A-DATA and ASUS Demonstrate Intel Nehalem's DDR3 Performance

ASUS press conference in cooperation with A-DATA
A-DATA DDR3-1600X triple channel overclocked beyond 2000MHz

Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 06, 2008 – The two major players of the IT industry, ASUS and A-DATA announced today at the Taipei Westin Hotel the ultimate overclocking motherboards for the new-generation Intel chipset X58 and A-DATA + Series DDR3-1600 DRAM modules in triple channel, expanding the overclocking market for high performance computer enthusiasts.

This event, releasing jointly with ASUS the latest products not only shows the multiple strategic technological alliance between A-DATA and main MB manufacturers, but also presents, officially, the newest tri-channel kits for overclocking and high-end power users , offering overclocking pros with the newest technology.

Remember the A-DATA DDR3 triple channel memory and the ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard? They are both detailed on our page, but this story aims to show how both parts perform when working coupled with a quad-core Core i7 engineering sample CPU.

The results you're about to see below are achieved by three 1600MHz A-DATAs overclocked to over 2000MHz. The result is system memory read/write speeds of up to the incredible 20515/16946 MB/s. The latency time is also worth mentioning - 22.9ns.

ASUS Rampage II Extreme Support Intel i7

It appears that the ASUS Rampage II Extreme motherboard we spotted last week has been an early sample that was designed for testing only.

Today pictures of the retail version, the one that customers will see from now on appeared. The retail version of Rampage II Extreme will ship with a whole new cooling system, well known from various other Republic of Gamers mainboards, but different from the one we posted earlier.

Aside from the cooling changes, the motherboard will have the same features as we reported here. I can only add the SupremeFX 7.1 sound blaster and the ASUS LED poster to our previous information of extraordinary features.

Sanyo Electric Invents 12x High-Speed Blu-ray Laser

Sanyo Electric Co. said on Monday that it has created a new blue-violet semiconductor laser that might hold the key to the future of Blu-ray. According to the information given by the company, this laser can emit a beam of 450 milliwatts, which is about double the power of Sanyo's current highest-power laser for Blu-ray Disc systems.

The higher power means it can write and read data on discs with up to four data layers and at speeds of up to 12X, Sanyo said. Each recording layer on a Blu-ray Disc can store 25GB of data, and the highest-capacity commercial discs currently have two recording layers.

A four-layer disc would be able to hold 100GB of data, enough to store up to eight hours of 1080p video content. At 12x recording speed writing a four layer 100GB Blu-ray disc will take just around 10 minutes. That's the good part, unfortunately approving the 12x laser from the Blu-ray Disc Association and putting it into mass production can take two or even three years.

Lexar Media Unveils Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 Memory for Enthusiasts and Gamers

Lexar Media announced today the immediate availability of Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333MHz) high-performance, low-latency memory modules. These modules are the first Crucial DDR3 Tracers, and as such they incorporate the company's proprietary activity-indicating Light-Emitting Diodes (LED).

These new modules feature a black printed circuit board (PCB) and black integrated heat spreaders, as well as an additional eight blue ground-effects LEDs that emit constantly, when the system is running.

Crucial is shipping now the Ballistix Tracer DDR3 memory in single 1GB ($54.99) and 2GB ($99.99) modules, as well as in 2GB ($109.99) and 4GB ($199.99) kits. All Tracer DDR3 parts operate at 1333MHz with CL6-6-6-20 latencies and 1.8V.

Razer Ups the Ante With Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition and Razer Arctosa

Razer, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming peripherals, is proud to announce the launch of the Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition and the Razer Arctosa, inspired by fusing both form and function into an ultra-sleek gaming keyboard.

Both gaming keyboards retain the stylistic appeal and main features of the Razer Lycosa, with subtle differences to appeal to different gamer segments.

The Razer Lycosa Mirror Edition is influenced by gamer feedback on the original Razer Lycosa where some gamers eschewed the rubber keytop for enhanced backlighting with clean lines. Razer's reply to that culminated in the Razer Lycosa Mirror Edition. A gaming keyboard like its predecessor, the Razer Lycosa, the differences between them are a high-gloss mirror finish on the former with enhanced backlighting for night gaming. The original award winning Razer Lycosa will still be sold at all major electronics retailers while the Razer Lycosa Mirror Edition will be available in December 2008.

The Razer Arctosa is designed to cater to the minimalist gamer looking for the bare essentials in a gaming keyboard. The Razer Arctosa is a basic version of the Razer Lycosa without the backlight but enhanced with fully macro-programmable and media access keys. The Razer Arctosa comes available in the standard silver-printed key letters but also comes with a black on black edition for gamers who have achieved the art of gaming without looking at their keys. The Razer Arctosa silver on black edition and the Razer Arctosa black on black edition will retail in November 2008 at global stores and online.

"The high-gloss mirror finish of the Razer Lycosa Mirror Special Edition will appeal to the stylistic crowd, while being powered by the exact technology which has catapulted the Razer Lycosa into one of Razer's core-selling products," said Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, president of Razer. He continued "The Razer Arctosa's black on black version is a tribute to style personified. It's a basic gaming keyboard which also looks awesome with any gaming rig."

Lynnfield the Mainstream Nehalem CPU Pictures Emerge

Pictures of the mainstream Nehalem chips otherwise known as Lynnfield have emerged in the asian forum XFastest.

Unlike the Bloomfield that has 1366 pins, Lynnfield has only 1160 pins and lacks the QPI link that the Bloomfield uses for triple channel DDR3.

Instead Lynnfield uses DMI which only supports dual channel DDR3. Check out the link below for even more comparison images.

Mushkin-Exceleram Introduces New DDR3 Kits

Earlier this year, Mushkin acquired Exceleram to expand its technological expertise and manufacturing footprint. Exceleram had been in the business of high-performance gaming system memory modules for quite some time. Post acquisition, Mushkin lets Exceleram products, both current and future, retain the Exceleram brand name and product logos. News is, that the company launched two dual-channel DDR3 memory kits.

The EX3-21800X2-S2 is a 2x 1GB kit, that operates at 1800 MHz DDR, with timings of 8-8-8-24 and DIMM voltage of 1.85~1.90 V. The EX3-41600Q2-SM is a 2x 2GB kit. This is where the bank density eats into other parameters such as timings and frequency. It operates at 1600 MHz DDR, with looser timings of 9-9-9-27. On a positive note, the module voltage has been pushed down to 1.7 V, and it won't be too far-fetched to estimate, that the modules could operate at 1333 MHz at much lower voltages. While there's no word out on the pricing yet, Mushkin on its part states that the products would sell at "unbeatable prices".

ASUS Ready with Workstation-class X58 Motherboards

After flaunting the P6T Series motherboards, and the monstrous Rampage II Extreme, ASUS decided to expand its Bloomfield CPU-supportive motherboard lineup with its workstation-class offerings. ASUS is known for bringing in workstation boards on desktop platforms. They have had Intel 975P based workstation boards, just as they had nForce 590 SLI boards.

These desktop-thru-worksation platforms are usually single CPU socket platforms, with certain workstation features, such as PCI-X interface, enterprise-grade storage controllers, among other features that make them durable and suitable for mission-critical environments. They don't sport enterprise chipsets, and hence carry batch-leading desktop chipsets.

With Nehalem and the new Socket 1366, ASUS did just that, with the inclusion of two single-socket workstation boards. These motherboards, at the outset support the upcoming Core i7 processors, and have the potential to support Xeon processors that use the same socket, or even the same core.

There are two models lined-up: P6T6 WS Revolution and P6T6 WS Pro. The P6T6 WS Revolution is the flagship board. It features six full-length PCI-Express slots, which might have variable number of available PCI-Express lanes, depending on the number of PCI-E cards connected. It features a 16+2 phase CPU power circuit.

The board features the Tylersburg X58 chipset, along with an ICH10 series southbridge. There is passive cooling for the VRM area, northbridge, and a large southbridge block, that could be possibly cooling a supplementary PCI-Express switch chip.

Storage options include Serial-attached SCSI (SAS), SATA II and e-SATA ports.

As for the P6T6 WS Pro, it is a value-ended workstation board. It comes with only two full-length PCI-E x16 slots that have full electrical bandwidth.

It sports two PCI-X slots. It offers essentially the same storage options as the Revolution board. Indications are, that these boards won't be available right upon launch of other X58 chipset boards.

Thermaltake Reveals the XPRESSAR RCS100 Phase-Change Processor Cooling

Back in March 2008, Thermaltake introduced its first phase change cooling prototype. At the time, we were able to reveal only a few pictures, without knowing what was to come. Today Thermaltake said that after four years of research, the company's first DC inverter type micro refrigeration cooling system is finally ready to hit the market. The so-called Thermaltake XPRESSAR utilizes cyclic refrigeration method based on the vapor-compression refrigeration, to take away the heat produced by processors.

Vapor-compression refrigeration systems use a circulating liquid refrigerant as cooling medium which absorbs and removes heat from the space to be cooled and subsequently reject that heat elsewhere. All such systems have four components: a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. For now the XPRESSAR phase-change cooling will be paired with a Xaser VI case and sold as XPRESSAR RCS100.

The total weight of both parts will equal to 22.2kg. Thermaltake ensures that such a system will result in 20ºC better temps than most liquid-based systems, and also be compatible with all Intel LGA775 and LGA1366 (Nehalem) processors (maybe an AMD kit will be released sometime later). More information on the XPRESSAR RCS100 can be found here. Pricing and availability are still to be announced. It's time for the reviews now.

Noctua Releases New CPU Coolers for Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron

Noctua today released four new CPU coolers for Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processors. Optimized for use in dual socket systems, the new DX (Dual Xeon) and DO (Dual Opteron) versions of Noctua's highly successful NH-U12 and NH-U9 series introduce the premium quality quiet cooling performance that has become synonymous with Noctua to the world of professional workstations and servers. "Maximum cooling performance at minimum noise levels and excellent reliability can be particularly important when it comes to high-end workstations and special server applications", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO.

"Due to the ever-growing demand for our Xeon and Socket F mounting kits, we decided to design new, customized versions of our coolers that are completely tailor-made for use on Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron systems, especially dual socket configurations. Enter the DX/DO series!"

Just to name a few examples of the customizations for server and workstation usage, the NH-U12DX's and NH-U9DX's fin shape has been modified so that two coolers form an air duct on Dual Xeon setups, producing superior cooling performance at very low noise levels. Also, the all new SecuFirm2 mounting system for Socket 771 comes completely pre-installed in order to ensure maximum convenience and extremely short installation time. Fully compatible with the original Intel installation system, the new NH-U12DX and NH-U9DX work as a simple drop-in replacement for Intel's stock cooler.

Both the new DX series coolers and the NH-U12DO and NH-U9DO are fitted with Noctua's renowned NF-P12 and NF-B9 fans as well as NT-H1 thermal compound, making them complete premium quality packages that provide outstanding quiet cooling performance for Intel or AMD based workstations and servers.

Availability
All new coolers are available immediately. Bundles can be customized for system integrators.

OCZ Technology Introduces HydroFlow CPU Waterblock

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the “HydroFlow” HF-MK1 Waterblock for superior CPU watercooling. Designed with the highest possible exchange rate between the block and coolant, the HydroFlow can be easily integrated into any enthusiast system and help efficiently lower the processor temperature.

"The HydroFlow HF-MK1 targets the highest possible thermal exchange rate between a solid body and the surrounding fluid, while maintaining enough cross sectional area for superior thermal conductance within the fin structure,” commented Dr. Michael Schuette, V.P. of Technology Development at OCZ Technology. "Additionally, the relieved contact area concentrates the pressure on the actual die area of any processor, thereby minimizing the thermal interface material-induced loss in heat dissipation. In short, the HydroFlow epitomizes the recent advances in fluid cooling at an affordable price.

The triangular fins in the HF-MK1 provide the highest volume to surface ratio of any geometric shape for best dissipation possible, and this special design also creates sufficient turbulence to eliminate the “skin” effect caused by laminar flow. The base block of the HydroFlow increases center contact with the processor core for the greatest possible cooling potential, ensuring maximum exchange and functionality between the waterblock and CPU.

Whether you’re a first-time builder or a seasoned case-modder, OCZ makes the HydroFlow easy to integrate into your rig by supplying both high-flow 3/8” and 1/2” barbs in the packaging without the hassle of searching for compatible hardware. The HydroFlow HF-MK1 is affordable with an MSRP of $39.99, yet a technologically advanced solution to keep your processor functioning at optimal levels.

Elpida, Buffalo Release Prototype DDR3 2400 MHz Memory

Elpida and Buffalo Technologies have unearthed a memory standard never before heard, and thought by many, as the limits of current DDR3 technology, given the silicon fabrication process current DRAM chips are made with. The elusive PC3-19200 standard has been achieved. Elpida has tested stable, a prototype memory module that runs at 2400 MHz DDR (1200 MHz actual clock-rate). The modules use Elpida's 2.5 Gbps DRAM chips.

These speeds, however, come at the cost of latencies and voltages. The module was tested stable at 2400 MHz only at 11-11-11-34, and a voltage of 2.1 V, which is high, by DDR3 standards. However, the module locks a surprise when it comes to the same numbers: The module was tested stable at 2096 MHz, at amazingly low 1.5V, with much tighter timings of 9-10-9-24. The companies wish to put this to mass production soon.

Toshiba Introduces Industry's First 250GB 1.8-inch Mobile HDD

Toshiba Corporation, the industry pioneer in small form factor hard disk drives (HDDs), today announced expansion of its market-leading 1.8-inch lineup with three new high-capacity, high-performance Serial ATA HDDs for mobile PC applications, including the industry's first 250GB) 1.8-inch HDD. Toshiba's third-generation 5,400 RPM SATA 1.8 HDD family also features 120GB and 160GB capacities, along with the throughput power of the SATA 3.0Gb/s interface. In addition, the new series includes Toshiba's state-of-the-art free fall sensor option, which enhances protection from external shock and vibration events by responding to drops as low as five inches in height.

This powerful, high-capacity family further broadens Toshiba's full line of 1.8-inch HDDs to meet the diversified storage needs of both PC and CE manufacturers with products suited to the specific capacity, performance and configuration requirements of each application. Building on Toshiba's recent introduction of PATA 1.8-inch HDDs with up to 240GB capacities, this new SATA 1.8-inch HDD series enables PC manufacturers to further miniaturize notebook designs without sacrificing functionality.

Toshiba's concentration on the 1.8-inch HDD platform and leadership in advanced recording technologies have enabled the company to continually push areal densities, to 378.8Gb/in2 in the new series, and to deliver storage capacities that were previously available only from larger form factor HDDs, while decreasing the power consumption required by the storage device. The new 250GB 1.8-inch HDD (MK2529GSG) achieves a new low of 0.0016 watts-per-GB in energy consumption efficiency). In addition, incorporation of high-performance features, such as SATA 3.0Gb/s and 5,400RPM disc rotation, will bring to all mobile PCs the benefits of a mature, field-proven storage platform supporting longer battery life, increased shock.
With more than 60 million 1.8-inch HDDs shipped, Toshiba has consistently held the number one position) in the 1.8-inch HDD segment since introduction of its first model in 2000.

Toshiba Group, a Corporate Citizen of the Planet Earth, is committed to realizing a better environment. Guided by "Toshiba Group Environmental Vision 2050" the Group is implementing measures to boost environmental efficiency by 10 times in FY2050, against the benchmark of FY2000. The core target is to reduce projected CO2 emissions by a total equivalent to 117.7 million tons a year by FY2025, through the development and sales of highly efficient power supply equipment and systems, and the manufacture of environmentally conscious home appliances and office equipment. By working to mitigate global warming, make efficient use of resources and control management of chemicals, Toshiba Group creates value for people and promotes lifestyles in harmony with the Earth.

Environmentally conscious products
- Halogen Free Product The new drives are Toshiba's first 1.8-inch HDD that achieve chlorine and bromine concentrations below the standard required for recognition as Toshiba environmentally conscious products, an ECP (below 900ppm for each, and an overall total below 1,500ppm).

- Improved energy consumption efficiency. Compared to the 160GB model (MK1617GSG), the new 250GB model (MK2529GSG) improves energy consumption efficiency, as defined under the Japanese legal standard, to 0.0016W/GB, a 43% improvement.

- Lower CO2 emissions during the product lifecycle During their lifecycle, the new drives will lower CO2 emissions by approximately 54g a year4).

- RoHS compatible The new drive complies with the European Union's RoHS directive for eliminating use of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

- The new series meets standards for certification as a standout Toshiba ECP Toshiba is promoting an "Excellent ECP" program to stimulate creation of high value products offering exceptional environmental friendliness. For more information, visit http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/products/index.htm