers Extreme Performance with New Radeon HD 7990
Leading international graphics card maker MSI has always been a key player in the competitive graphics card market. Thanks to its strong R&D capabilities and outstanding product performance, MSI's products have always received high acclaim by the media and consumers throughout the world. On the heels of having just announced the release of the HD 7790 graphics card, MSI today launched the Radeon HD 7990 (MKT Name: R7990-6GD5), the most powerful graphics card on the planet.

In addition to utilizing two of the latest 28 nm 7900 series GPUs based on the GCN architecture, the new card also comes equipped with 6GB of high-speed memory. The card's extreme specifications are guaranteed to meet the needs of extreme gamers and power users everywhere.

(PR) Sapphire Set to Ship Radeon HD 7990
SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced that it will start shipping the HD 7990 – the fastest graphics card available based on the highly acclaimed graphics GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture from AMD.

The SAPPHIRE HD 7990 has a dual GPU architecture with a total of 4096 Stream processors and core clock speeds of 1GHz (with Boost enabled), delivering up to 8.2 TeraFlops of compute power. It is equipped with 6GB of the latest DDR5 memory, and its output configuration of Dual-Link DVI plus four DisplayPorts supports up to 5 simultaneous displays in AMD Eyefinity. A large heatpipe assembly cooled by three axial fans ensures that the card runs quietly even under load.

(PR) PowerColor Announces its Radeon HD 7990 V2 "Malta" Graphics Card
TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, today officially announces PowerColor HD7990, codenamed Malta, ready to fulfill all enthusiastic users with critical demand. The new HD7990 is powered by dual GPUs, and features 4096 stream processors and 8.2 TFLOPS compute power, deliveries massively parallel computing power for graphics.

The PowerColor HD7990 is equipped with 6GB of GDDR5 memory, and clocks at 950MHz and 1500MHz memory speed. By utilizing AMD PowerTune with boost, the HD7990 allows the core frequency dynamically overclocked up to 1GHz, successfully tackles demanding games titles without effort. Together with the combination of three axial fans and massive heatsink, the HD7990 provides ultra-quiet working environment under 37.8 dBA.

AMD Makes a Breakthrough in Improving Frame Latency
AMD has been criticized by some tech publications over Radeon HD 7000 series posing higher frame-latency over NVIDIA GeForce chips, even in cases where AMD's chips offer higher frame-rates. "Frame latency" or "frame time" was purported as a metric of the same importance as frame-rates, in graphics card reviews. Various essentially identical methods were used to show that AMD Radeon GPUs yield higher frame latency (time taken for frames drawn by the GPU to make it to the display) than NVIDIA GeForce ones, even in cases where AMD's chips offer higher frame-rates. AMD has apparently made a significant breakthrough in improving frame latency.

In January, AMD made its first official response to early tests that showed Radeon GPUs to pose higher frame latency. In its defense, AMD stated that frame-latency issues are not a hardware design flaw, and can be ironed out by optimizing drivers to the redesigned memory controllers on GPUs based on its Graphics CoreNext architecture. Sources told us that AMD is ready with its first prototype drivers that fix frame latency issues. These drivers are pre-alpha, and are made available to select industry partners, with an adequate level of competence and expertise, since a week now. After AMD takes feedback from these partners, the company will begin rolling out the first beta drivers, followed by WHQL-signed ones.

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(PR) EK-RAM Dominator now renamed to EK-RAM Monarch
EK Water Blocks, premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is announcing changes to the product naming in order to comply with the Intellectual Property Rights of Corsair Inc. As a result all our products from EK-RAM Dominator product line are being renamed to EK-RAM Monarch series products. The EAN codes remain the same. These changes are effective immediately.

This information is already reflected on all web pages, installation manuals and product packaging. The table below maps the old name to the new name.

(PR) Origin PC Announces Radeon HD 7990 Option
ORIGINPC announces the launch of the new AMD Radeon HD 7990 dual GPU graphics card on their award-winning desktops for gamers, artists, professionals and hardware enthusiasts. Powered by AMD's Graphics Core Next Architecture, the AMD Radeon HD 7990 features an astounding 8.6 billion transistors, 4,096 stream processors, 6GB DDR5 memory and up to 8.2 teraflops of computing power. With support for ULTRA HD 4K gaming, 6 displays per card and its record-breaking benchmark performance, the AMD Radeon HD 7990 provides the best gaming experience to date that can now be enjoyed on all ORIGIN desktop systems. ORIGIN PC is also offering AMD's brand new gaming bundle that features 8 of the most popular AAA titles with the purchase of a single AMD Radeon HD 7990 graphics card.

AMD Announces Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" Flagship Graphics Card
AMD announced its flagship graphics card for this generation of GPUs, the Radeon HD 7990. Although essentially a dual-GPU solution based on two 28 nm "Tahiti" chips, the card is touted to be different from the various HD 7990 "New Zealand" graphics cards launched in Q3-2012, in featuring significantly lower power draw, a 2-slot cooling solution that, according to AMD, is "whisper quiet," and the need for just two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. In comparison, most "New Zealand" cards required three power connectors, and triple-slot cooling solutions.

The Radeon HD 7990 uses a pair of 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs with all components unlocked, featuring 2048 stream processors based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture (4096 in total), 128 TMUs (256 in total), 32 ROPs (64 in total), and the full 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. Each GPU holds 3 GB of memory totaling the card's memory amount to 6 GB. The GPUs feature clock speeds of 1000 MHz core, PowerTune with Boost, and a memory clock speed of 6.00 GHz, yielding 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth per GPU. The two GPU systems are tied to the system bus using a PLX PEX8747 48-lane PCI-Express 3.0 switch.

(PR) OWC Announces Mercury Helios+E2 Thunderbolt-based Storage Solution
Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today introduced the OWC Mercury Helios+E2 Thunderbolt SSD Solution. The bootable 'all-in-one' storage performance and expansion solution offers owners of Thunderbolt technology enabled Macs and PCs sustained read/write data throughput up to 617MB/s from up to 960GB of OWC Mercury SSD capacity; two Thunderbolt interfaces for connecting multiple Thunderbolt devices; and two eSATA 6Gb/s expansion ports for connecting up to an additional 32TB or more of external storage/backup capacity.

(PR) Apple Reports Second Quarter Results
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 second quarter ended March 30, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $43.6 billion and quarterly net profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $39.2 billion and net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 37.5 percent compared to 47.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 66 percent of the quarter's revenue.

The Company sold 37.4 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to 35.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 19.5 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 11.8 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold just under 4 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 Series Coming This May
AMD may have declared that its next-generation GPU family won't arrive before October, but that isn't stopping NVIDIA from launching its GeForce GTX 700 series much earlier. While AMD's lineup is banking on sales during the X'mas shopping season, NVIDIA is going after the pre-Summer system upgrade crowd. According to a Bright Side of News (BSN) report, NVIDIA's new lineup will make its debut no later than this May.

According to the BSN report, GeForce GTX 700 series will be heavily based on existing GeForce Kepler silicon, with a handful feature-set updates, and some clever product stack adjustments. The part that succeeds today's GeForce GTX 680, the GeForce GTX 780, could be based on the 28 nm GK110 silicon, and could very well be the fabled "GTX TITAN LE" part that's been in the news for some time now, as being a scaled down GeForce GTX TITAN, with 2496 CUDA cores, 208 TMUs, 40 ROPs, and a 320-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 5 GB of memory.

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Intel Expands SSD 335 Series with 80 GB Variant
Intel expanded its performance-segment SSD 335 series with a new entry-level 80 GB variant (model: SSDSC2CT080AK5). It joins the 180 GB and 240 GB variants, and occupies a price-point around the 110€ mark (excl VAT), which makes it particularly pricey in comparison to 120 GB drives. SSD 335 combines an LSI-SandForce SF-2281 series controller with Intel-made 20 nm MLC NAND flash.

Intel didn't update the product sheet with details of the new 80 GB model, but its bigger siblings offer sequential speeds as high as 500 MB/s reads, with up to 450 MB/s writes. Built in the 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, SSD 335 features SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and supports most standard consumer SSD features, including TRIM and NCQ. The drive should begin showing up on online stores worldwide, in both OEM (drive-only) and retail (includes bay-adapters and data migration software) trims.

(PR) WD Shipping World's First 5 mm 2.5-Inch Hard Drive
WD, a Western Digital company and world leader in storage and connected-life products, today announced it is shipping the world's first ultra-slim 2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and solid state hybrid drives (SSHD), which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and space-constrained computing environments. With 500 GB of storage capacity and models with high performance-enabling solid state hybrid drive technology, this slim product line helps to address the tradeoffs system designers often make between capacity, physical size and performance.

"With the launch of our new WD Blue 5 mm ultra slim hard drives and our WD Black SSHD products, currently shipping to OEMs, WD is delivering to our customers a variety of solutions that maximize storage capacity and volumetric efficiency, as well as performance and system responsiveness, for consumers," said Matt Rutledge , vice president of WD's client computing business unit. "Our engineering team took a clean-sheet approach with 5 mm to deliver an ultra-thin hard drive that enables a world of possibilities and applications for mobile computing and beyond."

(PR) Genius Announces X-G510 Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse
Genius today releases the X-G510, the ambidextrous Genius gaming mouse specially designed to give gamers an edge. Offering unparalleled precision, comfort and functionality, this six-button gaming mouse has the features gamers need to excel in battle, but in a straightforward look.

Offering unique aesthetic customization options, the X-G510 features backlighting brightness and pulsation style that can be tuned to your liking. Enhancing the gaming atmosphere during low-light situations, the X-G510's breathing-like lighting system gradually brightens and dims during game play.

(PR) Noctua Offers Alternative Mounting Option for NH-L9a Cooler Free of Charge
Noctua today announced the availability of an alternative mounting option for its NH-L9a low profile heatsink. The new option does not make use of a backplate and thus now permits to install the NH-L9a on AMD mainboards that have components in the area at the rear side that is reserved for the backplate in the AMD specifications. The new mounting parts will be provided to NH-L9a users free of charge.

"The SecuFirm2 mounting system of the NH-L9a complies strictly to the AMD specifications and guarantees 100% compatibility with mainboards that follow these specifications", explains Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "We've been overwhelmed with the great press and customer feedback on this cooler, but unfortunately, some mini-ITX mainboards do not follow the AMD specifications, so the NH-L9a could not be installed on these. We have now designed an alternative mounting option and will provide the new parts to customers who need it free of charge."

XIGMATEK Announces Assassin Line of E-ATX Cases
XIGMATEK announced Assassin, a new line of E-ATX full-tower cases, consisting of black and white versions, with windowed and non-windowed variants. The Assassin features a edgy design chrome accents lining the 5.25-inch bay covers, that run the entire height of the front-panel. The cases are made of SECC steel, and ABS plastic, with acrylic windows on the applicable variants.

Measuring 210 mm x 500 mm x 500 mm (WxDxH), the Assassin tucks in enough room for E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX, or mini-ITX motherboards. It features three 5.25-inch drive bays, and eight 3.5-inch ones arranged along a single massive drive cage; both drive bay types are tool-free. The case features eight expansion card bays, so you could install a dual-slot graphics card even in the bottommost slot of your motherboard. The motherboard tray features valved flaps for cable management.

Intel Core "Haswell" Desktop Processor Box Pricing Compiled
Intel is expected to unveil its 4th generation Core "Haswell" processor family by early-June, along the sidelines of the 2013 Computex event. In addition to being available in 1000-unit tray quantities to OEMs, the desktop variants of these processors will be available in their familiar retail box packages. Multiple sources confirm that pricing of these chips will be largely identical to that of the current Core "Ivy Bridge" series, with succeeding next-generation part for each current generation one. The table below describes their US MSRP (excl. taxes).

Source: VR-Zone Chinese

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(PR) AMD Unveils New Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip
AMD today announced the new AMD Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip (SOC) platform, a single-chip solution based on the AMD next-generation "Jaguar" CPU architecture and AMD Radeon 8000 Series graphics. The new AMD Embedded G-Series SOC platform further signifies a strategic push to focus on high-growth markets outside the PC industry, with an emphasis on embedded systems. The announcement was made at this year's DESIGN West expo.

Embedded systems are increasingly driving intelligence into new areas of our lives, from smart TVs and set-top boxes to interactive digital signage and informational kiosks. This supports greater productivity and connectivity and is expected to be a strong driver for Surround Computing, an area of substantial growth in the computing industry. Among the forces that are enabling this next-generation computing era are single-chip, SOC solutions that offer smaller size, higher performance and more energy-efficient processors.

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 01/05/2013

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