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Super Talent Expands DDR3 Options
Memory maker Super Talent have released a new series of DDR3 modules this week, starting with the W1333UB2G8 kit. This kit comprises a couple of 1GB sticks rated for 1333MHz speeds with timings of 8-8-8-18.
However, the most exciting is their two DDR3-1600 kits. The best of the two happens to run fantastic timings (as far as DDR3 goes for now) at 7-7-7-18 with 1.8V, very nice indeed for 1600MHz modules. Then there's the other 1600MHz rated kit, operating with slightly looser (but still quite reasonable) latencies of 9-9-9-21.
Another highlight of the new family is the introduction of a 2GB DDR3 module, up until now I hadn't spotted a 2GB DDR3 module yet (only 2x1GB kits). This module is designed to operate at up to 1333MHz with 8-8-8-18 timings at 1.8V.
Continue reading: Super Talent Expands DDR3 Options (full post)
Up close and personal with Shuttle
Yesterday, yours truly headed over to the Shuttle HQ here in Taipei for a visit to bring you the latest news of what Shuttle is working on and what will happen over the next few months. There has been a lot of turmoil about Shuttle recently and there have been some rumours about the company being sold, but they're not true according to the people we've spoken to. Shuttle is refocusing its product development and it is moving away from some of the low cost products it launched last year as they proved to be uncompetitive.
The good news is that Shuttle has a solid launch schedule of new products that will be arriving in a steady stream over the next couple of months, with the first products appearing later this month. Shuttle also has a new marketing team onboard and is focusing on making its products better than ever. A wide range of new features will be incorporated, some more useful than others, but it looks like Shuttle has no intention of giving up.
Continue reading: Up close and personal with Shuttle (full post)
AMD Prepares Phenom FX Lineup
Dailytech have gotten a hold of AMD's latest roadmap which confirms their plans for the remainder of the year and into Q1 2008.
The most interesting info plucked from the roadmap is in regards to their upcoming "Phenom FX" range of processors. Under this new naming scheme, AMD will announced both the Phenom FX-80 and FX-90 series, with the 80 series designated to single processor systems whilst the 90 series is suited specifically to 4x4 dual processor configs.
AMD expect to launch the FX-80 series towards the end of the year, with the 90 series to debut early next year.
HIS goes the full Monty with 5 new cards
HIS has announced its entire range of AMD Radeon HD 2600/2400 based graphics cards and apart from the Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4 version, HIS has its own designs up and running. HIS launched a total of six new cards and four of the new cards feature HIS' new "Hi-Fi" concept design with gold plated DVI connectors, a black back panel and blue PCB.
There will be two IceQ version, one 2600 XT GDDR3 card and one 2600 Pro DDR2 card. The clock speeds for the IceQ version of the 2600GT wasn't revealed, but the 2600 Pro will have the GPU clocked at 650MHz and the memory at 1050MHz. Both cards will be available with 256 or 512MB.
Continue reading: HIS goes the full Monty with 5 new cards (full post)
Asus launches new 22-inch gaming LCD
The PG221 22-inch gaming monitor from Asus was announced earlier today and it has some rather interesting features that set it apart from your average 22-inch LCD display. It has a resolution of 1,680x1,050 which is pretty much the norm for a display this size and Asus has coated it with a reflective coating. This is not to everyone's liking, but it is great for high contrast stuff like games and video.
But it's the rest of the specifications that makes this display interesting, it has a built in pair of 5W speakers and a small 15W subwoofer hanging off the stand. This isn't the first time we've seen this from Asus, but it keeps things neat and tidy if you don't have a lot of desk space for a set of speakers.
Continue reading: Asus launches new 22-inch gaming LCD (full post)
Palit goes HDMI on HD 2600 Pro
Palit has just announced its Radeon HD 2600Pro Sonic, which features a built in HDMI connector, making it easier to connect the card to HDMI enabled displays and HD TV's. The card retains one DVI and get a D-Sub connector as well, although it's missing a TV-out connector, but if your TV already has HDMI, why bother with analogue?
The card itself looks quite generic and it features a fairly standard cooler. The HD 2600Pro Sonic has 256MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.4GHz and the GPU is clocked at 650MHz. This is the first Radeon HD 2600 Pro card to feature GDDR3 memory and it should allow for a performance boost against the competition.
Continue reading: Palit goes HDMI on HD 2600 Pro (full post)
Korean NAS/HD video player has it all
A Korean company called SavitMicro has launched an interesting device, it's a NAS and HD video player in one. It's called the cineDISK CD36HD and its one of the most feature packed devices of this type we've ever seen. Not only is it a NAS (it's actually a NDAS devices), although it only has 10/100Mbit Ethernet, it can also connect to your PC via USB 2.0 for some faster file transfers and it has two USB 2.0 host ports for external drives. There's also a version available with 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
So far it's not that remarkable, as there are plenty of devices like this on the market already. What sets the cineDISK CD36HD apart from every other such device is the fact that it connects up to your TV. Around the back you'll find DVI-D, Component video, S-Video and composite video outputs. It supports up to 1080p resolution, but there's no mention of HDCP support. It has a set of stereo RCA jacks, an optical and coaxial S/PDIF and finally even analogue 5.1-channel RCA jacks. Pretty impressive to say the least.
Continue reading: Korean NAS/HD video player has it all (full post)
Logitech launches two new webcams
Logitech has announced two new web cameras, the QuickCam Pro 9000 and QuickCam Pro for Notebooks, Both cameras can record video at 960x720 at 30fps, although these aren't the first cameras from Logitech to be able to do this. The big news here is that both these cameras use Carl Zeiss optics, which Logitech claims will improve the overall picture quality.
These are also the first web cameras from Logitech to feature auto focus and this should provide for superior quality to past cameras in itself. For still images these two new cameras features 2Mega pixel resolution and they will take still images at 1,600x1,200, although this can be software interpolated up to 8Mega pixels. Logitech's RightLight technology is also part of the package and it makes it easier for the camera to adjust to varying light situations automatically.
Continue reading: Logitech launches two new webcams (full post)
AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT lands in Australia
With the new AMD cards having launched yesterday, we tried to find out if you could find one in Australia and how much it would set you back. Well, the good news is that you can indeed get a Radeon HD 2600 XT if you'd want to pick one up today. The only problem is that it'll set you back AU$187 inc GST and that's for a GDDR3 card.
The card is from PowerColor and its entire range of cards are available right now. Starting from the bottom, a 256MB GDDR2 2400 Pro will cost you $110, the 2400 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 is retailing for $132. Considering that you can easily pick up an 8500GT, which is a faster card, for under $100, it seems like the 2400 series is priced out of its class.
A Radeon HD 2600 Pro with 256MB of DDR2 memory will set you back $159.50 while the 512MB version is another $11 at $170.50. Both of these cards are more expensive than an 8600GT, which should be the faster card. Althoug the 2400 XT is faster than an 8600GT, with current pricing, there isn't enough of a performance difference to consider one of these cards.
Continue reading: AMD Radeon HD 2600 XT lands in Australia (full post)
Conroe based Celerons On The Way?
The lads over at InsideHW have recently been handed a mysterious Intel based processor, which when firing up CPU-Z reported it to be a "Celeron" branded offering derived from the Conroe-L core. This simply indicates we will soon be seeing nice and cheap Conroe based Celeron processors enter the market.
The sample InsideHW were given was in fact an engineering sample, allowing the multiplier to go up to 14.
Some details about the processor. It's a single-core chip with 1MB of L2 cache, is based on a 65nm fab and runs a bus speed equal to that of the Pentium E2000 series, 200MHz (800Mhz Quad-pumped). InsideHw have a guess and say that it's likely this upcoming family of chips will be dubbed the "Celeron E1XXX" series or something like that.
Continue reading: Conroe based Celerons On The Way? (full post)
HD 2400/2600 Cards Galore
Alongside PowerColor, ASUS soon after unveiled details about their new lineup of "EAH2600 and 2400 Series" graphics cards, these comprising the ATI HD2600XT, HD2600PRO, HD2400XT and HD2400PRO.
You can get all the details on them over at ASUS's website.
HDMI possible for older Xbox 360 models?
A to us unknown console accessory company called XCM is listing a new product that should appeal to owners of older Xbox 360 consoles, as they claim they're working on an HDMI cable that will work with them.
What exactly this cable does isn't clear at this time, as the only reference on the site is that it enables HMDI and 1080P output from the regular white Xbox 360. Our guess is that it combines the VGA or component video signal with the digital audio in the round little box on the middle of the cable and then outputs this as some kind of pseudo HDMI signal.
Continue reading: HDMI possible for older Xbox 360 models? (full post)
Spotlight Back On PhysX
Since the official release of AGEIA's "PhysX" (dedicated physics) card for games, we haven't seen anything exciting happening with it at all. Following its release, of the VERY few games that were able to make use of it (namely Cellfactor, GRAW and a few others), these titles were discovered to work just fine without this card, not only that but the difference in physics effects with and without it were quite minimal, certainly not enough to warrant forking out for one.
To help draw a bit of attention to it again, a video posted up on YouTube shows off a new level in GRAW 2 called "AGEIA Island" with the PhysX in action, and after checking it out for myself it definitely wowed me more than anything i've seen from the card before.
Seagate Announces Two 1TB Drives
Seagate have today announced not one, but two new hard drives with 1TB capacities. The new Barracuda 7200.11 is aimed at the consumer level whilst the Barracuda ES.2 model is an enterprise drive.
Both drives have 32MBs worth of L2 cache onboard, 3.0Gbps SATA and NCQ. The main difference between the 7200.11 and the ES.2 series drives is that the ES.2 uses a serial attached SCSI (or SAS) interface. the ES.2's MTBF rating has also been raised to 1.2 million hours, which is 200,000 hours more than the previous Barracuda ES series drives.
Both drives should become available anytime during this quarter with the Barracuda 7200.11 carrying an MSRP of $399. Both drives are also backed up by Seagate's 5 year warranty.
Continue reading: Seagate Announces Two 1TB Drives (full post)
Dell launches new XPS notebook
Dell has just launched a new 13.3-inch XPS notebook, which will be available in one of three colours, red, black or white. Well, the lid will be at least, since the rest of the system is either grey, silver or black, depending on what part of it you're looking at.
It's rather nice looking for a Dell design tough and it packs quite a lot of features. It will come with a choice of Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.2GHz, all but one at 800MHz bus, up to 4GB of DDR2 667MHz memory, a choice of integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics or a GeForce Go 8400M with 128MB of GDDR3.
Continue reading: Dell launches new XPS notebook (full post)
Integrated + discrete = Hybrid SLI
It seems like Nvidia is working on a new technology called Hybrid SLI and it will enable you to use a combination of integrated and discrete graphics. It will not only allow for increased performance during 3D, as it is also a power saving technology.
When the discrete GPU isn't needed, say for example when you're doing mundane Windows tasks, the discrete solution will be powered down and the integrated GPU will take over, thus reducing the power drawn by the system.
If this sounds familiar to you, then you'll be glad to know that AMD actually announced its PowerXPress technology a little while back for its next mobile platform. Nvidia isn't specifically talking about notebooks here though, as it works just as well on a desktop system.
Continue reading: Integrated + discrete = Hybrid SLI (full post)
ATI Issues Out Catalyst 7.6 Drivers
AMD/ATI have pushed out a new revision of their CATALYST drivers for the month, the 7.6s. One of the main areas improved upon with this driver is even better HD 2900 XT CrossFire performance, with huge gains of up to 42% seen in Half-Life 2: Episode One with HDR+AA enabled. Dark Messiah: Might and Magic also sees around a 16% performance increase with HDR enabled.
There's also a stack of resolved issues and bug fixes across various game titles etc, As listed in AMD/ATI's release notes.
Continue reading: ATI Issues Out Catalyst 7.6 Drivers (full post)
Eight new HTC handsets revealed
Information about eight new devices from HTC has made its way onto the web and it's looking like HTC is packing some serious hardware if this information proves to be correct. First up we have the Kaiser or the P4550 which we wrote about here, although it seems like it has been delayed until August now.
This model will replace the TyTN in the current range and will feature a 400MHz Qualcomm CPU, 256MB ROM, 64MB RAM, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, assisted GPS, a 2 or 3Mega pixel camera, a semi-automatic sliding keyboard (no, this has nothing to do with guns), but sadly it only has USB 1.1 interface for syncing it with your PC.
Next up we have Nike, or the P5500 which is a more classic looking slider with a 2.6-inch QVGA touch screen, 128MB ROM, 64MB RAM, the same 400MHz Qualcomm CPU, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a 2Mega pixel camera and again only USB 1.1. This is the first slider without a keyboard from HTC and it looks like an interesting model.
Continue reading: Eight new HTC handsets revealed (full post)
HP expands camera line with 9 new models
HP launched no less than nine new compact digital cameras today, an extensive new line up to say the least. The one that looks the most striking is the new Photosmart R937, as it has a rather odd looking centre mounted lens and a 3.6-inch touch screen display. It also features an 8Mega pixel sensor, anti-shake mode, 32MB of built in memory and 3x optical zoom. It's expected to cost around US$300 when it arrives in August.
Next up is the Photosmart R847 which shares the 3x optical zoom 8Mega pixel sensor, 32MB of built in memory and the anti-shake mode, but doesn't have a touch screen. It should retail for around $230, also in August.
Then we have the entry level Photosmart E337 which is a basic 5 Mega pixel point and shoot model with a 1.5-inch display and 16MB of internal memory. At $80 this is quite a bargain, but don't expect too much from it. It will be available from next month.
Continue reading: HP expands camera line with 9 new models (full post)
Free image hosting from bayimg
The people behind The Piratebay have launched a new image hosting service, bayimg and it is meant to be complete free from censoring. If this is a good or a bad thing is a matter of how you look at it, but it also means it will be hard for any big corporate pressure to remove content. However, they do reserve the right to remove illegal images.
The bayimg hosting service supports 140 different image file formats as well as ZIP and RAR archives. File size is limited to 100MB per file, but if you upload an archive, an album is automatically created for it and you get a URL for the whole album.
There are also options for automatic resizing of your pictures to a wide range of standard resolutions.
Continue reading: Free image hosting from bayimg (full post)
