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Intel's X48 chipset finally shipping
2008-03-15 17:08:00
Fudzilla - Intel's X48 chipset finally shipping: "According to Digitimes, motherboard manufacturers have started shipping products based on Intel's X48 chipset into the channel a few days ago, so if you've been holiding off on making your purchase, the good news is that you won't have to wait much longer.There's no official word from Intel about the X48 chipset as yet, and it doesn't seem like there will be an official launch event. Saying that, as this is pretty much just a new SKU of the X38 chipset, we wouldn't be amazed if Intel didn't bother with a launch event altogether.The initial shipments are only minor quantities and large-scale shipments aren't expected to happen until next week or possibly a bit later, depending on the manufacturer. The question is how popular this chipset will be, especially with the very imminent launch of the nForce 790i chipset from Nvidia."
More About: Shipping , Finally , Chipset

DailyTech - All Signs Point to Windows 7 in 2010
2008-03-15 17:04:00
DailyTech - All Signs Point to Windows 7 in 2010: "Microsoft is pushing ahead strong on its plans to release its next generation operating system, Windows 7 . Whereas Vista took over 5 years to release -- XP released October '01, Vista's retail release was in January '07 -- Windows 7 will reach customers in a mere 3 years, according to Microsoft. Leaks also reveal that the Redmond-based company sent a test version of Windows 7 known as Milestone 1 (M1) to select partners in January 2008.In an email, a Microsoft spokesman, confirmed that 2010 was the correct Windows 7 date -- three years after the consumer Vista release. He stated, 'We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and development is scoped to three years from Windows Vista Consumer GA. The specific release date will be determined once the company meets its quality bar for release.'Microsoft may have already reached Milestone 2 (M2) in the development, which it had projected to reach in March/April, though...

Geforce 9800 GX2 benchmarked
2008-03-15 17:02:00
Fudzilla: "A Chinese website called PCOnline has posted a wide range of benchmarks of the Geforce 9800 GX2 which is set to launch in less than a weeks time. They were using beta drivers and we'd take these numbers with a grain of salt until we see some more reviews. We will of course be posting our own review of the card in due time.If you have problem accessing the site which you can find here, then you can take a look at some of the benchmark figures and the test setup which can be found over at VR-Zone's forum here. The card seems to have problems when Anti Aliasing is enabled in several of the games used to test it, but this seems to be a driver issue more than anything else.Otherwise it seems to beat the Radeon 3870 X2 pretty much hands down, but this was expected. Due to the price difference between the two, we doubt that AMD will have any problems continuing to sell its 3870 X2 cards."

Fudzilla - Scythe shows a large Ninja CPU cooler
2008-03-15 16:58:00
Fudzilla - Scythe shows a large Ninja CPU cooler: "Sycthe had an interesting appearance during CeBIT and we already wrote about their new VGA cooler and the new HDD cooler. Besides those two, Scythe has also showcased a large ten-heatpipe Ninja CPU cooler.As you can see from the picture below, this cooler could hardly fit in that acrylic case, and it barely misses the PSU. It has ten heatpipes and we managed to count around 32 extra large fins. It just looks great, and it sure can keep the heat off just about any CPU. It is rumored that it can handle up to 100W without adding any fans to it.Unfortunately, when we asked about the availability of this cooler, Scythe said that it is just a prototype made for a show, and they doubt that it will ever see the market shelves. They might change their mind if they get good feedback from the public."
More About: Cooler , Large

GeForce 9800GX2, 9800GTX Get the Greenlight
2008-03-15 16:33:00
DailyTech - GeForce 9800GX2, 9800GTX Get the Greenlight: "The long awaited high-end successor to NVIDIA's wildly popular GeForce 8800 series is almost upon us.Those anticipating a new architecture, unfortunately, will have to sit this generation out. The core logic used in the GeForce 9800GX2 and GeForce 9800GTX is none other than the 65nm G92 core found on the GeForce 8800GT, though all 128 shaders are enabled -- opposed to the 112 found on last year's G92.NVIDIA's GeForce 9800GX2 is poised as the ultra high-end enthusiast graphics card. The new adapter takes a page from the GeForce 7950GX2 since it's actually composed of two G92 cores on a single board. Factories are instructed to set these core frequency at 600 MHz and memory frequencies at 2000 MHz.The GeForce 9800GX2 uses a dual-slot cooling fan. Reference designs of this card include twin DVI outputs and a single HDMI port."
More About: Geforce

Larrabee to come in 45nm
2008-03-15 16:25:00
Fudzilla - Larrabee to come in 45nm: "Sources at Intel have confirmed that Larrabee graphic is set to come with 45nm process. However, it won’t commercially ship this year, but we heard that there might be some prototypes in Q4 2008.They simply said that it is natural to make graphic transistors in 45nm process, and we know that Intel is ahead of TSMC and everyone else with its 45nm process.Larrabee is a GPU, Physics and scientific calculation chip made of many small parallel parts with at least 16 chips (units) and we can guarantee that this will be fast in these operations.It's still premature to proclaim the instant success of this chip, but it got everyone’s attention."

Current Penryn Dual-core 45nm bug prevents the quad-core
2008-03-15 16:24:00
Fudzilla - Current Penryn Dual-core 45nm bug prevents the quad-core: "Imagine our surprise when we learned that the current E8x00 series of Penryn has a bug that would prevent this dual-core to work in a Quad -core .Traditionally, Intel’s quad-core is two dual-cores stitched together; but currently they cannot do it, as they don’t want to talk to each other.Intel is supposed to have a new core revision that will solve this problem, and we have already heard that the first systems with 45nm mainstream Yorkfield should hit the market by the end of the month.They almost get away with it."
More About: Dual Core , Core

Intel Atom Processor Pricing Unveiled
2008-03-15 16:16:00
VR-Zone : Technology Beats - Intel Atom Processor Pricing Unveiled: "Intel has a new low-cost segment called 'Nettop' designed for basic internet centric and content consumption usage models. It is based on 45nm Atom processors codenamed Diamondville. Intel will release Atom 230, a 1.6GHz clocked single core Diamondville processor for $29 in Q2. Higher clocked Atom and dual-core Atom are expected in Q3. Usage models include basic PCs, thin clients, small form factors, acoustic friendly system designs, cost optimized integrated boardsolution based on Intel 945GC w/ ICH7 chipsets supporting GMA950 DX9 integrated graphics, DDR2-800, PATA & SATA, 6-8 USB pors, SSD NV RAM etc."Click on the above link for details.

Yorkfield Processors to Start Selling Next Week.
2008-03-08 17:29:00
X-bit labs - Yorkfield Processors to Start Selling Next Week .: "As you know, the shipments of 45nm quad-core Core 2 Quad processors were delayed due to issues with processor system bus discovered in them. These Yorkfield processors on the new C1 stepping that would be free from this problem were expected to arrive in early March. According to sources, the new processor went into mass production exactly as planned and next week we should see 45nm Core 2 Quad Q9300, Q9450 and Q9550 in retail stores already. The mass production processors will be based solely on C1 stepping, which doesn’t have any changes to its thermal, electrical or mechanical specifications compared with the previous C0 processor stepping that is used widely in dual-core Wolfdale processors these days.Quad-core Core 2 Quad Q9550 and Core 2 Quad Q9450 processors will be designed to work at 2.83GHz and 2.66GHz respectively. For the first time for Core 2 Quad family they will work with 1333MHz bus and thanks to 45nm ...

Nvidia confirms PhysX hardware dies
2008-03-08 14:11:00
Fudzilla - Nvidia confirms PhysX hardware dies: "The physics card as a hardware device will die. Nvidia spokespersons were very precise about that as they said that the current PhysX cards will be the first and the last of their kind.Nvidia will implement PhysX instructions into CUDA and the GeForce GPU should take over the physics hardware role.If you have a PhysX card, you can definitely be sure that that it will be the last one to launch. Ageia becomes just another brand that Nvidia swallowed, and the list includes 3DFX, ULI, Mental Ray, Aureal and some other big names."
More About: Hardware , Dies

AMDs eight-core is a native one
2008-03-08 14:09:00
Fudzilla: "We were surprised to learn that despite the rumors going around, AMD's eight-core CPU is actually a native one. AMD can do native octa-core just as well as Intel can with its Nehalem, and the codename for this eight-core monster is Montreal. This comes from a highly ranked source at AMD.So, Montreal is not just two Shanghai quad-cores stitched together, it's a native octa-core 45nm part. This makes sense for servers initially and eventually it will also launch for the ultra high-end gaming market.Of course, this all happens in 2009."
More About: Core , Native

Phenom B3 gets 9x50 brand
2008-03-08 14:09:00
Fudzilla: "AMD's Phenom processors with the B3 stepping will launch with a new brand name. They will launch as the Phenom 9550, 9650 and so forth.There are two reasons for this. The obvious one is that the higher number sounds better to end users, and the second one is that AMD wants to make a fresh start.The general public believes that the Phenom 9500 and 9600 are broken, and despite the fact that they are priced really agressively, most people see them as broken. We failed to recreate the problem in our lab, but the errata announcement still managed to kill the 9500 and 9600 before they'd even launched.So the Phenom 9550 and 9650 will use the B3 stepping and so will, of course, the 9750 and newer models which all will be using the new B3 revision of the core."
More About: Brand

Geforce 9-series can save power
2008-03-08 14:08:00
Fudzilla: "Nvidia told us yesterday that one of the important features of their Geforce 9-series is that you will be able to switch the cards off, and in Hybrid power mode you will be able to save power by shutting down the card completely.This will have a positive impact on your power bill, especially when you don't play games; and this is one of the key features of this new generation.In real life, Geforce 9 -series, or more precisely 9800 GTX and GTS, will be using the same chip, just branded differently."
More About: Power , Series , Save

The GeForce 9600 gets a cheaper brother
2008-03-08 14:08:00
Fudzilla: "Nvidia is planning to launch the GeForce 9500, and with the launch of that card it will complete the cycle. We don't know much about the GPU, but it looks like we are talking about a refubrished 8500 all over again.This will be a low-cost alternative and as people think that higher numbers means that it's better, they will go for it.So the new lineup will look like this. GeForce 9500 is the low end, 9600GT is mainstream, GeForce 9800 GTS is Performance, GeForce 9800 GTX is high end and finally the GeForce 9800 GX2 is the ultra high-end."
More About: Brother , Geforce

Corsair showcases HX1000W PSU
2008-03-08 14:06:00
Fudzilla - Corsair showcases HX1000W PSU: "Corsair is also showcasing a new power supply in their HX series - a 1000W model. As a part of HX series this PSU features modular design and high power efficiency.The PSU in question features two 12V rails with 40Amps on each, which is enough to power a 3-Way SLI system. According to Corsair this is going to be the first 1000W PSU that will get Nvidia's 3-Way SLI certification, and this is the PSU that is used to power the system with overclocked memory and a 3-Way SLI setup at Nvidia's booth.We saw this PSU in a configuration that includes two Radeon HD 3870 cards in Crossfire paired with Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX9770, that are watercooled by Corsair's Nautilus 500. This PSU has enough power to handle most setups, but it will also have a higher price tag, since we are talking about a high-end model which includes only the best components."

Nehalem native 8-core comes next year
2008-03-08 13:58:00
Fudzilla: "Intel's Nehalem with eight cores and sixteen threads will launch at some point in 2009. It will be an insanely big chip, as it will be a native eight-core with sixteen threads.We were told that the new chip will have less L2 cache compared to the current Core 2 45nm Penryn generation, at least per core. You can roughly expect that the eight-core version will be a server part at first and then it might migrate to an ultra high end desktop extreme part.We originally believed that the 8-core native Nehalem would have to wait for the 32nm development process that is scheduled for late 2009 to 2010."
More About: Year , Native

Shanghai 45nm Opteron up close
2008-03-08 13:56:00
Fudzilla - Shanghai 45nm Opteron up close: "We had a chance to see AMD's four quad-core 45nm processor, codenamed Shanghai, and we can report that the new CPU has 4x64KB data, 4x64KB instructions, 4x512KB date and a massive 6MB of L3 cache.We don’t have the frequencies, we don’t have anything better than that it comes in second half of 2008 and that it needs 1.150V to run. It will be able to go over 3GHz, but we don’t know the exact speed."
More About: Close

Crossfire X driver comes tomorrow
2008-03-05 14:01:00
Fudzilla: "Giuseppe Amato, the Director of value proposition team at DAAMIT EMEAI, has just confirmed that Crossfire X or Catalyst 8.3 will launch tomorrow. This new driver will feature Hybrid graphics at the same time.The driver will support 44X AntiAlising mode and two cards should actually end up much faster than a single one. We don’t know how it scale but we will tell you after Cebit.Triple and quad GPU are possible and you can mix and match ATI Radeon HD 3800 series. PowerPlay will be the part of that driver."
More About: Driver , Tomorrow

Deneb 45nm can go over 3GHz
2008-03-05 13:59:00
Fudzilla: "Our very well informed sources have confirmed that Deneb core, Phenom / Opteron at 45nm with 6MB of L3 cache can go over 3GHz. This is probably something that might save the day for AMD.The current line is still that the CPU comes in second half of 2008 and they simply don’t want to get more precise. Intel currently ships its quad core at 3.2GHz and this core can easily hit over 4GHz."

Intel to have four 45nm fabs soon
2008-03-05 13:58:00
Fudzilla: "Intel says it's struggling to get enough 45nm cores in both dual and quad variations and that the two 300mm fabs are up and running and making them as we speak.At the same time an Intel spokesman said that they plan to bring online two more fabs and from that point on the supply of 45nm parts will get better. Two new 45nm fabs should be online in the next few months but Intel didn’t want to be more specific than that.This should improve the availability of 45nm dual and quad core parts and in Q2 situation should get much better. In Q3 and onward it should be even better. You can do a lot with four fabs and AMD has only one for the rest of the world."

9800 GTS pictured, clock speeds revealed
2008-03-05 13:50:00
Fudzilla: "Two new Nvidia cards stripped in a day, can it get better? Well, it seems like the clock speeds of the 9800 GTS are out as well, as this puppy will be clocked at 600MHz for the core with its Shaders at 1,500MHz and the memory at 900MHz (1,800MHz effectively).The card in question appears to be an Asus card with 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Oddly enough, it seems to lack a TV-out connector, but this might just be an early pre-production sample. This is very much a partner made board and you can tell it's got the dual color DVI ports used by a fair few partners these days to distinguish between the HDMI and non-HDMI enabled DVI port.The 9800 GTS doesn't support 3-Way SLI, due to the single SLI connector, and it looks like a clear message from Nvidia: 3-Way SLI is only for the top of the range products and if you can't afford them, then you don't deserve to run 3-Way SLI. So much for caring about what its customers want."
More About: Clock

Map your keyboard to your brain - The INQUIRER
2008-03-05 13:34:00
Map your keyboard to your brain - The INQUIRER: "N ONE OF THOSE moments where life imitates sci-fi, OCZ Technology has announced their Neural Impulse Actuator has gone into mass production. Now, what the heck is a Neural Impulse Actuator – or NIA - you ask?The device, a strap-on headband plugged to your PC via USB 2.0, reads your mind and turns whatever you’re thinking into reality. Or not. What it actually does is read electrical signals from your brain through 3 carbon sensors, and with a little getting-used-to, turns them into in-game actions - literally mapping your keyboard to your brain’s reactions. This works akin to an EEG readout, with specific signals corresponding to keystrokes on your keyboard. There’s a learning curve, as some have put it, but it’s only a matter of practice."
More About: Keyboard , Brain , Inquirer

IE8 will now conform to standards - The INQUIRER
2008-03-05 13:28:00
IE8 will now conform to standards - The INQUIRER: "AFTER MUCH grumbling by developers and users, the vole has abruptly volete faced on its strange IE8 decision to make web pages opt in to conforming behaviour, now deciding that it would in fact be a better idea to have the new browser render in full standards mode by default. This means that the new browser now passes the Acid-2-rendering test.The Vole had originally intended to make the super-standards mode an opt-in choice with IE 7 'standards' mode the default, which, the Vole reckoned, would assure improved backwards-compatibility with current Web sites and applications. Now though, IE8 will have three rendering modes: the new standards-compliant mode, the IE7 rendering engine and an option for displaying older Web sites. Sites that want IE8 to use its IE7 engine will have to add a tag to their code."
More About: Standards , Inquirer

Asus working on ATX AMD 780G motherboard
2008-03-04 15:59:00
Fudzilla: "We've got our hands on a board diagram of Asus ' upcoming M3A78-EH ATX motherboard based on the AMD 780G chipset, as well as some specifications. It's one of the first boards to feature the SB700 southbridge, but what makes this board rather peculiar, is the fact that it has integrated graphics, but lacks any kind of video out connectivity.This might not have been so strange if Asus had included a riser card that fits into the x16 PCIe slot, as the company has a range of other motherboards with integrated graphics which rely on these for all but the D-sub connector, but alas, no such card is included. It seems like Asus is target this board to anyone considering using Hybrid CrossFireX, but considering the below average feature set of this board, we can't see it being a big hit.Besides the x16 PCIe slot, the board also has a pair of x1 PCIe slots and three PCI slots. The rear I/O is very old fashined with a serial and parallel port and only four USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit ...
More About: Motherboard , Working

Razer Unveiled "Salmosa" Entry-Level Mouse
2008-03-04 14:15:00
Razer Unveiled "Salmosa" Entry -Level Mouse : "Razer unveiled their Salmosa entry-level mouse at CeBIT today. Key features includes 1800dpi 3G Infrared Sensor, Ultra-Light Form Factor and Hardware Toggles for DPI and Polling Rate. Available in Q3 this year for US$39.99.Technical Specs * 1800dpi Razer Precision™ 3G infrared sensor * 1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time * Mechanical dpi/polling rate switches * On-The-Fly Sensitivity™ adjustment * Always-On™ mode * Ultra-large non-slip buttons * 16-bit ultra-wide data path * 60-120 inches per second * Three independently programmable Hyperesponse™ buttons * Ambidextrous design * Scroll wheel with 24 individual click positions * Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ Teflon feet * Seven-foot, lightweight, non-tangle cord * Approximate size: 115mm (length) x 63mm (width) x 37mm (height)"
More About: Razer

RV770 to be twice as fast as RV670 claim
2008-03-04 14:13:00
Fudzilla: "We have seen some marketing talk from the DAAMIT machine and it was funny to read that its upcoming RV770 mainstream chip will end up twice as fast as RV670.Well, this is probably right, but this would naturally be the best case scenario. You should count on average 20 to 30 percent performance improvement but in some resolutions and at some settings, the new RV770 might really leave the RV670 aka Radeon 38x0 cards in the dust and score twice as fast.It is possible, as we could see with 9600GT that ends up twice faster than 8600GT but mainly because of the 128 versus 256-bit memory controller and the fact that the 8600GT was barely faster than the old 7600GT to begin with."
More About: Fast

Nvidia 9800GX2 clocks revealed - The INQUIRER
2008-03-03 13:32:00
Nvidia 9800GX2 clocks revealed - The INQUIRER: "WE JUST GOT hard measured numbers on the Nvidia 9800GX2. There has been a lot of speculation on clocks and speeds, so here is what the one we have access to did.The stock speeds will be 600/1000/1500MHz for core, memory and pixel shaders, but they OC a bit beyond that. With the broken OS, 64-bit edition, and an Intel quad, they score 14,4xx in 3DMark06 at default settings.You can crank up the core frequency, but at least on the ones we have access too, memory goes all of a pittance higher, and shaders don't budge at all. If you push it as hard as you can go, you can just break 16K on 3DMark06."
More About: Clocks , Inquirer

Fudzilla - MSI preps 2GB 9600GT
2008-03-03 13:30:00
Fudzilla - MSI preps 2GB 9600GT: "MSI is apparently prepping a 2GB version of Nvidia's latest mainstream card, the Geforce 9600GT.If a regular on our site, or any tech site for that matter, you're probably fully aware that sticking that much memory on a mid range card these days is pointless. However, most consumers obviously aren't well informed and AIBs tend to take advantage of that fact by selling cheap graphics cards with insane amounts of memory, thus making life much easier for their marketing guys.The other thing that sets this card apart from plain 9600GT's is the inclusion of a DisplayPort connector. We still don't know the exact clocks, but at the moment MSI is offering two 9600GT cards with 'just' one gigabyte of memory. The OC version works on 700/950/1750MHz, while the other one is reference clocked, 650/900/1625MHz, so it's safe to assume that the 2GB version will end up on similar clocks."

X48 chipset is incredibly limited
2008-03-03 13:25:00
Fudzilla: "We've learned that Intel's X48 chipset is very limited and the motherboard manufacturers cannot get enough even for samples. They all claim that the volume orders are imaginary and that the launch has been mainly delayed due to poor availability.Intel still has some three weeks to launch its chipset as it was promised for Q1 2008, but it doesn’t look that the volume availability of X38 chipset and motherboard will get any better. Intel might be keeping X48 chipsets as it wants to get rid of the X38 it has, but this is something that we cannot confirm at press time.We can also confirmed that X48 will remain the highest end chipset for Core 2 Due / Quad family as after this chipset comes only Bloomfield Nehalem chipset."
More About: Chipset , Limited

ATI prepares new 3870 single cards
2008-03-03 13:24:00
Fudzilla: "The new RV670 revision A12 will make enough space for a new version of 3870. The new Radeon 3870 with revision A12 chips will work at faster clocks and should score better than existing cards.The other thing that we can report is that it is expected in April to May time frame which clearly indicates that the R700 family will launch a bit later than that.The story behind the RV670 chip is that the current A11 revision that was launch back in November was not supposed to be the launched, but it was the first A11 silicon that ATI managed to ship. Usually by ATI, A12 silicon is the launch one but for a change something did went well in DAAMIT."
More About: Single , Cards