OCZ Technology is ready with a new PCI-Express SSD that harnesses the power of SandForce SSD processors. Called the RevoDrive, the drive's design is based around placing two SF-1200 driven SSDs onto an addon card, connected to a RAID controller, which connects to the system bus over PCI-Express x4. The internal RAID 0 volume can stay abstract to the host. It is expected to be bootable.

The drive makes use of Multi Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash chips, and can churn out transfer rates of 540 MB/s read and 490 MB/s write. It will be available in capacities of 120 GB and 240 GB, which will be priced at around 433€ and 757€, respectively. Although SandForce driven SSDs are popular for their high-performance and TRIM support on Windows 7, when working in RAID, the TRIM feature is said to not work in RAID. This means that the RevoDrive is as good as any two SSDs in RAID 0.

During the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), Intel Corporation announced plans to deliver new products based on the Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture that will create platforms running at trillions of calculations per second, while also retaining the benefits of standard Intel processors.

Targeting high-performance computing segments such as exploration, scientific research and financial or climate simulation, the first product, codenamed "Knights Corner," will be made on Intel's 22-nanometer manufacturing (nm) process - using transistor structures as small as 22 billionths of a meter - and will use Moore's Law to scale to more than 50 Intel processing cores on a single chip. While the vast majority of workloads will still run best on award-winning Intel Xeon processors, Intel MIC architecture will help accelerate select highly parallel applications.

One of the world's leading flash manufacturers, Silicon Power today (5/31) announces a new addition to the ultra rugged Armor series lineup, the A80. The Armor A80 uses the royal blue color on its base frame that is commonly found in high performance sports cars; as for A80's performance, its outstanding read/write speed is coupled with the latest USB 3.0 interface and is backwards compatible with USB2.0. The USB 3.0 interface features a 5 Gbps/sec bandwidth which is 10x the bandwidth of a USB 2.0 interface. It saves users precious time backing up to and from the hard drive when transferring mass data files. Come and experience speed like a high performance sports car.

In addition to its excellent read/write performances, Armor A80 continues the Armor series rugged functionality feature. Armor A80 is in compliance with US military grade transit drop test (MIL-STD-810F 516.5 procedure IV) and it also passed IEC529 IPX7 (waterproof test). The Silicon Power Armor A80 can be placed under water up to a meter deep and for up to 30 minutes without damage. Under normal operations, it is also dust-proof and pressure resistant. Its' hot plug and play functionality is supported by a convenient cable storage design, bringing its practicality up another level.

ASUS displayed its latest creation, the Eee Pad. This 12 inch tablet has sports uncanny resemblance to the Apple iPad, except that it's x86 powered, and uses Windows 7, with ASUS' own visually-appealing UI. It can run any Windows application that its hardware allows, which includes Intel Core 2 Duo CULV, and Intel graphics. The UI takes advantage of the multi-touch screen and related abilities of the Windows 7 Home Premium OS it comes bundled with. Other known details include a web-camera, and a battery that is rated to last 10 hours on a full charge. ASUS will also introduce a slightly smaller 10 inch tablet which uses Windows 7 Embedded Compact, a new variant of the OS designed for devices such as these. The two will be out in Q1 2011.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., well known for its high-performance DRAM modules and flash application products, today announced its entry into the power supply unit market with Horus Series. The Horus Series power supply unit is designed for gaming enthusiast, PC enthusiast, and overclocker to achieve their goals under the critical environment without compromise.

The ADATA Horus Series power supply unit provide 550W, 650W, 750W, 850W, and 1200W multitude choice with true continuous power, featuring Eye of Horus - Intelligent LED fan (dual ball-bearing) with 3 colors to display output power, 80 Plus Bronze, NVIDIA SLI-ready certified, and modularized cable management to delivers superior performance, high reliability and protection on all levels of application.

Gigabyte rolled out its first graphics card based on NVIDIA's newest GPU, the GeForce GTX 465. The card features Gigabyte's own design, which makes use of the Ultra Durable VGA construction, a combination of PCB with 2 oz thick copper layers, Japanese solid-state capacitors, grade 1 memory chips, ferrite-core chokes and low RDS on MOSFETs. The cooler uses a large aluminum fin block which is cooled by two 80 mm fans. Though geared for overclocking, the card comes with NVIDIA reference clock speeds of 607/1215/3206 MHz (core/shader/memory). The GTX 465 SKU is derived from the GF100 die, it features 352 CUDA cores, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide interface. It is priced at a standard $279.

Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge processor architecture which uses the new LGA-1155 socket seems to be closer than one would think, with motherboard vendors such as Biostar being ready with motherboards that run those processors. The motherboard vendor showed off two socket LGA-1155 motherboards that are based on the Intel P67 and H67 chipsets. The P67 is engineered to be the chipset for processors that need discrete graphics, the chipset lacks the Intel FDI technology needed to connect the processors' embedded graphics controller to display outputs on the motherboard, whereas the H67 does, and is designed for processors with embedded graphics.

The first spot is the TP67XE, based on the P67. This ATX motherboard has all the features of a mid-range performance board. The processor is powered by a 4+2 phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. It is said that the Sandy Bridge processors will have higher reference DRAM speeds than present Nehalem/Westmere chips (which have DDR3-1066 and DDR3-1333 depending on the model), expansion slots include one PCI-Express x16, one PCI-E x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. While the board has padding for a 2-port 3rd party USB 3.0 controller, it is indicated that Intel 6-series chipsets will finally introduce native SATA 6 Gb/s.

EVGA kicked off its GeForce GTX 465 series with two new models, including one of the first factory-overclocked ones, the SuperClocked (SC). Based on the NVIDIA reference design, which resembles that of the GeForce GTX 470, the EVGA base model (01G-P3-1465-AR) uses reference clock speeds of 607/3206 MHz (core/memory), while the SuperClocked model (01G-P3-1467-AR) bumps that up to 625/3240 MHz.

The GTX 465 features 352 CUDA cores, 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface, and DirectX 11 support. The base model is priced in accordance to NVIDIA's reference base price of US $279, while the SuperClocked model goes for $299.

Capturing everyone's attention, the long-anticipated release of the world's fastest single core GTX 400 Series graphics card was roundly praised by media and customers for its powerful performance. Today, world-renowned mainboard and graphics card brand-manufacturer MSI officially released the third graphics card featuring the GTX 400 GPU, the N465GTX-M2D1G. MSI N465GTX-M2D1G features the latest graphics processor, code-named Fermi by NVIDIA, with 40nm process, 352 CUDA cores and DirectX 11 support. And with 1GB of high speed GDDR5 graphics memory, military class components, and the exclusive voltage adjustment by MSI Afterburner overclocking utility, an extra up to 15% performance can be achieved, offering gamers a smoother and more exquisite visual experience.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, mini-PCs and small form factor platforms, today introduces the world's first performance-class graphics card based on the latest Fermi architecture - the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 465 graphics card. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 465 graphics card delivers best-in-class performance and features to value-conscious gamers for an unmatched gaming experience with DirectX 11 compatibility, enhanced anti-aliasing and NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround readiness.

Best-in-class performance comes from a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 graphics processor packing 352 unified shaders ready to take on the latest 3D games, NVIDIA CUDA and OpenCL compatible applications. An ultra-wide 256-bit memory interface joins the GeForce GTX 465 graphics processor with 1GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory for a screaming-fast performance combination that delivers an adrenalin packed gaming experience.

Samsung hit a new "low" in terms of monitor power consumption, and developed an 18.5" display that draws all its power from USB ports. The new yet to be named display was shown off at the SID 2010 event. The 18.5" display uses a TN-film panel with a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, 250 cd/m² maximum brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, and LED backlit illumination. The panel needs just 6.3W of power, which it draws from two USB 2.0 ports. It also draws display connection from one of the two USB ports. Samsung's USB-only LED-lit LCD displays will debut in 2011.

NVIDIA today announced its latest performance-segment addition to the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series, the GeForce GTX 465. Based on the 40 nm GF100 GPU, the GTX 465 cuts some components to position the new SKU below the GTX 470. It has five streaming multiprocessors (SMs) disabled, leaving a CUDA core count of 352, and a memory bus width of 256-bit. The reference design card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The reference design board is largely based on the GeForce GTX 470, with two memory chip pads unused. The card can pair with three more of its kind for 4-way SLI. Apart from DirectX 11 compliance it features support for NVIDIA exclusive technologies like CUDA, PhysX, and 3D Vision Surround. The GeForce GTX 465 starts at US $279.

So, the temperatures are rising and we have made our way to Taipei for Computex 2010. The next few days are full of meetings to take a look at some of the things the industry has to offer. Stay tuned on Techpowerup.com for all the news, real pictures and information about the newest gadgets, hardware and technologies. We will also be updating our Twitter TechPowerUp from time to time with some behind the scenes info and happenings as we go along, so make sure to follow us there as well.

Gainward released a new custom-design GeForce GTX 470 graphics card, which is based on the Gainward GTX 470 GOOD Edition that was launched a month ago, replicated as Palit GTX 470 Dual-Fan. The factory-overclocked model is designated with the Golden Sample (GS) identifier. It packs clock speeds of 650/1301/850(3400) MHz (core/shader/memory), against reference speeds of 607/1215/837(3348) MHz.

As with the GOOD Edition design, it features a slightly longer PCB at 10.5 inches, custom dual-fan GPU cooler, and display outputs which include two DVI-D, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort (though only two displays can be connected at a time). The DirectX 11 compliant GeForce GTX 470 packs 448 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 320-bit wide memory interface. It is expected to be priced at a slight premium of the GOOD Edition.

While NVIDIA's official GTX 465 launch won't be until Monday 31st 3 AM EST, large online retailer Newegg already started listing the cards. In total seven cards from NVIDIA's largest board partners are listed. They're all priced at $279 and available immediately. This is good news because it confirms that we will see a hard launch on Monday, without inflated prices. In terms of cooling everybody will stick to the GTX 470's thermal solution with the exception being Gigabyte and Palit (we reviewed the GTX 470 with the dual fan cooler here).

The listings also confirm the rumored specifications of 352 shaders cores, 1 GB memory, 256-bit memory interface and clock speeds of 607 MHz core / 1215 MHz shader.

Our review will be ready on time and posted when the NDA is expired.

ASUS showed off its latest high-end motherboard, and latest entry into its premium Republic of Gamers line, the Rampage III Gene. The "Gene" identifier tells that the board is of the micro-ATX form-factor, while Rampage III is the latest series of socket LGA1366 motherboards based on the Intel X58 Express chipset. Compared to the Rampage II, Rampage III embraces latest technologies as well as ASUS innovations, this includes support for USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, and ASUS ROG Connect, to name a few. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase PWM circuit, 2-phase for the six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support.

Expansion slots include two full-bandwidth PCI-Express 2.0 x16, an open-ended PCI-Express x4, and a legacy PCI. NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossfireX are supported. The ICH10R southbridge drives six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, while an additional Marvell-made controller drives two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity includes 8-channel audio (probably SupremeFX X-Fi), two USB 3.0 ports, a number of USB 2.0 ports including one which holds a Bluetooth module, gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire. ROG-exclusive features include ROG Connect, which allows you to control overclocking with any Bluetooth-enabled cell phone that has the ROG device installed and is Bluetooth-paired with the board, a more flexible BIOS, iROG motherboard management system, and power, reset, and clear-CMOS buttons at convenient locations. Pricing and availability are yet to be known.

NVIDIA has reportedly removed the driver-level code which restricts users from having an NVIDIA GeForce GPU process PhysX with an ATI Radeon GPU in the lead, processing graphics. Version 257.15 Beta of the GeForce drivers brought about this change. Possible commercial interests may have played NVIDIA's previous decision to prevent the use of GeForce GPUs to process PhysX with ATI Radeon GPUs, where users could buy an inexpensive GeForce GPU to go with a high-end DirectX 11 compliant Radeon GPU, thereby reducing NVIDIA's margins, though officially NVIDIA maintained that the restriction was in place to ensure Quality Assurance. The present move also seems to have commercial interests in mind, as NVIDIA could clear inventories of GeForce GPUs at least to users of ATI Radeon GPUs. NVIDIA replenished its high-end offering recently with the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series GPUs.

Update (28/05): A fresh report by Anandtech says that the ability to use GeForce for PhysX in systems with graphics led by Radeon GPUs with the 257.15 beta driver is just a bug and not a feature. It means that this ability is one-off for this particular version of the driver, and future drivers may not feature it.

Intel today rolled out two new high-performance processors aimed at the enthusiast community, which is sure to please users of LGA1156 platform. The release includes the quad-core Core i7 875K, and dual-core Core i5 655K. Based on the 45 nm Lynnfield die, the Core i7 875K is clocked at 2.93 GHz, with a maximum Turbo Boost speed of 3.60 GHz. While having identical clock speeds to the Core i7 870, the 875K comes with a fully unlocked BClk multiplier, which is featured in Extreme Edition processors.

The unlocked multiplier helps with overclocking. Also featured is that the core and DRAM ratios are unlocked so memory bus speeds can be kept independent of the core speed to an extant. The processor retains the TDP rating of 95W, which other Lynnfield-based processors have. It has a monolithic die which houses the processor and northbridge, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, and PCI-Express root complex. Intel HyperThreading Technology enables 8 logical CPUs for the OS to deal with.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, is pleased to announce the Company's enterprise storage solutions are now qualified with Adaptec MaxIQ SSD caching products. Using solid state drives in place of hard drives in IT and storage infrastructures is already proven to enhance performance and efficiency; leveraging the optimization of MaxIQ storage controllers allows OCZ SSDs to perform at even higher levels, maximizing performance and cost-savings.

"OCZ is constantly looking for new opportunities to provide our customers with innovative ways to integrate SSD technology into enterprise class storage solutions that meet the demanding performance and reliability requirements of data center and computing applications," said Alex Mei, CMO of the OCZ Technology Group. "MaxIQ Caching Software together with OCZ SSDs will increase I/O performance and lower the total cost of ownership while reducing energy consumption, offering a considerable improvement in overall value and performance."

Shuttle Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of multi-form-factor solutions such as the world-famous XPC Mini-PC Barebones, proudly announces today the launch of Europe-wide delivery of the new XPC Barebone SX58J3. This new model offers extraordinary computing power and its key features places it at the top end of what is currently feasible in terms of miniaturisation.

The SX58J3 is particularly remarkable thanks to its compatibility with Intel's ground-breaking 6-core processor, the Core i7-980X Extreme Edition (codename: Gulftown), as well with all Core i7 CPUs for socket 1366. To complement this, the four slots on the Barebone are able to accommodate up to 16 GB DDR3 memory. The central interface for all components is provided by an Intel X58 Express chipset which was especially developed for high-performance systems.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce GT 220 1GB DDR2 Passive Graphics Card- with low power and passive cooling design, it brings excellent 3D performance and silent working environment to mainstream users.

Taking the power consumption and performance increase into account, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 220 1GB DDR2 Passive Graphics Card feature 40nm chip process from TSMC and exclusive power-saving technology from SPARKLE. The advanced 40nm process significantly reduces the power consumption and GPU core temperature, making them to be low power and energy-saving products and protecting our environments. Compared with the ordinary GT220 which sell in the market, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 220 1GB DDR2 Passive Graphics Card can save 20% power consumption during full loading mode.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading provider of world-class Network Attached Storage (NAS) today announced its entire TS-x59 Pro Turbo NAS series has achieved iSCSI and NFS VMware Ready certification. This NAS series features ultra-high performance for its incorporation of Intel dual-core processor, positively capable of processing multiple concurrent tasks and transferring intensive data, with extremely low power consumption.

The Turbo NAS is a powerful and affordable storage solution for SMB and entry-level enterprise customers to flexibly deploy an NFS or iSCSI datastore and benefit from virtualization technology. This Turbo NAS series includes 2 to 8-bay tower models, with up to 16TB of mass storage capacity, and two other rackmount models that customers can choose from according to their storage and budget requirements.

Mionix, the Swedish manufacturer of professional high-end gaming accessories today
unveiled the Mionix Naos 3200, an ergonomically designed LED-optical gaming mouse with unique features and many customization options.

"With Mionix Naos 3200 we wanted to create a high performance mouse with outstanding ergonomics at an affordable price. The Mionix Naos 3200 constitutes an important part of our product-range and is our first gaming mouse with an LED-optical sensor technology which is very popular among fps-players", says Carl Conradsson, Mionix.

While AMD has no new GPU product launches slated for this year's Computex event, its partners are letting their imagination go places. PowerColor is doing just that, with as many as five new products and technologies. To begin with, the company is working on the PowerColor HD 5770 Sniper Edition. This graphics card packs a Bigfoot Killer NIC on-board, so graphics and network processing is packaged into a single addon card. From what we can tell, the card is designed using a PCI-Express bridge which is connected to the PCI-Express x16 interface, which gives the Radeon HD 5770 GPU an x16 link and the Killer SoC an x1 link. The Killer network processor has its own dedicated memory and ROM, with which the SoC can offload network processing from Windows, in a bid to reduce latencies, even if improving performance is inconsequential with today's systems with powerful processors.

Next up, is the PowerColor HD 5770 Evolution. Again, another novelty graphics card based on the Radeon HD 5770. This one packs a Lucid Hydra Engine chip on-board, which allows it work in tandem with any other graphics card, ATI or NVIDIA, with 2-way or 3-way multi-GPU support. Third card is probably what will interest a lot more buyers, PowerColor HD 5770 Single Slot Edition. As the name suggests, the card will occupy only one expansion slot. The next card is an even more practical product in the making, a series of low-profile Radeon HD 5770 and HD 5750 cards. Lastly, PowerColor will demonstrate what it calls the Vortex Cooling technology, a unique video card cooler which allows users to adjust the fan's height from the heatsink, and vector its air-flow. Not wanting to reveal too much, PowerColor left us with tiny images, some of which are outlines of the actual images.

After launching the TP1021 and TP2022 mobile disks at CeBIT, Team Group Inc has received heated feedback from consumers. In order to meet the demands of different consumer groups, Team will launch the brand new concept product TP1023 at Computex 2010. A mobile disk in the appearance of the most popular super sports cars, the fashion and trendy style of TP1023 shows Team's multifaceted product design capacity.

In addition to its eye-catching sports car appearance and coating, the TP1023 is equipped with the shock absorbent performance of sports cars. The suspension design can significantly enhance the shock resistance of the hard drive inside the TP1023. By passing the 130 falling test which has exceeded the industrial specification, the suspension on the TP-1023 provides the best protection for both the hard drive and data inside.

AMD today announced the appointment of Manju Hegde as corporate vice president, Fusion Experience Program. A renowned parallel and visual computing innovator, Hegde previously served as vice president of CUDA Technical Marketing at NVIDIA before joining AMD to lead the AMD Fusion Experience Program, an initiative focused on identifying innovative computing solutions and applications poised to take full advantage of the forthcoming AMD Fusion family of Accelerated Processing Units (APU). Hegde reports to Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Products Group.

"We are thrilled to be able to attract an experienced industry leader like Manju Hegde to the AMD team, a sign of the quality of talent we are able to attract to AMD on the strength of our Fusion roadmap," said Bergman. "Manju brings prized expertise in developing the ecosystem for enabling breakthrough and heightened experiences on new architectures to AMD. As Manju and his team work with the ecosystem to usher in a new era of visual computing, we expect a wide range of industry leaders to embrace the future of accelerated computing through the combination of the GPU and CPU -- a combination only AMD can deliver with its AMD Fusion technology."

For the first time since 1989, the era of Apple's market dominance over Microsoft is back. Shares of Apple on NASDAQ rose 2.8 percent on Wednesday, taking the company's market value to US $229 billion. As markets closed, Apple and Microsoft were poised at $222 billion and $219 billion. Microsoft stock fell 4 percent on this day. While the 4% may have contributed largely to the turn of events, Apple's emergence as the leading tech firm has been established, which is a watershed from 1998, when an almost broke Apple borrowed $190 million from Microsoft to stay afloat.

As far as revenues go, Microsoft is still leading. The Redmond, Washington based firm reported $14.5 billion revenue last quarter, compared to Cupertino, California based Apple, which reported $13.5 billion in the same period. While PC operating systems and software forms Microsoft's primary source of income, Apple sells a variety of computer hardware such as Macbook, software, and consumer electronics, including the popular Apple iPhone, and iPod.

NOX Xtreme released its new high-grade TG1 thermal compound. The compound boasts of high heat conductivity with low thermal resistance. The TG1 has a density of 3.69 g/cm³, and viscosity of 850 poise. As with most thermal compounds in its league, it is not electrically-conductive, or capacitative. Its chemical composition makes it non-corrosive, while it's viscous enough not to bleed (seep through between the cooler and IHS and leak down). It comes in 4 g syringes, and is priced at around 6€.

AMD today rolled out this month's release of its ATI Catalyst software, which provides drivers and essential system software for ATI Radeon graphics processors, AMD chipsets, and other ATI multimedia products. The WHQL-signed version 10.5 brings a few feature updates, along with a list of important bug fixes. To begin with, Catalyst 10.5 gives 120 Hz display support for ATI Radeon HD 4000 and HD 3000 series graphics processors (helpful with stereoscopic 3D), and ATI Overdrive enhancements which allow full control over ATI Radeon GPUs that are connected to multiple displays, eliminating a limitation.

Following on with Catalyst 10.4, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 doesn't take unusually long to load maps, while a stability issues connected to IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, Mass Effect 2 (where display goes blank if you switch to desktop in the middle of a game), Empire: Total War, Napoleon: Total War got a fix which allows AA settings with Volumetric effects, while Unigine Heaven 2.0 in wireframe mode doesn't crash. For more details, refer to the release notes document.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 10.5 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

VIA Labs, Inc., a leading supplier of USB 3.0 integrated chip controllers, today announced the VIA Labs VL800 USB 3.0 Host Controller. Adding to the industry's leading line-up of USB 3.0 products, the VL800 is a single chip solution that allows a PCI Express-equipped platform to interface with up to four SuperSpeed USB peripheral devices simultaneously - double the capability of any currently available USB 3.0 host controller.

USB 3.0 (also known as SuperSpeed USB) allows for a maximum data transfer rate of up to 5Gbps, or ten times the throughput available to USB 2.0 based devices. Other enhancements provide for improved interaction between device and host controller, including important advancements in power management. The tremendous increase in throughput allows for the quick and easy transfer of large-volume data and will hasten the development of a new generation of high-performance consumer electronic products.

LaCie today announced the safest mobile hard drive on the market - the LaCie Rugged Safe, offering multiple levels of data protection. The Rugged Safe features unbreakable 128-bit AES hardware encryption, the safest biometric authentication technology, and a shock-proof enclosure.

Designed for people on the go, the LaCie Rugged Safe is bus-powered through USB or FireWire and is compatible with Mac or PC. Where other safe products require software installation on every workstation, the Rugged Safe is plug & play. Once configured, it will grant a user access to his or her data on any computer with a single finger swipe.

A design house has redefined the meaning of "rock-solid" when it comes to durable flash drives. A creation by designer Shu-Chun Hsiao, a set of new flash drives are quite literally rock-solid. The flash-drive module is embedded into a cuboidal block of cement on which its capacity is engraved. It comes in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB, and weighs in grams approximately the number of Gigabytes of data it holds (for example, the 64 GB model weighs around 64 g, and so on). Despite its capacity, size, shape and texture, it uses a USB 2.0 interface. But given that the design house emphasizes on form over function, we have no complaints. For now these cement drives are a design concept.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of an entry-level line of HyperX memory modules for overclockers and gamers. The HyperX 'blu' memory modules have a new look, run at standard JEDEC speeds and timings, and have headroom for enthusiasts to push the performance envelope.

"The enthusiast community knows the HyperX name is synonymous with high speed, high quality and stylish design. HyperX blu enables us to bring these features to market at a lower price point," said Vincent Kim, HyperX product manager, Kingston. "blu is the latest addition to the HyperX family in our ongoing strategy to match HyperX products with the various enthusiast market segments."

The latest Folding@Home GPU client core released by Pande Group adds support for NVIDIA's latest GeForce 400 Series GPUs, using the NVIDIA CUDA GPU compute technology. Dubbed GPU3 core, this beta release of the Folding@Home client core packs several optimizations to harness the new GPUs. Apart from GeForce 400 Series, the core supports the full range of GPUs, although the developers don't recommend using it with ATI GPUs, as the software doesn't offer any advantage, and could instead be buggy. They are, however, working on improving the software for ATI GPUs. The graphical and console clients using this core can be downloaded from here.

Intel has once again shelved plans to come back to the discrete graphics market, with the much talked about GPU codenamed Larrabee. In a recent post by Director, Product and Technology Media Relations Bill Kircos on the company blog, it was detailed that the company's priorities at the moment lie with releasing industry-leading processors that have the graphics-processing horsepower for everyday computing. The Intel HD graphics will only get better with the 2011 series of Core processors based on the Sandy Bridge architecture, where the iGPU core will be completely integrated with the processing complex.

An unexpected yield of the Larrabee program seems to be that Intel has now perfected many-core processors. Since Larrabee essentially is a multi-core processor with over 32 IA x86 cores that handle graphics workload, it could as well give Intel a CPU that is Godsent for heavy-duty HPC applications. Intel has already demonstrated a derivative of this architecture, and is looking to induct it into its Xeon series of enterprise processors.

Eurocom, the world's leading developer of desktop Workstation replacement notebook technology is pleased to introduce the NVIDIA GTX480M GPU in SLI and the HD5870 in CrossfireX to its line of Mobile Workstation notebooks. The NVIDIA GTX 480M introduces the power of NVIDIA's FERMI architecture to the mobile form factor. FERMI is designed from the ground up to be an incredibly powerful GPGPU (General Purpose Computation on Graphics Processing Unit) architecture. With DX11, CUDA, and PHYSX, the GTX480M can accelerate not only 3D applications, but other utility applications as well. Offering up 897 gigaflops of processing power plus up to 2GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, the GTX480M provides incredible speed for gamers and professionals alike.

NVIDIA SLI Technology enables optimized applications to utilize two NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards to improve graphics performance by up to 100%. By combining two GTX480M GPUs in SLI consumers receive the most powerful mobile graphics solution available from NVIDIA. ATI CrossfireX Technology enables optimized applications to utilize two ATI Radeon graphics cards to improve graphics performance by up to 100%. By combining two Mobility HD5870 GPUs in CrossfireX consumers receive the most powerful mobile graphics solution available from ATI.

The much anticipated HAF X debuts as the most powerful HAF (High Air Flow) chassis yet. Designed for performance systems, this chassis is able to house today's latest and hottest CPUs, motherboards, graphics cards and is even compatible with USB 3.0 devices. With specialized support and cooling for graphic cards, massive airflow with the help of up to four gigantic fans and easy access to installed components, this is as close as it gets to a system builder's 'dream case'.

HAF X provides powerful airflow with the help of massive-sized fans: dual 200mm top fans, front 230mm red LED on/off fan provide outstanding system cooling and extreme airflow for the entire system. An additional 200mm fan with dedicated air duct has also been added for unsurpassed VGA cooling.

ASUS is proud to unveil an array of display products catered towards the needs of different market segments. The Designo ML Series LED monitors, the VG236 and PG276 3D monitors, the PA246Q professional monitor and LED projector will all be showcased at Computex 2010 at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC).

Since its launch, the Designo MS and LS LED monitors have received numerous accolades that include the Japanese Good Design Award, and the iF China Award. These monitors' award-winning lines are matched by the true-to-life Full HD visuals showcased on their mercury-free LED-backlit panels. These monitors deliver the industry's contrast ratio benchmark of 10,000,000:1 thanks to ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) Technology. Together with a 2ms (gray-to-gray) response time and ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, which optimizes color fidelity with five pre-set modes (gaming, theater, night view, scenery and standard), the Designo Series displays provide sharp and crisp visuals for almost every situation.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced that it is shipping Lexar Professional 133x Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) memory cards in 16GB and 32GB capacities to retail outlets. The Lexar Professional SDHC cards will be available in B&H and Adorama stores in the U.S.

The Lexar Professional SDHC memory cards offer the maximum Class 10 speed rating, providing a blazing-fast minimum sustained write speed capability of 133x (20MB per second), while the higher capacities of the new 16GB and 32GB cards make them an excellent choice for shooting higher-resolution images and large-sized, high-definition video files with SDHC-compatible digital SLR cameras. In addition to enabling photographers to fully leverage a digital SLR's high-speed processor, the Professional SDHC cards significantly accelerate image download times from the card to a host computer, improving the digital workflow.

Kanguru Solutions today announced its latest security product, the Kanguru Defender V2, an encrypted, secure flash drive designed for commercial use. The Kanguru Defender V2 is the latest in the Defender line of encrypted flash drives, following the FIPS 140-2 Certified Kanguru Defender Elite model targeted at government and enterprise use. The Defender V2 offers security features including:

• FIPS 197 Certified, 256-bit AES Hardware Based Encryption
• Limited Password Attempts
• Master Password Support
• Restricted IP Range/Domain Support
• Anti-Virus/Malware Protection
• No Administrative Rights Required for Use

NVIDIA made its GeForce GTX 480M GPU official today. The DirectX 11 compliant GPU is based on the GF100 core and packs all the features of its desktop counterpart, such as decentralized hardware tessellation, next-generation CUDA and DirectCompute 5.0. The GF100 core has a configuration similar to the GeForce GTX 465 desktop GPU. It has three of its four graphics processing clusters (GPCs), and 11 out of 16 streaming multiprocessors (SMs) enabled, giving a CUDA core count of 352. To reduce the overall board footprint, the GPU makes do with a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, with 1 GB of memory.

To make keep up with the electrical constraints of notebooks, the GTX 480M uses much lower clock-speeds than any desktop product that uses GF100. The core is clocked at 425 MHz, shader domain at 850 MHz, and memory at 600 MHz (real) or 2.40 GHz (effective), which gives a memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s. As mentioned earlier, the full feature-set of its desktop counterparts is packed with the GTX 480M, including support for NVIDIA 3D Vision, PureVideo HD, PhysX, and CUDA. It can pair with up to two boards of its kind in 2-way SLI. Constraints of the notebook form-factor won't allow any more boards, anyway. The GPU is open to Notebook manufacturers to plan their designs around. NVIDIA claims the GTX 480M to be the fastest notebook GPU. It finds direct competition in the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, which is based on the 800 stream processor-laden Juniper core.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, mini-PCs and small form factor platforms, today unleashes the world's fastest air cooled GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards - the lightning-fast ZOTAC GeForce GTX 480 AMP! Edition and GTX 470 AMP! Edition graphics cards.

ZOTAC takes air-cooled performance to the next level with superior engineering and tweaking to raise performance levels of the GeForce GTX 400 series to unprecedented levels. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 400 series AMP! Editions go beyond overclocking and features enhanced upgrades over standard GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd., the award-winning, aluminum computer chassis manufacturer, is ready to present itself at one of world's largest computer exhibitions - COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010 - in Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan from 1 ~ 5 June 2010. Visitors will be able to check out a variety of products under both the Lian Li and Lancool brands.

It is even more exciting that visitors will be able to check out total of seven brand-new products displayed at Lian Li's booth for the first time during this year's Computex. In addition to the new Lancool case available in three colors, there will be the new generation of V-series, Q-series and C-series under the Lian Li brand. The Corporation has fully demonstrated itself in offering top-quality and full-range features on all form factors including the HPTX, ATX, micro-ATX and HTPC.

MSI is readying three new non-reference design graphics cards based on the entire series of GeForce GTX 400 series GPUs, including the upcoming GeForce GTX 465. The new cards will make use of the company's tried and tested Twin-Frozr II GPU cooler to keep the scorching GF100 GPU running. Unlike Twin Frozr II coolers used on ATI Radeon HD 5800 series GPUs, which have bases with heat pipes making direct contact with the GPU, in its GF100 implementation, the cooler will have large copper bases to quickly transfer heat from the GPU to the cooler. Perhaps MSI's mention of "high density" could also indicate that it would have more aluminum fins. The 8 mm thick heat pipes, which MSI refers to as SuperPipes, stay on. The SKUs will likely be called the MSI N480/N470/N465 Twin Frozr II, for models with the GeForce GTX 480, GTX 470, and GTX 465, respectively.

Fresco Logic, a global fabless semiconductor company that develops and markets USB 3.0 connectivity solutions unveils its FL1009 two-port USB 3.0 Host Controller with PCI Express Gen II interface. Like its predecessor FL1000 controller, FL1009 is based on Fresco Logic's Patented GoXtream xHCI Accelerator Engine, which is capable of delivering unprecedented performance and is also optimized for low-power operation, while minimizing total system cost and design cycle time. Fresco Logic's SuperSpeed USB Logo Certified GoXtream xHCI Host accelerator allows each USB port to sustain full bandwidth of USB 3.0 throughput and provides headroom to support next generation true 1080p high-definition video-streaming applications and UASP-enabled storage devices.

"The total worldwide market for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is expected to reach over 1 billion units in 2013, the availability of USB 3.0 Host is essential to the successful deployment and broad market adoption of SuperSpeed USB" Said Brian O'Rourke, Principal Analyst at In-Stat "Fresco logic is at the forefront of USB 3.0, the introduction of Fresco Logic' FL1000 last year and FL1009 now, makes them well positioned to help satisfy market demand."

Intel Corporation introduced new Intel Core processors today, extending the availability of its award-winning Intel Core processor family to more stylish, ultra-thin laptops. Ultraportable laptops - less than an inch thick and weighing just 2 to 5 pounds - offer the performance, battery life and connectivity consumers need on-the-go.

Based on Intel's 32 nanometer (nm) technology manufacturing, the processors are more than 32 percent smaller1 and deliver more than 32 percent better performance, all in a lightweight, sleek design. These new processors also reduce power consumption3 more than 15 percent, resulting in great battery life.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, today introduced new high-capacity Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drives. The award-winning lines now include 400GB and 480GB models, making the Vertex 2 and Agility 2 an excellent SSD option for clients who don't want to be constrained by storage limitations.

"Solid State Drives have long delivered on exceptional performance and reliability but capacity has been a barrier to adoption for some clients," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "Building on our popular Agility 2 and Vertex 2 SSD lines our new high capacity models give customers up to 480GB of storage space allowing them to enjoy all the benefits of SSDs with plenty of room for even the largest applications and files, making this the ideal solution for customers that place a premium on speed, reliability and capacity."

Unigine launched version 2.1 of its Heaven cross-platform, cross-API 3D Graphics benchmark. The popular free benchmark application uses the builds on Unigine Heaven 2.0, with two major changes. To begin with, it supports OpenGL 4.0, a 3D graphics API that is technologically comparable to DirectX 11. Heaven 2.1 uses all of the latest features of GL 4.0, including hardware tessellation support. The second major change is the support for stereoscopic 3D, including support for several stereo 3D viewing modes such as Analygraph, separate images, 3D Vision, and iZ3D. Several other stability fixes were also introduced.DOWNLOAD: Unigine Heaven 2.1

Futuremark, the developer of the world's most popular benchmarking software, today announced 3DMark 11, the latest version of their industry standard benchmark for real-time 3D graphics. Designed to measure the performance of DirectX 11 gaming PCs, 3DMark 11 uses a native DirectX 11 engine created in-house. To accompany the announcement Futuremark has released a trailer and screenshots taken from a 3DMark 11 tech demo called "Deep Sea".

Deep Sea is a demonstration of DirectX 11 technologies created using an early development build of the 3DMark 11 engine. The Deep Sea trailer features submersibles exploring the sea floor. Volumetric lighting illuminates the seabed with tessellation used to add rich detail to the rock, coral and manmade structures. Post processing delivers depth of field and other lens effects. The music is an original composition.

Seagate today announced channel and OEM shipments of the Momentus XT drive, the world's fastest 2.5-inch laptop PC hard drive, combining SSD-like performance with the massive capacity and much lower cost of HDDs. The Momentus XT drive also features Adaptive Memory - a groundbreaking new technology from Seagate that learns and optimizes the drive's performance to each user by moving frequently used information into the flash memory for faster access. The Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive boots up to 100 percent faster than traditional 5400RPM drives, the mainstream spin speed for laptop PCs, and sets new benchmarks for real-world system performance for laptops and gaming systems.

Today's high-performance SSDs for mobile computing cost as much as 10 times more than hard disk drives of the same capacity, with the price of a 250GB SSD outstripping even the cost of many laptop PCs. As a result, most consumers and system builders are unwilling or unable to pay the high price for the greater speed and quiet operations of SSDs. Additionally, SSDs offer fewer capacity options than hard disk drives.

As the demand has increased for PC components for gaming market, including high speed and reliable DRAM module, A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and flash application products, today introduces its new XPG Gaming Series DDR3-2000G and XPG Gaming Series DDR3-2000G v2.0 DRAM module. Designed for favorite gaming and daily computing groups on Intel X58, P55, and H55 platform, the new XPG Gaming Series DDR3-2000G DRAM module is promised to deliver CL9-9-9-24 timing with 1.65V voltage.

"A-DATA is the leader in the reliable and high performance DRAM module," said Richard Shen, manager of A-DATA product management department. "Demand for fast speed combined with high stability DRAM module continues to increase and A-DATA is the leader in this field. Gaming enthusiast can rely on the new XPG Gaming Series DDR3-2000G DRAM module to achieve high speed and stability under the critical environment, while continue to enjoy the ultimate gaming experiences."

EVGA is readying a new high-end socket LGA1366 motherboard building on its FTW (for the win) moniker, the X58 FTW3, carrying the EVGA SKU code of 132-GT-E768-KR. The new motherboard was spotted on the North American online retailer NCIX.com, where it was listed for US $342.39 and CA $319.99, before EVGA even launched the product or gave it a product page on the company website.

The 132-GT-E768-KR is a standard ATX motherboard. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase standard VRM, it is wired to six DDR3 slots for triple-channel memory support. The X58 IOU is cooled by a larger than usual heatsink, which slants towards the socket to give clearance to large CPU coolers. The X58 and ICH10R stick to the specifications, with no additional bridge chip. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x16, x8, x8 when all three are populated, x16, x16, NC when the first two are), supporting 3-way SLI, 2-way SLI, and ATI CrossFireX. Connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s and six 3 Gb/s ports, two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 channel audio, two USB 3.0 and 8 USB 2.0 ports, and support for the EVBot OC module. EVGA should officially introduce this board soon.

Committed to green technology and environmental protection, Team Group Inc launches the brand new low-voltage edition of the Team Elite DDR3 memory. With the concerted effort of the powerful R&D team, Team has built the DDR3 memory that needs only 1.35V to operate. Apart from the same frequency, the CAS latency of this low-voltage edition is maintained at the 9-9-9-24 (DDR3 1333) high level. Along with the ultrahigh bandwidth at 10,664MB/s and the extraordinary stability and compatibility, this low-voltage edition will surely be the best choice for consumers.

At the same frequency, the ultra-low voltage edition of Team Elite DDR3 memory operates at a voltage 11.1% lower than standard DDR3 memory (1.5V vs 1.35V). Apart from reducing waste heat, it helps saving a large amount of electricity bill for long-term use. When using the ultra-low voltage edition DDR3, you are saving energy and saving the earth together with Team. More importantly, the ultra-low voltage edition works as stable as any standard DDR3 memory, making it the prime choice of power users emphasizing system stability.

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premiere provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced its collaboration with AMD to promote the new SuperSpeed Universal Serial Bus (USB 3.0) standard.

In December 2009, Renesas Electronics (formerly NEC Electronics Corporation) released its USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) driver, supporting the new industry-standard, highly efficient mass-storage protocol suitable for use on SuperSpeed USB to overcome the performance boundaries of the Bulk Only Transfer (BOT) protocol. The new UASP driver will be used with Renesas Electronics' USB 3.0 xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) host controller, which entered the market as the world's first USB 3.0 host controller in June 2009. Having shipped over three million units of the host controller, as a dedicated promoter of USB 3.0 standard, Renesas Electronics is now targeting monthly production of two million units starting April 2010 and aims to continually contribute to advancement and standardization of USB.

When ultrahigh resolution digital cameras and FullHD camcorders have gradually become the market mainstream, high-speed SDHC memory cards can no longer catch up with them in data transfer speed or capacity term. In order to meet the consumer's strong demand for ultrahigh speed memory cards, Team Group Inc launches the new-generation SDXC memory card at Computex 2010.

Apart from the advantages of the SDHC, the new-generation SDXC memory card that was launched by Team has made significant progress in capacity terms. For example, its capacity at 64GB has doubled the largest capacity of any SDHC to meet the demands of the ultrahigh resolution image storage of high-level SLR digital cameras and digital camcorders.

Team Group Incorporation officially announces its brand new USB3.0 flash disk X101 at Computex 2010. With a bandwidth up to 5Gbps, the USB3.0 interface is 10 times faster than the previous generation USB2.0 at 480Mbps. Therefore, whether HD movies, photos, or a large amount of music using lossless data compression, users can transfer them to the X101 in an instant. For example, it usually takes about 20 minutes to back up a movie from a 25GB Bluray disc to a USB2.0 flash disk. Now with the brand new large-capacity X101 equipped with USB3.0, it takes only 2 minutes to finish the same task, thus bringing Bluray media portability to a super-speed state.

The X101 has a no-cap-loss design that users can fix the cap at the end of the disk to prevent losing it accidentally. With a simple design that is matched with sharp colors, the X101 blends high-performance with fashion for consumers and fully display Team's innovation of blending 3C with fashion. With the X101, all people of all ages can enjoy karaoke or appreciate HD movies anywhere, anytime.

Prolimatech's latest creation is an HTPC-friendly low-profile CPU heatsink named Samuel 17, after the Biblical Old Testament chapter with the story of David and Goliath. The cooler uses a CPU base in which six nickel-plated copper heat pipes make direct contact with the processor, and convey heat to a dense aluminum fin array that propagates along the plane of the motherboard. On this, users can install a 120 mm fan. The heatsink measures 92 x 45 x 82 mm, weighing 410 g. It supports all current sockets including LGA 1366, LGA 1156, LGA 775, AM3/AM2(+). It is expected to be priced at 40 Euros when it goes on sale.

Xilence is ready with a new performance CPU cooler, the M606. With a typical aluminum fin tower design, the M606 can handle CPUs with TDPs of up to 150W. It makes use of six heat pipes to convey heat to a dense aluminum fin array, which dissipate heat to the air flow by 120 mm fan. The fan spins a 1500 rpm, and has a frame made of rubber, which dampens noise a little. All current sockets, including LGA 1366, LGA 1156, LGA 775, and AM3/AM2 are supported. The M606 will reach stores soon.

At a time when every NVIDIA board partner is designing catchy non-reference design graphics cards based on the GeForce GTX 470, EVGA applied its wisdom on simply bettering the NVIDIA reference design to make the card look not only better, but also work cooler. Dubbed the EVGA GeForce GTX 470 SuperClocked+, the card has two new features, the High Flow bracket, and a back-plate. The High Flow bracket is merely a bracket with more opening than the reference design one, which allows better ventilation.

The back-plate works as a heatspreader over components on the reverse-side of the PCB, especially drawing heat from the area behind the GPU, it is highly perforated and attracts convectional air-flow. Aside from cooling, the back-plate adds to the card's aesthetics. With SC clock speeds of 625/1250/850 (3402) MHz (core/shader/memory), the EVGA GTX 470 SC+ is priced at $375 on the company's online store.

Buffalo rolled out one of its most capacious portable hard drives, the 1 TB MiniStation HD-PXT. The 1 TB drive has all the features of its MiniStation siblings, including 256-bit AES encryption, and wrap-around USB cable. It features a 2.5" form-factor HDD inside, and uses the USB 2.0 interface. It has a shock-resistant shell, and weighs 240 g. Bundled software includes a backup utility, and TurboPC, which improves transfer-speeds. The MiniStation HD-PXT releases in Europe later this month, at a price of €135.

Japanese cooling specialist Scythe extends its audio accessory portfolio by a brand-new Class D amplifier. New Kama Bay AMP 2000 is equipped with new features and functions which are fitted into a compact chassis to allow it to be mounted into a 5.25" bay inside a PC.

Thanks to the classy design, new Kama Bay AMP 2000 can be used individually and fits perfectly into almost every environment. Users have the choice of either silver or black version as a color. In order to allow high connectivity, Kama Bay AMP 2000 is equipped with 3 RCA inputs on the rear side as well as one 3.5 mm Stereo Jack input and one USB connector in the front. Therefore, it is possible to use mp3 player, computer, game consoles as well as audio and video equipment as the input source. USB connector located in the front gives the possibility to charge mp3 players. Knobs in the front allow switching among the 4 sources as well as individual adjustment of bass and treble separately. Overall design is completed by the two analog meters which are illuminated in blue backlight.

TechPowerUp rolled out a new version of GPU-Z, the popular graphics sub-system diagnostic utility. Version 0.4.3 comes with a load of new features and stability updates. Highlights include full capability to monitor voltages on the GeForce GTX 480, a new method of voltage monitoring which extends support for many ATI and NVIDIA graphics cards, support for the upcoming GeForce GTX 465, GT 320M GT 335M, ION variant, GT 340, Tesla C2050, Tesla M2050, and other Quadro series GPUs, new display languages including Spanish and Hungarian, among other stability updates.DOWNLOAD: GPU-Z 0.4.3

Change log follows.

Futuremark is readying the next generation of its popular 3D graphics benchmark, the 3DMark. The new version will be called 3DMark 11 (probably named after the year 2011 or DirectX 11), and will strive to be every present-generation GPU's worst nightmare (stress test). With NVIDIA's entry into the DirectX 11 generation of graphics following ATI making the new GPUs "current", 3DMark 11 will focus on the GPUs' DirectX 11 capabilities, probably exploiting new texturing and hardware tessellation features.

The benchmark will be able to push present and future GPUs to their maximum capabilities. At least one of its game tests have been known to be called "Undersea Submarine". There is no mention of NVIDIA PhysX, so it's safe to assume that the benchmark will use industry standard features which are available to all DirectX 11 generation GPUs. However, similar to a marketing deal with Sapphire for 3DMark Vantage (where a certain game test showed a futuristic vehicle with Sapphire logo on it), this version will market MSI. What's more, it will be bundled with MSI graphics cards when the software releases. Futuremark will show off its latest creation at this year's Computex event held in early June, in Taiwan. The software will be released some time in Q3, 2010.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class Network-Attached Storage (NAS) servers, Network Video Recorders (NVR), and Network Multimedia Player (NMP) today announced its 8-bay tower model TS-859 Pro Turbo NAS has been certified as compatible NFS and iSCSI datastore with VMware vSphere4 (ESX 4.0) virtualization platform. TS-859 Pro Turbo NAS can serve as both IP-SAN and NAS which offers flexibility, ultra-high performance, easy configuration and management, and affordable price points that enable SMB and entry-level Enterprise customers to be able to enjoy the advantages of VMware Cloud Computing environments. VMware vSphere is the industry's first cloud operating system that offers a way to reduce IT costs and increase responsiveness. Shared networked storage is an essential component of a Cloud Computing infrastructure. TS-859 Pro Turbo NAS can be easily integrated into to vSphere and allows the interoperability between VMware virtual machines and QNAP's high performance certified storage.

"QNAP provides our business customers high performance, highly reliable networked storage that meets their needs and won't break the budget. The IT administrators of small businesses and workgroups can now have an affordable and powerful alternative for the storage solution in the VMware virtualized environments," said David Tsao, Product Manager of QNAP. TS-859 Pro offers enterprise-level iSCSI features such as SPC-3 compliant, multiple LUNs per target, MPIO, MC/S, and LUN (logical unit number) masking. It offers up to 16TB storage capacity via 8 hot-swappable SATA hard disks, dual Gigabit LAN ports with fail-over, load-balancing and multi-IP setting capabilities. It also features RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 6/ 5+hot spare/ 6+hot spare configurations which offer higher redundancy. Meanwhile, the advanced RAID management tool facilitates online RAID capacity expansion, online RAID level migration, and RAID recovery maximize system up time. "Besides TS-859 Pro, the entire lineup of TS-x59 series Turbo NAS will be certified soon in June this year," Mr. Tsao added.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced three additions to its ultra high-speed Force Series SSDs. The additions to this product family include the F60, F120, and F240 Force Series SSDs, sporting densities of 60GB, 120GB, and 240GB respectively.

All Corsair Force Series SSDs are built using the Sandforce SF-1200 SSD Processors, which provide unparalleled write endurance, superior ECC data protection, and outstanding performance. Corsair engineers worked closely with Sandforce to implement and qualify firmware which guarantees the unusually fast 4K random write performance of 180 MB/s, measured using the ATTO benchmark. This elevated 4K write speed generates 15K IOPs, resulting in excellent system performance and responsiveness. All Force Series SSDs implement the ATA TRIM command, supported by Windows 7, which helps to maintain optimal performance over the drive's lifetime.

The Japanese cooling specialist Scythe hereby announces a scaled version of the popular fan controller Kaze Server in 3.5 "form factor. Kaze Server 3.5 offers the advanced features of its big brother, however due to the smaller layout, it is equipped with only two channels. With Kaze Server 3.5, two fans can be controlled independently, and two temperatures (in either ° C or °F) can be monitored. In addition to manually control the fan speed by knobs, Kaze Server 3.5 Fan.

Controller allows a fully automated and a semi-automatic operation mode. The Auto mode turns the fan on when a freely adjustable temperature is exceeded. In Semi mode, users can set two fan speeds rpm and a temperature value. Depending on whether the measured temperature is above or below the set value, either the first or the second setting is used for the fan.

Inno3D is excited to launch the i-ChiLL GeForce GTX 470 Black Series equipped with liquid cooling technology. The "full cover" water-block cools the GPU, Voltage Regulators, I/O chip, memory modules, and other critical components allowing for longer care-free gaming knowing your GPU is well looked after. This is definitely the ultimate cooling solution for enthusiast gamers.

In the i-ChiLL Black Series system, the water block first takes up the heat and passes it to the water flowing into it. Through the hose system, the water carries the heat to the radiator. Once it arrives in the radiator, the water passes the heat to the air via the ribs. The thinner the ribs and the larger the radiator's surface is as a result, the more powerful the cooling system. The "cooled" water flows from the outlet side of the radiator back into the CPU water block. The air flow within the water block is also important in ensuring adequate cooling. That is because the more thermal discharge the water can absorb from the surrounding material in the block, the better the cooling performance.

After Sharkoon has already established themselves as the first provider to introduce a USB3.0 controller for Desktop PCs, the accessory specialist now immediately offers Notebook users the possibility to upgrade their device with a SuperSpeed port.

The Sharkoon USB3.0 Host Controller Card is equipped with two USB3.0 ports and is simply inserted into the ExpressCard slot of a notebook. The extension card in the 34mm format fits in both the 34mm and 54mm slots, corresponds to the ExpressCard 1.0 Standard as well as Intels xHCI specification 0.95, and supports operating systems Windows, XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 (32 and 64 Bit). The Plug&Play capable plug-in card is downward compatible to HiSpeed and LowSpeed USB. The two USB3.0 ports supply a maximum amperage of 900 mA; a suitable USB cable, driver CD, and instruction manual are all included within shipping.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. today releases the PC-8NWX, the PC-7FNWX, and the PC-60FNWX mid tower chassis. All three models' interiors and exteriors are made with all-black, 1.5 millimeter thick, anodized aluminum making them solid but lightweight, and easy to keep cool; not to mention beautiful. These computer case chassis also feature large, side-panel windows for easy viewingof the interior. The top panels, on all three, come with a spare 140mm fan mount. Depending on the model the two USB 3.0 ports, plus HD audio ports are on the top panel or the front panel. Lian Li is known for customizable cases and these are no exception. In addition to the completely tool-less installation design of these chassis, users can mount ATX or Micro-ATX motherboards. Rubber coatings and anti-vibration silencing designs are used throughout these computer cases.

The PC-8NWX comes with a 120mm intake fan running at 1200RPM on the front panel and an identical fan mounted on the back for exhaust. The PC-7FNWX and PC-60FNWX have the same exhaust fan on the back. However, on the front they have a larger intake fan, 140mm running at 1000RPM. Additionally, the front fan on the 7FNWX & 60FNWX is lighted with blue LEDs. On the backside of the 7FNWX and 60FNWX are two, rubber-lined holes, allowing for a liquid cooling system.

EVGA started offering the Hydro Copper water-block for GeForce GTX 470 as an accessory. Until now the block was available only as part of the EVGA GTX 470 Hydro Copper FTW graphics card, which is priced at $499.99. With the block being sold loose, users with the air-cooled variants of GTX 470 have the option of upgrading to water-cooling. The Hydro Cooper block costs $139.99.

Manufactured by Swiftech, the EVGA Hydro Copper water-block consists of a central portion from which the coolant flows, this part is directly over the GPU and memory, and makes use of 0.6 x 0.6 mm thin copper pin matrix for heat dissipation. The base consists of chrome electro-plated copper. The other two segments are heatsinks which convey heat to the central portion, cooling the VRM areas. Both both 1/2" and 3/8" high-flow fittings are supported.

ASUS has come up with a Frankenstein solution which enables 4-way SLI on the Rampage III Extreme motherboard with full PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth, called the ROG Xpander. The device is a daughterboard that sits on the motherboard with connections to its PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. While it might not fit into cases, it is intended to work on test-benches. The two PCI-E x16 connections from the motherboard are wired to two NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chips, which give out two x16 links each, driving the four x16 slots on the daughterboard. It takes input from one 6-pin PCI-E power input, and three 4-pin Molex inputs, though not all may be required.

The ROG Xpander ideally would draw 12W of power per nForce chip, and with its own power inputs, will not draw any power from the motherboard for the four PCI-E cards. The point of using this device is that ASUS did not give 4-way SLI capability to the Rampage III Extreme from the factory, even though it already has four PCI-E x16 slots (x8 each when all are populated). A fan seated on the Xpander ensures components on the motherboard under it aren't suffocated of cool air. ASUS ran a 4-way SLI test of four GeForce GTX 480 graphics cards on 3DMark Vantage, where the Core i7 980X @ 6 GHz powered setup scored P52422 points.

As many as nine major chip vendors were fined a total of 331 million Euros (US $404.2 million) for participating in illegal price-fixing activities, by the European Union authorities. These include Samsung, Hynix, Nanya, Elpida, Infineon, NEC, Toshiba, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi. A 10th company in this price-fixing cartel was Micron Technology, which escaped the fine for exposing the malpractice to the EU authorities. Of these Samsung was given the single biggest fine of 146 million Euros, followed by Infineon at 57 million Euros. The fines were reduced by 10% because all companies extended cooperation in the investigations.

The price-fixing cartel mostly involved bad trade of DRAM chips, and was active between 1998 and 2002, operating with a network of contacts which secretly exchanged pricing information. They colluded to fix prices of DRAM chips sold to major PC and server manufacturers. Investigations in the scam began in 2002 when Micron blew the whistle on the cartel. "By acknowledging their participation in a cartel the companies have allowed the Commission to bring this long-running investigation to a close and to free up resources to investigate other suspected cartels," said EU's Competition Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia. "As the procedure is applied to new cases it is expected to speed up investigations significantly," he added.

Shuttle Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of multi-form-factor solutions such as the world-famous XPC Mini-PC Barebones, today announces the introduction of the Shuttle XPC
Barebone SG41J1 Plus. After the successful market launch of the XPC Barebone SG41J1 in February of this year, Shuttle now offers a model with DDR3 support. Finished totally in black and sporting a low-key illuminated XPC logo, the elegant Shuttle XPC Barebone SG41J1 Plus certainly catches the eye.

With an overall capacity of up to 8 GB DDR3 RAM, the Shuttle XPC Barebone SG41J1 Plus benefits from the use of Intel Core 2 series processors and offers a capable onboard graphics chip specially suited for office applications with the Intel GMA X4500. The model provides a 32-bit-PCI slot and PCI-Express-x16 slot for system expansions. The latter can also be fitted with a dual-slot graphics card, if desired.

PowerColor's latest high end graphics card which surfaced in April, as a graphics card with the ability to run 12 displays in ATI Eyefinity arrays, seems to have finally taken shape, with the company calling it the PowerColor HD 5970 Eyefinity 12. This graphics card is based on the Radeon HD 5970 dual-GPU graphics card, but makes use of display outputs from both GPUs.

PowerColor had to extend the connectivity on a third slot with mini-Display Port connectors, as it ran out on space with two slots holding 6 connectors and the crucial air-exhaust vent. The second set of mini-DP connectors sit on a riser card, which is detachable, turning the card into a dual-slot Eyefinity6 card. To help handle 12 display heads, the card has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory spread across two 256-bit wide memory interfaces. It is capable of running large Eyefinity display heads which span across all the 12 physical displays. The Eyefinity12 card from PowerColor is expected to be launched during the Computex event, early next month.

Mitsubishi's latest display boast of an industry first in double-speed interpolation, a technique of combining 60 Hz images for a more fluid 120 Hz output. The RDT232WM-Z which carries this feature, is a 23-inch TN panel monitor with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, 3 ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 3W stereo speakers, and inputs which include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI as display connectivity. It will be available in the Japanese market from June 11.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today introduced a USB 3.0 Expansion Card that comes with two high-speed USB 3.0 ports. This easy-to-install add-on card enables speed enthusiasts to connect USB 3.0-compatible peripherals to their desktop PC and experience data transfer rates up to ten times faster than USB 2.0 with optimized power efficiency.

For users who are not prepared to upgrade their entire computer system for the sole purpose of adding USB 3.0 functionality, Transcend's USB 3.0 Expansion Card is a perfect solution that allows them to join the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 revolution. The card's PCI Express 2.0 single lane connection interface is compatible with virtually all current motherboards, and guarantees unrestricted two-way communication between the computer and any USB devices plugged into the card.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, is pleased to introduce the newest member of its JetFlash family- the JetFlash 530 retractable USB flash drive. With its bright white case, multiple color and capacity options, and a capless retractable design that protects the drive and its contents, the stylish yet tough JetFlash 530 is a durable and convenient tool for storing, transferring, and sharing multimedia and more.

Thanks to its use of ultrasonic welding technology, the sleek and stylish JetFlash 530 USB flash drive is also rugged enough to withstand a few bumps and falls. Created specifically for users with active lifestyles, the JetFlash 530 comes in five lively bright colors that match its adorable gloss-white case: orange, red, blue, green and purple. The drive also sports an LED indicator light that blinks during file transfer and features simple Plug and Play operation, allowing users to easily store and share their files. With its refined design and large storage capacity (up to 32GB), the JetFlash 530 is a USB flash drive that users will never get tired of using.

The CX620MX (15.6") and CX420MX (14"), the latest additions to MSI's C series, are equipped with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 545v discrete graphics cards with DDR3 512MB of display memory and the all-new Intel Core processor for exceptional multimedia processing performance.

MSI Marketing Director Sam Chern explains that the 15.6" CX620MX, recently added to the MSI C series of laptops, comes with MSI's own Color Film Print and chiclet keyboard. Graced with MSI's beveled edges, the CX620MX exudes quality and weighs less than 2.48kg. This light, thin NB offers exceptional film viewing on the go.

MSI is showing off to the public two new tablet PCs at at the DCC event in UAE. While the two are yet to be named, they are most likely to be part of the company's Wind PC lineup for this year's Computex event. The first one is a standard (monolithic) tablet with a 9.7 inch multi-touch screen, which will be running Windows 7, will be powered by Intel Atom processors, taking advantage of its multi-touch UI features, while the second more interesting one has the clam-shell design traditional netbooks, albeit having multi-touch screens on both its arms. You can use it like a netbook when one of the two screens draws a touch-screen keyboard, or use both screens vertically to browse through documents, e-books, and web-pages like reading a book. More details are awaited.

BFG Technologies today announced their exit from the graphics card category. The company will continue to sell their line of BFG Tech power supplies as well as their Deimos gaming notebooks and Phobos gaming systems.

"After eight years of providing innovative, high-quality graphics cards to the market, we regret to say that this category is no longer profitable for us, although we will continue to evaluate it going forward", said John Slevin, chairman of BFG Technologies. "We will continue to provide our award-winning power supplies and gaming systems, and are working on a few new products as well. I'd like to stress that we will continue to provide RMA support for our current graphics card warranty holders, as well as for all of our other products such as power supplies, PCs and notebooks."

Mach Xtreme Technology Inc., a worldwide leader in top performance, high reliability and user-friendly designed PC components, today unveiled MX-NANO Series 1.8" PATA SSD with 256MB cache memory which makes MLC (multi-level cell) NAND-based storage an affordable offering for notebook users demanding performance and energy efficiency at an attractive price point.

The new MX-NANO Series of 1.8" PATA SSDs that are ideal for upgrading popular notebooks based on 50-pin, 44-pin or ZIF PATA interface. Combined with industry's leading 256MB cache memory and ultra-fast access times, these new SSDs deliver double or even triple the performance of the default hard drives in most current notebooks, resulting in substantially faster boot-up, application load and shutdown speeds. It is one of the fastest and easiest ways to upgrade dozens of different notebooks and UMPCs to higher performance and more local storage (up to 240GB).

AMD is planning a major update for the ATI Radeon HD 5670 mainstream graphics card. Currently based on the 40 nm Redwood core with specifications which include 400 stream processors, 512 MB / 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface, the updated HD 5670 will be based on the larger Juniper core (on which are based HD 5750 and HD 5770). On the HD 5670, the Juniper will have 640 of its 800 stream processors enabled, while having the same memory interface of 128-bit GDDR5 @ 1000 MHz (4 GHz effective).

The core will be clocked at 750 MHz. Since the nomenclature remains the same, it is safe to assume that the price will be remain unchanged, around $90 for the 512 MB, and $110 for the 1 GB variant. Leading AIB partners such as PowerColor and Sapphire seem to be ready with their board designs which are essentially identical to those of their Radeon HD 5700 series products. Unlike the HD 5770 reference, the new HD 5670 will be able to make do without an additional PCI-Express power input. Looking purely at the specifications, the new HD 5670 will be able to perform on par with the Radeon HD 4770 in present applications, with the added DirectX 11 and hardware tessellation support. With CrossFireX connectors on some designs, these card will have the ability to pair with more than two of their kind. There is no word yet on the availability.

Apple gave the 13.3-inch variant of its MacBook line a specifications update, with faster processor and graphics, which also steps up battery life along the way. The MacBook now comes with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB memory (4 GB available as an option), NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, 250 GB of storage, and 8x DVD writer. The display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Connectivity features include gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1, and WiFi. The 63.5 W/h lithium-polymer battery gives up to 10 hours of usage on a full charge. It retains the price-tag of US $999.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. launches the PC-8FI mid tower series. The hair-line brushed all-aluminum chassis is positively sexy and available in a red spider-edition, as well as black and silver, taking looks to a new level. Lian Li's signature tool-less installation features and customization capabilities make the PC-8FI series a must have for the gaming enthusiasts and professional gamers.

The same fan design is used for all three models with two 120mm @1200rpm intake fans on the front panel and one 120mm @1200rpm exhaust fan mounted on the back panel. All the fans have anti-vibration mountings. Additionally, the top panel offers users one 140mm fan hole, should they desire to mount an additional fan. The red spider-edition's side panel features a large, spider-shaped, transparent window, exposing the interior of the chassis and the rear panel's exhaust fan, lit with red LEDs. On the black edition's front panel, the intake fans are lit with blue LEDs.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs), memory modules, and power supplies for computing devices and systems, unveils the Fatal1ty 750 Watt power supply, a new high-performance PSU targeted at gamers and enthusiasts that prefer modular cabling.

OCZ is dedicated to delivering premium power solutions, and the new 750W was co-developed with Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, twelve-time World champion, to meet the specific needs of fellow gamers. "I worked with OCZ on this new modular 750W Fatal1ty power supply to give the strength and power to my PC; I need to win!!," stated Johnathan "Fatal1ty'" Wendel. Featuring new "low-profile" flat modular cabling with efficiencies in airflow and control, the Fatal1ty 750W PSU not only provides stable, efficient power, but also unique, user-friendly connectors that promote greater flexibility and organization inside the PC case. Featuring glowing red LED lights to add style, Fatal1ty power supplies are an ideal upgrade for users who need a computer setup able to take on hours of non-stop gaming. Additionally, Fatal1ty 750W power supplies are designed to perform even at elevated temperatures of up to 45°C, nearly twice that of the industry standard.

Synology Inc. today launched DiskStation DS110+ and DS210+, high-performance and secure NAS servers for SMB users to share and backup data efficiently and increase productivity with rich business-oriental features.

The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ are ideal for users who require a reliable data storage solution and demand high-performance speed for file sharing. The performance test conducted by Synology's lab showed that in a Windows environment, the Synology DS110+ serves an average of 108+ MB/sec reading speed and 68+ MB/sec writing speed while the Synology DS210+ delivers 108+ MB/sec reading and 58+ MB/sec writing. The web server responsiveness is impressive, too. The Synology DS110+ and DS210+ take 85.08 and 78.14 seconds respectively to handle 1,000 simultaneous requests.

Galaxy is working on a single-slot graphics card based on the GF100 in its GeForce GTX 470 version. If that didn't boggle your mind, the fact that it's not another card with a water-block, but a single-piece air-cooled card surely will. Enter the Galaxy GTX 470 model known as "Katana" in Japan and "Razor" in other markets. The PCB appears to be a little over 10 inches long, looks-wise makes use of Galaxy's Blue-silver-copper scheme from its other non-reference GTX 470 GC card.

The single-slot air cooler covers the entire length of the PCB, with a fan that draws air from both sides of the PCB, and has grills that reveal the cooler's internal network of copper air-channels, and a slab of copper that is spread across most of the PCB's area that holds the GPU and memory. The cooler makes use of vapour-chamber technology. The card draws power from 8-pin and 6-pin power connectors. It is 4-way SLI capable. It is expected that the card comes with at least NVIDIA reference clock speeds, all other specifications remain the same: 448 CUDA cores, 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory across 320-bit interface, and connectivity which includes two DVI-D and a mini HDMI. It is expected to deck up Galaxy's Computex booth.

The CX623, the 15.6" laptop with discrete graphics card recently added to MSI's Classic series arsenal, just hit the market. Equipped with the latest Intel Core processor and the nVidia GeForce 310M discrete graphics card (DDR3 1GB VRAM), the CX623 offers the best multimedia processing capabilities out there. What's more, the CX623 comes with MSI's own color film print coating with cross-hatch design and MSI's chiclet keyboard, accentuating its minimalist, stylish exterior.

MSI Marketing Director Sam Chern explains that the CX623 employs the latest Intel Core processor with nVdia discrete graphics card and MSI's exclusive GPU Boost technology. The nVdia GeForce 310M discrete graphics card enables the CX623 to automatically detect the load status of applications currently being used and to perform intelligent dynamic switching between the discrete graphics card and integrated display chip. It works hand in hand with MSI's ECO engine power saving technology, which allows you to select from among five power management levels, so you use just the right amount of power for the task at hand, allowing the CX623 to strike the ideal balance between quality multimedia performance, processing performance, and maximum battery life.

Mitsubishi Electric released the Diamondcrysta WIDE RDT232WX. This 23-inch LCD display comes in two variants, that with glossy screen, and that with a matte (anti-glare) screen. The panel has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with 3.8 ms of response time (GTG), 1000:1 contrast ratio (5000:1 dynamic), 300 cd/m², and 3W stereo speakers. Inputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. The variant with the glossy screen will be priced at US $464 and that with the matte screen at $484, when the two release later this month in Japan.

More details have surfaced about NVIDIA's upcoming GPU which is on the low-end of the GeForce GTX 400 series, the GTX 465. Chinese website eNet.com.cn published some lesser known specifications about the GPUs, which pieced together with known details more or less completes the picture. The GTX 465 has not four, but five streaming multiprocessors (SMs) disabled from the GF100 core, yielding 352 CUDA cores (against the earlier known number of 384). With a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, the GPU has 32 out of 48 ROPs enabled, and makes use of 1 GB of memory.

Out of the few benchmarks the GTX 465 was put through, it scored 5488 points in the eXtreme preset of 3DMark Vantage, which is roughly 20% less than what a GTX 470 would manage. It is said to have outperformed the ATI Radeon HD 5870 in Far Cry 2, while was slower than Radeon HD 5830 in Crysis Warhead. The GeForce GTX 465 will be launched on the 3rd of June, at the Computex 2010 event.

Toshiba Computer Systems, a division of Toshiba Europe GmbH, today announced four new models in its Satellite Pro range. They offer the essentials to easily manage today's demanding business applications in small offices. On top of this they provide plenty of multimedia features supporting professionals during their work or serving as an entertainment device during breaks or for leisure. The new Satellite Pro models pursue Toshiba's strategy to offer the right business device for each budget and each usage scenario from ultra-portability to desktop replacement. The devices will be available during the second quarter of 2010 throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Compared to their equivalents in the consumer targeted Satellite range, the Satellite Pro C650 / C650D, L630, L650 and L670 come with some changes and additions appropriate to business needs - for example Gigabit Ethernet , connectivity for a high speed LAN connection and preinstalled Windows 7 Professional. Some models of the Satellite L650 and the Satellite L670 will also be available later with a non-reflective display2 for a high picture quality independent of ambient light conditions.

HP released three new value widescreen monitors for home/office users, the 20-inch S2031, 21.5-inch S2231 and 23-inch S2331. While the S2031 has a resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels, the S2231 and S2331 are full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) compliant. All three models feature the same dynamic contrast ratio of 15,000:1, and response time of 5 ms, and display connectivity that includes DVI and D-Sub. The S2031 has a maximum brightness of 250 cd/m², while for the S2231 and S2331 it is 300 cd/m². The three are priced at US $150, $175, and $220, respectively.

Dell today announced the availability of the UltraSharp U2211H and U2311H flat panel monitors with in-plane switching technology (IPS) to deliver consistent colours across wide viewing angles for growing businesses, knowledge workers and photography buffs who need superior colour reproduction in their work or leisure activities.

These new displays are part of Dell's premium UltraSharp Display Series and are available in Australia and New Zealand from today at value-driven prices starting from US $279 for the U2211H, and $299 for the U2311H.

NVIDIA reported revenue of $1.0 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended May 2, 2010, up 2 percent from the prior quarter and up 51 percent from $664.2 million in the same period a year earlier. On a GAAP basis, the company recorded net income of $137.6 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2011. That compares with $131.1 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the previous quarter and a net loss of $201.3 million, or $0.37 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Gross margin increased to 45.6 percent for the first quarter fiscal 2011 from 44.7 percent in the previous quarter and 28.6 percent in the same period a year earlier.

• Revenue grew 2 percent quarter-on-quarter to $1.0 billion
• GAAP net income increased to $137.6 million, or $0.23 per diluted share
• GAAP gross margin improved to 45.6 percent

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

Patriot's Inferno series, available in 100GB and 200GB capacities, is designed around the highly acclaimed SF-1200 processor series. Paired with specially screened MLC NAND Flash the Inferno drives deliver class leading performance with sequential read and write speeds of 285MB/s and 275MB/s respectively. SandForce DuraClass technology provides enhanced endurance and reliability by an average of 20x over traditional SSD controllers through innovative write technology and Wear Leveling.

MSI's upcoming CULV notebook based on the AMD platform make its first public appearance at an event conducted by AMD in Paris. The Wind U250 is a 12.1-inch notebook is powered by an AMD Athlon II Neo K325 processor that runs at 1.3 GHz, which is aided by 4 GB of memory, DirectX 10.1 compliant graphics, and offers 320 GB of storage. The 12.1 inch display is likely to have a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. It comes with Windows 7 pre-installed. MSI may release it sometime this summer. More images at the source.

ViewSonic's latest monitor jumps the 'green' (eco-friendly) bandwagon. The VA2250wm is a 22 inch (21.5 inch viewable) LED-illuminated LCD display which pushes the power envelope down to 26W during typical usage, which the company claims to be 40% lesser than tradidional LCD displays with CCFL-illumination. At its size, the panel is full-HD capable (native resolution of 1920 x 1080), has a response time of 5 ms, brightness of 250 cd/m², and contrast ratio of 1,000:1 (dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1). The display has 2W stereo speakers inbuilt, it has a piano-black bezel with a dash of clear acrylic. It takes display input from DVI and D-Sub. Priced at around $225, the VA2250wm is expected to ship in late May.

Corsair, a worldwide supplier of high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced that the Corsair Dominator GTX4 ultra-high-performance memory module has achieved a new world record for dual-channel memory frequency on AMD processors.

Using an AMD Phenom II X6 Black Edition CPU, Corsair Hydro Series H50 CPU cooler, and a pair of Corsair Dominator GTX4 memory DIMMs with Airflow memory fan, Corsair Labs was able to achieve the world-record memory frequency of 2287.6MHz. Independent validation of this achievement can be found here.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. launches the PC-B25S mid tower chassis. The hair-line brushed all-aluminum, black chassis is based on the original PC-B25 "Blue Ring" classic; however, Lian Li's engineers have taken silence to a whole new level with this model. The PC-B25S also boasts the tool-less installation features and customization capabilities that consumers are coming to expect from Lian Li's award-winning chassis.

The top, front, and side panels are all foam-padded to keep noise from escaping. The chassis' two 140mm top-side exhaust fans are covered by a sloping, foam-padded cover which directs the heated, inner air out the back. The 120mm back-side exhaust fan also has an angle-adjustable, foam-padded cover. All five fans have anti-vibration mountings.

Other World Computing announced today it has added four new 'prosumer' desktop/notebook user class Solid State Drives to its award-winning OWC Mercury Extreme Pro SSD line. Designed and made in the U.S. from imported parts, the new models offer the largest capacity of any current OWC SSD - up to 480GB - along with three key features not commonly found in affordable consumer class SSDs:

• Up to 285MB/s sustained data rates with no speed degradation
• 7% over-provisioning to ensure the highest level of data reliability
• Up to 1/7 less active power use for longer notebook battery runtime

Valve today officially introduced the Steam for Mac. The popular game content distribution and multiplayer game networking platform will bring a wealth of casual games as well as games developed by Valve to Mac users. To celebrate this launch, Valve is giving away a free copy of Portal to anyone who downloads Steam between today and May 24, 2010. Existing steam users who don't have the game yet can simply click on the install button on the game's Store page.

"The Mac is a great platform for developers," said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "And it's also great that we now have the ability to connect with Mac gamers via Steam. This is the beginning of a groundswell of games coming out for and fully utilizing the openness and power of the Mac." Each Wednesday a new group of games highlighting an area of Steam functionality will be released. This week's titles, which show off Steam Play, include:

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and computing hardware solutions is proud to unleash their latest monster performance GA-X58A-UD9 motherboard, featuring a revolutionary new 24 phase Unlocked Power design, 4-way graphics support including NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX, as well as a host of unique GIGABYTE features such as 333 Onboard Acceleration and On/Off Charge.

"GIGABYTE set out to completely redefine what is possible performance and feature-wise on the X58 platform, and the GA-X58A-UD9 truly delivers on both fronts," commented Tim Handley, Deputy Director of Motherboard Marketing at GIGABYTE Technology Co. Ltd. "Providing the industry's highest caliber CPU power delivery with our unique 24 phase Unlocked Power design and including all of the features which set GIGABYTE motherboards apart from the competition, the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD9 fits into a whole new first class category all its own."

Mushkin Enhanced, a global leader in high-performance computer products, announced today the release of a new solid state drive series, Callisto. The Callisto Series further underlines Mushkin Enhanced's commitment to the exciting and burgeoning solid state drive segment.

"The Callisto SSDs continue Mushkin Enhanced's tradition of high-performance, high-reliability flash storage products and we're very pleased with the performance and responsiveness this product provides. We're confident the Callisto will not only meet the expectations of the market, but exceed them." - Brian Flood, Mushkin Enhanced director of product development. Boasting read speeds of up to 285MB/s and write speeds of up to an impressive 275MB/s, the Callisto series is equipped with the industry-acclaimed Sandforce SF-1200 controller. The Callisto Solid State Drive is available immediately online at the Mushkin Enhanced website as well as our other online partners, and is backed by a 3-year warranty and an industry-leading support staff.

In what could come as a bad news to enthusiasts looking forward to the AMD Phenom II X4 960T "Zosma" quad-core processor, AMD has scrapped plans to release it, at least to the retail market. The chip could still be available to OEM vendors designing their desktop products around it. In a circular to the press, an AMD representative said "I've been asked the question about whether there will be a Phenom II X4 960T "Thuban" quad-core by enough individuals, that I think it is a good idea to proactively share the answer to everyone. While there are indeed engineering CPU samples floating around of a 4-core Thuban 960T, I do not expect that processor will be released for general availability. Perhaps it may make its way to OEMs by special request, but that remains to be seen."

Phenom II X4 960T was a certain release from AMD until now. Various motherboard vendors released beta BIOS that could support the chip, and some enthusiasts with access to engineering samples were even successful in unlocking its disabled cores. The prospect of unlocking disabled cores to yield a six-core processor at the price of a typical quad-core processor is what garnered interest among some sections of the enthusiasts. For AMD, the adverse effect Zosma could have on the sales of more expensive Phenom II X6 seems to have outweighed propagating its new Turbo Core technology at more mainstream prices.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced high-density 4GB Crucial DDR3-1333MHz (PC3-10600) SODIMM notebook memory. These new 4GB SODIMM modules offer anyone seeking a desktop replacement option - including mobile consumers, enthusiasts, and workstation users - the enhanced computing performance they crave. Additionally, the notebook modules have been validated for compatibility with Intel's Core i7, i5, and i3 mobile processors.

"The shift from DDR2 to DDR3 memory in the mobile computing space allowed for higher memory bandwidths while using less power, which resulted in improved system performance and potentially longer battery life. Now, with the availability of high-density 4GB Crucial DDR3-1333MHz SODIMM modules, mobile users will push the limits of notebook system performance and speed even further," said Jim Jardine, Lexar Media's senior worldwide product manager.

Sharkoon QuickStore Portable USB3.0: external enclosure for 2.5" SATA hard drives / with releasable enclosure cover for screw and tool-free installation, and One Click Backup function for Windows / three color options / MSRP 28.90 euros. Accessory specialist Sharkoon has upgraded another product from their product line to USB3.0: The QuickStore Portible for 2.5" SATA hard drives is also available with a SuperSpeed interface, which enables a transfer rate of up to 5 GBit/s.

The QuickStore Portable USB3.0 is a stylish external enclosure for 2.5" SATA hard drives with a height of up to 9.5 millimeters. The frame is made from sturdy, black plastic with shapely rounded corners. Concerning the top of the case, the buyer has the option between black brushed, silver brushed, or silver aluminium mirror finish. Thanks to the slim dimensions of 135 x 85 x 14 millimeters (L x W x H), the mobile box fits into almost any pocket. The weight without the hard drive is only 55 grams.

NVIDIA's Fermi architecture seems to be finally coming of age, with the company planning to introduce mid-range GPUs derived from the architecture, which are expected to be energy-efficient and competitive with mid-range lineup of rival ATI. Identified so far by some sections of the media as GF104, the new GPU will form base for a number of new SKUs that will capture key price-points in the mainstream segment.

A new report suggests that NVIDIA might well be at the end of developing this GPU, and will be ready to talk about it to the public as early as in June, at the Computex 2010 event in Taiwan. Select groups of people, particularly board partners, OEM vendors, etc., will also be able to see engineering samples in private. In the following month (July), NVIDIA will be in a position to launch these mainstream SKUs, just about in time for Summer, which is one of the two main shopping seasons in major markets.

Japanese cooling specialist Scythe expands the Kaze Master Fan Controller Series by two new High-End models. New Kaze Master Pro models are available as a 5.25 inch and a 3.5 inch version. Compared to standard versions, new Kaze Master Pro 5.25 supports two additional fans as well as temperature channels. This allows users to control 6 fans in total in a voltage range of 3.7 to 12 Volts as well as to monitor 6 temperature sensors. Furthermore, it utilizes a new all black chassis giving it a unified high quality look.

Values such as fan speed and temperature are displayed on the VF-Display (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) which allows users to monitor two channels at the same time. Build-in turn-switches allow users to change among 6 channels. Nevertheless, fan speed can be adjusted separately using the 6 rotary potentiometer in the front panel of Kaze Master Pro 5.25.

Bigfoot Networks, the networking technology company behind the Killer line of gaming networks cards, today announced Killer 2100, its next-generation network interface card (NIC) for online gaming. Killer 2100 combines elements of speed, intelligence and control demanded by gamers with major throughput and latency enhancements and an innovative and easy-to-use software interface. Killer 2100 epitomizes blazing speed and maximum performance as the fastest Gigabit NIC on the planet for gamers.

At the heart of Killer 2100 is Bigfoot Networks' groundbreaking Game Networking DNA technology, comprised of a dedicated network processor (NPU), Advanced Game Detect, Windows stack bypass, Visual Bandwidth Control and other optimizations designed to deliver the best online gaming experience possible. Game Networking DNA accelerates latency-sensitive game traffic while reducing stuttering, freezing and other symptoms of lag, giving online gamers a competitive edge.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. announces the TYR PC-X2000F chassis. The TYR line is designed to stand out in your living room in unmistakable Lian Li style. Taking the original concept of low profile and slim designs and turning it completely around; there is no need to hide TYR line cases with their sleek Anodized Aluminum Finishes, giving them the resemblance of multimedia speakers. The new TYR PC-X2000F is set to build on the line's success and become the most unique HTPC/gaming chassis on the market today. Allowing unprecedentedly high performance components to be encompassed into the home theater environment without compromising looks or appeal, the new TYR PC-X2000F is definitely worthy of the Lian Li label.

The stylish and unique side panels accept four 5.25" Optical Device Drives (ODD) and one 3.5" drive with tool-less, sliding mounts that can be placed on either the left or right side, while the front face is for ergonomics and airflow. Unlike Lian Li's previously released TYR PC-X2000 that had only two 5.25" ODDs, the new TYR PC-X2000F splits the HDD bays between the upper and lower thermal zones for more efficient cooling. Furthermore, the TYR PC-X2000F's tool-less HDD mounting racks support seven SAS hot swappable HDDs, another increase over the X2000. The spacious interior can accommodate virtually any system you can think of.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced how it's working with Logitec to implement next-generation security encryption on its latest range of NAS products.

Logitec Inc, a leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of PC peripheral equipment and storage devices is one of the first companies to take advantage of the VIA ACE-CNX security service. VIA's team of security experts have worked closely with Logitec, implementing data encryption technologies that meet widely accepted international standards in an entirely seamless, fast and entirely unobtrusive end-user NAS experience.

RunCore released enterprise-grade variants of its Kylin II series SSDs which it introduced a few months ago in the consumer SATA interface form. The new variants come in 2.5" and 3.5" form-factors, and use the Serial attached SCSI (SAS) interface. Kylin II uses single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash, though multi-level cell (MLC) variants are also available. The Kylin II features native ECC to eliminate read/write errors. Despite the ECC overhead, the drives manage read/write speeds of up to 270 and 260 MB/s, respectively. The SandForce SF-1500 SSD processor makes use of 64 MB cache memory. The Kylin II comes in capacities ranging from 50 GB to 400 GB. Although RunCore didn't let out its pricing or availability, it is expected to cost a premium for being enterprise-grade.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, is pleased to announce the Company has become an official LSI Alliance Partner. OCZ enterprise class Intrepid SSDs are now qualified for use with LSI's MegaRAID controllers, ensuring optimal compatibility, performance, and reliability.

"OCZ and LSI are both dedicated to the development of innovative, high-performance SAS/SATA solutions, and the partnership between both organizations demonstrates our shared commitment to deliver robust total solutions to our clients that address the complete spectrum of enterprise applications," stated Alex Mei, CMO, OCZ Technology Group.

NiBiTor (short for NVIDIA BIOS Editor) received its latest update. Version 5.5 of the program includes support for new GPUs and limited experimental support for new unknown GPUs. Apart from supporting new GPUs, the new version also includes its usual load of minor bug fixes that improve stability and usability.

GPUs supported from this version on, include:

• GeForce 210
• GeForce GT 220
• GeForce GT 230
• GeForce GT 240
• GeForce GTS 250M

A future version of NiBiTor will include official support for GF100-derived GPUs, though early-access to that version can be had by supporting the project.

DOWNLOAD: NiBiTor v5.5

AMD let loose no less than six new processor models in its value-mainstream Athlon II series. Spread across its dual-core (X2), triple-core (X3), and quad-core (X4) lines, the new models seek to displace existing ones from their price-points and hold key value market positions. Leading the pack is the Athlon II X4 640. Based on the 45 nm Propus die, the X4 640 has a clock speed of 3.00 GHz (15 x 200 MHz), with 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 4 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 interface. Built on the AM3 package, the X4 640 supports DDR3 and DDR2 memory standards. It has a TDP of 95W. This chip is priced at $122. The second quad-core model is the energy-efficient Athlon II X4 610e. With a clock speed of 2.40 GHz (12 x 200 MHz), the X4 610e comes with half the TDP of standard models, just 45W. Energy efficiency comes at a small premium, with the X4 610e going for $145 a piece.

The triple-core Athlon II X3 series also gets two additions, with the X3 445 and X3 415e. The X3 445 is based on the Rana die (Propus with one core disabled), and has L2 cache of 512 KB per core. It is clocked at 3.10 GHz (15.5 x 200 MHz), and has a TDP of 95W. It is priced at $87. The energy-efficient X3 415e is clocked at 2.50 GHz (12.5 x 200 MHz), has 45W TDP, and is priced at $102. Dual-core Athlon II X2 chips get the same treatment, with a new fast and energy-efficient model, each. Based on the 45 nm Regor die, the Athlon II X2 has two physical cores with 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The Athlon II X2 260 introduced now, has a clock speed of 3.20 GHz (16 x 200 MHz), 65W TDP, and is priced at $76. The energy-efficient X2 245e is clocked at 2.90 GHz (14.5 x 200 MHz), and has a TDP of 45W. This one goes for $77. All prices are per unit in 1000-unit tray quantities.

Following the apparently-successful launch of the ROG Crosshair IV Formula, ASUS is preparing the second, even-higher end offering under the Republic of Gamers (ROG) series for the socket AM3 platform, the Crosshair IV Extreme. First pictured and detailed in March, the Crosshair IV Extreme turned out to be a little more than just a beefier Crosshair IV Formula with a stronger VRM and more expansion slots; it has an important addition to its feature-set which was revealed after some websites pictured the board without its chipset heatsink. The Crosshair IV Extreme makes use of the Lucid Hydra engine, with a 32-lane Hydra bridge chip that supports 3~4 graphics cards. While the AMD 890FX isn't deficient of PCI-Express lanes, the addition of Hydra gives the motherboard the unique ability to mix and match graphics cards, with special modes for pairing ATI GPUs, NVIDIA GPUs, and ATI + NVIDIA GPUs. Another feature that got revealed with the heatsinks off is the CPU VRM, which makes use of no less than 11 independent phases, and a super ML capacitor that helps voltage tuning with high precision, and conditions CPU voltage better than conventional capacitors. ASUS may choose Computex as the ideal launch-vehicle for the Crosshair IV Extreme.

Sapphire is back to its vocation of being a motherboard vendor, the popular ATI Radeon board partner designed a new socket AM3 motherboard based on the new AMD 890GX + SB850 chipset, dubbed the Sapphire Pure CrossfireX 890GX. The board is built on the ATX form-factor, though comes with only four expansion slots spaced out. The AM3 CPU is powered by a 10-phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. The AMD 890GX northbridge is cooled by a large heatsink which shares its heat with one of the VRM heatsinks. The ATI Radeon HD 4290 IGP is assisted by 128 MB of SidePort memory apart from sharing the system memory.

Out of the four expansion slots, two are PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated) with some sort of manual PCI-E lane switching, and one each of PCI-E x1 and PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, while an additional controller provides an IDE connector (for two IDE devices). The eSATA port is driven by manually connecting it with one of the internal ports. Connectivity includes 8 channel audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF, USB 3.0, and display connectivity, which includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI with 7.1 channel audio. Available soon, Sapphire is yet to disclose its price.

Intel is working on a small design change to the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition processor. The change covers the Intel thermal solution (HSF) only, and consists of a redesigned impeller that makes it quieter, overall. This is done by downsizing the edge of the impeller blades to 0.3 mm, and perforating the impeller hub (central portion connected to the motor). The slightly revised Core i7 980X Extreme Edition package should start shipping from June 7.

Patriot Memory is planning two highlights for its Computex 2010 booth among a number of new products the company will release around that time. Jumping into the DDR3-2500 MHz bandwagon, Patriot will introduce Viper II Series Sector 5 Edition 2500MHz memory kits that come in dual-channel 4 GB and triple-channel 6 GB variants. The modules will be able to operate at 2500 MHz with relatively tight timings of 9-11-9-27T, and voltage ranging between 1.65 to 1.7V. On the solid-state drive (SSD) front, Patriot will introduce new SSDs that make use of the popular SandForce-made SSD controllers. Patriot's booth will be up at Computex between June 1 and June 5, 2010.

Inno3D released the non-reference design GeForce GTX 470 Hawk graphics card. The card is characterized by the large iChill heatsink which uses a large aluminum fin array that's cooled by three fans. Despite its proportions, the company claims the cooler's noise level to be only around 18 - 29 dBA (max), compared to the up to 38 dBA of the reference cooler. As far as performance goes, Inno3D claims the cooler keeps temperatures up to 22 °C lower than what the reference cooler manages, around the 70 °C mark on load.

Apart from the cooler, the Inno3D GTX 470 Hawk uses a fairly standard NVIDIA reference design PCB that is green in color, and comes with reference clock speeds of 608/1215/837 MHz (core/shader/memory). Like any other GTX 470, the card has 448 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory installed on a 320-bit wide memory interface.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in DRAM memory and Flash application products, today released a new 2.5" portable hard drive SH02. Stylishly crafted in 3-dimensional chic imprint patterns with special surface finishing, SH02 is an in-style digital accessory for the fashionistas.

"We search for any possibility of applying new technology and combine with the latest design elements and details to come up with innovative storage products that differentiate ours from other competitors," said C.K. Hung, Vice President of A-DATA Technology Product Planning Group. "SH02 is a perfect example of combining new surface finishing technology with a designer look, creating a practical yet trendy portable HDD to the market."

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of computing, consumer electronics and communications solutions, today announced that its VX2739wm - the world's first 27" Full HD monitor with a blazing fast 1ms response time - is available for pre-order.

"We have been in the monitor business for more than 20 years, and every day we continue to innovate and push the limits of what is possible," said Sean Gunduz, senior product manager for ViewSonic. "We are proud to announce that our new VX2739wm is the world's first and only 27" 1080p entertainment monitor to offer a 1ms response time. This is truly an industry-leading display experience."

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a new discovery; our latest flash drives, designed for USB 3.0, also offer measurable performance improvements as USB 2.0 drives.

The majority of performance USB 2.0 flash drives utilize dual-channel architectures. Our USB 3.0 flash drives are based on quad-channel designs and beyond. This architectural difference enables SuperTalent USB 3.0 drives to achieve a measurable performance increase even on the USB 2.0 bus.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced the publication of JESD84-A441: Embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) Product Standard v4.41. Continuing the evolution of eMMC as an industry-leading memory technology, the new v4.41 contains corrections of critical errata found in the previous v4.4 specification, and offers new, optional features that designers may utilize to improve system performance. The v4.41 update is a replacement of v4.4 which is now considered obsolete. JESD84-A441 is available for free download at www.jedec.org.

Designed for a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, navigational systems and other industrial uses, eMMC is an embedded non-volatile memory system, comprised of both flash memory and a flash memory controller, which simplifies the application interface design and frees the host processor from low-level flash memory management. This benefits product developers by simplifying the non-volatile memory interface design and qualification process - resulting in a reduction in time-to-market as well as facilitating support for future flash device offerings. Small BGA package sizes and low power consumption make eMMC a viable, low-cost memory solution for mobile and other space-constrained products.

Corsair, a worldwide supplier of high-performance PC components, today announced the launch of the Dominator GTX4, a new ultra-high-speed module with operation guaranteed up to 2533 MHz. These modules are available immediately, in limited quantity, from the Corsair Online Store.

Producing modules that perform at these extraordinary speeds requires an extremely meticulous, manual screening process, and each module represents the fastest thirty-two RAMs out of literally thousands of candidates. Each RAM chip is individually screened and graded for performance. The top few percent are set aside for assembly onto GTX4 modules, the balance are returned to normal manufacturing. Modules are then carefully assembled using these premium ICs, and only the fastest make the GTX grade. For an inside look on how this screening is done, click here.

Galaxy is ready with its 100% non-reference design graphics card based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 GPU, the Galaxy GTX 470 GC Version. The card makes use of Galaxy engineering with both the PCB and cooler designs. The card features a blue PCB, which is 0.5 inch shorter than the reference design (at 9 inches), and pushes the two 6-pin power connectors to the rear-end of the card. The cooling assembly uses a large aluminum fin array cooling all vital parts, covered with a silvery plastic found on action figures. Galaxy innovated a little with the fan, which can be partly detached from the rest of the cooler to help clean it and the heatsink under it.

The card is overclocked out of the box, with speeds of 625 MHz / 1250 MHz / 837 or 3348 MHz (effective), for the core, shader, and memory, respectively. Like every other GTX 470 based card, it is DirectX 11 compliant, and has 448 CUDA cores, 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 320-bit wide interface, and is 2/3/4-way SLI capable. Display connectivity includes two DVI-D, and HDMI with integrated audio. A test by the source shows that with this cooling solution, the GTX 470 GC Version manages to keep the GPU at around 88 degrees Celsius with Furmark load. It is expected that the card will be available in the US as early as by tomorrow.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced availability of an eight gigabit (Gb) OneNAND chip that takes advantage of advanced 30 nanometer (nm) class process technology. Based on a single-level-cell (SLC) NAND flash design, the new high-density OneNAND addresses the need for more code data storage in smartphones, a trend being driven by the increasing use of diverse application software and larger amounts of multimedia software. The high-density OneNAND memory is now sampling with volume production scheduled by the end of this month.

"We are happy to see that our advanced 30nm-class NAND solution is being widely adopted in smartphones," said Sejin Kim, vice president, Flash memory planning/enabling, Samsung Electronics. "The availability of an 8Gb OneNAND chip will add considerably to our diverse line-up of advanced mobile memory solutions.

"Not only does our new OneNAND nicely address the need for higher density memory in smartphones, but it will enable the addition of many more features, bringing greater customer value, while broadening the scope of the OneNAND market."

Netstor Technology today introduces its added external PCI Express expansion box series to its product line - the TurboBox-mini NA220A, a compact external PCI Express enclosure for ease-of-adding one extra PCI Express card to a laptop, desktop PC or server. Netstor once again demonstrates its dedications in bringing complete and cost-effective PCIe expansion solutions to its customers worldwide.

The portable, aluminum housing form factor of NA220A at case size of 254x198x58 mm (D.W.H.) is designed with a PCIe x16 connector and double width space that allow users to install their single or double width standard height PCI Express cards. Netstor's host adapter is now ready for the PCIe 2.0 specification, hence offering a double bandwidth of 20 Gb/s. Backward PCIe 1.0 is also compatible for a bandwidth of 10 Gb/s.

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. launches the PC-V352 Desktop/HTPC Chassis. The all aluminum design features right or left side mounts for ODD bays and multimedia I/O ports, giving users the flexibility to place the PC-V352 in any position they wish without sacrificing easy access. The sleek brushed aluminum chassis comes in black, silver and red, with a clean, easy-on-the-eyes front panel design. The dimensions stand at 279 x 262 x 373mm (W.H.D). The chassis comes with all the functional and user friendly design aspects that users have come to expect in a Lian Li's case.

Lian Li engineers have combined airflow, noise reducing and tool-less design techniques throughout the PC-V352. The removable motherboard tray allows for easy setup and supports both Micro ATX or Mini ITX and the elegant outer-panels give users the confidence to place the PC-V352 as conspicuously as they wish. Tool-less, sliding designed with anti-vibration rubber ring suspension, the PC-V352 can hold three 3.5" HDDs. The chassis owns two 120mm fans at the front for drawing cool air in, strategically placed directly in front of the motherboard, as well as one 80mm fan in the back, controlled by a 3-speed fan switch, for drawing hot air out. Additionally, the fans are mounted with special anti-vibration grommets making them capable of running almost silently.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and memory modules for computing devices and systems, announces the Enyo Portable SSD, utilizing the next generation USB 3.0 interface. The Enyo features all the performance and durability advantages of an internal SSD but delivers portability with an external storage solution for on-the-go users who need to share files between various PC systems.

"We are continually searching for new ways to make the benefits of solid state storage available to consumers, and our new Enyo SSD is designed to make those benefits portable," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "The Enyo is a sleek external SSD that makes use of the increasingly popular SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface to make transferring anything from spreadsheets to high definition movies significantly faster than traditional media. Consumers never have to leave home without their valuable files again."

NEC released a new professional display, the MultiSync PA271W. Its 27-inch panel has an aspect ratio of 16:9, with a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The 10-bit IPS panel is capable of covering 97.1 percent of AdobeRGB colour space. Other important specifications include panel response time of 7 ms (GTG), static contrast ratio of 1000:1, maximum brightness of 300 cd/m², and inputs which include DVI and DisplayPort.

The display has 15 cm height-adjustable stand, which allows the panel to pivot, swivel, and tilt. With its dual inputs, the display offers picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture features. The AmbiBright feature senses ambient lighting conditions and adjusts the display's brightness automatically. Backed by a 4-year warranty, the NEC MultiSync PA271W sells for US $1,649.

Walton Chaintech, manufacturer of memory module and computer components and accessories, today announces its APOGEE Neo Squeeze Plus & APOGEE S Series USB flash drives. Differently from the previous launch of N Series specifically adapted with the luxury image, the APGOΣΣNeo Squeeze Plus and APOGΣΣS101 and S102 mainly target on the business executives and users who value the best.

Designed to meet the needs of business professionals, both the APOGΣΣ Neo Squeeze Plus and APOGΣΣS Series are light and slim. At only 57.5 x 19 x 8.8 mm (L.W.H.) and 55.5 x 21.8 x 10.2 mm (L.W.H.) for the Neo Squeeze Plus and S101, respectively, both flash drives are as light as 20g with the Surface Mount Technology (SMT) PCB Assembly. Taking in a very compact housing design, the S102 even weights only 12g with the Chip On Board (COB) System in Packaging (SIP). These technologies also secure the flash drives' duration and performance.

Benefitting from the company's power-saving architecture, transistor and circuit design expertise, plus unique manufacturing process techniques, Intel Corporation today unveiled its newest Intel Atom processor-based platform (formerly "Moorestown").

The technology package provides significantly lower power consumption and prepares the company to target a range of computing devices, including high-end smartphones, tablets and other mobile handheld products. The chips bring Intel's classic product strengths - outstanding performance to run a comprehensive and growing number of rich media and Internet applications, a choice of software, and the ability to easily multitask - across a number of applications, including HD video and multi-point videoconferencing.

Seagate, the worldwide leader in hard drives and storage solutions, today introduced the next evolution of the company's award-winning FreeAgent external hard drives-its new GoFlex storage solutions. This new family of external drives and accessories introduces a new level of flexibility to traditional USB 2.0 storage that will change the way people store, access, enjoy and share their digital content. The FreeAgent GoFlex storage family includes easy, plug-and-play portable and desktop drives, with an array of interchangeable cables and desktop adapters that allow each drive to adapt to the interface or device being used. GoFlex hard disk drives are also specially designed to provide interoperability between operating systems in order to work with both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X computers.

"GoFlex interface cables are about providing the speed, performance and connectivity people need to support their interaction with their digital content. The explosive growth of video capture and multimedia collecting is expanding personal digital libraries to terabytes worth of content within the home," said Dave Mosley, executive vice president, Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management at Seagate. "These trends are driving demand for high-capacity, high-performance storage. The GoFlex family of storage products meets this need by delivering simple, USB 2.0 storage and backup devices, with the flexibility to adapt as interface technology advances by using the various GoFlex cables and accessories to access content stored on the same drive."

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced it has begun shipping the ultra-portable Lexar Echo SE and Lexar Echo ZE flash-based drives to traditional and online retail channels. Netbook and notebook users can now automatically and conveniently back up files while on the go, using the plug-and-stay, low-profile ZE or the high-capacity, high-performance SE drive.

During the month of May 2010, the Echo SE and ZE drives will be available exclusively through online retailer Amazon.com in the U.S. The Echo line will also be available for purchase through brick-and-mortar outlets in select countries worldwide, including Staples in the United Kingdom, FNAC in France, Media Markt in Germany, and top consumer electronics stores in Italy.

Razer, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, is proud to announce the Razer Abyssus Mirror Special Edition gaming mouse. Combining a sleek and simple design with a high performance 3.5G 3500 dpi infrared sensor, the Razer Abyssus Mirror Special Edition features a special edition black chrome mirror finish while maintaining all of the key features of the original Razer Abyssus.

"The black chrome mirror finish of the Razer Abyssus Mirror Special Edition adds a certain stylistic sensibility to the desktop," said Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, president, Razer USA. "The Razer Abyssus Mirror is designed for gamers that prefer a slick glossy aesthetic finish. It also serves as the ideal complement to other reflective peripherals, such as the Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition keyboard."

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs), memory modules, and power supplies for computing devices and systems, has unveiled the Silencer Mk II Power Supply Unit (PSU), the latest PC Power & Cooling solution.

"I am thrilled see the new Silencer Mk II brought to market and provide the premier power management solution to power users of all kinds, from enthusiasts to industrial OEMs," commented Ryan Edwards, Director of Product Management at OCZ Technology. "The Mk II is a perfect blend of proven, long-term technology and the newest cutting-edge design. With 25 years of high-performance power supply experience, PC Power & Cooling has always been at the forefront of the computing industry, and the Silencer Mk II represents an exciting new chapter in a long history of providing uncompromising quality and lasting value to its customers."

Lian Li Industrial Co. Ltd. today announces its brand-new TYR series - the PC-X900 mid-tower chassis. With the hair-line brushed anodized aluminum finishing and its intelligent multi-heat zone design, the PC-X900 fits perfectly in the living room as a home theater system, as well as proving a complete thermal solution to the gamers. Lian Li once again proves its dedications in bringing a convenient and stylish life with the cutting-edge technology and tool-less design to its customers worldwide.

Dimensioned at 230 x 598 x 388mm (W.H.D.), the PC-X900 is a mid-tower chassis, an alternative choice between the smaller PC-X500 and the full-size PC-X2000 from Lian Li's product line. Net weight at 8.22kg, it includes three 5.25" optical drives, seven 3.5" hard drives separated in two cages, all with the patented tool-less design. Supporting ATX/M-ATX motherboards, the PC-X900 can hold video cards maximum of 300mm length, as well as occupying seven PCI slots and four USB 3.0 ports mounted on the top cover alongside one e-SATA HD audio port. The TYR PC-X900 is available in red, black and silver colors.

Japanese cooling specialist Scythe presents under the name of "Stronger" its new power supply series. These power supplies are now available with an output of 500 W, 600 W and 700 W both as a plug-in version with cable management for comfort, as well as a standard version with sleeved mesh cables.

The Stronger power supplies meet the 80Plus certification (at 20/50/100% load) and are based on an updated version of the proven technology that was already used in the Kamariki 4 series. In design terms, the Stronger series is also admirable. Simple yet stylish, matt black finish fits perfectly into the overall visual image of most PC cases. The 45 to 55 cm long cable strands of the plug-in, as well as the standard version are completely encased in durable, black mesh tube.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the addition of two new drives to their award-winning Nova Series SSD family. The 32GB Nova Series SSD is the perfect mix of performance and value for use as a boot drive for basic configurations, and can also be used in high-performance multi-drive RAID configurations. The 256GB Nova Series SSD is an excellent choice for systems that need both high performance and large capacity. Both drives utilize the popular Indilinx Barefoot controller.

The 256GB Nova Series SSD is able to achieve speeds of up to 250 MB/second read and 195 MB/second write, while the 32GB Nova Series SSD delivers speeds up to 195 MB/s read and 75 MB/s write. Each drive fully supports the TRIM command used by Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, to maintain optimal performance automatically over the lifetime of the drives.

Up until now, the third DirectX 11 compliant graphics SKU by NVIDIA, which was referred to as "GeForce GTX 460" has some confirmation in its naming, NVIDIA refers to it as "GeForce GTX 465". Some of its lesser known specifications that have come to light are: Clock speeds of 607 MHz (core), 1215 MHz (shader), and 801 MHz or 3206 MHz effective (memory). With a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, the card will feature 1 GB of memory. NVIDIA is said to have managed a TDP of 215W. The price-range targeted by this SKU is US $259 to $299. If market positioning of this SKU is anything to go by, the GTX 465 should be competitive with ATI Radeon HD 5850 and HD 5830.

Zotac is ready with one of the first non-reference design GeForce GTX 480 graphics card, the Zotac GTX 480 amp! Edition. At the center of its design is the Zalman VF3000 GPU cooler sitting atop an NVIDIA reference design PCB. Overclocked out of the box, the amp! Edition card has clock speeds of 750 MHz (core), 1512 MHz (shader), and 950 MHz / 3800 MHz effective (memory), against reference speeds of 700/1401/924(3700) MHz.

The gigantic VF3000 cooler makes the card require three expansion slots. As with every other GTX 480, the GTX 480 Amp! Edition packs 480 CUDA cores, is DirectX 11 compliant, and has 1536 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide interface. Zotac has not let out any more information, particularly pricing and availability.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the new VIA EPIA-M830 Mini-ITX board. Designed specifically to meet the needs of next generation kiosk, POI and POS applications, the VIA EPIA-M830 places the latest 64-bit, high performance VIA Nano E-Series processor in a streamlined, application specific Mini-ITX form factor board.

Kiosk and POS systems will soon support an incredible array of increasingly complex human-machine interactions that reach beyond traditional ticketing or retail scenarios. The VIA EPIA-M830 is designed to take the kiosk to this next phase, providing the backbone of devices that offer cashless purchasing and self service infrastructures in supermarkets and gas stations as well as more secure and interactive, multimedia-rich POI, lotto and gaming machines.

MSI recently added the CX705MX, a supersized 17.3" laptop equipped with the ATi Radeon HD 545V discrete graphics card, to its Classic notebook computer series. It is clad in color film print (with MSI's exclusive classy cross hatch design) for extra protection against scratches and wear. The 45-degree beveled edge construction is unique to MSI. Mobile computing was never so classy.

MSI Marketing Director Sam Chern points out that the CX705MX comes equipped with the ATi Radeon HD 545V discrete graphics card for excellent multimedia performance and that, despite the oversized screen, this notebook is a lightweight, tipping the scales at less than 3kg. Add to that the stylishly elegant body, graced with MSI's own cross hatch design, the CX705MX allows you and your friends to enjoy an audio/visual feast whenever and wherever you like.

AMD today announced a remote graphics option for IT managers seeking to replace existing desktop workstations with energy-efficient thin-client solutions. The ATI FirePro RG220 graphics card delivers a wide-ranging compute experience from the datacenter without compromise, and is designed to help IT managers reduce local power and cooling costs per user while limiting the amount of physical hardware at users' desks.

"Power consumption restrictions in crowded office buildings cause headaches for IT managers trying to find the right balance between energy efficiency, system performance and IT spend for the work environments they manage," said Janet Matsuda, senior director, Professional Graphics, AMD. "The ATI FirePro RG220 can be part of a secure, easy to manage solution, and is now available to enterprises that need to deploy updates to multiple users simultaneously, while still giving the end user the full PC experience they're accustomed to."

Imation Corp., already a market leader in secure data storage, is launching the industry's broadest portfolio of products to protect information on external hard drives, flash drives, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and similar "at-rest" storage devices from hackers, identity thieves and other electronic intruders. The company's new Defender Collection line of digital storage products is engineered to meet rigorous domestic and international encryption standards, as well as protect government, financial, health care, consumer and other industries for which data security is paramount.

"The need for data-at-rest security solutions is rapidly growing, with data breaches costing U.S. organizations at least $45 billion annually," said Keith Schwartz, director of strategic growth and public sector for Imation's global commercial business. "With decades of leadership in data storage, Imation is in a unique position to help solve the security problems created by the significant expansion of electronic information."

Intel Capital, Intel Corporation's global investment organization, today demonstrated its ongoing support for technological innovation with the announcement of three U.S.-based investments totaling approximately $15 million. The deals include eldercare website Caring.com, real estate investment ratings provider SmartZip Analytics and infrastructure services provider Virtustream.

In addition to these three investments, Intel Capital also highlighted several recently announced investments. These include educational gaming company Tabula Digita, Carrier Ethernet solutions provider Overture Networks and advertising technology company BlackArrow.

Thermaltake, leading DIY chassis brand, is launching their latest mid-tower chassis with 2 blue LED-fans creating a spectacular combat ambiance, the ARMOR A90. Its entirely black "bulletproof" armor design with metal mesh elements and an reinforced front door lend the ARMOR A90 an extremely stylish and powerful appearance that attracts gamers and in particular MMORPG enthusiasts. A special lock mechanism for your mouse and keyboards ensures that you'll always stay in arms.

Massive storage expansion is warranted for by 6 x 3.5", 3 x 5.25", 1 x accessible 5.25" and 1 x 2.5" HDD/SSD bays. Optimized multimedia connectivity is prodived for by a total of 4 USB 2.0 ports, of which two are located on the top and two are positioned in the front. An additional eSATA connector on the top of the case makes it most convenient to connect your mobile storage device, while the HD microphone and headset connectors in the front offer you quick and short access.

Transcend Information, Inc., a global leader in storage and multimedia products, today announced the expansion of its aXeRam product line with the introduction of 6GB DDR3-2000 triple-channel and 4GB DDR3-1600 dual-channel kits. Featuring unparalleled overclocking performance with an exceptionally low voltage of just 1.6V, both new memory kits are designed to meet the strict RAM requirements of gamers and enthusiasts.

Transcend's aXeRam DDR3-2000 memory is now available in triple-channel configuration, designed specifically for high-end motherboards sporting Intel's X58 chipset, including the ASUS P6X58D PREMIUM and Gigabyte's GA-X58A-UD3R. The 6GB DDR3-2000 kit consists of three 2GB modules rated at 2000MHz with timings of 9-9-9-24 and an operating voltage of a mere 1.6V, offering memory bandwidth up to an incredible 48GB/s-an increase of 35% compared to standard 1333MHz memory. Thanks to Transcend's adoption of high thermal efficiency aluminum heat sinks with cooling fins, the aXeRam DDR3-2000 memory kit gives enthusiasts a performance advantage through optimized heat diffusion while overclocking and gaming.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today introduced the newest addition to its StoreJet family, the StoreJet 25D2 2.5-inch portable hard drive. This attractive new USB 2.0 model combines a lustrous gloss finish with an advanced internal hard drive suspension system, striking a perfect balance between outward appearance and inner quality.

The passport-sized StoreJet 25D2 portable hard drive is sleek and stylish with a mirror-like high gloss outer finish, yet it is also remarkably tough and rugged. Under its seemingly delicate case is an advanced internal hard drive suspension system that helps prevent damage caused by accidental slips or falls during travel. For further piece of mind, its useful anti-slip rubber feet provide a stable base for resting on a table or computer case. Also an eco-friendly drive, the StoreJet 25D2 is designed to automatically go into power-saving sleep mode after ten minutes of inactivity, allowing energy-savings of up to 30%.

ASUS introduced its newest Eee PC, the 1005PR 10.1-inch netbook. Equipped with a 1366 x 768 pixel screen, the 1005PR is capable of 720p HD video playback, although the HD video processing is done by its Broadcom Crystal HD processor, which aides the Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz processor. There is 1 GB of DDR2 memory, 250 GB of storage along with 500 GB of cloud-based storage, 0.3 MP webcam, 10/100 Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, and "Chiclet" keyboard that is said to offer good tactile feedback. The 6-cell battery is rated to go for up to 11 hours on a full charge. Windows 7 Starter is the OS of choice. Backed with 1 year warranty, the Eee PC 1005PR retails for around $400.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today announced the TS-859U-RP Business Series Turbo NAS server enclosure, the most affordable 2U rack-mounted unit with 8 hot-swappable 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard disk drives and a redundant power-supply for maximum up-time in corporate and entry-level enterprise datacenters where high performance, high data-availability, and maximum reliability are paramount. QNAP is the only network appliance company to currently offer 8-drive NAS enclosures, and does so in desktop and rack-mounted configurations.

The TS-859U-RP features a dual-core Intel Atom D510 1.66GHz CPU and 1GB DDRII RAM, delivering exceptionally fast performance coupled with ultra-low power consumption that translates into lower total cost of ownership without sacrificing performance. The TS-859U-RP contains two power units. Should one power supply fail, the other will continue to supply the power for the entire system and alert the administrator via email or SMS to the failure. The TS-859U-RP is chock full of advanced networking features including dual Gigabit LAN ports with 7 bonding modes, including failover (if one network port fails, the other LAN port is still active), load-balancing (aggregates the network load to boost transfer speed), multiple-IP settings. The fail-safe dual OS DOM architecture for positive system boot ups, and single, JBOD, RAID 0/1/5/6/5+ hot spare/6+ hot spare with online RAID capacity expansion and online RAID level migration, and RAID recovery. The TS-859U-RP also features iSCSI for business, which allows easy network storage capacity expansion by simply attaching other QNAP Turbo NAS units to the network and establishing virtual volumes, a feature not offered by other competitors currently in this product segment.

BIOSTAR MICROTECH INT'L CORP., a professional manufacturer of motherboards today reveals its new "TA890FXE" motherboard with "BIO-unlocKING" utility that makes it possible to turn a budget quad-core version of a CPU into full six-cores for significant computing gains.

AMD new Phenom II X6 processor with 890FX chipset combination, a high-powered computing platform designed to meet the demand of today's gaming enthusiasts. The AMD Phenom II X6 processor can switch between utilizing two or three cores for functions such as running productivity software to six cores for content creation and immersive 3D applications.

NVIDIA today released two beta GeForce driver packages, 197.75 beta for GeForce 400 series products, and 197.57 beta for GeForce 6 series thru GeForce 300 series. While these drivers don't come with big lists of changes, NVIDIA recommends that you use these drivers to play the beta release of APB (All Points Bulletin).

DOWNLOAD:

• GeForce 197.75 beta for GeForce 400 series, for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit;
• GeForce 197.54 beta for GeForce 6 series thru GeForce 300 series, for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

The results are out for the first round (period from late March thru all of April) in running of the ASUS and TechPowerUp Hardware Giveaway. The giveaway is an ongoing event for users of TechPowerUp GPU-Z, brought to you by ASUS. In each of the three months this giveaway is spread across, we will pick six lucky winners who win some groovy prizes from ASUS. This month's winners and prizes are as follows:

• Jacob from Vietnam wins ASUS ROG Matrix HD 5870 graphics card
• Radek from The Czech Republic wins ASUS ROG Rampage II Extreme motherboard
• Janusz from Poland wins ASUS 23" LCD Screen
• ASUS Blu-Ray DVDROM was won by:
  o Matt from United States
  o Johannes from Germany
  o Daryl from The Philippines

ASUS will contact the following individuals directly and arrange shipping of these prizes. This month's round saw over 40,000 entries. Best of luck for this month's round, if you have already made a submission in this round, you don't need to make a submission again. Being an ongoing contest, winners are picked from an ever-growing pool of submissions. Redundant entries are disqualified. Good Luck for this month's round. Below is a nerdtastic map of where the contest's participants hail from.

Call it a slip of the keyboard, the latest online build to order catalogue of Eurocom's performance laptops includes a new choice of graphics board, the "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M". It's not as much the entry, but details next to it that are interesting. This card, according to Eurocom, is said to be based on the Fermi architecture, is compliant with DirectX 11 (so it's not yet another re-branding), is built on the 40 nm manufacturing process, and has a power rating of [just] 100W. The card is compliant with the MXM 3.0b board standard. Eurocom sets the option's ETA to June 2010, and adds 271€ over the base configuration. In comparison, the GeForce GTX 285M SLI option (based on two G92 GPUs) asks for 339€ over the base configuration.

While by notebooks' standards 100W is on the higher side, it is astoundingly low by standards of NVIDIA's GeForce Fermi architecture, serving as a reasonable indication of NVIDIA's more energy-efficient Fermi-derived GPUs arriving to the scene in June. At the moment, unreliable sources point at NVIDIA expanding its GeForce 400 series lineup further down performance and mainstream segments, coinciding with Computex 2010 held in Taiwan.

ASUS today continues to deliver on its promise of cutting edge technological and design innovations with the launch of the EeeKeyboard PC-a fully-functional PC concealed within a svelte and stylish keyboard. First unveiled to a tremendous reception at CES 2009 and subsequently garnering 1st place at the CeBIT-PreView 2009 Awards, the portable 1kg EeeKeyboard PC works with any HDTV, monitor, or projector to turn itself into a full-fledged PC. It provides users with a wireless computing platform, with Ultra-wideband (UWB) Wireless Display connectivity enabling it to stream HD 720p videos up to a 5-meter range (maximum 10-meter range for non-video transfers). Its built-in 5" multi-touch panel provides users with an interactive and intuitive means of directing the on-screen cursor to launch programs, send instant messages, and control its media player.

The lightweight, space-saving EeeKeyboard PC lends itself perfectly to a myriad of uses at home and in the office. The high-speed wireless multimedia and communication capabilities of the EeeKeyboard PC can be enjoyed with any HDTV, monitor or projector*. Connect the EeeKeyboard PC to a HDTV in the living room to turn it into the family multimedia entertainment center; hook it up with a monitor in the study or office and use it as a normal PC; or pair it with a projector in a conference room for presentations.