X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-e arrives
The Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-e has finally arrived, although it's only an OEM card so far as it doesn't come in a retail box. It looks rather basic with support for 7.1-channel analogue outputs and optical S/PDIF in and out. This card doesn't seem to have support for any of the upgrade options that the current X-Fi cards have and the audio processor looks like it comes from the newer entry level cards.
The blue PCB also makes it look more like he entry level products, as the higher end cards are using a black PCB. It also seems to lack support for some of the more advanced audio features, again akin with the lower end models. Interestingly it seems to have a standard connector for case mounted audio connectors, so it would be easy to use this card with the front audio connectors on your case. At US$65, it is priced quite reasonable and it ships with Windows Vista drivers.
Continue reading: X-Fi Xtreme Audio PCI-e arrives (full post)
Toshiba launches Dynabook Satellite WXW
Toshiba is first out with a notebook based on the new 8700M GT GPU from Nvidia and it looks like a real stunner. Apart from the new GPU which Toshiba has paired with 256MB of GDDR3 memory, the Dynabook Satellite WXW also features a Core 2 Duo T7300 processor clocked at 2GHz as well as either 1 or 2GB of DDR2 RAM. It's based on the Intel PM965 chipset and comes with a 120GB SATA hard drive. It has a 17-inch widescreen display with a native resolution of 1,680x1,050.
There's also a built in TV-tuner, a Super Multi DVD drive, HDMI and a 1.3Mega pixel web camera. Other features include an Express Card 54 slot, a multi format card reader for SD, SDHC, MMC, xD and MemoryStick, S/PDIF out, and a four pin FireWire port. It has no less than six USB 2.0 ports and it does of course have support for 802.11 a/b/g wireless networking and Gigabit Ethernet. A finger print reader is also part of the package.
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Nvidia launches GeForce 8700M GT
Nvidia has launched its latest mobile GPU, the 8700M GT, which is its top of the range GPU in the GeForce 8M series, for now. It has 32 stream processors, just as the 8600M GT, but the core clock is up from 475MHz of the 8600M GT to 625MHz. The shader clock has been increased from 950MHz to 1,250MHz and the memory has also been given a boost from 700MHz to 800MHz. Nvidia is also using something it calls dual-rank 128-bit memory, although we're not quite sure what this does at the time of writing this, but it sounds like some kind of dual channel memory interface. It can be paired with up to 512MB of GDDR3 memory.
The memory bandwidth is up from 22.4GB/s to 25.6GB/s and the texture fill rate has been improved from 7.6 billion instructions per second to 10 billion instructions per second. The 8700M GT is between 27 and 70 per cent faster than the older 7950 GS mobile part. It is manufactured at an 80nm processor and has a TDP of 35W. It features PureVideo HD and Nvidia's PowerMizer technology.
Continue reading: Nvidia launches GeForce 8700M GT (full post)
MSI launches overclockable notebook
MSI has launched a new overclockable notebook today, the Turbobook GX600 Extreme Edition. It has MSI's Turbo Drive Engine Technology that with a simple press of a button when the notebook is attached to a wall socket and the CPU and system bus will be overclocked by up to 20%. MSI also claims that it takes a mere 40 seconds to boot up the GX600 when in Turbo mode. The GX600 is based on the Intel PM965 chipset and will be offered with a range of Core 2 Duo processor options.
The graphics chipset comes from Nvidia and is an 8600M GT with 512MB of graphics memory. The system will also have 2GB of RAM, although this can be expanded to 4GB. A wide range of hard drives will be offered from 80 to 250GB. The optical drive will either be a Super Multi DVD or an HD DVD drive. Sadly the 15.4-inch display is limited to 1,280x800 resolution which feels a little bit too low on a powerful notebook like this.
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CoolIT Liquid Cools HD 2900 XT
CoolIT Systems have entered the market with a bang, producing the first reference series liquid cooling solution which is capable of keeping HD 2900 XTs in CrossFire configuration mighty cool (providing for very nice overclocks).
The system itself is a rather clever factory sealed maintainence free single slot design.
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-100 degrees Celsius at Computex Taipei 2007
As we prepare and setup our booth at Computex Taipei 2007, we were joined by our friend Coolaler who did some initial LN2 overclocking at our booth in Hall 1. Using a GIGABYTE P35 DDR-3 board and Intel Core 2 Duo 6850 processor, we managed an initial OC of 5.4GHz (600 x 9) at around -125c. Keep in mind, thi was done in a less than ideal environment - there is no air con on at the moment and we expect things to only get better throughout the week.
This resulted in a high detail 3DMark01 run of around 85,000 with stock clocked HD 2900 XT in Crossfire mode, which ranks us about 4th for world records, even at this early time. Tomorrow and throughout the week we will tweak the system (no OC to VGA or RAM so far) and try and break some records as we push things further. We are rock stable at 600MHz FSB, so after some tender love and care, we should be able to crank out around 5.6GHz.
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TweakTown takes on Computex Taipei 2007 with huge media presence
TweakTown takes on Computex Taipei 2007 with huge media presence
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Friday June 1st 2007 - TweakTown, one of the worlds's most respected and trusted online computer publications in Asia and the world is set to make a big splash at Computex Taipei 2007. TweakTown will host a one of a kind media party on Monday evening attended by top media and manufacturers. The party will be assisted by a demonstration machine running DDR-3 memory at over 2000MHz on an Intel P35 motherboard. Cool new hardware and software will be given away to members of the press as they celebrate the beginning, of what many say, is the most important computer trade show in the world.
TweakTown will rock the socks off Hall 1 as it showcases a highly overclocked liquid nitrogen system featuring Intel Core 2 QX6850 quad-core processor, Intel P35 DDR-3 based GIGABYTE GA-P35T-DQ6 motherboard, Corsair DDR-3 1333MHz DHX memory and GIGABYTE Radeon HD 2900 XT in Crossfire. OCZ power the show with their ProXStream 1000-watt power supply. The booth will be joined by famous guest Taiwanese overclocker Coolaler who will take things to the absolute limit, live at the show, for all to see. World record holders might want to hold onto their hats, as we attempt to break records!
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Consumer Alert - QuickTime plays havoc with RAID in Vista!
I thought I was just unlucky the first time but when something happens two times in the exact same fashion, you just got to check into it a little more.
System is Vista Ultimate 32-bit with RAID 10 on Intel ICH8R chipset. A couple of weeks ago I tried running a .mov file using Apple QuickTime software (latest version) and that is when things started to go downhill. The file seemed very slow to load and eventually QuickTime crashed after a lot of persuasion. Once QuickTime was closed, I was notified of a RAID error through the Intel Matrix Storage Console but the same thing will happen if you reboot during the lockup as well.
Thinking the worst, I promptly went about getting the affected drive replaced, naturally thinking it was dead. I got the drive replaced without any issues from the friendly chaps at Seagate, plugged it in and rebuilt the array without any issues and with everything back to normal. Just recently the exact same event occurred and I knew the chances of that exact same set of occurrences happening was extremely rare.
Continue reading: Consumer Alert - QuickTime plays havoc with RAID in Vista! (full post)
On the Test Bed - Corsair DDR-3 1066 has arrived!
Recently we received some engineering sample DDR-3 1066 memory from our friends at Corsair.
We will be comparing it against DDR-2 at a range of different settings on two similar Intel P35 boards very soon, which should prove for some interesting test results.
For now, here are some photos for you to enjoy...
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More retail Radeon HD 2900 XT cards appear
If you still have got enough RD 2900 XT news for today, then bad luck - here is some more for you addicts.
Here are some shots of retail cards from Sapphire, MSI and GeCube. The latter two cards are just using the reference cooler but Sapphire does things a little differently.
Continue reading: More retail Radeon HD 2900 XT cards appear (full post)