Logitech

The faster SLC-based X-25E 32GB drive is now priced at $415, down from $575, and there's also a new 64GB X-25E with a price tag of $795. A 320GB MLC drive and a 128GB SLC drive is slated for later this year. Lower sales due to the global economic slump are a key reason for the price cuts. However, declining NAND flash prices are lowering production costs for Intel's competitors, many of which are entering the market with a new generation of products. Intel launched their 160GB X-25M for $945 just under two months ago.

Papers that will be presented by Intel at next week's International Solid-State Circuits Conference unveil the chip giant is on track to deliver its first 32nm processors before the end of the year.

"The 32 nm technology is getting ready to go into the manufacturing phase, we are lining up fabs to support it and we expect great demand," said Mark Bohr, director of Intel's technology and manufacturing group. "We are on track for shipping products in the fourth quarter and have 22 nm technology in development for 2011," he said.

Intel will present 15 papers at ISSCC including four of eight at a session on microprocessors where it will describe its latest 45 nm Nehalem and Itanium chips. None of its rivals--Advanced Micro Devices, IBM or Sparc partners Fujitsu and Sun Microsystems

Ah man, what to make of this. You guys know, I always respect the smaller companies very much. Especially Galaxy Technology over the past years has proven always to be innovative with their products. Their graphics cards always have a customized something. In fact we have some reviews lined up for them.

With much surprize I stumpbled into this though, Galaxy released a custom GeForce GTX 260 (core 216 model) with custom cooler. That by itself is no that special, but dude .. look at the whale on top of that card. They just slammed on a heatpipe cooler blocking half the PC (three/four slots!). That just .. well not very charming now is it ? It does come with dual bios and voltage jumpers as well.

The product is clocked at 625 MHz on the core, 1350 on the shaders and 2100 MHz on its memory. Overclocked they did reach an impressive 750/1575/2600 MHz. Check it out.

Real Temp is a temperature monitoring program designed for all Intel single Core, Dual Core and Quad Core processors.

Each core on these processors has a digital thermal sensor (DTS) that reports temperature data relative to TJMax which is the safe maximum operating core temperature for the CPU. As your CPU heats up, your Distance to TJMax will decrease. As it approaches zero your processor will start to throttle or slow down so obviously maximizing your distance away from TJMax will help your computer run at full speed and more reliably too. RealTemp will not work on computers based on the Intel Pentium 4 or on AMD CPUs.

RealTemp is compatible with any version of Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 7; 32 or 64 bit. If you are in a limited account, you will need to right click on the icon and run RealTemp as an Administrator so that the necessary WinRing0 driver can be properly installed.

Changes in version 3.00

• Core i7 temperature and frequency support including Turbo mode.
• NVIDIA temperature reporting with highest GPU temperature displayed in SLI mode.
• Ability to run a file or shutdown based on user defined alarm temperature.
• Updated interface with modern XP / Vista style and border in Mini Mode.
• Start Minimized Vista issues finally fixed.
• New RivaTuner plug-in support.
• Extra information on the main screen and the retirement of the toggle button.
• Switch to UNICODE for better international support.
• Adjustable GUI colors and bold System Tray font option.
• TJMax updated based on new Intel documentation and further testing.
• Calibration formula simplified.
• All new CPU Cool Down Test for a more thorough look at your sensors.
• Clock Modulation & Minimize on Close options.
• New CPU Load meter, log file headings and Distance to TJMax in the System Tray.
• 101 other improvements including initial Windows 7 Beta support.

Download - click here.

One of my favorite hardware diagnostic tools, Everest, has been upgraded to version 5.00
Everest offers accurate hardware information and diagnostics capabilities, including online features, memory benchmarks, hardware monitoring, and low-level hardware information. EVEREST Home Edition is optimized for Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems, and it fully supports the Vista / XP look & feel.

What's New?

Upgrade to the latest version of EVEREST to own the most accurate and powerful system diagnostics solution by getting up-to-date hardware information databases, support for the latest graphics processors and motherboard chipsets.

• Improved Hardware Monitoring module with Alerting feature
• Support for Intel Core i7, Intel Atom and AMD Phenom II processors
• Support for OpenGL 3.0 with OpenGL version compliancy test
• Support for Windows 7 and a new auto-load feature under Windows Vista
• Extended audio information: OpenAL and High Definition Audio pages
• New information page for installed Windows Vista Sidebar Gadgets
• GPGPU devices information for ATI Stream and nVIDIA CUDA

Download: click here

Today a quickie 'hands-on' review of the Amilo SA3650 laptop with Graphics Booster.

A common problem with a laptop is that they are not really designed for gaming aren't they ? And sure there are some solutions out there with a more mainstream embedded GPU, yet often that is completely unaffordable, let alone upgradeable.

With the help of AMD XGP it is now possible to connect an 'external' graphics card, next to the laptop. Therefore a small insight into the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo SA3650 Laptop with XGP Graphic Booster.

We wrote up a some small insights and experiences we had with this unit, check out the Guru3D article right here at this direct URL.

Silverstone will be releasing four new PSUs soon. The new ST65EF, ST75EF and ST85EF from 650W till 850W output.
The new Element PSU's offer following specifications:

• high efficient PSU with 80Plus Bronze certification 
• fixed fan speed up to 45% power output to ensure silent operation at low loads. 
• continous output up to 50
  

And surely that's damn fast. I noticed that the DIMMs will have a red stripe on them, much like canon's most exclusive L series lenses.

the launch of the new Dominator GT line of ultra high-performance DDR3 memory modules for Intel

It seems that NVIDIA is going to, and yes here we go again, rebrand the nForce 780a SLI chipset to nForce 980a SLI in March, without changing any of the specifications.

The NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI SPP is an enthusiast-class high performance interface to AMD AM3 CPUs. It is RoHS-compliant. It includes 2

In the aftermath of NVIDIA's ION preview, all of the sudden some info leaks somewhere about Intel releasing a new chipset for their Atom based processors.

You can expect a Atom N280 in late February. This chip will be bundled with the 945GSE for "mainstream netbooks" and there will also be a version with the GN40 chipset for something Intel calls "Enhanced Media Netbooks".

The past couple of days we already noticed that NVIDIA is rebranding some of their products, they are not alone. the Catalyst 9.1 driver files show that ATI has 11 updated graphics cards, which are basically rebadged Radeon HD 3000 series cards. The new cards are named Radeon HD 4230, HD 4250, HD 4570, HD 4580, HD 4730 and finally HD 4750.

"ATI Radeon HD 4230" = ati2mtag_RV610, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_95C5
"ATI Radeon HD 4230 " = ati2mtag_RV610, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_95C5
"ATI Radeon HD 4250" = ati2mtag_RV610, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_95C5
"ATI Radeon HD 4250 " = ati2mtag_RV610, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_95C5
"ATI Radeon HD 4250 " = ati2mtag_RV610, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_95C0
"ATI Radeon HD 4570 " = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9598
"ATI Radeon HD 4580" = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9598
"ATI Radeon HD 4730 " = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9505
"ATI Radeon HD 4730 " = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9505
"ATI Radeon HD 4750" = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9505
"ATI Radeon HD 4750 " = ati2mtag_RV630, PCIVEN_1002& DEV_9505

The HD 42x0 generation is based on RV61x core that is behind HD 3400 brand, the new HD45x0 is based on RV63x core or HD 3600 generation and the new 47x0 brand is as well based on RV63x brand. These are not RV610 and RV630 cores, they are 55nm RV615 and RV635 brands and we got that by comparing the DEV IDs of 2400 series branded RV610 and the new one.

At RV615 the DEV_95C5 is part of the name, while the 2400 series has DEV_94 in the name [via fudzilla].

Electronic Arts studio DICE announced they're working on both Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 1943. The latter one will be available this summer for the PC, PlayStation Store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace, while Battlefield 2 is expected in early 2010 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
To get ready for the assault this winter, players can prepare for action in Battlefield 1943, an all-new multiplayer game available this summer via PlayStation

Valve announced the upcoming release of the Left 4 Dead Critic's Choice expansion pack. This pack promises a completely new game mode, Survival, and two new Versus mode campaigns. There is no word on whether or not these new Versus campaigns will be completely new environments, or will simply be the release of the Versus variants of the two other existing campaigns currently found in Left 4 Dead. In addition, a special release of Left 4 Dead will arrive this Spring that contains all of this bonus content already added. PC owners should delight in the fact that the SDK is still on the way, but may be a ways away.

The first L4D DLC - dubbed the L4D Survival Pack - is due for release this spring and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode. A Critic's Choice Edition of the game is also heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack.

In addition, for PC gamers and aspiring developers, the first Left 4 Dead release for the Source Software Development Kit (Source SDK) will allow the creation of custom Left 4 Dead campaigns that will be discoverable via L4D's matchmaking system. The SDK update is also due for release this spring, and is free of charge to all owners of L4D on the PC.

A new rumor popped onto the web today. Thanks to a leaked GT218 card drawing which should get an overall idea what the actual card might look like. Nvidia is working on the entry level GT218 cards currently and we will probably see some samples during CeBIT in March and a launch in April. GT218 is the first 40nm based GPU from Nvidia and there are at least 4 SKUs on different PCB designs.

The chip comes in a 23mm package, it is developed in 40nm, and this is the chip that is mainly targeted for OEMs. The card should end up with a sub 22W TDP and it is meant for the entry-level market, where it should replace Geforce 9500GS and GT cards.

The card we are looking at right now is based on the P692 PCB design codenamed D10M1-30. The core is clocked at 550MHz and shader clock at 1375MHz. The card comes with 512MB of DDR3 memories onboard clocked at 800MHz on 64-bit memory interface. The number of shader processors is not revealed at this moment. The card supports Dual Link DVI, DisplayPort, VGA etc [via vr-zone]

Update: it is now said that the card will have 32 shader processors, a 64-bit memory interface, 12.8GB/s of memory bandwidth, and a 22W power envelope. Despite the specifications, the GT218 will supposedly share its host card with 512MB of GDDR3 RAM, and it will have both greater memory bandwidth and four times as many SPs as the current GeForce 8400 GS.

The Last Remnant Benchmark is up for download at Square Enix Japanese official site. The Last Remnant is a role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. We mirrored the file towards our file-severs. Also we compressed it a better shaving off another 40 MB of the download size.

The game is directed at both Japanese and Western audiences. Though this is the ebcnhmark which shows off some eye-candy of the game, the PC version of The Last Remnant to be released on April 9, 2009.

Download - click here

Auzentech is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the DTS Connect Driver for the new X-Fi Forte 7.1 sound card. The Driver is compatible with Windows Vista

The new driver must be a fresh install on a 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows Vista. In addition to providing DTS Connect, the new driver contains recent bug fixes to provide Multi-Channel Digital and Analog sounds, improved speed when changing modes, and enhance stability.

For details and downloads, please visit the driver download page.

• Download with DTS (for Windows Vista):
  http://www.auzentech.com/site/download/updates.php#xfifortevista
• Product Page:
  http://www.auzentech.com/site/products/x-fi_forte.php

In other news, Steven is working the Forte review as we speak, so we should have some good content on these products real soon.

Hiper has introduced a gun metal version of its Osiris case.

After winning more than 25 international top-awards HIPER presents the successful midi-tower OSIRIS (HTC-1x514-A2) in a new look: Gun Metal with a brushed finish! All popular features like the construction of 100% 6063-T5 military spec alloy and the outstanding built quality remain the same. The colors to choose from are now Black, Silver and Gun Metal.
The case will be available for $179 (120EUR, excl. VAT).

Looks pretty.

It's always so funny. A week or 3-4 before CeBIT starts we always spot rumora on GPU and the latest hardware. Yesterday we mentioned the new 40nm part from NVIDIA, today we can report that ATI

Lian Li introduced a new mid-tower case named PC-A06F. The all aluminum mid-tower design features a front mounted 140mm@900RPM fan, with an additional top mounted 120mm@1000RPM extraction fan. The sleek brushed aluminum chassis is only 3.8kg in weight and the dimensions are 187 x 375 x 490 mm ( W, H, D). The traditional layout is slightly restrictive in that only small CPU heatsinks can be used, as the PSU is mounted directly over the CPU mounting region. The chassis is imbued with all the functional and user friendly design aspects users have come to expect in a Lian Li case.

Thermal features
Lian Li engineers have optimized the airflow to enter from the front mounted 140mm fan, and from there the airflow is split to be extracted either though the PSU or up through the top mounted 120mm extraction fan. The volume of airflow is sufficient to keep your rig cool and conveniently silent.

Special features
The chassis supports 4x 5.25