OCZ Technology Group announced the Special Ops Edition DDR3 Series, available in both PC3-8500 and PC3-10666 kits featuring the high densities and stability gamers demand. These DDR3 kits are ideal for users advancing to the next generation of memory platforms, offering the speeds, density, and reliability required for the latest DirectX 10 PC titles. Featuring a unique camouflage motif heatspreader design, the DDR3 Special Ops Edition Series was designed for gaming systems in need of a reliable upgrade as well as some extra style.

The PC3-8500 and PC3-10666 SOE will be available in 1GB and 2GB modules, and 2GB and 4GB dual channel kits for the high densities demanded by graphic-intensive games, operating systems, and applications. With today’s games requiring a minimum of 2GB of system memory, the Special Ops Edition is the ideal solution for gamers who need high density options in addition to superior reliability and bandwidth management without the hefty price point. These modules offer the stability and speed to give gamers the performance edge with a highly reliable, future-proof system that takes advantage of all high-speed DDR3 has to offer.

OCZ

Espoo, Finland - April 28th, 2008 - Futuremark brings users one step closer to understanding the performance potential of their personal computers with the launch of 3DMark® Vantage. Gamers, media and OEMs now have a modern gaming performance benchmark to measure native DirectX 10 and multi-core CPU performance with large amounts of physics, AI and graphics.


3DMark®Vantage is composed of four full-bore benchmarking tests (2 different CPU tests and 2 different GPU tests) and 6 feature tests. Four presets, a groundbreaking new feature, vastly augment the variety of PCs that can be tested with the product. Presets range from value through performance to high end cinematic rendering resolutions and features. By creating a new set of high end presets, 3DMark®Vantage is future proofed for the new multi-core CPU and Graphics Processing Unit products as well as supporting the Physics Processing Unit to expand the range of technology, testing and prevent the benchmark from being bottlenecked for its users.

Futuremark | [Download HERE]

Next month will be more important for AMD’s graphics division than any other month of this year. The company is set to release the (RV770) 4800-series of graphics cards, including the models 4850, 4870 and 4870 X2. The new RV7700 has 480 stream processors or shader units (96+384), 32 Texture units (up from 16), 16 ROP (same as 2900/3800), a 256-bit memory controller and native GDDR3/4/5 support (expect GDDR3 and GDDR5 memory versions of RV770 cards).

ATI’s RV770 will be rated at a fill rate of 20.8-27.2 GTexel/s (excluding X2 version), which is on the lower end of the GeForce 9 series (9600 GT: 20.8; 9800 GTX: 43.2 9800 GX2: 76.8). New for the 4800 series is AMD’s decision to split the clock of the GPU and shaders, following a move that Nvidia made with the GeForce 8800: Back then, the shaders were clocked at 1.35 GHz, while the rest of the chip ticked at 575 MHz.

The Radeon 4850 will debut with a GPU clocked at 650 MHz, while the shader array will be clocked 850 MHz. The 4870 has an 850 MHz core and a 1050 MHz shader clock. The fill-rate is closely tied to the GPU clock: The 4850 sports a fill-rate of 20.8 GTexel/s (32 TMU x 0.65 GHz), while the 4870 achieves a 27.2 GTexel/s (32 TMU x 0.85 GHz) performance.

TG Daily

VR-Zone reports that the first 2 models from the GeForce 9900 series will be 9900 GTX and 9900 GTS instead of 9900 GT that was reported earlier. It seems NVIDIA has decided to launch them as early as July to counter AMD's RV770 and steal the performance crown away. NVIDIA has earlier confirmed GT200 existence and revealed that the GPU has about 1B transistors. Sources are suggesting a 512-bit memory interface with GDDR3 memories for GeForce 9900 GTX using P651 PCB and a 448-bit memory interface for the GeForce 9900 GTS.

VR-Zone

Intel posted price cuts on Sunday that included reductions of 50 percent on select quad-core processors. The chipmaker also introduced new Celeron and Core 2 Duo processor models. The price of the Core 2 Quad Q6700 (2.66GHz) fell 50 percent from $530 to $266 (RM930), while the quad-core Xeon X3230 (2.66GHz) saw an identical cut: from $530 to $266 (RM930).

Celeron price-cut highlights include the Celeron 430 (1.8GHz), reduced 23 percent from $44 to $34 (RM120) and the dual-core Celeron E1200 (1.6GHz), falling 19 percent from $53 to $43 (RM150). The dual-core Xeon 3085 (3GHz) was reduced 29 percent from $266 to $188 (RM660), and the Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 (3GHz), from $266 to $183 (RM640), or 31 percent.

Pentium dual-core chips saw price drops too: The E2200 (2.2GHz) and E2180 (2GHz) were cut 12 percent and 14 percent to $74 (RM260) and $64 (RM225), respectively. The chipmaker introduced the dual-core Celeron E1400 (2GHz) at a price of $53 (RM185) and Celeron 570 (2.66GHz) at $134 (RM470). New Core 2 Duo chips were also introduced. The E8300 (6MB cache, 2.83GHz) and the E7200 (3MB cache, 2.53GHz) at $163 (RM570) and and $133 (RM465), respectively.

News.com

LAKE FOREST, CALIF. - Apr. 21, 2008 - WD® (NYSE: WDC) announced today that it is now shipping WD VelociRaptor™ hard drives, the next generation of its 10,000 RPM SATA "Raptor" series of drives. Designed with an enterprise-class foundation, the new WD VelociRaptor hard drive is modified specifically for PC and Mac® enthusiasts and professional workstations. Destined to become the new high-performance favorite of these groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive comes packed with twice the capacity and a 35 percent performance increase over the previous generation.


From the bloodlines of the WD Raptor, the most popular hard drive for high-performance enthusiasts who demand the ultimate SATA drive, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive is built with enterprise-class mechanics and packs 300 GB of storage capacity into a 2.5-inch enterprise form factor. The 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor drive is enclosed in the IcePack™, a 3.5-inch mounting frame with a built-in heat sink -- a customization that fits the drive into a standard 3.5-inch system bay and keeps this powerful drive extra cool when installed in a high-performance desktop chassis.

WD VelociRaptor (model WD3000GLFS) hard drives will be available on Alienware's high-performance ALX gaming desktop by the end of April. At launch, Alienware will offer maximum performance with two 300 GB WD VelociRaptor hard drives in RAID 0 configuration. WD VelociRaptor hard drives will be shipping exclusively through Alienware this month and will be available through the WD's online store and at select distributors and resellers mid-May. MSRP for the WD VelociRaptor 300 GB is $299.99 USD (RM1000).

Western Digital


WD VelociRaptor 300 GB Reviews

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Sunnyvale, CA— OCZ Technology Group unveiled the Flex II memory series, designed for blazing speeds demanded by enthusiasts. These premium modules run at incredibly fast DDR2-1150 speeds for high-performance systems with integrated water-cooling. Designed to the very core to offer enthusiasts the thermal management innovation of hybrid water and passive cooling, the new PC2-9200 Flex II Series offers rock-solid stability and performance for your high-end gaming or overclocking system.


The PC2-9200 Flex II modules are optimized for the latest cutting edge platforms and will be available in high-capacity 4GB (2x2048MB) dual channel kits for the latest gaming, 64-bit operating systems, and CAD applications. In its continued effort to make overclocking a user-friendly pastime, OCZ includes all the necessary accessories right in the box to setup your unique water-cooling system immediately after purchase, without the inconvenience of searching for additional hardware. As part of OCZ’s line-up of premium memory, the Flex II series is backed by a Lifetime Warranty and industry-leading technical support.

OCZ

SINGAPORE — APRIL 14, 2008 — All five notebook PCs in the April 2 CNET Asia “Top 5 Blu-ray notebooks” article feature NVIDIA® GeForce® GPUs, including the Dell XPS m1730, winner of CNET’s Editor’s Choice and Reader’s Choice awards(1). The PCs, featuring Blu-ray HD drives, are all based on GeForce GPUs with PureVideo® HD technology, which provides outstanding visual quality and stutterfree performance during Blu-ray and DVD playback. Now that Blu-ray has emerged as the standard highdefinition
movie disc format, more PC makers are adding Blu-ray to their notebook PCs and NVIDIA is providing the graphics horsepower under the hood.

By using dedicated GPUs specifically designed for processing complex 3D graphics and HD video, top notebook makers have created the latest generation of laptop PCs optimized for the visual-computing lifestyle of modern consumers. The Top 5 Blu-ray notebooks from the CNET article demonstrate this:

1. Dell Inspiron 1520 (NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU)
2. Dell XPS M1730 (NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT GPU)
3. HP Pavilion dv6700 (NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU)
4. Sony VAIO VGN-AR59GU (NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT GPU)
5. Sony VAIO VGN-FZ28G (NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS GPU)

NVIDIA

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 @ biosmagazine
Sapphire Radeon HD3870 X2 1GB Graphics Card Review @ Bigbruin
Rosewill RX82-U HDD Enclosure @ techPowerUp
ASUS DRW-2014 L1T DVD-RW Review @ Virtual-Hideout
DDR3 1800MHz Round Up @ Pro-Clockers
Thermaltake BlacX Hard Drive Docking Station Review @ techgage
Foxconn 9600GT 512N Videocard @ madboxpc
Sins of a Solar Empire - PC Review @ gamepyre

Taipei, Taiwan, April 8, 2008 – ASUS, producer of top quality graphic solutions, has today unveiled the world’s first on-board triple GPU solution with the concept model ASUS EAH3850 TRINITY/3DHTI/1.5G graphics card. With three RV670PRO GPUs onboard, users can enjoy an astonishing 139% improvement in speeds when compared to single-GPU solutions. Additionally, the EAH3850 TRINITY is equipped with a MXM module for upgrade possibilities and two exclusive extra DVI outputs. It also features a specially designed water cooling solution – ensuring efficient heat dissipation for stable performance. On top of all this, the ASUS EAH3850 TRINITY is equipped with a world-exclusive large onboard memory size of 1.5GB – designed to provide feature-rich DirectX 10 gaming and the best multimedia playback at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings.



ASUS

Sunnyvale, Calif.—April 7, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and PC components, today unveiled the EliteXStream power supply family for high-powered gaming systems and workstations. Designed to offer the consumer market an enthusiast-grade computer power supply with a state-of-the-art architecture, the EliteXStream is the ultimate power solution for those users that require an ultra-efficient, highly reliable, high-wattage solution for their leading-edge gaming machine.


Co-developed with the experts at PC Power & Cooling, the EliteXStream is a flagship model among OCZ’s lineup of gamer-oriented power supplies. Expanding on a lineup of powerful and stable PSUs, OCZ designed the 800W and 1000W EliteXStream for optimum power distribution to all components by utilizing the superior "single +12V rail" design perfected by PC Power & Cooling. This trail-blazing approach to +12V rail design ends the need to budget power "across the rails" as is the case with the less effective multi-rail design found in the vast majority of high-performance PSUs on the market today.

The EliteXStream will be available in 800W and 1000W configurations, delivering up to 1KW of continuous power through a complete array of connectors including four 8-pin (6+2) PCI-E and 17 drive connectors. These PSUs are kept supremely cool with a large 120mm fan and feature a standard ATX power supply form factor. The EliteXStream offers one of the industry's most robust consumer power supply designs on the market, and is backed by an incredible 5-Year warranty and unmatched technical support from the OCZ Technology Group.

OCZ

As many users found out that the excellent performance of Accelero Xtreme series, now we are going to extend its compatibility to the latest nVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX by Accelero Xtreme 9800. The same as Accelero Xtreme series, it is equipped with 5 heatpipes, 107 fins and 3 x 80mm PWM fan for transferring heat efficiently at low noise level.

A new dual-fan VGA cooler Accelero TWIN TURBO, adding a multi-compatible high performance merchandise into their reputable VGA cooler product line. It is featured with 4 heat pipes, 30 fins and 2 PWM fans, which gives enthusiasts a very promising result – 26°C lower than the nVIDIA GeForce 9600GT stock cooler. It is widely compatible with nVIDIA GeForce 9600, 8800 series (G92) and ATI Radeon HD3870, 3850 and much more.

Arctic Cooling

HotHardware reports that they have pictures of Asus Eee Box which is expected to be slim, sleek and most importantly, cost effective. Details of the Eee Box are yet to be announced but it should keep up with the concept "Easy to Learn, Easy to Work, Easy to Play". It looks more like an Xbox or PS but it does appear to be lacking a built-in optical drive though. A solid state hard drive with at least 10GB onboard storage space should be a rough guess but it was supposed to have integrated LAN, Wifi and perhaps Bluetooth connectivity.



Stay tuned for more pictures and details in the coming month.

HotHardware