AMD is set to launch a new flagship video card called the HD 5970 and ahead of that official introduction, some of the specifications for the card have been leaked online. The card has the code name Hemlock and has two GPUs on a single video card.

The GPUs are called Cypress, has an internal CrossfireX configuration, and are built on the 40nm process. Each GPU will have 1600 stream processors and a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface. Actual VRAM will be 4GB total.

That means each GPU will get a massive 2TB of memory. The dual slot card will reportedly have a pair of DVI-D ports and a mini DisplayPort with the other slot having a large heat vent. The NDA will reportedly expire on the card on the 19th of November.

GIGABYTE have fired up two new challenges lined for overclockers this month; the P55 Overclocking Challenge and 10K challenge.

With regard to the P55 Overclocking Challenge, as long as you have a P55 based setup with a Core i5 or i7 processor ready to be clocked through the roof, you can enter and compete for the overall "OverclocKing" title.

The top three overall 3DMark 06 scorers worldwide on a GIGABYTE P55 motherboard will be crowned OverclocKing, along with some pretty amazing hardware loot from GIGABYTE, Antec, Kingmax, GlacialTech and Enermax. There will also be a weekly lucky draw for contestants entered in the OverclocKing challenge, with winners receiving a GIGABYTE motherboard.

NVIDIA is in the news again, this time for a mystery tablet that was lying on the table in front of NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. We asked NVIDIA about it and were informed that it is a product being made by an ODM partner called ICD.

We were also told that it is a concept that is actively being sold to carriers around the world and was used to highlight Tegra and what you can do with it. Tegra is a product that Huang sees great potential in (and so do we). This tiny yet complete system is already sandwiched into the ZuneHD and has been showing off what even the first generation can do when put to use.

The Tegra 2 set to launch next year is going to be even more powerful as we hear talk of two Coretex A9 ARM Dual Core CPUs being used. We have also heard that there may be two GeForce 9 based GPUs to over either style performance or, more likely, to enable Cuda and Physics for the small single chip computer. We are waiting to get more information from NVIDIA on the device and hope to be able to provide you with more information shortly.

Years ago, it wasn't that uncommon for new computers or notebooks running Windows to have a FireWire port but as the years went by Mac computers are the only brand that really continued to support FireWire. If you need FireWire and more eSATA ports a new host card called the NitroAV fusion pro is available that will be perfect for you.

The card slips into a PCIe x4 slot and adds two external FireWire 800 ports and one internal FireWire 800 port. The host card also has an optional internal power connector to offer power over the FireWire ports as well.

The host adapter also adds two external eSATA 3Gbps ports for connecting external storage devices. The host card supports Mac, Windows, and Linux computers and is available now for $129.95. Until November 18, you can get $10 off the host card with the coupon code FUSIONPRO.

Wow there is so much spin out right now about Fermi/GT300/G100 that it is not funny. From the Anti-Green side we hear of delays and yield issues. We hear rumblings of problems with the actual design, that NVIDIA knows and is stalling, and that somehow they are pulling the wool over consumers' eyes on their DX11 parts. All in an attempt to undermine poor put upon AMD.

But what is really going on? The truthful answer to that one is, no one but NV (and maybe a few OEMs and TSMC) really knows. But still we do know that recent rumors and rumblings have some root in truth. The problem is with presentation and spin. For example we hear that Fermi is being delayed until Q1 2010. When you read this you automatically hear that everything related to the Fermi/GT300/G100 is being delayed. You think that this means no DX11 GeForce cards from NV this year, time to pull out the wallet and look to AMD right?

Well you would only be partially right.

There is a lot of talk today about AT&T's new USBConect Lightning 7.2Mbps Cellular wireless device. For the most part the only thing of note is the 7.2Mbps speed. The rest is a pretty boring USB device. It is powered by a Sierra Wireless Chip.

The thing that many are missing though is that, although the new product will hit the streets on November 22nd, the network to support it is not there yet. In fact by the end of 2009 there will only be a handful of cities with support for the new speed. AT&T hopes to have the new 7.2M wireless service rolled out in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami.

Another interesting thing to note is that there is no mention of the iPhone 3G S. This device was touted at one time as being ready for AT&T's next network upgrade. With the lack of mention it does make you wonder if it really will be able to take advantage of the new speeds or if it will still have to rely on the current spotty 3G network. Hmmm, now that I come to think on that; why doesn't AT&T fix their current network before spending money on a new one? Well, I suppose they may think that they will try and kill two birds with one stone. I just hope that the coverage of the new network ends up better than the current one.

The Atom has been an amazing product for Intel. It has become the de facto CPU under the hood of almost every netbook and in fact has become part of the definition of a netbook for most consumers. But as with many things it has reached the point of stagnation. Consumers are fickle and really do want change. Although many will complain about new products and how much they cost, etc. They will still get bored unless those new items are dangled in front of them from time to time.

Well, Intel has that new bait. As we have told you before the Pinetrail CPU (Atom Plus one package GPU) will be launching soon. Probably in the middle of December (that is just a guess but we think it is close to the mark) to get some interest built up. We will see products with this new technology under the hood being displayed by the time CES 2010 rolls around.

But with the new Pinetrail you are not just getting a new (well old) GPU shoehorned onto the packaging but also a built-in memory controller and a few new speed and multi-core offerings. These will be the N450 1.66GHz Atom Pineview and the Dual Core 1.66GHz D510 and D410. The last two are probably earmarked for nettops and not likely to show up in your garden variety netbook.

We managed to get hold of exclusive pictures of the upcoming GIGABYTE P55A-UD7 motherboard. It's labeled as "EXTREME" at the moment, but that's because it's not the final shipping product.

From what we heard from our source, "UD7" is the new name to replace the "EXTREME Series" that GIGABYTE used with a couple of its recent products. Without knowing for sure, we would say that "UD7" is the new name because of the tremendous popularity of the new Windows 7 operating system. It's all about the number seven right now.

So, what's new here and why do we need yet another extreme high-end motherboard from GIGABYTE? Presently the P55A-UD6 is the top dog from the Taiwanese motherboard maker, but the UD7 will introduce some important features for those looking to get full performance out of their Intel P55 Express based Core i5 or i7 Lynnfield system.

MSI, together with HWBOT's support are hosting the Xtreme Speeder MSI P55 Online Overclocking Competition from November 15 through December 13 and MSI are being mighty generous with the prizes on offer.

MSI breaks the competition into three categories for overclockers to attempt domination in; these being CPU-Z, SuperPi 32M and Wprime 32M. The top three overall overclockers will walk away with USD 2000, 1500 and 1000 respectively, whilst the champion from each category will earn him/herself USD 1000 plus the chance to pick up another 500 if the world record is broken.

Further information about the competition and other prizes up for grabs can be found within the official PR here. The official competition page with further information and details on how to enter can be found here.

Just yesterday we told you that we felt the news of NVIDIA grabbing up ex-Transmeta employees was all about Tegra and not about an x86 CPU. Well today we hear some more interesting news about Tegra, well more to the point its successor Tegra 2.

With news flying around that NV has a major design win by getting the Tegra into the next Nintendo DS we now hear more about what will be under the hood of the Tegra 2. Of course we have been told a little about the new Tegra 2 and have talked about it before. So the news that there will be at least one ARM Cortex 9 under stuffed inside is nothing new. Where things get interesting is the information we have on the GPU side of things.

As NV pushes Cuda and PhysX we are hearing that Tegra 2 will have Dual GPUs (GeForce 9 based). This will either be for "SLI-Like" performance or as PPU to allow for a mobile PhysX library to be utilized. We feel that latter is more likely. Remember the GF9 series was the first to support Cuda and PhysX on the GPU. In fact at the last press briefing in back in August we were told that Tegra 2 would be capable of 4x the processing power at the same power draw! At the same time the Tegra 2 was listed as launching in 2010 so it looks like things are right on track there.