ASUS EAX1950PRO Series

Asus Technology Pte Ltd. (ASUS), the leading provider of graphics solutionsis proud to introduce the ASUS EAX1950PRO graphics card series, which feature anadvanced fan sink that lowers temperature by 10°C as compared to referencedesigns. The all-new series balances high performance and stability, and packsthe latest specifications to support the next-generation Vista operating system.The EAX1950PRO series includes two excellent solutions: EAX1950PRO CrossFire/HTDP/256Mand EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M.

Stylish cooling

The EAX1950PRO series, based on ATI’s Radeon X1950PRO GPU, incorporated a newfan sink design that provides effective heat dissipation while servingaesthetics purposes as well. With unique embedded heat pipes not found incomputing solutions, and blower fan that guides cool air towards the fins, theEAX1950PRO Series lowers temperature by 10°C compared to competing graphicscards that made no improvements from reference designs.

The smooth contour and elegant curves of the fan sink further make the graphicscard series perfect for gamers that demand their system to perform well and lookgood at the same time.

CrossFire Ready

The new EAX1950PRO series supports ATI’s CrossFire Technology, which allowsmultiple GPU to operate simultaneously for enhanced video performance. Superiorgraphics quality is easily achievable with the EAX1950PRO CrossFire/HTDP/256Mand EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M installed in the same system under CrossFire mode.

HDCP and Windows Vista™ ready

To stay in step with Windows Vista requirements, the EAX1950PRO series featuresHDCP technology to give users peace of mind when upgrading their systems tosupport high-definition digital contents and a wide range of premium graphicsapplications.

Splendid Video Intelligence Technology

The new EAX1950PRO series supports Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, anexclusive feature found only on ASUS solutions. With Splendid, images enabled byASUS graphics cards are fine tuned to deliver vibrant visual representations inconditions most favorable to the human eye.

Splendid detects activation and usage of video applications and automaticallyoptimizes image quality for the best visual results, and provides five modes(Standard, Game, Theater, Scenery and Night) and three skin tone options forvarious video applications. Splendid works on top of ATI's Avivo tm technologyto offer sharp decoded video.

The ASUS EAX1950PRO series is now available worldwide. For more information,please visit sg.asus.com. SRP: EAX1950PR/HTDP/256M - S$ 349 (GST Incl.)

Hardware Specification

ModelEAX1950PROCrossFire/HTDP/256MEAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M

Graphics Engine

RADEON X1950PRO

RADEON X1950PRO

Video Memory

256MBDDR3

256MBDDR3

Engine Clock

581MHz

581MHz

Memory Clock

1.4GHz (702MHz DDR3)

1.4GHz (702MHz DDR3)

Memory Interface

256-bit

256-bit

Max. Resolution

2048X 1536

2048X 1536

Bus Standard

PCIExpress X16

PCIExpress X16

VGA Output

YES,via DVI to VGA Adapter

YES,via DVI to VGA Adapter

HDTV Output

YES,S-Video to HDTV Out

YES,S-Video to HDTV Out

TV Output

YES,S-Video to Composite

YES,S-Video to Composite

DVI Output

DVI-I

DVI-I

Dual DVI Output

YES

YES

HDCP Compliant

YES

YES

Adaptor/Cable Bundled

DVIto VGA adapter
HDTV-out cable
Power Cable
CrossFire Interconnector * 2

DVIto VGA adapter
Power Cable
HDTV-Out Cable

Software Bundled

ASUSUtilities & Driver

ASUSUtilities & Driver

Antec Phantom 500 PSU

Antec, Inc., the leading manufacturer of computer hardware and accessoriesfor the upgrade and build your own (BYO) markets, has launched Phantom 500, thelatest addition to its popular Phantom power supply line specially designed forsilent computing.

Building upon the original Phantom fanless PSU, Phantom 500 uses hybrid fantechnology that allows PC users to balance high-power performance with quietcomputing. The 500 Watt power supply operates completely silently and fanlesslyuntil its internal temperature reaches a pre-determined user-selected value. Atthat point, the fan turns on to maintain adequate cooling for higher loads.Users are able to select the temperature at which the fan turns on to fitindividual computing needs. Phantom 500 is also equipped with specially designedinternal heatsinks and a chassis heatsink for maximum heat dissipation.

Phantom 500 features ultra-high efficiency circuitry (85% efficient) thatreduces power consumption and excess heat, and is ATX12V v2.01 compliant,ensuring compatibility with the newest motherboards from all leading vendors.The power supply also includes a 24-and-20-pin adapter connector with adetachable 4 pin section for 20 pin backwards compatibility with oldermotherboards.

For greater system stability, dedicated circuit design delivers the maximumspecified wattage for each output – 12V x2, 3V and 5V, with no combined powerlimitations. Phantom 500 also comes equipped with four serial ATA powerconnectors and a PCI Express graphics card connector for high-end graphicscards.

“Antec pioneered fanless power supply technology and continues to innovate inthe field of silent computing with the launch of Phantom 500,” said ScottRichards, Antec worldwide vice president of sales and marketing. “Phantom 500provides the silence of a fanless power supply with the added power necessaryfor today’s PC user. Whether it be for a gamer, home theater PC enthusiast orregular user, Phantom 500’s customized design will fit each individual’s uniquecomputing needs.”

Phantom is currently available for an estimated street price of $ 199 throughmajor retailers, e-tailers and distributors. It is backed by Antec’s Quality3-Year Warranty. For additional product information and full technicalspecifications, please visit www.antec.com

ASUS Radeon HD 6990 up for pre-order

AMDs latest monster graphics card, the dual-GPU Radeon HD 6990 has not been launched yet. However, EXPreview has reported that a Dutch website, SALLANDhas already started a pre-order for ASUS version of the HD 6990.

More specifically, the model of the ASUS card is EAH6990/3DI4S/4GD5. The card is based on the reference design and itsspecifications are in line with those that have been leaked on the Web so far - two Cayman XT GPUs,830MHz core clock and 1250MHz memory clock.

There is a single DVI output connector and four mini DisplayPort connectors.

The card is priced at 715 Euros, which works out to US$999.

Source: EXPreview

ATi Confirmed Launch Dates For R5xx GPUs

Some interesting info from an investor meeting held with ATI's CEO Dave Ortonon August 17th :

• Late September Launch Date Set for Three R500 Desktop Discrete Chips (R520,RV530, and RV515)
• The shipment dates will likely be staggered for the three chips, based on thedelivery cycles from TSMC, with one likely shipping at launch date and the othertwo within the first half of October
• R520 had been sampling since Dec/04, and although the architecture and 90nmprocess were not a problem, ATI was not able to run the clock fast enough due toa “soft ground” issue that was discovered in late July after debugging withseveral re-spins.
• R520 and RV530 had functional yields, but could not run at high speeds, whilethe RV515 and the C1 (the 90nm Xbox graphics chip) did not have any issues.
• In terms of performance, ATI believes the R520 should exceed the GeForce 7800GTX in benchmark tests if it can get the proper clock speed, but recognizes thatNVIDIA has some headroom to overclock the GeForce 7800 clock speeds.
• ATI unlikely to launch its R580 (speculated to have 32 pixel pipelines) inC2005 and expect a refresh of the R500 family beginning in spring 2006 withRV560, followed by RV540 and RV505.
• R600 targeted for (DirectX 10, targeting Vista and WGF 2.0) in Q4/F06 orQ1/F07

Arctic Cooling Upcoming Products In May

Accelero Xtreme 9800

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

It will be available in the market sooner by mid-May.

Accelero Twin Turbo

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

It will be available in the marketing by late-May

Freezer 7 LP

Most slim cases users find it difficult to buy a suitable cooler replacementthat suits the size of their small chassis. ARCTIC COOLING is going to launchthe Freezer 7 LP, an innovative Intel CPU cooler especially designed for mediacentre users to fulfill their needs. Apart from its lightweight and low profiledesign, the Freezer 7 LP performs excellent cooling execution. 2 heatpipes, 40fins and an 80mm PWM fan dissipate heat from the CPU core efficiently andrapidly.

It will be available in the market by late-May

Arctic RC

High clock speeds and raised voltage lead to increasing temperatures – evenon RAM modules. Since this lowers the overclocking potential as well as reducesthe service life of the modules, ARCTIC RC – the revolutionary thermodynamicdesign lowers the temperature and thus extends your overclocking potential isdesigned. ARCTIC RC is compatible with both DDR2 and DDR3 SDRAM modules, andapplicable to both single and double sided modules. With the pre-applied thermaltape, it can be installed easily for bring an excellent cooling experience.

It will be available in the market by late-May

Apple to unveil iOS 6 at WWDC

Apple is to announce new hardware and software at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week, with iOS 6 top of the agenda.

“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”Activities at the event will include technical sessions with Apple engineers, hands-on labs for providing code-level assistance, meet and greet with fellow developers, the Apple Design Awards, and, of course, the various announcements from the top dogs at Apple.Tim Cook, who took over as CEO from the late Steve Jobs last year, will show off some of the new lineup starting at 10:00am PST (6:00pm GMT), and well be sure to fill you in on all the details.Apple is expected to unveil a series of new Mac computers, with faster processing power.The star of the show will undoubtedly be iOS 6, though the features of the updated operating system have yet to be revealed. A new version typically accompanies a new hardware product and it is widely believed that iOS 6 will launch with the iPhone 5 in Autumn. However, it is not expected that Apple will announce the latter at WWDC.The event will also feature showcases of OS X Mountain Lion for the Mac, which will go on sale in Summer. This updated version is intended to beat Microsofts Windows 8 to the punch by implementing tablet and smartphone-inspired features and usability. More details, like a release date and price, are expected today.

Apple's new iMac's uses Intel's Z68 chipset

You got to love iFixit, its barely a day since Apple announced its Sandy Bridge based iMacs and we already have a full teardown of the 21.5-inch iMac. Although much of the bits inside didnt hold any real surprises, we almost choked on our dinner when we read “Intel BD82Z68 Platform Controller Hub”. Yes, the new iMacs sports Intels yet to launch Z68 chipset, something we really didnt expect to find in an iMac.

Of course, specs like chipset and CPU models used is one of those things that Apple doesnt share with the general public, but unless iFixit messed up and wrote down the wrong chipset model, this is interesting in more than one way. For starters, Apple could add support for SSD caching via a future software update and there are iMac models on sale with both an SSD and a hard drive, although in this case were talking a huge 256GB SSD, not a tiny 20GB like Intels upcoming Larsen Creek SSD.

Beyond SSD caching we might also be seeing support for switchable graphics, although so far Apple hasnt hinted at any kind of support for Intels Quick Sync technology, but its possible that this is also one of the reasons why Apple went with the Z68 chipset. From a cost perspective, the Z68 chipset isnt much more expensive than the H67 or P67, but unless Apple is considering taking advantage of the SSD caching functionality, the company could just as well have gone with the H67 chipset.

Also seen in the pictures is Intels Thunderbolt chip and this is a rather large chip, about the size of a CR2032 battery. Were curious though; does the 27-inch iMac feature two of these chips, or only one thats shared between the two ports? Its also surprising to see that Apple is using WD Caviar Blue hard drives in the iMac, as these are budget hard drives and wed at least expect the Caviar Green considering the cost of an iMac. Oh and if you were thinking of doing some DIY upgrading of your iMac, forget about it unless you dont mind voiding your warranty, as you have to pop the display panel off to get to the bits inside.

Source: iFixit

ATi R423 Card Pic

ATi GPU & Chipsets Q2Plans
ATi R420 Specifications
ATi Desktop/Mobile GPURoadmap

Apple iPad Wi-Fi Model Goes On Sale April 3

On Friday, Apple announced that the iPadwould go on sale on April 3 in the US. Users who want to pre-order can put in their claim on March 12.

The April 3 date only applies to the Wi-Fi-only models. If you’re holding out for the 3G versions, you’ll have to wait until late April. Customers outside the U.S. —Apple specifically mentions Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K.— will have to wait until late April for either model.

Pricing for those countries is still unknown, though Apple said that it would be announced in April. The company also said that the iPad would ship in additional countries later this year, so if you’re not in one of the above locations, keep your fingers crossed.

On March 12, customers will be able to either pre-order either the Wi-Fi or 3G models from the Apple online store, or they can put their dibs down on a Wi-Fi model and pick it up from their local Apple Store. As previously announced, the Wi-Fi models will run US$499 for 16GB, US$599 for 32GB, and US$699 for 64GB, while the respective models including 3G will cost US$629, US$729, and US$829.

Source: Macworld

ATi R600 DX10 Vista Drivers Almost Ready

The DirectX10 Vista driver for R600 is almost done. ATI is still trying to finish up Crossfire support and to polish up the OpenGL performance in Vista driver but the driver will be ready for hardware launch. R600 is 80nm has a 512-bit memory controller, unified Shader marchitecture, supports DirectX 10 and should make G80 run for its money. The launch should take place in February.

2012-12-21-405

Acer introduced 4 smartphones at MWC

Acer has unveiled four new smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The new line of smartphones are equipped with a broad range of features and innovations,forconsumers andeven businessprofessionals.

ACER M900
The M900 is an ideal smart handheld device for users who want access to email and files at all times. It helps you keep track of your activities and access your contacts and files through synchronization with your notebook or desktop PC.Preinstalled with Windows® Mobile 6.1 Professional, Outlook® Mobile email and Office Mobile (Word, Excel and Powerpoint), the M900 features HSDPA connectivity,3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen, GPS, FM Radio, voice recorder, expandable memory, and5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash.

ACER F900
With a 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen and easy-to-use touch keyboard, the F900 is capable of displaying more information onscreen while offeringexcellent mobile browsing experience. It has a new user-interfacethat canprovide quick links to contacts, email messages, bookmarks, calendars, date and time, world weather and music. The F900 alsocomeswith an integrated 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, GPS, Wi-Fi, FM Radio, voice recorder, voice command, and expandable memory.

ACER X960
The X960sports a high-resolution 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen and five-waybutton for easy navigation. It comes with embedded GPS functionality, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash as well as a front-side camera for video calls, all in a classy black and silver design.

ACER DX900
The DX900 claims to be the world’s first dual-SIM smartphone to support both 3.5G (HSDPA) and 2.75G (EDGE) SIM cards allowing you to keep track of both personal and business communications. It has a brilliant2.8-inch VGA touchscreen display, front-side VGA camera for video calls, voice recorder, voice-command, 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with flash and expandable memory. The DX900 also features a new interface designed for easy navigation and 3D animated icons and transition effects to display all your most important information on one screen.

Source: Acer

2012-12-21-103

[Rumour] Dual GF100 to release later?

Fudzilla is now reporting that the rumoured dual-GF100 card isn't comingbefore end Q2 2010, at the earliest, contrary to their earlier reports.This comes as absolutely no surprise. In fact, the surprise will be ifthey could even manufacture such a card by Q3 2010!

Given GF100's thermal characteristics (Geforce GTX 480 is rumoured tohave a TDP of between 275 and 295W), a dual-GF100 card is simplyimpossible as a reference design.

However, Nvidia's AIB partners can choose to make non-reference dual-GF100, which exceed PCI-SIG's maximum TDP limit, i.e. 300W. However, clearly, a dual GTX 480 will still be impossible (600W TDP!?!?). A downclocked version of the GTX 470 is a possibility, but it is unlikely to beat the HD 5970, whose TDP is 294W.

A few ATI AIB partners are indeed preparing extreme HD 5870s, with TDPs nearing 400W. Clearly, Nvidia will be unable to offer any competition to these products, without requiring extreme power.

With the GTX 480 mildly surpassing the HD 5870 in most games, Nvidia simply have no competition to the HD 5970, which is retailing for $700 these days in rather limited quantities. What Nvidia has to do to get a dual-GPU and seize the performance crown is a major re-spin, if not a die shrink. This is reminiscent of the GTX 200 series, where the GTX 280 was simply too hot for a dual-GPU variant. And that was "only" 236W! In addition, a new process (55nm) was ready for a die shrink. Today, the near 300W GTX 480 has to wait at least till Q4 2010 till TSMC moves to 32nm, if not later, to go the die shrink route. Rumours of a B1 stepping has been circulating for quite some time, which might make it in Q3 2010. If an official <300W dual-GF100 will be possible then remains to be seen.

Of course, these are assuming ATI does not refresh their line-up.

At this stage, what the consumers can hope for is that the GTX 470 and GTX 480 products retail for a reasonable price - under $500, at most, hopefully in the $350-450 range. Rumours suggest otherwise, but we will wait and see. The official "release" is a bit over two weeks away - though very limited quantities are expected any time around the March 26th release.

Refence: Fudzilla