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Site: techPowerUp! OCZ Technology Makes Solid State Storage Affordable with Onyx SSDs - OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today unveiled the OCZ Onyx SATA II 2.5" Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, an ultra-affordable MultiLevel Cell (MLC)-based solid state storage solution designed for 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 Onyx delivers reliable performance without the high price normally associated with SSD drives.
"As new technologies become available, OCZ continues to expand both our enterprise and consumer SSD lines, and one of our goals is to make SSDs more affordable to end-users. Our new Onyx series SSD does exactly that and is a perfect solution for netbooks, laptops, or home desktop PCs," commented Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "Designed to offer the best of both worlds, the new OCZ Onyx SSD delivers the speed and reliability of solid state storage to mainstream consumers at an aggressive price point that makes the technology more accessible to customers who want to take advantage of all the benefits of the SSDs without incurring the high cost normally associated with the solution."
Buffalo Intros HD-PVRU2 Portable HDDs with Turbo USB Technology - Buffalo Technology released its newest line of portable hard drives, the HD-PVRU2 series. While the drive looks like almost any other portable hard drive from Buffalo, for a change it has a rugged matte finish. The HD-PVRU2 comes in capacities of 320 GB and 500 GB. It measures 81 (W) x 16 (H) x 130 (D) mm, and weighs 190 g. It draws power from, and connects to the system using USB 2.0 interface. A proprietary Turbo USB technology aims to squeeze the most out of USB 2.0, with some higher transfer speeds. The bundled ecoManager software spins down the drive when idle. The 320GB and 500GB models will be priced at $100 and $150, respectively, in Japan.
Source: TechConnect Magazine OWC Announces Mercury Elite-AL Pro - 2.5 inch 1.0TB External Storage Solutions - Other World Computing, a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today its OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is the first 2.5" 1TB "Quad Interface" bus powered portable storage solution on the market and available for immediate ordering with 10 models priced from $119.99. Featuring a "Quad Interface" of FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, and eSATA interface connectivity for data transfer speeds up to 300MB/s, the fanless Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini delivers high performance storage/backup to Mac or PC users in a portable, brushed aluminum, no AC adapter required Plug and Play footprint.
In addition to the new 1TB model, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini is available in nine other "Quad Interface" models offering a variety of speed, capacity, and drive type options: ASUS Unveils Cine5 Compact 5.1 Channel Sound Bar - ASUS announced the launch of the ASUS Cine5 PC speaker which provides accurate 5-channel surround sound in personalized spaces such as study rooms. With its all-in-one design, the Cine5 delivers realistic and dynamic surround sound to satisfy consummate gamers and personal entertainment users. To deliver exceptionally full sound from a compact form factor, ASUS drew on its expertise in high-performance audio cards during the development.
The Cine5 is the first PC speaker in the world to offer leading surround sound presence with the new "Embracing Sound Theatre HD" technology. This patented technology leverages on a discrete 5-channel output to deliver full audio surround, which users can experience whenever they are directly in front of the speaker. In a First Player Shooter game, the Cine5 provides precise sound location that improves shooting accuracy and heightens gaming thrills. The Cine5 also revives 5-channel audio from any down-mixed 2-channel source-for a high-fidelity, multi-channel sound during PC gaming or movie sessions.
GeForce 196.78 Beta Driver Runs GeForce GTX 470 - Czech technology website PCTuning confirmed a few details about NVIDIA's upcoming performance graphics accelerator, the GeForce GTX 470. It was found out that a beta driver by NVIDIA, GeForce 196.78 supports GeForce 400 series accelerators, and was able run a qualification sample of GeForce GTX 470. The card was using A3 revision GF100 silicon. The driver's System Information dialog revealed that the card indeed has 448 CUDA cores (SIMD units). Further, it has 1280 MB of memory, and a 320-bit wide memory interface. NVIDIA also changed the way it represents memory clock speeds. Since it is using GDDR5 memory, while the memory has an actual clock speed of 1000 MHz, the data rate (DDR speed) is represented first, as 2000 MHz, and "effective speed" next, which is 4000 MHz.
Given these speeds, at 1000 MHz GDDR5, the GPU has a memory bandwidth of 160 GB/s. Without compromise on looks and quality, NVIDIA kept the cooler design basic. It has a matte finish. Display outputs include two DVI-D, and one mini HDMI. It supports NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround (a technology competitive to ATI Eyefinity, to span a display head across multiple physical displays), just that NVIDIA requires at least two accelerators in SLI to use it. NVIDIA's GeForce 400 series graphics accelerators will be launched on the 26th of this month.
Source: PCTuning Dell Unveils Next-Generation Precision M4500 Mobile Workstation - For those with the passion to discover, imagine and create the future, "on-the-go" access to workstation-class computing provides the freedom to work wherever inspiration strikes. This passion to create is why Dell continues to push the boundaries of workstation performance and mobility with the announcement today of the world's most powerful 15.6-inch mobile workstation¹-the Dell Precision M4500.
The Dell Precision M4500 joins Dell's family of mobile workstations, which includes the world's most powerful 17 inch mobile workstation, the Dell Precision M6500. The new mobile workstation is designed to liberate creative professionals, designers, animators, engineers and research scientists from their desks. The M4500 also supports the missions of defense customers who require mobile workstation performance and security, including authentication and data encryption, when in the field.
Newegg Puts an End to Counterfeit CPU Saga - The controversy surrounding Newegg's shipment of counterfeit Intel Core i7 920 processors to some customers has finally met its logical conclusion, with Newegg disposing facts and making great headway in resolving the issue with affected customers. In a statement to HardOCP.com, Newegg said that it is conducting a thorough investigation in collaboration with Intel and law-enforcement agencies, to get to the bottom of how counterfeit merchandise could get into its supply chain.
Another major revelation here is that Newegg named IPEX as the supplier behind the merchandise, and not another supplier called D&H Distributing, which the media was fairly confident in alleging for this controversy. The said company earlier issued cease and desist orders to those media sources for misinformation and wrongfully dragging it into the issue.
The supplier, IPEX, had initially told Newegg that it had accidentally shipped "demo boxes", a keyword Newegg adopted in its initial press statement and communications to affected customers. In course of time, it was found out that these so-called demo boxes indeed were counterfeits. Newegg has terminated its business relations with IPEX. Sections of the media which named D&H Distributing in the controversy tendered their apologies.
Source: HardOCP.com Silicon Power Unveils Touch 810 Flash Drives - Silicon Power, one of the world's leading flash memory manufacturers announced today (3/9) the "Metal Aesthetic" Touch 830. The design of Touch 830 inherits Silicon Power's Touch series good looks, class and ultra thin design. However, the new Touch 830 has been given an extra touch of Northern European flavor. Combining art and technology, its design features icy-silver casing, natural looks and simplicity, it complies with Europe designer's conception of "A Mature Design is the Perfection Design". The simplicity and humble design of Touch 830 reflects the Northern European's way of life, attracting just the right amount of attention while keeping it simple and elegant.
For the perfect combination of looks and function practicality, the Touch 830 utilizes a reinforced one-body stainless steel casing construction. The one body construction allows for a small and rugged design. Practicality wise, the Touch 830 is plug and play compatible, users need not push lids, slide lids or supply additional power to operate. It is light, ultra small and comes with a jewelry lace for users to carry. Especially suited for people constantly on the go, Silicon Power's Touch 830 is available up to 16 GB of storage space so users can store data at will. For users who fancy the Northern European styling, Silicon Power's Touch 830 is the perfect storage you just got to get your hands on.
Dell Celebrates Entrepreneurial Spirit with New Vostro Laptops - Following the successful launch of the ultrathin and light Vostro V13, Dell is offering business customers even more choice with the stylish Vostro 3000 series - a range of new thin, lightweight and durable laptop computers. Featuring powerful processors, high-end graphics and built-in security, the Vostro 3000 series is designed for small businesses that require robust mobile computing solutions.
Today's SMBs and entrepreneurs want notebooks that are powerful and attractive, and the new Vostro 3000 series was designed to meet and exceed both those needs. For the most demanding tasks, the Vostro 3000 series sports the latest powerful Intel Core processor technology, including, the optional, Core i7 Quad Core processor available on the Vostro 3700. For those that demand portability and productivity, the Vostro 3300 is one of the industry's thinnest commercial 13" laptop with an integrated optical drive. For those that can't afford to be chained to their desks, the 14" Vostro 3400 offers a full day of mobile productivity with up to 8 hours of battery life with an optional 9-cell battery.
A-DATA Releases microSDHC Class 10 Memory Cards - A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in DRAM memory and Flash application products, today announced the addition of microSDHC Class 10 memory cards to its product lineup. Besides high capacity, this new Class 10 card further brings users with unrivaled data transfer performance, providing a total upgrade solution ideal for the latest generation of mobile phones that come with a card slot.
Compliant with the SD Association Specification v3.00 to meet Class 10 requirements, A-DATA microSDHC Class 10 memory cards outperform others by delivering up to 16 MB/s in read and 10 MB/s in write, which is 1.6 times faster than the preceding Class 6 cards. Such impressive performance allows users to be able to enjoy the versatility and advanced multimedia features of the prevailing smartphones; recording continuous high-definition videos, transferring music files or running multiple applications on mobile devices cannot get any easier with the new speed class offered by A-DATA.
Gigabyte Closes ASUS' Motherboard Shipment Lead, Could Trigger Price War - According to industry sources, motherboard major Gigabyte is closing the gap between it and ASUS in terms of motherboard shipments, so much so, that the two industry giants could entangle in a price-war. Gigabyte's shipments are estimated by market observers to have reached 3.1 to 3.3 million in the first two months of 2010, while that of ASUS for the same period were estimated to be 3.2 to 3.3 million.
To maintain its vulnerable lead, ASUS may shortly cut prices across the board and that could trigger a price-war in the motherboard industry, say sources in channel vendors. ASUS is currently planning to reshuffle some of its staff in the motherboard business unit. While ASUS refused to comment in this issue, Gigabyte said that the estimates concerning it are very close to the company's internal figures.
Source: DigiTimes ASUS Unveils Innovative New Cloud Computing Solutions - ASUS has unveiled a comprehensive suite of portable, multimedia, and productivity solutions that places it at the forefront of cloud computing. ASUS strives to offer optimized cloud computing experiences by harnessing innovation and a broad range of cloud-enabled solutions. Professionals can enhance their productivity with access to real-time applications while on the go. At home, the entire family can enjoy rich multimedia entertainment with cloud-optimized solutions and services.
MSI Unveils the X-Slim X360 Notebook Featuring Intel Core i5 ULV Processor - MSI's X-Slim X360, with the Intel Arrandale ULV processor, comes equipped with the Intel Core i5 processor with Intel's Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technology for excellent processing performance and up to 9 hours of battery life. Graced with MSI's exclusive stylish rhombic pattern, the X360 is the apex in slim computer technology.
The X360, the latest step in the evolution of MSI's beautiful X-Slim series of notebooks, comes with the Intel Arrandale ULV processor to provide outstanding performance with a longer-lasting, more environmentally friendly battery. The X360 comes with the Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technology. The Intel HM55 chipset gives the X360 high-quality audio/video performance and 9 hours of ultra-long battery life.
Spire Announces TherMax Eclipse II CPU Cooler - Following the success of the original DT heat-pipe TherMax series, we're proudly introducing the TherMax Eclipse II. Powered by Innovation and with awesome looks this CPU Cooler is one supreme performer. Equipped with five 8mm Direct Touch U-Shaped sintered powder heat-pipes combined with black-nickel coated stamped heat-sink fins to best preserve killer looks. The TherMax Eclipse II is ready to best cool the extreme hot 130W to 150W Micro-processors made by Intel and AMD.
Universally compatible with the Intel 1156/1366/775 platforms in combination with the AMD AM3/AM2/940/939 platforms giving professionals and gamers a huge scope to utilize this impressive Diablo. Another welcome new feature are the possibility of mounting two fans simultaneously for even better cooling results. Simply installed with the included Anti-vibe rubber fan mounts installation is made tool-free and easy. This towering cooler is build to deliver the best thermal performance - guaranteed.
Valve to Deliver Steam and Source on Mac - Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve's gaming service, and Source, Valve's gaming engine, to the Mac. Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April. "As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients," said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. "The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services."
"Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac," said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve. "Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play." OCZ Portable USB 3.0 Storage Device Gets Named - OCZ Technology has been working on a storage solution that takes advantage of the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface for a while. It's just got a little closer to seeing the light of the day at CeBIT. The OCZ Enyo is a device that's roughly the size of a compact portable HDD that you can carry in your pocket, except that it's a flash-based device, and uses USB 3.0. The Enyo offers data storage in three capacities (variants): 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. It measures 56 x 120 x 10 mm, and relies on the USB 3.0 interface for power and connectivity. Being a flash-based solid state storage device, it is expected to have high transfer speeds, and inherently, the incentive of low access times and higher durability since it lacks moving parts. Back in January, on the occasion of CES, in a preview by LegitReviews, working prototypes the device was found to offer read-write speeds of 188.2 MB/s (read) and 130 MB/s (write). CAD drawings of the Enyo with its logo emerged.
Source: ATIForum.de Intel Steps into Alleged Counterfeit Core i7 920 Sale Issue - After last week's report on some of Newegg.com's customers receiving what the store calls "demo boxes" that it described to have been accidentally shipped by one of its "long term partners", Intel stepped in with a clarification on how it looks at these anomalies. In a statement to HardOCP.com, Intel's Dan Snyder said "Intel has been made aware of the potential for counterfeit i7 920 packages in the marketplace and is working to how many and/or where they are being sold. The examples we have seen are not Intel products but are counterfeits. Buyers should contact their place of purchase for a replacement and/or should contact their local law enforcement agency if the place of purchase refuses to help."
The "examples" Intel is referring to in the statement are these so-called "demo boxes", apparently 300 of them, which could be out on the loose. Meanwhile, Newegg.com is making efforts to get in touch with each of the affected customers and rush-delivering genuine merchandise or providing 100% refund, depending on what the customer chooses. While the whole episode seems to have taken a toll on Newegg's image as one of the most reliable, efficient, and competitive online retailers which it built over years, in the line of fire seems to be its "long term partner", a certain distributor in charge of these Intel processors. The same company sent cease and desist letters to some online publications to withdraw their reports on this issue, blaming them for publishing "untrue statements" about it. However Intel's statement adds clarity to the issue. Indeed some customers may have received "counterfeits", and indeed there are no such things as "demo boxes", at least as far as Intel is concerned. That said, whoever is behind these "demo boxes" still stands to face the law for infringement and imitation of Intel's product design, and trying to profit from it.
Sources: HardOCP.com, TechEYE.net Sceptre Unveils X270W 27-inch HD LCD Monitor - Sceptre, world class manufacturers of high-quality TV and PC monitors, has just released its 27-inchtrue 1080p LCD widescreen PC monitors featuring industry-impressive 60,000:1 contrast ratios and ultra-fast 2 ms response times for a morerealistic and advanced PC gaming experience.
"In the crowded LCD display space, the jaw-dropping performance and stylish design of our monitors are second to none," said Cathy Chou, vice president of operations, Sceptre. "Specifically designed for the PC gaming community, the unparalleled quality of our high-def monitors creates a more life-like gaming experience that is a cut above the rest. Plus,its energy saving attributes make gamers feel better about indulging in their favorite pastime."
Intel to Introduce 8-core Xeon Nehalem-EX, 6-core Westmere-EP Processors This Month - Intel is set to introduce a series of eight-core Xeon server processors later this month, that are capable of running in four-socket servers. With HyperThreading technology enabled, each core can handle two threads, taking the logical CPU count on such servers up to 64. Each Nehalem-EX chip has 8 CPU cores with dedicated L2 caches of 256 KB, a shared L3 cache of 24 MB, and Turbo Boost technology that helps conserve power while also stepping up performance when needed. The die also features a memory controller with four DDR3 memory channels. Being based on the Nehalem architecture, the chips are built on the 45 nm HKMG process.
In related news, Intel will also introduce Westmere-EP processors later this month. These chips will be based on the 32 nm Westmere architecture, and are likely to have 6 cores, up to 12 logical CPUs per chip, 12 MB of L3 cache and three DDR3 memory channels. These chips will be suited for two-socket servers and workstations.
Source: PC World Acer Packs Instant OS and WiFi into HD Monitor - Without making much noise, Acer introduced its new D241H LCD monitor. This one stands out of being yet another 24" HD-ready PC display, in having its own instant-on operating system, and WiFi. Its built in OS lets you do some very basic tasks such as web-browsing, media playback (music and videos), and browsing through photos, without needing a PC. It can connect to the internet over both wired Ethernet and WiFi. As a monitor, the 24-inch panel has a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels with a response time of 2 ms, and dynamic contrast ratio of 80,000:1. Display inputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Other accessories built into it include a 2-port USB 2.0 hub and a multi-format memory card reader - both of which are of use to its OS, and can also be used by the PC it's connected to. Alas for what this 'monitor' is trying to be, a built-in webcam, and speakers are missing (standard issue on many premium displays). Pricing and availability are not known as yet. Finer details can be found on the product page.
QNAP Expands Business Series with New 4-drive Rack Mounted NAS Servers - QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their popular Business Series Turbo NAS lineup with two new 1U rack-mounted, 4-drive models, the TS-459U-RP and TS-459U-SP. These new models, with up to 8TB of storage (using 2TB hard drives), have been certified as compatible with VMware's vSphere4 (ESX 4.0) virtualization platform, ideal for departmental file sharing, storage, and advanced server applications in the office environment. VMware's vSphere is the industry's first cloud operating system that offers a way to reduce IT costs and increase responsiveness. Shared networked storage is an essential component of a cloud computing infrastructure. The TS-459U-RP and TS-459U-SP incorporate the Intel Atom D-510 1.66Ghz dual-core processor and feature 1GB of DDRII RAM , delivering exceptional performance and high reliability for multiple concurrent tasks and intensive data transfer with lower power consumption. Businesses of all sizes are able to enjoy the interoperability between VMware virtual machines and QNAP high performance storage to take the advantages of VMware cloud computing environments.
ASUS Combines NVIDIA ION with USB 3.0 on New EeeBox - In ASUS' latest entry into its EeeBox series of nettops, the company adds support for USB 3.0, with the unit featuring two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports. The EeeBox EB1501U is about the shape and size of any variant in its series. It uses first-generation NVIDIA ION platform, with Intel Atom 330 dual-core processor, 2 GB of DDR2 memory, GeForce 9400M graphics, 320 GB hard drive, slot-in DVD writer, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a USB 3.0 controller. Other connectivity features include eSATA, USB 2.0, and display connectivity including HDMI and D-Sub.
Source: Engadget AMD Open Physics Initiative Expands Ecosystem with Free DMM for Game Production - AMD today announced that, along with partners Pixelux Entertainment and Bullet Physics, it has added significant support to the Open Physics ecosystem by providing game developers with access to the newest version of the Pixelux Digital Molecular Matter (DMM), a breakthrough in physics simulation. In addition, to enabling a superior development experience and helping to reduce time to market, Pixelux has tightly integrated its technology, DMM, with Bullet Physics, allowing developers to integrate physics simulation into game titles that run on both OpenCL- and DirectCompute-capable platforms. And both DMM and Bullet work with Trinigy's Vision Engine to create and visualize physics offerings in-game.
"Establishing an open and affordable physics development environment is an important accomplishment for both game developers and gamers, signaling a move away from exclusionary or proprietary approaches," said Eric Demers, chief technology officer, AMD Graphics Division. "Not only does the integration of Bullet Physics into partner middleware help drive broader adoption of physics in games, it ensures that when those games are released, all gamers, regardless of the hardware in their PC, can benefit from the more realistic experience enabled by those effects." Foxconn Intros AMD 890GX-based Digital Life Series Motherboards - OEM major Foxconn made additions to its own channel brand of motherboards with two Digital Lifes series models based on the AMD 890GX chipset, supporting socket AM3 processors. The nearly identical Foxconn Digital Life A9DA-S and A9DA (pictured in the same order below), are ATX boards building on the features the chipset provides. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase VRM. The AMD 890GX embeds an ATI Radeon HD 4290 class IGP with 128 MB (+UMA) SidePort memory and connectivity which includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI.
Expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated), PCI-E x1, and PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Other standard features include 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The A9DA-S is the more premium variant, it has a heatsink over the CPU VRM, and a VIA 2-port FireWire controller. The two should be available in stores soon.
Source: TechConnect Magazine Active Media Products Releases 1.8-Inch PATA Turbo ZIF SSD - Active Media Products, manufacturer of SSDs and endangered species USB drives, today released new 32GB and 64GB 1.8-inch PATA ZIF SSDs that support read speeds up to 100MB/sec and, thanks to their DRAM cache, reach write speeds up to 85MB/sec. These new Turbo ZIF SSDs are available now through Amazon.
With no moving parts, SaberTooth ZT is rugged enough for use in industrial, embedded and network computing applications where a very compact yet high speed storage solution is needed. Its PATA / IDE ZIF interface supports PIO mode 4 and UDMA mode 6. It also supports SMART commands. The ZT includes excellent ECC, wear leveling and bad block management technologies that improve reliability and extend endurance. These drives have the same physical dimensions as industry standard 1.8-inch HDDs, measuring only 2.8 x 2.1 x 0.2 inches (71 x 54 x 5 mm), making them an easy plug-in replacement in many laptops and netbooks.
Shuttle Ultra Compact ION2 Nettop and External Graphic Card - Shuttle caught our eye with their external graphics card system called the i-Power GXT Mini, which routes the PCIe slot (as x1) to an external enclosure in which you can put any single slot GPU with a power draw of up to 90W. The system currently only works with two Shuttle notebooks, but the company will expand the range of notebooks in the future. They are also showing off their extremely compact and fanless HTPC based on ION2. It is a bit larger than a 3.5 inch hard drive enclosure, but packs all the components. A quick look at the rear shows four USB 2.0 ports and HDMI along with the the rest of usual connectivity.
Team Group Shows Sandforce Based SSDs, New USB Drives, 2400 MHz DDR3 and SDXC - Just like everyone else, they are showing off Sandforce SSDs - called Team Xtreem-S1 - with advertised speeds of 270 MB/s read and 260 MB/s write performance. It will be available in 60, 120, 250 GB capacities. On the portable storage front, they have X091 with capacities of up to 128GB in a stylish metal casing (which is not pink, just reflects that color in our picture). Then there is the X092, which has an USB connector on one side and an eSATA on the other side. The latter requires the use of a 5V power connection. We also got a glimpse at their 2400 MHz CL9 at 1.6 V dual channel kit, as well as their SDXC 32 GB and 64 GB Flash memory cards.
The Spiders Have Landed at Lian Li and They Brought Some Friends - Including Gulftown - Some of you may have seen the YouTube video of the Lian Li PC-T1 Spider, which the Company is showing at the CeBIT. The unit is pretty impressive up close and personal. Besides that we got to take a look at the Lancool K62 with a white interior paint job. The chassis will is also available with a red interior. We also noticed that one of their cases was filled with high-end components, including a Gulftown CPU with six cores. Lian Li is also getting into the bench table segment and they are showing off two early prototypes of such units - one for ATX and one for ITX boards.
Silverstone SUGO SG07 ITX Case Stuffed With A Radeon HD 5970 - With the rise of ITX boards and their popularity, Silverstone is expanding their Sugo line-up with the SG07. The high-end ITX chassis is aimed at the LAN Party Gamer on the go, and ships with a 600W power supply along with a special 200 mm fan, which creates a clean vortex of air to cool the board. Silverstone has stuffed a Radeon HD 5970 in there along with a Zotac H55 board and an i7-860. Their engineers have gone into great detail to manage air flow and to keep temperatures in the green. On the bottom of the chassis a plastic divider blocks hot air from reaching the PSU, while the side panel sports a foam ring, which can be aligned to seal off the GPU fan and thus only give it access to cool, outside air. The case will carry a premium price tag, but offers features no other ITX case out there does at the moment.
Newegg.com Botchup Sends Several Core i7 'Demo Boxes' to Customers - Newegg.com, one of America's leading online retailers of computer hardware and related sales, on its official Twitter page admitted to a botchup with one of its long-term partners that resulted in several customers who ordered Intel Core i7 processors receiving what it calls "Demo Boxes". These boxes probably are used to demonstrate what the boxes look like or weigh, or probably it's a case of "adulteration", forgery, and counterfeiting. Each of these so-called demo boxes contain a completely non-functional dummy of the processor, heatsink fan, and the instruction leaflet. When opened, the three don't really look like mockups, but when packed into the box, can easily pass off as the product.
Newegg swung into action after several customers got back to it reporting "fake Core i7 920" chips. Many of them were taken aback when their $290 investment yielded a big chunk of plastic, and a slab of metal on which is strapped on the processor's IHS. The chunk of plastic is molded roughly to the shape of an HSF, and a sticker of the HSF's top was pasted, so it could be visible from the little window on the box that lets you see the HSF. Newegg said that it has acknowledged that a number of "demo boxes" were shipped, and that its staff is working directly with each of the affected customers to resolve the issue at the earliest. It kind of begs the question: where did so many so-called demo boxes come from, and why are there so many of them?
Video of a disgruntled customer unboxing a "demo box", and statement from Newegg follow after the break. ASRock enables ACC on AMD 8-Series Chipsets to Unlock Disabled Cores - AMD ACC is a feature of the company's 7-Series chipsets which uses a debugging backchannel going from the Southbridge to the processor to change certain CPU aspects, one of them being the "disable cores" feature on modern AMD CPUs. This allows you to play the AMD Casino, go get a cheap triple core, unlock its fourth core and hope it works (it usually does).
Quick Peek at Icy Dock - Internal and External Docks and Blu-Ray Enclosure - While not planned, we spontaneously stopped by the Icy Dock booth here at CeBIT and they have a few interesting products on display. First off, there is an external dock which allows you to use SATA, IDE or floppy drives. This is nothing new, but the shape of the device certainly is. Then there is an internal dual drive bay, which utilizes a single 5.25 inch bay and converts them into a single 3.5 and additional 2.5 inch hot-swappable bay. This is not only a space saver, but certainly useful as well. Last, but not least there is the external, dual 5.25 inch enclosure, which does not only look nice, but allows you to expand that ION based HTPC very nicely with additional storage an an optical drive of your choice.
Chieftec Shows Off Passive ITX Chassis And Beer Dispensing Case - We also dropped by the Chieftec booth and they have some nice enclosures on display. The most interesting one is the ITX case with large heatsinks on both sides, which are attached to heatpipes. These in turn cool the CPU and chipset of an Atom ION board. Due to the inability to accommodate the different board layouts, Chieftec will be offering these cases to OEMs who will then also receive a custom cooling solution to fit the mainboard they are using. The case also features a Soundgraph VFD and slot for a slim-line optical drive. We were also witness to a computer case which dispenses beer when needed. What else could you ask for?
NVIDIA Blames OEMs for GeForce 300 Rebranding - NVIDIA is weeks away from unveiling its GeForce GTX 400 series, which until a few weeks ago, was expected to be the GeForce GTX 300, by the media. Expecting that nomenclature didn't need rocket science. However, NVIDIA changed it with releasing as many as a dozen and a half SKUs in the so-called GeForce 300 series based on existing GT21x GPUs, with not much fanfare. The company got a little candid with Bit-Tech.net in an interview, in admitting that pressure from OEMs forced NVIDIA to 'create' GeForce 300 series, because OEMs wanted "something new" on their specs sheets, if they were to opt for NVIDIA's mGPUs over those from AMD, which already support DirectX 11, under the Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series. Most of these rebrands, according to the company, are specific to the OEMs, and will not be released by board partners to the retail market.
Source: Bit-Tech.net HDMI Licensing, LLC Releases HDMI Specification Version 1.4a - HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) specification, today announced, on behalf of the HDMI Founders, the release of HDMI Specification Version 1.4a featuring key enhancements for 3D applications including the addition of mandatory 3D formats for broadcast content as well as the addition of the 3D format referred to as Top-and-Bottom. The complete HDMI Specification Version 1.4a, along with the 1.4a version of the Compliance Test Specification (CTS), is available to Adopters on the HDMI Adopter Extranet.
An extraction of the 3D portion of Specification Version 1.4a is available for public download on the HDMI Website. The purpose of the extraction document is to provide public access to the 3D portion of the HDMI Specification for those companies and organizations that are not HDMI Adopters but require access to this portion of the Specification. Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 Pictured - At the ongoing CeBIT event, Gigabyte showed off its latest offer of motherboards including an interesting one based on AMD's upcoming 890FX chipset. Made for socket AM3 processors from AMD, the GA-890FXA-UD5 is based on the AMD 890FX chipset with SB850 southbridge. It expands a little on the chipset's features. The CPU is powered by a 10-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 memory slots that are powered by a 2-phase VRM. The AMD 890FX drives four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical x8 when all are populated, x16 on alternate slots otherwise). There are two PCI-E x1 and one PCI. All six of the SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the southbridge are internal, while an additional GSATA2 controller gives out two SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and drives the IDE connector. Connectivity options include 8+2 channel audio with Dolby Home Theater, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, FireWire, and two USB 3.0 ports, apart from a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board is expected to release later next month.
Source: PC Watch ASUS ROG Matrix HD 5870 Further Detailed - ASUS has been readying its Republic of Gamers (ROG) Matrix HD 5870 graphics card. Earlier, the card was pictured fully assembled. Sources shared pictures of the card taken apart, showing its PCB and cooling assembly from the inside, which tells us a lot about this card. To begin with, ASUS engineered this card from scratch, with its own PCB and cooler designs, and choice of components. The card comes overclocked out of the box, and also promises overclocking headroom higher than the reference design. It features 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The PCB reveals a strengthened VRM. There is a 10-phase vGPU and 2-phase vMem, with independent voltage controllers. Power is drawn in from two 8-pin power inputs.
GeForce 196.75 Drivers Overheat GPUs on Some Applications - NVIDIA's recently released GeForce 196.75 WHQL drivers are causing problems with some users reporting "intermittent low FPS", in the words of Blizzard's technical staff. It notes that the drivers have a bug in its fan-speed control that causes graphics cards to overheat when running applications such as Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft and StarCraft 2 Beta. Not only does bad fan control result in bad application performance, but can also damage the graphics accelerator. Blizzard on its part advised users to revert to older versions of the GeForce driver. Version 196.21 (older WHQL-signed driver) can be downloaded from here.
Update (3/5): NVIDIA has withdrawn the 196.75 WHQL drivers from its website. The company is working to resolve this issue.
Source: inc gamers New Cases, Coolers and 3D Displays From Zalman - Zalman is actually in a local hotel suite, showing off some very interesting products. They are showcasing their 3D monitor in the 21.5 inch variant with FullHD resolution. A 24 inch version can also be had, while a 27 inch LCD and a 32 inch 3D TV LCD are also in planning. We also got a good look at their upcoming VGA coolers for ATI and NVIDIA cards. Due to the different placement of GPU cores, there are now two different coolers with the same general structure. We were told, that the final NVIDIA version will be green, while the red variant is final and will be intended for ATI products.
ASUS Unveils a Host of New Products for the Gaming Community - Gaming has evolved into a leading growth industry and dynamic motivator for the technology sector, as CeBIT 2010 further illustrates. It's a massively popular pastime drawing people, all united through thrilling entertainment. ASUS shares the passion, maintaining a tradition of ingenuity aimed at meeting the needs of gamers both with the hardcore Republic of Gamers brand (ROG) and powerful mainstream solutions. It seeks to innovate and introduce new exciting ways to enjoy gaming, believing it should be natural to take up rather than complicated.
GeForce GTX 470 PCB and Cooler Pictured, Too - A couple of days after pictures of the PCB and cooling assembly of the GeForce GTX 480 made it to the internet, fresh pictures emerged, this time of the GeForce GTX 470, the slightly toned-down part in the GeForce 400 series. The GTX 470, like the GTX 480, is based on NVIDIA's GF100 core. The reference design PCB is certainly shorter than that of the GTX 480, and compacts its resources. Since the GTX 470 has a 320-bit wide memory interface, it makes do with 10 memory chips, seen surrounding the GPU from three sides. A simpler VRM is used: 4-phase vGPU and 1-phase vMem. Power is drawn in from two 6-pin power connectors.
The fan connects over its usual 4-pin PWM-controlled line. Some smart compacting of components made space for two intakes to be cut out, which help the blower draw in some fresh air. The cooling assembly, again is compacted accordingly. Since these new pictures are more clear, we can see that the area over the GPU isn't devoid of a copper surface as earlier thought. In fact, as some community members observed, it is a base with copper heatpipes making direct contact with the GPU. The cooler has protrusions at the right spots to make contact with memory chips and MOSFETs. The GTX 470 is slated to be the more affordable of the GTX 400 series, which will be unveiled on March 26. Follow the source link for equally good quality photography of the GTX 480's PCB.
Source: ComputerBase.de EVGA Names and Details its Dual-LGA1366 Enthusiast Motherboard - EVGA today named its dual-LGA1366 enthusiast-grade motherboard, so far known by the codename W555. After a short contest on the company's forums, the company came up with "EVGA Classified SR-2" for its name. SR stands for "super record" and 2 denoting the dual-socket design. The Classified SR-2 is a an entusiast-grade (read: overclocker friendly) implementation of the Tylersburg platform, supporting Intel socket LGA1366 processors with two QPI links (2P Xeon, etc.) As an addition, the board allows you to do something that's difficult on typical 2P server motherboards: it allows you to mix different models of Xeon processors, provided they're based on the same architecture, and series. For example, you can mix a Xeon 5520 with Xeon 5540. You can also mix a quad-core processor with a six-core processor, provided the quad-core part is based on the Westmere architecture (32 nm), not Nehalem (45 nm).
The board will also let you run a single 2P-capable processor in either sockets. DDR3 memory modules can be non-ECC or even ECC. 2P Xeon DRAM Multipliers / Uncore Multipliers are locked so you will only be able to use maximum 2:8 or 2:10 depending on segment of CPU. EVGA tells that the board supports 4-way SLI on its GTX 285 Classified VGA, but adds that a "future flagship GPU" also supports it. Could this be GeForce GTX 400 series having it as a standard feature? We have to wait and see. 4-way CrossFireX is supported.
Scythe Readies Susano and Yasya Cu CPU Coolers - Scythe showed off prototypes of two of its creations for the season, the Scythe Susano and Yasya Cu CPU coolers. The Susano is one of Scythe's biggest CPU coolers. Its vast aluminum fin array covers the entire upper half of the average ATX motherboard. Its design involves a heatsink-turned CPU block, from which six copper heat pipes pass. These heat pipes convey heat to a large, roughly-square aluiminum fin array on which are latched four 120 mm fans. These blow air through the aluminum fin block, and onto several parts of the motherboard, including memory, northbridge and CPU VRM. The Yasya Cu is a slightly more in tune with the times. It is a copper-based variant of the Yasya CPU cooler. It uses the tried and tested tower design, and makes use of copper fins with a turbulent shape. Heat is conveyed to these fins using six copper heat pipes. Scythe did not give out a release date for these coolers.
Source: XTReview Intel Expands Intel Atom Processor-Based Platform to SOHO Storage Devices - Intel releases its first storage-optimized Intel Atom processor-based platform for the growing home and small office/home office storage markets. New single- and dual-core chip options provide performance scalability and flexibility and run on Microsoft Windows Home Server and Linux operating systems. Leading storage vendors LaCie, LG Electronics, QNAP, Synology and Thecus plan products based on the new Intel Atom processor-based platform. Intel Atom processors also introduced for embedded applications are ideal for multiple market segments including print imaging, digital security surveillance and industrial.
The energy-efficient platform consists of the Intel Atom processor D410 single-core or D510 dual-core and the Intel 82801IR I/O Controller, and delivers the processing performance and input/output (I/O) connectivity required to meet the throughput demands of leading storage vendors such as LaCie, LG Electronics, QNAP, Synology and Thecus.
Home server and SOHO network-attached storage (NAS) devices based on the new Intel Atom processor- based platform act as centralized hubs that organize, manage, protect and share documents, photos, videos and music throughout the home and small office. This makes it possible to keep digital content safe and available anytime, anywhere. ASRock Shows off Gulftown-based Demo at CeBIT - A few weeks ahead of Intel's launch of its Core i7 980X "Gulftown" six-core processors, ASRock used the chip in a live-demo for one of its new motherboards. ASRock was probably trying to show off high performance numbers for its X58 Extreme3 motherboard using [perhaps] the most powerful LGA-1366 processor ever made, with a benchmark application best suited for it: Cinebench R10. Being a multi-threaded benchmark, the Core i7 980X scored 25,711 points. A quad-core Core i7 processor typically scores around the 20,000 mark. The exhibitors also confirmed that the 980X will be an Extreme Edition part with a clock speed of 3.33 GHz. As for the exhibit itself, ASRock pleaded innocent saying it had necessary permissions to display performance numbers of the 980X, well ahead of its launch. While tech forums are rife with unofficial benchmark scores of Gulftown, by forum members who test engineering samples with a level of anonymity, this is the first time a motherboard partner came all out with an official demo of the chip's capabilities. Intel's Core i7 980X will be released in a few weeks' time. ASRock's X58 Extreme3 is said to support the chip out of the box, though most socket LGA-1366 motherboards should be able to support it with a simple BIOS update.
Source: Hexus.net Sparkle Announces GeForce GT 240 with Free 3D Vision Discoverer Bundle - SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the full range of GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 OC Edition Series Graphics Cards, including SPARKLE GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 OC Edition Graphics Cards and Calibre X240/X240G Graphics Cards, which are bundled 3D Vision with Power Pack for free, helping mainstream users to surpass the demands of the digital world with NVIDIA PhysX and stereoscopic 3D supports.
Compared with ordinary GeForce GT 240 graphics cards on market, SPARKLE GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 OC Edition Series Graphics Cards and Calibre X240/X240G Graphics Cards are overclocked out of box. Extremely upgrade the performance and take enthusiasts DirectX 10 and DirectX 10.1 gaming beyond HD. With the power of the overclocked GPUs, it places gamers in the center of the action and experience true gaming cinema in extreme HD (2560x1600) resolutions-all enabled by the the SPARKLE GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 OC Edition Series Graphics Cards and Calibre X240/X240G Graphics Cards,and incredible performance in the latest games including Bioshock2, Alien VS Predator, and Dirt2. With the powerful OC features, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 OC Edition Series Graphics Cards and Calibre X240/X240G Graphics Cards tear through complex DirectX 10 and DirectX 10.1 environments and cinematic effects at blazing frame rates in extreme HD resolutions.
ZOTAC Announces Next-Generation ZBOX, Redefines Mini-PCs - ZOTAC International, the world's largest channel manufacturer, today redefines the mini-PC experience with a new generation of eco friendly small form factor platform powered by next-generation NVIDIA ION technology - the new ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC. The new ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC supercharges the eco friendly computing experience with premium graphics processing, complete high definition playback capabilities and a premium Windows 7 experience with Aero user interface.
Premium graphics processing power forms the heart of the ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 mini-PC with a new Next-Generation NVIDIA ION graphics processor with 16 unified shaders and 512MB of DDR3 graphics memory complete with NVIDIA CUDA and NVIDIA PureVideo HD technologies for a superior eco friendly computing experience that goes well beyond simple web browsing.
G.Skill Shows off SandForce-powered Phoenix Series SSDs - G.Skill showed off its newest line of solid state drives under the Phoenix series, at CeBIT. The SSDs come in capacities of 50 GB, 100 GB, and 200 GB, and in the 2.5" form-factor with SATA 3 Gb/s interface. Its USP is the SandForce SF-1200 SSD controller. With its MLC NAND chips, the controller can churn out transfer speeds of 200 MB/s read, and 141 MB/s write. When used with Windows 7 operating system, the SSDs offer TRIM support, a feature which uses idle time to erase deleted data which could otherwise consume many write cycles, also working towards reducing data fragmentation. The company will release these drives to the market soon.
Corsair Launches Force Series Solid-State Drives - Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the Force Series of SSDs, providing outstanding SATA 3 Gb/s performance based on innovative SSD Processor technology from SandForce Inc.
By utilizing the state-of-the-art SandForce SF-1200 SSD processor combined with MLC flash memory, the Corsair Force Series of solid-state drives deliver outstanding performance figures of up to 280 MB/sec read and 260 MB/sec write. In addition, these drives feature class-leading random read/write performance. The highly innovative SandForce DuraClass Technology also delivers unparalleled write endurance and error correction features.
G.Skill Pushes DDR3 to 2500 MHz at CeBIT - We dropped by the G.Skill booth and they are showing off a few systems with their memory in it. While they have seven different configurations to display, only three of them are out each day, so they are rotated around throughout the show. All of them are interesting, but some more than others. First off there is a dual channel kit running at 2500 MHz in combination with an Asus P55 board and Intel i7-860 CPU. This memory is just for show and will not be sold in retail. Then there is a high capacity kit with six modules running at 2000 MHz with CL6 on an Asus X58 board, while the last system is very interesting as well, with 1600 MHz memory and a set CAS latency of 5-8-5. We did not get pictures of their 24 GB kits up and running, as they were not on that day. G.Skill is also displaying their Phoenix Sandforce SF-1200 based SSD.
QNAP Expands NAS Line And Shows Off New Software - The guys from QNAP do not have too much new stuff, but are filling in the blanks so to speak. They are now offering a five bay TS-559 Pro NAS storage, which fits right in-between the four and six bay variants already available. On the software front we got a quick intro to their upcoming web interface for their TS-110 and 210 units. This interface allows you to stream movies, music and pictures over a web interface and even grant access to specific folders and content to users of your choice thanks to a built-in user management interface. This software update should be available by the end of the month. We also got a quick peek at their four and eight bay server products, which fit in a 1U or 2U rack and are intended to be used as embedded storage for VMWare environments. These are called TS-459U-RP and TS-859U-RP respectively.
Scythe Shows Off Case With Leather Front And New Cooler - Scythe is showing off numerous new cases, one of which has a spiffy leather front. While the chassis at CeBIT features a black patch of the material, we could see other colors happen (like pink for the ladies?). The chassis not yet ready for market, while the other enclosures which feature a clean look & feel are ready to go shortly. All of these are aimed at the mainstream market with very affordable price points. MSI presents their AMD 8 Series chipset lineup, including Lucid Hydra - The clear highlight here seems to be the MSI 870A-GD60 Hydra. It comes with Lucid Logix's prominent Hydra feature, using a different chip than on the Big Bang Fuzion by the way. It promises to let you combine GPUs from NVIDIA and ATI in a CrossFire/SLI like fashion for increased performance. Even though it does not deliver the most amazing scaling numbers just yet we are told that the driver "improves weekly". Mushkin adds SandForce SSD to their portfolio: Calypso - Like most other SSD manufacturers, Mushkin has added a SandForce based SSD to their lineup which promises to deliver leading performance at a better pricing than their existing products. In terms of capacities you will have a choice from 64 to 256 GB without exact pricing still unknown. As controller the SandForce SF-1200 is used, Mushkin is also working on a SF-1500 "enterprise" controller based drive, which mainly adds more IOPS to the write performance at the same 260 MB/s write speeds.
Thermaltake Launch Their First Overclocking CPU Cooler, Thermaltake Frio - Thermaltake, leading DIY thermal solutions brand, launch their latest CPU air-cooler specifically designed for overclocking, the Thermaltake Frio. Its name is its mission, as Frio is the Spanish word for cool. With a maximum cooling capacity of up to 220W this high-end cooler is the ideal solution for overclockers and power-users alike. The universal socket support makes it compatible to all computer processors currently available on the market.
Unlike traditional up-side-down air flow designs, the Frio utilizes a tower side-flow design to optimize cooling performance. To attain maximum cooling performance, Thermaltake's Frio adopts 5 Φ8mm high-efficiency heat-pipes conducting heat from Nickel coated mirror base directly into the cooling tower which is made of 48 0.4mm thick specially designed aluminum fins to increase the overall thermal dissipation area. The preinstalled powerful 120mm OC VR fan can be manually adjusted between 1200RPM and 2500RPM according to differing user needs. An additional OC fan is already included in the package and can be installed to further maximize airflow under most stressful conditions.
