Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced that its Dominator GT GTX6 ultra-high performance DDR3 memory was used to set two new world records for dual-channel memory frequency at CAS 7 and CAS 8. The record-setting frequencies of 3078.2 MHz, CL8-11-8-31, 1T, and 3059.4 MHz, CL7-11-8-31, 1T, were achieved by renowned extreme overclocker "Mat", aka Matthias Zronek, from Overclockers.at.

"I've worked with the Corsair Dominator GT memory for quite some time now, and can easily say that these are great memory modules, dedicated to world-record overclocking," stated Matthias Zronek. "What surprised me the most is the potential of the Domintator GT GTX6. Even at 3000MHz and higher frequencies, at CL7, there is still headroom for lots of optimization."

Kingston Technology Europe Ltd., an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced that its world's fastest dual channel memory kit Kingston HyperX KHX2333C9D3T1K3/3GX was clocked at 3068 MHz during a heavy over-clocking session at GamesCom 2010 in Cologne. This is the fastest ever recorded frequency for memory and was achieved by the renowned over-clockers Benjamin Bioux aka 'Benji Tshi' and Jean-Baptiste Gerard aka 'marmott', using liquid nitrogen as cooling aid. The session was run on a GIGABYTE P55 motherboard with an Intel Core i7 870 processor.

"We are absolutely thrilled by the speed of this module," said reigning French over-clocking champion Jean-Baptiste Gerard aka 'marmott', "we knew this module had a lot of potential, but being able to push it that far and break the record for memory frequency even surprised me. We are eager to see what Kingston has in the pipeline for the future."

Combining unprecedented security, performance and energy efficiency, Intel Corporation today launched the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series. The new processors deliver two new security features -- Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel AES-NI), and Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT) -- that enable faster encryption and decryption performance for more secure transactions and virtualized environments, providing data centers with a stronger foundation for cloud security.

These are also the first server and workstation chips based on the groundbreaking, new Intel 32nm logic technology, which uses Intel's second-generation high-k metal gate transistors to increase speed and decrease energy consumption. The Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series supports up to six cores per processor and delivers up to 60 percent greater performance than the 45nm Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. In addition, data centers can replace 15 single-core servers with a single new one, and achieve a return on their investment in as little as 5 months.

IBM researchers today announced they have demonstrated a world record in areal data density on linear magnetic tape - a significant update to one of the computer industry's most resilient, reliable and affordable data storage technologies.

This breakthrough proves that tape technology can increase capacity for years to come, which has important implications, as tape storage systems are more energy efficient and cost-effective than hard disk drive storage systems. As the physical world becomes increasingly networked with sensors, vast amounts of data are amassed in various formats from medical images to security camera feeds to supply chain sensors to financial records. All of this data needs to be archived, replicated for disaster recovery, and/or retained or regulatory compliance.

A team of overclockers Sampsa and Stummerwinter set a new world-record score for 3DMark Vantage (Performance preset). The duo set the record using a test-bed made of Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, four ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5870 in CrossFireX mode, 6 GB of Corsair Dominator GTX2, and the upcoming ASUS Rampage III Extreme motherboard to seat it all.

The Core i7 975 XE processor sailed through to 5508.9 MHz (27 x 204 MHz @ 1.664V, HTT on), with the memory running at 2040 MHz DDR (7-8-7-21). The four ASUS Radeon HD 5870 cards were hand-picked from a batch of 18 pieces. Core/memory speeds of 1325 MHz / 1300 MHz, were set. Catalyst drivers version 9.12 were used for the record feat.

The team achieved a 3DMark Vantage score of P47002, with a GPU score of 53,911 points, and CPU score of 33,949. To cool the machine, F1 EE & Tek 9.0 liquid nitrogen evapourators were used for the GPUs and CPU. The duo credit their success (besides their skills), to Kinc and Christian from ASUS and Thomas from Intel.

Creative Technology Ltd. today introduced the Creative Sound Blaster Easy Record which helps users effortlessly convert their favourite music from cassettes, LP records, CDs or MDs to digital form via a convenient plug and play USB connection. The Creative Sound Blaster Easy Record comes bundled with Smart Recorder software which guides users step by step in recording music and has the option to import recorded tracks directly to their iTunes libraries. Together with a myriad of line-in connectors for external audio equipment such as CD players and turntables, the Creative Sound Blaster Easy Record provides users unrivalled convenience and ease in recording their personal music collections.

The Creative Sound Blaster Easy Record works with desktops, notebooks and even netbooks. Users only need to connect it via a USB port with no drivers required for basic recording, and it is compatible with Windows 7 / Vista / XP. Besides the Stereo RCA inputs, there is also a 3.5mm Line-In connector for MP3 players or mobile phones, and a Headphone-Out for monitoring the audio during recording. The compact design of the Creative Sound Blaster Easy Record makes it convenient to carry around, granting users easy and portable recording on the go.

Corsair, announced today that Corsair Labs has set the world record for DDR3 frequency on a Core i7 system. Corsair Labs achieved an astounding speed of DDR3-2533MHz with the aggressive memory timings of 7-8-7-20 using a triple-channel 6GB memory kit. This new world record, verified and validated by CPU-Z, the industry-standard tool for verifying overclocking results, is the first time this frequency has been achieved on a Core i7 system with 6GB of memory using three modules; most world record attempts use only a single 1GB module. Corsair Labs engineers used the award-winning Dominator GT 2000C7 memory with eVGA's X58 3X SLI Classified motherboard to shatter the world record for memory frequency. Validated results and setup details can be viewed here.

"When it comes to overclocking and memory, Corsair has proven-once again-that its engineering team truly is the best", said Kevin Conley, Vice President of Engineering for Corsair, "As the new world record shows, Corsair's modules are second-to-none in terms of performance, stability and quality."

Following the news we covered the other day, the verdict is now in, and as expected Intel has been found guilty and fined €1.06 Billion ($1.45b/£948m) by the European Commission for anti-competitive practices. This fine smashes the €497 million fine issued to Microsoft by the EU in 2004 for abusing its dominant market position. Nine years on from when AMD first made a complaint that Intel had paid computer manufacturers not to use AMD chips in Europe the EU have ruled that Intel had given rebates to manufacturer's if they only used their chips, and had also found that a retailer had been paid to sell only Intel based systems.
"Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years," said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, "Such a serious and sustained violation of the EU's antitrust rules cannot be tolerated."

In yet another overclocking feat using AMD's Phenom II series processors, Team Finland set a new 3DMark06 world-record score of 35,698 3DMarks. The team consisted of renowned overclockers Petri "SF3D" Korhonen Sampsa Kurri and Sami "macci" Mäkinen. The team used AMD's DDR3-supportive AM3 platform and used high-performance DDR3 memory to demonstrate its overclocking capabilities. The bench consisted of:

• AMD Phenom II X4 6187MHz (4500MHz NB) under Dragon F1EE pot, liquid nitrogen cooling
• ASUS M4A79T Deluxe (790FX chipset)
• Corsair XMS3-2133 2x1GB DDR3-1800 CL7-7-7-1T
• 2x Radeon HD 4870 X2 830/950MHz with stock cooling
• Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W

As NordicHardware notes, for the first time in ages, an AMD-platform topped 3DMark06 Hall of Fame, crossing the previous record holder by 150 3DMarks. Validations of the score can be found here. A video of the feat has been posted on YouTube, and can be viewed here.

A-DATA Technology Co. Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high performance memory products, announced today that its XPG DDR3 memory modules have broken a new world record on SuperPi 32m. The record was set by utilizing the DFI Lanparty UT X58 motherboard and XPG X Series v2.0 memory, the DDR3-2133X v2.0 2GBx3 triple-channel kit.
The SuperPi 32m record of 6min 40sec 360ms was achieved at a speed of 2237 MHz and latency settings of 8-7-7-21 using DDR3-2133X v2.0 2GBx3 triple-channel kit.

Nintendo has had a happy hunting season in the month of November, with record-breaking sales of the Wii game console in the US. According to data compiled by NPD and sourced from TG Daily, Nintendo shattered its own record it set in November 2007, of 981,000 units sold, with a phenomenal 2 million units sold in November '08.

Given the state the economy is in, game console shipment estimates for November 2008 by NPD, come as a big surprise. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony shipped 3,254,000 static consoles last month, which compares to only 2,217,000 units in November and translates to a 47% increase in shipped units year over year and 139% sequentially. Sales of console by Sony saw a sharp drop at the expense of Nintendo and Microsoft. The month saw equally good sales of game titles (covered here), again with those for the Xbox 360 and Wii holding the top spots.

Blood RAGE, the latest member of Foxconn's Quantum Force family with Intel X58 chipset, sets the highest record of DDR3 memory overclocking with Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz armed by a Taiwan overclocker.

With a score of 2513.8MHz (1256.9*2) the test has produced one of the highest OC scores of all time, i.e., a new world record using A-DATA DDR3 800 Memory.

The release of the Intel Core i7 has set the overclocking arena abuzz with excitement in anticipation of new world records. Armed with the ASUS ROG Rampage II Extreme motherboard that supports the newest Intel platform, the Japanese overclocking enthusiast duck smashed to the top of the overclocking charts and notched in a world record for Core i7 CPU frequencies. Recording an exceptional score of 5510.09 MHz, duck clearly laid down the gauntlet for future challengers to the throne. A CPU overclocking veteran, duck still holds the world's highest frequency for overclocking a Pentium 4 631 CPU to a staggering 8180.4MHz last year.

The new world record was in no small part thanks to the overclocking-oriented features found on the new Rampage II Extreme motherboard. TweakIt, an easy-to-use joystick-like control on the motherboard, enables overclockers to make real-time changes to their systems' core frequency, voltage and other parameters-even while the benchmark utility is running. At no point does software come into play, as the tweaking is completely hardware-based. With hassle-free tweaking, coupled with real-time LCD poster information such as system frequency, users can implement on-the-fly modifications during CPU tests for extraordinary benchmark scores. The validation can be found here.

Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system kicked off the holidays with record-breaking console sales on one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year in the U.S. Retailers reported Xbox 360 console sales over the Black Friday weekend were on pace to beat previous years, outselling the PlayStation 3 by a three-to-one ratio and estimating a 25 percent increase from Xbox 360 Black Friday sales figures from 2007.
Strong game sales rounded out a historic Black Friday for Xbox 360, with record-paced software sales continuing for key Microsoft titles, such as "Gears of War 2," "Fable II," and "Lips." Xbox 360 continues to have the highest game attach rate of any console at 8.1 games per console.

Despite all the rumors that FOXCONN is not doing so well and it is probably going out of the business, Foxconn Electronics and company subsidiary Foxconn Technology posted today record October sales.

Despite a weakening global economy, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) and company subsidiary Foxconn Technology reported October sales that beat market expectations and hit respective company records. Foxconn Electronics spokesperson Edmund Ding said networking and consumer electronics products delivered an outstanding performance in October, while PC product lines also showed stable growth, pushing the company's October sales up 7.63% from September to NT$169.38 billion (US$5.2 billion), an increase of 29.13% on year. Accumulated sales from January to October were NT$1.216 trillion, up 27.47% compared to the same period last year and slightly lower than the company's 30% annual growth target. The company's sales in November and December are expected to continue to grow, though 30% monthly growth will be a difficult goal for the company to achieve, indicated the market watchers.
Foxconn Electronics' subsidiary Foxconn Technology also announced October consolidated sales of NT$16.72 billion, up 13.12% on month and 25.9% on year. Accumulated sales from January to October were NT$127.87 billion, representing 18.56% growth from the same period of 2007.

I guess now all rumors of FOXCONN leaving the motherboard market are groundless.

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $15.06 billion for the fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008, a 9% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $6.00 billion, $4.37 billion and $0.48, respectively.

Microsoft showed particular strength in multiyear annuity sales, which grew more than 20% during the quarter from the combined businesses of Client, Microsoft Business Division and Server and Tools.

Engineers and researchers at the IBM Hursley development lab in England and the Almaden Research Center in California have demonstrated groundbreaking performance results that outperform the world's fastest disk storage solution by over 250 percent. IBM has demonstrated, for the first time, the game-changing impact solid-state technologies can have on how businesses and individuals manage and access information.

A new world record has been set today (technically yesterday). Shark OC Team Italy has published the undeniable evidence that their DFI DK P45-T2RS PLUS motherboard and Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 processor are the fastest computer combo to calculate Super PI 1M in just 6.875 seconds. This world record was achieved using the E8600 CPU clocked at the incredible 6562MHz (FSB 656MHz x 10 multi) with 1.968 volts! not the best imaginable core voltage for a 45nm processor. If you are interested at what today's technology is capable of doing, please head over the original thread at XtremeSystems.com.

Congrats team Italy!

One of the highlights at the NVISION '08 event was a world-record attempt LAN Party organised by NVIDIA and sponsors for the longest continuous LAN party. The BYOC (bring your own computer) event saw 203 gamers battle it out for 36 hours, and winners awarded gold medals. Several multiplayer LAN Party favourites such as the Quake series, Unreal Tournament series and Team Fortress 2 were played. Some were seen continuing their (never-ending) World of Warcraft campaign too.

During the events, gamers were allowed 10 minute breaks every 60 minutes of play or six of such breaks could be saved up for a 1 hour break every six hours. During the course, they were provided free food and drinks. An adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records was flown in from London to monitor the attendees and keep records of the event. An attendee, Raymond Yuen captured the event to compile a public album of the GeForce LAN 4, worth taking a look here.

Andre Yang, a civil engineer doing his PhD. in the US obtained a high-performing Core 2 Duo E8600 processor, he succeeded in overclocking this chip to a stellar 6.70 GHz clock-speed (FSB 672.16 x 10.0). The processor uses liquid-nitrogen (LN2) cooling and surprisingly this processor was overclocked on a motherboard with the Intel X48 chipset, the ASUS Rampage Extreme when previous record-holders across several recent processors made use of either the Intel P35 or P45-based motherboards. The validation page for this overclock can be reached here

Corsair informed today that its Dominator DDR3 memory modules have again shattered the world record for frequency. The record was set using the Asus ROG Rampage Extreme motherboard (Intel X48 chipset) and Corsair Dominator memory, utilizing Corsair's award-winning DHX technology. The world record of 2580 MHz was reached at latency settings of 9-9-9-24 using a Corsair Dominator DDR3 memory module. These results were achieved with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor overclocked to a breathtaking 645MHz Front-Side Bus frequency. The results are verified by CPU-Z, an industry standard for verifying overclocking results, and are viewable here.

Chinese PC enthusiast website Coolaler set a new world-record score for the lowest time taken to crunch Super Pi 1M benchmark, their setup did it in 7.281 seconds. Here's what they used to achieve this feat:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 at 6.253 GHz (625 x 10) with VCore of 1.936V
• DFI LAN-Party UT P35 motherboard
• G.Skill 4GBPI DDR2 at 1285MHz memory
• Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) cooling

Looking at their previous run of 6.143 GHz, this is also the highest overclock for the E8600 so far.

Mozilla now holds the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded software within 24 hours. On the Mozilla Firefox 3 launch day, from 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008 the browser software was downloaded 8,002,530 times as recorded by Guinness - thus official declaring it a world record.

The Nintendo DS Lite has officially earned a place among the United Kingdom's greatest consoles: in one week, it sold more units than any other console in the past. An incredible 191,000 units were sold last week, beating the previous champion, the Sony PlayStation Portable, by 3,000 units (188,000). Mario Party DS may have contributed to the record-breaking sales.