Xtremer has announced its eTRAYz NAS. This 2-bay SATA NAS falls in the entry-level segment and boasts of affordability. It provides up to 4 TB of storage (using two 2 TB SATA hard drives) over network or USB. The drives can be set up into independent disks, RAID 0 or RAID 1. There is one gigabit Ethernet and two USB 2.0 ports for connectivity. It features a "RapidShare-like" web interface with eTRAYz dropbox function. The interface also features photo-album and backup functions. Jdownloader coupled with a bit-torrent engine makes it a self-contained download machine. The eTRAYz starts shipping in November. Existing users of Xtreamer media player can pre-order the eTRAYz for 59€. For everyone else, it will sell for 99€.

Noctua today presented the latest version of its successful NH-U12P series of premium quality quiet CPU coolers. The new NH-U12P SE2 now supports Intel's upcoming LGA1156 based Core i5 and Core i7 "Lynnfield" CPUs while maintaining compatibility with LGA1366, LGA775 and AM3 processors. Like the SE1366 version, the NH-U12P SE2 offers a premium value package with Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound and two NF-P12 120mm fans.

"Users loved our LGA1366 special edition of the NH-U12P cooler, but many asked whether they could get the same premium package with dual fans for other sockets as well", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "We thought that the impending launch of Intel's new Lynnfield CPUs would be a great opportunity to come up with a new special edition that not only supports the new socket but also offers the multi-socket compatibility of the original NH-U12P, so the NH-U12P SE2 was born."

ASUS is building on its Glaciator Fansink graphics card cooler design, with its newest implementation on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 graphics card. Dubbed Glaciator+ GTX 260 (model: ENGTX260 GL+/HTDI/896MD3), the new card makes use of the Glaciator+ Fansink cooler. The cooler is simpler than its predecessors in having a 5.8 oz copper GPU block from which anodized aluminum fins project radially. A PWM-controlled fan is nested in the center. While the NVIO2 processor gets its own little heatsink, the memory cools off under the fan's air-flow. The 4+1 phase VRM cools passively. The card uses reference NVIDIA clock speeds of 576/1242/999 MHz (core/shader/memory). The 55 nm G200b core provides 216 shader processors, and is wired to 896 MB of GDDR3 memory across a 448-bit interface. ASUS ENGTX260 GL+/HTDI/896MD3 has started selling in the US for $172.99.Images Courtesy: Newegg.com

AMD is updating its Phenom II X3 triple-core processor lineup with the Phenom II X3 740 (PIB model: HDZ740WFK3DGI). With a clock speed of 3.00 GHz, the X3 740 succeeds the X3 720, although a Black Edition branding is expected, it can not be confirmed right now. Based on the 45 nm Heka core, the X3 740 features a total cache of 7.5 MB (3x 512 KB L2 + 6 MB L3). It features a bus multiplier of 15.0x which could be unlocked if it indeed is a Black Edition chip. It has a rated TDP of 95W. Following its launch tentatively in late September, it could end up being priced in the $130~$150 range, like its predecessor when it first hit shelves.

Gigabyte's recently detailed lineup of socket LGA-1156 processors includes the now-pictured P55M-UD2 entry-level motherboard based on the micro-ATX form factor. This model confirms that there will be motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, that are priced under US $100. Utilizing the Ultra Durable 3 construction, Gigabyte ensures low-price doesn't make way for low-quality. The socket LGA-1156 processor is powered by a 6+1 phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Expansion slots include one PCI-E 2.0 x16, one PCI-E x16 (electrical x4), and two PCI slots along the way.

Unlike its UD4 cousin, this board doesn't split the PCI-E x16 slot to two electrical x8 slots, and it doesn't support NVIDIA SLI technology either. ATI CrossFireX isn't left out. Of the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports the P55 PCH provides, five are internal, and one assigned as eSATA. An additional Gigabyte G-SATA controller provides two internal SATA 3 Gb/s ports and an IDE connector for two devices. Connectivity options include 10 external and four internal USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire 400 ports, eSATA, PS/2 mouse-keyboard combo connector, and 8-channel audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF output connectors. The P55M-UD2 has begun getting listings on etailers for US $99.45.

AMD today announced the immediate availability of the new Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor at 40W ACP. Delivering up to 31 percent higher performance-per-watt over standard Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, the Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor is tailored to meet the demands of customers who need strong performance, but must trim out every watt possible in a server system and reduce the datacenter's power draw.

ASUS implemented an interesting design with its high-end P7P55D Premium motherboard, that makes use of a PLX PEX8613 3-port/12-lane PCI-E 2.0 bridge chip across its PCI-E 1.1 x4 from the PCH to drive the Marvell 88SE9123 2-port SATA 6 Gbps controller to its full-potential. Apparently the company plans to provide SATA 6 Gbps support using essentially the same design, for all its Intel P55 series motherboards by means of an optional addon card. Much larger than the SATA 6 Gbps card from ASRock, the card from ASUS uses the same basic design that involves PLX PEX8613 as a PCI-E x4 device. The card uses the same SATA 6 Gbps controller to provide 2 internal SATA ports. From the looks of it, the card has placeholders for two controllers, with the second (absent) NEC µPD720200 controller providing USB 3.0 ports. Perhaps a future revision makes use of it. Planned to be offered as an optional accessory, this card could make for a premium over the base models.

It looks like NVIDIA doesn't want AMD to drench the media and consumers with enough hype to ensure a smooth, profitable launch of its "Evergreen" family of DirectX 11 GPUs. The party-crasher this time around is NVIDIA's GT300 graphics processor, which sources claim to be continuing on NVIDIA's design methodology of a powerful, monolithic GPU. AMD's itinerary for September looks fairly clear: press-briefings on and around the 10th (we'll be heading to Munich for ours), a number of previews that follow, and launches towards the end of the month, and market availability soon after, in October.

In essence, AMD ends up with all the limelight for the better part of the quarter, in the run up for the crucial November~December shopping season. Meanwhile, the green camp is reportedly readying its own press-briefings of the GT300 GPU. These will be held in late September. To what scale will the briefings be held, or how ready are they with engineering samples is not known as yet, but possibly enough to gain public attention for its DirectX 11 GPUs.

GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, announces a powerful new addition to its product lineup: the Super Overclock Series. All of the GPUs in this new range of high-end graphics cards have been cherry-picked for top performance, efficiency and reliability. Utilizing GIGABYTE's innovative GPU Gauntlet Sorting process ensures that only premium GPU processors are used in these graphics cards. Coupled with Ultra Durable VGA boards, users can rest assured that the Super Overclock Series graphics cards won't let them down when they step onto the digital battleground.

The Swiss low noise cooling solution provider ARCTIC COOLING today announced the launch of the ARCTIC F PWM case fans. They are in 3 sizes - 80mm, 92mm and 120mm. With the patented PWM Sharing Technology, these new fans are surely the best choice for silent enthusiasts.

Featuring PWM function, the ARCTIC F PWM fans run at the most necessary speed to deliver maximum cooling capacity at the lowest noise level possible. On top of that, thanks to the patented innovative PWM Sharing Technology (PST), up to 5 fans (including CPU fans) can be connected to the ARCTIC F PWM fan to share the PWM signal. The speed of all the fans in this PST system is now centrally controlled by a single PWM signal via BIOS.

Quick-draw Flash storage specialist PhotoFast introduced mini SATA flash drives (essentially compact SATA SSDs that plug into the connectors). The G-Monster mini-SATA and G-Monster mini-DOM drives are about as big as cartridges of retro portable game consoles, measuring 45 x 37 x 7.5 mm and weighing 10 g. They come in capacities of 32 and 64 GB, and offer reasonably good transfer rates at 110 MB/s (read) and 60 MB/s (write). With the standard arrangement of SATA data and power connectors, the G-Monster mini-SATA should plug into any SATA drive docks/enclosures. Apart from being a portable storage medium, it can also be tucked away as a system drive for a NAS server. The G-Monster mini-DOM on the other hand, can plug directly into one of the motherboard's SATA ports, and draw power using its 5V adapter. The two will hit shelves in October. Pictured below are (in order) G-Monster mini-SATA and G-Monster mini-DOM.

Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its quad-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC storage technologies, the affordable ix4-200d is the ideal NAS appliance for small businesses, distributed offices and home office networks that require advanced data storage and protection features without the need for a dedicated IT staff.

Up and running in a matter of four mouse clicks and a few minutes, the ix4-200d NAS appliance provides up to 8TB of networked storage that easily integrates with existing infrastructure for expanded storage, file-sharing and backup of critical business data.

Sharkoon's newest entry to its case lineup is the Temptation. This slightly cubical case supports micro-ATX form factor motherboards and sits somewhere between being an HTPC case, and a LAN-party case. It measures 245 x 310 x 445 (WxHxD) mm, and weights 4.8 kg. It holds two 5.25" drive bays, one exposed and four internal 3.5" bays. Ventilation is care of a porus side grille, and mounts for two 120 mm fans, one on the rear, and one on a side. Ports for water-cooling tubing are provided. The entire chassis is fabricated with aluminum, and has a premium aluminum front-bezel. Sharkoon Temptation is priced at around 65€.

The latest in AMD's almost deliberate series of processors that unlock into powerful / more capable processors is the Athlon II X4. Some of the earliest batches of these sub-$150 quad-core processors can be converted to more powerful Phenom II X4 chips using a simple trick. When unlocked, the chip will be equipped with 6 MB L3 cache. Supposed to have been based on the "Propus" core that physically lack a L3 cache, apparently early batches continue to use the "Deneb" core with L3 cache locked (using moist threads instead of a padlock). Currently there's no information as to which specific batches of Athlon II X4 620 and Athlon II X4 630 work. The trick works on some motherboards that support the Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) feature. Simply set the ACC option in the BIOS setup to "Auto" from its default value of "Disabled", and you're done.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced a new set of high density products for Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. These DIMMs are available in dual and triple channel configurations and are specifically tuned for Intel CPUs.

The 8GB and 12GB module kits feature Corsair's DHX+ cooling technology, and sport new American Racing Blue fins and highlights. The dual channel configuration, part number CMD8GX3M4A1600C8, consists of four matched 2GB modules, optimized for P55 motherboards. The triple channel configuration, part number CMD12GX3M6A1600C8, consists of six matched 2GB modules, and is optimized for X58 motherboards. Both sets of modules have XMP profiles set at 1600MHz, with CAS latency settings of 8-8-8-24. An Airflow fan with matching blue highlights is included with both the dual and triple channel configurations.

Following the success of the Supreme U100 ultimate USB disk, Team launches the enhanced version of the Supreme U100 to meet the demands of consumers requiring high capacity, premium design and absolute trend setting flair. The enhanced Supreme U100 has a capacity of 64G for users to store anything they want.

In an aluminum case, the enhanced Supreme U100 delivers a high-quality feeling in its exceptionally smooth leather-like coating marks its unique prestige. Together with the superb 64G capacity and patented swivel cap design, the Supreme U100 is perfect for mature high-level business executives with classy taste. Finally, its lightweight design of only 17 grams makes it the best of breed: with exquisite style and ultra-high capacity combined together.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd has launched the PC-B25F midi tower chassis. The hair-line brushed all aluminum chassis is based on the original PC-B25 "Blue Ring" classic, however it has a few more refinements to make it that much more attractive. It still retains the basic award winning design but now has a completely tool-less functionality inside the chassis to help you install and uninstall your components with ease. These latest tool-less features are becoming an expected aspect of Lian Li chassis and ensure time saving as well as securing your hardware safely.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced its latest additions to the VIA AMOS series of universal chassis products; the VIA AMOS-1000 and VIA AMOS-2000 chassis are specially designed to work with VIA EPIA Mini-ITX and Nano-ITX boards and feature unique multi-story stackability.

VIA developed the VIA AMOS-1000 and VIA AMOS-2000 chassis to make complete system design as straightforward and expedient as possible. The guiding principle behind the VIA AMOS-1000 and VIA AMOS-2000 is the ability to add additional layers to the chassis, facilitating simple system expansion for optical drives, system storage and PCI or PCI Express AIBs.

After winning unanimous acclaims from game-players for the triple-channel Xtreem DDR3 2000 and Xtreem DDR3 1866 modules, Team introduces the brand new Xtreem LV (low voltage) DDR3 series targeted at high frequency and low latency. The Xtreem LV series includes the models at 2200, 2133, 2000, 1866, 1600MHz. It is expected that the Xtreem LV series will launch a new wave to the dual-channel module market.

Based on the memory architecture of Core i7/i5, Team has successfully boosted the frequency of DDR3 modules from 1333MHz to 2000MHz in the Xtreem LV series. In addition to enhancing the frequency by nearly 40%, Team has integrated the memory controller of the Xtreem DDR3 LV series to the CPU's internal architecture in order to break through the technical limit on X48 and P45 platforms. As a result, the performance of the Xtreem DDR3 LV series is unsurpassed. On the other hand, the Xtreem LV DDR3 1866/1600 models are equipped with a low latency design, 7-7-7-21 and 6-7-6-18 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS) respectively, at the same working voltage of 1.65V, showing off Team's excellent R&D capability.

ASUS today announced the launch of a series of specially-developed motherboards that lets theater-sound aficionados and audiophiles build their dream home-theater PC. The ASUS Absolute Pitch Series features three audio technologies for different forms of aural enjoyment. The DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC delivers theater-like sound on modest equipment for an affordable, full-range sound, ENVY HD delivers a comprehensive 10 channels of audio output for a professional audio experience, and BD 192/24 delivers high-fidelity Blu-ray decoding for a dynamic sound output similar to a live entertainment experience.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, developed a new line of green DDR3 modules that use 38% less PCB material and 47% less packaging material than the company's standard DDR3 DIMMs.

In this product line Super Talent has taken two major steps toward developing more eco-friendly DRAM. Using JEDEC standard schematics Super Talent developed very low profile (VLP) DDR3 unbuffered DIMMs for use in standard DDR3 based x86 motherboards. These DIMMs use 38% less FR4 material, which is the fiber glass epoxy substrate most PCBs are made of, and one-third less copper. These DIMMs have already been tested exhaustively with a variety of hardware and software to ensure they meet Super Talent's rigid quality standards, and are backed with Super Talent's lifetime warranty.

Cut-throat competition between major graphics processor vendors had to happen in the worst of times as far as the economic weather goes. The latest papers by Jon Peddie Research (JPR) covering the state of graphics add-in board market reveals that Q2 2009 has been a better quarter than Q1, but still worse compared to last year. This quarter, around 16.81 million units were shipped, which is a welcome 3 percent increase over the previous quarter (16.32 units), while compared to Q2 2008, shipments are down 15 percent. In contrast, the integrated graphics (IGP) market saw a 4 percent increase compared to last year.

One of the factors that could have contributed to the slump, according to JPR, is the replenishment of inventories in Q2, which overshadowed its digestion (sales). As for gainers and losers, AMD gained a handy 4 percent of market-share, while NVIDIA lost just that amount. AMD stands at 35 percent, with NVIDIA at 64 percent, against last quarter's 31 and 68 percent respectively. JPR however notes that "despite its renewed competitiveness, however, AMD hadn't yet seen a sustained growth in market share, as NVIDIA adamantly refused to give up any volume, aggressively cutting prices as necessary to avoid a loss in share," so in essence, NVIDIA's move to introduce drastic price cuts for some mid-thru-high end products seems to have worked in its favour. Hopefully H2 2009 looks better under JPR's watchglass, as new product launches are definitely indicated, and of course, there's the holiday shopping season incoming.

All-in-one PCs seem to be picking up in terms of demand with almost every big name in the PC industry having a couple of offerings. MSI's newest unveiling is the Wind Top AE2010, which succeeds the AE1900. The new Wind Top graduates to a 20-inch touchscreen with a native resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. Under the hood is a major hardware change. While its predecessor used an Intel Atom dual-core processor atop Intel 945GC chipset, the AE2010 boasts of a more powerful AMD Athlon X2 low-wattage model, paired with an AMD 7-series chipset and ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics. It takes the memory offer all the way to 4 GB of dual-channel DDR2-533. 320 GB of storage, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless network, a DVD writer, six USB ports, and a 4-in-1 card reader makes for the rest of the package. MSI will start selling these next month.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, power supplies, and solid state drives, today unveiled the OCZ Agility EX Series which makes SLC (single-level cell) NAND-based storage truly affordable in a solid state drive for the first time. The Agility EX provides the best of both worlds -the performance and advantages of SLC NAND technology at an incredible value. Based on the quality Indilinx controller, the Agility EX Series delivers an enhanced computing experience with faster application loading, snappier data access, shorter boot-ups, and longer battery life.

"Though SLC has traditionally been more expensive than MLC flash there are both performance and lifespan advantages to SLC based solid state drives, it is for consumers that require the extended reliability of single level cell flash that we are now introducing the Agility EX series of SSDs," commented Eugene Chang, VP of Product Management at the OCZ technology Group. "The Agility EX offers consumers the most cost effective SLC solid state storage solution on the market, and when customers take all the benefits of SLC into consideration the total cost of ownership of these drives truly shines through."

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Capcom, granting rights to manufacture and market 'Capcom Action Packs,' Patriot products bundled with the PC software title Street Fighter IV.

Patriot has set up an innovative campaign that packages Patriot products with a downloadable version of Capcom's Street Fighter IV for the PC. The Street Fighter series burst onto the scene in the late 80s and gained worldwide attention with the arcade game Street Fighter II. Patriot has packaged Street Fighter IV with several of their top products: 32GB Xporter Boost, their complete Torqx SSD series, and three of their top gaming modules for both DDR2 and DDR3.

Acer, the world's third largest vendor in the PC market, today announced the new Acer Veriton Z280G-EA271CP all-in-one PC for the U.S. commercial market. It delivers energy-efficient performance in a picture-perfect design. It's available via Acer's authorized resellers with prices beginning at just $499.

Boasting a brilliant 18.5-inch widescreen LCD monitor and measuring just 19-inches (W) by 15-inches (H) by 2.14-inches (D), this sleek all-in-one is perfect for reception areas, hotel lobbies, executive suites, cube environments and any office that requires an integrated, space-saving design.

Addronics introduced a couple of external optical drives. The two, that look the same, are Blu-Ray/DVD-RW combo, and plain DVD-RW. Not much more than enclosures housing slim notebook drives, the two provide eSATA and USB 2.0 connections to the PC, while needing the USB port at least for power. The unit measures 143 x 135 x 22 mm.

DVD burning speeds offered for are 8x for DVD±R/+RW, 6x for DVD-RW/±R double-layer, 5x for DVD-RAM, and 24x for CD-R/RW. Backed by a one-year warranty, the Blu-Ray/DVD combo drive is priced at US $235, and the DVD-RW at $99.

Earlier slated coarsely for 2010, AMD fine-tuned the expected release time-frame of its 12-core "Magny-Cours" Opteron processors to be within Q1 2010. The company seems to be ready with the processors, and has demonstrated a 4 socket, 48 core machine based on these processors. Magny Cours holds symbolism in being one of the last processor designs by AMD before it moves over to "Bulldozer", the next processor design by AMD built from ground-up. Its release will provide competition to Intel's multi-core processors available at that point.

AMD's Pat Conway at the IEEE Hot Chips 21 conference presented the Magny-Cours design that include several key design changes that boost parallelism and efficiency in a high-density computing environment. Key features include: Move to socket G34 (from socket-F), 12-cores, use of a multi-chip module (MCM) package to house two 6-core dies (nodes), quad-channel DDR3 memory interface, and HyperTransport 3 6.4 GT/s with redesigned multi-node topologies. Let's put some of these under the watch-glass.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced a hardware specification change to the popular 8-bay TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS server. QNAP has adopted the Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz CPU which will significantly improve the performance of the TS-809 Pro for data intensive corporate and entry-level enterprise and data center customers.

QNAP TS-809 Pro Turbo NAS is the world's first 8-bay network attached storage server which incorporates vertically mounted hot-swappable SATA hard drives, with up to 16TB storage capacity, RAID 0/1/5/6/5+spare, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, and other advanced features such as built-in iSCSI target with Thin Provisioning, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, volume status report, syslog server, schedule on and off, Wake on LAN, instant SMS alert, and 4 IP cameras for network surveillance etc.

EVGA released its 16th iteration of the SLI Enhancement Patch, a piece of software that adds SLI profiles of usually new games to the NVIDIA GeForce driver. SLI profiles are application-specific bits of software that let the application take advantage of two or more NVIDIA GPUs in SLI, or on dual-GPU cards. v16 (08.25.09) is based on GeForce 190.62 drivers, and enables SLI support for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Demo, apart from the numerous new game titles the driver brings in support for, including Wolfenstein Multiplayer, Allods: Online, Battlefield 1943, BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams, Cities XL, Death to Spies: Moment of Truth, Empire: Time of Troubles, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Mini Ninjas, Risen, Saboteur, Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, and Tales of Monkey Island. Registered EVGA users (registration is free) can download the software from here.

HEC subsidiary Cougar Power is unveiled its newest lineup of high-end power supply units (PSUs), the Cougar Power S-Series. These PSUs come with three big selling points: modular cabling, 80Plus Silver efficiency rating, and eye-catching aesthetics. Part of the series for now, are the S550 and S700, with output powers of 550W and 700W as their names suggest.

The PSU comes with a rugged casing with three-tone colours (graphite, silver, and orange). Under the hood is a 100% Japanese 105 °C capacitor design. DC-DC switching ensures high efficiency. The +12V circuit uses four rails. Packed with with undervoltage, overvoltage, overload protection, these PSUs bag 80Plus Silver efficiency rating. These are expected to hit stores on September 1.

Creative Technology Ltd. today announced the Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes, a breakthrough for more than 100 million people who listen to iTunes music and Internet radio on their PC or Mac. The Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes upgrades the PC or Mac to a premium wireless sound system that enables users to use the iTunes interface. It is about the size of a thumb drive, and it just plugs into the USB connection on the PC - it is as easy to use as iTunes itself. The Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes is the perfect solution for everyone who has iTunes on their PC or Mac, allowing them to listen to their music wirelessly and enhancing the quality of the playback.

Coupled with a Creative Wireless Receiver, the Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes allows users to wirelessly connect the PC or Mac to speakers or headphones when they listen to their iTunes or MP3 music. Users no longer have to connect speakers or headphones directly to their PC or Mac, because it plays back music wirelessly throughout the home. Now users can take their notebook PC or Mac from one room to another while they listen to iTunes music without skipping a beat. The Creative Sound Blaster Wireless for iTunes enables users to select up to four specific rooms where they want to wirelessly play back their music or they can broadcast to unlimited systems throughout the home.

Going against the trend, Cooler Master has come up with two new variants of the CM Elite RC-310 mid-tower ATX case. The two come dressed in white with a dash of either blue or pink, with a glossy-white front bezel. Made of SECC/Steel and ABS plastic, the RC-310 measures (W) 191 x (H) 437 x (D) 468 mm, and weighs 5.8 kg. It provides basic casing with essential ventilation consisting of front, rear and side 120 mm fans. The price isn't affected with change of colours, the white Elite RC-310 cases should sell for 34,90€.

Although a large chunk of products based on the new sockets LGA-1156 and LGA-1366 arrive in 2010, effectively pushing LGA-775 out of the extreme, performance, and upper mainstream segments, Intel will continue launching new low-end LGA-775 processors in an effort to digest inventories of motherboards and memory compatible to that socket. The company's grassroot processor brand Celeron will be updated with the E3000 series, consisting of dual-core processors based on the Wolfdale-1M core. The 45 nm based core offers the essential features for basic computing, while running cool and priced low.

Two quarters ahead of its expected launch, sources in the Chinese media unearthed Celeron E3900, perhaps the last SKU in the E3000 series. Slated for Q1 2010, the Celeron E3900 runs at 3.40 GHz (200 MHz x 17), with an FSB speed of 800 MHz. It has a shared L2 cache size of 1 MB, and supports the most common instruction sets including SSE3, SSSE3, and x86-64, although SSE4.1 and Intel-VT isn't part of it. The latest company roadmap of the essential and value segments show that the company looks as far as Q3 2010 with its Celeron and Core 2 Duo brand products, with existing number schemes. In essence, retailers in Q3 2010 shouldn't have stock problems selling you these processors.

Elecom Japan announced two new solid state storage products, with the minuscule nanoSSD, and a regular 2.5-inch SSD. The more interesting of the two, nanoSSD plugs directly into a SATA port on the motherboard. It measures 25 x 6.5 x 39 mm, and weighs a mere 8 g. At these dimensions, it offers 16 GB of storage with transfer-rates of 75/30 MB/s (read/write). This just about makes it ideal for embedded machines, test systems, and SFF boxes.

The other SSD on offer of the regular 2.5-inch size, and comes in capacities of 64 GB and 128 GB. Elecom did not provide much info about this in its press-release. Nevertheless, the two drives will hit stores in a couple of days.

Flash memory specialist Apacer is expanding its footprint with the A7 Turbo high performance solid-state drive (SSD). This 2.5-inch form-factor SSD comes in capacities of 128 GB and 256 GB. It uses cached transfer with a 128 MB cache memory. The A7 Turbo offers read/write speeds of 230/200 MB/s, with an average power consumption of a mere 0.26 W. The drive comes with SSD+ Optimizer that works in the background to minimize file fragmentation. The drive will be available soon.

Enermax today unveiled the stylish Brick 2.5-inch drive enclosure. The Brick holds one SATA hard-drive or solid-state drive in a sturdy aluminum casing with brushed metal exteriors. It measures 113 x 76 x 17 mm and weighs in (empty) at 65 g. The enclosure uses USB 2.0 interface to power itself and communicate with the host machine. Its user-friendly "one screw" design allows users to slide open the enclosure by releasing only one screw. The package includes a leather-looking carry pouch for the enclosure. Available is dark and bright shades, it is available now, priced at around 15€.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced a new, high-capacity 256GB addition to its high-performance Extreme Series SSD family.

Built using the renowned Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC NAND flash memory, the new Corsair Extreme Series X256 SSD combines high-performance with a massive 256GB of storage space, for enthusiasts who don't want to compromise on speed or capacity. The new Corsair Extreme Series X256 joins the existing models, the X32, X64 and X128, and offers read speeds of up to 240MB/s and write speeds of up to 170MB/s. It also features 64MB of cache memory, ensuring stutter-free performance.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. has become the first foundry not only to achieve 28 nm functional 64 Mb SRAM yield, but also to achieve it across all three 28 nm nodes.

"Achieving 64 Mb SRAM yield across all three 28 nm process nodes is striking. It is particularly noteworthy because this achievement demonstrates the manufacturing benefits of the gate-last approach that we developed for the two TSMC 28 nm high-k metal gate processes," explained Dr. Jack Sun, vice president, Research and Development at TSMC.

"This accomplishment underscores TSMC's process technology capability and value in 28 nm. It shows TSMC is not only able to extend conventional SiON technology to 28 nm, but is also able to deliver the right 28 nm HKMG technology at the same time," explained Dr. Mark Liu, senior vice president, Advanced Technology Business at TSMC.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled low-voltage DDR3 designed specifically for the upcoming Intel P55 Chipset and subsequent Intel Core i7, i5, and i3 (Socket 1156) processors. Configured for dual channel mode, these ultra-compatible 4GB kits ensure optimal performance with an ideal combination of low power requirements and high frequencies.

Developed for cost-conscious enthusiasts and gamers, these new OCZ modules were engineered with the same affordability and performance standards as the new Lynnfield platform. By using sophisticated IC screening methods and qualifying on a variety of motherboards, OCZ low-voltage kits are the perfect complement for the P55 Chipset and choice CPU to deliver the maximum stability. Together, P55 and OCZ memory are the premium option for the midrange desktops.

The new ASUS EeeTop PC ET20/22 Series is a range of touch-enabled, all-in-one PCs that provides users with the fundamentals of everyday computing and multimedia entertainment in an elegant space-saving design. Its forte lies in its ability to provide users with the ultimate home entertainment experience. The EeeTop PC ET22 and EeeTop PC ET20 feature a flushed 22-inch and 20-inch touch-enabled display respectively that provides high definition images through the use of state-of-the-art graphics processors. The resulting visual spectacle is complemented by a surround sound experience delivered by the Dual Hi-Fi speakers with SRS Premium Sound. The ASUS EeeTop ET20/22 Series also lets users communicate via the easy-to-use Eee Cam, while the Eee Bar gives them access to their commonly-used applications. Users can also organize their photographs with FotoFun, and leave notes for their family and friends with Eee Memo. Simply put, the new ASUS EeeTop PC ET20/22 Series is the ideal all-in-one communications and entertainment PC for the family.

Mobile phone major Nokia introduced its big step into the world of conventional computing, with the Booklet 3G. The company seems to be a tad reluctant in calling it a netbook, and instead calls it a 'mini-laptop'. Perhaps this notion revolves around Nokia's devices to be more focussed on mobile internet (provided by cellular carriers, hence the "3G" in the name), rather than other forms of wireless internet connectivity (such as WiFi service providers, although it isn't missed out as a connectivity option).

In either case, the Nokia Booklet 3G is a 10.1 inch sub-notebook, powered by an Intel Atom processor (and hence x86 based). It sports an integrated GSM connection with support for 3G/HSDPA internet. The SIM card is hot-swappable. On the software front, it seems to be running Windows 7. Its biggest USP is its connectivity, that includes 3G/HSDPA, WiFi, built-in A-GPS, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, audio and importantly, HDMI for display output. The company rates the battery to last for 12 hours. With the 2 cm thick aluminum chassis, the unit tips the scales at 1.22 kg (2.7 lbs). Nokia may further detail the Booklet 3G at the upcoming Nokia World 09 event on September 2. A promotional video published on YouTube can be viewed here.

According to a fresh report by Donanim Haber, AMD's next performance graphics accelerator, the Radeon HD 5870, codenamed "Cypress" is expected to be aggressively priced, at US $299. At that price, it intends to be highly competitive against GeForce GTX 285 from NVIDIA. The secret-sauce behind the price could be the 40 nm fab process on which the GPU is being built, which allows upping transistor counts while maintaining significantly smaller die-sizes compared to 55 nm.

There is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the specifications of the GPU, including what level of performance with existing application could it end up offering. Some sources, such as ChipHell, which are one of the first to leak pictures of components related to various Evergreen family products claim the Cypress GPU to have an almost 100% increase in stream processor counts compared to RV770, while others remain conservative expecting it to be around 50%. With this kind of a pricing, Cypress could trigger market-wide changes in GPU pricing, if it ends up with a good price/performance ratio at $299.

Displays specialist AOC today released the 2436Vw full-HD, 23.6 inch monitor to the North American markets. With a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, the 2436Vw intends to deliver its goods at a low price point.

The panel has a response time of 5 ms, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1. It has a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m2. On the connectivity front, it features D-Sub and DVI. Boasting of a EPEAT Gold rating, and backed by a three-year warranty, the 2436Vw sells for US $214.

Apple's newest operating system, the OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - one claimed to be the world's most advanced - starts shipping later this month, on 28th. The new OS is priced at US $29 (incl. shipping) for a single-user upgrade from Leopard, and $49 for 5-user family pack users. New Macs will bundle the OS, and it will also be available in bundles with iLife and iWork for $169 ($229 for 5-user family pack).

Snow Leopard brings in several major thru minor changes over its predecessor, more importantly, that it eliminates support for PowerPC-based Macs, supporting only those based on Intel x86. All major components will now support the x86-64 instruction set, to take advantage of large amounts of system memory. The OS also embraces OpenCL, which lets supporting applications tap the computing power of GPUs, while the OS itself is better optimised for multi-core/multi-threaded CPUs.

Mushkin today announced four dual-channel DDR3 memory kits it claims to be best suited for the AMD AM3 socket processors. All of these are specified to run at PC3-12800 (DDR3 1600 MHz), and consist of two 2 GB modules. The changes kick in, in the form of memory timings and recommended vDIMM voltages. Says Mushkin: "Our Engineers have risen to the challenge of new technological advancements and set themselves upon our Dual Channel technology. The result thus far has been 4 exemplary new memory kits for the DDR3-Dual Channel segment that, because of diverse adjustments, are fine-tuned for the AM3 platform."

Product details, as listed by Mushkin are as follows:

• 996657AM3 - XP3-12800 4096MB Dual Channel Kit CL 7-7-7-20 1.85V-1.95V
• 996601AM3 - XP3-12800 4096MB Dual Channel Kit CL 7-7-6-18 1.85V-1.95V
• 996659AM3 - XP3-12800 4096MB Dual Channel Kit CL 9-9-9-27 1.65V-1.70V
• 996629AM3 - XP3-12800 4096MB Dual Channel Kit CL 8-8-8-24 1.80V-1.90V

All four kits are available now, at standard market prices. Mushkin says that it's working on even more memory kits optimized for the AM3 platform.

Prolimatech's popular Megahalems CPU cooler has a dark twin, the MegaShadow. The cooler follows a series of four other designs by the company that unveiled back in March. The MegaShadow really is a replica of Megahalems, albeit having black coloured fins and heat-pipes, to suite some users' aesthetic tastes. Measuring 130 x 74 x 158.7 mm (LxWxD), and equipped with six heatpipes that run through the entire length of the cooler, the MegaShadow is positioned as a high-end air-cooler for sockets LGA-1366, LGA-1156, and LGA-775. The kit bundles the necessary retention kit, and thermal compound although no fan 120 mm fan is bundled. It is expected to reach stores next month for $78~$80.

Foxconn's channel brand is preparing a simple, seemingly inexpensive motherboard based on the micro-ATX form factor, the P55MX. This board seats socket LGA-1156 processors, powered by a 5-phase VRM. The socket connects to two DDR3 DIMM slots, just about enough for dual-channel memory. Among its four expansion slots are a PCI-E 2.0 x16, a close-ended PCI-E x4, and two PCI slots. All six SATA ports from the PCH are assigned as internal ports, with the rest of the connectivity building on the PCH's feature-set: 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and for some reason, a serial port. Expect this to be priced very low, and perhaps in many branded OEM PCs.

In a release to its AIB partners, AMD listed out the key features of its high performance GPU in the Evergreen family, codenamed "Cypress". While not getting into the GPU specifications, it lists out the key technologies the GPUs support. It comes as no surprise that AMD will name Cypress-XT and Cypress-Pro as Radeon HD 5870 and Radeon HD 5850, a model number scheme that's been running for the past two generations. While product launches, tentatively on September 22, and (p)reviews keep us busy in September, retail availability can be expected only in October, just in time for that of Windows 7.

• 1GB GDDR5 memory
• ATI Eyefinity technology with support for up to three displays
• ATI Stream technology
• Designed for DirectCompute 5.0 and OpenCL
• Accelerated Video Transcoding (AVT)
• Compliant with DirectX 11 and earlier revisions,supports OpenGL 3.1
• ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU support for highly scalable performance
• ATI Avivo HD video and display technology
• Dynamic power management with ATI PowerPlay technology
• 2x DL-DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI
• PCI Express 2.0 interface

DFI's retail-grade pack of motherboards for socket LGA-1156 platform will be lead by the LANParty Dark P55-T3eH9. Dressed in black and orange, the P55-T3eH9 sports a fairly standard feature-set for the Intel P55 chipset. The CPU socket is powered by a 6+2 phase VRM, and is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16, depending on what's under the heatsink south of the CPU socket, the orange slots could be (dual x16 or x8). The black slot looks like PCI-E x4, wired to the PCH. Two PCI-E x1 and PCI slots make for the rest of the expansion.

Apart from all the features the P55 PCH provides, including six SATA II ports, an additional controllers add two SATA II, an eSATA and one IDE connector for two devices. Connectivity is care of one gigabit Ethernet controller, and a number of USB ports, including one mini-USB. A high-grade HD audio codec also provides digital audio connectivity through optical and coaxial SPDIF connectors. The LANParty Dark P55-T3eH9 is expected to be priced at 175€.

As an established manufacturer of high performance audio cards, ASUS has always been at the forefront of delivering the best in audio entertainment technology to its consumers. Today, ASUS is proud to announce the launch of its first ever multimedia speaker series. The ASUS uBoom and uBoom Q sound-bar speakers are designed to provide high fidelity audio and heart-thumping bass via a maze-like reflex port, which is then channeled through speakers designed to place the user in the audio sweet-spot. For added convenience and mobility, both the ASUS uBoom and uBoom Q sound-bar speakers feature USB 2.0 connectivity for audio output. The uBoom Q also draws its power via the USB 2.0 port, effectively eliminating the need for an adapter and the numerous wires often associated with conventional speaker set-ups and providing high fidelity audio reproduction while on-the-move.

Exactly a month after releasing GeForce 190.38 drivers, NVIDIA published GeForce 190.62, complete with WHQL-certification. Supported products include the entire range of NVIDIA GPUs from GeForce 6 series and upwards, and NVIDIA ION, ION LE platforms. This release includes a few significant changes, apart from the numerous bug-fixes as described in the Release Notes documents (for Windows 7, Vista, and XP). Included are:

• Support for Microsoft's new DirectX GPU Computing API: DirectCompute, complete with WHQL-certification
• PhysX system software updated to version 9.09.0814 WHQL
• Optimizations for Batman: Arkham Asylum and Darkest of Days

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.62 WHQL

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced that is has launched a full range of dual-channel performance DDR3 memory products, designed for Intel Core i5-750, Core i7-870, and Core i7-860 "Lynnfield" processors.

The initial product offering consists of four 4GB kits comprised of matched pairs of 2GB DIMMs, and two 8GB kits comprised of four matched 2GB DIMMS, in frequencies of 1333MHz, 1600MHz and 2000MHz. This lineup includes a 4GB 1600MHz CAS 8 Dominator and 4GB 2000MHz CAS 8 Dominator GT, both of which feature Corsair's innovative DHX+ (Dual-path Heat eXchange) memory cooling technology for maximum performance and reliability. All the kits use a low operating voltage of 1.65V or less.

Although not as old as someone like ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, or DFI, in the motherboards scene, EVGA's recent motherboards have shown the company has very quickly matured and can look other companies in the eye, when it comes to enthusiast-grade motherboards for DIY system builders. Recently, the EVGA P55 FTW aka 132-LF-E657 earned some media coverage. The rest of the lineup, top to bottom, includes: P55 Classified 200, P55 FTW 200 (141-LF-E658-KR), P55 SLI (132-LF-E655-KR), P55 LE (123-LF-E653-KR), and the P55 Micro (121-LF-E652-KR).

The P55 Classified 200, and P55 FTW 200 carry nForce 200 bridge chips that make 3-way SLI possible, and faster. While not much is known about the Classified, it intends to roof the lineup with every enthusiast-grade feature available. One of the distinct features include a "Show Volt" panel, that eliminates the need for a multi-meter to physically read voltages. An LED display on the NE corner of the board displays voltages, as the probes connect to various voltage readout points. The P55 FTW 200 features four PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots in all, to support 3-way SLI. It electrical lane arrangement is detailed in the slide below. Like the Classified 200 and P55 FTW, this one supports the EVbot (discussed later).

Having recently announced the Wind12 U200 ultra-portable, MSI is readying its twin based on the AMD Yukon ULV platform. While the U200 uses an Intel Penryn ULV SU3500 processor, the U210 will feature AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 1.6 GHz. Two sub-variants of this, bring about slight changes in the specs. The U210-002 is priced at 399€, and packs 1 GB of memory, 160 GB of storage, and Windows XP Home. The 449€ U210-010 on the other hand, sports 2 GB of memory, 250 GB of storage, and Windows Vista Home Premium. The Wind12 series consists of 12.1" ultra-portables pack the most essential features with a touch of luxury, in its 297x 190 x 24.5~31 mm chassis, tipping the scales at 1.4 kg.

NVIDIA's recent announcement of extending all its multi-GPU technologies to Intel chipsets-based socket LGA-1156 motherboards, even as the company reportedly plans its own chipset, comes in at no better time than this, when rival AMD has a decent lineup of GPUs, processors, and desktop platform technologies, all of which well-oiled. To beat AMD in the game, and propagate its own GPU and multi-GPU technologies, some sort of loose alignment with Intel is inevitable, especially considering ATI CrossFireX has been freely available to motherboard makers for several product generations now.

In a recent presentation circulated to sections of the media, NVIDIA put forward a sort of quasi-platform to rival AMD Dragon, although it isn't named or defined, NVIDIA refers to it as "Power of 3". Part of its key components include Intel socket LGA-1156 processor (from the Core i3/i5/i7 series) running on a motherboard with Intel P55 chipset, Windows 7, and two or more NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. To deal with two or more GPUs, NVIDIA defines its existing "NVIDIA SLI Ready" marker and the seemingly new "NVIDIA PhysX Ready" marker. The difference between the two is that the latter lets you install a second (or third) graphics card that is dedicated to PhysX.

Craving for a 12.1" widescreen display with a svelte and portable design? Check out the MSI Wind12 U200. The Wind12 U200, similar in weight and volume to 10" notebooks on the market, weighs only 1.4 kg (with battery) and features a 12.1" HD ready 16:9 aspect ratio glittering crystal frameless screen that promises improved performance. With the The power-sipping brand new Intel Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processor, U200 provides you the long battery life and the portability.

Here's our ASUS LGA-1156, Intel P55 motherboard for the day: TUF Series Sabertooth 55i. As a short history lesson, ASUS' TUF series motherboards was touted as a parallel to its Republic of Gamers (ROG) series, and was unveiled back in March as the "Marine cool" design, although no products made it to the market. The selling points of TUF series is unparalleled durability and next-generation motherboard components, including "breakthrough innovations in materials--ceramic and metal--for exceptional Cooling". Here's hoping this one does. The Sabertooth i55 comes across as fairly mid-range within the P55 motherboard lineup, as far as features go, but banks heavily on design innovations.

For starters, the CPU is powered by a 12+2 phase VRM, while the four DDR3 DIMM slots rely on a 2-phase VRM. For the greater part of its features, the Intel P55 chipset pithes in. Additional storage controllers provide extra SATA ports, supporting ASUS DriveXpert technology. Expansion slots include two PCI-E 2.0 x16 (arrange as x8, x8 in SLI and CrossFireX), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. Here's where the unique features start: metal heatsinks with ceramic coating that boosts surface area by 50% for better heat dissipation. On the components front, it features durable "TUF-branded" MOSFETs, and capacitors. The DDR3 DIMM slots lack retention clips on one end, a feature implemented by ASUS with several recent motherboards, that makes sure the clips don't interfere with installed graphics cards. Although there's adequate clearance on this board, it is utilised by providing a placeholder for a fan dedicated to memory cooling. In a short presentation, ASUS describes its innovations. There's no word on its availability and pricing.

AMD wants to give its DirectX 11 compliant GPU lineup a gala unveiling on September 10. Codemaned "Evergreen", the family consists of an entire range of GPUs, catering to nearly all market segments. In the run-up to September 10, AMD EMEA and APAC will hold a series of briefings with its partners and/or sections of the media. It will be on the 10th, when a lot of things will go public.

Evergreen's unveiling will take place at the USS Hornet, a decommissioned US Navy aircraft-carrier turned heritage museum. The location and timing of the event holds symbolism with the Patriots & Heroes Week (September 5~11th). As for what happens after the 10th, it is indicated that performance evaluations, (p)reviews, could start pouring in two weeks later (around September 24). Stores will have stocked these graphics cards as they deck up shelves with Windows 7 copies.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their new Sector 5 Gaming modules explicitly designed to compliment Intel's new P55 chipset.

Specifically engineered for the new P55 chipset, the Sector 5 gaming modules have been optimized to take full advantage of the dual-channel architecture. Patriot's Sector 5 series will include two options; an extreme latency with speeds from 1333 MHz to 2000 MHz supported with Patriot's award winning Viper II heat shield. In addition, the extreme latency will include Futuremark's 3DMark Vantage, the world's #1 benchmarking software, offering consumers the chance to see how their system performs and stacks up against worldwide contention. The Futuremark Bundle will be offered in kits of 1600MHz and higher. Patriot's second option is their enhanced latency, "G" Series, which gives you the look and feel of many of the high end, gaming memory products, but with an advantageous price.

Remember this backroom photoshoot by our friends at Legit Reviews, where AMD refused to let the the DirectX 11 accelerator face the camera? A photographer in China was luckier, and grabbed three pictures of the rest of the accelerator, intact. As it turns out, the card is based on AMD's next generation successor to the 40 nm RV740, codenamed "Juniper". The pictures reveal quite a bit about the card, which inherits quite some of its design from the Radeon HD 4770.

The cooler resembles the one found on Radeon HD 4770 (reference), and Radeon HD 3870, albeit opaque black. With the 40 nm GPU running presumably cool, its air vent on the rear panel is reduced in size, and makes way for an arsenal of connectivity that includes two DVI-D connectors, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort, just as pictured earlier. The PCB is black in color, holds memory on either sides. The card draws its power from one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. Expect a lot more about this as we head toward September 10, when AMD plans to unveil its next-generation GPU technology. Juniper is part of AMD's "Evergreen" family of DirectX 11 compliant GPUs.

Thermaltake, leading DIY chassis brand, introduces the newest mid-tower PC case for people on the move. The WingRS 301 is portable and affordable but at the same time still sports all the essentials one expects from Thermaltake: quality, tool-free design, easy accessibility and optimized ventilation. With its reinforced top handle you can easily transport this 5.1 KG case and dimensions of 491 (D) x 170 (W) x 420 (H) mm allow for convenient storage in your car, the bus or train, and some airlines might even allow it as carry-on baggage. If you are looking for a portable PC case solution in order to carry your precious gaming machine to tournaments, or you every so often travel e.g. from home to university the Tt WingRS 301 is the ideal solution.

Built for ATX and MicroATX motherboards the WingRS 301 offers sufficient room for high-end graphics cards and provides 9 tool-free drive bays for maximum expandability with four 5 1/4" and five 3 1/2" bays. Seven I/O expansion slots give you enough freedom to upgrade your system with add-on cards. A large 120 mm rear exhaust TurboFan makes sure your machine stays cooled even under high load.

The newest entry into ASUS' already huge lineup of socket LGA-1156 motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, is the new Republic of Gamers Maximus III Gene. Unlike the Maximus III Formula, this one is based on the micro-ATX form-factor, with four expansion slots in all, to spare. The LGA-1156 socket is powered by a high-grade 10-phase digital PWM circuit. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. With two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electically dual x8 when both populated) wired to the CPU, the board utilizes the feature-set of the P55 PCH completely. An open-ended PCI-E x4 is located between the two x16 slots, and a legacy PCI slot below. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, USB, eSATA, and 8-channel ASUS SupremeFX X-Fi, implemented in the same way as on Rampage II Gene and Maximus II Gene. The ASUS Maximus III Gene motherboard is expected to start selling by the end of this month, its pricing is yet to be known.

Following the likes of PowerColor and HIS, Sapphire, one of AMD's largest AIB partners, is preparing a custom-design Radeon HD 4770 accelerator. Highlights of this card are strictly confined to its design and cooling, not that it has a brighter specs sheet compared to the reference design. It uses a blue colored PCB with a heat-spreader over the card's VRM area, and the GPU is cooled by an Accelero L2 variant originally made by Arctic Cooling. Display outputs include DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI. Specifications-wise, the accelerator sticks to AMD reference clock speeds of 750/800 MHz (core/memory), and sports 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit interface. Again, expect standard pricing on this one.

Following custom-design product launches from the likes of PowerColor, HIS decided to roll out one of its own. Named the HIS HD 4770 iCooler III, the color scheme is trademark HIS shade of blue with black. The company custom-designed both the PCB and the cooler. Under the black plastic shroud is what appears to be an aluminum heatsink with radially-projecting fins, nested into which, is the fan.

Despite all this, the clock speeds remain reference 750 MHz (core) and 800 MHz (memory). It holds 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide interface. Outputs are care of DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI with 7.1 channel audio. Expect a fairly standard price when this comes out.

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today introduced the Zee USB 2.0 flash drive, perfect for users seeking a simple and portable way to tote their multi-media files and documents. For the on-the-go student, gamer, or professional, the OCZ Zee is the ideal companion for a busy digital lifestyle at an affordable price point.

"Designed for the consumer on the go, the compact Zee is an economical USB drive that makes it easy to transfer images, multimedia and essential data between multiple computers," commented Alex Mei, CMO of the OCZ Technology Group. "The Zee is designed to be affordable to the complete range of consumers, and is available in large capacities up to 16GB yet is both lightweight and compact so that it highly portable."

Intel's upcoming "Clarkdale" is special for two reasons: it is the first 32 nm based processor from Intel, and that it's the first processor that comes with a graphics processor built in, something AMD conceptualized a long time ago. Under the hood (read: integrated heat-spreader), Clarkdale is a busy package, that holds a CPU complex die (that houses the main processing cores, cache, a dual-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, and a Quickpath interconnect controller, that connects the die to its neighbor, a northbridge-iGraphics die that houses most northbridge components including a PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, the star-attraction IGP and a DMI connection to the "platform controller hub (PCH)".

Gaming hardware specialist Razer announced two products designed for the MMORPG crowd. The Naga MMO mouse, and the extra-large Megasome mouse-pad to go with it. To begin with, Naga boards of a 12-button thumb-pad that lets you assign as many as 12 macros apart from this, the upper thumb are has two buttons next to the mouse's main buttons, and four-way scroll-wheel. Under its hood is a 5600 dpi 3.5g Laser sensor. With the Ultrapolling feature, the mouse ensures a high polling rate for its USB interface, boosting accuracy, with a response time of 1 ms. The mouse lets you use game-specific addon packs (that probably come with pre-defined button profiles that work well for most players). The software allows you to store unlimited character profiles. Measuring approximately 116L x 69W x 41.6H mm, Naga is an upper-mid-sized mouse. Razer will start selling these for around US $80 soon.

As its sidekick is the Megasome white gaming mouse-pad. It comes in an extra-large size of 350 x 230 x 2 mm, and makes use of a silicone mat for just the right traction. The surface is white fluorescent for an ambient glow. It is expected to be priced at $50. Videos related to the two products titled Razer Naga key binding and add ons in-game configuration, and Razer Naga Introduction Video can be watched on YouTube.

Intel's so codenamed "Braidwood" technology, which was touted to be a successor for Intel Turbo Memory, in which a supplementary high-speed, low-latency NVRAM module is used to speed up booting, application startup, and enhance system responsiveness in general, is shelved for now, and will not be part of Intel 5-series chipsets' feature-set, according to industry sources. As a result, Intel P57, a variant of P55 that officially supports it, will not be implemented, as Braidwood is the principal difference between it and P55. Several motherboard manufacturers already have the hardware-side of the technology ready, as several high-end LGA-1156 motherboards have been spotted with Braidwood NVRAM slots, or at least placeholders of the same. The software-side of it, however, seems to be the problem child, sources explained.

Buffalo Japan has come up with two new Blu-ray disc burners, the internal BR-H1016FBS-BK, and the external BR-H1016SU2. The special-attraction here is the drives' single-layer BD-ROM burning speed of 10X, and 8X for dual-layer discs, while DVDs and CDs burn at the most common speeds found in the market: 16x for DVD±R, 12x for DVD-RAM, 8x for DVD±R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW. The internal BR-H1016FBS-BK drive is originally made by Hitachi-LG, and uses a standard SATA interface, while the external BR-H1016SU2 gives you the option of using USB 2.0 or eSATA (the latter could help, as the drive transfers data at 45 MB/s at 10X). The external drive will sell for ¥33,800 (around US $360), and the internal one for ¥28,500 (around $303).

Today, Logitech took the computer mouse where no mouse has gone before. With Logitech Darkfield Laser Tracking, you can use your mouse virtually anywhere you want - including clear glass (that's at least 4 mm thick) and high-gloss surfaces. This new technology is available in the Logitech Performance Mouse MX and the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX, giving you the option of a full-size mouse or a more compact, notebook mouse.

Logitech research showed that 40 percent of people have a glass surface in their home. This coupled with the increase in the popularity of laptop computers, means that people are moving around and coming into contact with a multitude of surfaces - like granite and lacquered wood - that challenge the tracking capabilities of standard mice.

Yet another speed record has been set for the Pentium Dual-Core E6500K processor, past a recently achieved record of 5 GHz. An overclocker with the Expreview forum name DFORDOG achieved 6 GHz using a LN2 cooled setup. Details of the feat include 6.004 GHz (17.0 x 353.2 MHz), vCore of 1.8V, and a resulting FSB speed of 1412 MHz. To seat the E6500K was a Biostar TP45 HP motherboard and 2x 1 GB of GeIL DDR2 memory. The CPU was cooled by a K|ngp|n F1 liquid nitrogen evaporator. Its validation can be found here. Pentium E6500K is a limited-edition SKU based on the Wolfdale-2M core, with an unlocked bus multiplier. For now it's nowhere to be found outside China, and shows no clear signs of doing so either.

In an internal presentation perhaps to its primary clients, NVIDIA presented support for Windows 7 DirectX Compute. For a welcome change, the slides show no signs of NVIDIA's own CUDA technology, and in turn promise huge performance gains when a Windows 7 machine is aided with an NVIDIA graphics processor. The gains NVIDIA predicts range anywhere between 2 times to 20 times over plain CPU-driven processing, focusing on media-related applications such as Cyberlink PowerDirector, MotionDSP vReveal, and of course Badaboom.

DirectX Compute API will be natively built into Windows 7. It supports both existing DirectX 10 compliant GPUs, and future DirectX 11 ones. Along with pledging full support for it, NVIDIA also explains how the GPU becomes an increasingly important component of the PC, being "central to the Windows 7 experience". As a bonus tidbit, it adds that on Windows 7 the SLI multi-GPU technology works 10% faster than on Windows XP.

ASUS' swiftly growing ULPC lineup has a new member in the form of EeeTop ET200T all-in-one nettop PC. The most district features of this machine include its 20 inch touchscreen, and being based on the NVIDIA ION platform that breathes life into an otherwise potent Atom processor. The main unit takes care of its aesthetics with glossy, glassy piano-black looks. The touchscreen comes with a native resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels. A fixed 1.3 megapixel webcam neighbours it on the top. A low-noise keyboard and optical mouse are part of the package.

Under the hood are an Intel Atom 330 1.60 GHz dual-core processor, NVIDIA ION chipset that embeds GeForce 9400M graphics, 2 GB of dual-channel memory, a 5400 rpm 250 GB hard drive, and a slot-in DVD writer. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and four USB 2.0 ports. Each unit comes with Windows Vista Home pre-installed, and a coupon that facilitates a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it's out. The ET2002T 20" releases in Europe soon, for under 600€.

Galaxy is preparing yet another GeForce GTS 250 SKU, this one labeled "Cool Edition", owing to its design that focuses on the GPU cooler. The card uses the usual Galaxy shade of blue colour. The PCB holds a 5-phase VRM for the GPU and memory, and is cooled by dedicated heatsink. The center of attraction is the GPU cooler, which looks elliptical. From its central GPU contact base made of copper, arise several radially-projecting, forked aluminum fins. Nested in a plastic shroud is an 80 mm fan for active cooling, while the memory cools directly under its airflow.

This card comes in two variants based on memory size: 512 MB and 1 GB. It uses fairly standard clock speeds of 702 MHz (core), and 1000 MHz (memory). Output connectors include DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI with provision for audio routing from your sound-card. The card can pair with two more of its kind (or GPU at least), for 3-way SLI. Expect standard pricing when this hits stores soon.

EVGA rolled out an update to its Precision graphics card overclocking and monitoring software. Version 1.8.0 of EVGA Precision brings with it a number of important changes compared to its older version, including performance and stability fixes related to the application, conflict-resolution for game anti-cheat systems that see Precision's OSD as a positive (a false-positive actually), and a new set of UI skins.DOWNLOAD: EVGA Precision 1.8.0 (for registered EVGA users)

Changes listed by EVGA are as follows:

Here's our ASUS P55 motherboard of the day: the P7P55D Premium. Positioned in the high-end segment of socket LGA-1156 motherboards, this board boasts of support for SATA III 6 Gbps. Associated with the SATA III controller, is also an interesting feature. To begin with, the CPU is powered by a digital PWM circuit with "32+3" phases. Sure there are that many chokes, but we do suspect choke redundancy here. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots to support dual-channel memory.

Unlike the P7P55D Deluxe, this board makes do with two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, each of which arrange to 8-lanes PCI-E when both are populated. Other expansion slots include two PCI-E x1 and two PCI. Connectivity options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 channel audio, and a number of USB and Firewire ports. From the looks of it, there's also a place-holder for the NEC µPD720200 USB 3.0 controller, and its marked blue-coloured USB ports, though it's MIA.

Following the likes of Sapphire, HIS, and PowerColor, XFX unveiled a Radeon HD 4600 series accelerator based on ye olde AGP-8X interface, its first ATI GPU based graphics card on the interface. The XFX Radeon HD 4650 sticks to the trademark XFX-ATI color scheme, with a black PCB and heatsink, with red-colored connectors. The cooler design confines the card to a single-slot space, and consists of a fan nested into the heatsink.

The card features 320 stream processors, a GPU clock speed of 600 MHz, and 128-bit DDR2 memory running at 800 MHz. It comes in two variants: 512 MB and 1 GB. The usual output configuration of dual DVI-D and HDTV connectors is in place. The latest Radeon HD 4000 series feature-set is in place, including DirectX 10.1 support, UVD 2.0, and AvivoHD. The 1 GB variant is priced at US $90, so expect the 512 MB one to be priced lower.

Here's an interesting little gadget from Japan, the Ratoc VGA to DVI/HDMI converter (model: REX-VGA2DVI-PW). For systems with just the D-Sub video output, this box acts as an analogue to digital converter (ADC), and gives out a DVI port. It finds application where you're trying to connect a notebook or PC with just a D-Sub connector to an HDTV. One end of it connects to the D-Sub port (probably over a wire), the box draws its power from a USB port, while it outputs through a DVI port, which can further be converted to HDMI using the included dongle. The box further provides an adjust control that lets you adjust image quality. Finally, there are two catches: 1. The maximum resolution it supports is 1920 x 1200 pixel (so it should do fine for 1080p and below), 2. It's priced at ¥11,000 in Japan (that's a little over US $116).

Air cooling specialist Xigmatek is readying a socket LGA-1156 compatibility upgrade in the form of a bracket kit. The kit lets most of Xigmatek's existing coolers to work on upcoming socket LGA-1156 motherboards. The kit consists of two curved brackets with two holes each, a back-plate, bolts, and coils. With a hole spacing of 75 mm, LGA-1156 is somewhere along the way between LGA-775 with a spacing of 72 mm, and LGA-1366 with that of 80 mm. The LGA-1156 compatibility bracket kit from Xigmatek should be out by the time LGA-1156 processors and motherboards hit the scene. Unlike Noctua, which got generous with existing users of its coolers, Xigmatek's kit may go for a nominal price, while it is expected of newer batches of its coolers to come ready for the socket out of the box.

Noctua today announced the impending availability of its new NM-I3 SecuFirm2 mounting kit that adds support for Intel's upcoming LGA-1156 based Core i5 and Core i7 "Lynnfield" CPUs. Compatible with all Noctua CPU coolers since 2005, the new SecuFirm2 kit will be supplied to Noctua users free of charge after uploading a proof of purchase on Noctua's website.

"Back in 2006 when AMD introduced the AM2 socket, we started providing free mounting kits because we think that product and service quality should always go hand in hand", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "We've continued this tradition when Intel presented LGA1366 and we'll stick to our policy for LGA-1156 as well. We always like to think of our coolers as safe long-term investments, and even if you bought one of our first models four years ago, you'll still be able to upgrade it to the latest socket technology free of charge."

AMD today announced that according to the latest industry data, notebook manufacturers have chosen ATI Mobility Radeon Premium graphics processors to drive more than half of today's discrete graphics notebooks. The data for mobile discrete graphics reveals a 36.5% market share gain, and 87.27% more units sold quarter-over-quarter through the first six months of 2009. AMD now holds the "Number 1" position with an overall 53% mobile discrete market share. The incredible momentum behind ATI Mobility Radeon Premium graphics processors is a result of:

• Advanced performance, leading features, and innovative technology delivered by the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series of graphics processors, such as ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 and ATI Mobility Radeon 4670, including support for the latest Microsoft DirectX 10.1 enabling a home theater-quality HD multimedia experience, and an energy-efficient design for long battery life at work, at home or at play
• With well over 200 design wins of current and future commitments from leading manufacturers worldwide, customer adoption of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series of graphics processors has increased across a wide range of mobile discrete notebook segments, including the HP Pavilion dv6T, Alienware M17, Acer Aspire 5739G, Toshiba Satellite M500, Sony VAIO FW Series, Samsung R522, Asus W90Vp-X1, MSI GX623 and Dell Studio 15 -- a balanced portfolio of AMD- and competitor-based notebook platforms
• An augmented presence in retail, including Best Buy Canada and Future Shop with a focus on the HP Pavilion dv6 Artist Edition Entertainment Notebook PC featuring AMD Turion Ultra X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics

CM Storm, a gamer-grade division of Cooler Master commenced the shipping of its new high-end gaming mouse, the Sentinel Advance. A variant of this mouse was announced back in May, at the Computex event. The mouse boasts of a 5600 dpi sensor resolution, in fact, it makes use of two lasers for enhanced precision. The onboard 64 KB memory stores button profiles. Apart from all the lighting the programmable colored LEDs provide, a tiny OLED display adds to the aesthetics, which can be made to display clan logos, etc. With a modular weight chamber, its weight can be adjusted within the range of 139 to 161.5 g. Expect the Sentinel Adavnce to be priced in the range of some of the high-end mice from others in the business.

Lenovo for the first time, unveiled three of its upcoming products on Twitter. The three were presented in two twits. Slated for a formal announcement soon, are the Lenovo IdeaCentre Q100 and Q110 nettops, which LenovoPress (company PR staff) finds to be some of the thinnest nettops in the market. It packs just about enough power for everyday computing such as internet browsing, office and productivity. The two model number could denote different processors. The usual suspects are Atom N270 1.60 GHz single-core, and Z520 dual-core.

Next up is the IdeaCentre D400 home server. With its cubical design, the D400 looks big, but we don't expect it to be much larger than a 6-bay cubical NAS server. Expected to be under the hood are fairly mainstream components, and possibly a Windows Home Sever license, but we expect more details to emerge upon a formal announcement.

VERTEX3D, a new expected brand of AMD graphics card, today announced the partnership with leading cooling solution provider, ARCTIC COOLING, ready to bring a premium cooling solution of HD4870 series, provides a perfect combination of ultimate gaming performance and the coolest operating environment.

VTX3D HD4870 clocks in with a 770MHz core speed and 900MHz of memory speed that provides a superior gaming performance. In addition, VTX3D HD4870 is equipped with ARCTIC COOLING Accelero TWIN TURBO Pro cooling solution, with dual 92mm fans to increase air flow at low fan speed and 4 heatpipes to reinforce its cooling performance. VTX3D HD4870 cooling solution offers a surprisingly quiet operation for gamers to immerse themselves in the gaming world.

The Wind Top AE2200 is the primary example of MSI's focus on digitalizing the family life by presenting an All-in-one Touch screen computer. It includes the Window Vista Home Premium operation software, with a slick and one of a kind body design to further illustrate its unique characteristics. Also equipped with multiple useful functions to complete every aspect of the digital lifestyle.

The Wind Top AE2200 is embedded with the latest Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5400 Processor and G45 High Speed Chip, accompanied with 4GB of memory access and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 1GB Graphics Card, all these plus a 500 GB hard drive so our users many have the very best in functions and capabilities. The Intel G45 High Speed Chip is able to provide the finest imagery and graphics with the quickest response, along with a 21.6 inch 16:9 high sensory Touch screen supporting HD visual and audio. The Wind Top AE2200 is the center for you home operation, communication, and entertainment. The perfect basis for a more fulfilling living arrangement.

MSI announces the all new 16" Bravo EX628 featuring the highest audio and video specs for an entertainment notebook. Utilizing the latest Intel Centrino 2 processor technology, a high performance ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4670 graphic card, and a 16:9 aspect ratio LCD cinema display, the EX628 is capable of providing brilliant image quality. Sound quality will leave you even more amazed. Hi-Fi speakers are located on both sides of the touchpad, a subwoofer is housed underneath the base, and second generation Dolby surround sound enables a professional-grade acoustic performance. When paired with MSI's exclusive Cinema Pro technology, whether watching a movie or gaming, you'll be able to enjoy a highly authentic audio and video experience.

To offer a greater selection to suit the diverse needs of different customers, Transcend Information, Inc., a global leader in storage and multimedia products, recently released a brand new Anti-Shock USB Flash Drive-the JetFlash V70. The drive is made out of a durable eco-friendly rubber that makes it highly resistant to survive shock, splashes and dust. Created with sporty outdoor adventurers in mind, the JetFlash V70 allows users to express their individuality and unique personal style with attractive bright color schemes.

Unlike USB flash drives that are made of plastic or metal materials, Transcend's JetFlash V70 is made of eco-friendly silicone rubber that provides a pleasant tactile feel and offers excellent protection for stored data while working, exercising, or traveling outdoors. For added piece of mind, the JetFlash V70 fully meets rigorous U.S. military drop-test standards (MIL-STD-810F 516.5-Transit Drop), literally making it one of the most robust USB Flash Drives available. The V70 also has an eye-catching streamlined shape and vivid bright colors that set it apart from the normal USB flash drive crowd. Additionally, the JetFlash V70 is equipped with a unique tethered cap holder that prevents it from getting lost when removed from the drive during file transfer.

ASRock chose a smart way to make SATA III part of its high-end motherboards' feature-set without modifying board design, or coming up with new SKUs, simply by bundling a SATA III addon-card. The company's upcoming P55 Deluxe advertises SATA III support, and packs a tiny, half-height card that uses PCI-Express (2.0?) x1 interface. At the heart of it is a Marvell 88SE9123 SATA III controller. The card has three ports in total, two angled internal ports, and one eSATA III. Headers are also provided for HDD status LEDs on the system chassis. While Marvell 88SE9123 has been at the center of controversy recently that reportedly caused some motherboard makers to pull out products that use it, Marvell maintains that the issue is only related to the controller's additional PATA-related functionality, and not SATA III. Now if only ASRock also bundles a USB 3.0 card.

ASUS, known for its single-socket workstation motherboards, is preparing the first enterprise-grade socket LGA-1156 motherboard. The ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer builds on the features of its socket LGA-1366 cousins, by offering as many as five PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a massive 16+3 phase CPU VRM, support for DDR3-2133 by overclocking, and the latest multi-GPU standards support.

Based on the Intel P55 chipset, the P7P55 WS SuperComputer makes use of a PCI-E bridge chip that allows it to hold at least four PCI-E 2.0 x16 devices (electrical 4x PCI-E x8), with a PCI-E x16 electrically x4. Both 3-way SLI and 4-way CrossFireX are supported. Connectivity is care of two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 USB 2.0 ports on the rear-panel, and another six internal, Firewire, and 8-channel audio with digital IO ports and DTS support.

ASUS includes its own design enhancements, including XtremePhase VRM, TurboV EVO voltage management, and a probe microchip. It doesn't look like ASUS will add this to its first wave of motherboard launches that coincide with those of Intel's first LGA-1156 processors, but expect this to be out at least in October.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a very low profile (VLP) DDR3-1333 Registered DIMM designed for use in servers with compact and low-profile enclosures.

This 2GB ECC registered module is only 0.72-inches tall, nearly half an inch shorter than standard height DDR3 modules. "We made this product for high density servers and embedded computers where space inside the chassis is severely constrained", explained Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James. VLP modules also make sense in 1U servers since their small stature improves airflow inside the chassis.

Released way back in February, RivaTuner 2.24 got a minor update ahead of the upcoming MSI Master Overclocking Arena event held in Beijing. RivaTuner is a handy graphics card performance-control and monitoring utility. Version 2.24b builds on the existing feature-set of RivaTuner 2.24, with a few important changes as follows:

• Added ForceWare 190.xx drivers family support
• Added databases for ForceWare 190.15, 190.38 and 190.56
• Added unified Windows 7 / Vista ForceWare drivers versions (8.15.xx.xxxx) support

DOWNLOAD: RivaTuner 2.24b (MSI MOA Edition)

Intel's counter to sub-$150 quad-core and triple-core processors from AMD, the Core 2 Quad Q7000 series is close to being formally announced. First surfaced in January, the Q7000 series quad-core processors differ from the Q8000 series with regards to cache size. It features a 1+1 MB (2 MB) L2 cache, and an 800 MHz front-side bus speed. The first in the series that is surfacing now, is the Core 2 Quad Q7600. This entry-level quad-core processor from Intel is clocked at 2.70 GHz (13.5 x 200 MHz). The processor further has a skimpy instruction set, with lack of support for SSE4.1, which most 45 nm Core series processors from Intel feature. Targeted mostly at home and office users, and tentatively priced within the $150 mark, the Core 2 Quad Q7600 will hit stores soon.

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (fondly known as NiBiTor) received a timely update. The popular BIOS manipulation utility has been updated to version 5.2. As with every new release, version 5.2 brings along an expanded supported products list, a number of critical and trivial bug fixes, and an improved ability to work with unsupported hardware in a limited way. Newly supported products include:

• GeForce 9600 GSO
• GeForce 9300M
• GeForce GTX 280M

DOWNLOAD: NiBiTor v5.2

AMD today made ATI Catalyst 9.8 driver suite available to the masses through its proper channel of posting it on the AMD Game portal, complete with related documentation. The company released the software last friday to readers of the company blog, just so it could loosely coincide with the bulk of activity during Quakecon 2009, when the company also carried out a series of private demonstrations of its upcoming DirectX 11 compliant graphics hardware to sections of the media.

Catalyst 9.8 has an unusually long changelog this time around, which can be attributed to two important changes: a series of CrossFireX performance enhancements that are game-specific, and the inclusion of OpenGL 3.1 support.

Today, scientists at IBM Research and the California Institute of Technology announced a scientific advancement that could be a major breakthrough in enabling the semiconductor industry to pack more power and speed into tiny computer chips, while making them more energy efficient and less expensive to manufacture.

IBM researchers and collaborator Paul W.K. Rothemund, of the California Institute of Technology, have made an advancement in combining lithographic patterning with self assembly - a method to arrange DNA origami structures on surfaces compatible with today's semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Optical drives specialist LiteOn is out with the slim and compact eTAU10 external DVD writer. Best suited for netbooks and ultra-slim notebooks without optical drives, the eTAU10 is slimmer than most external slim optical drives, measuring the same as portable CD players, and weighs 350 g. It comes in piano-black and pearl-white (both glossy). USB 2.0 is the almighty connector here, that provides both power and data connection to the host PC. DVD±R and DVD+RW discs are burnt at 8X, double-layer DVD±R at 6X, DVD-RAM at 5X, and 24X for CDs. Priced at 45 Euro, the LiteOn eTAU10 external DVD writer starts selling next month.

ASUS finally decided to roll out an NVIDIA ION platform based mini-ITX motherboard, with the AT3N7A-I A330. As the name suggests, this motherboard embeds a dual-core Intel Atom 330 processor running at 1.60 GHz. With two DDR2 DIMM slots, the chipset supports dual-channel DDR2-800 memory. Located at the center of the board is a big, fan-heatsink that is common to the chipset and CPU. The chipset embeds GeForce 9400M mGPU, which connects to its displays using D-Sub and HDMI. Storage is care of three SATA II ports with RAID 0, 1, 5, JBOD support.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI. Connectivity options on this board include gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, eSATA, and ten USB 2.0 ports in all. Audio is handled by a VIA 8-channel HDA codec that also provides optical and co-axial SPDIF outputs. The AT3N7A-I A330 hits stores in this month, at an expected price of 112 Euro.

Mushkin is readying a new series of PC memory kits named Copperhead. The series circles around a new heatspreader design that heavily makes use of copper, to enhance its thermal characteristics. The company has in the the past worked on similar heatspreader innovations including a vapor-chamber technology based Ascent series. Considering that copper is an expensive (if not precious) metal, these kits could be positioned in the higher-end category, consisting of triple-channel and dual-channel DDR3 memory kits. Owing to its still sizable market, DDR2 kits in the series cannot be written off at this point. Expect product launches very soon.

NVIDIA enjoys its share of the pie with the existing socket LGA-775 platform, with a broad range of performance nForce, and value-oriented GeForce MGPU chipsets. With Intel's implementation of the FSB-replacement QuickPath Interconnect system interface with LGA-1366, a conflict ensued with regards to Intel licensing NVIDIA making chipset. Intel's contention stood that its older licenses did not cover the latest processors that implement integrated memory controllers and QPI. As a result, NVIDIA was forced to license its SLI technology to motherboard manufacturers for products based on Intel X58 chipset, and now Intel P55 chipset for the LGA-1156 series processor, and the future of NVIDIA Intel-series chipsets looked bleak at worst.

Fresh reports suggest that NVIDIA indeed has a chipset product lineup planned for Q1 2010, that supports socket LGA-1156 processors, codenamed MCP99. In addition to this, NVIDIA will also serve up two new LGA-775 chipsets, codenamed MCP85 and MCP89. What's common to all these chipsets is that they embed an integrated graphics processor (IGP). Some of these chipsets feature a 64-bit wide memory channel dedicated to the IGP's memory needs, apart from the 128-bit wide (dual-channel) system memory controller, on the LGA-775 platform. The dedicated memory channel allows the IGP to match entry-level graphics cards in terms of performance, without eating into the system memory. We predict this will be implemented in the same way AMD 780G, 785G and 790GX does, with dedicated memory chips present onboard. The LGA-775 compatible ones will further feature dual-channel DDR3-1333 standard supportive memory controllers for system memory. The MGPU will be named inside the GeForce 200M series.

All bets are off, AMD's DirectX 11 compliant GPUs are on course to compliment the commercial launch of Microsoft Windows 7, with enough of a head-start to allow buyers to have DirectX 11 hardware by the time they have the new OS. Codenamed "Evergreen", AMD's new family of graphics processors are slated for September 10, that's 25 days from now.

The company further carried out demos of its upcoming hardware to sections of the media in private, at their suite in the same hotel in which Quakecon 2009 is being hosted at. Behind the covered side-panel of the Lian-Li is a working sample, which AMD refused to let being pictured. Legit Reviews sneaked around the case to take a shot of its panel nevertheless.

AMD further demonstrated over six new technology demonstrations including Parallax Occlusion Mapping, Detailed Tessellation, and High-Definition Ambient Occlusion, all of which will be some of the key ingredients of DirectX 11, and in all of which, AMD's hardware is churning out high frame-rates at 2560x1600 pixel resolution.

Without much of a buzz except past leaks suggesting that the company would roll out a beta at this year's Quakecon, AMD released the ATI Catalyst 9.8 WHQL driver suite to readers of the company blog, before formally announcing it and adding it to the AMD Game portal. The package installs drivers for ATI Radeon graphics hardware, including its discrete and integrated graphics processors, AMD 7-series chipsets, and ATI Theater series multimedia products.

With lack of proper documentation (read: release notes) at hand, there are no specifics available about the driver, though one could expect the usual application/hardware/OS-specific enhancement, a possibly expanded supported products list with new SKUs in the Radeon HD 4700/4800 series that surfaced over the last month.

DOWNLOAD:ATI Catalyst 9.8 Driver Suite for Windows 7 and Vista 32-bit | Windows 7 and Vista 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit

The world's well-known graphics card and mainboard manufacturer, MSI, today officially announced new product of top-of-the-range Lightning series graphics card, N275GTX Lightning. The MSI N260GTX Lightning that is released in April has broken the world record by reaching incredible 1.1GHz GPU clock that no other GTX 260 cards can exceed. After N260GTX Lightning, MSI introduced the new N275GTX Lightning with Military Class components, 10 phase PWM, 1792MB GDDR3 memory, Twin Frozr II thermal design with SuperPipe technology, and several overclocking functions. The performance of MSI N275GTX Lightning is even faster than reference GeForce GTX 285 graphics cards, which prove its perfect design and best quality.

Scythe Group is officially announcing the release of the first 2.0 stereo speakers set and the improved version of the Class D amplifier. With the goal to develop a Hi-Fi solution with a very affordable price tag, Scythe engineered a set of plain and classy speakers by the name Kro Craft. By this Scythe is taking another step towards enriching the audio market even more by simultaneously releasing the improved Kama Bay Amp Kro.

New Kama Bay Amp Kro is coming with various innovations in inside as well as outside of the unit. Core of the new unit is the former known Yamaha YDA138(D-3) IC which was now placed on an overworked PCB which results in higher sound precision. Outside of the Kama Bay Amp Kro has been turned black to further match it to average home theatre environments and Kro Craft Speaker. On the underground new isolated feet were placed which are making the unit more stable and solid.

With Intel's new socket LGA-1156 Core i5, Core i7 lines of processors, and compatible motherboards barely weeks away, memory specialist Corsair is readying a few DDR3 dual-channel memory kits to grace the occasion, and possibly coincide with the launch. Featuring in the XMS3 series, the four kits come in speeds of DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1600, with capacities of 2x 4GB (8 GB) and 2x 2GB (4 GB). Whether these kits carry some kind of special branding, is not known, though being JEDEC standards compliant, the memory may work on most DDR3-supportive motherboards. Some of these kits feature Corsair's high-density, 4 GB modules. Listed below are the four SKUs:

• CMX8GX3M4A1600C9 - 2x 4GB, DDR3-1600, 9-9-9-24
• CMX8GX3M4A1333C9 - 2x 4GB, DDR3-1333, 9-9-9-24
• CMX4GX3M2A1600C8 - 2x 2GB, DDR3-1600, 8-8-8-24
• CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 - 2x 2GB, DDR3-1600, 9-9-9-24

With one of the first 4 GB modules sold at (hopefully) mainstream prices, 8 GB (dual-channel), and 12 GB (triple-channel) kits could get popular in the months to come.

The Spire DualStar is a Universal applicable Socket 775, Socket AM2 and upcoming Socket 1156 Heat-Pipe CPU Cooler.

The DualStar, part# SP680S1 is constructed with a large copper base plate, aluminum stacked fins and two (2) 8mm copper Heat-Pipes. Ready to cool the latest Intel Core 2 Extreme and AMD Phenom X3 Micro-processors. Transferring up to 135 watts of heat safely away from your computers critical, heat-sensitive components. Designed for Mainstream and PC Enthusiasts alike this cooler is a great performer and build to last.

Club 3D, european market leader for graphics cards, today announced the release of their Green Edition graphics cards line-up. With the Club 3D Green Edition series you get the latest industry-leading technology to save energy. Step in and be a part of the modern green computer users community. Club 3D Green Edition Series reduces the power consumption up to 40% compared to a standard non green graphics card. Thanks to new PCB design which drastically lowers down the thermal design power.

AMD today announced the world's highest clocked quad-core processor for desktop PCs, the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor. As an integral part of Dragon platform technology, this new processor features a stock frequency of 3.4 GHz, massive headroom, high-speed DDR3 memory support and AMD OverDrive 3.0 technology to deliver an enthusiast-class performance that fits into value-based budgets.

Since its initial launch in January 2009, Dragon platform technology has provided great performance at a great price. From the only company with unlocked CPUs and backwards compatibility for DDR2 memory, the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor helps customers pay less for more, period. Available for a Suggested System Builder Price of $245, users opting for Intel may be paying more for less or equal performance.

QNAP Systems, Inc. a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR video surveillance systems, and network-based video players for business and consumer markets today announced the support for 2.5" hard drives in the company's Intel-based Turbo NAS lineup of high performance NAS servers. At present, QNAP is the pioneering NAS server enclosure manufacturer to support both 2.5" and 3.5" SATA hard drives.

The addition of 2.5" drive support gives users more drive choices at a time when there is a plethora of 2.5" hard drives available due to the softness in the notebook PC market. 2.5" hard drives designed for notebook PCs offer solid performance coupled with much lower power consumption and outstanding reliability. The new 2.5" hard drive support is designed into most of QNAP's Intel x86 CPU based models, including the TS-239 Pro, TS-439 Pro, TS-509 Pro, TS-639 Pro, and TS-809 Pro for flexible selection. 2.5" drives can also be used on the TS-809U-RP 2U rack mount Turbo NAS server with redundant power supply.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced the 128GB Flash Voyager GT, the world's fastest 128GB USB flash drive.

The newest Flash Voyager GT is based upon a revolutionary design that employs a unique dual-controller architecture to achieve SLC-levels of performance using MLC NAND flash memory. The 128GB Flash Voyager GT is able to achieve read speeds of up to 32MB/sec and write speeds of up to 25.6MB/sec, with the limiting factor effectively being the speed of the USB 2.0 bus and operating system overhead.

ASUS' pixel-crunching monstrosity, the dual-GTX 285 MARS 4GB was unveiled earlier this year at Computex. It claims to be the most powerful graphics card ever made, as it packs two fully-loaded GeForce GTX 285 GPUs which are factory overclocked, and equipped with 2 GB each of GDDR3 memory (4 GB total memory). The card further edges GeForce GTX 295, by using 512-bit memory interfaces for each GPU. The card further carries the clock speeds of GeForce GTX 285, at 648/1476/2400 MHz (core/shader/memory).

Fresh information suggests that that this limited-edition graphics card is another week away from shipping. 1000 units are produced in all, and the company doesn't plan on making any more. What's interesting however is that most, if not all, of these 1000 units have been pre-ordered and paid for. Enthusiasts don't seem to have a problem paying US $1250 (1250 EUR) for a piece, its price. Below are some tasty press-shots of this really tall accelerator, fully assembled. Pictures of its PCB and components can be viewed in our older article here.

A little over a fortnight away from launch, one of Intel's first socket LGA-1156 processors, the Core i5 750 has started being listed on popular American online (and ground) retailer Fry's. Not for pre-order or expected stock, but accepting orders for same-day shipping! The processor ended up being priced just where we expected it to be: around the $200 mark (listed on roadmaps so far as $196).

Based on the Nehalem architecture, the Core i5 750 "Lynnfield" is a monolithic quad-core processor with a clock speed of 2.66 GHz, with a QuickPath Interconnect connection to the northbridge it shares the chip package with. It features 256 KB L2 caches per core, and a shared 8 MB L3 cache. Its integrated DDR3 memory controller addresses dual-channel memory. The listing can be found here.

PowerColor is going to be one of the first to be out with a Radeon HD 4750 accelerator. Based on the same 40 nm RV740 graphics processor as the Radeon HD 4770, the HD 4750 features lower clock-speeds, and overclocking headroom, that lets it do away with the six-pin auxiliary power input, relying entirely on the PCI-Express slot. PowerColor's offering is based on its own PCB design, and sports an aluminum fan-heatsink made by Arctic Cooling. The same PCB,with the 6-pin power connector in place, went into making the recently announced PowerColor HD 4770 PCS, which sports the same cooler. The card makes use of a 3+1 phase power design, and loads 512 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit memory interface. From previous bits of information we gathered, the HD 4750 features clock speeds of 730 MHz (core), and memory at 800 MHz. Expect it to be priced in the $80 range.

BFG Technologies, a leading supplier of premium power supplies and 3D graphics cards, is excited to announce the new EX-1000, 1000 watt modular power supply. The EX Series ushers in a new approach to power supply design, utilizing BFG's proprietary Frequency Conversion Technology. Frequency Conversion Technology drastically improves low load efficiency by emulating a lower sized power supply. This allows the EX-1000 to remain at least 80% efficient, even with loads as low as 10% of the unit's maximum capacity. The EX power supplies have the lowest minimum load requirements and offer the best +5VSB efficiency on the market.

This remarkable performance netted EX-1000 the coveted 80 PLUS Bronze rating from www.80plusgold.org. The 80 PLUS performance specification requires multi-output computer and server power supplies to be 80% or greater energy efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load, with a true power factor of 0.9 or greater.

Intel has already set foot on the 32 nm lithography, with first 32 nm based prcoessors expected to arrive in Q1 2010. These processors have already been extensively sampled, and tested by sections of the media. More importantly, 32 nm marks Intel's introduction of the Westmere architecture, which is a 32 nm optical shrink of Nehalem, with a slightly expanded feature-set making use of the possibly higher transistor loads. Starting with dual-core "Clarkale" processor, Intel plans to work out high-end six-core processors codenamed "Gulftown" within the first half of 2010. In addition to this, Intel is readying Westmere's successor, codenamed "Sandy Bridge".

While a vague die-shot of a supposedly mainstream quad-core processor based on Sandy Bridge surfaced last month, more information about it is coming to light from industry sources, according to DigiTimes. Intel will introduce the Sandy Bridge architecture in the fourth quarter of 2010. Considering the first Westmere CPUs are commercially launched ten months after its formal introduction (Westmere was unveiled in February,) the commercial launch of the first Sandy Bridge processors can't be too far away from Q4 2010. This in essence shows that Intel can afford to come up with a new flavour of CPUs every year. Nehalem will have served as a 1.25 year "tock" for the 45 nm process, while Westmere may serve as a "tick" of nearly the same length. For those of you unfamiliar with Intel's "tick-tock" model of product development cycle, The company uses a "tick-tock" model of process development, where each processor architecture gets to be made in two manufacturing processes, while each process gets to build two succeeding architectures.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announces the release of their Koi SSD Series.

Patriot's Koi 2.5" SATA solid state drives have been specifically designed to work with Apple Mac platforms. Using the latest in solid state technology, including 64MB onboard DRAM cache, Koi features sequential read/write speeds of up to 260MB/s and 180MB/s, respectively. To ensure complete compatibility, the Koi line has been rigorously tested in Apple's own lab.

"In designing the Koi, we wanted to bring a product to market that was specifically designed for the performance found on Apple platforms", says Meng Jay, Patriot's Flash Product Manager. "The Koi Series has been thoroughly tested in Apple's Development Center to ensure optimal compatibility and stability. We have also backed our Koi Series with one of the best warranties in the industry, 5 years."

MSI announced two more socket AM2+ motherboards based on the AMD 740G chipset. This low powered chipset suits businesses and productivity applications. Paired with the SB710 southbridge, it's featured on the 740GTM-P21 and 740GTM-P25, both nearly identical, but for a minor difference. The latter features 8-channel audio instead of 6-channel on the former. Both in turn, look similar in terms of PCB layout, to the recently announced 785GT-E63.

The AM2+ socket (compatible with most AM3 processors) is powered by a 3+1 phase circuit. It connects to two DDR2 DIMM slots, with support for DDR2-1066 memory. The 740G chipset embeds a Radeon HD 3100 class IGP, which provides output through a single D-Sub connector, instead of the DVI+D-Sub cluster on the 785GT-E63. The lone connector makes room for a DE-9 serial port, with a header for a DB-25 parallel port (perhaps a bracket is provided for the same).

Expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16, x1, and two PCI slots. Connectivity is care of a gigabit Ethernet controller. While the 740GTM-P21 packs a 6-channel HD audio codec, the 740GTM-P25 gets generous with an 8-channel one. Expect the two to be priced deep inside the sub-$100 segment.

ASUS today announced the launch of the ASUS M4A785D Series motherboards with the new AMD 785G chipset for enhanced graphics performance through new features such as DX10.1 and UVD 2.0 support, dynamic contrast, and high-quality video scaling. Additionally, the M4A785D Series supports up to 16GB of DDR2 memory, CrossFireX, and high-definition, 8-channel audio output. Developed under ASUS' rigorous "Xtreme Design" methods, the ASUS M4A785D draws on 20 years of design excellence to deliver the best in motherboard performance, safety, and reliability.

Cooler Master is preparing yet another variation of the Cosmos full-ATX chassis, the CM Cosmos Pure. This design develops further on the aesthetics of the CM Cosmos Black Label limited edition, and makes use of matte black metal surfaces. The panels and front-door are made of slate/carbon-black coloured brushed metal, and a similar scheme continues inside. Regions of the case are located right where you'd expect them to be.

Measuring 266 x 598 x 628 mm, and weighing 16.9 kg, the CM Cosmos Pure packs enough room for E-ATX motherboards (and every ATX form-factor smaller than that), enough room is provided for even the longest of the graphics cards. Air-flow in the expansion card area is directed by a wind-flow tunnel. Fan provisions include a bottom 120 mm intake (instead of a front-intake), two 120 mm top exhausts, one rear 120 mm exhaust, and provision for an optional 120 mm fan to the HDD cage. Speaking of which, the 3.5" HDD cage can hold six drives. There are five exposed 5.25" bays, including a 3.5" to 5.25" converter bezel. Located on the top, the utility panel provides four USB ports, and one each of FireWire, eSATA, and audio I/O. Tentatively priced at 249 Euro, the CM Cosmos Pure is almost your Cosmos Black Label "unlimited edition".

Scythe announces the availability of a new multifunctional panel for 3.5inch bay. Kaze Station 3.5 is available in black (KST01-BK-3.5) and silver (KST01-SL-3.5). This new device combines a 2-channel fan controller with an easy to access front panel connecters including 4x USB2.0, 1 x e-SATA, 1 x MIC and 1 x Headphone. Both Front panel and fan controller knobs are made of brushed aluminum.

By using the integrated fan controller up to two fans can be adjusted with an output voltage of 5 to 12 V. Supported fan speed is specified in the range from 0 up to 9,990 rpm. For convenient purposes, Kaze Station 3.5 comes with the required connection cable such as two fan extensions, one power adapter, one USB cable, one audio cable and one S-ATA cable. Overall dimensions of the unit are 102 x 25 x 93 mm (4.01 x 0.98 x 3.66 in) and it weights 130 g (4.58 oz).

Corsair Labs recently conducted testing to determine whether the use of high-performance DDR3 memory for Core i7 platforms also requires the use of more effective CPU cooling products.

The results clearly show that using high-performance memory results in increased CPU temperatures, due to the higher CPU VTT voltages and Uncore clock speeds required by the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) in the Core i7 processor. The average load temperature of a Core i7-920 processor cooled by the Intel HSF (heatsink and fan) was 11 degrees C higher when utilizing 2000MHz C8 Dominator GT memory compared to 1333MHz DDR3 memory. The same PC cooled using the Corsair H50 CPU Cooler maintained average CPU core temperatures up to 24 degrees C lower than the stock Intel HSF, and was able to stably cool an overclocked CPU while also maintaining a 2000MHz DDR3 memory frequency.

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Solid 2 SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, the ultra-affordable MLC based solid state storage solution for mainstream consumers looking to take advantage of flash based storage technology. Offering a faster and more durable alternative to traditional hard drives in a cost-efficient SSD, the Solid 2 delivers reliable performance without the high price normally associated with SSD drives.

MSI already has its task cut out when Intel's first socket LGA-1156 processors hit stores. With entry-level P55-CD53, mid-range P55-GD65, enthusiast-range P55-GD80, and a micro-ATX P55M-GD45 motherboard offering in place, the lineup seems just about complete, except for two mysterious motherboards that aren't part of the list. First being the G9P55-DC that packs an NVIDIA BR-03 bridge chip that enables 3-way SLI with better interface bandwidth to the three graphics cards, and second is under the looking-glass today. Codenamed "Big Bang", this prototype motherboard by MSI packs a LucidLogix Hydra technology, which clearly on paper, is the next big thing as far as multi-GPU systems go.

MSI P55 "Big Bang" looks similar to the P55-GD80, except for that under the top chipset heatsink (which, by the way, is purely cosmetic on the GD80), is a Lucid Hydra chip. The chip connects to all three (or four) PCI-Express x16 slots (lane configuration not known), and allows Lucid's multi-GPU technology that lets you make practically any combination of graphics cards, for performance scaling. The member cards needn't have parity on their performance, as the Hydra chip does all the load-balancing by itself. Products based on Hydra are slowly, but surely showing up in small numbers for now, including enterprise-grade rack-mount graphics rendering boxes like this one, conceived a long time ago. A lot of details are yet to emerge, especially around if there are more motherboard manufacturers eying Hydra, about when a Hydra-based product actually makes it to shelves, and more importantly, when does MSI plan to sell this and G9P55-DC.

It has been done over and over again, and each time new AMD processors successfully unlock disabled cores (dubbed "defective"), it only makes us wonder if it is a deliberate attempt by the company to make buying its cheaper processors potentially rewarding. It has been discovered that AMD's recently announced Sempron 140 single-core processor can be transformed into a dual-core Athlon II X2 series processor with a simple, well-known trick. This comes as no surprise, as the "Sargas" core the processor is based on, is made by disabling one core on the Regor dual-core die.

The trick requires a motherboard with AMD SB710 or SB750 southbridge that supports the Advanced Clock Calibration feature. Not all motherboards, however, support this mod. By simply enabling the feature in the BIOS setup program, the system will be able to address both processor cores, with the complete feature-set of Athlon II X2. The staff behind the feat over at Thai techsite VModTech tested for the unlocked core's stability with much success. At 3.71 GHz (13.5 x 275 MHz @ 1.536 V), the processor stood SuperPi, WPrime, and WinRAR bandwidth tests. Validation can be found here. At around $40, here's the cheapest ticket to a dual-core processor that looks $80 Intel processors in the eye.

Shortly after its launch, Intel's trophy 34 nm X25-M G2 solid-state drive was found to carry a critical bug that potentially renders it useless if the BIOS HDD password was set or changed. Intel is ready with a firmware update that corrects the issue. Users of X25-M G2 series SSDs can avail the firmware update, and relevant information here.

Following this, Intel will resume shipping the 34 nm, second generation SSDs with the correct firmware in place.

Leveraging its proven, fourth-generation high-capacity hard drive technology, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced that it is now shipping the industry's first enterprise-class, 7200 RPM 2TB offering, the Ultrastar A7K2000. The new Hitachi GST Ultrastar A7K2000 is designed, manufactured and tested to ensure enterprise-class mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of 1.2 million hours in demanding 24x7 nearline applications. With a combination of high capacity and reliability, 7200 RPM performance, low power, and enterprise-class features, the Ultrastar A7K2000 drive is the ideal enterprise SATA drive for applications such as data warehousing, disk-to-disk backup, cloud computing and massive scale-out storage implementations where storage density, GB-per-watt and cost-per-GB are critical parameters.

Intel Corporation and Micron Technology Inc. today announced the development of a new 3-bit-per-cell (3bpc) multi-level cell (MLC) NAND technology, leveraging their award-winning 34-nanometer (nm) NAND process. The chips are typically used in consumer storage devices such as flash cards and USB drives, where high density and cost-efficiency are paramount.

Designed and manufactured by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), their NAND flash joint venture, the new 3bpc NAND technology produces the industry's smallest and most cost-effective 32-gigabit (Gb) chip that is currently available on the market. The 32Gb 3bpc NAND chip is 126 sq.mm. Micron is currently sampling and will be in mass production in the fourth quarter 2009. With the companies' continuing to focus on the next process shrink, 3bpc NAND technology is an important piece of their product strategy and is an effective approach in serving key market segments.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd has launched the the Tyr PC-X1000 chassis designed as a stylish midi-tower chassis. The Tyr PC-X1000 follows in the prestigious footsteps of its predecessors, namely the PC-X500 and the PC-X2000. Both of a controversial design with side mounted ODD bays. The PC-X1000 however has three traditional front mounted ODD bays as well as three front mounted 140mm fans down the front of the case. Similarly, the PC-X1000 has specific heat zones to isolate and extract heat more efficiently. The lower region is for HDD's and the PSU, the central region is for the motherboard and all daughter cards including graphics. The topmost zone is for ODD's and additional HDD's. Some unique features include the completely tool-less design, the best side panel case entry latch and special mounting bays for 2.5" SSD drives. The Tyr PC-X1000 is destined to become your next powe r-user Chassis allowing unprecedented high performance components to be encompassed in a stylish minimalistic midi-tower chassis.

Intel is weeks away from letting loose its first socket LGA-1156 processors, starting with a series of quad-core models, namely Core i5 750, Core i7 860, and Core i7 870. According to the latest roadmaps, dual-core derivatives of the Westmere architecture, will arrive in early 2010. IT168 sourced details of the model numbers Intel chalked out, based on roadmap excepts. An older report detailed all six models based on the "Clarkdale" core, including three in the Core i5 series, two in the Core i3 series, and one in the Pentium Dual-Core series. Let's try to make sense of this branding structure.

NVIDIA Corporation today announced that Intel Corporation, and the world's other leading motherboard manufacturers, including ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, and MSI, have all licensed NVIDIA SLI technology for inclusion on their Intel P55 Express Chipset-based motherboards designed for the upcoming Intel Core i7 and i5 processor in the LGA1156 socket. As a result, customers who purchase a validated P55-based motherboard and Core i7 or Core i5 processor when available can equip their PCs with any combination of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, including Quad SLI, for the ultimate visual computing experience.

"NVIDIA SLI technology is a perfect complement to the processing prowess of our new Core i7 and Intel DP55KG desktop board," said Clem Russo, VP and General Manager of Intel Client Board Division at Intel Corporation. "NVIDIA and Intel share a combined passion for furthering the PC as the definitive platform for gaming, and this combination will surely be attractive to anyone building or purchasing a brand new PC this fall."

AMD today announced immediate availability of two new dual-core, 18W TDP processors for the highly-scalable ASB1 BGA embedded client platform. The AMD Turion Neo X2 processor Model L625 and the AMD Athlon Neo X2 processor Model L325 deliver PC-caliber performance in a very low power envelope and with an embedded-friendly ball grid array (BGA) package.

This embedded client solution is ideal for traditional embedded applications such as single board computing and thin client systems, as well as markets for self-service kiosks, point of sale machines and digital signage. The ball grid array (BGA) package helps alleviate potential reliability issues for systems that are deployed in rugged environments and has a low z-height that is designed to enable thin, compact enclosures.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with a pair of new ultra-high performance NAS servers for the corporate and entry-level enterprise market. The new TS-439U-RP and TS-439U-SP models are both 4-drive 1U rack mounted NAS servers with hot-swappable drives that are capable of up to 8TB total capacity using 2TB drives. The newly-designed HDD tray for 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HDD dual support is also equipped in these two models, which gives users more choices to deploy the hard drives. The TS-439U-RP and TS-439U-SP feature Intel ATOM 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB DDRII memory, making them capable of incredible performance; up to 87.3MB/sec transfer rate for an FTP read with RAID 5 enabled. Both models can be configured for RAID 0/1/5/6/5+ spare, and JBOD with online RAID capacity expansion and RAID level migration. Both models feature iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and dual Gigabit LAN ports with port trunking (support 7 bonding modes) and multi-IP setting.

The primary difference between the TS-439U-RP and TS-439U-SP is the RP model includes a redundant power supply that will automatically kick in if the other fails. The SP model includes a single power supply, but is upgradeable with an optional redundant power supply that can be installed without powering down the unit.

Kingston Technology Europe Ltd., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the latest addition to the Kingston SSDNow family of solid-state drives, the Kingston SSDNow V+ Series. The Kingston SSDNow V+ Series is available in a wide range of capacities, and has higher and faster performance specifications to meet demands of performance-seeking users. The drive is the perfect upgrade solution for power consumers, system builders, integrators, and enterprise users looking at a cost effective way to increase performance and extend the life of existing systems.

"The Kingston SSDNow V+ Series drive is an ideal solid-state drive for those users working in demanding environments where efficiency and performance are important, as more system resources are in use", said Steve Hall, Product Marketing Manager - Corporate, Kingston Technology Europe, "Users will be more productive as the drives' higher capacities allow for more data storage and faster boot and application load times".

When HIS detailed its HD 4890 iCooler X4, it came across more as a one off model that probably takes the place of an IceQ 4 HD 4890. Apparently the company plans more accelerators with the iCooler branding, starting with the HD 4850 iCooler X4. Available in 1 GB and 512 MB variants, this card is poised to be simple and inexpensive. A short, blue PCB holds an aluminum fan-heatsink to cool the GPU, while the memory cools off under its air-flow. A minimalist 2+1 phase VRM circuit powers the card, which is passively cooled as well. It uses reference AMD clock speeds of 625 MHz (core) and 993 MHz (memory, 1983 MHz effective). Output connectivity includes DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI with 7.1 channel audio. It will be out later this month, standard pricing may apply.

Barely a week since its availability in the Chinese markets, Intel's Pentium Dual-Core E6500K processor that aims to be overclocker-friendly at a low-cost, set its first speed milestone, becoming one of the fastest Wolfdale-2M processors. Overclockers from IT168 community achieved 5.068 GHz on the processor. Details include a FSB multiplier of 24.0x (24 x 211.2 MHz), and a high vCore of 1.736V. The feat was conducted on an ASUS P5E3 Premium motherboard with 2x 1 GB of Corsair DDR3-1333 memory. The validation can be viewed here. This should give you a good idea of what to (or what not to) expect from this $89 chip.

After implementing the new processor logo design scheme that consists of a rounded-rectangle that convey's which brand, brand-expander, and micro-architecture (using a portion of the die-shot) the processor belongs to, Intel has also come up with a new box-art that carries out the same purpose. Fresh stocks of Intel processors across all its brands have new box designs and case-badges.

The strategy for Intel's Core brand the company detailed in June sparked of strong reactions from the community, many believing that the inclusion of some socket LGA-1156 and mobile processors in the Core i7 series will only end up confusing buyers as it also affects decision making on the rest of the platform and its upgrade path. Intel for now seems to have come up with a solution. Boxes of Core series processors will have a badge on the lower right corner that tells exactly which socket the processor works on, and which model the processor is. Its implementation can be seen on the recently pictured boxes of Core i5 750, and the new box of Core i7 920, pictured by AKIBA PC Hotline.

Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. announced the 4Gb (Gigabits) mobile DDR SDRAM is now supported on Intel's 'Moorestown' platform for MID (Mobile Internet Device) applications.

This high density memory device packs twice the storage capacity over current 2Gb mobile memory solutions and is offered in small form factor packages such as MCP (Multi Chip Package) and PoP(Package on Package). It boasts maximum operating speed of 400Mbps (Megabits per second), processing up to 1.6GB (Gigabytes) of data per second with a 32-bit I/O.

TDK Japan, a supplier of read-write heads for hard-drive manufacturers predicts that 2.5 hard drives will be a reality by late 2009, and will reach markets by early 2010. The company presented a roadmap to the press late last week, that shows that it will have the technology available to produce 3.5 inch disk platters with 640 GB data density. Four such platters will go into making 2.5 TB drives. On the 2.5 inch drive front, the roadmap shows a jump to 320 GB per platter density, which allows 640GB 2-platter SFF drives to be announced by manufacturers towards the end of this year.

Hard Drive manufacturers had reached the 2 TB milestone earlier this year. Seagate and Western Digital used four 500 GB platters in their products. At this rate of data density increases, a 5 TB hard drive in 2010, as predicted by Hitachi's Yoshihiro Shiroishi last year, sounds a little more realistic.

Remember this thumbnail-sized USB drive by Buffalo? The company developed the idea further with the RMUM-H, which, not only packs up to 16 GB of data in its thumbnail-sized package measuring 11 (W) x 15 (H) x 1 (D) mm, but also holds a Micro-SD/Micro-SDHC card reader that expands its capacity. The card reader can be used to port data between compatible phones and cameras, and the PC. The 16 GB variant (RMUM-16GH/BK) is priced at 10,900 JPY (US $112), the 8 GB one (RMUM-8GH/BK) at 5,200 JPY ($53), 4 GB one (RMUM-4GH/BK) at 2,600 JPY ($26.5), and a 2 GB (RMUM-2GH/BK) variant for 1,700 JPY ($17.5). There is provision for a lanyard or keychain, which is very much welcome.

MSI is ready with yet another motherboard for the AMD platform. This time, the company used NVIDIA's creme de la creme nForce 980a SLI chipset in its first socket AM3 implementation. The MSI NF980-G65 brings 3-way SLI to the socket AM3 crowd. The release trails ASUS by months, which introduced a AM2+ (DDR2) motherboard based on the chipset. While the actual picture is too small and blurry, the layout drawing is legible.

The NF980-G65 supports the entire range of socket AM3 processors, including future chips with 140W TDP. DDR3-2133 MHz memory is supported by overclocking. The layout uses 7 expansion slots, including three PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots (that arrange as x16, x16, NC, or x16, x8, x8) depending on the population of PCI-E x16 graphics cards. Between these are two PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. nForce 980a SLI packs a GeForce 8300 class IGP, which supports GeForce Boost with supported low-end discrete graphics cards. Its display output is handled by DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI connectors on board. All the chipset's six SATA II ports are provided internally. Audio is care of a high-grade Realtek ALC889 CODEC, gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire make for the rest of the connectivity. Pricing and availability are not known at this point, though we expect this one to sell for under US $200.

With the 45 nm Phenom II AM3 architecture, AMD is able to offer two highly competitive mainstream dual-core processors: the Phenom II X2 (Callisto), and Athlon II X2 (Regor). The Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition chips not only serves as a notable sub-$100 choice for mainstream consumers, but also offers good value to overclockers with an unlocked bus multiplier, and with the right tools, the potential to unlock disabled physical cores. With its prime competitor from the blue camp being Pentium Dual-Core E5000 and E6000 series, Intel decided to up the stakes with a low-cost overclocker-friendly dual-core processor labeled Pentium Dual-Core E6500K, the company's first FSB multiplier-unlocked 45 nm dual-core chip.

Based on the 45 nm Wolfdale-2M core, the E6500K boasts of a default clock speed of 2.93 GHz (11.0 x 266 MHz). The bus multiplier is unlocked, leaving room to play with it. Placed in the Pentium E6000 series, the chip has a FSB frequency of 1066 MHz, compared to its E5000 cousins that sport 800 MHz FSB. Aided with a 2 MB L2 cache, the E6500K is expected to go head-on against competing AMD chips. Currently available in China for RMB 1299 (converts to $190) as part of bundle with Biostar T-Series TP45E motherboard, the E6500K is expected to retail soon for US $89. Incidentally, the "K" in E6500K refers to "black" in digital imaging jargon.

Continuing its tradition of being first-to-market with industry leading hard drives, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced that it is now shipping the world's first, two terabyte (2TB), 7200 RPM hard disk drive (HDD). The new, colossal, 2TB Deskstar 7K2000 blends high performance and high capacity with low power and other eco-friendly features designed to enable Energy-Star rated computers and other high performance desktop systems.

Leveraging a solid track record for reliability, the new Deskstar 7K2000 is now in its fourth-generation using the company's unique five-platter design with relaxed bit density and proven perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology. Couple this with an ultra-quiet operation, a 32MB cache and a 3Gb/s SATA interface, and the new Deskstar 7K2000 is the ideal desktop drive for power users, gamers or anyone looking for a big, fast hard drive.

Sapphire announced its first Radeon HD 4000 series accelerator designed for the legacy AGP-8X interface. Available in 512 MB and 1 GB variants, the Sapphire HD 4650 AGP uses the RV730 GPU clocked at 600 MHz, with the 128-bit DDR2 memory at 800 MHz. It uses a single-slot design, with a simple fan-heatsink for the GPU. A peculiar part about the PCB design is its 6-pin PCI-E power input. Hopefully a Molex cable tides over this. Outputs are care of two DVI-D and a composite connector. The cards have started being listed on online stores, priced at 72 Euro. This card isn't the first of its kind, with PowerColor having recently announced a similar accelerator.

Nearly an year away from launch, Intel's 6-core Gulftown processor is creating buzz in the media. The new processor which has already been sampled, and tested, some of its first documentation has been leaked to the media in the form of a slide that lists out some details. To begin with, Gulftown will be the first high-performance processor built on the 32 nm second-generation HKMG process. Intel's first commercial 32 nm based processors are dual-core chips which will sell alongside the much larger 45 nm CPU lineup. Next of-course, is that it has six processing cores with HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs. With TurboBoost, the processor powers down inactive cores and overclocks the active ones, thus boosting performance on single/few-threaded apps while reducing power consumption.

Next up is its integrated memory controller supporting DDR3-1066 memory. The same standard is listed for current Core i7 processors, though they are proven to work at higher memory bus speeds. The part that perhaps matters the most is that the processor is seamlessly compatible with the X58 chipset, is based on socket LGA-1366, and has the same TDP rating as Core i7 900 series processors: 130W. Existing motherboards that handle Core i7 processors are technically capable to handle Gulftown. The processor will only be available in the high-end (enthusiast) category, and according to the latest roadmaps, is slated for Q2 2010.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, announces an upgrade to the HD4770 series, the custom cooled PCS HD4770. Manufactured with a cutting-edge 40nm process and using the latest GDDR5 memory, the PowerColor PCS HD4770 represents an industry milestone in the advancement of gaming performance.

The PowerColor PCS HD4770 clocks in with a 750MHz core speed and 800MHz of memory speed. Added to the HD4770 is our Professional Cooling Solution (PCS) made by ARCTIC COOLING. The specially designed 92mm cooling fan dissipates the heat from the GPU and memory more efficiently than a standard fan, providing a cool operating environment.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., a world leader in extreme performance memory with solid quality, today unveiled the Gaming Series- Ripjaws performance DDR3 Dual-channel 1.65 volts memory solution with speeds ranging from 1333 to 1866MHz. G.SKILL also preparing production DDR3 dual-channel memory kits speeds range from 2000MHz CL9 to 2200MHz CL8 for upcoming Intel platform.

G.Skill Ripjaw Gaming Series Memory are designed to combine a performance DDR3 dual-channel memory solution with speeds ranging from 1,333 to 1,866MHz at just 1.65 Volts. At these speeds, G.Skill has optimised the high performance DIMMs for reliability so gamers get amazing FPS, while maintaining a solid overclock so your PC will not fail from memory errors mid-game.

PhotoFast's solid-state drive (SSD) development has been on a roll in the last year or so. The company has been coming up with new SSD designs on a regular basis. Its latest doing is the G-Monster "Quad-Drive". Simply put, this SSD encloses four PhotoFast CFast (compact-flash derived standard) cards driven by a JMicron RAID controller, which then connects to the host machine over standard SATA II interface, and is seen as a single drive. Internally, the controller lets you configure the cards in RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, and JBOD modes. With the default configuration, the drive boasts of speeds of up to 250 MB/s read, and 170 MB/s write. Its price is yet to be known, as the product is on its way to the markets.

The folks over at Coolaler and XFastest took one of the first public pictures of the retail packaging of Intel's Core i5 750 processor. The pictures reveal what is typically expected of an Intel retail package: a blue box with branding in the front, a sticker on the bottom-right corner that shows which model it is, windows that let you see the processor and its cooler. Inside, is the usual molded plastic cover that holds the processor and cooler, and some documentation.

The cooler design hasn't changed at all from several previous generations. It consists of a copper base with pre-applied thermal compound. From the base, several forked aluminum fins project radially. Size-wise, the cooler is roughly the same size as that of Core 2 Duo E8000 series processors. One of the first socket LGA-1156 processors to hit the market, the Core i5 750, along with Core i7 860 and 870 (both LGA-1156 processors too), will launch in under 5 weeks from now. More details about the processor can be read in our older article here.

Today marks another important date in the development phase of Microsoft's much anticipated Windows 7 operating system. Post signing the RTM (release-to-manufacturing) for Windows 7, the software is now officially available to MSDN and Technet subscribers. The English (En-US) version is available starting today, while the International versions will be available weeks later, on October 1.

It was further added that starting tomorrow, companies that are Microsoft Software Assurance license holders, will be able to download Windows 7 RTM (En-US) through the volume-licensing service center (VLSC). International versions will be available later. SA license holders will further be able to purchase Windows 7 through Volume Licensing on September 1st, as announced earlier.

Intel expanded its portfolio of Xeon enterprise processors with four new models: the dual-socket W5590, L5530, and single-socket W3580 and W3550. With this batch of releases, Intel introduces 3.33 GHz Xeon models. To begin with, W5590 comes with a clock speed of 3.33 GHz, and Quickpath Interconnect speed of 6.4 GT/s. It features 8 MB of L3 cache to aid its four HyperThreading-enabled cores. This model is trailed by the single-socket W3580 that carries the same specs of 3.33 GHz core speed, 8 MB L3 cache, and HyperThreading enabled. Another single-socket model, W3550, is clocked at 3.06 GHz. It has a narrower 4.8 GT/s QPI speed, 8 MB L3 cache, HyperThreading enabled. All these chips have their TDP rated at 130W. Finally, there's the low-wattage L5530. This dual-socket chip is clocked at 2.40 GHz, QPI speed of 5.83 GT/s, 8 MB L3 cache, and TDP rating of a mere 60W.

Elpida Memory, Inc., a leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it reached an agreement with Germany-based Qimonda AG, which is now in insolvency proceedings, to acquire Qimonda technology licenses and a portion of the design assets related to Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR), a memory architecture that has a high-speed data interface for graphic processing applications.

Based on the licenses and assets acquired from Qimonda, Elpida will now join the graphics DRAM business and become a memory solutions company with an expanded range of products and services.

When there's sweat on your brow, and it's way too late to turn back, it's time to choose wisely. To help you make the right choice when victory is on the line, Logitech today unveiled extensions to its award-winning G-series line of gaming peripherals: the Logitech Gaming Mouse G500 and the Logitech Gaming Headset G330. The Gaming Mouse G500 refreshes the popular Logitech G5 Laser Mouse with the latest gaming-grade laser engine and a battle-worn appearance, while the Gaming Headset G330 delivers comfort that won't quit - even after long hours of battle.

"As more and more people make gaming with family and friends the new night out, Logitech continues to push the envelope with the Logitech G-series," said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech's director of product marketing for gaming. "If you're getting serious about gaming - or have already seen the light - then the best way to dive ever deeper into the game is by putting the G500 mouse in your good hand and the G330 headset on your head. Victory is up to you."

For gamers, especially the more than 11 million people playing World of Warcraft or the millions on a tour of Call of Duty, the Gaming Mouse G500 and the Gaming Headset G330 help ensure that every late-night gaming session is victorious.

NVIDIA's SLI multi-GPU technology served as the biggest selling point of nForce series chipsets, as it was exclusive to it. With the advent of LGA-1366 processors and the Intel X58 chipset, NVIDIA allowed the Intel chipset to support the technology, as it soon became clear that it isn't going to be easy for NVIDIA to come up with an LGA-1366 chipset. Users of the older LGA-775 however still have the option of buying nForce 700 series based motherboards to use SLI, and hence no real attempt was made to ensure the technology is available to Intel chipsets. Until now.

A member of Expreview's Chinese enthusiast community has successfully enabled SLI on an Intel chipset based LGA-775 motherboard, the first feat of its kind since much older attempts on i975 platforms using much older GeForce hardware. Firewings_[CCG] successfully ran SLI of GeForce 8600 GT and GeForce GTX 260 cards on his Intel X38+ICH9R chipset based ASUS Maximus Formula motherboard. The feat is headed by software he modified, details of which will surface soon. The mod was validated by Expreview staff, who used the software to run GeForce GTX 260 SLI on a more recent P45+ICH10R based Maximus II Formula motherboard. "By installing the software that Firewings [CCG] provides us, we managed to enable SLI configuration in Directory Services Restore Mode. Due to some 'small problems' according to Firewings [CCG], the SLI configuration can't be realized in normal mode for now, but he says this will be fixed soon," commented Expreview. With SLI enabled, the multi-GPU setup was able offer performance scaling that proves the mod works.

MSI expanded its portfolio of motherboards based on AMD's new 785G chipset by adding two socket AM2+ models that support DDR2 memory standard. The company had recently announced three socket AM3 motherboards based on the chipset to launch the lineup. Among the two new products are the 785GT-E63 ATX and 785GTM-E45 micro-ATX. Both motherboards support the complete range of AM2, AM2+ and AM3 socket processors, with DDR2 memory running at up to 1066 MHz speeds depending on the processor.

The 785GT-E63 powers its processor with a 4+1 phase VRM. Four DDR2 DIMM slots are provided. Out of the five expansion slots available on this ATX motherboard, there's one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16, PCI-Express x1, and three PCI slots. The 785G northbridge packs an ATI Radeon HD 4200 class IGP. In both motherboards, SidePort memory is absent. The IGP connects to its displays using DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI. The 8-channel audio CODEC also provides optical SPDIF output. One of the six SATA II ports the southbridge provides is assigned as eSATA. The 785GTM-E45 has a skimpier layout, with just two DDR2 DIMM slots to go with it. No eSATA here, with all ports internal. The 785GTM-E45 is priced at 69 Euro, with the 785GTM-E45 at a mere 6 Euro less, at 63 Euro.

ATI partner HIS, popular for the IceQ series graphics cards, seems to have something up its sleeves for the Radeon HD 4890, although it's not an IceQ product. The HIS Radeon HD 4890 iCooler X4 is touted to be the company's non-reference offering that boasts of superior cooling performance. The cooler consists of a central fan that pushes air onto aluminum fin heatsinks on either sides. From what we can see, two 8 mm heatpipes convey heat to these. The card holds 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, and reference AMD clock speeds of 850/975 MHz (core/memory). The bundle includes the company's recently announced Bumptop 3D desktop environment software. Expect this to be priced on par with most other Radeon HD 4890 accelerators.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA N700-10EW Nano-ITX board, designed for industrial and embedded applications in environments with extreme temperatures. Guaranteed to maintain absolute stability at temperatures ranging from -20 degrees C to 70 degrees C, the fanless VIA EPIA N700-10EW can be employed in environments that traditionally inhibit x86 computing. These include specialized industrial applications where machinery can create intense operating temperatures, as well as extreme climate scenarios like desert, mountain and high altitude environments.

"By expanding our range of EPIA products to include extended temperature products, VIA is addressing the broader needs of our extensive customer base," said Daniel Wu, Vice President of VIA Embedded, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Extreme thermal competency usually comes at a premium, the VIA EPIA N700-10EW will help to significantly lower that barrier."

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of the Viper II DDR2 memory kits with Futuremark's 3DMark Vantage software.

Patriot Memory and Futuremark have teamed up once again to offer PC enthusiasts and overclockers the tools necessary to build the ultimate performance system. Futuremark's 3DMark Vantage, the world's #1 benchmarking software, offers consumers the chance to see how their system performs and stacks up against worldwide contention.

MSI, in a slide circulated to distributors detailed its first wave of motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, supporting socket LGA-1156 Intel processors. Like ASRock and Gigabyte which recently circulated their presentations, the slide from MSI lists out the features and specifications of four models, one of which is micro-ATX. The lineup starts with the all-exclusive P55-GD80 that supports as many as three graphics cards in multi-GPU configurations. This is probably the first motherboard to sport an all-DrMOS (driver MOSFET) design. DrMOS chips have been usually confined to the CPU VRM areas on some MSI motherboards. Next up, is the P55-GD65, that offers nearly the same feature-set, except that it only support 2-way multi-GPU graphics. Below it is the P55-CD53, which supports only one PCI-E x16 graphics card, and forms the entry-level ATX P55 motherboard from MSI. Finally, there's the micro-ATX P55M-GD45, that crams every feature it can in 245x235 mm, including support for 2-way multi-GPU.

What MSI chose to leave in the dark are whether any of these motherboards support NVIDIA SLI, and about where is the coveted G9P55-DC, which packs an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip for high-bandwidth 3-way SLI. Perhaps the board makes it much later. Also sourced are their tentative pricing. The P55-GD80 could be priced at 190 Euro, with P55-GD65 at 140 Euro, and the P55-CD53 at 106 Euro. There's no word on that of the P55M-GD45. Much more on the slide.

PCI-SIG (Special Interest Group), the organisation responsible for development of PCI specifications announced that generation 3 PCI-Express (PCI-E 3.0), is off its target launch time from late-2009 to Q2 2010. Although work on the bus is almost finished, there seems to be problems with implementing backwards-compatibility with older generations of PCI-E. Assuming PCI-E 3.0 is standardised in Q2 2010, one can expect implementing products (motherboards and expansion cards supporting PCI-E 3.0) only by a year later.

PCI-E 3.0 packs features that overcome the bottlenecks of PCI-E 2.0, such as the removal of the 8P/10b encoding scheme that added at least 20% data overhead for the 5 GT/s PCI-E 2.0, reducing it to 4 GT/s effective. At 8 GT/s the new bus will have effectively twice the bandwidth.

Creative Technology today introduced the Creative Inspire T3130 and Creative Inspire T6160 speaker systems that uphold the Creative Inspire line's reputation for merging high performance and value.

These new speaker systems were engineered with optimised component selection and tuning to deliver the best sonic experience and superior loudness with minimal distortion. The Creative Inspire T3130 and Creative Inspire T6160 speaker systems are able to pump out smooth audio at high decibels that meets the needs of music lovers, movie fans and gaming enthusiasts alike.

Featuring proprietary technology and sleek designs, the speaker systems were built to stand out acoustically and aesthetically, making the Creative Inspire T3130 and Creative Inspire T6160 speaker systems distinctly superior in their respective classes, while remaining competitively priced.

NVIDIA, the leader in GPU computing, today introduced the NVIDIA OptiX ray tracing engine, part of a suite of application acceleration engines for software developers. NVIDIA acceleration engines make it easy to incorporate valuable, high-performance capabilities into applications, while simultaneously reducing development time.

NVIDIA application acceleration engines unveiled at Siggraph 2009 include:

• NVIDIA OptiX engine for real-time ray tracing
• NVIDIA SceniX engine for managing 3D data and scenes
• NVIDIA CompleX engine for scaling performance across multiple GPUs
• NVIDIA PhysX 64-bit engine for real-time, hyper-realistic physical and environmental effects

Tuniq today announced its newest CPU cooler, the Tower 120 Extreme. With this release Tuniq introduced what it calls a radical design change, that increases heat dissipation surface area, and brings about turbulence that helps cooling. To do so, each aluminum fin has "wave-design" edges on two sides. Every neighbouring fin has an alternating wave-pattern, that helps provide turbulence. A 120 mm, PWM-controlled, LED-lit fan is nested inside the fin block, that circulates air. Five nickel-plated copper heatpipes convey heat to the fins, which make direct contact to the CPU at the block.

The cooler measures 131(L) x 112.31(W) x 150.7(H), and weighs in at 775 g without the fan (around 850 g with it). The fan spins at speeds between 1000~2000 rpm, pushing up to 90.65 CFM of air, with a maximum noise output of 20 dBA. Out of the five heatpipes, three are 8 mm in thickness, and two 6 mm ones. The package includes a 1g tube of Tuniq's recently announced TX-3 thermal compound. In Tuniq's own tests, the Tower 120 Extreme emerged at least 10% more efficient at cooling than its predecessor, the Tower 120. It is compatible with most current CPU sockets, including LGA-1366, LGA-775, and AM3/AM2+/AM2. Expect it to be priced close to that of the Tower 120 when it hits stores soon.

ATI surprised us last month, when sections of the Chinese media leaked information about Radeon HD 4860, a new SKU that intends to succeed Radeon HD 4850 in the $120~$130 segment. Fresh information suggests that the SKU indeed will see the light of the day, even outside China. Slated to ship from around August 18, the HD 4860 will substitute the HD 4850, which is handling the lower price segment of $90~$110. This only gives you an idea of how intense competition has become in the sub $150 graphics market.

Another bit of information surfacing is about the Radeon HD 4750. Even as the Radeon HD 4770 is suffering stock shortages around the world, ATI seems to be going ahead with the HD 4750, a graphics card based on the 40 nm RV740 GPU. The HD 4750 has similar specifications to the HD 4770. It even sports GDDR5 memory. The RV740 core runs at 730 MHz, and its memory at 800 MHz (3200 MHz effective). While the memory clock speed is identical to that of the HD 4770, the core is clocked slightly lower. Overall, the card won't have as much overclocking headroom as the HD 4770, because it will not draw power from a 6-pin power connector. The design ensures existing low-performing raw materials are utilized more effectively. The HD 4750 is expected to be priced at $88 initially. The first batch of these cards will be very small, quantity-wise.

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd Ltd has launched the PC-A70F/71F Full Tower chassis ideal for power users and server systems. The hair-line brushed all black aluminum chassis features two fans on the front (2x 140mm@1000RPM), and 2x rear 120mm fans @1500RPM. The 7x PCI expansion slots enable CrossFire and SLI graphic card setups. The chassis front face has either a door assembly which can open from either side as needed (PC-A71F) or a front panel which clips off conveniently as needed (PC-A70F). The inlet fans have filters that are washable. The entire chassis is designed for tool-less implementation, so installing your hardware and getting your system up and running is extremely easy. The dimensions stand at 220mm x 590mm x 615mm ( W, H, D) for the PC-A71F, and 220mm x 590mm x 585mm ( W, H, D) for the PC-A70F.

Gigabyte's first wave of motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, supporting the upcoming LGA-1156 processors, is set to consist of as many as nine models according to a company slide sourced by XFastest. Of these, there are seven ATX, and two micro-ATX motherboards, graded by features, and Gigabyte exclusives. The ATX lineup starts with a GA-P55 UD6 model, and proceeds down in the order UD5, UD4, UD3P, UD3R, UD3, and US3L. The micro-ATX series holds GA-P55M UD4 and UD2. It's over to the slide that lists out features of each model in the series:Gigabyte's lineup could launch along with the first Intel LGA-1156 processors, less than five weeks from now.

NZXT announced its new low-frills PC case, the Beta EVO. This ATX mid-tower has an all-black steel design, including its interiors. It has four 5.25" drive bays, a 90 degree turned hard drive cage that lets you slide in drives from the side. The PSU bay is located at the bottom, and has a detachable dust filter. The motherboard tray has a punchout behind the CPU area that lets easy handling of CPU coolers with back-plates/bolts. There is mounting room for six 120 mm fans (1 rear, 2 top, 1 front, 2 side). The top fan mounts support 140 mm fans. NZXT however, doesn't ship any fans with the case. There are two holes in the back for water-cooling tubing. The utility panel is located on the top, which includes USB, audio connectors. NZXT will make the product available for as low as US $50, which lets users load the case with fans of their choice, for as low as $10 added to it. The company will start shipping it this September.

Some of Arctic Cooling's biggest claims to fame are the Freezer series CPU coolers that offered good levels of cooling performance for mainstream prices. The company then had Intel and AMD specific versions of the cooler in the form of Freezer 7 Pro (Intel) and Freezer64 Pro (AMD). In a move to unify the two designs as far as CPU socket compatibility goes, Arctic Cooling released the Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2, which sports support for both Intel and AMD sockets.

Measuring 104 L x 58 W x 126.5 H mm and weighing 520 g, the Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 has essentially the same design of the predecessors, except for its retention mechanism that holds various different kinds of sockets, including Intel LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2. The cooler has a 92 mm 45 CFM PWM-controlled fan that cools a 42-fin aluminum fin array to which three copper heat-pipes convey heat from a copper CPU block. The cooler has a cake of the MX-2 thermal compound pre-applied. The Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is priced at US $28.90 or 20.90 Euro.

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the next major downloadable content (DLC) update for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead (L4D), the #1 new game title on Xbox 360 and PC in 2008.

Entitled "Crash Course," the latest DLC delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms. Targeted for release in September, "Crash Course" bridges the gap between the end of the "No Mercy" campaign and the beginning of "Death Toll" in the original game, expanding the game universe with new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale.

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is preparing production quantities of HyperX DDR3 dual-channel 1.65-volt memory kits, and has successfully achieved 2133 MHz speed at CL8 latencies. In September, Kingston will ship a complete line of HyperX DDR3 dual-channel 1.65-volt performance memory kits from 1333 to 2133 MHz, so enthusiasts and do-it-yourself system builders can choose from a full set of offerings of the latest technology for their rigs.

Kingston memory is backed by a lifetime warranty and free, 24/7 technical support.

Today, Logitech introduced a convenient and clutter-free way for you to connect wireless keyboards and mice to your laptop - the Logitech Unifying receiver. So small that it can stay in the laptop when you're moving around, a single Logitech Unifying receiver can be paired with multiple Unifying-compatible Logitech mice and keyboards - freeing up valuable USB ports and making it easy to mix, match and add to your existing setup, no matter where you are. The Logitech Unifying receiver is debuting with four new products: the Logitech Wireless Keyboard K350, Logitech Wireless Keyboard K340, Logitech Marathon Mouse M705 and the Logitech Wireless Mouse M505.

"At Logitech, we're always looking for ways to make life easier," said Rory Dooley, Logitech's senior vice president and general manager of the Control Devices business unit. "With this unique new receiver, now you can pick and choose the mouse and keyboard that work best for you whether you're at the office, at home or on the road."

NVIDIA today unveiled new breakthrough Quadro Plex solutions targeted at scalable visualization professionals who interact with 3D models and analyze large volumes of data. These cost-effective visual computing platforms are designed to power a wide range of ultra-high resolution and multi-channel collaboration environments - ranging from interpretation desktops to visualization walls to network operations centers.

Quadro Plex-based solutions enable professionals in fields such as energy exploration, architectural design, medical research and consumer packaged goods to seamlessly run any software application across multiple ultra-high resolution displays or projectors, facilitating accurate and timely decision making.

EVGA expanded its GeForce GTX 295 CO-OP (single PCB) lineup with two factory-overclocked models, the GeForce GTX 295 CO-OP Superclocked (model: 017-P3-1296-AR) and GeForce GTX 295 CO-OP FTW (017-P3-1298-AR). Both accelerators have identical packaging and design (the reference NVIDIA design), and feature two GT200 GPUs with 240 shader processors each, and memory sub-systems of 896 MB, 448-bit GDDR3.

The Superclocked model traditionally has a mild level of factory-overclocked speeds: 602/1296/2052 MHz (core/shader/memory), as against the reference speeds of 576/1246/2016 MHz. The FTW ("for the win", in gamer jargon), sports the top level of factory-overclocked speeds, at 684/1476/2160 MHz (core/shader/memory). Both are listed on EVGA online store. The GeForce GTX 295 CO-OP Superclocked is priced at US $519.99, while the GeForce GTX 295 CO-OP FTW asks for $559.99.

BFG Technologies Inc., the leading North American and European supplier of advanced NVIDIA-based 3D graphics cards, power supplies, and the Phobos High-Performance Gaming/Home Theater System, announced today the BFG GeForce GTX 285 H2O+ and GeForce GTX 295 H2OC graphics cards with ThermoIntelligence Advanced Cooling Solutions-saving customers time and money by providing a high performance graphics card plus a fully assembled, self-contained liquid cooling solution right out of the box.

The BFG GeForce GTX 285 H2O+ and GeForce GTX 295 H2OC ThermoIntelligence Advanced Cooling Solutions are maintenance-free, self-contained liquid cooling units attached to enthusiast-grade BFG Tech graphics cards that easily install into most systems right out of the box and never need refilling or additional components. These unique solutions feature a top of the line BFG Tech graphics card plus a high-performance cooling loop designed by CoolIT Systems that pushes coolant across the GPU and exhausts heat directly outside of the system chassis. Three different system speed settings-Auto, Quiet, and Maximum-give total control over acoustics and performance.

Global prestigious motherboard and graphic card manufacturer MSI, launched a high C/P ratio AMD 785G mainboard series. Additional support for gaming and video by Direct X 10.1 and UVD 2.0 enhance the performance of audio display and high definition. With multiple I/O port, exclusive user-friendly design, and powerful AMD platform, a new generation entertainment platform on the stage is to be expected.

MSI 785G Series mainboards, aiming at fitting consumers' demand for environmental protection and energy saving, introduced APS(Active Phase Switching).Auto power supply switch depending on system loading leads to more efficient power-using. MSI saves the earth and saves your money.

AMD's timely update to its high-end desktop processor lineup is on course for August 13. The Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (PIB model: HDZ965FBGIBOX or HDZ965FBK4DGI) is a quad-core socket AM3 processor that comes with a clock speed of 3.40 GHz, and an unlocked bus multiplier like other Black Edition series models. It is reported by Brightside of News that the NDA over the chip will be lifted on August 13, letting reviewers publish reviews. Retail availability can be expected shortly afterwards.

According to Expreview.com, the chip was listed on Technologic, an online store, for 178.97 GBP. It gives us a glimpse of what the pricing could look like. Like its predecessors 955 BE and 940 BE, the 965 BE could start off at around US $270 or $250. At 3.40 GHz, the 965 BE will be AMD's fastest processor in terms of default clock speed. Phenom II X4 955 BE and Athlon64 X2 6400+ BE hold the 3.20 GHz spot currently.

Toshiba Corporation, a leading innovator in NAND flash memory technologies and solutions, today announced the launch of the world's first 64GB SDXC Memory Card with the world's fastest data transfer rate compliant with the new SD Memory Standard Ver. 3.00, UHS 1043. Toshiba also extended its industry-leadership in memory card solutions by unveiling 32GB and 16GB SDHC Memory Cards compliant with the world's fastest data transfer rate. Sample shipments of the new SDXC Memory Cards for OEM manufacturers will start this November, and of the new SDHC Memory Cards in December. Both products will be available at retailers next spring.

The new SDXC and SDHC Memory Cards are the world's first memory cards compliant with the SD Memory Card Standard Ver. 3.00, UHS104, which brings a new level of ultra-fast read and write speeds to NAND flash based memory cards: a maximum write speed of 35MB per second, and a read speed of 60MB per second. The specifications meet strong market demand for cards combining high level performance with increased data capacity, in order to support such applications as high speed continuous shooting for digital still cameras and high resolution video recording for digital camcorders, and high speed transfers of those data from/ to other media.

Increasing the momentum and industry support for its 3D professional graphics accelerators, AMD today announced its newest solution for content creators and computer-aided designers (CAD) who demand mobility: the ATI FirePro M7740 graphics accelerator, set to power Dell Precision M6400 Mobile Workstations. Designed with digital content creators, CAD, and engineers in mind, the Dell Precision M6400 brings swift real-time graphical rendering and brilliant color representation to the forefront of large model design work, all while giving professionals excellent performance capabilities for multitasking and multi-threaded applications. The new offering provides design professionals with the high performance and reliability that is synonymous with the ATI FirePro family of graphics accelerators.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, recently announced its alliance with Trend Micro, Inc., a global leader in Internet content security, to offer advanced Trend Micro USB Security software preloaded on its newest USB flash drive, the JetFlash V15. With this powerful combination of Transcend hardware and industry-leading Trend Micro software, users can now share, store and manage valuable data more safely and securely than ever.

Trend Micro USB Security is a unique software program specially developed to protect against malicious content in files transferred to USB Flash Drives. With its easy-to-use interface and simple one-step activation process, Trend Micro USB Security protects the JetFlash V85 from the first moment it is connected. Upon finding threats, the software will alert the user and move all dangerous files to a hidden quarantine folder. Additionally, when the JetFlash V85 is plugged into a computer with Internet access, Trend Micro USB Security will automatically download and install the latest security updates directly onto the drive. Thanks to its powerful Trend Micro USB Security built-in software, Transcend's JetFlash V85 AntiVirus USB Flash Drive can freely be used in any computer with no danger of malicious data hitching a ride while transferring files.

NVIDIA today announced that HP's most powerful and expandable workstation-the HP Z800 Workstation-is now configurable with up to two NVIDIA Tesla graphics processing units (GPUs), another key indicator of the demand being seen for GPUs in the high performance computing (HPC) space.

Enterprises that rely on HP workstations to accelerate their work in fields ranging from scientific research and industrial design, to 3D animation and seismic exploration, can now reap the benefits of NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and tackle demanding computational workloads right at the desktop.

MSI is ready with perhaps the industry's first SLI-supportive socket AM3 motherboard, certainly its first. The MSI NF750-G55 is based on NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI chipset, and has its AM3 socket powered by a 4+1 phase circuit, that supports Active Phase Switching that powers down redundant power phases when the load is low. The socket is wired to four DDR3 memory slots supporting up to DDR3-1800 by overclocking.

The nForce chipset connects to two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots that arrange as electrical dual x8 when both are populated for 2-way SLI. Apart from this, the chipset also embeds a GeForce 8300 class IGP as a fallback, or for GeForce Boost features. The IGP connects using D-Sub, HDMI, and DVI-D. Other expansion slots include two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. The chipset provides six SATA II ports in all, one of which is designated as eSATA on the rear-panel, next to one gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, and 8-channel audio. The NF750-G50 has started selling in Europe for under 100 Euros.

Inno3D has its latest offering to the high-end consumer market ready, with the water-block pre-installed GeForce GTX 295 iChill Black Series. This single PCB GeForce GTX 295 accelerator comes with a full coverage single slot water-block that is factory installed. This accelerator packs 1792 MB of GDDR3 memory, 480 shader processors, and is Quad-SLI capable with any other GeForce GTX 295 card. It is believed that the card comes with factory-overclocked settings. What isn't known however, is the pricing and availability.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today announced a powerful upgrade to the HD4890 series: PCS HD4890 2GB GDDR5. This latest addition features 2GB of onboard memory, maximizing the graphics of the latest gaming titles. The added memory buffer allows more data to be saved, eliminating the need to access system memory and resulting in faster graphical performance.

Compatible with all essential features, the PowerColor PCS HD4890 2GB GDDR5 delivers 900MHz core speed and 1000MHz effective memory speed. Cooling the card is ZEROtherm's exclusive cooling system, providing a low temperature and noise platform for gamers who strive for superior overclocking and gaming performance.

Following the European Commission's recent welcoming of Microsoft's proposed "browser ballot" method of providing users a choice of web-browser software to be installed, Microsoft has decided to scrap the Eurozone-specific variant of the operating system codenamed "Windows 7 E", that lacks the Windows Internet Explorer web-browser component. The company will be shipping the standard version of the software to EU which it ships to the rest of the world.

In an interview with CNET, Microsoft's VP and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner said "One reason we decided not to ship Windows 7 'E' is concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners." He added that "Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 'E'. Computer manufacturers and our partners also warned that introducing Windows 7 'E', only to later replace it with a version of Windows 7 that includes IE, could confuse consumers about what version of Windows to buy with their PCs."

Microsoft's Windows 7 has managed to capture quite some hype, with successive pre-releases living up to the expectations of many. This time, Microsoft will be offering "family-pack" licenses of Windows 7 Home Premium that lets users install one copy on three PCs in a household for a fraction of the cost of buying three licenses. Microsoft confirmed Windows 7 Family Pack, along with its pricing. It is priced at US $149.99, which amounts to savings of $200 in comparison to buying three Windows 7 Home Premium licenses.

This release however, isn't worldwide. Microsoft announced that it will be available on October 22, the day of the commercial launch of the OS. It will be available in the United States, and select markets. The Windows 7 Family Pack first surfaced as a listing on an online store.

AOpen is ready with its LGA-775 ION ITX platform. The AOpen nMCP7AUt-V resembles most Atom-ION motherboards, but supports an LGA-775 (up to 95W TDP) Pentium, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad processor with its 2+1 phase power circuit. The ION chipset packs a GeForce 9400M class mGPU. AOpen overclocked this a little, 580/1500 MHz (core/shader, versus 580/1400 MHz reference). The chipset supports GeForce Boost, which allows a low-end discrete GeForce GPU to work in tandem with it, and save power. The chipset is actively cooled by a fan-heatsink. The board holds two SO-DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR2 800/667 MHz memory, commonly available as laptop memory.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16. Storage is care of three SATA II ports, with RAID 0,1,5, and JBOD modes. The GeForce mGPU connects to its display through DVI-D and HDMI connectors. Audio is care of a high-grade Realtek ALC889 HD audio CODEC. Apart from the 8 USB 2.0 ports on the rear-panel, four more are provided through internal headers. The AOpen nMCP7AUt-V is selling in Japan for 18,770 JPY (US $198).

AMD's 790X chipset was featured as one of the first in 7-series chipset family. Based on the RX780 chip, this chipset is essentially identical to the AMD 770, except for that it supports the ATI CrossFireX technology. With the introduction of the 790GX, the 790X was less opted for. The chipset made its comeback with motherboards from Gigabyte and MSI that support AM3 processors and DDR3 memory. ASUS is ready with its competitive motherboard based on the AMD 790X + SB750 chipset. The ASUS M4A79XTD-EVO offers some of ASUS' latest innovations.

To begin with, this socket AM3 motherboard supports DDR3 memory. The CPU is powered by an 8+2 phase power circuit, that is controlled by the ASUS EPU active phase switching controller. The brown PCB uses a 2 oz copper to reduce EMI and enhance electrical stability, a technology found in Gigabyte's UltraDurable 3 motherboards. The 790X northbridge connects to two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical dual x8, when both are populated). Two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI make for the rest of the expansion. The SB750 southbridge supports AMD Overdrive and Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC). Apart from the six SATA II ports it provides, an additional controller gives out one internal port, and an eSATA port. Overclocking is aided by the TurboV feature. VIA VT1708S onboard 8 channel audio, Realtek Gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the package. ASUS will have this board up in the next few weeks.

ASRock detailed its first-wave of motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, supporting the company's upcoming LGA-1156 socket processors. In a presentation to vendors, the company listed out four models targeting 3~4 price points. The lineup is lead by the ASRock P55 Deluxe, followed by P55 Extreme, P55 Pro, and the micro-ATX P55M Pro. The slides list out out every notable feature of the products, including specifications, features, and ASRock exclusives. It's over to the slides.

Intel issued a confidential roadmap for CPU product releases that looks as far as Q3 2010, leaked to sections of the Chinese media. The roadmap covers prominent Intel processors in their designated market segments drawn out by Intel, covering three grades of mainstream, one each of performance and extreme. The roadmap marks a definite transition of architectures from Intel's Core (penryn) to next-generation Nehalem, and the advent of Intel's first 32 nm based Westmere CPUs.

To begin with, there three models of Intel's first LGA-1156 processors scheduled for Q3 2009, the quad-core "Lynnfield" based Core i7 870 (2.93 GHz, HTT) in Performance, Core i7 860 (2.80 GHz, HTT) in MS3/upper-mainstream, and Core i5 750 (2.66 GHz, no HTT) in MS2/middle-mainstream. The HTT-enabled Core i7 800 processors were earlier believed to have been scheduled for Q1 2010, but are combined with the Core i5 750 for a grand platform launch. The Core i7 800 models will remain seated in their segments for the better part of 2010.

Topower, a leading manufacturer of gaming and mainstream power supply systems, for desktop workstations, servers and Laptops, introduced today, and are proud to announce the Topower Tiger 1200 Watt Quad graphics card power supply.

This Topower 1200 Watt power supply is unique and robust. "It was designed to handle NVIDIA's 295 GTX in Quad config and AMD's most powerful graphics cards", Rick Lee, Product Manager for Topower.