Legit Reviews News History
Sweden to charge Pirate Bay in copyright case
Sweden plans this week to charge the people running Pirate Bay, one of the world's most visited Web sites, with being accessories in breaking copyright law. Pirate Bay helps Web surfers share copyrighted music and film files, which is illegal in many countries, including Sweden.
Public prosecutor Hakan Roswall said last week he will charge the Swedish site's organizers with accessory and conspiracy to break copyright law, which could lead to fines or up to two years in prison. The charges will be filed in a district court on January 31.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 28, 2008 - 10:05 AM
MSI readying low-cost laptop to rival Asustek Computer's Eee PC
Taiwanese laptop computer maker Micro-Star International (MSI) is already hard at work on an ultra-low cost notebook PC based on Intel's Diamondville microprocessor to compete against rival Asustek Computer's Eee PC.
Asustek created the Eee PC laptop to sell in emerging markets such as India. It carries an Intel Celeron processor, weighs less than a kilogram, has a 7-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) and can connect to the Internet wirelessly. The lowest-priced version costs NT$7,999 (US$248). MSI is working on a similar device for the ultra-low cost notebook market, using an extremely low voltage, low cost microprocessor from Intel called Diamondville. Intel has said it will formally unveil the chip at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai this April.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 28, 2008 - 10:02 AM
Asustek to challenge number six position in worldwide notebook sales
Asustek Computer has set an internal goal to achieve revenues of NT$340 billion (US$10.5 billion) for its own-brand business in 2008, an increase of 50% compared to NT$220 billion in 2007. The notebook segment is expected to contribute over NT$170 billion, accounting for around 50% of total revenues in 2008, on a shipments growth of around 30-40%. If the targets are met the company will grab 6% of the worldwide market and become the sixth largest vendor in the world, according to Jonney Shih, chairman of Asustek, speaking at the company's end-of-year banquet.
Asustek is confident it will achieve its goal of shipping five million Eee PC before the end of 2008, with the low-cost notebooks occupying 10% of the total worldwide notebook market, according to Jerry Shen, president of Asustek. Since the spin-off, the company's OEM business is focusing on expanding its economic scale, while the brand business will focus on profits. The US market will be the biggest contributor to the company's growth in 2008, noted Shih.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 28, 2008 - 10:01 AM
700MHz Auction Update: High Bids Total $3.2 Billion
The high bids totaled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band after three rounds and a day and a half of bidding. That figure is far short of the $10 billion Congress and the FCC expect to raise in the auction, which opened Thursday, but bidding could continue for weeks. In most cases, the high bids don't yet meet the FCC's reserve price set for minimum winning bids.
For sale is 62MHz of spectrum in the 700MHz band. In late 2005, after a decade of debate, Congress passed a law requiring U.S. TV stations to move to all-digital broadcasts and abandon analog spectrum between channels 52 and 69. The deadline for TV stations to end broadcasts in the 700MHz band is February 2009. After three rounds, 906 of the 1,099 available spectrum licenses had bids, with four more licenses receiving bids than at the end of round two late Thursday. High bids had totalled just under $2.8 billion after round 2, and just over $2.4 billion after round one Thursday morning.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 09:25 PM
January 25 News from Around the Web
Find reviews from around the web by visiting our forums, including this review on Patriot Viper Fin DDR3 PC3 12800 2 x 1 GB from OverClockers Club!
"After testing five different sets of DDR3 memory, I must say that the highest clockspeeds that I have attained were with the Patriot Viper Fin PC3 12800, 962FSB (1924MHz) 8-7-7-20. 162FSB worth of overclocking headroom means that with a 1:2 memory divider you will be hard pressed to find a CPU that can outscale this memory. Did I mention that this was done at a 1t command rate? With higher speed rated memory, the expectation is that it will go a little faster and further up the clock speed scale. This does hold true in many instances, though not all. With the voltage requirements for performance DDR3 creeping up and away from the 1.5 volts DDR3 spec, cooling the memory modules needs to be addressed. Patriot designed a special Aluminum-Copper composite (ACC) heatspreader that effectively cooled the modules down. Even with 2.0+ volts running through them they never got warm to the touch. One surprise was the ability to run tighter than stock timings at 1333MHz. I was able to run the modules at 6-5-5-16 with only 1.76 volts. Sweet!"
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 08:20 AM
OCZ Technology Product Store Now Open Online at eCost.com
OCZ Technology Group has announced its hardware solutions are now available at eCost.com, a top online reseller in the United States. By partnering with quality resellers like eCost that offer a wide range of consumer electronics, OCZ’s products will be more accessible to a greater breadth of customers with varying system requirements and budget restrictions.
OCZ offers a complete range of component and system products that cater to everyone from mainstream consumers to enthusiasts; we are proud to partner up with eCost.com to make these solutions readily more available to all consumers,” commented Justin Shong, Sr. VP of Worldwide Sales, OCZ Technology Group. “eCost.com specializes in fast and easy delivery of top tier brands to consumers, and they have a unique and loyal customer base which very closely matches OCZ’s, so by working closely together we are able to offer the very best combination of top notch products, service, and support to our customers.”
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 08:01 AM
AMD to base Fusion on Phenom - Dual-Core Fusion CPU's Coming In 2009
Advanced Micro Devices gave further details of its upcoming Fusion processor, saying it will be based on the design of a microprocessor used in the desktops currently shipping to enthusiast PC users such as gamers. The Fusion chip, which will combine a graphics processing unit and CPU on one chip, will be a redesign of the company's current Phenom processor, said Patrick Moorhead, vice president of advanced marketing at AMD, in an interview. However, the Fusion chip will witness significant design changes from the current iteration of Phenom, Moorhead said. The first Fusion chips will be released as dual-core CPUs for notebooks, followed by quad-core CPUs for notebooks, Moorhead said. The dual-core notebook processors will be available in the second half of 2009, said John Taylor, an AMD spokesman. The company didn't provide a timeline for the quad-core chips.
The Fusion chip, code-named Swift, will be shrunk from the Phenom core and be optimized for use in a notebook, Moorhead said. The optimization will focus on making the chip more power-efficient while increasing graphics capabilities, Moorhead said. The graphics processing unit on the Fusion chip will include multiple "mini-cores" that breaks down code from a program, like 3-D games, to process data faster, said John Taylor, an AMD spokesman. Fusion's graphics processor will be based on a graphics card AMD plans to release in the near future, Taylor said, declining to give details.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 07:59 AM
Microsoft updates Vista SP1 test build - SP1 RC Refresh 2
Microsoft said on Thursday that it has released another updated test version of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. The company said that the new version, dubbed "Windows Vista SP1 RC Refresh 2," has been released to about 15,000 beta testers. The code is not being made available publicly, Microsoft said.
The product is still on track to be finalized this quarter, Microsoft said, while offering its standard caveat. "The final release date is based on quality, so we will continue to track customer and partner feedback from the beta program before setting a final date," the company said. Earlier this month, Microsoft released the first refresh to the release candidate of Vista SP1, first to about 15,000 testers and later to the public.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 07:57 AM
AMD to showcase upcoming Phenom CPUs at CeBIT 2008
Due to the TLB (translation lookaside buffer) bug, AMD has postponed the launch of its upcoming quad-core Phenom 9700 CPU to the second quarter of 2008, however the company is planning to showcase the CPU at CeBIT 2008 in March along with 9900 and 9100e models, according to sources at motherboard makers.
AMD is confident that it has solved the bug in the B3 stepping revision, but since the company has not yet revealed an actual shipment date for the three CPUs, it is unclear whether the showcase will also mark their official launch, noted the sources.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 07:56 AM
Microsoft Quarterly Profit Rises 79 Percent
Microsoft signaled confidence to a rattled stock market by raising its full-year earnings outlook above Wall Street targets and reporting a 79 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday.
Microsoft Corp. today announced second quarter records for revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share of $16.37 billion, $6.48 billion and $0.50, respectively. Compared to the year ago period, these figures represent growth of 30%, 87% and 92% for revenue, operating income and diluted earnings per share, respectively. Results in the prior year were impacted by the deferral of $1.64 billion of revenue and operating income and $0.11 of diluted earnings per share from the second to the third quarter of fiscal 2007, due primarily to technology guarantee programs. Without these deferrals, second quarter growth rates for revenue, operating income and earnings per share would be 15%, 27% and 32%, respectively.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 25, 2008 - 07:53 AM
HP launches dc7800 Ultra-Slim Business Desktop with SSD
Hewlett-Packard Wednesday introduced a business desktop with a slim form factor that packs a flash-based solid-state drive, giving the system faster boot times than PCs with hard drives. The HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra-Slim Business Desktop, dubbed by HP as its smallest enterprise desktop model, provides improved power efficiency and support for tools, including Intel's vPro, that makes it easier to manage PCs.
A 16GB SSD will be available with the system, although users can select hard drives with storage capacities of up to 160GB when buying the product. The system includes support for TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 1.2, a hardware-based authentication technology for system security. The Compaq dc7800 Ultra-Slim Business Desktop runs Intel's Core 2 Duo, Celeron D or Pentium processors, and supports Intel's vPro technology, a platform that helps service and manage PCs. It comes with Gigabit Ethernet and an integrated Intel graphics media accelerator. Users can select between the Windows Vista, Windows XP or FreeDos operating systems. Pricing for the desktop, which is available now, starts at $1,258 with the solid-state drive.
Posted by | Thu, Jan 24, 2008 - 08:42 AM
NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT Launch Delayed
According to techPowerUp, NVIDIA has informed their partners that the launch of the GeForce 9600 GT has been pushed back by one week from February 14th to February 21st due to a voltage issue with the reference cards, which may cause some systems to ‘hang’ in certain situations. Legit Reviews has contacted NVIDIA about this claim and has not heard back from them.
Here's the notice: We've seen a small percentage of 9600 GT NVTTM boards exhibiting a voltage transient on the NVDD power supply during certain applications
Posted by | Thu, Jan 24, 2008 - 08:30 AM
KDE goes cross-platform with Windows, Mac OS X support
The open-source KDE desktop environment is making the jump across platforms with broad support for Windows and Mac OS X. The core KDE desktop programs, the KOffice suite, and the Amarok music player are actively being ported.
These efforts are largely made possible by the inherent portability of Trolltech's Qt development toolkit, the underlying framework used by KDE software. Qt is designed for cross-platform portability and even uses native widgets on both Windows and Mac OS X. Trolltech uses a multi-licensing model that makes Qt available under the GPL for open-source software development and requires programmers to buy a commercial license for proprietary development. Previously, only Mac OS X and Linux/X11 versions were available under the GPL, but Trolltech decided to make the Windows version available under the GPL too with the introduction of Qt 4. This finally opened the door for porting open-source KDE applications to the Windows operating system.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 06:28 PM
IBM buys AptSoft to expand Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)
BM said Wednesday it is expanding its broad SOA (service-oriented architecture) portfolio with the acquisition of AptSoft, a maker of business event processing software. AptSoft's products will sit in IBM's WebSphere line.
Also known as complex event processing (CEP), business event processing is seen as a key technology driver for the next generation of SOA. The software analyzes vast amounts of system events in real time, searching for trends and anomalies -- "complex events" -- that may impact the business, and triggers a response process if one is found. For example, the technology could be used by an online gaming site to spot malfeasance among the torrent of transactions that occur each second, or by a trading firm to track minute changes in stock price activity among various markets, IBM said in a statement.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 02:28 PM
SAP and Intel invest $15 million in Endeca
Endeca Technologies announced Wednesday it landed a $15 million investment from industry titans Intel and SAP, signaling yet another sign that enterprise search is gaining serious traction. That investment appears a bargain, compared to the price Microsoft is paying for search company Fast Search & Transfer.
For Endeca, this $15 million investment adds to the more than $50 million the company has raised to date. Back in 2001, for example, Endeca raised a $15 million second round of funding from Ampersand Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Venrock Associates. In this latest funding round, Intel alone is kicking in $10 million, the chip giant said. That leaves SAP with the remaining $5 million tab. And, of course, these corporate titans are looking to get something out of their investment.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 02:27 PM
ECS changes strategy to cut into higher-end motherboard market
Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) will change its motherboard strategy this year to focus on more higher-end products, according to sources at motherboard makers. Due to limited growth in the entry-level market, ECS has recently changed some of its PCB and port layouts to suit higher-end markets while also adding unique functions to its motherboards. With the changes, the company expects to grab a modest share in the mid-range and high-end markets.
Some channel vendors think that if ECS is serious about cutting into the higher-end market it will need to completely change its brand image to have a chance of competing with the other first-tier motherboard makers. However, other vendors pointed out that ECS used to be the leading motherboard maker, and so if the company is aggressive over its R&D and management it could be possible for the company to win back its position in the high-end market.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 02:25 PM
Sony Delays Japan Launch of Skype on PSP
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has delayed the launch of the Skype service for PSP users just 24 hours before it was due to launch. Sony blames "technical problems" of the microphone as the reason behind the delay.
Sony's game unit said earlier this month it would start offering Skype software for downloading onto the latest PSP model, enabling PSP users to make free Web-based phone calls to other PSP users and to users of PCs equipped with Skype software.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 11:30 AM
January 23 News from Around the Web
Find reviews from around the web by visiting our forums! The following exerpt comes from HardOCP:
Overclocked GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB Roundup - We've gathered 3 add-in-board partner overclocked GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB video cards from 3 of today's biggest video card makers to see which has the better value in terms of gameplay experience!
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 11:24 AM
Movie Industry Admits It Lied About Piracy On Campus
So it turns out the the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been caught in a lie that they have been claiming for more than two years: that more than 44% of all illegal downloading occurred on college campuses. The MPAA claims that this gross overstatement was due to human error. Right. Of course their original claims forced campuses to put the clamps on most all forms of Peer-2-Peer software.
The math was wrong by a factor of three; the new estimate is down to 15 percent of the industry’s losses. The A.P. deemed that a “mistake” in its headline, while bloggers joyously chose words like “bogus,” “botched,” “grossly inflated” and “lying” in theirs. The M.P.A.A. said the original figure, from a 2005 study, was wrong because of “human error,” without elaborating.
New York Times Technology News
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 10:55 AM
Plasma Panel market Starts Flowing Again in Q3
After two slow quarters, Plasma Display Panel (PDP) shipments bounce back during the third quarter of 2007 due to increased consumer demand driven by rapid price declines, according to research firm iSuppli.
Looking at the big-three suppliers of PDPs, Matsushita (Panasonic) maintained its lead in the third quarter of 2007 with a 30.2% share of unit shipments, followed by Samsung SDI with 29.1% and LG Electronics with 28.9%. The top-3 PDP makers in the third quarter accounted for 88.1% of total production and are likely to maintain this commanding position in the market for the next five years, according to iSuppli.
Posted by | Wed, Jan 23, 2008 - 09:50 AM
Microsoft dumps Vista virtualization limits
Microsoft Corp. on Monday dropped its prohibition on running the least-expensive versions of Windows Vista in virtual machines, doubling the choices for Macintosh owners who run the rival operating system in VMware Inc.'s Fusion or Parallels Inc.'s Parallels.
Beginning immediately, Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium can be run in a virtualized environment, Microsoft said Monday. The pair are the cheapest editions of the operating system available at retail, selling in full versions for $199 and $239, respectively. Previously, Microsoft only allowed Vista Business ($299) and Vista Ultimate ($399) to be installed in a virtual machine (VM).
Posted by | Tue, Jan 22, 2008 - 05:29 PM
World of Warcraft Reaches 10 Million Subscribers
With the developoment already under way on World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that subscribership for its World of Warcraft franchise has climbed to over 10 million worldwide. World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade(R), the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.(a) In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.
Posted by | Tue, Jan 22, 2008 - 03:33 PM
HBO To Test Online Movies
It seems that more and more players are entering the "on demand" market. Besides all the cable companies, we now have Apple iTunes, and Apple TV, Netflix on demand. Now Home Box Office (HBO) announced that they will be offering their movies and their original television series available via the internet.
First, the basics: You can watch the live HBO feed online, choose from more than 350 movies, and download and store such TV shows as Sex & the City, The Sopranos, and Entourage. It will set reminders for you when things are on, allow you to preset to record movies and TV shows when they air on the cable network, and suggest new stuff that maybe you would like to watch.
Posted by | Tue, Jan 22, 2008 - 01:25 PM
eBay CEO stepping down
After 10 years, the eBay chief looks to be stepping down. Maybe eBay can pay her replacement less and lower the fees consumers are paying!
EBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman is preparing to retire. In the past few months, Ms. Whitman, who has led the San Jose, Calif., Internet auctioneer since March 1998, has been delegating more daily responsibilities to her lieutenants and is completing her succession planning, say people familiar with the matter. A decision about her departure could come within weeks, though the situation remains fluid, say these people.
Posted by | Tue, Jan 22, 2008 - 10:56 AM
Hundreds of layoffs planned at Yahoo
Since YAHOO's co-founder Jerry Yang has stepped up and replaced Terry Semel as CEO, he has had to deal with tougher competition and pressure from Shareholders and Wall Street to shed as much as 25% of its work force. With layoffs and efforts toward pleasing regular users, Internet publishers, advertisers and developers some analysts say it may not be enough to fend off the competition!
Yahoo is planning to lay off hundreds of people as part of an effort to refocus its sprawling Internet services to compete with rivals like Google and Facebook, according to a source close to the company. It's unclear whether the cuts will be deep enough to satisfy Wall Street, which has been urging the Internet company to shed as much as 25 percent of its workforce of about 14,000. More than half of those employees are based outside of the Sunnyvale headquarters.
Posted by | Tue, Jan 22, 2008 - 02:58 AM
VMware Versus Microsoft - Let the Battle Begin!
Microsoft has recently announced it interest in pursuing the virtualization market that is today dominated by VMware. A new report from Forrester Research claims that Microsoft is organizing a huge amount of resources into creating - at the very least - a data center model that can respond dynamically and quickly to the needs of business.
But clearly a fire has been lit under Microsoft, which was comparatively late to the virtualization game, despite its 2003 purchase of Connectix. The moves come as virtualization is entering the mainstream on the server side and a looming presence on the desktop. Forrester said a recent survey showed half of businesses using server virtualization currently, with two-thirds planning to by next year.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 09:06 PM
EA To Release Free Battlefield Title
Electronic Arts, Inc. announced that beginning this summer, Battlefield Heroes will be available for free to users. This all new "Play 4 Free" cartoon-style shooter will bring classic Battlefield gameplay to a new audience that is targeted by EA's new web-focused free to download, free to play business model.
“Online gaming garners a massive audience,” said Gerhard Florin, EVP Publishing Americas-Europe at EA. “People want to play games in new ways, with easier access that is quick to the fun. With Battlefield Heroes, EA brings its first major franchise to North America and Europe with a new distribution model and pricing structure adapted to the evolving way that people play.”
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 08:53 PM
GIGABYTE Launches Numerous Dynamic Energy Saver Motherboards
GIGABYTE has just announced the launch of their full range of Dynamic Energy Saver motherboards, including X48, X38 and P35-based motherboards, delivering unparalleled power savings of up to 70% and up to 20% improved power efficiency with the simple click of a button. Unlike traditional power designs that keep all power phases active at all times no matter what the loading, GIGABYTE’s Dynamic Energy Saver features multiple gears, allowing the CPU to maintain optimum power efficiency from light all the way to heavy loading. In a traditional power phase design, each gear needs to operate at less than optimum efficiency, causing gaps in power efficiency. With the ability to switch on and off gears before they start to loose efficiency, GIGABYTE’s Dynamic Energy Saver is able to provide up to 20% improved power efficiency.
“With more than one year of intensive design and testing, GIGABYTE’s Dynamic Energy Saver represents a truly amazing revolution in motherboard development,” said Johnson Lin, CEO GIGABYTE UNITED INC . “With one little click, users are able to take advantage of up to 70% CPU power savings without sacrificing computing performance. Imagine the potential for power savings on a global scale if every motherboard in the world was able to provide similar power savings.”
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 04:54 PM
IBM and SAP to develop joint software
Services and software companies IBM and SAP, longtime technology partners, will bring out their first joint software product in the fourth quarter of this year, the two companies said on Monday. The product, codenamed Atlantic, will allow users to access SAP's Business Suite applications for workflows, reporting and analytics through IBM's Lotus Notes desktop software.
U.S.-based IBM and Germany's SAP, which was founded by five former IBM employees, have collaborated for 35 years. IBM is the world's largest integrator of SAP's business-management software, SAP software is certified for IBM servers and SAP's favored development database is an IBM one. The two companies, which have been the target of repeated merger speculation, said their thousands of mutual customers had asked for the functions that Atlantic software will supply.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 12:53 PM
Microsoft targets VMware with new strategy
Microsoft has acquired a start-up company called Calista Technologies and expanded its alliance with Citrix Systems, targeting VMware's early lead in virtualization technology. Microsoft unveiled the news on Monday as part of a broader call to arms against VMware that includes adopting virtualization technology, which allows one computer to act like many "virtual" machines, across its core software lines.
Virtualization is one of the most talked-about technologies in the software industry, because it disrupts the traditional business model that marries one machine to one piece of software like an operating system. The technology allows companies to save on hardware costs by running existing equipment more efficiently. Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said it acquired Calista for an undisclosed sum. Calista designs technology that helps compress and deliver "virtualized" desktops running on a remote computer server.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 12:51 PM
Another Intel dual-core Celeron in 2Q08
Having recently launching its first dual-core Celeron E1000 series CPU, E1200, Intel is ready to launch another family member with a faster core frequency in the second quarter of 2008, according to sources at motherboard makers. Intel is planning to launch E1400 with a core frequency of 2GHz, 800MHz FSB, L2 cache of 512KB, and maximum TDP of 65W. The chip is based on a 65nm Conroe core and supports Intel 64, XD Bit (Execute Disable Bit) and Speed Step technology. Pricing will be set at US$53 in a thousand-unit tray quantities.
In the first quarter of 2008, Intel will let the dual-core Celeron E1200 and single-core Celeron 440, 430 and 420 defend the entry-level segment, while in the second quarter, the company will let the Celeron E1400, 440 and 430 continue the job, while phasing out the E1200 and 420. During its first quarter of sales, the Celeron E1000 series accounted for around 3% of Intel's total desktop CPU shipments, and the ratio will not exceed 10% in 2008. The series is expected to completely replace single-core Celerons by the second quarter of 2009, noted the sources.
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 10:32 AM
January 21 News from Around the Web
Find reviews from around the web, including this review on the Asus Blitz Extreme from OCC, by visiting our forums!
"I never thought I would be able to pull more performance out of my existing hardware. My CPU has hit walls from 440 to 470 FSB on other boards but usually I could coax another 5 FSB from it with extreme voltages. As it turns out, the old Quad had a little more life left in it after all. 490 x 7 was stable in Memtest 1.70 but would crash upon loading Windows. Lowering the clocks a little further resulted in a boot into Windows at 484 x 7. Not only did this clock speed boot into Windows, but was Prime 95 stable for over 24 hours as well. Voltages on the northbridge, CPU and CPU PLL were increased to gain stability at this clockspeed. A nice little feature in the BIOS is the color coding of the miscellaneous voltages. Green, of course, for normal, Yellow for high and Red for crazy. This gives you an indication of what levels Asus thinks are "safe" and which are not. Overclocking the memory did not require a whole lot of tweaking to get the memory to perform. By focusing on the CPU clocks I ran the memory slower than it is capable of. This memory does indeed push to 940MHz on this board with timings of 8-7-6-20 at 1.96volts. Pushing the limits on the Asus Blitz Extreme was not a problem. The crash recovery requires just a shutdown and reboot. This takes you back to the default settings, so the next boot is trouble free. Kind of refreshing if you ask me. If it does get to the point where the simple reboot does not work, there is always the clear CMOS button on the I/O panel just in case. The final clock speed of 484 x 7 is the most "Extreme" clockspeed that my Q6600 has ever been able to achieve."
Posted by | Mon, Jan 21, 2008 - 09:05 AM
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT Benchmarked For The First Time
PCOnline has leaked out benchmarks on the GeForce 9600 GT nearly a month before its launch, which is Feb 14th according to the site. If you want to take a look at early drivers on the GeForce 9600 GT then this article is for you. NVIDIA will have many more drivers for the GeForce 9600 GT, so performance will be going up from these initial drivers.
NVIDIA on February 14 Valentine's Day will release a core code-named G94's GeForce 9600GT cards from the month are released, we PConline Evaluation Room has access to the fastest pace this GeForce 9600GT, Below We will bring detailed evaluation ......
Posted by | Sun, Jan 20, 2008 - 11:03 AM
Wii Continues to Lead Console Sales in U.S.
With the sales of videogame software in the US growing 36% during December of last year, data from the NPD Group shows that Nintendo's Wii console is the king of the hill with sales of 1.35 million units for the month. Second was Microsoft's Xbox 360 with 1.26 million units sold and 797,600 units moved by Sony's PlayStation 3. The report notes that Sony has seen a dramatic increase the last two months as the price point for the console been lowered and news of rival format HD DVD's struggle is reported.
The Wii finished the year as the top-selling console, with nearly 6.3 million units sold domestically. That compares to 4.6 million units for the Xbox 360 and nearly 2.6 million units for the PS3 for the year, according to NPD data. For the year, "Halo 3" from Microsoft was the best-selling game title with more than 4.8 million units moved in the U.S. "Wii Play" moved more than 4.1 million units for the year while "Call of Duty 4" sold three million units.
Posted by | Sun, Jan 20, 2008 - 12:08 AM
Blu-ray Dominates HD DVD Since Warner Bros. Defection
Sony's Blu-ray disc sales beat rival format HD DVD following the week of Warner Bros.’ defection from the HD DVD according to the latest retail data from Nielsen VideoScan. In the released data, Blu-ray titles accounted for 85% of the high-def market a week following the Warner Bros. Blu-ray exclusivity announcement.
Home Media Magazine is reporting that of the top ten high-def discs sold on either format, not a single HD DVD disc made the list, with the top-selling HD DVD disc ('The Kingdom') moving only one tenth as many units as the best selling Blu-ray title, '3:10 to Yuma.'
Posted by | Fri, Jan 18, 2008 - 09:49 AM
China Internet users top 200 million
The number of Internet users in China soared past 200 million in 2007, a new report from the country's quasi-government Internet overseer said Thursday. China's Internet population stood at 210 million at the end of last year, up 53 percent from the same time in 2006 when there were 137 million, the China Internet Network Information Centre said in its semi-annual report on Internet use.
That figure puts China just 5 million users away from becoming the world's largest wired nation -- and with only about 16 percent of the population online. At its current growth rate, China will become the world's top Internet market sometime in the next few months.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 18, 2008 - 09:18 AM
U.S. game sales rise 28 percent in December
U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 28 percent in December from a year earlier as holiday shoppers snapped up new consoles like Nintendo Co Ltd's top-selling Wii, market research firm NPD said on Thursday.
"While I wouldn't count on similar growth in 2008, I would expect to see ... more growth proportionately coming from software sales," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in written commentary on the data. "While we will continue to see strong hardware sales, particularly if prices come down again, the spotlight now turns from hardware to software."
Posted by | Fri, Jan 18, 2008 - 09:16 AM
Intel aiming to almost double notebook CPU shipments by 2011
Intel plans to agrresively expand its shipments of notebook CPUs aiming to almost double its total of 2007 within the next few years, according to sources close to the company. Since Intel launched its Centrino platform in 2003, shipments have grown from 38 million notebook CPUs in the first year to 79 million in 2006. In 2007, shipments surpassed 100 million units, and in 2008, with the help of the Montevina platform, the company expects shipments to reach 123 million units.
In 2008, Intel will push into WiMAX with plans to support the wireless technology in its Montivina and MID (mobile Internet device) platforms, according to sources at notebooks makers. Intel will launch several networking products: a Wi-Fi/WiMAX mixed wireless module 5350/5150 (3x3 AGN MC) codenamed Echo Peak, a Wi-Fi only module 5300/5100 (3x3 AGN MC/HMC) codenamed Shirley Peak, 82567LF Gigabit LAN codenamed Boazman and 82567LM Gigabit LAN for digital office applications in the second quarter this year along with Montevina, noted the sources. In addition, Montivina will also be accompanied by the launch of 2GB and 4GB versions Intel's Turbo Memory technology, the sources added.
Posted by | Fri, Jan 18, 2008 - 09:13 AM
Seagate net profit triples; disks in tight supply
With demand out pacing factory capacity for disks, Seagate has beaten Reuters estimates of $.70 per share by $.03 (Including after merger charges) on revenues that rose 14%!
Seagate Technology on Thursday reported a near tripling of quarterly profit, fueled by mounting demand for hard disk drives from businesses and consumers that left its plants short of supply. The world's data storage market leader posted a net profit for the second-fiscal quarter ended December 28 of $403 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, compared with the year ago quarter's profit of $140 million, or 23 cents per share.
Posted by | Thu, Jan 17, 2008 - 04:01 PM
AMD Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Results
AMD today reported fourth quarter 2007 revenue of $1.770 billion, an 8 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2007 and flat compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. In the fourth quarter of 2007, AMD reported a net loss of $1.772 billion, or $3.06 per share, and an operating loss of $1.678 billion. Fourth quarter net loss included charges of $1.675 billion, or $2.89 per share, of which $1.669 billion were operating charges. The non-cash portion of the fourth quarter charges was $1.606 billion. In the third quarter of 2007, AMD reported revenue of $1.632 billion, a net loss of $396 million, and an operating loss of $226 million. In the fourth quarter of 20062, AMD reported revenue of $1.773 billion, a net loss $576 million, and an operating loss of $529 million.
For the year ended December 29, 2007, AMD achieved revenue of $6.013 billion, a 6 percent increase from 20062. The fiscal 2007 net loss was $3.379 billion. Included in the 2007 net loss were non-cash charges of $2.007 billion. AMD reported revenue of $5.649 billion and a net loss of $166 million for fiscal 20062.
Posted by | Thu, Jan 17, 2008 - 04:00 PM
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