AMD Radeon HD 5870 X2 Pictured

Behold AMD's, and soon aimed to be the industry's most powerful graphics accelerator: Radeon HD 5870 X2 "Hemlock". Armed with two "Cypress" Radeon HD 5870 graphics processors, this dual-GPU monstrosity packs twice the shader compute power. From the looks of it, the card is slightly longer than its single-GPU sibling from the series, and is better ventilated, although the cooler design more or less resembles it. It draws its power from one 6+2 pin and one 6 pin PCI-E power connectors, just like two of its ancestors in the R700 and R680. Listed for pre-order on a European online store, a Radeon HD 5870 X2 by Club3D is priced at 677 EUR (incl. applicable taxes, 568.9 EUR excluding).

Sapphire Non-Reference HD 5870 Vapor-X Sighted

With the Radeon HD 5800 series unleashed, many manufacturers have rolled out with their own HD 5870 and HD 5850 graphics cards, but all we see are based on ATI reference design. To make itself stand out, Sapphire has designed the first ever non-reference HD 5870 - HD 5870 Vapor-X.

As the name suggests, the HD 5870 Vapor-X comes with Sapphire Vapor-X heatsink, along with a large LED fan. Although no further details are disclosed yet, it sounds like something to look forward to.

The fellow sites Hexus and Bit-tech have hosted an interesting competition, in which you’ll have chance to win this hot new card if you answer the question correctly. The competition closes on October 23rd 2009.

AMD Unleashes Radeon HD 5800 Series Desktop Cards

AMD has just lifted the curtain on its latest generation of desktop graphics cards, being the first DirectX 11 supporting cards to hit the market.

The first two models are Radeon HD 5850 and top-end single GPU offering, the HD 5870, and in the near future we’ll see others added to the lineup with the most anticipated model being the dual-GPU based HD 5870 X2.

Tons of reviews from hardware websites have gone live thanks to the NDA lift, and we’re also serving up a fresh review of the retail edition card - just keep tuned for it.

Intel Shows Off First Working 22nm Chips

At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel CEO Paul Otellini showed off the first working 22nm fabrication process technology chips. The microprocessors, codenamed Ivy Bridge, are due in the second half of 2011.

The silicon wafer containing 22nm chips had SRAM memory in 364 million bits and 2.9 billion transistor packed on it. According to Intel’s Tick Tock model, the 8-core Ivy Bridge will be built on 22nm processing.

Intel’s 32nm Westmere chips are already in production, while the next-generation microarchitecture dubbed и based chips are expected to be produced in 2010.

Intel Core i7 Mobile Processors Unveiled

Intel unveiled its fastest Core i7 mobile platform processors on the second day of IDF. The new Intel Core i7 mobile processors are based on the 45nm Nehalem microarchitecture, and will be paired with Intel PM55 Express chipset for a better experience in gaming, digital multimedia experience, business programs and other multi-threaded tasks.

Codenamed Clarksfield, the new Intel Core i7 mobile chips feature four cores and eight threads, an integrated dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, and Turbo Boost technology.

The specs of the first Nehalem-based mobile chips are listed as below:

Core i7-720QM: 1.60GHz, 6MB L3 cache, 45W TDP, $364

Core i7-820QM: 1.73GHz, 8MB L3 cache, 45W TDP, $546

Core i7-920XM: 2.0GHz, 8MB L3 cache, 55W TDP, $1054

Laptop makers like Asus, Dell, HP and Toshiba will be shipping Core i7 mobile processors equipped notebooks immediately.

Intel Six-Core Gulftown Hits 6.4GHz

Though Intel’s six-core processor Gulftown will not be officially launched until next year, the review of its engineering sample has been leaked ahead of time, and the chip has just been overclocked to the very limit.

With the help of liquid nitrogen, the overclocker Shamino set the core voltage at 2.02V, and successfully clocked the cores to nearly 6.4GHz for a quick screenshot. It couldn’t run stably long enough, but it’s enough to excite all the overclocking enthusiasts I guess.

When the Gulftown was overclocked to 5.9GHz, it recorded a 3DMark Vantage CPU score of 51177 points, while the current world record is 32328 points, which means Gulftown managed to show a whopping performance improvement of nearly 60%.

Intel seems to be doing well in the new six-core processor, and let’s wait and see what we can expect from AMD’s Thuban.

Sapphire Radeon HD 5870 and HD 5850 Smile for the Camera

Here are the fist pictures of Sapphire's Radeon HD 5800 series offerings: Radeon HD 5870 1GB and Radeon HD 5850. The cards sport the usual sticker design of a CGI girl in a reddish background. With these cards having the cosmetic "red-streak" cleaving the cooler shroud in the center, the so is the sticker. This is also perhaps the first public picture of the Radeon HD 5850, and our size projections were right: While the Radeon HD 5870 maintains a long PCB, the HD 5850 is about as long as a Radeon HD 4870 (reference design). Both accelerators stick to the reference AMD design

Danamics LMX Liquid Metal CPU Cooler Due in Q4

Last year Danamics introduced its LM-10 CPU cooler with liquid metal inside, but the benchmarks proved that its performance was just even to Ultra 120 Extreme. Considering its whopping price of ?350, it didn’t become popular at all.

The company just doesn’t want to give up - they’re working on a new and improved cooler - LMX, which is claimed to be the most revolutionary design since LM-10.

The official launch is slated for the fourth quarter, and I suggest you not to expect too much.

Corsair’s New Enthusiast Chassis in the Shops

Showcased at CeBIT 2009, Corsair’s first chassis - CC800DW has now been found selling in Japan.

Constructed out of high-quality aluminum, the huge chassis measures 229×609x609mm, weighs 10.2kg, supporting E-ATX/ATX/Micro-ATX motherboards. There’s space to mount either three 120mm fans or a triple-wide radiator at the top. The motherboard, hard drive and power supply sit in separate chambers, and the chassis also packs five 5.25″ bays as well as four 3.5″ bays.

Corsair CC800DW is now available for Yen40,000, which is around US$436.

Zotac Unleashes Batman Edition GeForce GTX 285 Accelerator

Zotac has lately unveiled a new limited edition GeForce GTX 285: Batman Edition graphics card featuring artwork of Gotham City’s caped crusader, Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is a coupon for a full copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which gamers can redeem at NVIDIA’s nZone.

With only 900 units available worldwide, the new Zotac GeForce GTX 285: Batman Edition features 240 stream processors, and Core/Shader/Memory clock of 648/1476/2484MHz, support for advanced technologies including DirectX 10, CUDA, PhysX, PureVideo HD, Stereoscopic 3D and OpenGL 3.0.

Bundled with a copy of 3DMark Vantage Advanced Edition, Zotac GeForce GTX 285 will hit retail quite soon.

SATA-IO to Develop New mSATA Connector

Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) today announced it’s developing a specification for a mini-SATA (mSATA) interface connector which will enable more effective SATA integration in small form factor applications.

mSATA leverages the speed and reliablity of the popular SATA interface to provide a high-performance, cost-effective storage solution for smaller devices like notebooks and netbooks.

Supporting 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s transfer rates, the development of mSATA is being driven by members of the SATA-IO Cable and Connector Working Group, including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, SanDisk, STEC and Toshiba. Toshiba is actually introducing SSD modules based on the new low-profile mSATA interface standard in 30 and 62GB densities.

Various mSATA devices will be on display in the SATA-IO booth at the upcoming Intel Developer Forum (IDF), September 22-24 in San Francisco, Calif.

Affiliate reviews today [22-09-2009]

Cases
Antec Two Hundred Mid-Tower Computer Case @ Benchmark Reviews | Nox Coolbay HX @ Technic3D

Accessories
MusicSkins for PSP @ iGadged Life | Wi-Fire Wi-Fi Adapter @ Test Freaks | Pong Case for iPhone 3G/3GS @ Test Freaks | Evil Controllers’ Modded Xbox 360 Gamepads Reviewed @ Futurelooks | iFrogz EarPollution Timbre with Mic @ Test Freaks

PSUs
Tuniq Potency 650W PSU @ Hi-Tech Reviews | Topower Tiger 1200 Watt @ RBMods | Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

Periphery
Mionix Saiph 3200 Gaming Mouse Reviewed @ Dragon Steel Mods | Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 @ PCFoster | Razer Megalodon - 7.1 Surround Headset @ TweakPC | OCZ Eclipse Gaming Mouse Review @ Hardware Secrets

Cooling
SilverStone NT06-E CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets | Prolimatech Megahalems Heatpipe CPU Cooler @ Big Bruin

Articles
Pepcom 2009 Holiday Spectacular Recap @ Test Freaks

Motherboards
P55 Roundup: Gigabyte P55-UD6 / P55-UD3 and MSI P55-GD80 @ Mad Shrimps | MSI P55-GD65 Xtreme Speed Motherboard Review @ Futurelooks

Storage
Super Talent Pico C 32 GB Flash Drive @ RBMods | Seagate Interview: SSD and Enterprise Storage @ Benchmark Reviews | Seagate Barracuda XT 6Gbps SATA-III HDD Preview @ Benchmark Reviews | Seagate Barracuda XT 6 Gbps SATA Drive Preview @ Big Bruin |

Video Cards
Calibre X260 Nvidia GeForce GTX260 896MB Video Card @ Dragon Steel Mods | Video Card Comparison Charts @ Mad Shrimps

Games
Batman: Arkham Asylum @ Technic3D | Futurelooks’ Exclusive Pre-Launch Hands On Preview of Halo 3: ODST for the Xbox 360 @ Future Looks

Competitions
Teufel Competition @ XSReviews

Affiliate reviews today [18-09-2009]

CPUs
All Pentium Dual Core Models @ Hardware Secrets | AMD Athlon II X4 620 @ Technic3D

Cases
NZXT M59 - Gunstiges Gaming Case @ TweakPC | Nox Coolbay HX @ Technic3D

Accessories
Rosewill RCM-8163 Webcam @ MEGATech | Cocoon Innovations Travel Case Netbook Case @ Test Freaks | Scythe KroCraft Plus @ Technic3D | Myine Ira Wi-Fi Internet Radio Review @ Futurelooks | LG GSA-E50L 8x Slim Super Multi DVD±RW DL USB 2.0 External Drive @ Test Freaks

PSUs
XFX 850 W Black Edition Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets | Topower Tiger 1200 Watt @ RBMods | Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets

Mobile
MSI Wind Top AE2010 AIO Desktop System @ Benchmark Reviews

Periphery
Cooler Master Storm Sentinel Advance @ Technic3D | Roccat Apuri @ XSReviews | CM Storm Sentinel Advance Laser Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews | Cooler Master CM Storm Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse @ Big Bruin | Jetart MP2000 @ XSReviews

Cooling
Arctic Cooling ARCTIC MX-3 Thermal Compound @ Dragon Steel Mods | Thermaltake ISGC-300 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets | GELID Solutions GC-2 and GC-Extreme Thermal Compound Reviewed @ Futurelooks | Thermolab BADA @ Hardware Bistro | Rzut okiem: wentylatory Coolink SWiF2 @ PCFoster

Articles
Windows Xp vs Vista vs 7 @ Test Freaks | How Stuff Works: Ram @ Test Freaks

Motherboards
Biostar TA785GE 128 M Motherboard Review @ Hardware Secrets | Intel DP55KG Extreme Series P55 Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews

Storage
Patriot Memory Corza 2-Drive NAS Enclosure @ Big Bruin

Arctic Cooling Announces Arctic F- High Performance Case Fans

The Swiss low noise cooling solution provider ARCTIC COOLING today announced the launch of the ARCTIC F series case fan series in 80mm, 92mm and 120mm. As the advanced version of the previous AF fan series, these new fans are ideal for users who are looking for a quiet and efficient case ventilation solution.

The ARCTIC F series integrates some delicate features to improve the overall airflow and noise control management. Most 80mm and 92mm standard fans are equipped with 7 blades only, but all ARCTIC F fans, including the 80mm and 92mm ones, come with 9 blades in order to create higher airflow efficiently.

SteelSeries Introduces New Siberia v2 Headset

SteelSeries, the leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, today introduced the new SteelSeries Siberia v2 Full-size Headset. As the successor to SteelSeries' signature Siberia Headset which launched in 2004, the new Siberia v2 offers gamers and music enthusiast's superior speaker and microphone technology that delivers impeccable sound quality, integrated control capabilities, and enhanced design for greater comfort and improved passive noise reduction.

The original SteelSeries Siberia Full-size Headset became a huge success in the professional gaming community and also extended its reach into the music world being used by professional musicians in several high-profile international music videos.

Toshiba Introduces High-Performance Half-Terabyte 2.5-inch HDD

Toshiba Storage Device Division (SDD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. and the pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced a new family of high-performance 7,200 RPM 2.5-inch HDDs, including a top-end half-terabyte capacity.

The four-model line-up delivers more than a 13 percent performance improvement in disk operations compared to Toshiba's previous 7,200 RPM family, while decreasing environmental impact by eliminating or reducing the use of certain toxic and hazardous chemicals. The series also carries the SATA-certified 3Gb/s logo, which indicates successful completion of stringent interface compliance testing defined by the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO), the industry body responsible for setting the standards for Serial ATA interface technologies.

CoolIT WS 240 Liquid Cooling System Makes its Debut

CoolIT has just announced the availability of its WS 240 liquid cooling system for Nehalem-based processors.

The WS 240 measures 117×277x125mm, weighs 1.03kg, utilizes a 240mm radiator and two water blocks. Uses can switch between three operation modes by simply pushing a button to satisfy the need for quiet or the desire for overclocking performance, with the fan speed ranging between 1100-2900RPM.

The WS 240 can be easily installed into most E-ATX supporting chassis, and includes mounting hardware for the Intel 775/1366/1156 socket.

Backed by two year warranty, the new liquid cooling system provides a 2-year warranty and retail immediately for $269.99.

Intel Sets A Shipment Goal of One Million Lynnfield CPUs in 2009

Intel has reportedly set a shipment goal of one million Lynnfield (Core i5 and i7) CPUs for desktops by the end of 2009.

Asus and Gigabyte are expected to each ship 400,000 P55-based motherboards by year-end 2009, and the other motherboard makers including MSI, ECS and AsRock may total around 200,000 units.

Joe Hsieh, vice president of Asus motherboard business unit product marketing department, points out that the company expects to ship 5.5-6 million motherboards in the third quarter, six million units in the fourth, and 22 million units in total in 2009.

Currently, around 30% of motherboards shipped by Asus are Intel G31-based, and Hsieh admitted that Asus is suffering from a shortage of the chipset. However, he said that the company will speed up the transition of new platforms to lower the impact.

NVIDIA: DirectX 11 Will Not Stimulate Sales of Graphics Cards

NVIDIA said during a conference for financial analysts that the emergence of next-generation DirectX 11 application programming interface will not drive sales of graphics cards. Instead, the general purpose computing on graphics processing units as well as its proprietary tools and emergence of software taking advantage of these technologies will be a better driver for sales of graphics boards.

“DirectX 11 by itself is not going be the defining reason to buy a new GPU. It will be one of the reasons. This is why Microsoft is in work with the industry to allow more freedom and more creativity in how you build content, which is always good, and the new features in DirectX 11 are going to allow people to do that. But that no longer is the only reason, we believe, consumers would want to invest in a GPU,” said Mike Hard, vice president of investor relations at Nvidia, at Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference on Wednesday.

Ironically, While ATI is about to launch its Radeon HD 5800-series graphics cards that fully support DirectX 11 in the upcoming weeks, Nvidia yet has not disclosed any plans regarding its DX11 GPUs.

Thermaltake ISGC-V320 Cooler Hits Retail

Thermaltake ISGC-V320 which was introduced in early July has recently been found on sale in China.

The cooler measures 241×125x63mm, weighs 738g, and features five heatpipes pattern connect with extra large copper base for maximum heat transfer, and dual 120mm silent fans to enhance cooling performance. The special-designed fan works between 800 and 1300RPM with Max. airflow of 58.3CFM and a sound output of 16dBA.

ISGC-V320 supports NVIDIA GeForce 7900 series, GeForce 8/9 series, GT200 series and ATI Radeon X1900 as well as Radeon 3800/4600/4800 series.