OCZ Technology has perhaps the most diverse solid-state drive portfolio, which includes 1.8" and 2.5" internal SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs - with SLC, and MLC NAND flash technologies; 3.5" SSDs, bootable PCI-Express SSDs, and even eSATA based ones. While SSDs utilizing SATA 6 Gb/s are very predictable in the near future, the company already has plans to unveil an external, portable SSD that utilizes the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, at the upcoming CES 2010 event. With over 4 Gb/s of interface bandwidth at its disposal, it can also be expected of the drive to be powered entirely by the USB port. A concept design is already in place.


Source: PC Perspective

Mionix, the Swedish manufacturer of professional high-end gaming accessories today unveiled their new gaming mouse, Mionix Naos 5000. Ergonomically designed and stuffed with new and innovative features, Mionix Naos 5000 not only stands out from the crowd, it sets new standards when it comes to comfort, tracking capacity and customization options.

"When we started this project our goal was to create a fully adjustable and innovative gaming mouse with unique features. It has been very challenging and we put in a lot of effort to archieve our goals. Mionix Naos 5000 is a big step forward to become one of the world's leading manufacturer of gaming accessories with a wide range of gaming products that gamers can identify themselves with. We are very proud to be the first Swedish manufacturer of gaming accessories to develop a gaming mouse", says Carl Conradsson, Mionix.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. has announced the Intel validation of 2Gb (Gigabit) DDR3 DRAM using 40nm class process technology.

Hynix's newly validated products are 2Gb DDR3 SDRAM component, 4GB (Gigabyte) DDR3 SODIMM (Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) and 2GB DDR3 UDIMM (Un-buffered Dual In-line Memory Module) at the operating speed of 1333MHz with 1.5V power supply.

The products can offer the maximum data transfer speed of 1867MHz with 16-bit I/O and 3.7GB/s (Gigabytes per second) bandwidth. The productivity of Hynix's 40nm class 2Gb DDR3 is increased by more than 60% over 50nm class process technology.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it had developed a 1-gigabit GDDR5 (product name: EDW1032BABG) that operates at a world-class high speed of 6Gbps. The new graphic memory (GDDR: Graphics Double Data Rate) device marks Elpida's first successful step in the GDDR market.

Applications for GDDR memory devices used with GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) are found not only in such graphic processing equipment as game consoles and PC graphics cards but also in equipment that require high-performance computing for use in such areas as science and technology, physical simulation, digital image processing and video conversion.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the expansion of its line of gaming solutions with the Lexar Gaming Memory Stick Micro (M2) and Gaming Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory cards. Designed to take the gaming experience to the next level, the cards enable users to reliably save and store gaming data and multimedia content on popular gaming consoles. With the introduction of the new Gaming memory cards, Lexar is expanding its leadership in high-performance digital media gaming solutions to improve the overall video game experience for the growing number of consumers playing and competing on popular gaming consoles.

Available in 4GB and 8GB capacities, the Lexar Gaming M2 and Lexar Gaming SDHC memory cards give gamers the ability to store critical gaming data and information, such as cheat codes, checkpoints, custom settings, high scores, bonus materials, and player profiles. The new Gaming memory cards also enable gamers to store and manage games and downloaded multimedia content.

TechPowerUp released the newest version of GPU-Z, our graphics subsystem information and monitoring utility. Version 0.3.7 brings with it some significant feature-set updates that enhance usability, and add the the vast amount of information this tiny utility can display. To begin with, GPU-Z now shows the GPU Computing features your graphics cards support, including whether they support technologies such as DirectCompute, OpenCL, CUDA, and PhysX acceleration. Building on the infotips feature the previous version came with, the Sensors tab now includes handy infotips too. For NVIDIA users, GPU-Z is able to display the exact amount of video memory in use by making use of a new driver-level feature by the company.

GPU-Z also includes full-support for ATI Radeon HD 5970, NVIDIA GeForce GT 240, and improved support for Intel G41. Detection features have also been added that help determine counterfeit graphics cards that use some old GPUs relabeled as new current-gen GPUs. Several other stability issues have been addressed. GPU-Z is backed by our extensive video-card BIOS database, and overclocking validation system.


DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.3.7

A complete list of changes according to the change log is as follows:

Come Q1 2010, and Intel will be expanding its socket LGA-1156 platform with dual-core processors, and processors with on-die graphics. Along with these, Intel will be releasing the H57 Express chipset which supports the Flexible Display technology which handles the connectivity for the processors' on-die graphics. Motherboard vendors seem to be ready well ahead, and the second such company with a product on display is MSI, with its H57M-ED65. This motherboard is based on the micro-ATX form-factor, and builds on the chipset's features, while also appearing to be enthusiast-friendly.

The CPU is powered by a lavish 10-phase VRM with elaborate heatsinks over the DrMOS chips. It completely does away with PCI, and features only PCI-Express slots. There is are two PCI-Express x16 slots (electrical x16, x4), and two PCI-Expres x1 slots. Apart from the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports the chipset provides, an additional storage controller provides two more SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and an IDE connector. The board makes full use of the Flexible Display technology, providing DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort as display connectivity options. A number of USB ports, PS/2, gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel audio with optical SPDIF, eSATA, and FireWire make for the rest of the rear-panel. Its enthusiast-friendliness is further vindicated by the presence of the OC Genie feature, on the fly base clock controls, and power/reset buttons onboard. Expect this to feature in the company's first wave of H57 motherboards.


Source: TechSweden.org

After AMD completed its mid-thru-high end product launches under its DirectX 11 compliant Radeon HD 5000 series, it looks like NVIDIA eased up restrictions for partners to design high-end dual-GPU accelerators. ASUS had launched a limited-edition accelerator making use of two GeForce GTX 285 GPUs, but limited quantities, and other factors which we're not aware of, may have influenced the company to sell it for over $1000 a piece. Galaxy, for one, is second in line, with a single-PCB dual-GPU graphics accelerator, which it reportedly plans to release before Christmas.

For now, the card exists only in its drawings and CAD designs. The PCB layout drawing shows the card have a layout similar to the single-PCB GeForce GTX 295. With space for 16 memory chips on the obverse side and a backplate in the CAD design, it is deduced that the card has 512-bit memory interfaces per GPU, and hence could be a dual GeForce GTX 285 accelerator, much like the ASUS MARS dual-285. The cooler looks to have independent coolers over each GPU with circular heatsinks that have radially-projecting fins, and a baseplate to cool other components. Galaxy wants this to be a Christmas special. Here's hoping it doesn't draw inspiration from the ASUS MARS as far as pricing is concerned.


Source: Expreview

ASUS, a worldwide leader in personal computers, today introduces the TS mini small office/home office (SOHO) server. The TS mini targets modern home and small office users that frequently exchange data from multiple computers and require access from various locations. The TS mini secures documents, multimedia, and other digital content into a sleek repository. It further safeguards data on multiple computers across the home or office with automatic backups and cloud storage. TS mini allows centralized file access with local networks, attached storage devices and remotely over the internet. Equipped with an Intel Atom processor, the TS mini delivers quiet, energy efficient, always-on access. Operating on the Microsoft Windows Home Server Platform, it simplifies management of digital content. The TS Mini is available now for pre-order at Amazon.com and NewEgg.com starting at $349.99 USD.

"Consumer demand for rich content that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on any device is fueling innovation in networking and storage of media and data in the home," said Seth Bobroff, general manager, Data Center Group - Storage, Intel Corporation. "The Intel Atom processor in the TS mini enables ASUS to deliver the ability to stream media, share files and protect data while remotely accessing it, all in a sleek and energy-efficient 2-bay design."

As the first notebook capable of producing realistic 3D visuals in games and videos, the new ASUS G51J 3D is designed to deliver a truly immersive gaming and multimedia experience to gamers everywhere. Equipped with NVIDIA 3D Vision and bundled with specially designed 3D glasses, the ASUS G51J 3D—which sports an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB DDR3 video memory—delivers adrenaline-pumping, edge-of-your-seat visuals anytime, anywhere. EAX and CMSS audio technology further enhances in-game immersion, delivering crystal clear sound and compelling environment audio effects through bespoke Altec Lansing speakers. Powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and 64-bit Windows 7 operating system, the ASUS G51J 3D is the weapon of choice for discerning gamers who enjoy gaming-on-the-move.

Equipped with NVIDIA 3D Vision, the ASUS G51J 3D delivers ultra-realistic graphics that come to life before the user. A pair of 3D Vision active-shutter glasses coupled with a wide-range infra-red emitter delivers stereoscopic images with clarity, brightness and depth-of-field (DOP) at full resolution without any viewing angle restrictions. The GPU driver and a 120Hz 3D panel render each scene twice, delivering up to 60 images evenly to each eye, amounting to a total of up to 120 images at any given time. Gamers can experience total immersion into their games from what were previously flat 2D worlds, to true-to-life 3D. With up to 400 PC games that work out-of-the-box with 3D Vision, gamers can experience a whole new dimension of gaming never-before seen, with recently released games such as Resident Evil 5, Borderlands, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Star Trek D-A-C.

Zalman is readying a new multi-channel fan controller, the MFC1 Combo. This fan controller occupies one 5.25-inch drive bay, and comes with a brushed aluminum bezel. Out of the five independent channels the controller provides, four work on the conventional voltage-control principle, while one provides PWM (pulse-width modulation) control. Each channel delivers up to 7W / 0.6 A. The PWM-controlled channel also comes with a PWM-mode with three speed presets a fourth one can be user-defined. The Zalman MFC1 Combo should be priced at around 40 EUR.


Source: TechConnect Magazine

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their new PS-100 Series SSDs.

The PS-100 is the latest in Patriot's "cache" based SSD drives and has been targeted for cost-conscious consumers pursuing performance and reliability without having to empty their bank account. The 2.5" SSD makes use of a 64MB cache, power consumption of 5.3W when operating, and .5W when in standby mode; an option that is sure to attract notebook and laptop users alike. The PS-100 boosts sequential read speeds of up to 210MB/s, with sequential write speeds up to 150MB/s, another feature that will be attractive to end users. The low power consumption of the PS-100 drives extends battery life on notebooks and netbooks while the performance reduces system boot times and application load times improving overall system responsiveness.

Club 3D, European market leader for graphics cards, today announced the release of its new 40nm process technology based HD5970 graphics card. Equipped with two ATI Hemlock graphics processing units. The fastest graphics card on the planet has been developed.

Engineered for speed, the Club 3D HD5970 delivers an unrivaled HD gaming experience so you can play the latest, most demanding HD titles like never before. Featuring cutting-edge graphic, display and memory technology, this next-generation powerhouse delivers unprecedented performance straight out of the box. Unlocked, this graphics card has massive headroom, so you can take control and push your hardware to its full potential!

Club 3D, European market leader for graphics cards, today introduces with the Club 3D GT 240 graphics card the next GPU manufactured in 40nm process technology. Your perfect choice for professional graphics and also suitable as dedicated PhysX graphics card to run your games 50% faster. Turn your photos and home videos into materspieces at the clock of a button, view flawless Adobe Flash 10.1 video in full screen HD. Energize your multimedia with Club 3D GT 240 graphics and equip your PC for the digital world. Enjoy 3D Vision and 3D Photos to play your games and view your photos in 3D.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today introduces the fastest graphics card on the planet: the PowerColor HD5970. As the most powerful card in the world, this stunning graphics solution clocks at 725 MHz core speed and 1000 MHz effective memory speed. Memory data transmission rates up to 4.0 Gb/s, delivering unprecedented performance.

The PowerColor HD5970 is built with 3200 stream processing units, ready to tackle all the most demanding HD titles; with almost 5 teraFLOPs of compute power, it puts the power of graphics "supercomputing" in the hands of extreme gamers. Furthermore, the PowerColor HD5970 has massive headroom for overclocking capabilities giving all gamers the control and flexibility to tune their custom rig for maximum performance.

"This puppy here, is Fermi" announced a proud Jen-Hsun Huang, NVIDIA's CEO. The shiny, chrome-decked Tesla GPGPU accelerator that makes use of NVIDIA's Fermi architecture, soon turned out to be a mock-up, aimed solely at announcing the completion of development of the Fermi architecture. It was also strategically timed to coincide with AMD's market launch of the industry's first DirectX 11 compliant graphics cards under the Fermi is significant since it supports the DirectX 11 API. Today ironically, on the occasion of AMD's launch of its "Hemlock" Radeon HD 5970 flagship accelerator, a picture showing a working consumer graphics variant of Fermi working. It is as if to assert that a Fermi derivative is no more the paperweight it was when it was first paraded to the media.

NVIDIA's Fermi GPU architecture is to be implemented in three variants: GF100, GT300, and GT300GL, to drive three of the company's product lines: GeForce, Tesla, and Quadro, respectively. GF100 is of utmost relevance to us. A picture leaked recently to Bright Side of News shows a GeForce accelerator based on GF100 to be working, where it appears to be rendering the Unigine Heaven DirectX 11 benchmark. This early sighting, however, doesn't mean that the product is any closer to its launch. It is still slated for Q1 2010, meaning that it will miss out on the X-Mas shopping season. The GF100 GPU is said to have 512 shader cores, and connects to GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface.


Source: Bright Side of News

Today HIS unleashed the revolutionary new HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB GDDR5. Building on the success of HIS 5800 series, HIS 5970 offer the power of two 5800 GPUs and 3200 stream processors on a single board. It delivers groundbreaking graphics performance along with the most advanced feature set in the graphics industry.

Powered by the top-of-the-line 5970 GPU, HIS Radeon HD 5970 2GB GDDR5 accelerates PC gaming with more than 4 teraFLOPS computing power! Running at 725MHz core clock speed and 4Gbps memory clock speed, the, HIS Radeon HD 5970 ensure extreme game play at high resolutions and maximum settings. It delivers full support for Microsoft DirectX 11 graphics and compute functionality. Besides, it features an architecture tailored to excel with DirectCompute 11 (Shader Model 5.0) and OpenCL, taking ATI Stream functionality to next level.

World leading graphics supplier, SAPPHIRE Technology, now introduces the world's fastest graphics card, the SAPPHIRE HD 5970 OC Edition. With twice the computing power of the highly acclaimed SAPPHIRE HD 5870, the new HD 5970 model shares all the exciting features of this family - including support for the DirectCompute 11 instruction set of Microsoft DirectX 11, hardware tessellation and multi threaded communication with the system CPU. It also supports the acceleration of applications supported by ATI Stream, and the ability to display across three monitors simultaneously with ATI Eyefinity.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5970 OC Edition ships with enhanced clock speeds of 735MHz core and 1010MHz (4.04GHz effective) - faster than the standard model, making the SAPPHIRE HD 5970 OC the fastest card in its class, and the fastest in the world*. Enthusiasts will also be able to tune performance of these SAPPHIRE cards using the SAPPHIRE Redline voltage tweaker tool** to enable higher levels of overclocking.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today released the Colossus 3.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, designed to meet the performance and storage demands of high-end desktop users and enterprise clients. Available in up to one terabyte configurations, the Colossus Series marks a milestone in solid state drive technology, making it possible to have both high performance and high capacity in one solution.

"The new Colossus Series is designed to boost desktop and workstation performance and is for high power users that put a premium on speed, reliability and maximum storage capacity," said Eugene Chang, VP of Product Management at the OCZ Technology Group. "The Colossus core-architecture is also available to enterprise clients with locked BOMs (build of materials) and customized firmware to match their unique applications."

XFX takes technology for a trip down the fast lane with the debut of The XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card. The fastest dual GPU-on-a-PCB card on the planet, in addition to the base powerhouse, this card also comes in an "I've-never-seen-that-kind-of-performance-before" Black Edition with an exclusive performance enhancing Overvolt Tool.

Created for the true performance enthusiast, this card offers the ultimate in speed, with the XFX ATI Radeon HD 5970 scoring in excess of X10000 in 3DMarkVantage v. 101, the highest single graphics card score achieved to date. It also features all of the latest, state-of-the-art technologies that hardcore gamers want, including ATI Eyefinity technology, ATI Stream technology and full DirectX 11 support.

World renowned graphics card and mainboard brand and manufacturer, MSI, captured the hearts of powerful performance enthusiasts after unveiling its all-new R5800, R5700 series of graphics cards. Today, MSI unveils its top model, the R5970-P2D2G graphics card, which not only equips two advanced 40nm GPUs, but also utilizes 3200 stream processors (SPs)*, and 2 GB 512 bit** GDDR5 graphics memory, making it the best performing card on the planet today!

Additionally, MSI's R5970-P2D2G graphics card features ATI Eyefinity triple-display output technology, allowing gamers to get fully immersed in the latest DirectX 11 environments. The card also offers PowerPlay power-saving functionality that shows remarkable power-saving when the machine is in stand-by. Equally noteworthy is MSI's own "Afterburner" overclocking software that allows the user to adjust both the voltage and overclocking settings for better performance. With CrossFire X enabled, the dual GPUs offer outstanding, stable performance that redefines fast. Without a doubt, this card will be the first choice of performance enthusiasts.

AMD today announced the flagship installment in the award-winning line of graphics cards, the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the fastest card ever created. The new ultra high-end model joins a growing list of the world's first and only graphics cards to fully support Microsoft DirectX 11 technology and ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology.

Designed to support the most demanding PC games at ultra-high resolutions and image quality settings, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 has unlocked overclocking potential, granting access to every bit of power the card has to offer through ATI Overdrive technology. Now shipping from retailers and available in the channel, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 also launches today in new Alienware Area-51, Area-51 ALX and Aurora desktop PCs.

AMD published its near-monthly installment of the ATI Catalyst Software Suite, which provides essential drivers for the company's ATI Radeon graphics processors, AMD 7-series chipset IGPs, ATI multimedia products, and the AMD FireStream GPGPU processors. Version 9.11 announced today, comes with the same hardware support base as the older version, includes two new features, and carries the usual application-specific fixes.

New features include GPU Acceleration of H.264 video content using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta, and High Quality downscaling for video transcoding MSE. The release of ATI Catalyst, according to AMD, supports the new Hardware Acceleration features of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta for video encoded in the H.264 format. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta introduces hardware-based H.264 video decoding to deliver smooth video playback, reduce system resource utilization, and preserve battery life. Hardware acceleration is supported on all existing Radeon HD 5000 and HD 4000 series graphics processors. The release of ATI Catalyst includes an enhancement for the ATI Video converter for users transcoding high quality interlaced content (1920x1080i @60i videos) down to small resolution progressive content (320x240 @30p - iPod videos as an example), by maintaining high visual quality when down-scaling by a significant amount and converting interlaced video content to progressive. For a list of minor issues fixed in the release, refer to the Release Notes document.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 9.11 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit

World renowned graphics card and mainboard manufacturer, MSI, today formally releases the world's first graphics card to support over voltage function - the N240GT series. Including the N240GT-MD512-OC/D5 and N240GT-MD1G, this series allows the user to adjust both the voltage and the overclocking configurations via the Afterburner overclocking software to increase GPU clock up to 30%. Additionally, this series utilizes an advanced 40nm GPU, supports the DirectX 10.1 gaming standard, and offers an native HDMI output for awesome 3D support and high-definition entertainment. The N240GT-MD512-OC/D5 uses extremely fast 512 MB GDDR5 graphic memory, and implements military class components to offer an incredible cost-performance value to customers.

MSI's all new N240GT series of graphics cards supports over voltage function of GPU and overclocking configuration adjusting functionality. Accessible through MSI's Afterburner overclocking software, the user can quickly adjust the GPU's voltage to improve overclocking potential, and the GPU clock can be up to 30%. Without a doubt, this new graphics card series offers users an impressive overclocking experience.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of the DataTraveler Locker+ USB Flash drive. The DataTraveler Locker+ allows companies of any size to secure mobile data with the ease and confidence of knowing that their data is encrypted and safe. The DataTraveler Locker+ also comes at a lower cost in times of shrinking IT budgets, making it ideal for budget-conscious companies.

"Kingston created this drive to address the rise in data loss and theft which has been a growing problem with expensive consequences. This device gives companies a solution that is not only affordable but provides peace of mind in securing mobile data," said Mark Akoubian, business manager, Secure USB Products, Kingston. "The DataTraveler Locker+ encrypts 100 percent of the contents and is available at a price point that is very attractive for all entities looking to comply with corporate security policies."

EVGA announced the EVGA GT 240 series. Upgrade today to the EVGA GT 240 and experience picture-perfect photos, vibrant videos and great games like Borderlands, WoW, Sims 3 and Darkest of Days. GPU Accelerated Flash means flawless HD videos on websites like YouTube and Hulu with the new GPU-accelerated Adobe Flash 10.1, and of course crystal-clear BluRay in 1080p with True-Fidelity 7.1 Surround Sound are 100% supported.

Experience NVIDIA PhysX technology on Batman: Arkham Asylum, Darkest of Days, and other GPU PhysX titles with speeds 2x faster than the competition. Enjoy 40% faster HD gaming on other popular titles like Borderlands and Darkest of Days. Leverage 96 processor cores to run the latest GPU-accelerated applications like MotionDSP vReveal, Cyberlink MediaShow with Face tagging, and many more at speeds up to 50% faster than prior generation.

Punch up your digital experience with a blast of power. The XFX NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 graphics card gives you an across-the-board speed and performance boost that takes you from "mundane" to "insane". NVIDIA PhysX technology adds speed to your game, so that you can play Batman: Arkham Asylum or Darkest of Days 2X faster than the competition. Transform it into a dedicated PhysX card by pairing it with another NVIDIA based graphics card and enjoy up to 50% pop in performance.

Ninety-six NVIDIA CUDA cores enable you to run the latest GPU-accelerated applications, many at speeds 50% faster than prior generation. Maximize your YouTube- and Hulu-viewing experience in full HD with new GPU-accelerated Adobe Flash 10.1. Enjoy all of the great Microsoft Windows 7 features, including drag and drop video conversion, as well as full support for DirectCompute, OpenGL 3.2 and PC Express 2.0. Available in a 1 GB GDDR5 or 512MB DDR3, put the power of the XFX NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 graphics card at your fingertips.


Source: XFX

Due to the serious issue of global warming, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, saving energy has become the responsibility of every global citizen. DFI is committed to developing energy saving products, not only to provide consumers a better platform, but also to do the best for the earth. Therefore, Hybrid platform was invented. Besides saving plenty of energy, Hybrid platform also brings consumers the benefits of time saving, space saving, and money saving. In addition, it is simple to use. Via a control panel, two systems can be easily switched and using condition can be known.

Hybrid platform, adopts the latest DFI patent technology. That is, a board combines a powerful platform of the current mainstream (P45 + ICH10R) and a green platform (NVIDIA ION). In other words, Hybrid has two platforms which operate completely independently. What is more, files can be shared between platforms. Through integrated hardware switch chips as well as network switch chips, Hybrid platform features a KVM and LAN switch on board. So Hybrid platform can be used with a monitor and keyboard/mouse, or with two sets of devices to work separately. This product will bring you the following four benefits.

POINT OF VIEW, premier NVIDIA partner for GeForce Graphics cards, is launching today the first GDDR5 GeForce graphics card, the GeForce GT240. Built from the ground up, the latest GeForce 200 series graphics card is a big step forward. Built on 40nm the GPU will consume less energy and have less heat production. This allows better clock speeds, a higher overclocking potential and lower temperatures. The smaller die-size together with the support for DirectX 10.1 and Shader model 4.1 really adds a future proof coating to the GT240.

Another major improvement is the support of GDDR5 which literally multiplies the possible memory clock by two! The new PCB design also has integrated HDMI audio so no additional SPDIF cable is required for rerouting the sound to the HDMI cable.

ASUS is ready with yet another socket LGA-1156 motherboard, only this one you can't pass on. The Maximus III Extreme is the company's second motherboard in its coveted Republic of Gamers series of high-end motherboards suited for gamers and overclockers, and will end up as the best ASUS has to offer for this platform. Based on the P55 Express chipset, the Maximus III Extreme seems to make use of an additional PCI-Express bridge chip to provide two x16 links. External lane switching further allows there to be four slots with x8 bandwidth. A fifth x16 slot could be wired to the PCH, being electrically x4 to accommodate other PCI-E devices.

The CPU socket is powered by a 11-phase digital PWM circuit, which uses a SuperML capacitor. The four DDR3 DIMM slots are powered by a 3-phase circuit. Apart from the main 24-pin and 8-pin CPU power connectors, there is an additional 6-pin connector. We suspect this to be a PCI-Express power connector for additional electrical stability, which could help overclocking.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer is pleased to announce latest GT 240 series graphics card with GDDR5 solution. Catering to users who want their graphics card capable of delivering astounding graphical performances, ECS GeForce GT 240 series graphics card are built with an NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 graphics processing units (GPU) come with 96 processor cores, 128-bit GDDR5 512MB/1024MB at 1700MHz memory clock to deliver outstanding visual experience.

With an unified architecture to provide fully unified shader core, dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering better gaming performance of prior generation GPUs. ECS GeForce GT 240 series graphics card are embedded with HDMI connector which can transfer video & audio signals via a single cable making top performance and power efficiency. It uses NVIDIA CUDA technology to unlock the power of the GPU's processor cores to accelerate the most demanding system tasks - such as video transcoding in order to deliver incredible performance improvements over traditional GPUs. ECS GeForce GT 240 series contain NVIDIA PhysX technology enabling a totally new class of physical gaming interaction for a more dynamic and realistic experience with GeForce. It supports Microsoft DirectX 10.1 & Shader Model 4.1 to meet users' requirement of those latest gaming titles. If you want to save your money and enjoy mainstream gaming experience, ECS GeForce GT 240 series graphics card is the best choice.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today introduced the latest addition to its StoreJet external hard drive lineup, the StoreJet 35T. With its TurboHDD USB transfer mode and One Touch auto-backup button, the compact 3.5-inch StoreJet 35T is an ideal data management system for uploading, downloading, storing and transferring vital data and information.

About the size of a hardback book, the black streamlined StoreJet 35T offers up to 1.5TB capacity, providing ample space for essential files, folders, documents, photos, music and high-definition videos. Its slender design allows it to be placed upright, thus occupying a smaller footprint to save precious desk space. Ideal for use at home or at the office, the handsomely designed StoreJet 35T is both stylish and practical.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today announced the expansion of its flash card product line with the introduction of high-capacity 400X CompactFlash cards with capacities ranging up to 64 GB. The new 400X CF cards also feature high-speed transfer rates up to 90 MB/s read and 60 MB/s write, ensuring maximum performance when used with today's high resolution imaging equipment.

With storage capacities ranging from 16GB to an enormous 64GB, Transcend's 400X CF cards allow digital camera users to take thousands of photos at a time without the inconvenience of switching cards. The 64GB 400X CF card, for instance, can capture more than 13,000 still images (with a 10 megapixel camera) and record over three hours of Full HD video (1920x1080 at 38.6Mbps), allowing users of digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) and HD video camcorders to take full advantage of their high-resolution equipment.

Ten times faster than the USB2.0, data transfer rates of up to 5 GB/s, enhanced transmission reliability and energy efficient: The new USB3.0 interface now also offers an over abundance of bandwidth for data transfer applications. However, Mainboards and peripheral devices that allow SuperSpeed USB's simply can not wait. Sharkoon is the first provider to immediately offer a PCIe controller so that the Desktop PC can be quickly and efficiently upgraded: The Sharkoon USB3.0 Host Controller Card is equipped with a NEC µPD720200 chip; the two USB3.0 Ports are combined with the PCIe 2.0 so that it can conform to Intel xHCI-rev0.96 specifications. The controller card can connect directly to the PCI-x1 slot and operate a larger PCIe slot with a connection speed twice as fast; it possesses a 4-pin plug to the power supply over the network, and supports the operating systems Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (32 Bit / 64 Bit).

Also, a first peripheral device with the SuperSpeed interface from Sharkoon will soon be made available on the market: As of calendar week 48, the popular hard drive docking station Sharkoon SATA QuickPort with USB3.0 port will be released. The new interface has USB-IF specifications including compatibility with previous USB 2.0, USB 1.1 and USB 1.0 connections.

Inno3D are excited to announce the Inno3D GeForce GT 240 graphics card. The GeForce GT 240 opens up visually tantalising possibilities by providing the graphics processing power to manipulate the dullest of photos or home videos and transform them into your very own masterful creations. It also allows the viewing of flawless Adobe Flash 10.1 video in full screen HD and plays the latest games with fast frame rates and NVIDIA PhysX effects. Energise your multimedia with GeForce GT 240 graphics and equip your PC for the digital world.

The sheer power of the new Inno3D GeForce GT 240 is illustrated in the Vantage Performance chart above, towering over the performance of the 9600GT with great significance. This surely is a reflection of Nvidia's technological advancement from 9600GT to GT 240 whilst boasting an array of additional features raising the bar of the performance card.


Source: Inno3D

AMD's dual-GPU flagship graphics accelerator, the Radeon HD 5970, is closer than you think it is. Slated for 18th Nov, it includes every feature that allows AMD to reclaim the performance leadership it yearned for since the beginning of this year. In a series of company slides sourced from XtremeSystems Forums, it is learned that this could be one of the first accelerators which AMD "openly" markets as having a "Massive Headroom" for overclocking. While the clock speeds on the HD 5970 are lower than those on the single-GPU HD 5870, AMD lifted limits on what the driver-level ATI Overdrive software can offer in terms of clock speeds. While the engine (core) and memory speeds are set at 720/1000 MHz, the unlocked ATI Overdrive lets users take the clock speeds all the way up to 1000/1500 MHz. That's 30% for the core, and a stellar 50% for the memory.

To back such speeds, AMD seems to have splurged heavily on top-notch components on the PCB. To begin with, the PCB holds two high-grade AMD Cypress GPUs, each with all its 1600 stream processors enabled. The GDDR5 memory, while clocked at 1000 MHz or 4 GT/s, is technically rated by its manufacturer to run at 1250 MHz or 5 GT/s. All systems are powered by high-grade digital PWM voltage regulators, with independent Volterra VRM controllers that allow real-time monitoring, and software voltage control. Barring the five-odd cylindrical solid-state capacitors, Japanese pure ceramic surface-mount capacitors are extensively made use of.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced the availability of the newly designed SimpleDrive desktop external hard drive with capacities of up to two terabytes (2TB). In addition, the company announced that all of its 3.5-inch retail drives are now available in 2TB capacities, featuring the Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000, the industry's first 2TB 7,200 RPM hard drive that blends performance and high capacity with low power features. New, upgraded solutions include the Hitachi SimpleTech Pro Drive; the two-drive, RAID 0/1 Duo Pro Drive; and the Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit for the do-it-yourself (DIY) computer-upgrade market. All products are now available.

"Hitachi continues to build its channel presence with an expanded portfolio of 2TB storage solutions for business users, consumers or virtually anyone who needs additional capacity to manage the growing number and size of their digital files," said Azmat Ali, vice president of marketing, Branded Business, Hitachi GST. "Even though people are inundated with digital content daily, many are not taking the necessary precautions to safeguard their content. Our external drives, together with consistent backup practices, will help people keep their digital memories, entertainment and business documents safe."

Intel Corporation and NEC Corporation today have agreed to jointly develop High Performance Computing (HPC) system technologies that will push the boundaries of supercomputing performance. NEC will bring these technologies to market in future supercomputers based on the Intel Xeon processor. NEC's expertise in this field coupled with the Intel Xeon processor's outstanding performance and its accelerating vector capabilities such as AVX will allow for higher performance supercomputers, satisfying customer demand for Intel architecture based products.

NEC will also continue to sell their existing SX vector processor-based products. A vector processor can perform a mathematical operation on several numbers simultaneously.

"Intel's substantial investment in the Intel architecture, including the development of processors, chipsets, software compilers and other related products has expanded the usages of Intel Xeon processors in both the volume and high-end HPC market segments," said Richard Dracott, general manager of Intel's High Performance Computing Group. "Now with NEC further innovating on Intel Xeon processor-based systems, Intel is poised to bring Intel Xeon processor performance to an even wider supercomputing audience."

Kingston is out with its newest 12 GB triple-channel DDR3 memory kit. Unlike the last time, when the company came out with a three-module kit consisting of 4 GB modules, with the KHX1600C9D3K6/12GX, the new 12 GB kit consists of six modules. What is also noteworthy, is that the new kit costs a fraction: Around 350 Euro versus over 1000 Euro.

The six 2 GB modules are cooled by the classic Kingston HyperX heatspreaders. They are rated to operate at 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) with DRAM timings of 9-9-9-27, with module voltage of 1.65V, along with Intel XMP support, making them just about ideal for socket LGA-1366 desktops and importantly, 2-socket workstations.

Convergence Technologies (USA) LLC, of Reston Virginia, today announces that it has filed a lawsuit (Docket No. 1:09cv1256) in the Eastern District of Virginia against Hewlett-Packard, Sapphire Technology Limited (a Hong Kong company) and Taiwan Microloops Corporation (a Taiwanese registered company, herein referred to as Microloops) for the infringement, contributory infringement, and/or inducement to infringe upon its U.S. patent #7,422,053. Joseph J. Zito of ZITO tlp has been appointed as its lead litigator.

"With the recent Taiwan court's ruling and Microloops' predatory pricing practice, we have no choice but to now turn to the U.S. court for protection," said Dr. Steven H. Lee, Founding President & CEO of Convergence Technologies Limited. Dr. Lee further adds that "It is unfortunate that venture capital was scarce in Hong Kong, which gave other companies the opportunity to exploit our weakness, but we have the best vapor chamber technology in the world, and Joe Zito will help us ensure this technology reaches the market place.

NVIDIA Corporation today unveiled the Tesla 20-series of parallel processors for the high performance computing (HPC) market, based on its new generation CUDA processor architecture, codenamed “Fermi”.

Designed from the ground-up for parallel computing, the NVIDIA Tesla 20-series GPUs slash the cost of computing by delivering the same performance of a traditional CPU-based cluster at one-tenth the cost and one-twentieth the power.

SteelSeries, the leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, today introduced the SteelSeries Siberia Headphone. Modeled from the award-winning Siberia Headset, the new SteelSeries Siberia Headphone presents gamers with an audio option of superior SteelSeries sound quality and comfort at an entry level price point.

"We're introducing the new headphone right before the holidays with the notion that high-quality, professional gaming gear can be offered at an affordable price for both novice gamers and pro-players," said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. "The Siberia Headphone rounds out our audio line-up as the opening level SteelSeries audio option for gamers who are looking to experience professional quality headphone technology."

Following AMD's recent success of its 6-core Opteron processor in the TOP500 supercomputer list, Intel has sensed a market for "HPC-optimized" processors, which the company expects will be out in the first half of 2010. These could be either variants of the Nehalem-EX multi-socket capable processors, or that by design, Nehalem-EX suits HPC (high-performance computing) applications better.

These 6-core processors will carry clock speeds higher than 8-core Xeon processors around that time. The processors will be able to work in systems with up to 256 processors (logical CPUs). In addition to these Intel also announced that it will be releasing a beta version of its Ct technology by the end of this year. Ct makes parallel programming in the C and C++ programming languages easier, by automatically optimizing code to exploit multi-core and many-core systems.

Source: TechConnect Magazine

The Swiss low noise cooling solution provider ARCTIC COOLING today announced the launch of the Accelero TWIN TURBO PRO. This dual-fan cooler is designed for fitting ATI and NVIDIA graphic cards, offering a truly cool and quiet solution for most enthusiasts.

This superior cooler is the upgraded version of the reputable Accelero TWIN TURBO. Instead of using 80mm fans, the Accelero TWIN TURBO PRO features two 92mm PWM fans for more advanced heat dissipation. The unconventional 4-heatpipe architecture together with 35 fins achieve up to 120 watts cooling capacity. Also with a layer of the ARCTIC MX-2 thermal compound on the base, the Accelero TWIN TURBO PRO guarantees instant and efficient cooling at all time.

Following Intel's launch of the new socket LGA-1156 platform with quad-core Intel Core i5, Core i7 "Lynnfield", and the P55 Express chipset to drive the platform, Intel is preparing to drop another chalk in Q1 2010, with dual-core socket LGA-1156 processors that use the Core i3 and Core i5 brand identifiers. A feature unique to these processors is the integration of a graphics controller into the processor package. On the platform side, core-logic must support the Intel Flexible Display technology, which handles connectivity for that graphics controller. The chipset which will drive this would be Intel's upcoming H57 Express chipset, codenamed "Eagle Lake".

Motherboards based on the H57 chipset typically feature display connectors such as DVI, D-Sub, or HDMI. While intended to cover the mainstream segment, H57 can also be used to drive high-grade motherboards, as is shown by ASUS with its newest motherboard based on the chipset - the P7PH57D-V EVO. The ATX motherboard resembles the P7P55D Deluxe in many design aspects. It supports all the high-end features its cousin does, including support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 along with full-bandwidth PCI-Express 2.0 interfaces for the controllers.

Active Media Products, manufacturer of SSDs and innovative USB drives, today announced the new Wink USB drive measuring merely 1.2 x 0.5 x 0.1 inches and tipping the scales at only 1/20 of an ounce. The Wink drive is available now in capacities from 2GB to 16GB.

Waterproof Wink Drive Measures only 1.2 inches Long and Weighs Less Than 1/20 Oz. Although its size is small, the Wink drive's storage capacity is great. The 16GB model holds up to 5,000 MP3 songs. The Wink drive is also quite rugged. The delicate electronics are encapsulated in a waterproof COB unit, which is in turn protected by a high-impact polymer outer shell. The outer case features an embossed wink face and an eye hole for an included keychain. According to Active Media Products VP of Sales, Jerry Thomson, "We designed the Wink drive to be extremely small, yet rugged and reliable." These new drives are Windows 7 and OS X compatible. All four capacities are available today through Amazon at prices starting at $7.95.