Some new details on AMD's next generation of desktop processing have been released, with three different models to go alongside AMD's Barcelona (the processor for servers). The desktop equivalent of Barcelona, with the codename Agena, will feature four cores and should have clock speeds of 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz, with a 2MB L2 cache and 2MB L3 cache per CPU - it's scheduled for the third quarter of this year. The mainstream processor is called Kuma and should launch with clock speeds of 2.0GHz to 2.9GHz using a dual core architecture, with 1MB L2 cache and 2MB shared L3 cache. Rana, the replacement for the Sempron family, will have clock frequencies of 2.1GHz to 2.3GHz, feature dual core and 1MB of L2 cache, but no L3 cache. The Rana is expected for the forth quarter of this year.

In the recent DX10 graphics card war, NVIDIA has gotten a very long headstart. Not only has NVIDIA had enough time to develop watered-down versions of their G80 for selling as entry-level and midrange cards, but they've also had time to develop "G81". The current specs of what G81 could be are currently unknown, but it does have one major goal- a shrink to a 65 nanometer process. This would represent a gigantic step in the graphics card world, as GPU makers have barely made the step to 80nm GPU's recently. It would also, like most die shrinks, decrease power input and heat output.

The Windows Server code-named "Longhorn" is the successor to Windows Server 2003. Numerous sources suggest that the Operating System will be name Windows Server 2007 or 2008, depending on its release date. The Longhorn server beta program will be launching within the next few weeks. Microsoft is allowing public preregistration for beta testing of the upcomming "longhorn" server operating system. Allegedly Microsoft will have it available for download within the next week or so.


You can register on this page.

Although AMD's next generation of server processing hasn't been a complete secret, here are some of the latest details about it. Codenamed "Barcelona", the processor is likely to go head-to-head with Intel's Xeon 5300, both being quad-core processors. However, one key feature of the Barcelona core is that (unlike the 5300) it will natively be a quad-core CPU, not two dual-cores built into one unit. The chip will continue the advance into 64-bit computing, and like the rest of AMD's 64-bit processors it has a memory controller build into it, another difference between this and the Xeon 5300. Despite much higher performance than older models, the processor will still only use 95 watts or 68 watts of power depending on the different designs, which apparently gives a 60% performance increase per-watt over the older generation Opterons. It can also support up to 256TB of memory, now that the memory controller supports full 48-bit addressing. AMD's benchmarks suggest that it performs much better than the Xeon 5300 due to fewer bottlenecks, but this could obviously be biased against Intel.

While most of us do not own or run Vista, Microsoft is already working on the first Service Pack for the new OS. It includes upgrades like the "Powershell" which is to replace the good old Windows "Shell". The Service Pack will be released in the second half of 2007. Anyone worried about Vista and stability, may take this as a good reason to wait before upgrading to the new OS.

Microsoft has decided to bow to pressure from users and give Windows XP Home Edition an extension on its lifetime, giving users at least an extra year of support. Microsoft had originally planned to end free support in January 2009, but the company's Japanese president has said that "It will be significantly extended," continuing "When I say significantly, it's more than 1 year." An official announcement is expected on Thursday, but this means users should be secure with Windows XP up until 2010, possibly for longer.

Intel has confirmed that they formed the "Visual computing group" which shall be the future of computing for "high-throughput workloads". Intel is already looking to hire graphic engineers for this purpose. Together this might suggest Intel is indeed going to create chips for add on cards once again.
Even though the high end market is quite small compared to on board graphic processors it still has a value of $5 billion a quarter, which is a lot, even for a giant like Intel. Having their own high end GPU would also give them a chance to strengthen their grip on the console market.
Intel did not comment on these speculations.

There have been reports about the upcoming NVIDIA mainstream DirectX 10 parts. One big thing was the 256-bit memory interface of the 8600. It seems that this feature will be reserved for the high-end cards. The 8600 series will feature a 128-bit memory interface - no more.

Seems like there are a few people in the industry willing to bet some serious money on a March 23rd release for the Playstation 3. These sources are shop owners and the like. Even EA seems to be releasing Playstation 3 games on the 22/23rd of March. This would also confirm the statement from Sony, that everything is still on time for Europe. Let's hope so.

According to a countdown timer on Man-Made-Hell.com, a site that links back to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl website, we're just 66 days away from the release of the so long delayed shooter.

Nordic Hardware has posted some very detailed lists of hardware details regarding what will be entry-level and midrange DX10 cards from the green camp (NVIDIA).

• The 8600 Ultra card will come with 64 Shaders, clocked at 500MHz. It will also have up to 512MB of 256 bit memory clocked at 1400MHz DDR. It is expected to retail for around $179.
• The 8600 GT will come with 48 shaders, clocked at 350MHz. It will have up to 256MB of 256-bit memory, clocked at 1200MHz DDR. It should retail for $129.
• The 8300 GT will have 32 shaders at 500MHz, along with no more than 256MB of 128-bit memory clocked at 1200MHz DDR. It is expected to cost around $99.
• The 8300 GS will "only" have 24 shaders, clocked around 500MHz. It will have up to 256MB of 128 bit memory, clocked at 1000MHz DDR. The card shouldn't cost much more than $79.

According to VR-Zone, NVIDIA are set to release cheaper versions of their latest card, the GeForce 8800, during mid February. Based on the same core as the 8800GTS, the cards will run at exactly the same speeds but will only have half the memory size, with 320MB instead of 640MB. Because it is essentially the same it is likely to still be called the 8800GTS, but with a $100 price cut on this less powerful version bringing it to $299, it should be more capable of fighting back ATI's 1950 cards price-wise. Hopefully NVIDA will release its Vista drivers soon so gamers can take a look at DirectX 10.

The worlds famous online computer hardware and software retailer Newegg plans to to start European operation. As you know Newegg has warehouses in California, Tennessee and New Jersey, and it operates only in USA, till now. The biggest problem is that such a move will put a lot of people out of business in Europe especially the smaller players. Newegg buys incredible volumes and gets great prices. This story is confirmed by very high ranked officers of the egg company, but the final decision is yet to be made.

Most techPowerUp! readers will already know about the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, but if you are unaware what it does it is a project aiming to build basic laptops which can be produced for $100 in order to encourage IT development in poorer countries. The machine is set to go on sale next week and when it was first announced many people were interested to know whether the laptop would be available to richer countries, and the answer is yes. But is does have a catch: you need to buy two. This isn't the manufacturer trying to be greedy though - you will only get one laptop but you are essentially paying for one of the machines to be sent to the developing world. The main aim of the project is still to help poorer countries, but this should allow it to provide a few extra laptops. To learn more about the project visit this site.

DailyTech is reporting that a few more details on AMD/ATI's next graphics processor are available. Apparently there are three GPUs set to be launched over the coming months, the flagship R600 along with the R610 and R630. Previously the slower models have been given lower codenames by ATI, but the R610 is expected to be the mid-range card, whilst the R630 is likely to be the budget offering - both the R610 and R630 are due for June 2007. The R600 is believed to support unified shaders and both GDDR4 and GDDR3 memory. GDDR3 versions of the A12 revision of the card are being shown to select press, with the A13 expected to be the final revision of the chip. The most powerful card will be the R600 with GDDR4 memory, although clock speeds are still unknown.

When Bioshock was announced at X06 as the successor to the "System Shock" series, it was originally planned as an Xbox360 exclusive. Irrational games has decided that it would release it for both the PC and Xbox360. Hopefully, it will not be ported onto the PC like Rainbow Six: Vegas was.

The NVIDIA Forceware 90 series graphics driver user interface was accused of being ugly, inconvenient, and sometimes slow. People generally accused NVIDIA control panel of making tasks not accessed too often very hard to find, and not changing languages when installed on a non-English copy of Windows. NVIDIA heard the call of it's consumers, and decided to do something about it. The successor of Forceware 90 series will have a much better graphical interface, which will be applied to both XP and Vista versions of the driver.

Intel plans to launch three quad-core processors on Monday, covering two Xeons for lower-end servers and one mainstream model, the Core 2 Quad 6600 for desktop computers. The new Core 2 Quad 6600 processor will run at 2.4GHz with 1066MHz FSB. Also set to arrive are two low-end Xeons, the 2.13GHz 3210 and 2.4GHz 3220. Both are designed for single-processor servers. The chips have 8MB cache and a 1066MHz front-side bus. Intel declined to comment the story, but the three CPUs are expected to show up at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

Codenamed Zephyr, Engadget seems to have gotten an early look at the revised version of the Xbox 360. One of the main improvements being anticipated is a 65nm processor, which should tackle heat issues, but it now appears that it is likely to feature a HDMI port and 120GB hard drive. This should allow the Xbox 360 to output high definition 1080p pictures, one of its criticisms, although the 120GB drive may simply be released at the same time rather than being part of the package. There is no pricing information yet but it is likely to be more or less the same - we can expect to get these upgrades "soon" according to an Xbox insider.

GIGABYTE plans to introduce its latest NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI MCP chipset based motherboard, the GIGABYTE N680SLI-DQ6 by the end of January 2007. Designed specially for enthusiasts and gamers, this motherboard has All-Solid Capacitors, Quad-Triple phase power, Quad BIOS and Quad Gigabit LAN, the first one to have four Gigabit LAN cards. Other features include Silent-Pipe2 and Crazy Cool2 technology by newly design Triple-Heat pipe, 3x PCIe slots (two x16 + one x8) for SLI+ Physics, 4x eSATA2 ports, 8 channel Realtek ALC888DD High Definition Audio.

The first AMD/ATI graphics chip is about to be delayed again because of serious problems. The last revision of the prototype chip - upon which a certain "pre-review" is based - suffers from problems which are serious enough to get another re-spin. This re-spin puts a hold on the launch for another couple of weeks, and now R600 is looking like an early March launch, probably the week before SnowBIT in Hangover. However, AMD/ATI is making severe changes to the whole line up and when the card is finally ready to roll, it promises to shock the 3D industry with performance. Just remember this is not official, it's a "somebody told me" story by theINQ.

We reported just a few days ago that Level505.com had posted benchmarks of test samples of the R600. However, there is a good chance that those benchmarks were doctored. For one thing, if AMD had released test samples of it's next graphics card, the R600 series, there would have been a press release. The website had went online just before releasing those benchmarks, there were no pictures of the R600, and there was some odd benchmark data (like a strangely slow G80 in Oblivion). Basically, The entire thing just doesn't look official, and looks more like a marketing gimmick in favor of AMD's R600.

Newly created site Level 505 has leaked benchmarks and specifications of AMD's upcoming ATI R600 graphics processor expected in January 2007. Some of ATI's R600 preliminary specifications are: 64 4-Way SIMD Unified Shaders, 128 Shader Operations/Cycle, 512 bit Memory Controller, full 32 bit per chip connection, GDDR3 at 900 MHz clock speed (January)- total bandwidth 115 GB/s, GDDR4 at 1.1 GHz clock speed (March, revised edition)- total bandwidth 140 GB/s, consumer memory support 1024 MB, DX10 full compatibility with draft DX10.1 vendor-specific cap removal (unified programming), 230W TDP PCI-SIG compliant, CrossFire support. Click here to read all twelve pages of the article posted on Level 505.

Apple recently patented a wireless "hybrid" mouse that would lower power consumption. It would be a low powered mouse by only turning on the optical tracking feature when absolutely necessary, leaving a manual scroll wheel to do the rest to save power, making the mouse "hybrid". It would use bluetooth tech to be a wireless mouse. There is no mention on how Apple plans on deploying the mouse (replacing the current Macintosh mouse with this one or selling it as an extra), and there is no specified release date.

AMD's first chipset with integrated DX10 graphics has some very impressive features. Among them, the most important are...

• 52 PCI Express lanes, enough for 3 x16 slots and 1 x4 slot.
• HTX Support.
• Hypertransport 3.0 ready, meaning support for AM2+ and Socket F processors from AMD.
• Dual Gigabit Ethernet.
• Independant mainboard cache which should lower latencies and improve bandwidth.

AMD's RD790 should be released in 2007.