Power Quotient International (PQI) released its newest USB flash-drive, the CoolDrive U368. Among a small, growing group, the U368 is USB 3.0 SuperSpeed compliant, and offers transfer-rates on par with hard drives, with access times comparable to those of SSDs. Its casing is typically-shaped, measuring 90.1 x 22 x 11.1 mm, and weighing 25 g. When connected using USB 3.0, the drive offers transfer speeds of around 105 MB/s, which can be improved with the bundled TurboFlash USB software. It is available in capacities ranging from 8 GB, all the way up to 128 GB. It is backwards-compatible with USB 2.0, albeit with lower transfer-rates. Pricing and availability are yet to be known.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced that it is ramping up 40-nm class production of high-density DDR3 memory chips to accommodate increased demand in server applications. The recent launch of Intel Corporation's Intel Xeon processor 5600 Series, as well as the introduction of Xeon 7500 processors support the growing industry demand for enhanced performance and low power platform solutions, especially when paired with DDR3 memory.

Samsung's DDR3 - the industry best-selling DDR3 - enables OEMs to use up to 192 gigabytes (GBs) on a Xeon 5500 platform (16GBx12) with at least a 73 percent improvement in power consumption at 1.35 volts, when accompanied by the Xeon 5600 processor. DDR3 has double the memory bandwidth of DDR2, with speeds up to 1333 Megabits per second (Mbps). With the new Xeon 7500 platform, OEMs can use up to 1 terabyte per 4-socket system and with more sockets, can easily scale to memory densities 2 TBs and higher. Later this year, Samsung's 4 Gigabit (Gb) DDR3 chips and modules also will be available for use with the latest Xeon platforms and processors.

TechPowerUp! Folding@Home community will be participating in Chimp Challenge 2010. This worldwide Folding@Home competition finds a special place among distributed computing enthusiasts, with some of the world's leading F@H teams, particularly from technology communities participating. TPU's team is competing under the team name of ChimPowerUp. The goal of this competition is to achieve a score of 20,000,000 points, the contest starts Wednesday, May 5th at 12pm, Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -7). The team to reach the goal first wins.

You can help your favourite site win with your participation. Head over to this page, your one stop page to get started with folding with TechPowerUp. Between all the fun and frolic, participants get to amass huge computing power for the Folding@Home project, which helps solve complex, socially-relevant scientific problems.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, has today released its Phoenix SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drive based with the latest ultra-high performance SandForce SF-1200 controller.

Since 2009, G.Skill Falcon series of performance SSDs have received numerous awards. So, in order to continually satisfy computer enthusiasts and gamers' continuing thirst for performance technology, G.Skill has worked with SandForce to integrate its latest technology that provides previously unseen performance, quality and reliability in G.Skill's Phoenix drive.

The MSI Big Bang-XPower is making its much anticipated debut in April of this year. MSI, a leading mainboard and graphics card maker, with over 23 years of R&D and manufacturing experience, has made its name catering to performance-hungry gamers. The Big Bang-XPower is another exceptional mainboard from the Big Bang series with astonishing performance and reliability. MSI is confident that the Big Bang-XPower will again be selling like hotcakes to users worldwide.

MSI's Big Bang-XPower mainboard is built with Military Class components that includes a Hi-c CAP (highly-conductive polymerized capacitor), Solid Cap (solid capacitor), and Icy Choke for longer lifespan, better thermal reliability, and stability. The Hi-c CAP has excellent physical properties of thermally stable, reliable, performs under stress, and lasts 8X longer than traditional solid capacitors. Icy Choke is a new generation ferrite choke that features low temperature and longer lifespan. Military Class Solid CAP lasts longer than traditional capacitors, up to 10 years of lifespan. All these Military Class components add up to a stable and long lasting mainboard that will keep running even under high stress conditions.

SAPPHIRE Technology has just added a new silent cooled model to its extensive range of ATI-based graphics cards. The award winning ULTIMATE Series is SAPPHIRE Technology's Silent Cooled product line. The SAPPHIRE HD 5550 ULTIMATE is a new graphics card aimed at the mainstream market, whist sharing many of the exciting features of the latest high end series.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5500 series is based on the latest graphics architecture from the ATI division of AMD, built in its 40nm process. It supports the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11, and delivers superb video clarity and visual effects, whilst consuming very low power levels.

Buffalo Japan released its newest ultra-compact, portable DVD writer, the DVSM-PS58U2/S-BK. The Slim DVD writer in a package design with the pop-out disc tray makes way for an even more compact slot-in design, and a single-wire USB 2.0 interface. The drive draws both power and connectivity from the USB line. It measures 142 x 137 mm, with a thickness of 20 mm, while weighing 340 g. The unit has a piano-black finish. Write speeds include 8x for DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD+RW, 6x for double-layer DVD-R/DVD+R/DVD-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM, and 24x for CD-R/CD-RW. It will be released to the Japanese market in mid-May, and will be priced at ¥11,500 (around US $120).

The Intel juggernaut rolls on in Q1 2010, according the latest IDC report covering PC processor sales. Similar to the GPU market, processor sales grew by 39% compared to this time last year (Q1 2009), but declined by 5.6% compared to Q4 2009. Revenues went up 40.4% year-on-year and down just 2% sequentially. Intel's market share grew by 0.5%, slightly at the expense of AMD, which went down 0.6%.

Intel holds 81% of the processor market, while 'rival' AMD holds 18.8%. VIA holds a tiny 0.2% of the market. In the x86 server market, Intel holds 90.2%, with AMD and others at 9.8%. With the notebook and desktop segments it reached 87.8% and 71.7%, respectively. For 2010 IDC is predicting a CPU unit growth of 15.1%. Q1 2010 saw Intel propagating processors based on its new architecture to the crucial value and mainstream market segments, with the Core i3, Core i5, and Pentium dual-core processors in the LGA-1156 package.

Today HIS is proud to announce the new HIS 5550 Silence 1GB DDR2 low-profile Graphics card, the world's first Silence 5500 series low-profile graphics card. Supporting the innovative DirectX 11, Full 1080p and ATI Stream Technology, HD 5550 offers you a multi-purpose solution for maximum versatility.

HIS Radeon HD 5550 1GB DDR2 Silence is the World's first 5500 Silence low-profile graphics card. This brand-new designed double-slot heatsink effectively takes away the heat from GPU at front and back, and does not produce any noise. With this easy-to-install graphics card, you can accelerate with ATI stream Technology to enjoy realistic visuals playing popular 3D DirectX 11 Game titles, speed up your video and photo editing, and experience full1080p, true HD audio videos in rich details - without any sound disturbance and without compromising of cooling effect.

EVERCOOL Thermal Corp., Ltd., one of the famous and professional cooler and fan brands in Taiwan. To design the creative cooling products to make users comfortably use computers or notebooks is the mission for each EVERCOOL developmental team member. Two NB coolers are launched－ FIT and Zodiac II recently, they have been noticed by their individual appearances.

FIT is the NB cooler to draw out the heat from laptop that is quite different from the general NB cooling pad on the current market; in addition, it not only gets patent certification in several countries, such as Taiwan and China, but also gains the 18th "Taiwan Excellence 2010" award. FIT is put outside the wind outlet of notebook to draw out the inside heat and lower the temperature and keep the stable operation for NB. Moreover, its adjustable angles can meet different heights of wind outlet for different brand notebook, and its great compatibility is from 9"~18" laptops. Small and light are its most unique points so that FIT is extremely easy to carry.

A "GOOD" news announced by Gainward, a leading brand in enthusiastic graphics cards, keeps its glorious traditions, redefines performance by release of Gainward Optimized Own Design (GOOD). Gainward races against competitions and develops the market first own designed GeForce GTX 470 "GOOD" Edition with "Gamer's Spirit" in mind. The card received optimized circuit layout on a longer PCB (10.5 inches to NVIDIA reference 9.5 inches), which enables better overclockability owing to plentiful PWM power modules with rugged solid-state components on better ground, also allows to accommodate larger heat-pipes cooler with dual 8 cm double bearing fans, which improved thermal characteristics and significantly reduced noise at full load. Even better, the card is geared with "QuattroPorts" integrated 4 ports in 1 including DisplayPort, HDMI 1.3a (upgradeable to HDMI 1.4 support for 3D format with upcoming NVIDIA 3DTV Play) & Dual DVIs, fulfill universal connectivity for diverse displays.

Gainward GeForce GTX 470 GOOD Edition features 1280MB GDDR5 memory clocked at 1674MHz (Bandwidth 133.92 GB/sec), core clock is set at standard 607MHz. Although clockrate is rather modest by default, better cooling and optimized circuit have left lots of headroom for overclocking by Gainward award winning graphics tuning utility - Expertool, which activates clockrate settings and fan control with user-friendly interface and fail-safe clock-down override. Even the first-timers can exercise overclocking with peace of mind.

Lamptron released its newest fan-controller, the Lamptron FC6. This four-channel controller provides analogue control over each of the four channels independently, complete with LED displays for each channel, and lets you monitor fan speeds and temperatures. The controller occupies one 5.25" drive bay in your case, and comes with a brushed-aluminum bezel. Each of the four channels can give out up to 20W of power, and connect to the fans over the 3-pin standard fan connectors. The LED display comes in several colour options. Lamptron's new fan-controller will start selling in the US soon, for US $45.99.

Extreme audio & video performance and intelligent overclocking are among the most critical demands of power users. Globally-renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI have unveiled their all-new 890FXA-GD70 and AMD 800 series mainboards. Featuring ultimate stability, easy overclocking and extreme performance, these boards targets advanced users who demand ultimate performance and beyond with overclocking.

The 890FXA-GD70 features AMD's latest SB850 southbridge chipset support and server-grade, Military Class specifications for the ultimate performance platform. Also included is the OC Genie intelligent overclocking utility, designed by MSI especially for the AMD platform. With the Unlock CPU Core function, consumers can enjoy ultimate performance at a reasonable price by taking their tri-core processor and making it into a quad-core. The 890FXA-GD70 also fully supports the latest generation USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s transfer technologies that boost high capacity file transfer speed and quality to future standards. In addition, the environmentally conscious and economical DrMOS design is also included (on select models only) making this mainboard a must buy for the enthusiast.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, as a part of their year long 25 year anniversary celebration, today announced an exclusive software licensing and bundling agreement with Futuremark, granting rights to manufacture and market products bundled with the multiplayer first-person shooter, Shattered Horizon.

Patriot is now offering select capacities of the popular Xporter USB Flash Drive products bundled with the zero gravity first-person shooter, Shattered Horizon. The Shattered Horizon bundle will include a Steam download code enabling users to easily download and install the game and then jump into the action. The first Shattered Horizon bundles will be 8GB and 16GB USB Flash Drives easily recognized by their unique packaging featuring design elements from the Shattered Horizon game. Additional Patriot products will be bundled with Shattered Horizon and introduced at a later time.

AMD released the final iteration of Catalyst 10.4 graphics driver suite. The WHQL-signed drivers keep up with the company's one month update cycle, and introduce a wide range of changes. To begin with, game-specific performance improvements in this release are confined to STALKER - Clear Sky, with up to 6% improvement in frame-rates for the Radeon HD 5970, and up to 3% for HD 5800 and HD 5700 series GPUs. There are changes to the video-decoding features, namely addition of H.264 Level 5.1 support, and a fix that reduces the "mosquito noise" seen in highly-compressed video.

Improvements to the video-transcoding capabilities are also a highlight of this release, with enhanced support for Windows 7 drag-and-drop video converter, namely performance increment, support for new H.264 formats such as MTS and WMV9 Complex profile interlaced content, and the ability to toggle GPU-acceleration from Catalyst Control Center. Support for the ATI Video converter is now available in the advanced view of the ATI Catalyst Control Center.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 10.4 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

A list of minor fixes follows.

While major AMD AIBs have given their creativity wings with the Radeon HD 5970, coming up with uber-high end graphics cards, PowerColor joined the party with its latest creation in the making: a graphics card with 12 display outputs! The design wires all six TMDs from each of the two GPUs into DisplayPort connectors, letting users make large Eyefinity display-heads. Each of the two GPUs is connected to 2 GB of GDDR5 memory making the total memory on board to 4 GB. The card is expected to be the thickest among others' HD 5970 designs, spanning over three expansion slots (two slot-spaces occupied by 12 mini-DP ports and one with the exhaust). PowerColor may choose Computex as the ideal launch-vehicle for this monstrosity. More details are awaited, but there's a Frankenstein picture of the card to go on.

EK Water Blocks released as many as eight water blocks for the GeForce 400 series, four each for the GTX 470 and GTX 480. All four carry essentially the same full-coverage monolithic design, but differ with the selection of materials. The EK-FC470 GTX and EK-FC480 GTX are base-models, which are copper-based, and which use clear acrylic tops. These are priced at 74.95€ and 80.00€, respectively. A little higher up, are the EK-FC470 GTX Acetal and EK-FC480 GTX Acetal, which use acetal top. These go for 77.65€ and 82.9€, respectively. A little further, is are the EK-FC470 GTX Nickel and EK-FC480 GTX Nickel, which use nickel-plated copper for the block, with clear acrylic top, priced at 80.95€ and 85.90€, respectively. At the highest-end are the EK-FC470 GTX Acetal+Nickel and EK-FC480 GTX Acetal+Nickel, which use nickel-plated copper blocks with acetal tops, priced at 84.95€ and 89.90€, respectively.

The monolithic full-coverage design ensures cooling for all vital components on the obverse-side of the PCB, including GPU, memory, and VRM. Heat dissipation over the GPU is done by wavy copper ridges. The blocks use G 1/4 threads for the optional fittings. EK has started taking orders for these on its online store.

Buffalo rolled out the SHD-PEHU3 series of portable solid state drives that are compatible with the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. The new interface enables the portable SSD to work with transfer-speeds typical of PC SSDs - up to 244 MB/s, with the Turbo PC drivers. The drives measure 97 (W) x 57 (H) x 12 (D) mm, weighing just 66 g. They are backwards-compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. Buffalo bundles data encryption software with the drive. The SHD-PEHU3 is offered in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB; priced at $282, $510 and $1,079, respectively, in the Japanese market. Availability is expected in late May.

CoolIT Systems, leaders in advanced liquid cooling technology, announced today the full support of AMD's new Phenom II X6 with the award-winning ECO ALC liquid cooling solution. Gamers and multimedia enthusiasts on a budget can now combine the raw power of the Phenom II X6 with cutting-edge liquid cooling technology from CoolIT.

"AMD has raised the bar for affordable performance in the new Phenom II X6 with advanced capabilities like its Turbo Core Technology" remarked Geoff Lyon, CEO of CoolIT Systems. "ECO ALC continues to hold the highest performance to price ratio of any liquid cooler currently on the market. When you combine these computing and cooling technologies, the performance results are tremendous."

The latest edition of Jon Peddie Research covering the PC graphics industry indicates that shipments of GPUs in Q1 2010 increased 44.3% over Q1 2009. There are increases in market shares of both AMD and NVIDIA, year over year, this time at the expense of Intel. The highlight for this quarter, however, has been the significant increase in market share of AMD. The company behind ATI Radeon clocked a 96.3% growth year-over-year. Despite taking a cut, Intel continues to to have the highest market share. With the introduction of Intel's Clarkdale and Arrandale processors that have embedded graphics processors, JPR demarcated these into a new entry called integrated processor graphics (IPG), from chipset graphics. With the propagation of the platform, it is predicted that chipset graphics will diminish in market share.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced the industry's first multi-chip package (MCP) with PRAM - for use in mobile handsets beginning later this quarter.

The 512 megabit Samsung PRAM in the MCP is backward compatible with 40 nanometer-class* NOR flash memory in both its hardware and software functionality, allowing mobile handset designers the convenience of having multi-chip packaging fully compatible with past stand-alone PRAM chip technology. PRAM is expected to be widely embraced by next year as the successor to NOR flash in consumer electronics designs, to become a major memory technology.

LaCie announced the latest addition to its Rugged family of mobile hard drives - the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0, combining the super speeds of USB 3.0 and LaCie's award-winning rugged design. The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 is one the most power-efficient and fast-performing mobile hard drives offered by LaCie.

The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 provides speeds up to 110 MB/s - three times the speed of USB 2.0. The speed enhancement allows you to transfer one HD movie in less than 3 minutes (versus more than 8 minutes in USB 2.0). It offers improved power efficiency, so you only need one cable to be assured optimal performance.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the availability of the award-winning Lexar Professional ExpressCard CompactFlash (CF) Reader and the Lexar Professional 600x and 300x 32GB CF cards in traditional and online retail channels.

"High-end amateur and professional photographers are consistently capturing larger file sizes, either in the form of RAW digital images or high-definition videos, and retailers are now providing solutions to store and manage that content," said Manisha Sharma, director of worldwide memory card product marketing, Lexar Media. "The Lexar Professional 600x and 300x 32GB cards store more of the images and memories that matter, and provide enhanced file transfer speeds when paired with the Professional ExpressCard CF Reader. We're pleased to be offering these workflow-improving solutions to our extensive network of photo resellers."

Without making much noise, Swiftech introduced its latest creation, a successor to the MCW60, the MCW80 universal GPU water-block. This water block has a wide-range of compatibility with this generation of GPUs. It uses a copper block with a high-density pin matrix to increase surface area of heat dissipation. The housing is made of black Delrin. It measures 49.6 x 49.6 x 32.2 mm, and weighs 141 g. The block is compatible with eurostyle fittings with built-in o-ring, and sticks to G 1/4 thread specification for the ports. With the appropriate hold-down, the MCW80 supports the latest GPUs, including ATI Radeon HD 5800/5900 series, and NVIDIA GeForce 400 series. It is priced at US $56.95. The GeForce 400 series kit is coming soon, at a price of $11.99.

Following the successful launch of PC-T1 Spider Edition, Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. today launches two additional PITSTOP test benches - the PC-T60 and PC-T7. Ideal for DIY users with taste and space-concern, the PC-T60 ATX/Mini-ATX Test Bench and PC-T7 Mini-ITX Test Bench are hand built with top quality, simple and innovative design…all developed from Lian Li's proven 20 years of industry experience. Just like the series name "pit stop" from Formula 1, these test benches are self-explanatory enough for users to quickly refuel, repair, get geared up and back on the racing track within no time.

PITSTOP PC-T60 and PC-T7 are test benches for standard ATX/Mini-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards, respectively. At 351mm x 330mm x 400mm (W.H.D.) and 1.8kg, the PC-T60 series is slightly bigger and heavier than the PC-T7 at 231mm x 210mm x 395mm (W.H.D.) and 1.0kg. For future upgradability and services, both the PC-T60 and PC-T7 are designed to use standard PC components: standard 5.25" optical drives, standard 3.5" hard drives, standard ATX PS/2 power supply units. The handle design also makes these added PITSTOP test benches most convenient to take away. Both series are available in red, black and silver colors.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the latest additions to its VIA VIPRO range of fanless touch screen panel PCs with the 6.5 inch VIA VIPRO VP7806 and 15 inch VIA VIPRO VP7815. Created using the flexible and modular Em-ITX form factor, these new VIA VIPRO panel PCs offer the perfect solution for the latest HMI applications.

Both VIA VIPRO devices are fanless and durable with IP65 compliant LED backlit panels that can withstand temperatures of -200C to 600C. Industry-leading device interactivity is assured with touch panel navigation, an integrated two megapixel autofocus IP camera, microphone and speakers. These features make the VIA VIPRO series perfectly placed for next generation panel applications that include hospital patient terminals, home and building automation and advanced multimedia-rich security ecosystems.

Leading graphics supplier, SAPPHIRE Technology, has begun sampling the world's fastest graphics card, the SAPPHIRE HD 5970 4G TOXIC Edition. Previewed at CeBit 2010, the SAPPHIRE HD 5970 4G TOXIC Edition has 4GB of fifth generation GDDR5 memory, a total of 3200 stream processors and 160 texture units and runs with world leading clock speeds of 900MHz core and 1200MHz for memory (4.8GHz effective). This is significantly faster than the standard model, and makes the SAPPHIRE HD 5970 4GB TOXIC Edition not only the fastest card in its class, but the fastest in the world.

With twice the computing power of the highly acclaimed SAPPHIRE HD 5870 Series, this new HD 5970 model shares all the exciting features of the HD 5000 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 enables the acceleration of applications supported by ATI Stream, and the ability to display across three monitors simultaneously with ATI Eyefinity. All of this comes with a modest active power consumption and ATI Powerplay Dynamic Power Management to achieve super-low power consumption in 2D and idle modes.

ASUS once again provides timely, optimized solutions to utilize incoming technology from AMD, supporting the chip maker's new six-core CPU design. Exclusive features added to ASUS 890FX motherboards realize the hexa-core architecture's capabilities to the fullest degree.

Both ROG Crosshair IV Formula and M4A89TD PRO include the AMD 890FX chipset and deliver thrilling PC performance through award-winning ASUS exclusives Core Unlocker and Turbo Unlocker, empowering users with on-demand overclocking and performance boosts for greater CPU capabilities in real time. Combined with the potential of the new design from AMD, these motherboards provide an experience like no other.

ASRock introduced its newest high-end motherboard for the AMD platform, the 890FX Extreme3. This socket AM3 motherboard is based on AMD's 890FX + SB850 chipset, and is geared for high-end discrete graphics setups. The CPU is powered by an 8+2 phase VRM that is cooled by an elaborate active heatsink that also draws heat from the 890FX chip. The board BIOS carries memory multipliers to support DDR3 1800 MHz with ease. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16, of which the blue slots are PCI-E 2.0 x16, while the third white slot is PCI-E 1.1 x4; and two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the SB850 are internal, while an additional VIA storage controller handles eSATA and IDE. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, eSATA, and 8-channel audio with SPDIF connectors. The ASRock 890FX-Extreme3 should reach stores in a few weeks.

G.Skill International, manufacturer of extreme performance memory and high performance solid-state storage, has today launched the 2,000MHz CL7-9-7-24 1.65V 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3 kit with its latest Flare heatsinks, as the ideal performance partner for AMDs latest 6-core processors.

G.Skill's Flare series has represented high-performance memory modules for the AMD platform since its first exposure in Cebit 2010, and G.Skill continues its enthusiast commitment in the platform. Now the Flare family brings 2,000MHz to the world of AMD, with the incredible timing of CL7. It provides AMD enthusiasts the perfect choice of high-end memory to make the most of overclocking the latest AMD system.

AMD announced the immediate availability of the AMD Phenom II X6 processor and AMD 890FX chipset ushering in a new era of immersive 3D entertainment and visualization. Trailblazing consumers seeking immersive 3D entertainment and high definition multi-monitor display now can affordably upgrade to six-core performance and award-winning ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics. Today also marks the availability of the flagship AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor, AMD's fastest and most tunable desktop processor ever.

"With AMD Phenom II X6 processors, discerning customers can build an incredible, immersive entertainment system and content creation powerhouse," said Bob Grim, director of Client Platform Marketing at AMD. "AMD is answering the call for elite desktop PC performance and features at an affordable price."

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today introduced 8GB Crucial DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) CL9 very low-profile (VLP), ECC registered dual in-line memory modules (RDIMMs), enabling blade and low-profile server users to populate their systems with up to 144GB of memory, depending upon motherboard and processor configuration. Additionally, these new high-density, low-profile modules are guaranteed compatible with Intel Xeon processors based on the Nehalem architecture. The 8GB Crucial VLP RDIMM modules are available through select resellers worldwide and online.

VLP memory modules enable powerful and compact computing power within server systems, because they are designed to stand vertically in order to accommodate additional memory modules and enable improved system airflow. Blade servers, as well as servers utilized for virtualization, will benefit from these new high-density Crucial VLP modules.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage and enthusiast computer products, today expanded their lineup of DDR3 memory solutions with the launch of its new ultra-high performance Viper II Series Sector 5 Edition Extreme Performance DDR3 memory for Intel P55 platforms.

Patriot Viper II Series Sector 5 Edition modules pass a thorough qualification and screening process on multiple high-performance motherboards using the Intel P55 chipset platforms and Intel Core i7 CPUs to ensure performance at 2500MHz with latency timings of 9-11-9-27. These modules are targeted and designed specifically for performance enthusiasts and overclockers looking to set new benchmark records and push the boundaries of computing performance.

MSI unveiled the 870A-G54, a value socket AM3 motherboard based on the AMD 870 + SB850 chipset. The 870 is AMD's value discrete graphics chipset, which supports one graphics card over a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link, or two cards over two electrical x8 links, as implemented on this board. The CPU is powered by a 5+1 phase VRM which uses high-C capacitors. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated), supporting ATI CrossfireX; three PCI and one PCI-E x1. The SB850 southbridge gives out six internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, an additional controller drives the IDE. Connectivity includes 8-channel audio with optical SPDIF, two USB 3.0 ports, a number of USB 2.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet. The MSI 870A-G54 will be released in the coming weeks. This is the second board from the company based on this chipset, the other being the Lucid Hydra-equipped 870A-GD60 Hydra.

Retailers have started shipping AMD's Phenom II X6 series of desktop six-core processors. The Phenom II X6 is AMD's first consumer six-core processor for desktops, which intends to compete with Intel at aggressive price-points. AMD is starting the series with two models, the Phenom II X6 1055T and Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition. German retailer VV Computer priced the 1055T under 200€ at 198.7€, while the 1090T Black Edition goes for a little over 300 €, at 309.9€.

The Phenom II X6 1055T runs at 2.80 GHz, with Turbo Core speed of 3.30 GHz, while the Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition runs at 3.20 GHz with 3.60 GHz of Turbo Core speed, and an unlocked bus multiplier to help overclocking. Both chips have 9 MB of total cache, and TDP of 125W.

At Embedded Systems Conference today, AMD announced two new complete platforms for the embedded market, the compact ASB2 platform and the high-performance AM3 platform, that offer myriad combinations of power and performance with up to 74 percent improvement in performance-per-watt over previous generations. AMD's new flexible embedded platforms consist of chipset and graphics solutions along with high-performance CPUs as low as 8W TDP for the ideal solution based on application requirements. System designers focusing on their next-generation products can see immediate benefits commonly associated with industry-standard x86 processors, including streamlined design and development, a large software ecosystem, and fast time-to-market.

"The barriers to widespread adoption of x86 in the broad embedded market have traditionally been a combination of power, price and the physical footprint of the silicon," said Buddy Broeker, director, Embedded Solutions Division, AMD. "AMD's embedded solutions have been steadily driving down those barriers while adding enterprise-class performance and features that may not have been readily available to designers in the past. Our commitment to the embedded market grows stronger as we look to a future introduction of AMD Fusion technology products into the embedded space."

Earlier this month, it came to light that NVIDIA is working on its third GeForce 400 series member, the GeForce GTX 460. A new report suggests that this SKU would be timed to be NVIDIA's front-line release for this year's Computex event, held in Taiwan. The SKU is slated for release in the first week of June. The GeForce GTX 460 will be derived from the GF100 GPU, by further cutting down the available streaming multiprocessor (SM) counts, and trimming the memory interface a little. With four SMs disabled (probably an entire graphics processing cluster or GPC), the GTX 460 has 384 CUDA cores, 32 raster operation processors (ROPs), 48 texture memory units (TMUs) with a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, to connect to 1 GB of memory. The rest of its feature-set will be common with the GeForce 400 series. It is expected to compete with ATI Radeon HD 5830, at a similar price-point.

S3 Graphics unveiled the latest addition to its power-efficient Chrome Series graphics product family, the Chrome 5000E-based S3 Graphics Chrome eH1. Demoed at ESC 2010 April 27-29, Booth No.1238, the S3 Graphics Chrome eH1 is designed for harsh environments and industrial grade systems, offering extreme reliability and longevity, transforming any embedded platform into a multimedia powerhouse.

The S3 Graphics Chrome eH1 brings together a compelling blend of features that meet the needs of next generation embedded systems; these include DX10.1 3D graphics, superb HD video decoding and a range of display connectivity options including DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and CRT. With the Chrome eH1, designers can bring the latest graphics and real HD video horsepower to existing platforms, without longevity and product sourcing issues.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today announced the fastest external hard drive yet in its STORY Station product portfolio - the Samsung STORY Station 3.0 with the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. The top-of-line 3.5-inch external hard drive now offers 10 times faster speed compared to the previous USB 2.0 interface, making it the ideal storage solution for saving and retrieving crucial data in the blink of an eye.

"The Samsung STORY Station 3.0 has been built for advanced users who demand fast transfer speed and data security without sacrificing design," said H.S. Lee, vice president, storage marketing, Samsung Electronics. "The STORY Station creates a seamless user experience that allows users to move large chunks of high-quality multimedia content with minimal wait time."

Following the launch of the ATI FirePro V8800, the industry's most powerful professional graphics card ever created, AMD today introduced new additions to its next-generation ATI FirePro family -- ATI FirePro V7800, ATI FirePro V5800, ATI FirePro V4800, and ATI FirePro V3800 -- offering professionals in the digital content creation (DCC) and Computer Aided Design (CAD) industries advanced performance and features at every price point. AMD also announced the ATI FirePro 2460 Multi-View, a low profile, quad display graphics solution designed for financial institutions. These latest ATI FirePro solutions are expected to be available from HP, CDW, Newegg, Tiger Direct and other online retailers.

"AMD's new ATI FirePro workstation graphics cards are the world's first workstation class graphics cards to support up to four monitors on a single card -- enabling increased productivity for professional graphics users," said Janet Matsuda, senior director, Professional Graphics, AMD. "Our new ATI FirePro family delivers new value at every price point."

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and high performance solid-state storage, has today launched its latest Flare series high-performance DDR3 kits rated at 1800MHz, and optimized for AM3 790 & 890 platform with AMD C3 stepping processors.

G.Skill's Flare series has been specifically designed and tested for AM3 790 and the latest 890 platforms, in combination with AMDs recent C3 stepping CPUs, and has passed a strict testing regime to ensure the best performance and stability. G.Skill Flare provides AMD enthusiasts the perfect choice of high frequency memory that allows a greater attainable CPU bus clock, in order to overclock further and have best performance for productivity and gaming.

Germany-based Aqua Computer is ready with its water-block for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 graphics accelerator, the AquagraFX GTX480. The block is full-coverage and monolithic in design, and cools all vital heat-producing parts of the card. Its main unit is cut from a block of copper. The block weighs 850 g (1.87 lbs). It has a stainless steel top with laser-etched lettering on it. Aqua Computer used distance pieces for all threads. They are pre-assembled so users won't have to fumble around with them. All surfaces which have contact to the GPU/RAM/VRM are high gloss polished (mirror-finish). The block also comes with a small backplate that cools voltage regulators on the reverse-side of the PCB. The company will start shipping these from next week, at a price of 89.90 EUR or around US $101 excl. VAT.

Zalman is readying a new 24-inch 3D LCD monitor, the Trimon ZM-M240W, which is a design upscale of the 21.5-inch ZM-M215W. The display is bundled with a pair of stereoscopic glasses, and lets users switch between 3D and 2D display modes. The TN-panel used has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 (full HD), with a response time of 5 ms. It has a dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1, and input connectivity which includes DVI and D-Sub. Expected to launch sometime in May, the Trimon ZM-M240W will cost around 380 EUR.

Numonyx B.V. introduced a set of innovative products today based on the new class of memory technology called phase change memory (PCM). The new devices deliver higher performance, endurance and simplicity for wired and wireless communications, consumer electronics, PCs, and other embedded applications.

The new embedded memory products blend many attributes associated with flash memory, as well as RAM and EEPROM, while delivering new capabilities in a single device. Introduced as the newly branded Numonyx Omneo PCM, today's new products promise up to 300 times faster write speeds and ten times more write endurance than today's flash memory.

Japanese cooling specialist Scythe presents the new Kama Flow 2 fan series. Equipped with the newly developed silent EX-FDB bearing, these fans are available in three sizes (80mm, 92mm and 120mm) with three different rpm models each.

The EX-FDB (Extra Fluid Dynamic Bearing) comes with a group of "V" shaped grooves, ensuring an even distribution of the oil film in the shaft housing and thus reducing friction to a minimum level. In this way, low noise and a lifespan of 120,000 hours (MTBF) can be achieved. Especially the low-speed versions are suitable for use in silent computer systems. For easy connection to PC power supplies, a 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adapter is included.

Mushkin Enhanced, a global leader in high-performance computer products, announces the availability of new Redline memory kits with black, 8-layer PCBs designed especially for gamers and enthusiasts.

This new Redline Series launches with DDR3-1600 CL6 memory kits for Intel's LGA1366 and LGA1156 platforms. In the near future, more kits with different specifications will be available.

Club 3D rolled out a new silent graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5550, what it calls the "Noiseless Edition". The Club 3D HD 5550 Noiseless Edition is based on the 40 nm "Redwood" GPU, packs 320 stream processors, is DirectX 11 compliant, and carries 512 MB of GDDR3 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. The card is full-height, and its silent GPU heatsink spans across two expansion slots. The cooler is made of an aluminum fin block to which heat is conveyed by heat pipes. The GPU is clocked at 550 MHz, and memory at 1600 MHz DDR. Connectivity includes DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI with on-chip 7.1 HD audio with DTS, and Dolby Digital. Like every other card based on Redwood, it draws all its power from the PCI-Express slot. The Club 3D HD 5550 Noiseless Edition is expected to be priced around the $70 mark.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it had completed development of a 4-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM, the highest density DDR3 DRAM in the DRAM industry.

Based on an advanced 40nm process, the new eco-friendly DRAM uses about 30% less power compared to two 40nm process 2-gigabit DDR3 SDRAMs (4-gigabit equivalent) and enables servers, data centers and other large capacity memory systems to reduce power consumption. It can operate at not only standard DDR3 1.5V but also 1.35V to allow greater system power savings.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd, announces yet another Mini-Q series - PC-Q08, after the successful launch of PC-Q07 last year. With increased case depth and removable lower HDD cage, the PC-Q08 offers more room to fit full size graphics cards. For power users who require maximum video performance, Lian Li's Mini-Q PC-Q08 is the solution.

The dimensions of PC-Q08 stand at 227mm x 272mm x 345mm (W.H.D) at only 2.73kg weight. This mini-tower chassis supports Mini-ITX or Mini-DTX motherboards. For future upgradability concern, the PC-Q08 is designed to use only standard PC components: standard 5.25" optical drive, standard 3.5" hard drives, standard ATX PS/2 power supply units and standard graphics cards. The Mini-Q PC-Q08 is available in red, black and silver colors.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA Nano E-Series processor, bringing native 64-bit software support, virtualization capabilities and extended longevity support to embedded markets.

The move to 64-bit software architecture is an essential transition for the future of the embedded industry. Forthcoming operating systems such as Windows Embedded Standard 7 will be able to leverage a 64-bit software eco system that provides up to double the amount of data a CPU can process per clock cycle. This translates in to greater ease in manipulating large data sets and an overall performance boost compared to non-native 64-bit architectures.

ATP Electronics released an internal USB solid state storage device. The device sits on one USB internal header cluster on the motherboard (occupying headers for two ports), to provide fixed storage of up to 4 GB in a package that measures 8.2 (L) x 15.3 (W) x 6.2 (H) mm. The package is dust, vibration and ESD resistant. It uses single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash chips, and provides speeds typical to storage devices connected over USB 2.0, around 30 MB/s. The device is said to be industrial-grade, and can be deployed in embedded computers. The package is advertised to be extremely durable, making use of the System In Package (SIP) technology that protects vital components.

Sticking to its announcement, AMD released the ATI Catalyst 10.4a Preview driver suite. In the run up to Catalyst 10.4, the company wanted to quickly resolve an important issue pertaining to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 game load times, which made it release a series of preview drivers, starting with Catalyst 10.4 Preview which resolved the issue for ATI Radeon HD 5000 series GPUs, and now the Catalyst 10.4a Preview, which resolves it for ATI Radeon HD 4000, HD 3000, HD 2000 series GPUs. With this hotfix applied, users will experience reduced map game load times on Bad Company 2. Catalyst 10.4 WHQL will be released later this month.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 10.4a Preview

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced it's new family of SuperSpeed USB products as a part of its peripheral product line. Available immediately are the first two Patriot products offering USB 3.0: the PCUSB3PCIE and PCUSB3EXP adapter cards. The PCUSB3PCIE is an adapter card for desktop PCs that adds two SuperSpeed USB ports and fast data transfers of up to 5Gbps data throughput. The PCUSB3EXP brings the same speed and USB 3.0 connectivity to notebook computers using the ExpressCard connection found on recent generation notebooks.

Additionally, Patriot will soon offer a SuperSpeed USB 2.5" enclosure, Gauntlet, for notebook Hard Disk Drives (HDD) or Solid State Drives (SSD). With a durable all aluminum design, quality craftsmanship and fast data transfer speeds provided by the USB 3.0 interface, Gauntlet is the perfect solution for portable storage: support for large capacity drives and blazing fast transfer speeds that make media sharing fast and easy.

Head-Direct manufacturer of several in-ears recently launched the radical HE-5 headphones which featured an ortodynamic driver. The HE-5s received tremendous critique after the initial pre-order had been shipped, but issues with the wood cracking and effectivity problems of the driver made the HE-5s a short lived success. Boasted as having audio performance that was on par with much more expensive solutions like the Sennheiser HD800s, when paired with a decent amp propelled the HE-5s to Head-fi stardom, but the wooden cups proved too fragile.

Head-Direct have now made a second version of the HE-5s dubbed the HE-5LE which feature similar specs but the driver coating has been made thinner which means that the new version should have a better low end and perform better across a variety of headphone amplifiers. The driver cups are now made of plastic with a hexagon mesh covering the back ensuring no mid range oddities. Please note the HE-5LEs are still power hungry, and given the low impedance low efficiency driver design be sure to pick up an amplifier that can deliver a serious amount of current. The Head Direct HE-5LE is now priced at US $649.

ECS is ready with a low-cost ATX motherboard based on the upcoming AMD 880G chipset, the ECS A880GM-A2. The board uses a PCB nearly identical to that of the ECS IC890GXM-A, except for the skimpier heatsinks. The board features a simple 3+1 phase VRM which can power AM3 processors, including the Phenom II X6, with TDPs of up to 125W. Solid-state capacitors are used only for some important circuits. The 880G chipset embeds an ATI Radeon HD 4250 IGP, with 128 MB of DDR3 SidePort Memory. It supports dual-channel DDR3 memory, with speeds of up to 1600 MHz.

Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, one PCI-E x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, of which five are internal, and one eSATA. Connectivity options include 8-channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, eSATA and USB 2.0. Display connectivity includes DVI and D-Sub. It is expected to be released next week, at an affordable price.

SilverStone rolled out its newest power supply for small form factor (SFF) cases, the ST45SF SFX Form Factor PSU. This PSU in its limited form measuring 125 mm (W) × 63.5 mm(H) × 100 mm(D), can give out 450W of continuous power. It has a single +12V rail design, with a single 36A rail. It boasts of 80 Plus Bronze certification, it has an efficiency of 82% to 85%. It offers most standard power connectors, including 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS (CPU power), one 6+2 pin PCI-Express, one 6-pin PCI-Express, three SATA power, two Molex and one Floppy power. It packs active PFC, over/under-voltage/current protection. The unit is cooled by an 80 mm fan, that has a minimum noise output rated at 18 dBA. The PSU supports SFX form-factor cases out of the box, but also includes an SFX to ATX bracket that lets you use it in ATX/M-ATX cases. It is priced around 60 EUR.

NZXT let loose a special variant of its popular Tempest mid-tower ATX case, the Tempest EVO Camo. The case has a white-grey-black (arctic) digital camouflage pattern printed on it for a military look, an aesthetic touch for the LAN-party animals. Like the standard Tempest EVO, it measures 211.5 x 521.5 x 562 mm, weighing 11.2 kg, making use of SECC steel. It has a perforated front with three 5.25" bays, two LED-lit 120 mm fan intakes. Interiors remain all-black, there are two internal 3.5" drive cages with three bays, each. A 120 mm rear exhaust fan, provision for two fans on top, and a fan on the side-panel, make for the rest of its active ventilation. It is expected to be priced at $150, a $40 premium over the base model.

NVIDIA released its latest version of the GeForce driver suite, version 197.55, specific to the GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards. The WHQL-signed drivers don't announce any more changes than a major feature change - official support for 4-way SLI on both GeForce GTX 480 and GeForce GTX 470. The drivers only work with GeForce 400 series products. No Release Notes documents were published along with the drivers.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.55 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit

Intel plans a pair of new sockets for launch with its new processor architecture that succeeds Westmere, codenamed "Sandy Bridge", which are due for 2011. As part of its "tick-tock" product launch strategy, the company is currently transitioning between the 45 nm "tock" (Nehalem architecture), and 32 nm "tick" (Westmere architecture). In 2011, it will transition from the 32 nm "tick" (Westmere architecture), to the 32 nm "tock" (Sandy Bridge architecture). The company uses a "tick-tock" model of process development, where each processor architecture gets to be made in two successive manufacturing processes, while each process gets to build two succeeding architectures. It seems to have become clear that with Sandy Bridge, Intel will also switch to new socket designs, making existing motherboards obsolete then. Architecturally, Sandy Bridge will introduce new feature-sets that make the CPU more powerful, clock-to-clock, such as AVX - Advanced Vector Extensions, an evolution of the SSE instruction set, native AES engine which has been introduced with Westmere, and so on.

The present LGA-1156 package on which Intel builds value-through-performance processors including a bulk of mainstream processors, will be succeeded with the LGA-1155 package. Though similar, LGA-1155 and LGA-1156 are not inter-compatible, meaning that LGA-1155 processors will not work on existing LGA-1156 motherboards, and LGA-1156 processors will not work on LGA-1155 motherboards, either. For these processors, the arrangement of vital components is similar to the LGA-1156 package, except that every LGA-1155 processor - dual-core or quad-core - will feature an on-die display controller.

The Taiwan based PC thermal solution expert, Tuniq, has announced a new addition to their Tower 120 Extreme series of ultra performance CPU coolers, the Tower 120 Extreme Silver.

The high performance CPU cooler Tower 120 Extreme is esteemed as one of the best performing CPU coolers on the market with numerous awards and outstanding reviews all backing Tuniq's claims. The newly release "Silver" version retains all the cooling characteristics but now comes in a cool matted-silver color.

The Tower 120 Extreme Silver is packed with the same great accessories that came with the original version. Included are the TX-3 thermal compound (one of the best in the industry) and the Fan Controller, which allows better fan speed adjustment.

Cooler Master introduces Vortex Plus, a low profile CPU with four 6mm direct contact heat-pipes for maximum heat conductivity and a quiet Blade Master 92mm PWM fan making this cooler ideal for mini-ITX motherboards and/or slim casings. The Vortex Plus offers universal compatibility, and a balance of flexible performance.

Despite its diminutive size, the Vortex Plus features a Blade Master 92mm balanced PWM fan which starts out at a silent 17dBA at 800 rpm, but it goes all the way up to 2800 rpm if needed. Then fan is kitted out with a set of anti-vibration rubber pads that will reduce vibrations which can be caused by dust buildup on the fan blades.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, unveils its all new "Gold Series," 4GB (4096 MB) modules and 8GB dual-channel kits for current and next generation platforms. Enabling enthusiasts and professionals to maximize their system RAM with a single solution, the all-new OCZ high-density Gold kits deliver superior performance and multi-tasking for high-end PCs, workstations, and gaming rigs.

"As new software for productivity and entertainment become available consumers are looking to get the very most out of their PC's and our new 4GB DDR3 modules will help them do exactly that," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "Designed for both Intel and AMD platforms, the new 8GB Dual Channel Kits improve application loading times, frame rates and task switching, all of which make them an excellent solution for everyone from graphic designers to gamers."

To facilitate the upgrade to AMD's next-generation processors, world-renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI has announced that all AMD series products will be compatible with the Phenom II X6 6-core processor. With a simple BIOS update, older MSI AM3 mainboards will be capable of supporting this processor.

The all-new Phenom II X6 processor features 45nm processing technology, a true six-core design which can execute 6 threads simultaneously and the AMD Turbo Core Technology. What's more, with up to 9 MB cache, overall performance is significantly enhanced compared to the previous generation Phenom II X4 processor. The Phenom II X6 is the best option for the latest and most powerful MSI based AMD platform.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the launch of its latest DIY PC kit, the VIA ARTiGO A1100, a sub-liter DIY PC kit for enthusiasts who want to taste the most extreme, ultra-compact desktop computing experience.

The VIA ARTiGO A1100 takes inspiration from Pico-ITX, cramming a range of features that include a 64-bit processor, HD video support, HDMI and VGA display connectivity, Gigabit networking, Wi-Fi Support and five USB ports, all into a PC chassis that fits snuggly into the palm of your hand.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd, today announces its launch of the all-new Mini-Q Series. More than just a PC case, the compact PC-Q06 supports mini-ITX motherboards on the top while protecting components in the case body. Designed for IT professionals, overclockers and the serious power users, the PC-Q06 allows easy and quick access to the motherboards and VGA cards. Lian Li once again leads the industry by offering the ultimate quality and user-friendly design on its mini tower products.

The dimensions of PC-Q06 series stand at 205 x 210 x 250mm (W.H.D) at only 1.2kg weight. The hairline-brushed, all aluminum mini-tower chassis supports mini-ITX motherboards on the top, with optional ATX or mini-ATX motherboard tray. It includes holders for two PCI brackets to support heavy graphic cards mounted. The PC-Q06 case body has place for one standard 5.25" optical drive, one standard 3.5" hard drive, one standard ATX PS/2 power supply unit, and features two USB3.0 and HDA audio ports on the front. The PC-Q06 series is available in red, black and silver colors.

With AMD's next generation of graphics processors, the company plans to, at one point, switch its GPU manufacturing from its present Taiwan-based foundry partners such as TSMC and UMC, to GlobalFoundaries, its erstwhile own manufacturing division. From 40 nm, graphics processors are expected to jump to 28 nm as the next manufacturing process standard. GlobalFoundries will be ready with a 28 nm High-K metal gate (HKMG) node for making AMD products which are now bulk-manufactured in Taiwan.

During a quarterly conference call with financial analysts, chief executive officer of AMD, Dirk Meyer said "The first intersection of our AMD GPUs and GlobalFoundries are on the 28nm. We haven't been public with respect to any timing there." GlobalFoundries is said to have two principal kinds of 28 nm nodes, the 28nm-HP (High Performance) node makes complex chips such as GPUs, game console chips, storage controllers, networking and media encoding, while the 28nm-SLP (Super Low Power) is used for less complex devices, particularly intended to be low-power, for portable devices, such as baseband, application processors, and other handheld functions. In 2011, AMD is expected to release its next-generation of GPUs in a series codenamed "Northern Islands".

Iiyama introduced two affordable 22" LCD monitors under the ProLite series, starting at 144 EUR. This includes the E2208HDD-1, and the B2209HDS-1. Both monitors have a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (full-HD), while the E2208HDD-1 has a response time of 5 ms, with dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000:1 (1,000:1 static), brightness of 300 cd/m2, and connectivity which includes DVI and D-Sub, the ProLite B2209HDS-1 is snappier with 2 ms response time, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, D-Sub, DVI and HDMI for input, and built-in 2W stereo speakers. The B2209HDS-1 goes for around 198 EUR.

Lenovo today is introducing a new Series of ThinkPad - the L Series. Designed for business, government and education customers, the ThinkPad L412 and L512 laptops feature high performance with the latest Intel processing technologies, military tough durability and strong web conferencing features in an affordable laptop starting under $700. Additionally, the laptops are the greenest on the market by integrating the highest amounts of post consumer recycled content.

The laptops come with technologies students and employees need to be productive in their daily work, like:

• Choices of the latest Intel Core i3 and i5 processors with Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading technologies
• 16:9 HD antiglare displays on the 14-inch L412 and 15-inch L512
• Choices of Intel integrated or ATI Mobility Radeon graphics
• 3G/4G wireless connectivity options with Gobi 2000 module support for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon
• Multitouch touchpads
• Up to 8 hours of battery life
• Expansion with 4 USB ports/1 powered, combo eSATA/USB port, support for DisplayPort and VGA
• Windows 7 with Lenovo Enhanced Experience featuring up to 57% faster bootup and shutdown

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the 32GB and 64GB Flash Survivor GTR USB flash drives. These drives share their high-performance lineage with the award-winning Flash Voyager GTR, and are among the fastest, most rugged USB flash drives available today.

The Flash Survivor GTR USB drives use the same quad-channel technology employed in the recently announced Flash Voyager GTR series. This enables the Flash Survivor GTR drives to achieve read speeds of up to 34MB/sec and write speeds of up to 28MB/sec. In head-to-head testing in the Corsair Labs (details can be found here) the GTR architecture produced substantial performance gains over typical high capacity USB flash drives.

Acer is expanding its Aspire One line of netbooks with an interesting new addition that features a yet to be announced AMD processor with an incredibly low TDP by AMD's standards. The Aspire One 521 features an AMD V105 "Geneva" single-core processor with a TDP of 9W, which operates at 1.2 GHz, which is expected to be based on the AMD K10 architecture. The 10.1 inch netbook has DDR3 memory, integrated ATI Radeon HD 4225 graphics, and connectivity which includes Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, and gigabit Ethernet. Its battery can power the machine for 7 hours. More information is expected soon.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced the industry's first production of 20 nanometer (nm) class NAND chips for use in Secure Digital (SD) memory cards and embedded memory solutions. Based on this cutting-edge technology, the introduction of 32 gigabit (Gb) MLC NAND will expand the company's memory card solutions for smart phones, high-end IT applications and high-performance memory cards.

Mr. Soo-In Cho, president, Memory Division, Samsung Electronics, said "In just one year after initiating 30nm-class NAND production, Samsung has made available the next generation node 20nm-class NAND, which exceeds most customers requirements for high-performance, high-density NAND-based solutions." He added, "The new 20nm-class NAND is not only a significant step forward in process design, but we have incorporated advanced technologies into it to enable substantial performance innovation."

ASUS designed its own technology comparable to AMD's Turbo Core, the ASUS Turbo Unlocker. The technology is claimed to be more advantageous than Turbo Core, since it sends every core into Boost state, rather than a limited number of cores designated as turbo cores. What's more, it supports several other Phenom II Black Edition series processors other than those based on the six-core Thuban or the quad-core Zosma. With single-threaded loads, the active core is given the maximum boost in clock speeds, while as multi-threaded load increases, even more number of cores enter a boost state. Boost state speeds decrease with increase in number of active cores. The technology is available on ASUS' entire range of motherboards based on the AMD 8-series chipsets. Details follow in a presentation by ASUS. It would be interesting to see if ASUS goes a step further and works out Turbo Unlocker for Intel Core i3 processors.

Intel introduced two new dual-core processors, the high-end Core i5 680, and the value-segment Pentium Dual-Core E5500. The former is an LGA1156 chip that runs on Intel P55, H55, H57, Q55, Q57 chipsets, while the latter is an LGA775 chip that works on most recent LGA775 motherboards. The Core i5 680 uses the 32 nm based Clarkdale core. At 3.60 GHz (27 x 133 MHz) with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.86 GHz, the i5 680 is expected to be the fastest dual-core processor ever made. Its embedded Intel HD Graphics controller is clocked at 733 MHz. It has L2 caches of 256 KB per core, and a shared L3 cache of 4 MB. It supports two channels of DDR3 memory. With HyperThreading enabled, the chip gives the OS four logical CPUs to deal with. It has a TDP of 73W.

The Pentium Dual-Core E5500 is based on the 45 nm Wolfdale-2M core, it has a clock speed of 2.80 GHz (14 x 200 MHz), and FSB speed of 800 MHz. It has a shared L2 cache of 2 MB, and TDP of 65W. While the Core i5 680 is priced at US $294, the E5500 goes for $75. All prices are per-piece in 1000 unit tray quantities.

Sunbeamtech subsidiary Tuniq is ready with its latest thermal paste which it will release to market next month, the Tuniq TX-4. The new thermal paste is expected to have a higher thermal conductivity and broader thermal range than its predecessors. The paste has a grey appearance, with thermal conductivity of 6.53 W/mK, and temperature range of -45°C to 160°C. It has a viscosity of 66,200 CP. The company also gave out performance estimates. The TX-4 was found to lower temperatures by as much as 5% compared to Tuniq TX-2, and 11% compared to standard (generic) thermal grease. The cooler used was Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme, cooling an Intel Core i5 750 at 4.00 GHz, "tortured" by Stress Prime 2004.

AMD's upcoming series of Phenom II X4 900T series that supports AMD Turbo Core technology, and which are based on the "Zosma" die, have been confirmed to be able to unlock both its manufacturer-disabled cores to work as a six-core processor. Zosma is a "cut-down" version of AMD's Thuban six-core die, where two of its cores are disabled. With the remaining four cores, two can function with increased clock-speeds in boost-state as Turbo cores (3/6 could on the X6 chip).

The core unlocking is said to have been done on an AMD 890GX chipset based motherboard, in the same way disabled cores on Phenom II X3 and X2 chips are unlocked. One of the first models based on Zosma are the Phenom II X4 960T and X4 940T, which operate at 3.30 GHz and 3.00 GHz, respectively. Their Turbo Core speeds are up to 500 MHz over clock speeds, depending on the model. The X4 T-series could form AMD's mainstream processor in the sub-$200 range.

Cooler Master is preparing limited quantities of its newest case, the HAF 922 SE Red-Black. This ATX mid-tower from the HAF series sports a colour scheme similar to that of the HAF 932 AMD Edition, minus the AMD branding. It retains the red overall with a dash of black. Interiors, particularly the motherboard tray and drive cages, are black, too. The front panel is partly meshed with air-filters. Instead of the meshed side panel with fan slot on the side panel, there is an acrylic window. Fans include one 200 mm (front), 120 mm (rear), and slot for a 200 mm fan (top). Front-panel includes two USB ports, an eSATA port, and FP_audio. This is a limited edition product. Buyers can wait for it to reach stores, or pre-order one directly from Cooler Master by writing to store@coolermaster.com. The case is priced at US $150.

AMD (NYSE:AMD) announced revenue for the first quarter of 2010 of $1.57 billion, net income of $257 million, or $0.35 per share, and operating income of $182 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $63 million, or $0.09 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $130 million.

"Strong product offerings and solid operating performance resulted in record first quarter revenue," said Dirk Meyer, AMD President and CEO. "We continue to strengthen our product offerings. We launched our latest generation of server platforms, expanded our family of DirectX 11-compatible graphics offerings, and commenced shipments of our next-generation notebook platforms to customers."

Raptor Gaming rolled out the successor to its LH1 value gaming headset, the LH2. Apart from the base model, the company also rolled out a "Ladies Edition" that comes in soft pink and white. The headsets feature noise-cancellation for the microphones, and have volume controls on the cable. The ear cups can be folded, to help packing. The two headsets will be released to market by the end of June, priced at 29.90 EUR.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today launched its StoreJet 25D3 2.5-inch shockproof portable hard drive, one of the first USB 3.0 compatible peripherals introduced to the market. The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 model offers much better performance than USB 2.0 external hard drives, with real-world transfer speeds of up to 90MB/s. Featuring its significantly improved transfer rates and advanced anti-shock design, the StoreJet 25D3 provides users with fast and durable solution to match today's increasingly sophisticated devices.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today announced the release of its JetFlash 330 USB flash drive, the latest addition to its JetFlash series. The stylish white JetFlash 330 offers efficient data transfer and ample storage capacity of up to 16GB, making it easier than ever to carry hundreds of personal documents, photos and music anytime, anywhere.

The sleek, porcelain-like JetFlash 330 USB flash drive works well with any style. It features a white gloss finish embellished with an adorable color band indicating its storage capacity, and a bright LED indicator that flashes during data transfer activity. The JetFlash 330 weighs only 8.5 grams, making it lightweight enough to carry around and easy to slip into the user's pocket or purse.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, announces the ultimate factory overclocked HD5870: PCS++ HD5870. For the first time, PowerColor's PCS++ series equips the HD5870 with additional factory overclocking, presenting performance unlike any other out-of-the-box experience from a HD 5870.

Equipped with a 92mm cooling fan and 4 pure core heat pipes, the PCS cooling system can easily dissipate heat from cooper base at a lower fan speed, efficiently cooling down the temperature by up to 15°C, when compared to reference board designs and in a low-noise setting, under 30dB.

Verbatim released its newest generation of Store 'n' Go portable hard drives. The new drives are lighter, and with higher capacities. The hard drives inside the shell are of the 2.5" form-factor. The main unit measures 81 (W) x 117 (L) x 16 (H) mm, and weighs 135 g. The drives back an energy saving feature that's activated at the press of a "Green Button".

The new range of Store 'n' Go comes in capacities of 250 GB, 320 GB, 500 GB, 640 GB, 750 GB and 1 TB. They [still] rely on USB 2.0 as the connectivity standard. Bundled with each drive are copies of Nero BackItUp Essentials and Burn and Nero Rescue software. In the above order of capacity, the drives are priced at 59, 69, 79, 89, 99 and 189 Euro, respectively, and are avilable in a wide range of shell color options.

The newest pair of high-end in-ear headphones from Sleek Audio are in the works, as press-shots surfaced on the internet. The SA7 features a wicked-looking design that focuses on materials and performance. The SA7 has a double-balanced armature design. Its housing is made with a single block of aluminum by a military metals developer, with carbon-fiber shell plating. It comes with a detachable cable. Durability turned out to be less than ideal with the SA6s and this time around it seems they have taken proper precautions to avoid the issues with the old design. The treble port is now effectively the same as that of the SA1s which is made from metal and screws on the body, and since the body is made out of one piece of aluminum we think this set will be very though. Lurking in the background is the new and improved Kleer wireless system which is rumored to cost around $100. So far the pricing of the SA7 is not final yet, but it is expected be somewhere between $350 to $400.

Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today strengthened its position as the world's leading manufacturer of automotive-grade HDDs by introducing a new HDD with 200 gigabytes (GB) of storage capacity in a single-platter design.

The 4,200 RPM SATA MK2060GSC is the highest-capacity automotive-grade HDD available and provides vehicle systems manufacturers with the high-capacity storage needed to improve telematics, navigation and entertainment systems, particularly as these systems are being designed to communicate with information and content sources outside the car. This high-capacity automotive storage line will enable carmakers and aftermarket vendors to deliver an improved in-vehicle user experience, while enhancing driver safety.

ASUS, the leading provider of high performance motherboards, launches the highly anticipated Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III Extreme and Maximus III Extreme motherboards in North America today. Featuring class leading designs and innovative features, the ROG Rampage III Extreme and Maximus III Extreme set a new standard for world class enthusiast motherboards. Rigorously tested and approved by leading enthusiasts, the Extreme series is engineered from the ground up for exceptional performance, stability, overclocking prowess, and most of all, reliability under extreme conditions.

Club 3D introduced a new graphics card model based on the ATI Radeon HD 5450 GPU, the Club 3D HD 5450 Noiseless Edition 512 MB. This full-height graphics card is passively cooled, and has a single-slot design. It packs a DirectX 11 compliant GPU based on the Cedar core, which is built on the 40 nm manufacturing process and has a low energy draw. It packs 80 stream processors and a 64-bit wide memory interface to address its 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. The GPU runs at 650 MHz, with the memory at 800 MHz. Connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI with 7.1 channel Dolby Digital audio. It is expected to be priced under US $50.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd, today officially launches the PITSTOP T1 Mini-ITX Spider Test Bench 2010 Special Edition, promising to be an eye-catching and most innovative testing bench in the industry. Uniquely designed with spider's four legs and M/B tray completely angle-adjustable available in red, silver and black colors, Lian Li's PC-T1 is most ideal for hardware enthusiast looking to display an impressive computer system for the next LAN Party or to challenge family and friends with a unique looking HTPC.

After the PC-777 snail shell design and the PC-888 sail design, the PC-T1 challenges again the concept of how a PC case has to look. Since its first appearance at CeBIT 2010, Lian Li's T1 mini-ITX Spider Test Bench has caused a great sensation and whirlwind of inquires.

MSI is working on its third motherboard that makes use of Lucid Hydra multi-GPU technology, this one aimed to be a more affordable model than the Big Bang Fuzion, for the socket LGA-1156 platform. Lucid Hydra technology allows users to mix and match graphics cards from across brands and models to upscale performance. A newly-release driver (1.5.106) for Hydra is said to increase functionality by adding full support for DirectX multi-GPU scaling, as well as expects significantly higher performance upscaling compared to older drivers. The new motherboard from MSI is the P55-GD88 Hydra, also to be known as P55A Hydra.

Built on a PCB that's different from that of the Big Bang Fuzion, the P55A Hydra uses High-C capacitors only for the CPU VRM, with normal solid-state capacitors for the rest of the board. Unlike the Big Bang Fuzion it has only two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, but these slots work at x16 speeds. Perhaps the only selling point for Hydra on this setup (since Intel P55 platform already supports both SLI and CrossFire, and tests have shown performance hit between x16 and x8 to be insignificant for even high-end GPUs), is the ability to mix and match different kinds of graphics cards, including mixing an ATI Radeon card with an NVIDIA GeForce card.

AMD released the ATI Catalyst 10.4 Preview driver suite. The driver builds on the feature-set of Catalyst 10.3, but packs a hotfix addressing an issue users of the ATI Radeon HD 5000 series are facing with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 regarding slow map load times. The new drivers reduce map load times. For users of Radeon HD 4000, HD 3000 and older GPUs, ATI assured that it will release a preview driver that does the same in a few days from now. The driver will be called Catalyst 10.4a. The release notes for these drivers along with a full list of changes for Catalyst 10.4 will be published when the company releases the WHQL-signed version later this month.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 10.4 Preview for Radeon HD 5000 Series

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the addition of the Zephyr series to its family of solid-state-drives (SSDs). The Zephyr series of SSD offer improved system responsiveness with quicker boot times and shorter application loading times over traditional hard disk drive storage solutions.

Patriot's Zephyr series, available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities, is designed around the latest generation controller from JMicron: JMF612. With a controller level cache of 64MB DDR2, the Zephyr series provide stutter-free performance and offer speeds of up to 240MB/s Read and 180MB/s Write. To maintain performance integrity over the life of the drive, the Zephyr series SSDs include native support for the TRIM command in Microsoft Windows 7.

Intel unveils upcoming "Tunnel Creek" System-on-Chip (SoC) for IP phones, printers and in-vehicle-infotainment systems for cars. Two Intel executives today outlined the latest Intel system-on-chip (SoC) products for embedded applications and described new research to allow homes and small businesses to better use and manage energy. The forthcoming SoC product features an Intel Atom processor core that, for the first time, will let other companies create PCI Express-compliant devices that directly connect to the chip, which offers new flexibility for embedded applications.

Intel also highlighted work with HawTai, a major Chinese car maker that plans to use Intel Atom processors and MeeGo software for their in-car infotainment systems. In addition, China Mobile, the world's largest wireless telecommunications company, will adopt Intel chips for targeted platforms powering its wireless networks.

Chieftec rolled out its newest PC case, the CH-09B-B-OP. Adhering to the company's ideology of "more for less", the CH-09B-B-OP is a ATX mid-tower that provides basic casing and more. It measures 540 x 205 x 480 mm with its feet folded, and makes use of steel and ABS. Apart from the five 5.25" and one exposed 3.5" drive bays, the case features tool-free installation, inlets for water-cooling tubing, and ventilations which includes one 120 mm fan in its front and rear, each, and two mounts for 80 mm fans. The new case reach stores later this month.

SteelSeries has teamed with game publisher Ubisoft to bring fans exclusive branded peripherals for the upcoming real-time strategy game R.U.S.E. Designed to give players a competitive advantage, the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E. Edition enhances performance with its superior technology and a preconfigured profile setting that optimizes game-play. The preloaded R.U.S.E. profile, created with input from Ubisoft, allows quick access to the R.U.S.E. and HQ Menus, and preset macro buttons can take the player from the bird's eye view of the war to the heart of the battlefield in an instant. The SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition (R.U.S.E.) mousepad features graphics from the game and provides a smooth and consistent glide; combined they deliver a complete and immersive R.U.S.E. experience.

Currently in open beta, R.U.S.E. allows players to use strategy and bluffing tactics as the general of their nation's army during World War II. The speed and range of movement required in the game, demands tools that can deliver superb levels of precision and accuracy. Ubisoft chose to partner with SteelSeries, because of the award-winning, innovative features and technology that the SteelSeries Xai offers to gamers. In addition to the R.U.S.E. profile that comes pre-loaded on the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse R.U.S.E. Edition, SteelSeries will offer pro-gamer recommended R.U.S.E. profiles for users to download once the game launches in June. These recommended profiles will be found on the SteelSeries web site.

Japanese cooling expert Scythe announces herewith an upgraded version of the universal S-ATA and IDE multi adapter Kama Connect 2. New Kama Connect Plus provides the same features as the value for money version but is also equipped with card readers and two additional USB ports.

By using the Kama Connect Plus 2.5", 3.5" as well as 5.25" S-ATA and IDE devices can be attached directly to the PC via USB. IDE drives are powered by an included adapter cable. Simultaneous operations of one S-ATA and one IDE drive are possible. Kama Connect Plus is compatible with the Big Drive standard and supports HDDs up to 2 TB as well as optical drives such as Blu-Ray and DVD devices. Two USB ports and multi-card readers are incorporated to allow data transfer from various sources such as USB Sticks and media cards. Furthermore, Kama Connect PLUS is Plug-n-Play compatible and supports USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 standards.

In an overclocking feat by XtremeSystems community members Elmor and Kinc, an ASUS EAH5870 MATRIX Radeon HD 5870 graphics card was able to achieve a mind-boggling core speed of 1525 MHz (core) from its default speed of 894 MHz, and AMD reference speed of 850 MHz. This translates into 70% over default speeds, and 79% over reference speeds. The not-so-relevant memory overclock was 1300 MHz (5.2 GHz effective), an 8.3% overclock. The card was cooled using liquid-nitrogen evaporators.

This wasn't a "hit-and-run" feat, either. The stability of the GPU at 1500 MHz was proven with a run of 3DMark Vantage, where it scored P29342 points at the performance preset. The rest of the bench comprised of an Intel Core i7 980X Extreme Edition six-core processor running at 4492.9 MHz, at 1.52V, also cooled by liquid nitrogen, ASUS Rampage III Extreme motherboard, 6 GB of Corsair Dominator GTX DDR3 memory, and Antec 1200W power supply. The validation for the 3DMark Vantage run where it scored P30542 can be found here.

Inno3D is ready with a line of water blocks for GeForce 400 Series graphics cards, under the Inno3D Black Freezer series. The Inno3D Black Freezer VG-NGTX480 and VG-NGTX470. While Inno3D didn't share any more details about these, we can tell that the blocks are full-coverage, providing cooling to all vital components. The block is made of nickel/nickel-plated copper, with acrylic top (with a foil covering the top-side). Inno3D may sell these blocks individually, and/or release GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards with these blocks factory-fitted.

The universally compatible PacificBreeze III is designed for multiple laptop application and computing comfort. The classic all aluminum construction and channeled surface works like a large heat sink and enables fast heat dissipation. The gentle slope improves typing comfort, raises the laptop screen and reduces neck strain. The PacificBreeze III is a high-quality laptop-base/stand that accommodates laptop performance, lifespan and battery efficiency. Trust the brand with the industry experience and 3-year warranty.

Apple today updated the MacBook Pro line with faster processors, powerful next-generation NVIDIA graphics and even longer battery life. The popular 13-inch MacBook Pro features the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor for up to 80 percent faster graphics and a groundbreaking 10-hour built-in battery. The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Apple's new automatic graphics switching technology that toggles seamlessly between powerful NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and energy efficient Intel HD Graphics processors.

"The new MacBook Pro is as advanced on the inside as it is stunning on the outside," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "With faster processors, amazing graphics and up to three more hours of battery life, the new MacBook Pro delivers both performance and efficiency."

Sharkoon has expanded their "QuickPort" hard drive adapter series: The Sharkoon QuickPort Combo models offer direct access of SATA drives and IDE devices to a PC or Notebook; now Sharkoon immediately introduces an eSATA Edition, while data transfers were conducted to a PC by the existing USB2.0 ports, this adapter has recently been equipped with a faster eSATA connection. The current twelve comprehensive QuickPort series models offer optimal solutions with differing functions for hard drive collectors, who often want to attach their alternative external data carrier quickly and easily to their PC or Notebook - something in between the faster HD-backup or also for flexible access to a hard drive media center. There is no time consuming installation to the computer or external housing, the hard drive is simply plugged into the QuickPort and the device is immediately recognized.

The "Combo" versions offer insertion slots for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA hard drives, and now additionally one IDE port on the housing front; even older model hard drives and optical devices can simply and easily be attached to a PC or Notebook. Connect the adapter to a computer through its USB2.0 port while the newest model also includes an additional eSATA port. IDE hard drives are attached through the computer's faster ports. While the data transfer rate of USB2.0 is limited to around 35 MB/s, faster IDE devices can operate through the eSATA port without performance loss.

NVIDIA rolled out version 197.45 of its GeForce driver suite. The WHQL-signed drivers are the latest to support GeForce 6-series to GeForce 300 series, excluding the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series. Other products supported include the ION platforms. For GTX 480 and GTX 470, NVIDIA recently released GeForce 197.41 WHQL. The drivers released today, version 197.45 WHQL, include changes such as PhysX system software updated to version 9.10.0129, on-chip HD audio driver to version 1.0.9.1, several game-specific performance increments, adds SLI profiles for new games, and enhances those for existing ones, and a number of bug-fixes detailed in the Release Notes document (for Windows XP and Windows 7/Vista). Details on game-specific performance increases follow:

• Up to 13% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with a single GPU, up to 30% performance increase in Crysis: Warhead with SLI technology
• Up to 13% performance increase in H.A.W.X with single GPU, up to 15% performance increase in H.A.W.X with SLI technology
• Up to 30% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with single GPU, up to 28% performance increase in Left 4 Dead with SLI technology

The new drivers add SLI and multi-GPU support for top new gaming titles including Assassin Creed II, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Mass Effect 2, Napoleon: Total War, and Zombie Driver, and enhances SLI support for Metro 2033, Supreme Commander 2, Unigine, and World of Warcraft.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.45 WHQL

Gigabyte's upcoming extreme high-end motherboard that made news for being the foundation of some world-record overclocking feats based on the Core i7 980X EE processor, the GA-X58A-UD9, has finally faced the lens. The picture reveals a beastly-looking socket LGA-1366 motherboard featuring a very strong VRM and full-on PCI-Express connectivity. The CPU is powered by what appears to be a 24-phase VRM, which draws power from two 8-pin connectors. It is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory.

The heatsinks over the CPU VRM are connected to the those over the chipset with heatpipes, the heatsink over the X58 chipset has a fusion cooler which can provide water-cooling, as well as attach to a Silent Pipe heatsink block. The heatsink over the ICH10R southbridge is about as big as the ones on the UD5, Extreme, and UD7 models. We expect there to be one or two nForce 200 bridge chips over the two x16 links from the X58 chipset, giving out a total of four x16 links. All 7 expansion slots are PCI-Express x16, looking at the three blocks of external PCI-E lane switches, there indeed are three x16 links split between six slots, and the 7th being a full x16 slot. So the electrical configuration could be x16/x8, x8, x16/x8, x8, x16/x8, x8, x16, for the seven slots.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and high performance solid-state storage, today announced it has created the ultimate extreme performance dual channel DDR3 2GB x2 memory kit, rated at 2,500MHz CL9-11-9-28 at only 1.65V, which is specifically designed for Intel Core-i7 860 & 870 processors and in co-operation with ASUS, the leading manufacturer of high performance motherboard. This DDR3 2,500MHZ kit has passed numerous strict tests on ASUS P7P55D-E Deluxe and P7P55D-E EVO motherboards and will join our high performance Trident family.

Following on from its launch of groundbreaking DDR3 2,400MHz memory kit in January 2010, G.Skill has been continually working to develop the ultimate high performance memory in order to satisfy the demands of top overclockers and PC enthusiasts' worldwide. DDR3 2,500 MHz pushes the hardware limit even further than ever and to guarantee its operation, G.Skill has partnered with ASUS, the leading performance motherboard manufacturer, to break all the technology bottlenecks while maintaining the perfect stability, which is critical to ASUS and G.Skill engineering.

Eurocom launches the world's first 6-cores based notebook with Intel i7-980X Extreme Edition and Xeon W5680, up to 2.6TB of storage with four physical hard drives and up to 24GB of DDR3-1333 Triple-Channel Memory! The official launch is scheduled today in Las Vegas during NAB Expo. Eurocom updated the EUROCOM D900F Panther Mobile Workstation to support the newest line of 32nm Intel 6-cores processors and D900F Panther Mobile Server to support line of XEON W56xx processors.

Eurocom Phantom series is perfect for Software and Database Developers, Graphics, Photography, Gaming, 3D Modeling, CAD, CAM, CAE, Digital Content Creators, engineeres and anyone demanding maximum power, storage and video, or Mobile Server platform running Microsoft Hyper-V capable to virtualize and run any O/S from Windows 7 or Server 2008 up to Red Hat or Solaris.

Plextor have today announced the launch of a new consumer NAS drive, the PX-NAS2. The PX-NAS2 facilitates data back-up and storage as well as file sharing and streaming to other devices across a home or small office network. With security features, excellent cross-platform compatibility and the ability to effortlessly sync and share data - even without technical knowledge - the PX-NAS2 is the ideal file management solution for the whole family.

"Plextor is pleased to expand our storage category to meet today's growing storage demand by providing another complete storage solution to our consumers," says Takashi Adachi, General Manager of Plextor. "The PX-NAS2 is a complete and versatile NAS device that fulfills the growing demand for storage capacity, security and accessibility of personal data anywhere, anytime within a home." The PX-NAS2 is available from May in three versions, with prices starting at €179.

NVIDIA today announced that a range of NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics solutions are certified by Adobe for Adobe Creative Suite 5 software, and truly unleash the real-time video editing and effects processing capabilities of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.

This breakthrough version of Adobe Premiere Pro leverages the parallel processing architecture of NVIDIA GPUs and their hundreds of cores to allow film and video professionals to work unconstrained. Users can now create compelling, multi-layer projects with a virtually limitless number of HD or higher resolution video clips, then apply sophisticated visual effects and color correction, while still being able to view the output instantly.

By utilizing NVIDIA Quadro solutions, productivity is enhanced many times over by eliminating the wait for preview renders any time a change is made, and by being able to view projects at full resolution without skipping frames.

Across the globe, the technological revolution has spread far and wide. More and more people have made technology an integral part of their daily lives. Many of us turn to our computers as our primary source of entertainment, and some of us even rely on their machines every day for their livelihood. For people like us, we are proud to announce the rise of BitFenix.

BitFenix is a new kind of hardware designer. Comprised of both IT and gaming professionals, BitFenix merges the insights and experience of these two groups together to create never-before-seen gaming hardware and peripherals. The BitFenix Team's core design philosophy is to put the user in complete control of their hardware and this will be achieved through smart engineering, thoughtful design, and some very novel ideas.

In an industry that is filled with me-too products, BitFenix will strive to bring truly innovative products to the scene, and create products that blend seamlessly with the digital lifestyle. Traditional product development is very one-sided, with the company making all the decisions. BitFenix will connect directly with the community in order to bring the products enthusiasts want to life.

Without making much noise, OCZ introduced Colossus LT series of solid state drives (SSDs). Like the original Colossus series, these SSDs come in the 3.5" form-factor, and are compatible with the SATA 3 Gb/s interface. The new features Colossus LT brings to the table are the use of lower-power 34 nm MLC NAND flash chips, two internal NAND-flash sets controlled by Indilinx Barefoot controllers, set in an internal RAID 0 array. The array is abstract to the host. There is 128 MB of cache on board. The drive offers read/write speeds of 260 MB/s, 15,000 IOPS on 4K random access, and sustained speeds of 220 MB/s. It comes in four capacities: 120 GB, 250 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB, which are priced at US $ $399, $799, $1,549, and 2875 EUR, respectively. They come with an MTBF of 1 million hours, and warranty of 3 years.

Here they are, boxes that carry AMD's first desktop six-core processors, the Phenom II X6. This line of "true six core design" processors from AMD target performance/price sweet-spots in the sub-$300 segment, targeting higher-end Intel Core i5, and even Core i7 series processors from Intel. The Phenom II X6 is based on the 45 nm "Thuban" core, and comes in the socket AM3 package. The processor is said to be backwards-compatible with socket AM2+ on motherboards with a BIOS update. Expreview sourced pictures of three Phenom II X6 processor-in-box (PIB) units, of model 1055T.

Scythe announces the brand new Slip Stream 140 mm fan series which is the successor of former Kaze Maru 140 mm fan series. These new models have been first introduced as a PWM version in combination with the recently released Grand Kama Cross CPU Cooler, and are now available as four individual retail products. Interested users can have the choices among 500, 800, 1,200 and 1,700 rpm models, where the 500 rpm model is specified with 27.2 CFM (46 m³/h) at 9.6 dBA and the fastest mode 92.4 CFM (157 m³/h) at 36.4 dBA.

New Slip Stream 140 fans feature a smaller center hub with larger fan blades, which results in higher airflow at lower fan speed. Regular 120 mm screw holes are used to mount the Slip Stream 140 mm fans, which allow wider range of uses. Scythe Slip Stream 140 mm case fan series is available for 9.95 EUR (excl. VAT) or US$ 12.00 (excl. TAX).

This morning the first of the long awaited retail GeForce GTX 480 cards arrived. The card came from Zotac and photos are below. It is from the same shipment that will be sold on store shelves in the next days. At first glance the card looks completely identical to the NVIDIA press sample, with the exception of some black foam on the back of the card. Another diffence is the BIOS which I put up for download here.

I am told that the reason for the black foam is to ensure some spacing between the cards when running in SLI mode, so that they can breathe. It also acts as safeguard against short circuits which could happen when the metal cooler surface of one card touches the back of the other card.

ASRock is ready with its premium motherboard based on the AMD 870 + SB850 chipset, the ASRock 870 Extreme3. Either the company seems to have jumped the specifications of the 870 by adding external PCI-Express lane switching that gives it proper CrossFire capability, or that the 870 will indeed support 2-way CrossFire with its lone PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link split into two x8 links between the two cards, leaving no room for a "890X" chipset. The 870 Extreme3 supports socket AM3 processors with a 4+1 phase VRM that can take 140W TDP processors. It will support upcoming Phenom II X6 and Phenom II X4 T series processors. It integrates ASRock's proprietary UCC chip that unlocks disabled cores on certain processors.

The board is advertised to support DDR3-1800 MHz memory by overclocking. Expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8, when both are populated), PCI-E x1, and PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out five internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, with one eSATA. Other connectivity features include 8 channel HD audio, a 2-port USB 3.0 controller, a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, and gigabit Ethernet. Diagnostic LED display and onboard power and reset switches make for the rest of it. The ASRock 870 Extreme3 will retail a little later this month.

BIOSTAR, a professional manufacturer of motherboards today reveals its new AMD 870X chipset motherboards; both models "TA870+" and "TA870" are from the T-Series family representing high quality components and excellent overclocking capability. "TA870+" supports existing and upcoming socket AM3 processors, including Phenom II X6 core processor. "TA870+" is ATX form factor, powered by a 5 phase PWM supporting 140W processors; 100% X.D.C. solid capacitor, with two PCI-Express 2.0 slots and five SATA 6 Gb/s ports; on-board 8 channel audio with Blu-Ray support.

BIOSTAR's AMD 8xx series chipset family motherboards have adopted 3 unique features to differentiate with others; they are "GTO 6³", "BIO-unlocKING" and "BIO-Remote". "GTO 6³", it allows 60%+ overclocking capability on CPU frequency; it also supports true SATA 6 Gb/s for fast data transfer rate; and fully compatible with AMD Phenom II X6 six-core processors.

NVIDIA released version 197.41 of its GeForce driver suite, specifically for the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series GPUs. These drivers are WHQL-signed, and come in time for the market-availability of GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards. Although NVIDIA didn't mark out any significant changes to this version, it bundles PhysX system software v9.10.0129, and on-chip HD audio driver v1.0.9.1. These drivers enable support for CUDA 3.0 and OpenGL 3.2. A proper release-notes document from the company is awaited for more details.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 197.41 WHQL for GeForce GTX 400 series

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a new value solid state drive (SSD) product line dubbed Super Talent VSSD that brings performance and solid-state technology together at an incredible price.

Super Talent VSSD offers shorter OS bootup time, faster application loading, less system power consumption and a brand new experience the customer can never get from traditional hard-disks. VSSD takes full advantage of the 3Gbps SATA-II bandwidth. The VSSD is capable of sequential read speeds up to 150 MB/sec and sequential write speeds up to 100 MB/sec.

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 unveiled the Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) Series. These are new enthusiast-class SSDs designed for consumers who are seeking unprecedented speed and reliability with the goal of enhancing both their daily computing experience and long-term productivity.

"OCZ's original Vertex Series of solid state drives have become a top seller due to the product's exceptional performance and reliability," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "The new Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSD lines continue that tradition by incorporating the latest controller and firmware technology. They are an excellent solution for customers who are looking for improved transfer rates and best-in-class input/output per second (IOPS) for a wide range of uses, ranging from entertainment to workstation and tier 2 storage applications. Additionally, this new product line highlights our continuing determination to be the market leader in the high reliability memory and flash-based storage market."

Koolance is ready with water blocks designed for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards. The Koolance VID-NX480 and VID-NX470 are full-coverage water blocks that cool all vital heat-producing components on the obverse side of the PCB, including the GPU, memory and VRM areas. Both measure 6.25" x 5.75" x 0.62" (15.9cm x 14.6cm x 1.6cm), weighing 1.5 lbs (680 g), slim and light enough to make the card occupy a single expansion slot. The block makes use of nickel-plated copper, with an acrylic top. The area over the GPU has an array of 0.5 mm micro-fins that increases surface area for heat dissipation. While the VID-NX480 is priced at US $119, the VID-NX470 goes for $109, as listed on the company store.

Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced the Sonata Proto, the newest addition to Antec's critically acclaimed Sonata line of Quiet Computing enclosures. Based on the worldwide best-selling Sonata III 500, the Sonata Proto combines improved noise reduction and powerful cooling with a modernized aesthetic and affordable price.

In response to popular demand, the Sonata Proto sports a new matte black exterior for an extra stylish edge, as well as an interior 2.5" SSD mount for convenience. The standard Sonata combination of improved cooling performance, whisper-quiet operation and enhanced flexibility is retained, as the chassis features one rear 120mm TwoCool 2-speed exhaust fan, as well as seven expansion slots and ten drive bays (three 5.25" external drive bays, two 3.5" external drive bays, the 2.5" bay and four 3.5" HDD trays).

BIOSTAR MICROTECH INT'L CORP., a professional manufacturer of motherboards today talks about new AMD 880G chipset market position and introduces BIOSTAR 880G based motherboard line up, including two T-Series "TA880G HD", "TA880GB HD" and "A880G HD" motherboards.

At first, we all know that AMD 880G chipset is used to replace 785G. We've known that 890GX will replace 790GX become the most high-end integrated chipset, while mainstream product 785G will be replaced by 880G. This product will become AMDs main force of chipset in this year.

New additions to the line of popular Dell Latitude E-Family laptops - and complementary software and services solutions- will make it simple and affordable for public and private sector organizations worldwide to refresh laptops. According to IDC, the industry can expect to see 27 percent growth in commercial laptops over the next three years as organizations begin to realize the cost and impact of holding on to an aging infrastructure.

"Organizations have a great incentive to refresh today," said Bob O'Donnell, Program VP, Client Computing, IDC. "With new technologies such as Intel's processors and Microsoft Windows 7, CIOs can drive greater workforce efficiency and IT automation. In addition, a modern system running a modern operating system offers greater efficiencies when it comes to desktop virtualization, data protection, asset monitoring and remote management."

NVIDIA is said to be working on another GF100-based SKU, which further cuts down from the GeForce GTX 470. The new SKU, GeForce GTX 460, is expected to rival ATI Radeon HD 5850 in the sub-$300 market segment. The GF100 will be configured to have a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, driving 1024 MB (1 GB) of memory. Clock speeds could be another thing NVIDIA uses as the determining factor. The GTX 460 will not have a reference design as such, and AIC partners will be allowed to release their own designs from day one. The new SKU is expected to release in June. Pictured below is the GTX 470 PCB.

Soon after EVGA laid its hands on stocks of GeForce GTX 480 graphics cards, it claims from an internal test that 4-way SLI is possible on the reference design GTX 480 graphics cards. The GTX 480 was advertised to work with up to two more of its kind in 3-way SLI, in NVIDIA's presentations to the press. EVGA's feat of running four GTX 480 cards was possible on its X58 Classified 4-way SLI motherboard, which has room for four graphics cards, and a special SLI bridge that connects to four NVIDIA graphics cards with two SLI interconnect bridges each. EVGA released a special-edition GeForce GTX 285 4-way SLI ready graphics card to go with the motherboard.

The EVGA X58 Classified 4-way SLI isn't the only motherboard to support 4-way SLI, the recently released EVGA Classified SR2 also ships with the special SLI bridge. No other motherboard vendor released a 4-way bridge, yet. EVGA demonstrated the 4-way SLI setup with a run of Unigine Heaven, although it did not give away any performance numbers. 4-way SLI is not to be confused with Quad-SLI, which is also a four-GPU SLI configuration, but involves a 2-way SLI connection between two dual-GPU graphics cards (such as GeForce 9800 GX2, GTX 295, MARS). Any SLI-supportive motherboard supports Quad-SLI.

I-O Data is readying a new line of USB 3.0 compatible external hard drives, the HDJ-UT, that offers high capacity with high transfer-speeds. The series includes a 2 TB model that has transfer speeds of up to 139 MB/s. The drive measures 46 (W) x 223 (D) x 155 (H) mm and weights 1.6 kg. It is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. The 2 TB variant is expected to retail in Japan for $315.

Inno3D's quest for the first non-reference GeForce GTX 470 has taken a turn with the company now planning to design its own cooling assembly. First surfaced in late March, Inno3D's non-reference GTX 470 wasn't much more than a reference-design card with green colored PCB instead of black. It also retained the reference cooling assembly, albeit slightly toned down with four copper heat-pipes instead of five.

The new cooling assembly, now in the form of CAD drawings, makes use of an elaborate aluminum fin arrays to which heat from the GPU is fed by heat-pipes. These are cooled by three 80~90 mm fans. While cooling the GPU, the three also blow air onto heatsinks over the memory and VRM areas. Inno3D plans to brand its new card the Inno3D iChill GTX 470 Hawk 1280 MB. The DirectX 11 generation GeForce GTX 470 GPU packs 448 CUDA cores, and addresses 1280 MB (1.25 GB) of memory across a 320-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The company did not share when it plans to get these out.

Lenovo today unveiled two new consumer PCs that keep users entertained wherever life takes them. Lenovo's newest all-in-one, the C200 with optional NVIDIA ION graphics, and the IdeaPad S10-3s with its slim profile and new colors and patterns, offer consumers sleek form factors and a variety of features to help enjoyably pursue all their computing needs.

"Our new S-series netbook and C-series all-in-one PCs are stylish in design but offer a relaxing computing experience that all consumers can appreciate," said Dion Weisler, vice president, Business Operations, Lenovo. "Whether you are looking for a family PC for your living room or one for your travels, Lenovo PCs are designed to make computing more fun and intuitive."

ASUS today introduced the new ASUS KGPE-D16 motherboard featuring the AMD G34 socket for 8- and 12-Core AMD Opteron 6100 Series processors. Equipped with an AMD SR5690/SP5100 chipset as well as supporting 4-channels of DDR3 memory per processor, ASUS' unique PIKE upgrade kit, and ASUS ASMB4-iKVM module for remote management, the KGPE-D16 is a reliable platform that runs heavy server operations while achieving exceptionally low power consumption.

Exceptional Processing Threshold with AMD Opteron 6000 Series platform (codenamed "Maranello"). Equipped with the AMD SR5690/SP5100 chipset, the KGPE-D16 utilizes AMD Opteron 6100 Series processors to help deliver exceptionally efficient performance to handle massive real-world workloads. Tom Lin, general manager, ASUS Server Business Unit said, "The KGPE-D16 serverboard supports extreme performance typical in enterprises or institutions with high-performance computing demands or web-facing servers which reach critical processing levels when internet traffic surges. So we are pleased that the AMD Opteron 6100 processor and AMD Server Chipset combination provides the muscle to handle these situations."

TechPowerUp today released version 0.4.2 of the GPU-Z graphics subsystem information and monitoring utility. This release comes quicker than its typically one-month development cycle, as it fixes some important issues. Version 0.4.2 resolves an issue with some NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards where GPU-Z may affect fan-speed control. It fixes a rare crash on MSI R5830 Twin Frozr II graphics card, and reverts to its old method of calculating graphics card memory bandwidth which caused some confusion among the enthusiast community. The ongoing Hardware Giveaway stays, giving you a chance to win some groovy ASUS Republic of Gamers series graphics cards and motherboards.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.4.2

A complete list of changes (changelog) follows.

AMD announced today the launch of the first of a new family of ATI FirePro professional graphics solutions with ATI Eyefinity technology, delivering clear performance advances and productivity leadership. The ATI FirePro V8800-the industry's most powerful professional graphics card ever created and the only professional graphics solution in the world supporting ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology and Microsoft DirectX 11 technology-is available for order today from AMD and its technology partners.

"AMD is the undisputed consumer graphics leader and today we're bringing many of the same cutting edge innovations from our ATI Radeon HD 5000 series to the professional graphics market for the first time. The ATI FirePro V8800 with ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology effectively dissolves visual limitations for professionals," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Products Group. "Our ecosystem has never been stronger as we're actively working with leading ISVs and OEMs on a global scale to offer unprecedented choice and advanced performance for handling today's modern workloads. We're confident the latest family of ATI FirePro professional graphics brings new value to the workstation graphics market."

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), announces the Company's plan to enter mass production of the Z-Drive R2 Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, the second rendition of the original Z-Drive family. The Z-Drive R2 builds on the existing solution but provides greater performance and design flexibility due to the implementation of a series of optimized NAND modules.

"Our 4th generation PCIe SSD, the Z-Drive R2, tackles the performance challenges facing enterprise IT professionals head-on" said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "The Z-Drive R2 is a total solution that delivers exceptional performance over a wide of range of applications due to its superior sequential performance, making it a winner in both high IOP and high-throughput environments. In addition, it is the only bootable and field serviceable PCIe SSD option on the market today, and due to an innovative interchangeable module design, it enables low cost field upgradability and capacity increases giving storage architects unprecedented flexibility."

WD announced today that it is now shipping WD VelociRaptor 450 GB and 600 GB hard drives, the next generation of its 10,000 RPM SATA family of hard drives. The new WD VelociRaptor hard drive is designed for blade servers, high-performance PCs, Mac computers, professional workstations, as well as 1U and 2U rack servers that require a balance of high performance and capacity. As the only 10,000 RPM SATA hard drive on the market today, and a favorite amongst enthusiast and enterprise groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive now comes packed with twice the capacity and up to 15% performance increase over the previous generation.

The most popular hard drive for high-performance enthusiasts who demand the ultimate SATA drive, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive is built with enterprise-class mechanics that provide 24x7 durability under high-performance demands and packs up to 600 GB of capacity into a 2.5-inch enterprise form factor. The WD VelociRaptor drive is also available in the IcePack enclosure, a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink - a factory customization that fits the drive into a standard 3.5-inch system bay and keeps this powerful drive extra cool when installed in a high-performance desktop chassis and 3.5-inch HDD form factor enterprise chassis.

Microsoft plans to gradually end support for the Intel Itanium IA64 architecture with this generation of Windows, SQL Server, and Visual Studio software. The Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2, and Visual Studio 2010, will be the last versions to support IA64. Mainstream support for IA64, for Windows Server 2008 R2 will end end on July 9, 2013, while in accordance with Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy, extended support will last till another five years past 2013, ending on July 10, 2018. Till that time, Microsoft hopes that the industry will adapt itself extensively to the x86_64 (x64) architecture for enterprise hardware.

This change establishes x86_64 as the de-facto 64-bit computer architecture across all segments of computing, as far as Microsoft's market is concerned. A majority of IA64 users use the HP-UX operating system, with Microsoft Windows Server having a paltry 5 percent usage share. Having a small market share with IA64, Red Hat had last year, announced that it would end support for IA64 since the tiny userbase didn't justify having continued development of RHEL for IA64. For consumer operating systems, Microsoft ended IA64 support with Windows Vista, leaving only Windows Server versions with it.

The most popular alternative to Internet Explorer, Firefox, may get an overhaul of its feature-set that could make its performance a lot more competitive with that of Google Chrome. Firefox may finally embrace out of process plugins, and a new rendering engine that makes use of Microsoft Direct2D, with which it can offload a big chunk of rendering to the GPU. While this may not speed up page load times for the bandwidth-constrained, it will certainly make the browser more responsive, especially as web-page complexity grows with new technologies such as HTML5.

As of now, the inclusion of GPU-accelerated rendering is only slated to be in the form of an alpha release, which could make it to a stable release around an year's time, and not part of Gecko's next release, version 1.9.3. A stable Firefox based on Gecko 1.9.3 will be released only by October. Developers hope that the next release of Gecko will be able to include GPU-accelerated rendering. The other major feature addition is out-of-process plugins. Not to be confused with multi-process rendering, out-of-process plugins feature runs plugins such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Sun Java, Microsoft Silverlight, etc., in processes separate from the browser's main process. So in case there is an erratic page element, it could be ended without crashing the entire browser. Developers aim to have a stable release with this feature by the end of this quarter on both Windows and Linux, with a Mac release a little later.

Corsair, a worldwide supplier of high performance computer and flash memory products, today announced new 16GB and 24GB Dominator DDR3 memory kits for workstation-level computers. These DRAM kits feature a clock speed of 1600 MHz and a CAS latency of nine cycles. The introduction of these new kits expands Corsair's worldwide award-winning Dominator memory family, providing an exciting new level of performance for data-intensive computing applications.

Corsair's 24GB Dominator DDR3 memory kit has been rigorously qualified and tested in platforms based on the Intel X58 chipset. It is designed for use with three-channel CPUs such as the Core i7 980X processor. The 16GB Dominator DDR3 memory kit is designed for use on dual channel platforms based on the P55 chip set. Both module kits include Corsair's patented DHX+ technology, and feature racing-blue highlights and fins.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their popular Business Series Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of a new 5-drive desktop model, the TS-559 Pro. The TS-559 Pro provides up to 10TB of storage (using 2TB hard drives and single disk volume/ JBOD configuration), has been certified as compatible with VMware's vSphere 4 (ESX 4.0) virtualization platform, ideal for departmental file sharing, storage, and advanced server applications in the office environment.

The TS-559 Pro incorporates the Intel Atom D-510 1.66Ghz dual-core processor and includes 1GB of DDRII RAM, delivering exceptional performance and high reliability for multiple concurrent tasks and intensive data transfer with lower power consumption. Businesses of all sizes are able to enjoy the interoperability between VMware virtual machines and QNAP high performance storage to take the advantages of VMware cloud computing environments.

ASUS is readying one of its first motherboards based on the AMD 880G chipset, the M4A88TD-V EVO / USB3. This model comes in two variants, with or without USB 3.0 support, designated with the -USB3 suffix in the model name. It is a socket AM3 motherboard, supporting the upcoming line of Phenom II X6 and Phenom II X4 T series processors. The CPU socket is powered by a 10-phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Even as ATI CrossFire is not part of the 880G's feature-set since it won't support an external PCI-Express lane switch like the 890GX, ASUS found a way around and provided a second PCI-Express x16 slot, only that this one is electrical PCI-Express 1.1 x4, wired to the SB800 southbridge chip.

The 880G embeds an ATI Radeon HD 4250 IGP with 128 MB of DDR3 sideport memory. It connects to its display with DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. The board supports ASUS' Core Unlocker feature that attempts to unlock disabled cores on some processors. Other expansion slots include one PCI-E x1, and three PCI. The southbridge gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, five of which are internal, and one eSATA. An additional VIA-made controller drives an IDE connector. Other connectivity options include a number of USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports on the USB3 variant, 8-channel HD audio, FireWire, and gigabit Ethernet. The new boards will be released in a few weeks' time, probably targeting the sub-$150 price points.

Scythe announces the expansion of the popular and award-winning Slip Stream fan series. These new models combine the proven design of the Slip Stream series with the advantages of PWM control. Slip Stream 120 PWM (SY1225SL12LM-P) is controlled automatically by the mainboard PWM function in a range from 0 (+200) to 1,300 rpm (±10%) generating an airflow of up to 74.25 CFM. Operating the fan at such a wide fan speed range allows flexible control to provide low noise level and performance when it is required.

Already known from Scythe Yaysa CPU Cooler, Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable (SY1225SL12HPVC) is now sold separately. The fan speed of this model can be adjusted between 470 (±30%) to 1,340 rpm (±10%) and 740 (±25%) to 1,900 (±10%) rpm. The PWM controller then works in the specified range only. Manual adjustments are applied by using the controller knob which can be accessed via a PCI slot bracket on the back side of PC.

RCA has named the batteries AirPower and envisions they will serve as a backup power source to normal battery charging methods. While it is obvious that enough power couldn't be gleaned from a wireless network to keep an active device running, an AirPower not in use could charge in as little as 6 hours. Naturally this is abysmally slow compared to current wired charging technologies. However, if the batteries are priced right they might give you one less thing to worry about since you wouldn't have to worry about plugging in and unplugging unattended batteries.

Despite reservations about the iPad's lack of flash and multitasking capability from many in the tech community it appears the iPad is and will be immensely popular. Apple reports sales numbers of 300,000 units for Saturday alone, but has not released sales numbers for Sunday. Gene Munster, an Apple analyst for Piper Jaffray, believes sales did not slow significantly for Sunday and possibly 600,000 units were sold over the entire weekend. If this is true it would make sales numbers for the iPad launch significantly higher than the figures for the launch of the iPhone. While there were some reports of stores not having enough iPads most stores had plenty. Apple seems to have provided enough stock to feed the thronging hordes of Apple fans.

The specification governing the storage capacity of blu-ray discs has been officially increased to 128 GB for single write discs and 100 GB for re-writable discs. The new format, called BDXL, goes three to four layers deep on the disc and requires a more powerful laser. Unfortunately this means that existing blu-ray equipment will not be able to read or write to BDXL discs. The need for new equipment, combined with the fact that movies have no trouble squeezing onto current 50 GB Blu-Ray discs, will probably severely hamper adoption in the near term.

ASUS today is proud to announce the launch of the EeeTop PC ET2010 series-an all-in-one PC designed to cater to everyday computing and entertainment needs with an added touch of style. The ET2010's minimalist design results in an ultra-slim form factor less than 1" thick, saving the user precious desktop space. Its slim form factor will prove to be the ideal solution for those living in apartments where space is at a premium. Solid and reliable, the ET2010 can even be wall mounted. Featuring the latest processors and graphics cards together with a 20" high definition plus (1600 x 900) display and HDMI compatibility, the EeeTop PC delivers the benefits of a PC and a home entertainment system in a tasteful compact, space-saving design.

Select EeeTop PC ET 2010 series models feature a next-generation Intel Atom dual-core processor and next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics for premium multimedia enjoyment. "The ASUS EeeTop ET2010 delivers a rich multimedia and entertainment experience thanks to NVIDIA ION graphics. Whether you're watching HD videos online, tagging and sharing family photos or playing your favorite PC games, this system will do it all in style" said David Ragones, Director of ION and GeForce Product Marketing at NVIDIA.

The ROG MATRIX 5870 isn't just the new kid on the block, it's the freshly appointed king, bestowed with everything serious gamers could possibly wish for. Based on the ATI Radeon 5870, MATRIX 5870 exceeds the standard design in every way, delivering both raw horsepower for fast, precision gaming, and refined controls that lead the way in overclocking and tuning.

The new MATRIX 5870 lays down the law with prodigious computing muscle. It has 2GB of GDDR5 RAM running at 4.8GHz, true 256-bit interface, and 894MHz core clock. But these are just the preliminaries - where the MATRIX 5870 shines, like all ASUS ROG cards, is the extra features and attention to detail.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and flash application products, today announced its DDR3L ("L" for low voltage) 1066/1333 (1.35volt) MHz Registered DIMM and DDR3L 1066/1333 MHz (1.35volt) ECC DIMM low voltage server memories have been certified by Intel, that able to perform lower power consumption with great reliability to increase better efficiency on Westmere-EP processor-based server.

"Enterprise often requires 24x7 operations from server memory for data accessing and collecting with reliability and performance requirements," said Richard Shen, manager of A-DATA product management department. "We are proud to offer our DDR3L 1066/1333 MHz R-DIMM and DDR3L 1066/1333 MHz ECC DIMM low voltage server memory that has certified by Intel to enterprise customers, which delivers high performance and great reliability with less power consumption to meet enterprise's critical requirements, as well as to protect and to preserve the environment."

Leadtek Research Inc., known globally for its extreme visual graphics technology development, today revealed the latest WinFast Killer Xeno Pro, the only network card designed to provide smoother, more responsive online game play. Leadtek will distribute the WinFast Killer Xeno Pro through online and retail channels in Taiwan, Korea and Japan, improving the competitiveness of millions of online gamers.

The WinFast Killer Xeno Pro gaming network card delivers superior online performance by putting intelligent networking technology inside gamers' PCs. Its dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU) and innovative architecture offload network traffic, bypassing the Microsoft Windows networking stack and prioritizing competing bandwidth demands from applications such as Web browsing, music streaming, software downloads and voice chat. Its Game Detect technology identifies, prioritizes and accelerates game traffic, giving players a competitive edge in the latest online games, from shooters to MMOs. Intelligent Bandwidth Control keeps the game running smoothly and lets you allocate bandwidth to other applications so you can do more while you game.

First surfaced earlier this year, Western Digital (WD) is just about ready with its newest line of VelociRaptor high-performance hard drives. The second generation of VelociRaptor will take a shot at much expensive solid state drives on two fronts: transfer speeds and access times, at highly competitive price-per-gigabyte. With transfer speeds, the new VelociRaptor drives offer sustained read speeds of 145 MB/s, while having access times of 3 ms, as close as it gets to flash storage. These are conventional (Winchester) hard drives with spindle-speeds of 10,000 rpm, double the areal density as its previous generation and having an onboard cache of 32 MB, with the standard SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

The actual drives come in thick 2.5" form-factor, with a 3.5" bay mounting frame that also serves as a heatsink since it has aluminum ridges. The drives have a noise-output of up to 37 dBA. WD rates its MTBF at 1.4 million hours, and backs it with a five-year company warranty. The drives come in capacities of 150 GB, 300 GB, 450 GB, and 600 GB with prices expected to be highly competitive with SSDs in terms of price-per-gigabyte, given its performance level.

PQI's USB3.0 2.5" portable hard drive H566 has been officially released and it is the world's first USB3.0 2.5" portable hard drive to the market. Since H566 began mass production last week, it has already resulted in a volume of inquiries from domestic and international buyers, making it the first USB3.0 device with significant sales volume. PQI's H566 not only has spectacular bandwidth provided by USB3.0, but its 2.5" hard drive dimensions make it convenient to carry and has aesthetically pleasing looks, making it the new IT toy you just have to have!

The halting of production of Acer's ultra-thin notebooks, and disappointing sales from all notebook manufacturers for this market segment has prompted Intel to wait until the third quarter to release its new line of Atom processors. Sources interviewed by DigiTimes hint that the release date may be pushed back even further if demand is not high enough by Q3. Notebook manufactures say that ultra-thin notebooks accounted for only 10-15% of their sales for 2009 instead of the predicted 20-30%.

April's Fool!

Guess we really got you guys this time. I will not be leaving the site, nor will there by any of the announced changes. It was all an elaborate April's Fools Joke that we played on you.



Read on for the details...

Shuttle, an industry leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance small form factor (SFF) PC solutions and creator of the XPC, today welcomed the Shuttle J1 4100 series desktop PC, its entry-level J1 Series model which starts at $799, with a special bundle offer.

For a limited time only and while supplies last, each Shuttle J1 4100, J1 4100G, and J1 4100P desktop ordered directly from Shuttle will come with a free package which includes a Red Faction: Guerrilla PC game, a 7-button laser mouse, and an Intel Core 2 Quad processor upgrade.

Micron Technology, Inc., (Nasdaq:MU) today announced results of operations for its second quarter of fiscal 2010, which ended March 4, 2010. For the second quarter of fiscal 2010, the company had net income attributable to Micron shareholders of $365 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, on net sales of just under $2 billion. These results compare to net income of $204 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.74 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 and a net loss of $763 million, or $0.99 per diluted share, on net sales of $1.0 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Amounts and presentations for periods prior to fiscal 2010 have been recast for the effects of the adoption of new accounting standards for convertible debt and non-controlling interests.

"Micron positioned itself well during the recession. The company's results are starting to reflect the combination of an improving market, strong operational performance, advanced technology and a broad product portfolio," said Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO.

Thermaltake, leading DIY thermal solutions brand, launch their all-new low profile CPU especially targeting Home Theater PC users, the Thermaltake SlimX3. Since for Home Theater PCs usually small and mini size cases are used, the CPU cooler performance is of utmost importance, it has to come with a very small footprint in order to fit into the case, but at the same time offer sufficient cooling capacity in a silent environment.

The SlimX3 adopts two Φ6 mm Copper heat-pipes with an aluminum fins/base combination to provide a highly effective cooling performance for multimedia oriented CPUs. Through the heat-pipe design better heat conductivity is achieved to accelerate heat dissipation. With its slim design with a total height of only 36 mm the SlimX3 is optimized and ideal for use in most mini cases.

In the era of the power-guzzling GeForce GTX 480, >1000W PSUs don't seem overkill anymore, especially if 2-way or 3-way SLI setups are planned with them. Xilence is readying a new high-end PSU in its XQ line. The XQ 1200W packs four +12V rails, it offers a very high efficiency of 92%, qualifying for the 80 Plus Gold rating. It is cooled by a 135 mm PWM fan, and packs several safe power features such as over-current, over-voltage, under-voltage and short circuit protection. Available a little later this month, the XQ 1200W will sell for 249 EUR.

Transcend Information, Inc., a global leader in storage and multimedia products, today announced that its aXeRam DDR3-2000 memory kits have been officially certified under the Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) validation program. Fully compatible with Intel Core i7 processors, the XMP-certified DDR3 kits are designed to operate at a blazing-fast clock frequency of 2000 MHz with an exceptionally low voltage of just 1.6V.

Intel XMP is a performance-packed expansion of the standard DDR3 memory specification. Featuring memory bandwidth up to an incredible 32GB/s, Transcend's aXeRam DDR3-2000 dual-channel memory kit is rated at 2000MHz with timings of 9-9-9-24, allowing performance enthusiasts and gamers to take their Intel Core i7 platform to the next level of memory overclocking performance. The aXeRam DDR3-2000 memory modules have been certified for use on Intel P55-based motherboards, including Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3, MSI P55-GD80 and Asus P7P55D Deluxe.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today launched its JetFlash 500 retractable USB flash drive. The stylish JetFlash 500 features a smooth sliding USB connector that eliminates the need for caps and effortlessly extends and retracts with a simple flick of the thumb. With its user-friendly capless design, various color and capacity options and smooth contoured shape, the JetFlash 500 is an ideal portable storage solution for users with busy and active lifestyles.

Losing USB end caps can be quite annoying, not to mention the inconvenience of taking the cap on and off every time the drive is used. For extra convenience and protection, Transcend's JetFlash 500 flash drive is designed with an innovative extension and retraction mechanism that enables users to bring out or hide the connector with a single flick of the thumb. The JetFlash 500's capless design not only keeps dust and debris out of the drive, but also ensures there is no cap to misplace or lose. For further peace of mind, the JetFlash 500 is solidly built to withstand a few bumps and falls, so users can be sure its USB connector will never become loose, fall out, or accidentally slip back into the drive when plugging it into a computer.

The new HANNSG HZ281HPB monitor features a 28" widescreen display with a 1920 x 1200 WUXGA 1080p resolution, making it the perfect choice for those who require the ultimate display real-estate, and the number one choice to display HD content. Playing the perfect HD host, the HZ281HPB monitor displays HD content in its true entirety, delivering crisp, sharp images without lag for the best multimedia experience. It features a fast 3ms response time, a typical 800:1 contrast ratio and 400cd/m² brightness and includes both HDMI and DVI-D (HDCP) inputs, in addition to traditional VGA connectivity, enabling dual input to cater for the multitudes of state-of-the art and age-old plug-ins.

The HZ281HPB also boasts a super wide viewing angle of 170º, delivering perfect picture quality for wide angle viewing, whilst an anti-glare surface ensures the viewing experience is not hindered by direct sunlight or bright ambient lighting. The HZ281HPB has a modern look to match its dexterous performance credentials. It has a super slim bezel to accentuate the display and is finished in glossy black, at home in any contemporary setting or home cinema setup.

NVIDIA's CUDA GPU compute API could be making its way to practically every PC, with an NVIDIA GPU in place, or not. A chinese freelance developer has coded a means to get CUDA work as a middleware on OpenCL. This move lets CUDA work on ATI Radeon GPUs that support OpenCL, as well as x86 CPUs, since OpenCL specs allow the API to run on CPUs for development purposes. The implications of these are many:

• Letting CUDA-accelerated software such as Badaboom make use of ATI GPUs
• Letting PhysX run on ATI GPUs as PhysX middleware uses CUDA for GPU acceleration
• Possibly better scaling of PhysX on multi-core CPUs (over OpenCL), as the regular PhysX CPU acceleration is infamous for bad multi-core scaling in performance

The software works as a translation layer, exchanging calls between CUDA and OpenCL or the CPU if OpenCL is not available. It comes in the form of a loader application that injects itself into the executing process. To get PhysX to run, one needs to install older versions of PhysX System Software (version 8.09.04 WHQL being the latest) from its standalone installer (installs PhysX libraries without looking for NVIDIA GPUs).

DOWNLOAD: CUDA Emulator Loader

Building upon its industry position in green technologies, NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced today its latest environmentally friendly display, the AccuSync AS231WM LCD monitor.

Targeted to small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) as well as education and government users, the AS231WM joins four other green monitors in the AccuSync Series (AS171, AS191, AS191WM and AS221WM), which all bear EPEAT Silver ratings as well as ENERGY STAR 5.0 and TCO 5.0 compliance.

The AS231WM widescreen display consumes 50 percent less energy and contains 50 percent less mercury content than conventional monitors of the same size. In addition, ECO Mode technology lets end-users toggle between energy-saving modes, helping to significantly reduce power consumption, heat generation and extend the life of the display.

Fujitsu today announces the release of the Fujitsu LifeBook MH330, a Mini-Notebook that lets you breeze through life in style. At just 1.1kg and measuring just 18.5mm thin at the front and 24.5mm thin at the back, it is one of the slimmest Mini-Notebook in its class. The LifeBook MH330 is an indispensable road warrior that makes accomplishing assignments, attending off-site meetings or just chilling out delightful experiences.

"The LifeBook MH330 Mini-Notebook is specially created to meet those users who are constantly on the move. By making this exceptionally slim and light, this Mini-Notebook makes it very easy to have a constant travelling companion. At its current size, thinness and weight, you won't even know that it's in your bag," commented Mr Lim Teck Sin, Director of Product Marketing, Fujitsu PC Asia Pacific.

Extreme performance requirements have always been the primary consideration for gamers when choosing components, with multiple display applications being a major future trend. In response, globally renowned graphics card and mainboard manufacturer MSI has officially released the R5870 Eyefinity 6 graphics card, which uses the same 40 nm Radeon HD 5870 GPU as the original R5870 series cards. It also has an ultra-high capacity 2GB GDDR5 high speed memory and 6 Mini DisplayPort video outputs that support 6 x 2560x1600 resolutions in total and give users an unprecedented field of vision.

With gamers playing close attention to multiple display outputs, MSI R5870 Eyefinity 6 graphics card with ATI Eyefinity technology, offers 6 built-in Mini DisplayPorts. This surpasses what was previously available in consumer graphics cards, where a single card was limited to triple outputs at the most. With six displays running simultaneously, the R5870 Eyefinity 6 provides a maximum 6 x 2560x1600 field of vision that gives users a remarkable upgrade in gaming enjoyment or working efficiency.