IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (techPowerUp) 08/02/2009

(PR) Thermaltake Introduces Vi-ON External Hard Drive Enclosure
Vi-ON external hard drive enclosure is the world's first external enclosure with embedded hard drive suspension system and Active Smart Cooling System. It utilizes a temperature sensing fan that reacts to hard drive temperature and changes fan speed in real-time for utmost efficiency and silence.

While most users do not realize, hard drives are capable of producing a fair amount of vibration when hard drives are at their maximum rotation speed. That is exactly why Thermaltake engineers designed-in the world's first HDD suspension system to minimize those vibration noises.

(PR) Dell and Susan G. Komen Promise to Fight Breast Cancer Together
Dell announced today a partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to raise money through Dell's new Promise Pink laptops and Minis for breast cancer research and community-based programs for breast health education and screening.
Starting today, with every purchase of a Promise Pink laptop or Mini, Dell will donate $5.00 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization. The partnership is part of Dell's continued commitment to community involvement.
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EVGA Makes GPU Voltage Tuner Software Official
EVGA today made its GPU Voltage Tuner (GVT) software utility official. The utility allows end-users to control the voltage of the graphics processor, a significant factor when it comes to overclocking, as within safe limits, increasing the GPU voltage facilitates higher maximum GPU core and shader clock speeds. The utility keeps in mind the majority of users that doesn't understand the specifics of voltage control, and its impact on overclocking.

Using a simple slider, the user can set the vGPU voltage from 0.82V to 1.18V and beyond, depending on the accelerator. The resolution of the scale is in milli-Volts, although the resolution of the slider may differ. Initial tests have shown even simple increases in voltages to send the maximum overclock for the core speed by as much as 100 MHz. The initial graphics card support-base includes the GeForce GTX 260, GTX 280 and GTX 295 series accelerators by EVGA. Future releases may expand the support base. The application is available exclusively to registered users of EVGA graphics accelerators, and can be downloaded from here.

Extended graphics card support list follows.
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NVIDIA Designs New GTX 260 PCB, Further Reduces Manufacturing Costs
The introduction of the new G200b series graphics processors sought to revive NVIDIA's stronghold over the high-end graphics market, by reducing manufacturing costs, and facilitating high-end graphics cards at unusually low price-points, to compete with rival ATI. The first SKU using the G200b GPU was the new GeForce GTX 260. The PCB of design of the new model (P654) saw several drastic changes, that also ended up contributing to the cost-cutting: all memory chips were placed in the business end of the PCB, and the VRM area rearranged. News emerging from Expreview suggests that NVIDIA has worked out an even newer PCB reference design (model: P897) that aims mainly to cut production costs further. The reference design graphics board based on the PCB will be given the internal name "D10U-20". A short list of changes is as follows:

The number of PCB layers has been reduced from 10 to 8, perhaps to compress or remove blank, redundant or rudimentary connections
A 4+2 phase NVVDD power design using the ADP4100 voltage regulator IC, the FBVDDQ circuit has been reduced from 2 phases to 1, and the MOSFET package has been changed from LFPAK to DPAK grouping, to reduce costs. The ADP4100 lacks the I2C interface, which means voltage control will be much more difficult than on current PCBs of the GeForce 260,280, 285 and 295
The optional G200b support-brace has been removed
While the length of the PCB remains the same, the height has been reduced to cut costs
BIOS EEPROM capacity reduced from 1 Mbit (128 KB) to 512 Kb (64 KB)
Cheaper DVI connectors

(PR) Lavalys Starts The New Year With The Release of EVEREST v5.00
Lavalys announces the general availability of version 5.00 of its EVEREST family of products which includes the widely used PC diagnostics and benchmarking tool EVEREST Ultimate Edition and the popular IT asset management and network monitoring solution EVEREST Corporate Edition.

This release improves upon EVEREST's already impressive set of tools with some brand new features and a very long list of enhancements in direct response to customer feedbacks. Under the hood, version 5.00 continues the long tradition of accuracy and comprehensiveness brought by previous versions with support for the latest hardware technologies bringing the total number of specific supported devices over 85,000.
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(PR) IKONIK Introduces Gaia PSU, Brings Better Environment with Electricity Bill Reduction
During the last few years, many brands have started to produce their own line of PSU’s. So what makes the IKONIK PSU different and better than other PSU’s? From the beginning the IKONIK R&D team wanted to build a PSU with the general idea of the best components and highest efficiency.

IKONIK Gaia Series ranges from 350W to 500W. This range covers most users who are particular about their PSU and have a high standard that they abide by.

Galaxy Non-Reference GeForce GTX260+ Spotted
Pictures of the one of the first indigenously designed PCB for the GeForce GTX 260 by Galaxy has been pictured by Chinese website PCPop.com, that show a distinct blue PCB and cooling system. Galaxy chooses to call this accelerator the GTX 260+, perhaps to indicate that it is the newest version (55nm, 216 SP), which the marking on the GPU validates. The accelerator seems to be exclusive for the Asian market. The PCB uses a five phase power circuit. All the memory chips are on the anterior end of the PCB.

The cooling system of the card consists of heatsinks over key components of the PCB: the NVIO2 processor, the VRM area and the memory chips. The GPU is cooled by a massive cooler that can trick you for a CPU cooler. It seems to span across at least three slots. It consists of a contact block from which 2~4 heat pipes emerge, that convey heat to large aluminum fin array that is cooled by what looks like a 120mm LED-lit fan. The accelerator is backed by Galaxy's Magic Panel software that monitors the various parameters of the card and controls them. In the first screen-shot below, the core seems to be set at 750 MHz (core), 1575 MHz (shader) and 1300/2600 DDR MHz (memory), with a certain temperature reading (most likely the core) showing a temperature of 43 آ°C. The card secured a 3DMark Vantage score of P14480 on a Core i7-based test bench. The card also dealt with an ongoing FurMark session where at the same speeds, it was running at 67 آ°C, showing the cooling efficiency of this card.

Source: PCPop
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First Pictures of Intel Ibex-Peak Chip Packages Emerge
Intel's mainstream market implementation of the Nehalem architecture will come in the form of monolithic quad-core a dual-core chips that have northbridge machinery integrated. Based on the Lynnfield, Clarkesfield (quad-core) and Arandale (dual-core) designs, Intel will place the processors on a common system design dubbed the "Ibex-Peak". The processors are likely to be branded as Core i5, Core i4 or even Core i3 depending on a lot of factors. Additionally, Intel plans enterprise variants of the said chips.

To seat these chips, Intel is designing new sockets: LGA-1155, LGA-1156 the two can be classified into the sockets for the desktop variants, with another LGA-1167 socket most likely to be exclusive for the Xeon variants. PCGH sourced some images from Intel's Design Development Tools (DDT) portal (found here), which tell that Intel names its new series of sockets as "socket H". Pictured below is a processor package viewed from its business-end. The other three you can see, are interposer-boards. These are devices that resemble the actual product packages that sit on the sockets. You can see a grid of leads over the "IHS" of the package. The leads serve to help in the technical development of products based on the package design, hence it is found on the DDT portal. It should give you an idea of what an LGA-1155, LGA-1156 and LGA-1167 processor should look like, sans the leads on the IHS. The images below in the same order. Finally, pictured much earlier, is the Ibex-Peak platform motherboard that demonstrates the design.

Source: PCGH
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(PR) Samsung Announces First Validated 40-nanometer Class DRAM
Samsung Electronics announced today that it has developed and validated the first 40-nanometer (nm) class DRAM chip and module. This new 1-Gigabit DDR2 component (x8) and a corresponding 1-Gigabyte 800Mbps (Megabits per second) DDR2 SODIMM (small outline DRAM inline memory module) آ– both to be processed at 40-nm آ– have been certified in the Intel Platform Validation program for use with the Intel GM45 series Express mobile chipsets.
"Securing extremely advanced technology and system/platform validated operability underscores our commitment as technology leader to deploying the most efficient means of producing DRAM in the marketplace," said Kevin Lee, vice president, technical marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
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Intel Cuts the Prices on Some of its High-Performance Solid-State Drives
The Inquirer reports that Intel has just announced it will be slashing the prices on most of its state of the art solid-state drives. The Intel X25-M 80GB for notebooks will drop from $595 to $390 whilst the server X25-E 32GB SSD will go from $695 all the way down to $415 for quantities up to 1,000. The story continues to claim that Intel's X25-M 160GB and X25-E 64GB drives will also have their prices down, but Intel is not saying by exactly how much yet.

Source: The Inquirer
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(PR) Hitachi GTS Announces Fourth Generation CinemaStar C5K500 2.5-inch Hard Drives
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced the CinemaStar C5K500, a 2.5-inch hard drive with up to 500GB of audio video storage capacity designed for digital video applications that require compact design and low power usage. This fourth-generation small form factor CinemaStar drive delivers a balance of capacity, cool operation and ruggedness to provide manufacturers with more eco-friendly options for slim digital video recorders (DVRs), set-top boxes and surveillance systems. The CinemaStar drive is designed for use in continuous "24x7" applications and has a read/write power specification that is 22 percent lower than previous models.
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Auzentech Releases New Driver for its X-Fi Forte 7.1 Sound Card
Shortly after the official launch of X-Fi Forte 7.1, Auzentech is now offering a new driver for it. This driver is compatible with Windows Vista 32/64-bit only and brings DTS Connect support as well as minor bug fixes, improved speed when changing modes, and enhanced stability. Try downloading the new driver from here.

Source: Auzentech
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(PR) Left 4 Dead Critic's Choice Edition, DLC and SDK Details Revealed
Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced a series of content and development releases for its latest title, 2008's best-selling new game property for the PC and Xbox 360, Left 4 Dead (L4D).
The first L4D DLC - dubbed the L4D Survival Pack - is due for release this spring and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode . A Critic's Choice Edition of the game is also heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack.
In addition, for PC gamers and aspiring developers, the first Left 4 Dead release for the Source Software Development Kit (Source SDK) will allow the creation of custom Left 4 Dead campaigns that will be discoverable via L4D's matchmaking system. The SDK update is also due for release this spring, and is free of charge to all owners of L4D on the PC.
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(PR) Corsair Launches the Dominator GT Family
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the launch of the new Dominator GT line of ultra high-performance DDR3 memory modules for Intel Core i7-based systems.

Sporting a new racing red color scheme and the next-generation of Corsair's patent-pending Dual-path Heat eXchange (DHX) technology, the new Dominator GT comes in 3-up 6GB kit, running at 2000MHz with latencies of 7-8-7.

Sapphire Announces AMD FireStream 9270
Sapphire, the single largest add-in board partner for AMD, announced its FireStream 9270 GPGPU accelerator. Devices of this class exploit the general purpose computing capabilities of graphics processors, back them with a software architecture, and a programming environment to make for a dedicated number-crunching machine that holds rated computational power much higher than that of CPUs. Product lines in this class includes the AMD FireStream, that finds competition in NVIDIA's Tesla.

The appearance of the FireStream 9270 suggests it has been derived from the ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics accelerator, albeit different clock speeds, different drivers, four times the amount of memory, and connections. The core features 800 stream cores that churn out peak computational power of 1.2 TFLOPs (single precision floating-point) and 240 GFLOPs (double precision floating-point). The floating point format is in adherence to IEEE standards. It features 2 GB of GDDR5 memory running at 850 MHz, with a peak bandwidth of 108.8 GB/s. The FireStream 9270 is backed by AMD's Stream 1.3 SDK that can be currently downloaded for free. It supports OpenCL in Microsoft Windows and Linux environments. The accelerator will be released by Sapphire towards the end of February, at a price of $1499. Additionally, AMD is teaming up with server-builder Aprius to release a 4U rack chassis system that holds as many as eight FireStream 9270 accelerators that churn out a theoretical max computational power of 9.6 TFLOPs.

Source: GPU Cafأ©
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NVIDIA Preparing nForce 980a SLI, Identical to Predecessor
NVIDIA is planning a new high-end desktop chipset for the AMD processor platform: the nForce 980a SLI. The news validates some of the earliest roadmap slides of ASUS leaked to the media, showing a certain M4N82 Deluxe to feature the said chipset according to the specifications sheet. The chipset is built to feature on newer motherboards supporting the AM3 socket and DDR3 memory, though the one from ASUS supports DDR2 memory only, with no mention of a DDR3-supportive motherboard from the company.

VR-Zone juiced some more information about this new chipset, which suggests that the nForce 980a could be merely a re-branded nForce 780a SLI. Earlier reports also suggested the possibility of the 780a SLI successor to support the Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) feature that enhances overclocking the CPU using AMD's Overdrive software. With the 980a, NVIDIA will replace the markings on the package from "NF780A-SLI-N-A2" to "NF980A-SLI-A2". The company has also reportedly issued a notice to its partners:

The NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI SPP is an enthusiast-class high performance interface to AMD AM3 CPUs. It is RoHS-compliant. It includes 2أ—16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes (also configurable as 1 x16, 2 x8) and 3أ—1 PCI Express 1.0 lanes, 12 USB ports, six SATA ports, and single GigE. To ensure timely availability and flexibility, we encourage customers to qualify and release products using the NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI SPP.

The chipset will be available to motherboard manufacturers starting from March.

Source: VR-Zone
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Intel Devising Sub-10W Nehalem Derivatives
Intel pushed its performance supremacy lead further up with the introduction of the Nehalem micro-architecture. The introduction served as a milestone event in the company's history, where it sought to rearrange various components of the PC, by moving certain parts of the chipset to the processor package. In the months to come, with the introduction of the Ibex-Peak platform, the company hopes to migrate even more components from the system core-logic to the CPU package. A lot of engineering potential is unlocked due to the modularity of the various components of a Nehalem-derived CPU.

At the upcoming International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) event, Intel plans a decent set of technology demonstrations and papers. The advance program information document shed some light on Intel's itinerary. In session 3 held on February 9, Intel will present papers on its 8-core Xeon processor, following which is a session on 45nm IA processors. The session is on processors built with features characteristic of the Nehalem micro-architecture, in having integrated memory controllers, a coherent point-to-point interconnect, and up to 8 processing cores. Interestingly, the description included a note on the power consumptions, ranging from "sub-10W to 130W", which leads us to believe Intel to have plans on making derivatives of the Nehalem micro-architecture with some very low energy footprints. Another interpretation would be that a new breed of processors could have idle power consumptions as low as <10W. Currently the most energy-efficient Nehalem-based processor known to be in the works is the Xeon L5520 that has identical features to those of the Core i7 series while having a clock speed of 2.23 GHz and a rated TDP of a mere 60W.

Source: X-bit Labs
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Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Tested
In the weeks to come, AMD will introduce its triple-core processors based on the 45 nm Heka core, starting off with the Phenom II X3 700 series. One of the first SKUs in the series would be the overclocker-friendly Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition. Based on the Heka core, it holds three x86 processing cores, 512 KB of L2 cache per core and a shared 6 MB L3 cache. The chip is specified to run at 2.80 GHz (200 MHz x 14.0), and features an unlocked bus frequency multiplier. It comes with a rated TDP of 95W. Turkish website Donanim Haber put an engineering sample carrying its specs to test on both DDR3 and DDR2 platforms based on Gigabyte's GA-MA790FXT-UD5 and MA790FX-DQ6, to find out its mettle.

Intel 32 nm Silicon Technology On Course for Late 2009
Having reacted rather sharply to the ongoing global economic slump by planning massive workforce and production cuts, one would expect Intel to be conservative with its development potential. In a contradiction to just that, a recent conversation EETimes had with Mark Bohr, director of Intel's technology and manufacturing group, the director said that the company is on course with its plans to introduce the newer 32 nm silicon fabrication technology by late 2009.

"The 32 nm technology is getting ready to go into the manufacturing phase, we are lining up fabs to support it and we expect great demand. We are on track for shipping products in the fourth quarter and have 22 nm technology in development for 2011" said Mr. Bohr. The conversation previewed some of the papers Intel plans to present at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference that convenes next week.

Intel follows a "tick-tock" model of product development cycle, wherein, the company designs new microprocessor designs and silicon fabrication technologies in alternation. In each cycle, an architecture gets to be made on at least two successive fabrication technologies before itself being succeeded by a newer design. Currently Intel employs the 45 nm High-K metal gate manufacturing technology, on which it introduced later variants of the Core 2 series CPUs, and has introduced its Nehalem architecture, with Core i7 being its first commercial implementation.

Source: EETimes
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MSI Intros NetOn AP1900 Desktop
MSI today introduced the NetOn AP1900 all-in-one desktop PC. The PC consists of a monolithic unit housing the hardware, an 18.5-inch LCD display, and speakers. With the kind of product feel and hardware on offer, the PC qualifies as a nettop, though advertised to be ideal for offices, stores, internet cafes, kiosks, and similar applications. The unit chassis is built of matte black and silver. It can be installed with the desktop stand or on the wall, being compliant with the VESA wall-mount standard. The display sports a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.

Under the hood is an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB of storage, a Super Multi DVD drive, and integrated graphics. Connectivity options include gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, and a 4-in-1 media card reader. A 1.3 MP fixed webcam is present right above the display. The package includes a keyboard and mouse. MSI has started production of this desktop, and will arrive at stores soon.

Source: TechConnect Magazine
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Leaked Slide Shows Official Information from Intel on the Upcoming 8 Core Xeon
Following the news which we covered here, Hexus.net has got hold of a slide which officially details Intel's new 8-core Enterprise Xeon processor. Codenamed Nehalem EX, it will feature 8 processing cores, with 2 threads per core, totaling 16 threads and as had been previously said, a transistor count of 2.3 Billion. This information was obtained as part of a pre-ISSCC conference call, but more information is expected to be officially announced at the start of the ISSCC on 8th February.

Source: Hexus.net
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NVIDIA to Roll Out ''New'' GeForce GTS 250 at CeBIT
In the weeks to come, next month to be more precise, NVIDIA will officially rename its G92-based graphics cards series. Amongst the "new" SKUs that have surfaced so far, NVIDIA adds the GeForce GTS 250, or present-day GeForce 9800 GTX+. In a bid to garner support from its partners, NVIDIA issued a circular that includes the following statement:

GeForce GTS 250 carries over the same specs and features of 9800 GTX+, and hence the same GPU, memory, board, PCB, and thermal solution. AIC's should be confident in purchasing GPU's, PCB's, and other materials, since the only change is a new VBIOS to implement the new branding.

The GTS 250 model will be accompanied by yet another rebranding: GeForce GTS 240, present-day GeForce 9800 GT and GeForce 8800 GT. The GeForce 9800 GTX+ was released in July 2008, to compete with ATI's Radeon HD 4850. It was an evolution of the GeForce 9800 accelerator, to which it was built on a newer manufacturing process that facilitated higher clock speeds. NVIDIA is likely to choose CeBIT as the ideal launch-pad for its new series of graphics cards.

Source: Expreview
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Google Launches the Internet Bus in India
Google has launched what is essentially a mobile internet cafe called the Internet Bus, to go around India providing poorer people, experience and education in using the internet. Using a high speed connection via what appears to be satellite, the vehicle has the words "Explore the World of the Internet" along the sides, it has not been cheaply done either. The whole vehicle appears to be a custom build, with large flat screen monitors, custom stands and lots of pretty lights. It has been said by the source, that the amount of people in India who are officially below the poverty line, is nearly as much as the total population of the USA. A video advertisement has also surfaced on YouTube, which you can find here.

Source: Alien Babel Tech
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(PR) Audiosurf International Update Available Now
The sensational PC music gaming title, Audiosurf, keeps on rockin' the free world with a massive update now available, free of charge, via Steam.
The International Update introduces Unicode support, enhanced community features, support for play on netbooks, a new Visualizer mode, and more.
Audiosurf is a music-adapting puzzle racer where you use your own music to create your own experience. The shape, the speed, and the mood of each ride is determined by the song selected. Points are earned for clustering together blocks of the same color on the highway. The game also allows gamers to compete with others on the Internet for the highest score on any song they own.
The title was created by solo developer Dylan Fitterer, who came up with the design for Audiosurf after six months of running BestGameEver.com, where Fitterer released a new game every Friday. Fitterer's favorite design produced during this period was Tune Racer, which was iterated and evolved into Audiosurf.
Owners of Audiosurf will automatically receive the International Update by connecting to Steam, where Audiosurf is offered for just $9.99.
For more information, please visit steamgames.com
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(PR) LaCie Doubles the Burn Speed of Its High-Capacity Blu-ray Drive
LaCie announced that it has doubled the speed at which its high-performance, large-capacity LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive burns discs to eight times (8x) standard data writing rates. The increased speed to burn files applies to both single and dual-layer discs. LaCie also has upgraded the authoring and backup software that ships standard with the product.

The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive packs up to 50 GB of data, or four hours of high-definition video, on a single Blu-ray disc آ– making it an ideal tool for video professionals and anyone who wants to backup and store significant amounts of data on reliable removable media. It sports both FireWire and USB 2.0 interfaces for high-speed throughput between the drive and a PC or Mac.

(PR) Qimonda Pushes Ahead With Development of Innovative Buried Wordline Technology
Qimonda AG is making consistent advances in its orientation towards its Buried Wordline technology. After seeing the first generation with a size of 65nm achieve good results in mass production in Dresden, the developers have now created the first operational DDR3 memory modules based on the latest 46nm technology.

The new 46nm technology will triple the number of chips per wafer compared with the current 75nm technology, and thus is expected to increase production efficiency by 200 percent. Furthermore, preliminary results show that power consumption will be reduced by up to 75 percent. "We are confident that our new technology is the key innovation for us to move onwards into a lucrative future," says Thomas Seifert, CFO and COO of Qimonda AG. "The first successful test runs with the new 46nm module generation and the customer feedback up to now have been very encouraging."
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RealTemp 3.00 Released
RealTemp got its major face-lift today with the introduction of the third major version. RealTemp is a nifty utility used to monitor the temperatures of Intel processors, with a breakdown of temperatures on a per-core and T-junction basis. The application makes use of the digital thermal sensor component Intel Core series processors come with. With version 3.00, RealTemp gets Core i7 friendly, supporting monitoring of its temperatures, including in Turbo Mode, where the software controls frequencies and power of individual processing cores.

The new release adds a host of features including plug-in support for RivaTuner, the ability to report temperatures of NVIDIA graphics cards, updated detection algorithms as per Intel specifications, and several UI improvements. The release covers as many as a hundred changes that include preliminary support for the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. For a list of major changes and other information, head over to the RealTemp homepage.

DOWNLOAD: RealTemp 3.00

(PR) QNAP Announces the World's First 4-Bay Intel Atom-based NAS - TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS
QNAP Systems, Inc. today announces the next gen Intel-based network attached storage TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS for business users. Featuring low power Intel 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB DDRII memory, and stylish industrial design, the TS-439 Pro supports up dual Giga LAN, five USB 2.0 ports and two eSATA ports, RAID 0/1/5/6/5+spare configurations, Online RAID Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration, and offers advanced functions such as iSCSI target service with Thin Provisioning, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, instant SMS and email alert, and SSL secure certificate etc.

(PR) ASUS Introduces the External Slim SDRW-08D1S-U Optical Drive
As a globally renowned manufacturer of computer peripherals and optical drives, ASUS is constantly at the forefront of cutting edge technologies, providing users with innovative solutions for everyday computing. In pursuing this philosophy, the new ASUS External Slim SDRW-08D1S-U utilizes user-centric design in the Scenario-Based Design model to better address the needs of the user. By integrating these needs into its development and creation, the ASUS External Slim SDRW-08D1S-U combines both aesthetics and practicality.

(PR) Lian Li Launches The All New PC-A06F Mid-Tower Chassis
Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd has launched the PC-A06F Mid-Tower chassis. The all aluminum mid-tower design features a front mounted 140 mm @ 900RPM fan, with an additional top mounted 120 mm @ 1000RPM extraction fan. The sleek brushed aluminum chassis is only 3.8kg in weight and the dimensions are 187 x 375 x 490 mm ( W, H, D). The traditional layout is slightly restrictive in that only small CPU heatsinks can be used, as the PSU is mounted directly over the CPU mounting region. The chassis is imbued with all the functional and user friendly design aspects users have come to expect in a Lian Li case.

Mozilla Firefox Updated to 3.0.6
Mozilla added its regular incremental update to the Firefox web-browser. With this release, the group fixed many bugs found with its previous version 3.0.5, which don't necessarily translate into security flaws. As many as seven critical thru mild security vulnerabilities were fixed, that includes a crash with memory corruption issue, and extraction of data using SessionStore files. The list of security fixes addressed can be found here. The release also fixes several bugs as listed in the updated bug list. The release also improves the ability of scripted commands to work properly with plugins, one of the major bugs fixed. Fore more information, refer to the release notes page for version 3.0.6. Firefox can be downloaded from the server closest to you, from the Firefox homepage. Existing users would be updated automatically.
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HIPER Releases Osiris Gunmetal PC Case
HIPER rolled out the newest addition to its PC case lineup, the Osiris Gunmetal (model: HTC-1G514-A2). As the name suggests, it is a variant of the Osiris mid-tower case with the distinct gunmetal appearance. Its panels and framework have been built with 6063-T5 alloy. All its panels are fabricated to thickness of 2.0 mm (0.08"). It measures 526(L) x 202(W) x 452(H) mm and weighs 8.4 kg (18.5 lbs).

It features five 5.25 inch drive bays that are exposed, an exposed 3.5 inch drive bay and an internal modular drive rack that houses four 3.5 inch hard drives. It features two 120 mm, 1500 rpm fans that ventilate from the rear and the top of the case. The Osiris Gunmetal will reach stores soon, it will be priced at 145€.

Windows 7 SKUs Made Official
Microsoft has had patchy success with its Windows Vista series of operating systems, and is banking on its next major addition to the Windows franchise, Windows 7 to turn its fortunes for the better. After having generously released beta versions of the operating system to the public, the company is gearing up for a product launch schedule. In the process, it made its SKUs (variants) of the operating system official today. The lineup consists of three variants in particular, suited for domestic deployments, with three variants aimed more towards commercial deployments, and then of course, there is an Ultimate variant that lets one have it all. The lineup for Windows 7 is as follows:

Windows 7 Starter Edition
Windows 7 Home Basic
Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Enterprise
Windows 7 Ultimate

Cooler Master V10 Hybrid TEC Cooler Tested
Cooler Master has gone full cylinders with innovation for the design of the V10 Hybrid TEC, a variant of the V10 cooler that employs a 70W TEC (Thermo-electric couple) element to indirectly cool the processor. The principle on which it works is fairly simple: A set of heatpipes propagate through the CPU contact block. The same heatpipes make contact with the cold-plate of the TEC. The hot-plate of the TEC is cooled by a dedicated aluminum fin array which is subjected to air flow. The heatpipes that cool the CPU propagate into two additional, independent aluminum fin arrays. All this, neatly packed into the shroud. The TEC part of the cooler has its own Molex power input, and is regulated by a temperature control module. The two fans in place to cool the fins use standard 3~4 pin fan connections. TweakTown put this cooler to test against most common high-end air coolers.

In theory, this is a good concept, though the indirect cooling the TEC element provides, isn't going to send temperatures down to sub-zero levels. Instead, the estimates on its spec. sheet shows it to maintain temperatures between 25 and 70 degrees Celsius. The cooler however, is rated for CPUs with TDPs of up to 200W (a figure achieved during overclocking). The findings of the review, however, show the cooler to be not much of an improvement over most high-end air coolers. The review can be read here.

NVIDIA GT218 Specifications Gain Clarity
Coming March, NVIDIA is expected to roll-out its first GPU built on the newer 40nm silicon fabrication process: the GT218. This GPU will spearhead the company's next generation of entry-level graphics cards. It will succeed the G98 GPU in the process. VR-Zone has access to some more details about this GPU apart from what we know (covered here).

The GT218 will go into making four SKUs, based on two primary NVIDIA reference PCB designs. VR-Zone accessed the schematics of the P692 PCB design codenamed D10M1-30, that reveal a half-height, SFF-friendly PCB that holds the GT218. The clock-speeds of the GPU are 550 MHz (core), 1,375 MHz (shader) and 800/1600 DDR MHz (memory). The GPU makes use of a 64-bit wide GDDR3 memory bus. The GPU supports output standards that include DVI, D-Sub and DisplayPort. The older report suggested this GPU to carry 32 stream processors, 8 TMUs and 4 ROPs, with a suggested TDP of around 22W. NVIDIA is looking to unveil this new GPU at the upcoming CeBIT even in March, followed by product launches in April.

Source: VR-Zone
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India Develops 10 Dollar Laptop for Students
In an attempt to empower millions of students across the country, Indian Government agencies have formulated plans to release a laptop at prices that equal that of a trip to a pizzeria in the west. Under a Government-sponsored scheme that runs parallel to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) global initiative, the administration sought to implement this scheme to make the computer up to 10 times more affordable than an OLPC. The Government believes that the hidden costs involved in deploying laptops under the OLPC scheme make it still inaccessible to the larger student population, and that much better hardware could be provided at its cost.

The first thing that comes to your mind would probably be the kind of hardware that would make such a cheap laptop. Earliest data trickling in about the specifications indicates each laptop to have about 2 GB of memory, and support wireless networking. We will attempt to find out more about the hardware in the days to come. The Indian Government has reportedly spent close to US $1.5 billion on developing this concept and researching solutions to make this notebook durable and worthy of deployment to the most remote rural areas, that suffer power-outages and voltage fluctuations. Higher Education Secretary R.P. Agrawal said last week that it would be available within six months. The public education scheme governing the deployment of these laptops was flagged off today, in the southern-Indian city of Tirupati. The laptop will be available to students on a priority basis, and will later reach mass-retail channels in the country.

Source: Straits Times, The Times of India
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RV790 Could Hold Higher Core Clock Speeds
Conceived to be a successor to the RV770 graphics processor, the RV790 emerged out of various media-leaks as the next big thing for ATI, in its never-ending pursuit for market leadership. Information on this mysterious new GPU has been trickling in at leisure, and it has been shaping up to be a current-generation GPU built using newer manufacturing technologies that could make it cheaper to produce. What we do know about RV790XT based engineering samples so far, is that they carry faster memory chips that are rated to operate a higher frequencies, 1 GHz to be precise, but specified by AMD to run at 975 MHz.

Fresh details sourced by Hardware-Infos from internal sources point out to the possibility of AMD stepping up the core clock speeds by as much as 100 MHz, taking it to 850 MHz. The ramp in clock speeds however, come at the expense of increasing core voltage to 1.3 Volts. There have been several reports speculating the core voltage so far, on of which points at 1.23V for 750 MHz. Another grey-area for now is the RV790's shader domain, with a certain level of ambiguity surrounding stream processor count. All of this leads us to believe that AMD hasn't finalized the specifications of RV790 and could be racking its brains on this one. AMD is expected to make critical announcements on its new GPUs in March and might choose the CeBIT event as the ideal platform.

Source: Hardware-Infos
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Rambus Implements XDR Memory Interface in Ultra Low-Cost Package
Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today announces the implementation of its award-winning XDR memory architecture using an ultra low-cost LQFP package. In a paper to be presented at DesignCon, Rambus will discuss the benefits of differential signaling delivering high memory bandwidth in a cost-effective package, ideal for consumer electronics such as set-top boxes and HDTVs.

"Today's consumer electronics require high bandwidth and low-cost manufacturability," said Martin Scott, senior vice president of Research and Technology Development at Rambus. "Our team has demonstrated that the superior signal integrity of the XDR memory architecture, which enables the highest data rates of any DRAM technology, also makes possible high-speed operation in very low-cost device packaging."
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IBM to Supply US Government with 20 Petaflops Supercomputer
IBM will be supplying the US Government with two new supercomputers for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to handle analysis of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The first is a 500 teraflops supercomputer called the BlueGene/P which the lab will receive by April, the second being the 20 Petaflops supercomputer which is due by 2012. It is estimated to perform up to 10 times greater than the current most powerful systems. More information follows:
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(PR) ASUS Introduces the VENTO TA-U Series Chassis
ASUS, leading producer of PC chassis, today released the new ASUS VENTO TA-U Series chassis. Targeting users who require a chassis that provides excellent functionality as well as trendy aesthetics, the VENTO TA-U Series utilizes an exquisitely handcrafted aluminum body and features exceptional ventilation for both performance and stability. It also allows users to enjoy hassle-free installation and optimized scalability-making it the best choice for gamers and power users alike.

(PR) MSI Unveils 9cm Fan on R4870-MD1G and R4870-MD512 Graphics Cards
Global graphics card leader, MSI International, has unveiled the R4870-MD1G and R4870-MD512 graphics cards. MSI designed these two cards to be perfect for gamers demanding performance, quality, and low-temperature operation by equipping them with an extra large fan, an extra cool cooling system, and extra long lifespan components. The entire card features best class solid capacitors and SSC (solid-state chokes) built-in to the design that helps to smoothly handle high-power levels and punch-out amazing performance. The solid design also helps to extend the cards total lifespan. Featuring all three - HDMI, DVI and D-Sub (VGA) - major display output, these two cards are sure to please those looking for big-screen LCD monitor or LCD TV display.

(PR) Mushkin Announces New 1600 MHz DDR3 Memory With Radioactive Heatspreaders
Mushkin, one of the leading manufacturers of high performance computer components, announces the availability of a new DDR3 Triple-Channel-Kit. It’s called: “998679r” and is equipped with 6GB and a high frequency of 1600 MHz. The memory will be delivered in a noble aluminium case assembled with unqiue “radioactive” heatspreaders.
“This kit is the ultimate combination of newest technology and fancy design.” Proclaims Steffen Eisenstein, CEO of Mushkin Logistic GmbH very proudly, and continues: “The response for the “radioactive” heatspreader was huge, now we will have a hell of a party on DDR3!”

New Core i7 975 Extreme Edition Surfaces
Intel is planning on a newer flagship desktop CPU to lead the Core i7 Extreme Edition pack: the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition (XE). The model surfaced at an XtremeSystems forum thread where overclockers FUGGER and Mikeguava took a shot at the 3DMark05 world record of 45,474 3DMarks, set by AMD at its presentation of the Phenom II X4 processor running at speeds of around 6.30 GHz. The overclockers used a bench consisting of the new Core i7 975 XE, Gigabyte GA-EX58 Extreme motherboard, two Radeon HD 4870 X2 accelerators in a CrossFireX setup, powered by a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W PSU. The CPU was cooled by a custom-made copper cooling pot. At a clock speed of 5,239 MHz and the graphics cards running at reference speeds, the bench cracked the world record to reach 47,026.

During the course of this feat however, we get to know more about the Core i7 975 XE. The new premium offering by Intel comes with a clock speed of 3.33 GHz. It achieves this frequency using a bus multiplier of 25X. Intel built this chip on the new D0 revision of the Bloomfield core, on which the company also plans to release fresh batches of the Core i7 920. Apart from the unlocked bus multiplier and the broader QuickPath Interconnect bandwidth of 6.4 GT/s, other features remain standard: 4 processing cores supporting 8 threads with HyperThreading enabled, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, 8 MB of shared L3 cache, and a triple-channel DDR3 memory interface.

Source: XtremeSystems
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(PR) Seagate Introduces Constellation: All-Star Enterprise Hard Drives, Sized Upto 2TB
Seagate today introduced its Constellation family ofnew enterprise storage solutions for Tier 2 nearline storage applications. The two new drive models, the 2.5-inch Constellation and the 3.5-inch Constellation ES hard drives, include a combination of features that enable high capacities, increased power efficiency, enterprise-class reliability, and data security. Both drives also include PowerChoice from Seagate, which decreases power consumption by up to 54% for record power savings in enterprise environments.

"The need for greater storage capacity will continue to expand in multiple directions and dimensions, but there will be an increasing scrutiny of all storage system purchases, with an eye to decreasing power consumption, footprint, and cost per GB in unprecedented ways," said John Monroe, a research vice president at Gartner. "Performance will not be ignored, but a flexible balance of capacity, cost per GB, power and speed will become more crucial in fulfilling end-user storage demands at varied price points."

DRAM Prices Soar Post Qimonda Bankruptcy Filing
Late last month, DRAM major Qimonda announced insolvency. This company now has a month's cash left to carry on operations, before having to dissolve its assets. The company is reportedly looking for buyers. The news of Qimonda's departure in the making, for the industry didn't have immediate repercussions post announcement, since it coincided with a week of holidays on the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

When the traders returned to work after the holiday, DRAM prices shot up due to widespread concerns over the departure of Qimonda disturbing supply-chains. The price of the DRAM chip used as a standard to gauge DRAM prices, a common DDR2-667 1Gbit (128MB) chip, rose by as much as 27% to US $1.08, as measured by DRAMeXchange, a company that runs online DRAM chip stock clearance sales. Analysts at Gartner predict short-term and long-term implications of Qimonda's exit: on the short-term, DRAM prices will rise as the fall of Qimonda will disturb supply-chains. On the long term though, the market will stabilize since it is still saturated with DRAM over-supply even without Qimonda. It isn't a good time to buy DRAM chips, as a result of which, other weaker DRAM companies may also file for bankruptcy, disturbing supply-chains.

Source: InfoWorld
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Intel Phasing Out 7 CPUs by Q3, Features Popular Models
Silicon giant Intel, has reportedly decided to lay to rest, seven of its popular CPUs, under the Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Quad series, by Q3 2009. The process of phasing these models out takes place in two stages: issuing product discontinuation notices (PDNs) to channel vendors and other key distributors, and to declare the product end of life (EOL) shortly after. Likely to face the axe are Core 2 Extreme models QX9770 and QX9650; Core 2 Quad models Q9450, Q6700 and Q6600.

As of now, Core 2 Quad Q9450 has already been phased out, while the older Q6700 is awaiting EOL declaration within this month. For Core 2 Quad Q6600, one of Intel's most popular offerings, and perhaps the most successful quad-core desktop processor SKU at the markets, PDNs will be issued in February, and it will reach EOL sometime in Q2 2009. Meanwhile, for the Yorkfield-based Core 2 Extreme models, PDNs will be issued in February, and they will be reach EOL in Q2. In related news, Core 2 Duo E7200 and Pentium E2200 will be phased out by Q3 this year, with no word on the specifics of their PDNs.

Source: VR-Zone
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ASUS to Cut Inventories Up To 30% in Q1'09
Weakening demand, deteriorating economy and product launches by the dozen have led to ASUS, one of the largest manufacturers of computer hardware to suffer overstocked inventories. A local daily in Taiwan in a recent report suggests that the company is planning to reduce its inventories by as much as 30% in Q1 2009. ASUS currently holds US $1.33 billion-worth inventory, which it plans to reduce to $1.03 billion.

In the process, the company may incur losses amounting of around 20% amounting to roughly $35.5 million for the fourth quarter last year due to depreciation, the paper noted. Inventory levels of motherboards and graphics cards by ASUS may be sized down to the levels of 8~10 weeks, with those of pre-built PCs expected to be lower. The company also reduce its operating costs by 10%. In the wake turbulent economic weather the world over, ASUS will be employing new strategies to face fluctuations in exchange rates.

Source: DigiTimes
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Korea to Get 1Gbps Internet Access by 2012
Imagine internet connectivity at 1Gbps, speeds at which a 120 minute SD film gets downloaded in 12 seconds! The Korea Communications Commission is reportedly spending $22 Billion in upgrading its telecommunications infrastructure that facilitates public internet connections with such extremely high bandwidth as 1Gbps for fixed-lines and up to 10 Mbps for wireless connections. Korea plans to to operationalise this by the year 2012, starting with urban centres, mainly large cities with relatively affluent populations. Other places in the country will still get internet access at speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Source: Far East Gizmos
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Eurocom Preparing Core i7-powered Laptop
Intel's Core i7 helped strengthen the company's foothold over the desktop CPU market beyond what it already had with the Core 2 series. The level of performance the Core i7 has on offer, comes at an expense of high thermal characteristics, with the rated TDP of 130W to begin with. Eurocom feels it could design a laptop, a portable workstation rather, that features Core i7 series processors. It could be one of the first to do so, with the Phantom i7 D900F.

Holding Core i7 processors in their existing series: models 920, 940, 965 XE, the Phantom i7 holds a 17-inch display with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 or 1680 x 1050. It features up to 8GB of DDR3 memory and up to 1.5TB of storage using three 500GB hard drives. A Blu-ray or DVD writer drive and a 7-in-1 memory card reader handle removable storage. Graphics will be handled by 1GB variants of GeForce 9800M GTX, Quadro FX 3700 or a soon-to-be-released "G280" graphics accelerator. Connectivity is care of Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, an ExpressCard slot, and optionally Bluetooth. A built-in TV-tuner and a 12-cell battery make for the rest of the package. The Phantom i7 is slated for May.

Source: TechConnect Magazine
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(PR) MSI Introduces X58 Pro Motherboard
MSI, the world's leading motherboard manufacturer, today announced its most affordable one of X58 motherboard, X58 Pro. It offers an innovatively new architecture that adopts the latest Intel X58 Express chipset that supports the latest Intel Core i7 processor, along with ultra-high bandwidth QPI (Quick Path Interconnect) transmission system and high-speed 3-channel DDR3 memory, resulting performance so extreme that has ever seen in motherboards. X58 Pro also has utilized the Gen.2 DrMOS, which introduced exclusively by MSI since the P45 series, improving its power efficiency more than 93% to bring best performance.

(PR) Transcend Introduces 192GB High-Speed 2.5 inch SATA II SSD
Transcend Information Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of memory products, is proud to release its all-new 192GB high speed 2.5-inch Solid State Drive (SSD). This SSD is made of reliable NAND flash memory that contains no moving parts, and therefore is not susceptible to mechanical failure resulting from vibration, shock or heat. Featuring a powerful new controller, Transcend's MLC-equipped 192GB SSD far outpaces standard 2.5" hard drives, delivering exceptional sustained read/write speeds of up to 150MB / 90MB per second to guarantee fast throughput regardless of file size. With these high-speed transfer rates and virtually non-existent (0.2ms) latency, an SSD-equipped computer boots-up faster, games run more smoothly, and overall system responsiveness is improved. Moreover, this SSD's industry-standard SATA II interface and 2.5" form factor allow easy and straightforward user installation in most notebook computers and mainstream PCs just like regular hard drives.

(PR) Transcend Introduces 4GB aXeRam DDR3-1800 Memory Kits
Transcend Information Inc., a global leader in the manufacture of high performance memory modules, is proud to unveil 4GB aXeRam DDR3-1800 memory upgrade kits. Designed specifically for hard-core gamers using only top-binned, premium quality DRAM chips and custom high-purity aluminum heat sinks with cooling fins, aXeRam DDR3-1800 dual-channel kits deliver amazing high-speed overclocking performance while maintaining cool temperatures and rock-solid system stability.

Transcend's 4GB aXeRam DDR3-1800 kit's two identically-matched 240-pin unbuffered 2GB DDR3 1800MHz DIMMs are carefully paired for use in dual-channel configuration, which together provide memory bandwidth of up to 28.8GB/s. To ensure extra-stability and signal integrity at high clock speeds, all aXeRam modules use robust eight-layer PCBs that fully comply with JEDEC standards. The aXeRam 128Mx8 DDR3 DRAM chips are selected with the strictest quality and performance standards and are manufactured using small Fine-Pitch Ball Grid Array (FBGA) packages to assure better thermal dissipation, electrical efficiency and improved overclocking performance. Transcend's aXeRam DDR3-1800 modules also support new Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) technology, which allows users with high-performance motherboards to easily overclock their memory with aXerRam's built-in aggressive speed-maximized profiles, or manually input their own memory timing parameters to take their system to the next level.

Koolance Out With GeForce GTX 295, 285 Water Blocks
Expanding your water block options is Koolance, out with water blocks for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295 and GeForce GTX 285 graphics accelerators. The blocks by Koolance use nickel-plated copper, acrylic, the block for GTX 295 comes with built-in lighting for better aesthetics. Both blocks are monolithic, full-coverage by design.

The GTX 295 block (model: VID-NX295) measures 20cm x 12cm x 3cm and weighs around 1 kg (2.25 lbs). As with other blocks in its class, the block remains sandwiched between the business-ends of the two PCBs holding a GPU system each. The block for the GTX 285 (model: VID-NX285) measures 15.9cm x 14.6cm x 1.6cm and weighs 680g (around 1.5 lbs). Both blocks come with standard fittings, with fittings for SLI systems being optional and compatible. The Koolance VID-NX295 has started selling for US $159.99 a piece, with the VID-NX285 being priced at $99.99 at the Koolance store.

Source: Koolance
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Sunday, February 8, 2009

IT News HeadLines (techPowerUp) 08/02/2009

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