CPUs, RAMs, Mobos

• Patriot Viper DDR3-1866 2GB Memory Kit at Tweaktwon
• Kingston HyperX KHX14400D3K2/2GN DDR3-1800 Review at I4U
• Preview: Gigabyte EP45-DS4 "Eaglelake" Motherboard at Hardwarezone.com

Video Cards

• Inno3D GeForce 9600 GT OC: closing in on £100 at HEXUS.net
• Foxconn 9600GT-512NOC Video Card Review at Futurelooks
• Asus EAH3850X2 at Neoseeker
• Diamond Radeon HD3650 1GB Review at Motherboards.org

Cases, PSUs, Coolers

• SilverStone Kublai Series KL03 Case Review at Madshrimps
• Arctic Cooling Silentium T3 at Driver Heaven Review
• Scythe Zipang 139MM CPU Cooler Review at OCC
• Enermax PRO82+ 525 W Power Supply Review at Hardware Secrets
• Coolermaster LED Silent Fan Review at XSReviews

Peripherals

• Canon IXUS 80 IS Review at InsideHW
• XtremeMac Tango X2 Review at Digital Trends
• Samsung U900 Soul - Heart of the Soul at Hardwarezone.com
• ASUS Xonar DX PCI Express 7.1 Audio Card at HotHardware.com

Misc

• Warhammer Online Interview: Josh Drescher at bit-tech
• i3DSpeed, April 2008 at Digit-Life
• Iron Man (Xbox 360) at bit-tech
• Iron Man (PC) at Gaming Heaven Review
• Rock Group Plc has ceased trading at HEXUS.net
• NVIDIA GeForce To Quadro Soft-Mod Guide at Tech ARP
• Ubisoft comments on Assassin's Creed DX10.1 controversy at Techreport

It's the beginning of the summer blockbuster season and Intel's P45 chipset is a month away from wide release. Like Intel's recent chipsets, will this new mainstream chipset take the gloss away from the higher-end variants? Find out how it performs with the ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe.

Source: Hardwarezone

May 8, 2008 -- Everyday Shooter, the independent musical shooter developed by Jonathan Mak, made its worldwide PC debut today via Steam, a leading online platform for PC games with over 15 million accounts worldwide.

Winner of numerous Independent Game Festival Awards including Design Innovation, Everyday Shooter is everything but what its name implies. Drawing upon a mixture of arcade shooter gameplay styles, Everyday Shooter stands apart from the crowd by offering both a wide variety challenges and an all-guitar soundtrack, including procedurally generated guitar riffs used instead of traditional game sound effects.

Everyday Shooter is now available for just $9.99 via Steam, and those who purchase during the first week of availability will save 10% off the regular price.

In other Steam news, Portal: First Slice -- the official demo for the title named Game of the Year by over 30 publications -- is now available for free to all gamers via Steam.

And, finally, Steam has been re-launched to better showcase the growing number of titles and publishers on Steam.

For more information, please visit www.Steamgames.com

Systems, CPUs, RAMs, Mobos

• MSI K9N2 Diamond at TrustedReviews
• ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi-AP @n Review at Techgage
• Hyper Sonic AG2 Notebook at techPowerUp

Video Cards

• Asus EAH3850 X2 Video Card Review at I4U
• VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition Review at OCC.
• Today's graphics cards: the value angle at Techreport

Cases, PSUs, Coolers

• Lian Li PC-Armor Suit P60 Midi Tower at PC-Experience.de
• Thermaltake M9 Mid-Tower PC Case Review at DragonSteelMods
• Xen.Core Carboon Fan at Technic3D
• Coolermaster Z600 Review at CHW.net
• CoolIT Systems PURE CPU Cooler at Tweaktown
• Cooler Master Hyper Z600 CPU cooler review at Elite Bastards
• Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 460 W (RS-460-PMSR-A3) Power Supply Review at Hardware Secrets
• Intel FCLGA4-S Core 2 Extreme Reference Heatsink Reviewed at FrostyTech

Peripherals

• XtracPads Fat Mat Review at Tech-Reviews.co.uk
• Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution at TrustedReviews
• Razer Destructor Professional Gaming Mat Review at ThinkComputers.org.
• Canon EOS Rebel XSi Review at Digital Trends
• NZXT Tempest Case at 3DGameman
• DViCO TViX HD M-6500A Media Center at Hardwarezone.com
• LG GGW-H20L (Blu-ray Rewriter/HD DVD-ROM) at Hardwarezone.com

Misc

• “In The Beginning…” - My First Computer at PCMech
• The Golden Compass Blu-Ray Disc Review & Podcast at Ascully.com
• Age of Conan Beta 48 hours in at BiTT Daily
• High-performance computing from IBM and Intel at HEXUS.net
• USB 2.0 Computer Copy Cable Review at OCIA.net
• NZXT May Forum Contest at OCIA.net
• Win a Pair of XFX 8800GS SLI cards at Motherboards.org
• NVIDIA Hybrid SLI and HybridPower Benchmarked and Explained at Legit Reviews

This morning we are gathered with worldwide media at the Gigabyte headquarters in Taiwan for their Spring Break event and Plug-Fest 2008. It’s an event which allows media to get an early look at Gigabyte’s upcoming Intel P45 Express based motherboards.

For more information, please visit:

GK k8000_keyboard_up_close_and_personal
Gigabyte_spring_break_benchmarking_begin
Gigabyte_p45_dq6_has_4_network_lan_ports
Gigabyte_p45_dq6
Probably_the_biggest_mobo_in_the_world

I have to say that I’m impressed with the Asus EAH3870 X2 graphics card – it’s quite a step away from the reference design and innovation like this should be encouraged. The inclusion of four DVI ports will be a welcome addition for anyone looking to run more than a couple of monitors on their workstation and what makes it even better is the fact that, unlike Nvidia’s SLI, ATI CrossFireX technology scales across multiple displays.

Source: bit-tech

NVIDIA continues their efforts to keep their customers informed and in touch with the gaming world via their latest tool:

- 15 servers from Global OEMs now Shipping with Quad-Core AMD Opteron Processors -

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - May 8, 2008 - One of the industry's most scalable virtualization servers is now available from Dell and based on the Quad-Core AMD Opteron(tm) processor, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced. Enterprise customers interested in consolidating server infrastructure may turn to two new virtualization servers from Dell utilizing Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, including the Dell PowerEdge R905 which set a new standard in VMmark performance testing with 60 virtual machines. The innovative new Dell servers take advantage of AMD Direct Connect Architecture to reduce bottlenecks, minimize latency and increase the performance of virtualized applications to maximize the benefits of virtualization.

AMD have updated their server roadmap.  Base on the roadmap, AMD is still on track with their "Shanghai" processor in 2H2008.  This is AMD's first 45nm server processor and will feature HyperTransport 3.0, 6MB of cache (instead of 2MB on today's processor), and include core and instruction per clock enhancements.

Furthermore, AMD is planning to release 6-core "Istanbul" in second half of 2009 that will fit within current Socket F1 (1207).  And in first half of of 2010, AMD expects to introduct its third generation "Opteron processor Socket G34 platform that supports DDR3 memory controller, AMD RD 890 chipset for non-coherent HyperTransport 3.0, along with an additional HT link."

AMD also plans to release six- and twelve-core Opteron for Socket G34 in first half of 2010, codenamed "Sao Paolo" and "Magny Cours" respectively.

AMD usually does not disclose so future processor release date until it is close or on the date of the launch. Looks like they are on track of their plans and that's why they are able to release the information. Looking at the roadmap, it looks like we are going to see some interesting products coming off the pipelines and that may be able to challenge Intel's Nehalem processor in the near future.

Source: AMD

Some of Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 with firmware version SD04 or SD14 apparently is having wrong firmware that only uses part of the available cache. Seagate has posted this news at their site and urges those with the wrong firmware to flash to the correct firmware so you can use all of the available cache.

The drives with the following model numbers are GOOD drives which does not require a firmware update:

Model numbers

• 1000 GB: ST31000340AS
• 750 GB: ST3750330AS
• 500 GB: ST3500320AS

If you have got a drive with other model number and with SD04 or SD14 firmware, please contact Seagate for the update. You do have to contact them in order to get the updated firmware.

Source: Seagate

Sunnyvale, CA—May 7, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced two new Reaper HPC solutions for enthusiasts upgrading to next generation of cutting-edge platforms. The PC3-14400 and PC3-12800 Reaper HPC Series are now available in both 2GB and 4GB dual channel kits to meet the specific needs of customized gaming systems or workstations, offering perfect compatibility with the latest platforms and chipsets at the height of DDR3 performance.

“At OCZ we know that there is more than just one type of high end user, and we continually expand our DDR3 offering to deliver tailored solutions for a wide range of unique applications,” said Alex Mei, CMO of the OCZ Technology Group. “Our latest Reaper DDR3 kits are an ideal solution for hardcore gamers and overclockers looking for a combination of higher performance and stability supported by superior heat pipe based cooling.”

Fudzilla reports that Intel will be releasing 3.06GHz mobile processor in June.  Although detail specification is not yet know, here is what they speculates:

The X9100 CPU likes and works with FSB 1066 and has 6MB of L2 cache. It is, of course, based on 45nm Penryn dual-core processors and it looks pretty much the same as currently available Wolfdale 45nm dual-cores.

Intel promises 44W Thermal Design Power (TDP) and the 35x35mm CPU fits in socket P. The full name of the CPU is Core 2 Extreme X9100, and with 3.06GHz it definitely is the fastest dual-core for notebooks. Some crazy notebook manufacturers might even overclock it further, but 3GHz is quite enough for notebooks.

Source: Fudzilla

CPUs, RAMs, Mobos

• OCZ ReaperX HPC DDR3-1333 2GB Memory Kit Review at ThinkComputers.org
• Fujitsu LifeBook U1010 (3.5G) Notebook Review at OzHardware
• NVIDIA nForce 7 AMD Series Arrives - ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe Motherboard at Legit Reviews
• ASUS M3N-HT 780a SLi Review at OCC
• Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 motherboard at bit-tech
•  

Video Cards

• S3 Chrome 430 GT Graphics Card at Tweaktown
• NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX Graphics Card at Digit-Life

Cases, PSUs, Coolers

• World Premier: Xigmatek Achilles S1284 HDT CPU Cooler at Benchmark Reviews
• NZXT Tempest ATX Mid Tower Enclosure at Tweaktown
• Thermaltake M9 Review at OCC
• In Win B2 Stealth Bomber Case Review at Rbmods
• Xigmatek S1283 Red Scorpion at Technic3D
• Thermolab Nano Silencer TLI-U Low-Profile Heatsink Review at FrostyTech
• Noiseblocker Coolscraper 3.0 Review at XSReviews

Peripherals

• Denon AH-C551 Earphones at TrustedReviews
• Archos 705 WiFi Review at Digital Trends
• Hanns-G Hi221D 22in Widescreen Display Review at OCIA.net
• SanDisk Ducati Extreme Review at InsideHW
• Sans Digital MobileSTOR MS2UTN+ RAID Enclosure Review at ASE Labs
• Durapower CR-104 Media Reader Review at Mikhailtech
• Nokia N-Gage 2.0 at TrustedReviews
• Hades Gaming Ares H1 Optical Gaming Mouse at DragonSteelMods
• Silverstone Treasure TS01B RFID Enclosure at techPowerUp
• VL System M-Play Blast LCD Case Display & Remote Control Review at Tweaknews.net

Misc

• Microsoft Silently Rolls Out Anti-Hack Update For Windows Vista. at Techarp
• Mass Effect PC - Is Piracy The Better Choice? at Fastsilicon
• Hide your satellite dish with a Sqish at HEXUS.lifestyle
• Daily Mail columnist in Nintendo DS shocker at HEXUS.gaming
• Valve's Source Engine Coming To Linux at Phoronix
• Echocrome (PS3) - Gaming Heaven Review at Driverheaven

In the near future Asus will be launching their P5Q3 Deluxe motherboard which is based on the Intel P45 chipset. We have had an early sample of the board running in our offices for a little while now and today we have a preview for you...

Source: Driverheaven

Source: Hardwarezone

Ascent Redline and Ascent XP offer PC Enthusiasts a New Level of Performance

DENVER, CO May 6, 2008 – Mushkin, Inc. (www.mushkin.com), a global leader in high-performance computer products, announced the launch of a new high performance line of memory modules aimed at the power gamer market.  Called Ascent, the new line raises the bar on its Redline and XP premium memory offering by using eVCI (enhanced Vapor Chamber Interface) cooling technology, the current state-of-the-art in heat spreaders.

The highly anticipated P45, the successor of mainstream P35, will finally be released.  According to the DigiTimes, Intel will finally be releasing the 4-series chipset at Computex 2008, Taipei in June.  We have seen some X48 reviews but the mainstream P45 is yet to be found so we cannot comment on its performance compare to the P35 which overclocks really well.

Initial 4-series chipset shipments will consist of the P45 and P43, for which the previously reported PCI Express compatibility bug has been fixed already. However, the G45 and G43 IGP versions will be delayed for another 2-3 weeks while Intel works to correct issues with VC1 hardware decoding and to increase the graphics core frequency to 800MHz.

Source: DigiTimes

According to the news posted at the Inquire.net, the price of the DRAM may increase shortly.  The price hike is due to manufactures are reducing their production and for upcoming back to school sales.  Maybe it's time to stuck up your DDR2:)

Source: TheInquirer

At this time there just aren’t enough advantages past GeForce 9800 GTX SLI to recommend 9800 GTX 3-way SLI. If you are looking for the absolute highest framerates, 3-way SLI will provide this, but it will not allow you to improve your gameplay experience in some games, so you are paying extra money for nothing unless you want the performance for canned benchmarks. GeForce 9800 GTX SLI seems to be rather efficient for high-end gaming at this time, with Crysis being the exception. While Assassin’s Creed was just released, and is a beautiful game, it ended up playing very well even on a single GeForce 9800 GTX with the highest in-game settings. GeForce 9800 GTX SLI will allow you to run it at 2560x1600, but 3-way SLI will not improve upon this.

Source: Hardocp

CPUs, RAMs, Mobos

• 780a launch: Asus M3N-HT Deluxe reviewed at Neoseeker
• Tyan Thunder n3600M at Phoronix
• Sapphire Hybrid CrossFire 780G Motherboard at Modders-Inc
• Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe 780a Motherboard at APH Networks
• Nvidia's nForce 780a SLI chipset reviewed at TR
• NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI Motherboard Round-Up, Asus, MSI at HotHardware.com
• NVIDIA nForce 780a chipset - ASUS Crosshair II Formula motherboard review at Elite Bastards
• OCZ PC2-6400 ReaperX HPC 4GB Kit at techPowerUp
• AMD Phenom X3 processor family performance at Techspot

Video Cards

• Gigabyte GeForce 8800GT TurboForce 512MB at APH Networks
• Zotac GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB AMP! Edition at Hardwarezone.com
• Diamond's Viper Radeon HD 3650 1GB Graphics Card - Tested at HotHardware

Cases, PSUs, Coolers

• Zalman ZM850-HP 850W Modular Power Supply Review at ThinkComputers.org
• NZXT Alpha Classical Series Mid-Tower Case at Benchmark Reviews
• Cooler Sunbeam Silent Whisper at Madboxpc
• Lian Li PC-C1110 Super Mid-Tower Chassis Review at OCIA.net
• Cooler Master Real Power M850 850W at techPowerUp
• Thermolab Micro Silencer TLI-S Heatsink Review at Frostytech.com
• Akasa AK-TT12-80 Thermal Adhesive Tape at Frostytech.com
• Corsair VX550W PSU at bit-tech
• Ultra X-Pro 750W & 800W PSU's Review at Driver Heaven
• Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850 Watt Power Supply Review at Tweaknews.net
• ThermoLab Micro Silencer CPU Cooler at Tweaktown

Peripherals

• Vantec NexStar 3i Power Management Enclosure at Pro-Clockers
• Asus R300 GPS Navigation Device Review at I4U
• Thermaltake BlacX Hard Drive Docking Station Review at OCC
• The Dynamic Duo: Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and 7000 Review at Sysopt
• Honeywell Airlite 700 Wireless Bluetooth Headset at 3DGameMan
• Aztech 200Mbps HomePlug HL109E at Hardwarezone.com
• Super Talent Pico-C 8GB USB stick at PC-experience.de
• Western Digital 320 GB Scorpio Notebook Hard Drive Review at Tech ARP
• Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card at Tweaktown

Misc

• Computrace LoJack for Laptops Review at HardwareLogic
• Build Your Own Mac - Apple’s Key to the Future? at PCMech
• Mother's Day Gift Guide at Digital Trends
• Player Only: Women Get in the Game at Digital Trends
• The TR Podcast: Optimized and home-brewed at Tech Report
• Iron Man The Video Game at TrustedReviews
• Age of Conan Beta After 24 Hours at BiTT Daily
• Giveaway Ends 5/10 On Gamepyre

Get a HIS iClear card with the purchase of
HIS Radeon HD3870X2 1GB GDDR3 card, while supply last.

Hong Kong — May 2, 2008 - Starting from today, you can get a HIS iClear card (Original price USD $69.99) with the purchase of HIS Radeon HD 3870X2 1GB GDDR3 card, while supply last. HIS iClear card is the state-of-the-art signal noise reduction card. With dual ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 GPUs working in exquisite precision, you’re ready to dominate the battlefield from over one teraFLOPS of GPU compute power.

It has been some time since we reviewed an AMD processor on Driver Heaven, but quite a lot has happened since then with the release of various CPU revisions, as well as triple core, the 780G chipset and further energy efficient Athlon models. So today it is time to catch up with the current range of AMD products starting with the Phenom 9850.

Source: Driverheaven

High-Speed MasterDrive SSDs Offer Unprecedented Performance & Reliability

San Jose, California – May 6, 2008 – Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today launched a new line of MasterDrive solid state drives (SSDs) that are 100% interchangeable with hard disk drives (HDDs), but are faster, lighter, use less power and are far more rugged and reliable.