Radeon HD 5970 detailed in advance

While AMD is gearing up to release it, the Radeon HD 5970 card has made a stealthy appearance online, exposing its likely final specifications. Made by Sapphire, the listed Hemlock card, which is most likely an all-stock product, has two 725 MHz-clocked Cypress 40nm GPUs, each with 1600 Stream Processors, and 2GB of GDDR5 memory set at 4000 MHz, both frequencies being at HD 5850 level.

The dual-GPU, dual-slot card also has a 2x256-bit memory interface, DirectX 11 and CrossFireX support, and dual-DVI outputs plus one mini DisplayPort connector (no HDMI like for the HD 5800 cards). The Radeon HD 5970's pricing and release date are still unconfirmed.

Toshiba announces 320GB 1.8-inch hard drive

Toshiba has expanded its line of 1.8-inch hard drives today with a new dual-platter model that can hold up to 320GB of data -- a world's first in this form factor. The MK3233GSG features a 3Gbps SATA interface and 16MB cache buffer, produces just 19dB of noise during seeks and spins at 5,400 rpm for a maximum transfer rate of 830Mb/s.

The company is positioning its 1.8-inch line as more suitable for portable media devices and thin Laptop than competing 2.5-inch drives. According to Toshiba, the tiny storage devices can handle non-operational shock up to 1,500Gs and operational shock up to 500Gs, marking respective improvements of 50 percent and 25 percent. They also consume 42 percent less power when seeking than the best 5,400rpm 2.5-inch HDDs.

There's still no word on pricing but the company says the new MK3233GSG will go into mass production in December 2009. The drives will also be available in 250GB and 160GB versions.

Maingear unveils enthusiast-oriented SHIFT desktop PC

Maingear has unveiled the SHIFT desktop PC, which is aimed at the high-end enthusiast market. Referring to the SHIFT as an "everyday supercomputer," the company says it will "reshape the current landscape of high performance computing" -- a bold claim if I ever saw one.

Externally, the SHIFT shows a clean-cut aluminum chassis, which lacks the excessive lighting of other gaming systems. Inside is a vertical airflow system that vents air through the top of the case, and the system can be based on Intel's P55 or X58 platforms.
General hardware includes Intel's Core i7 processor, your choice of Nvidia or ATI graphics (over a dozen configurations), 3GB to 12GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 6 HDDs or 8 SSDs, a liquid cooling system, optional Blu-ray and plenty of other options, like the ability to have your system factory-overclocked.

The base P55 configuration starts at $2,199 and the X58 rig costs $400 more. Out of sheer curiosity, I maxed out the X58 system at just under 19 grand before shipping.

TSMC 40nm yield issues to affect AMD and Nvidia

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, recently confirmed it has run into new issues with their 40nm process technology that have sent yield rates down to 40%. Major customers for TSMC's 40nm processes include AMD, which just released its Radeon HD 5000 series, and Nvidia, who is expected to launch the GT300 series in December.

On first thought the conspiracy theorist in me found this suspiciously untimely for AMD, which for the first time in a long while had a great opportunity to capitalize on its early-to-market status. Their latest 40nm-based cards are not only the first to support DirectX 11, with Nvidia's answer arriving a few months later, but they have also been getting high marks for their performance and feature set in reviews around the web.

Then again TSMC's recent issues will reportedly impact shipping schedules for both AMD and Nvidia -- not to mention the manufacturer's financial performance. Company chairman and CEO Morris Chang pledged to get the problem fixed during the current quarter. The company had previously improved yield rates for its 40nm processes to around 60% from as low as 20-30% in the second quarter of 2009.

By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com 

Intel to update LGA1366 line with 2.88GHz Core i7 930

Even though Intel is facing virtually no competition on the high-end processor market, the arrival of its Lynnfield-based Core i7 860 early last month threatened to cannibalize sales at the lower end of the enthusiast LGA1366 spectrum. The chip carries the same $290 price tag as the "Bloomfield" Core i7 920, yet it comes with higher clock speeds and Turbo Boost capabilities, a tighter power envelope, and fits into a cheaper platform.

Thus is not really surprising to hear Intel will be discontinuing the latter. However, rather than leaving a wide hole in its LGA1366 lineup, the chip maker will apparently be replacing it with a higher clocked Core i7 930 processor next quarter. The quad-core, eight thread part will run at 2.88GHz and should cost the same as its Core i7 920 predecessor.

Although still unconfirmed by Intel at this point, the move sounds plausible enough. We have already witnessed the replacement of the 3.20GHz Core i7 Extreme 965 with the 3.33GHz i7 975, as well as the 2.93GHz Core i7 940 with the 3.06GHz Core i7 950 and once again with the Core i7 960 running at 3.2GHz.

By Jose Vilches, TechSpot.com 

Gigabyte intros next-gen USB and SATA-equipped motherboards

Gigabyte has joined Asus in the race to build motherboards equipped with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s connectivity, introducing an entire P55-based lineup sporting the next-generation I/O technology. The company has brought a host of new motherboards to the table, including the GA-P55A-UD6, GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD4,GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, GA-P55A-UD3.

This series of boards can be easily distinguished by the "P55A" branding, as opposed to the company's previous "P55" boards -- they also feature "Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration." The "333" refers to the onboard third-gen SATA and USB parts, as well as USB 3.0's new voltage profile, which Gigabyte says offers triple the power to external devices.

With seven listed units, Gigabyte likely has most budgets and builds covered. All of the boards support Intel's recent Lynnfield (Core i5 and i7 8xx) LGA 1156 processors. The motherboards rely on NEC's uPD720200 chip for USB 3.0, and Marvell's 88SE9128 controller for 6Gbps SATA, and bring the expected features and in-house technologies.

By Matthew DeCarlo, TechSpot.com 

Asus shows USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s-equipped board

I'm sure you've caught wind of the various revamped interfaces slated for debut in the coming year, such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s. Naturally, as consumer electronics begin to sport these next-generation parts, motherboard makers will jump to provide the necessary connectivity. In fact, Asus has been working on motherboards with each spec -- though some projects fizzled out. The company didn't give up altogether though, recently unveiling the P7P55D-E Premium, the first motherboard to unite USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s.

If the P7P55D-E Premium sounds familiar it's probably because it shares many parallels with the $280 P7P55D Premium, which only has SATA 6Gb/s. Alongside the third-generation SATA and USB ports, Asus' P7P55D-E Premium will feature support for Intel LGA 1156 processors, up to four DIMMs for a total of 16GB DDR3 2200MHz (OC) RAM, two PCI-E 2.0 x16, x1, and PCI slots with support for SLI as well as CrossFireX. Also integrated are a PATA host adapter, dual Gigabit Ethernet

, an IEEE1394a port, and an assortment of USB 2.0 and SATA 3Gb/s connectors.
The board also boasts a slew of other goodies, including onboard power on and reset buttons, and a ton of Asus-specific technologies. The only thing it's missing is Light Peak -- but that will come in due time. There's no official pricing, but it's fair to assume that it will debut at $300 or more.

5 New Technologies That Will Change Everything

While sipping a cup of organically farmed, artisan-brewed tea, I tap on my gigabit-wireless-connected tablet, to pull up a 3D movie on the razor-thin HDTV hanging on the wall. A media server streams the film via a superspeedy USB connection to a wireless HD transmitter, which then beams it to the TV.
That actor--who was he? My augmented-reality contact lenses pick up the unique eye motion I make when I have a query, which I then enter on a virtual keyboard that appears in the space in front of me. Suddenly my field of vision is covered with a Web page showing a list of the actor's movies, along with some embedded video clips.
These technologies will come to life in the distant future, right? Future, yes. Distant, no.
Speed and content (much of it video) will be paired consistently across mobile, laptop, desktop, and home-entertainment systems. New ways of using video--including adding 3D depth or artificial visual overlays--will require more speed, storage, and computational power.
In our preview of technologies that are well on their way to reality, we look at the connective tissue of USB 3.0, 802.11ac, and 802.11ad for moving media--especially video--faster; at HTML5 for displaying video and content of all kinds consistently across all our devices; at augmented reality to see how the digital world will stretch into our physical reality by overlaying what we see with graphics and text; and at 3D TV, which will add image depth and believability to the experience of watching TV.

USB 3.0

The new USB 3.0 standard preserves backward compatibility by allowing older cables to plug into newer jacks; but newer cables like this one have extra pins that boost the data rate to 4.8 gbps.

Before you leave work, you need to back up your computer. You push a button, and 5 minutes later, while you're still packing up, your system has dumped 150GB of data onto an encrypted 512GB superfast solid-state drive, which you eject to take with you for offsite backup. On your way home, you stop at a movie kiosk outside a fast-food restaurant and buy a feature-length 3D video download on sale. You plug in your drive, the kiosk reads your credentials, and while you watch a 90-second preview of coming attractions, the 30GB video transfers onto your SSD. You pull out the drive and head home.

OCZ Agility EX 60GB SLC SSD

OCZ is showing strong commitment to be at the forefront of SSD technology. Over the past year the company has released nearly a dozen different series targeting every possible market, from affordable netbook oriented products to enterprise-grade solid state drives for servers and data warehouses.
They have had a great deal of success with multi-level cell (MLC) drives such as the Vertex we reviewed a few months ago. Priced at $230 for a 60GB unit and $380 for the 120GB version, these drives deliver an excellent balance between performance and capacity at their respective price points.
At the other side of the spectrum, single-level cell (SLC) solid state drives tend to sell for more outrageous prices. For example, those opting for the SLC-based Vertex EX should be prepared to spend well over $1,000 for 120GB of storage. Even the smaller 60GB Vertex EX costs an astronomical $660, meaning that consumers are paying an incredible $11 per gigabyte.
That is a hard figure to swallow considering its MLC counterpart costs a more reasonable $3.80 per gigabyte and today's conventional 1TB HDDs are fetching as little as $0.08 per gigabyte.



However as you may have learned from our previous SSD coverage and comparisons, you cannot simply compare SSDs and traditional HDDs on a cost per gigabyte basis as they are two very different animals.
As far as SLC vs. MLC goes, there are some notable advantages to SLC memory, specifically performance and lifespan advantages that are inherent to the way each type of memory saves data (here's a brief introductory video, but in a nutshell if you want nothing but first-rate transfer speeds and are willing to pay the premium, SLC based drives promise to fit the bill.
OCZ has been working on making this technology a bit kinder on your bank account. Their latest 2.5" consumer drive is known under the Agility EX moniker, and is touted as the most cost-efficient SSD based on single-level cell memory with a cost per gigabyte at around $6.65 -- or 40% less than the Vertex EX.