Corsair Leads Industry in DDR2 Transition with Launch of XMS2-8000UL

Subject: Memory | May 27, 2005 - 09:56 AM | Chuck Smith
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Corsair raises the memory frequency bar to 1GHz with the launch of XMS2-8000UL.

Corsair Memory today unveiled XMS2-8000UL as its latest addition to the high performance XMS family of products.

Intel Only Going to Make 500k Pentium Ds in 2005??

Subject: Processors | May 27, 2005 - 02:02 AM | Ryan Shrout
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It looks like Intel may be having more problems than we might be seeing at first glance.  Yesterday we reported that Intel was having some chipset shortages that the motherboard vendors were reporting, and today we are hearing that a shortage of Pentium D processors is going to hit as well.  But this time, because of low demand.  At Computex, many Intel dual core capable boards will be on display, but with a maximum of 500,000 procesors by years end available in the market (this includes Dell, etc) end users may not

Intel Delivers New Features For Home And Office PCs

Subject: General Tech | May 26, 2005 - 09:09 PM | Joe White
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SANTA CLARA , Calif. , May 26, 2005 — Intel Corporation today unveiled two new platforms for home and office PCs. The new platforms, which combine key hardware and software technologies, are designed to provide consumers the ability to do more with their digital content simultaneously, and better allow businesses to enhance PC security, system management and collaboration capabilities.

Chaintech VNF4 Zenith VE Review

Subject: Motherboards | May 26, 2005 - 05:39 PM | Mark McKee
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For those of you looking for an Nforce 4 board, you might want to check out the review of the Chaintech VNF4 Zenith VE over at MBreview.

 "Overall, we were pleased with the BIOS that Chaintech has chosen to utilize with the VNF4 Zenith VE. Given that the board really isn't geared towards the high-end crowd, I was slightly surprised to see the voltage adjustment capabilities that we found.

Intel Releases 820 and 670 Processors

Subject: Editorial | May 26, 2005 - 04:06 PM | Ryan Shrout
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Today Intel officially released the Intel 820 processor which is a dual core Smithfield CPU running at 2.8 GHz.  It has 2 x 1 MB L2 cache and an 800 MHz FSB.  Performance on it so far looks to be right where we expect it to be: low on single threaded apps, acceptable on multi threaded apps, and really good for multitasking machines as well.  I currently have mine in our 945G reference board for testing, hopefully it will be done in time that I can write the review on the flight to Computex.

The other CPU released was the Intel 670 processor that runs at 3.8 GHz on a P

Intel 820 and 670 Processor Reviews

Subject: Processors | May 26, 2005 - 12:09 PM | Ryan Shrout
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There are only a handful of the Intel 820 (2.8 GHz dual core) and 670 (3.8 GHz single core) reviews on the web this morning.  I am still in the middle of benchmarking my set of CPUs, I should have an article up during Computex next week.

• Tech Report evaluates both processors in their usual, in-depth fashion with some mild humor.  Twins be damned!


• Anandtech has reviewed the 670 processor as well, just another sp

Intel Chipset Shortage Remains

Subject: Chipsets | May 26, 2005 - 12:03 PM | Ryan Shrout
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In other chipset news, it looks that even though Intel is saying no chipset shortage exists, the motherboard vendors in Taiwan have very different opinons. 

Intel recently stated that the tight supply has improved, as the company is able to meet both shipment and lead-time goals for most motherboard makers.

ATI's MVP "CrossFire" Will Boost ATI Chipset Sales

Subject: Chipsets | May 26, 2005 - 12:02 PM | Ryan Shrout
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File this one under, duh.  Digitimes is reporting that when ATI launches their upcoming multi-VPU technology at Computex, the demand for their chipsets that support this technology will increase dramatically.

ATI Technologies, which reportedly is set to roll out its long-anticipated multi-VPU 'Crossfire' technology at the upcoming Computex Taipei, may see a boost in its chipset shipments as well, local motherboard makers predict.

The new multi-VPU Crossfire will be a comparable technol

IPod Plug-In Sets Music Free

Subject: General Tech | May 25, 2005 - 10:00 AM | Chuck Smith
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Good news for IPod owners today, Wired News reports of a new plugin that allows IPod users to bypass ITunes and manage their music collection with Winamp instead.

The plug-in, called ml_iPod, allows iPod users to bypass iTunes and manage music collections in Winamp instead. The iPod is supposed to work with iTunes only. A new version of the software was released Monday.

Foxconn Roadmaps Leak Upcoming Chipset Info

Subject: Chipsets | May 25, 2005 - 09:55 AM | Ryan Shrout
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I found these roadmaps in my inbox this morning that appear to have come from a Foxconn presentation of some kind. 

First up is the Intel roadmap; we can see that the NVIDIA chipsets are in red, the Intel chipsets in blue and the SiS chipsets are in green.  NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI is shown here as the Q2 2005 product and if you look to Q4 of 2005, you'll see another product called C60G and C60D.  These are very likely the upcoming integrated g

Corsair Unveils New High Speed Additions to its Family of Flash Products

Subject: Memory | May 25, 2005 - 09:52 AM | Chuck Smith
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Corsair unveiled today, new high speed additions to its award winning family of flash products.

Corsair® Memory, Inc., a worldwide leader in high performance memory and cooling products for enthusiasts and overclockers, today is pleased to announce expansion of its popular flash memory products. Adopting the industry's popular speed designation, the new Corsair Secure Digital (SD) and type I Compact Flash (CF) media are now rated at blazing fast 60X (9 MB/sec) or 80X (12MB/sec).

Alcatel And Intel Collaborate On AdvancedTCA® Platforms

Subject: General Tech | May 25, 2005 - 06:08 AM | Joe White
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PARIS and SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 24, 2005 — Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) and Intel Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement to improve time to market of Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture® (or AdvancedTCA) platforms for mobile service providers. Both companies will further work together on the design and development of AdvancedTCA subsystem building blocks to increase standardization and component interoperability across the mobile telecommunications industry.

AMD Releases "Pacifica" Specification For AMD64 Technology

Subject: General Tech | May 25, 2005 - 06:06 AM | Joe White
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NEW YORK -- May 25, 2005 --AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced the general availability of the full specification of its virtualization technology, 'Pacifica,' at the LinuxWorld Summit. 'Pacifica' is designed to enhance 64-bit client and server virtualization technologies for x86-based servers, workstations, desktops and mobile computers.

Cornucopia of Cases & More

Subject: Cases and Cooling | May 24, 2005 - 11:50 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
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NZXT's Trinity is a nice open case, that can be set up to be very breezy.  Head on over to ExtremeMhz and read the full review.  Then keep looking down, there are over a dozen reviews, and one of them might just be the case you're looking for.

'When it comes to gaming cases, NZXT has quickly taken the interest of many in the gaming community thanks to their highly unique product line. Their cases certainly do stand out from a majority.

AGIEA PhysX Article Online

Subject: Editorial | May 24, 2005 - 10:10 AM | Ryan Shrout
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I have just let loose the AGEIA PhysX preview article I was alluding to yesterday.  I think you'll find this article to be among the better out there on the subject as we take a much deeper look into what work AGEIA has to do before this idea can take off, and unfortunately for them, its a lot of work.  With a long development cycle on PC games getting only longer, the amount of time that will pass before we see anything substantial making use of this suprisingly expensive

AGEIA PhysX Processing Unit Preview

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 24, 2005 - 10:09 AM | Chuck Smith
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PC Perspective takes a look at the upcoming release of the AGEIA PhysX physics processor add-in card. With claims of revolutionizing the way games are played, AGEIA has set a high bar they need to reach. In this preview we look at the hardware specifications as they are known today as well as what kind of work AGEIA has gone through thus far to get their software implemented in game engines.

A Bunch of ATI GPU Reviews

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 24, 2005 - 10:02 AM | Ryan Shrout
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I got a few video card reviews in my mail box this morning, and here they are in no particular order:

• Digit Life looks at the MSI based X800 XL PCI Express graphics card


• The guys at HotHardware are reviewing the Asus X800 XL card, also in PCI Express form


• As if it isn't enough X800 XL to go around, HardCoreWare has a look-see at the Gigabyte X8

Integrated Graphics: Xpress 200 vs GMA 950

Subject: Graphics Cards | May 24, 2005 - 09:56 AM | Ryan Shrout
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If for some reason you are interested in comparing the performance of integrated graphics solutions of ATI and Intel, now is your chance.  Anandtech has the feature!  ;)

These numbers serve to show that spending 50 to 75 USD on an add-in card can actually make the difference between a good gaming experience and a mediocre one.