NVIDIA to launch GTX 260 stopgap to halt HD 4870?
NVIDIA doesn't want to be perceived as a sitting duck it seems.
Following on from our report yesterday, it appears that the company is working on a stopgap solution to try and put the brakes on AMD's HD 4870.
Continue reading: NVIDIA to launch GTX 260 stopgap to halt HD 4870? (full post)
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 gets speed tested at IDF
The USB 3.0 specification was released only this month on the 13th and already a company by the name of Fresco Logic has managed to run a live and very working demonstration during the Intel Developer Forum.
The company said it used a self-developed software development platform specifically designed for the show allowing it to demonstrate the performance of SuperSpeed USB or USB 3.0. Our computers have been powered by USB 2.0 for almost nine years now and next year is when we should start to see serious adoption of USB 3.0 products.
Continue reading: SuperSpeed USB 3.0 gets speed tested at IDF (full post)
Intel Nehalem benchmarked quickly during IDF
Today at IDF Intel presented the rendering performance of Nehalem to attending press and our friends over at PCGH in Germany were naturally more than happy to run the tests.
The tests put an Intel Core i7 processor running at a hidden clock speed but PCGH reckon it is operating at around 3.2GHz since it was being compared side to side against a Core 2 Extreme QX6850 operating at 3GHz and an old Pentium EE 955 operating at 3.46GHz.
Continue reading: Intel Nehalem benchmarked quickly during IDF (full post)
PlayTV Released Early - The Beauty of Unboxing
The digital TV tuner add-on for the PlayStation 3 has been a long time coming, originally scheduled to be released this time last year, but its finally been released in the PAL European market.
The aptly named Cool Stuff got their hands on the finished product, and unbox it for your viewing pleasure, along with a quick review.
Continue reading: PlayTV Released Early - The Beauty of Unboxing (full post)
An early look at MSI upcoming GeForce 9400GT cards
NVIDIA launched its latest GPU, the GeForce 9500GT, with very little fanfare and next week they will launch an even cheaper GPU, the GeForce 9400GT. You should be able to buy cards based on this new chip from August 26th or soon after.
MSI sent us through some details of two 9400GT cards that it will begin selling next week - one has 512MB (N9400GT-MD512H) of onboard memory and the other only 256MB (N9400GT-MD256H). The 512MB model includes a small cooling fan and the 256MB model is silent with a rather large black heatsink covering about half of the card.
Continue reading: An early look at MSI upcoming GeForce 9400GT cards (full post)
Intel shows off its Dual-Core Atom 330 mobo at IDF
Yesterday during the IDF show in San Francisco, Intel announced news that it would be shipping its mini-ITX form factor based Desktop Board D945GCLF2 Essential Series motherboard sometime in September but that might turn into a little later from what we have heard.
Intel's D945GCLF2 motherboard has the 45nm manufactured Atom dual-core 330 soldered onto it (now with active fan cooling due to extra heat generated by the additional core) and is designed for nettop systems such as the low cost ASUS Eee Box and MSI Wind desktop. Intel reckons it will work brilliantly as a second home system or for Internet kiosks, thin clients or POS (point-of-sale and not piece of... never mind) systems.
Continue reading: Intel shows off its Dual-Core Atom 330 mobo at IDF (full post)
GIGABYTE shows us its X58 Extreme mobo in Taipei
Intel has just loosened the restrictions on what can be said and posted about the X58 Express supporting Socket 1366 Nehalem Core i7 chipset this week. And that is great for us as it allows us to report some juice bits of information to you, from here in Taipei.
We visited the GIGABYTE HQ this afternoon and they had a single X58 board to show us. It is a dummy sample right now which doesn't work (dammit - no benchmarks!) and is labeled GA-X58-Extreme but it will actually turn out to be the GA-X58-DS4, which is a cut down and cheaper version.
Continue reading: GIGABYTE shows us its X58 Extreme mobo in Taipei (full post)
ATI Catalyst 8.8 Drivers now available
As we always say; another month, another set of Catalyst drivers. This month comes in the form of the 8.8 release which doesn't actually promise any performance increases as far as the the release notes indicate. Rather, there appears to be quite an array of bug fixes and the like for popular gaming titles.
However, if you're itchin' to know how performance fairs to last months release, we do the hard work for you and compare in our latest driver analysis article here.
Continue reading: ATI Catalyst 8.8 Drivers now available (full post)
Memory hots up with new challenger, Gingle
There appears to be a new competitor ready to get a foothold in the, increasingly competitive, memory marketplace.
Gingle, is throwing its hat into the ring with a 4 GB DDR3 kit offering, claiming 1800 MHz speeds on an Intel P45 platform and, 2000 MHz speeds on an NVIDIA 790i solution.
Continue reading: Memory hots up with new challenger, Gingle (full post)
Microsoft SideWinder X5/X6 takes gaming up a notch
Microsoft appears to be intent on continuing the revitalisation of its popular SideWinder brand by launching not just one, but two new family members today.
Engadget reports, firstly, on the SideWinder X6 which Microsoft touts as the first gaming keyboard it has created from scratch.
Continue reading: Microsoft SideWinder X5/X6 takes gaming up a notch (full post)