Intel's 'Light Peak' Can Carry Data up to 100 meters at 10Gbps

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: September 23, 2009 04:20PM
Author: Ben Grantham

While fiber-optic links themselves are nothing new, with Light Peak Intel is aiming at providing a standard that could see just about anything you plug into a PC using just one type of cable. The technology, demonstrated today at IDF, would allow data to be carried at 10 gigabits per second (full duplex) for up to 100 meters, with Intel believing that could jump to 100Gbps in the next decade. Cables using the technology could be used to connect just about anything, from monitors to external drives or any other peripheral you could think of.

It is an ambitious goal to essentially replace all of the connection standards we are familiar with (USB, DVI, HDMI etc.) with a single cable, but Intel are working with the industry in an attempt to get it standardized. The cables themselves are apparently durable ("you can tie a knot in it and it'll still work" according to Intel's Jason Ziller) and could include copper wire to provide power to devices. The components for the technology will reportedly be ready sometime next year, though it may be a bit (or a lot) longer before we see any PCs with Light Peak ports. For now we will have to make do with the impending appearance of USB 3.0.

Blizzcon Sold Out

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: August 9, 2009 07:56PM
Author: JifDaKiwi

Blizzcon, that wondrous convention of everything Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo has sold out. In 8 minutes. Hopefully you've either secured your pass, or entered the various competitions, because if you want to go, and haven't stumped up the $125 to get in then you may well be out of luck. Well, not entirely...

It turns out that Direct TV will be streaming 16 hours of live, pay-per-view goodness across the 2-day extravaganza, and if you have either purchased a ticket, or buy the TV programming, you will receive Grunty, the Murloc Marine - a free in-game companion for WoW.

Ballmer and Otellini to Deliver CES Keynotes

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: July 29, 2009 02:12PM
Author: Ben Grantham

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced today that Steve Ballmer and Paul Otellini will both be delivering keynote addresses at next year's International CES in Las Vegas. Ballmer, CEO at Microsoft since 2000, will be reprising the role he played at CES this year (where the Windows 7 Beta announcement was made) by delivering the opening keynote on January 6th at 6:30pm. Paul Otellini became Intel's fifth CEO in 2005 and also fills the position of company President. He will be delivering Intel's keynote the following day, January 7th at 4:30pm.

Both should have plenty to talk about, carrying the large product portfolios they do. By then we should also have a good gauge of consumer reaction to the Windows 7 launch and be anticipating Intel's new processor introductions for 2010.

Free BlizzCon Entry - Thanks Kingston

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: July 26, 2009 06:57PM
Author: JifDaKiwi

Kingston is running a competition to give 10 lucky winners tickets to BlizzCon 09.  If you are going to be in or around Anaheim, CA on the 21st or 22nd of August, and you’ve got nothing better to do, then this one is for you.  Even better, the competition is free to enter, so what are you waiting for?  Enter here!

New 'iPhone 3G S' Unveiled at WWDC

Category: Gadgets, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: June 9, 2009 01:12AM
Author: Daryn Govender

Apple has announced the new iPhone at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. The 'iPhone 3G S' (the "S" stands for Speed) comes with many improvements and additions to the original iPhone. These include a claimed 2x-3.6x increase in speed when compared to its predecessor, 'updated' 3D graphics, a 3 mega-pixel camera capable of 30fps VGA video recording with built-in editing, voice control compatibility, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 3G Internet tethering via Bluetooth or USB, and comes bundled with the iPhone OS 3.0. The iPhone OS 3.0 brings an array of improvements for users including MMS capability, copy and paste support, spotlight search, landscape email, notes, keyboard and messaging, to name a few. The battery life has also improved with a quoted up to 5 hours talk-time on 3G and up to 9 hours internet use on Wi-Fi. The iPhone 3G S will retail at US$199 (16GB) and US$299 (32GB) on a two-year AT&T rate plan and will come in black and white models. The new gadget will be available in less than a fortnight in the USA and in over 80 countries by August.

More images of the iPhone 3G S can be viewed here.

SilverStone 1500W PSU with 85% Efficiency Sighted at Computex

Category: Power Supplies, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: June 3, 2009 01:19AM
Author: Daryn Govender

Many manufacturers showcase their upcoming products at Computex and among the wave of new products spotted is the SilverStone Strider ST1500 PSU. The ST1500 has an extraordinary power rating of 1500W although it can rise to 1600W under optimal conditions. The Strider is modular and includes four 8 pin PCIe connectors, eight 6 pin PCIe connectors, 12 SATA connectors, a 24 pin and 8 pin motherboard and CPU connector respectively and a handful of molex connectors. Eight 12V rails (25A each) provide plenty of power for hungry systems. It is worthy to note that the Strider has attained the 80PLUS Silver Certification according to SilverStone. One 135mm fan cools the unit, although that seems under-done to me. The ST1500 measures 8.7" x 5.9" x 3.4" or 220mm x 150mm x 86mm (WxHxD). The Strider will retail for around $US450, although I'm not sure who would actually need 1500W of power from an in-case PSU.

A picture of the Strider over at Hexus.net can be viewed here.

 

Corsair Enters the Chassis Market with the Obsidian Series 800D

Category: Cases, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: June 2, 2009 01:21AM
Author: Daryn Govender

Corsair has announced its entry to the chassis market at Computex 2009 with the launch of the Corsair Obsidian Series 800D case. The new chassis is designed to last many years of upgrades and will satisfy demanding PC builders, according to Corsair. The Obisidian Series 800D is built with black brushed steel and an aluminum faceplate. Features include four hot-swap drive bays, a removable CPU backplate, separate heat chambers to reduce heat build-up, cable routing holes and tool-free drive installation. The 800D supports ATX, Extended ATX and Micro ATX motherboards along with up to five 5.25" and six 3.5" drives. Space for seven expansion slots and one vent allow plenty of space for expansion cards. To keep the case cool four 140mm fans are included and the ability to mount three extra 120mm fans is available. The front I/O panel includes four USB ports, one Firewire port and one headphone and microphone port respectively. For maximum cooling a pre-drilled area at the top of the case can support a single, dual or triple radiator (or three 120mm fans). The Obsidian 800D measures 24"x 24"x 9" or 609mm X 609mm X 229mm (HxLxW). The Obsidian Series 800D will be available for purchase in early July for around US$299, backed by a two year warranty. Corsair is well known for its PSU, memory and cooling products so I think it'll be interesting to see how it fares in a new market.

Android OS and Qualcomm 1GHz CPU in Eee PC Sighted at Computex

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: June 1, 2009 02:08AM
Author: Daryn Govender

An Eee PC with a twist has been spotted at a Qualcomm press conference in Computex Taipei, according to sources. The prototype Eee netbook has shunned the typical offerings from Microsoft's Windows XP OS and Intel's Atom CPU in favour of the upcoming Android OS from Google and Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform including a 1GHz CPU. The CPU is capable of 720p playback and 1080p is in the pipeline for future models. The company behind the CPU and platform is relatively unknown in the shadow of giants Intel and AMD, but Qualcomm has been around for over 20 years and has a product line ranging from satellite phones to tracking devices. The Eee PC variant is not available for sale yet but Qualcomm said it is working with 15 Taiwanese companies to create products using its chipset and CPU technology. It looks as though Qualcomm is pushing into the netbook market at first and who knows?...desktop and laptop products could be to come!

A video of the Qualcomm Eee prototype filmed by TweakTown can be viewed here.

CES 2009 Audited Attendance Numbers Released

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: May 28, 2009 06:20PM
Author: Dale Shuck

The Consumer Electronics Association has released final attendance numbers for the CES 2009 show. The results were audited by Veris, an independent firm, and show 113,085 attended the show this year (just remember 11 of those attendees were representing OCC!). VERIS only counts attendees one time, even though the show stretches over a four-day period. In spite of all the gloomy predictions about attendance and companies bailing out this year, CES still managed a strong showing in light of the economic situation. CEA produces the show each year and they do keep a fairly tight rein over who can attend, so in spite of the drop from the 141,000+ who showed up in 2008, 46% of the trade professionals who attended this year were senior-level executives which matches last year's numbers. So while the attendance numbers were down, the CEA is doing a good job of keeping the show relevant and reaching the right market audience. It's not too early to think about CES 2010 happening January 7-10 next year.

Cooler Master Ready for Computex 2009

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: May 27, 2009 07:24PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Cooler Master is all set for Computex 2009 next week for a full lineup of products to display. We've already seen some of these here at OCC as we've had the opportunity to several including the HAF 932 and HAF 922 cases. CM plans to have a live demo featuring the HAF 932 stuffed with four graphics cards to showcase its cooling capabilities. Up till now, the CM Storm product line has consisted of the CM Storm Sniper and Scout cases which will also be on display this year. However, Cooler Master hasn't been idle since the CM Storm line was announced last year and plans to unveil the Sentinel gaming mouse featuring an ergonomic shape, adjustable sensitivity levels and the ability to store gaming profiles in its onboard memory. The term 'mousepad' is so passe, even 'gaming surface' is dated; 'tactical surface' sounds much more suited to FPS-style gaming and Cooler Master will be unveiling a full range of CM Storm Battle Pads.

Cooler Master will have a lineup of cooling products including the Hyper TX3 and Hyper 212 Plus, the first LGA1156 and LGA1156/1366 compatible coolers in its product stable, featuring direct contact heat-pipes, dual fan cooling and new PWM fans. CM has also decided to experiment with "Freezing a Soda" using its V10 Hybrid TEC cooler. Cooler Master is entering the notebook power supply market with the introduction of the SNA95 power adapter, recepient of this year's Computex Taipei Design and Innovation Award 2009.

Microsoft Preps First JavaOne Keynote

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: May 23, 2009 08:00PM
Author: Brentt Moore

Even though Sun and Microsoft have had their share of disputes in the past with using Java , the two companies are now teaming up to have Microsoft give a keynote at the JavaOne conference. The conference, which will be held in San Francisco next month, has been visited by Microsoft for the last couple of years, but will now have the company be on the stage this time presenting. Sun and Microsoft are both wanting to interoperate Java with the .NET programming environment. The vice president of strategic and emerging business development, Dan'l Lewin, will be making the announcement of how they plan to do this at the JavaOne meeting.

Macworld Moving to February Next Year

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: March 31, 2009 01:52PM
Author: Nick Harezga

Macworld will be moving to February in 2010, a change from its current January time slot. In the past, the dates for Macworld have fallen on similar dates with the Consumer Electronics Show. Many reporters were forced to choose, while others spent hours on planes so they could attend both. In 2007, the trade shows fell on the same days, and Apple announced the iPhone while many reporters were still at CES. Macworld will be open on Saturday as well this year, allowing those who normally wouldn't be able to attend due to work to experience it. However, with the announcement from Apple that it will no longer be presenting at Macworld, how relevant is the Expo?

Coolermaster To Demo 20 Core PC At CeBit

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: February 25, 2009 05:17PM
Author: Ben Grantham

That title might be a little misleading, as the twenty cores in question belong to five Core 2 Quad Q9400 processors running on mini-ITX motherboards. What is impressive is that these still fit inside one case (even if it does happen to be the spacious ATCS 840) and are powered with a single power supply. The PSU in question is Coolmaster's own M1000W, which powers along the five systems, as well as equal numbers of optical and hard drives. You can also throw 5 water pumps and a radiator into that mix. Possibly the most impressive thing about the setup is the cable management job required to get all of that kit into one chassis while still pulling off a neat appearance.

Sapphire Set To Show Off New Products At CeBit

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: February 25, 2009 04:59PM
Author: Ben Grantham

CeBit in Hannover, Germany is now less than a week away, so we can expect news starting to come through about what we can expect manufacturers to be showing on the show floor. Sapphire will be best known around these parts for its range of graphics products, so it comes as no surprise that there will be a variety of models on display. These will include the new Vapor-X series of cards, which make use of vapor chamber cooling technology first seen on ATOMIC and TOXIC edition cards last year. The Vapor-X cards will offer the improved cooling while being more affordable than existing pre-overclocked editions. Two HD 4870 cards (1GB or 2GB of DDR5) and a HD 4850 (512MB GDDR3) built on Sapphire designed PCBs will be available. Sapphire also notes that its HD 4850 X2 has now entered volume production, enabling a decrease in price for both 1GB and 2GB versions. Also at the show will be the HD 4670 Ultimate Edition, which OCC reviewed last week.

Apart from graphics solutions, Sapphire will also have some new mainboards on show, including an AMD 790GX based board, the Sapphire Pure CrossFire 790GX. If that wasn't enough it seems that Sapphire is also getting into the PSU marketplace with its new FirePSU units. The first of these is a 625W version, though there are also plans to introduce 1050W and 1250W gaming editions soon. If you happen to be around Hannover, then you can catch Sapphire at CeBit from 3-8th March at booth C45 E6 in Hall 20

CES Attendance Down

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: January 12, 2009 06:29PM
Author: ClayMeow

Although OCC's attendance at CES increased this year, overall attendance for CES 2009 was down 22 percent from last year. In preliminary numbers released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), 110,000 people attended CES this year compared to 141,150 last year. However, the final numbers won't be released for another three months.

Intel Announces New Mobile Processors

Category: CPU's, Manufacturers, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: January 11, 2009 07:48PM
Author: Brentt Moore

At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, manufacturers from all over have joined together to debut some of their latest and greatest products. Obviously, AMD has been rolling out some new processors, and now, Intel has announced that it will be bringing out new processors as well into the mobile community. These new processors are not meant to compete with the Atom, but will be comparable to the new Athlon Neo processor from AMD. The chips are said to be a tweak of the current Ultra-Low-Voltage Intel design, and will be in a package that is around twenty-two millimeters by twenty-two millimeters in size. Intel plans to use these new processors in ultra-portables that vary from $1,500, all the way to a total price tag of $3,000 or more.

JVC Brings Out New Camcorders

Category: Manufacturers, Digital Photography/Video, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: January 9, 2009 07:09PM
Author: Brentt Moore

This CES, many people have watched as companies have unveiled new models of their hardware, and JVC is one of them. The electronics manufacturer at this years consumer electronics show introduced the world's first dual-memory card high definition camcorder. The line of new cameras, called the Everio series, is comprised of the GZ-HD300, which retails for $699.95, along with the GZ-HD320, which retails for a slightly more expensive $799.95. The smallest of the cameras, the GZ-HM200, features dual flash memory card slots, which allows for a continual recording of either high definition or standard definition video. All three Everio model camcorders record video at a resolution of 1920 x 1080, and also feature face-detection as well as a high-performance Konica-Minolta HD lens.

130,000 Expected To Travel To CES

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: January 6, 2009 12:22PM
Author: Ben Grantham

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held annually in Las Vegas is one of the hi-tech industries highlights of the year, giving companies the chance to show off products that will be introduced over 2009 (and beyond). Around 130,000 people are expected to travel to the show this year, which starts this Thursday 8th and runs until Sunday 11th January. Attendance last year stood at around 140,000 and considering the current economic climate a number close to that would be something of an achievement. Over 2,700 companies will be promoting their wares and Steve Ballmer will be handling the task of the opening keynote (previously delivered by Bill Gates). Naturally OCC will be attending the show again this year, bringing you information on what you can expect from the players in the PC industry. Look out for our coverage, which will start when CES kicks off later in the week.

LG Plans Televisions for CES

Category: Manufacturers, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: December 31, 2008 04:26PM
Author: Brentt Moore

After the news regarding LG and their watch that also acts as a phone along with other things, the electronics manufacturer is saying that will unveil the worlds thinnest LCD TV. This television, named the LH95, is only 0.98 inch thick while offering a 4ms response time, 240Hz Trumotion panel, and a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Another set that LG is supposed to unveil is their new line of 480Hz Trumotion panels. These televisions will provide this staggering 480 pictures per second by using a scanning backlight, which allows the panel to display twice as many frames as a 240Hz panel while also supposedly reducing motion blur. No pricing details are known on this LCD panel because of its current time frame, but the company expects it to be available to consumers by the second half of next year.

LG Plans New Device

Category: Manufacturers, Gadgets, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: December 29, 2008 07:57PM
Author: Brentt Moore

LG Electronics previewed a watch combined with a phone at CES last year. Many people were somewhat skeptical about the idea, while some were pretty excited about the idea of a gaget that that could serve as both a watch and a phone. At the next Consumer Electronics Show, LG plans to debut the device to all of the public. The electronics company says that the LG-GD910 supports the latest 7.2Mbps high-speed downlink packet access data system, offers Bluetooth, MP3 player capabilities, and also features a speaker phone accompanied by a text-to-speech function. The device has a 1.4-inch screen that is touch sensitive and also has buttons along the side of the phone to assist with various user functions, and is waterproof. No release launch date has been announced yet, though many believe LG will debut more details at the upcoming CES.

Apple Announces Last Macworld Expo

Category: Manufacturers, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: December 16, 2008 06:56PM
Author: Brentt Moore

Ever since the early start of Apple, Steve Jobs has held numerous Macworld Expos to showcase new and upcoming products to both consumers and the media. Many people have flocked to these shows to report on the new products that the company will offer after they are revealed. Apple is now announcing that the next Macworld Expo will be its last and final one. The computer and electronics manufacturer is also stating that Steve Jobs will not deliver his usual keynote this year. Instead, the vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple, Phil Schiller, will be delivering next years keynote.

E3 Goes Large (Again)

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: October 22, 2008 03:24PM
Author: ClayMeow

The Electronic Entertainment Expo used to be a big spectacle. With tens of thousands of atendees piling into the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Entertainment Software Association decided it was too big and scaled it back in 2007, moving it to Santa Monica and closing it off to the public, inviting only roughly 5,000 people. Though it moved back to the LACC in 2008, it remained a small event, drawing criticisms from several industry bigwigs like EA and Ubisoft. Today, the ESA officially announced that the 2009 E3 will be open to "all qualified computer and video game industry audiences," and booth sizes will increase as well. The event, which will take place June 2-4, will still be closed to the public, but the promised larger scale is a welcome change to many.

Lamp-free & Liquid-cooled 1080p Projector Unveiled at CEDIA

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: September 8, 2008 09:56AM
Author: ClayMeow

Liquid-cooling PCs has increased in popularity over the last few years, but it's still seen as a hardcore, geeky thing to do. Taiwanese OEM / ODM supplier Chilin Technology is hoping to bring liquid-cooling to the mainstream, but this time in a projector. Partnering with Luminus Devices and Texas Instruments, Chilin has produced the world's first "lamp-free 1080p projector with liquid cooling" with some impressive specs; 600 ANSI lumens, 100,000:1 contrast ration, 128% NTSC color gamut, and 50,000 hours of lamp life. Sadly, no price or release date has been stated.

Wireless HDMI Unveiled at CEDIA

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: September 5, 2008 06:33PM
Author: ClayMeow

Is your home theater system plagued by way too many wires? Well, if they have HDMI connections, you may be in luck. At least three companies unveiled wireless HDMI products at CEDIA* Expo in Denver, CO this week; Monster Cable, Belkin and Gefen. Monster Cable's transmitter and receiver combo has an MSRP of $699 and is expected in late 2009. Belkin's FlyWire Wireless system is expected to ship in November with an MSRP of $1499.99, but you can pre-order now for $999. Lastly, Gefen has two wireless HDMI devices; the first one is scheduled to ship late September with an estimated price of $700, while the second one is scheduled for November release with an estimated price of $1000. But before you jump at the chance to have wireless HDMI, as with any first-generation products, do your research! There are no industry standards at the moment and as such, the devices are using different wireless chipsets and/or encoding technologies, thus making cross-compatibility unlikely.

*CEDIA stands for Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association and "is an international trade association of companies that specialize in planning and installing electronic systems for the home."

New Star Wars MMO in Development

Category: Gaming, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: July 17, 2008 02:42PM
Author: ClayMeow

Despite it being the last day of E3, that doesn't stop the big announcements from pouring in. In 2006, BioWare, one of the greatest RPG developers of all-time, announced work on a new MMORPG, but wouldn't divulge any further information. Rumors swirled, but today BioWare unveiled the heavily-guarded secret. The developer of the critically-acclaimed RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (better known among fans as KOTOR) announced that the MMO is a new Star Wars MMO, and a sequel of sorts to the KOTOR series. Details are sorely lacking at this point, including the fate of SOE's Star Wars Galaxies, but one thing's for certain; if BioWare can put the same level of committment into this MMO as it did for KOTOR (and its other hugely successful RPG's), this will be the MMO Star Wars fans have been waiting for for a long time.

E308: Battle of the Press Conferences

Category: Gaming, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: July 16, 2008 02:26PM
Author: ClayMeow

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known as E3) may not be the big flashy extravaganza it was two years ago, but that doesn't stop thousands of gamers from closely following every little moment. Three of the biggest moments of E3 are the Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony Press Conferences, with several people streaming the events live via Gamespot. Microsoft's Press Conference was Monday, while the Nintendo Press Conference and Sony Press Conference were on Tuesday. So who had the best conference? Well that's obviously a matter of opinion, but that won't stop hundreds of people from grading them, including Yahoo. The most shocking announcement undoubtedly came from Microsoft when it was announced that Finaly Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360 (alongside the PS3), thus ending the Final Fantasy series' reign as a PlayStation exclusive. Aside from that, however, Microsoft didn't have much more to offer other than a redesign of the Xbox Live Dashboard interface, the addition of NetFlix to its downloadable content, and new trailers for Gears of War 2 and Fable II. Sony, on the other hand, showed intriguing trailers for God of War III, MAG, Little Big Planet, and Resistance 2, and announced the addition of downloadable movies and TV shows, surprisingly available as soon as today. And then there was Nintendo. Nintendo's Press Conference seemed to surprise everyone; but for all the wrong reasons. Nintendo's big showings amounted to Wii Music, a Rock-Band clone, and Wii Sports Resort, leaving current Wii owners a little disappointed.

E3 going downhill

Category: Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: May 9, 2008 05:15AM
Author: Andrew Robinson

A few years back everyone into electronics and gaming wanted to go to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), it had everything a geek/nerd/gamer could desire. Now with E3s decision to close the expo to the public and make it press only many developers are wondering why they themselves even show up. After all, these products are for the consumers and if the consumers can't get a first hand look at these products at E3 then why bother showing up? Quite a few of those companies have done just that and decided to not attend E3 and make their own events showcasing all of their products. E3 seems as though they're gonna have to fill the spots with third-rate companies or shut down all together.

Low Latency Performance Memory and Intel X48 at CeBit

Category: Motherboards, Memory, Manufacturers, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: March 7, 2008 07:32AM
Author: Dale Shuck

Patriot Memory -

CeBit 2008 is currently underway in Hannover, Germany (you can find OCC coverage HERE) and Patriot Memory is there with its recently announced DDR3 1800MHz memory modules. Designed for low-latency performance in the latest enthusiast class boards, many manufacturers such as ECS, Abit and Gigabyte are featuring this new kit in their latest Intel X4 motherboards on display at the show. Each set of the Viper series 2x1GB sticks feature support for the Intel XMP specification which is a set of SPD settings onboard each module engineered to optimize the overclocking of the memory. Be sure to check out the latest on display at CeBit and OCC's continuing coverage using the link above.

AMD Demos 45nm Quad-Core; Details Puma Mobile Platform

Category: CPU's, Manufacturers, General News, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: March 5, 2008 08:38AM
Author: Ben Grantham

DailyTech -

AMD seems to be using CeBit to attract as much attention as it can (and it probably needs to). With Intel releasing its full line-up of quad-core 45nm processors soon, AMD is showing its own 45nm parts at CeBit running multiple operating systems and running intensive applications. The processors were produced at AMD's Fab 36 in Dresden using a 45nm process developed with IBM. AMD plans to deliver 45nm products later this year, though how much later is yet to be specified. Anything that gives Intel a bit of competition is good for us consumers though, so let's hope for the best.

AMD also released details of its 'Puma' mobile platform, which will make use of 780G chipset reported on earlier. This is AMD's first go at a full mobile platform (think Centino on the Intel side), with Puma platform notebooks specified as having a Turion Ultra (Griffin) CPU, RS780M Chipset and Wi-Fi adapter. The Turion Ultra is only dual-core for the time being, though future quad-core versions can't be ruled out. Several measures are implemented in an attempt to save on power, such as the CPU cores being able to run at independent frequencies, which can shift dynamically. PowerXpress technology should also allow you to switch between integrated and external graphics without a reboot. AMD is expecting Puma based notebooks to start shipping at the end of Q2.

Hardware Roundup: Monday Edition

Category: Video Cards, Motherboards, CPU's, Cases, Power Supplies, Digital Photography/Video, Storage / Hard Drives, CPU Cooling, Trade Shows/Conventions
Posted: February 4, 2008 05:16AM
Author: Dale Shuck

Our Monday roundup kicks off with a chance to ponder the question How much is enough?  Or conversely, How much is too much?  When you're dealing  with computer enthusiasts, trying to get too philosophical this early in the week may be a futile exercise.  However, we're going to give you that opportunity as we bring you several reviews and articles about Intel's new Skulltrail platform.  Skulltrail is Intel's new enthusiast platform destined to redefine 'high-end'.  First off is the Intel D5400XS motherboard supporting two quad-core processors by way of dual LGA771 sockets.  Designed initially for the QX9775 processors it will also be the first Intel-based board to also support Nvidia SLI.  The platform will also support AMD Crossfire.  All of this via four PCI-e graphics slots.  But there are some caveats involved.  For the rest of the story you can check out one of the following: Intel Skulltrail Unleashed: Core 2 Extreme QX9775 x 2 at HotHardware and Intel Skulltrail Enthusiast Platform at Techgage.  PC Perspective also offers up two articles with Intel Skulltrail and Multi-GPU Graphics: Mixed Results and Intel Skulltrail Platform Review - Eight Cores, SLI and CrossFire.  If that wasn't enough to get your blood pumping then Madshrimps has a compendium of water cooling products in their 6 High End CPU Water Blocks Tested and Compared.  For more AMD/ATI graphics card news HotHardware has the Asus EAH3870 X2 1GB TOP Sneak Peek while TweakTown reviews the factory-overclocked HIS Radeon HD 3850 IceQ 3 TurboX.  In the case department 3dGameMan has a video review of the Silverstone CW03 HTPC Case.  This sweet looking case sports a 7-inch LCD touch screen monitor as well an an all-aluminum body.  For a look at a mid-tower case, check out the Cooler Master 690 at Overclockers Online.  Another Intel X38 motherboard makes the rounds today with a preview of the Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 at motheboards.org.  Madshrimps makes a second appearance in today's roundup with a look at 3 MSI Webcam Models Compared.  When you hear the name Zalman the first thing you think of is cooling.  PC Apex reviews the Zalman ZM850-HP Power Supply and shows us just how they incorporated that cooling experience into a PSU (think dual heatpipes).  If you need more storage but don't have enough available SATA ports, you owe it to yourself to check out TweakTown and their review of the HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 PCI-E SATA (you can also read OCC's review HERE).  Next we have another look at the AutumnWave OnAir GT (USB HDTV Tuner) from Bjorn3D (also reviewed by OCC HERE).  RBMods has the Corsair Flash Voyager 32GB USB Flash Drive recently announced at CES.  That gives us a perfect segue for Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2008 - Part 2 from Virtual-Hideout.  Finally, Tech ARP has a couple of updates with Intel Core 2 Processor Performance Comparison Guide and Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide.