Empowering consumers to get elite-level computing performance for under $900 U.S. dollars, AMD today launched "Dragon" platform technology for desktop PCs featuring the new AMD Phenom II X4 processor. Even the most demanding users such as enthusiasts and high-end gamers desire affordable systems capable of delivering HD entertainment, graphic-intensive game play at the highest settings their monitors can handle, as well as quick and easy transfer of video entertainment to and from mobile devices. Dragon platform technology provides the power to do it all by combining AMD's highest-performing CPU, the AMD Phenom II X4 processor, with award winning ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series graphics and AMD 7-Series chipsets. And it's offered at an incredible value with Dragon-based systems available for up to $1,200 U.S. dollars less than competing systems that deliver comparable performance.

Leading global PC manufacturers HP, Dell and Alienware plan to offer Dragon platform technology-based desktop systems in the first quarter of 2009, with Dell offering immediate availability in its Dell XPS desktop line. "The XPS 625 desktop powered by AMD's Dragon platform technology features new AMD Phenom II processors to enable a significant boost in speed for enhanced gaming, as well as the flexibility to enable multi-tasking and HD video capabilities free from delays, stalls and lags," said Arthur Lewis, general manager of Dell Gaming Group. "The XPS 625 gives gamers the unbelievable experience they expect at a price point that won't break the bank."

Mushkin today announced a new DDR2 800 MHz, 2x 2GB dual-channel memory kit, the XP2 series model 996580X2. The product targeted at the mainstream thru value segments. Mushkin adopted a simplistic product design which includes two modules without heatspreaders. The modules operate at voltages between 2 and 2.1V and DRAM timings of 4-4-4-12. The modules use an 8-layer black coloured PCB to reduce electronic noise. Mushkin plans to sell this kit for 46 to 49 Euros including taxes.

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the Flex EX memory series, featuring breakneck speeds demanded by enthusiasts in an updated compact form factor to maximize memory configurations on your motherboard. These premium high-density modules operate at incredibly fast DDR2 and DDR3 speeds to run the latest memory-intensive games and applications, and offer enthusiasts the thermal management necessary for the stability and performance on high-end gaming and overclocking systems.

A-DATA Technology, a worldwide leader in high performance memory products, introduces today its entire XPG Gaming Series which represents the very best of A-DATA's cutting edge technology in gaming memories, delivering the perfect blend of performance, durability and stability with low power consumption. XPG Gaming Series features highest reliability and fulfills exceptional requirements for high-end modules at a very attractive, low price.

GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards today is pleased to announce support for the soon-to-be-released AMD 45nm processors including socket AM3 and AM2+ on a full range of current platforms including the AMD 790FX, 790GX, 790X, 770, 780G, 740G as well as the NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI and GeForce 8200.

With a simple BIOS upgrade, GIGABYTE delivers an easy upgrade path for users wanting to take advantage of AMD's latest 45nm process technology enhancements including higher core clocks with greater energy efficiency over past generations, integrated DDR2/DDR3 memory controller (DDR3 memory support for AM3 processors and AM3 designed motherboards only), HyperTransport 3.0 and C1E enhanced power savings.

Nanya Technology Corporation, one of the worldwide leading DRAM manufacturers, today announced it is shipping 800MHz DDR2 registered dual in-line memory module (RDIMM) designed specifically for the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor, to help optimize performance of high-end server systems and workstation applications.
"Nanya worked closely with AMD on the launch of the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor (codenamed "Shanghai") to ensure that Nanya DDR2 800 RDIMM would take advantage of the dramatic enhancements in energy efficiency and performance enabled by the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors," said Dr. Pei Lin Pai, Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing and Spokesman of Nanya Technology Corporation.

Kingston Technology Company announced today that it is starting to ship select DDR2 and DDR3 HyperX memory modules with its new T1 heatspreaders. The taller heatspreaders utilize HyperX Thermal Xchange (HTX) technology to further diffuse heat buildup when overclocking. HTX technology is the latest innovation from Kingston's engineers. It includes bigger heatspreaders made of heavy-duty extruded aluminum and extended fins for maximum thermal conductivity. The new series includes both dual and triple channel kits. All Kingston HyperX products are backed by a lifetime warranty and free 24/7 technical support, the HyperX T1 series makes no exception.

• KHX16000D3T1K3/3GX - 3GB 2000MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) DDR3 kit of 3 optimized for XMP - $ 435.00
• KHX14900D3T1K3/3GX - 3GB 1866MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) DDR3 kit of 3 optimized for XMP - $ 403.00
• KHX14400D3T1K3/3GX - 3GB 1800MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 1.65v) DDR3 kit of 3 optimized for XMP - $ 397.00
• KHX16000D3T1K2/2GN - 2GB 2000MHz (CL9-9-9-27 @ 2.0v) DDR3 kit of 2 NVIDIA SLI-ready - $ 295.00
• KHX14400D3T1K2/2G - 2GB 1800MHz (CL8-8-8-24 @ 1.9v) DDR3 kit of 2 - $ 279.00
• KHX8500D2T1K2/4G - 4GB 1066MHz (CL5-5-5-15 @ 2.2-2.3v) DDR2 kit of 2 - $ 177.00
• KHX6400D2T1K2/2G - 2GB 800MHz (CL5-5-5-15 @ 2.0v) DDR2 kit of 2 - $ 55.00

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today announced it has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting the commencement of an investigation pertaining to NVIDIA products. The complaint seeks an exclusion order barring the importation, sale for importation, or sale after importation of products that infringe nine Rambus patents from the Ware and Barth families of patents. The accused products include NVIDIA products that incorporate DDR, DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR, GDDR, GDDR2, and GDDR3 memory controllers, including graphics processors, and media and communications processors.

Patriot Memory, a global provider of premium quality memory modules and flash memory solutions, has decided to add some color to its Viper memory kits by bundling them with Futuremark's 3DMark Vantage benchmarking software. The bundle offers selected Patriot high-performance DDR2 and DDR3 Viper series gaming memory kits with the Advanced Edition of Vantage and even better, the software comes preloaded on a Patriot 2GB Xporter Razzo USB flash which is also included in the bundle. The product bundles are listed below:

• PVS32G2000LLKNB - DDR3 2GB 2000MHz Low Latency (9-9-9-24) with NVIDIA EPP 2.0 support
• PVS32G1800LLKNB - DDR3 2GB 1800MHz Low Latency (8-8-8-20) with NVIDIA EPP 2.0 support
• PVS34G1333LLKB - DDR3 4GB 1333MHz Low Latency (7-7-7-20)
• PVS24G8500ELKNB - DDR2 4GB 1066MHz Enhanced Latency (5-5-5-15) with NVIDIA EPP support
• PVS24G6400LLKNB - DDR2 4GB 800MHz Low Latency (4-4-4-12) with NVIDIA EPP support

Elpida Memory, Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), announced today that it has developed a shrunken version of its 1-gigabit DDR2 SDRAM that delivers 20% more chips from a single 300mm wafer. Volume production of the new shrunken chip is expected to begin before the end of 2008 and will be shared among Elpida's Hiroshima Plant, its Taiwan-based Rexchip joint venture and its manufacturing partner PSC.

AMD would be releasing its first desktop processors based on the 45nm silicon fabrication process, based on the newer Deneb core. The company is said to have made several tweaks to the original K10 design and equipped the core with 300% the amount of L3 cache as its 65nm Agena parts. The only thing got us wondering was what would be its nomenclature like? Well, be surprised to know that after Phenom X4 9000 series, the company plans to continue the numbering with a 5-digit model number scheme with x1000 unit deviations between models. A rather confusing naming scheme, as suggested by the chart provided, seems to have been adopted.

It is now clear, that there will be two distinct kinds of Phenom X4 45nm chips: those which continue support for DDR2 memory on the existing AM2/AM2+ sockets, and those which are exclusive to the AM3 socket and feature support for DDR3 memory, DDR3 1333MHz at that. The processors would feature dual 64-bit memory controllers, which could be ganged for a single 128-bit wide memory interface, or un-ganged to step up multi-tasking efficiency.

ASUS prepared a new entry-level video card based on the GeForce 9400 GT with 1 GB memory. The EN9400GT/HTP/1G card from ASUS comes equipped with 1 GB of DDR2 memory. The card is based on the entry-level GeForce 9400 GT graphics core. The core is clocked at 550 MHz with 800 MHz for the memory and 1375 MHz for the shaders, 16 in number. It uses a 128-bit wide memory interface. The card supports NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU technology and features standard DVI, D-Sub and S-Video/Composite outputs. Given the performance band GeForce 9400 GT falls in, features such as 1 GB of memory and SLI make it a novelty product aimed at the entry-level market.

Although DDR3 is around the corner, high-quality institution Corsair is still trying to release top DDR2 kits. RAM-hungry users, seeking for the best memory out there will be glad to know that as of next month, a new 8GB quad kit from Corsair will be released. Corsair's Q2X8G6400C4DHX 8GB DDR2 kit will consist of four 2GB modules matched to work together at 800MHz, and at the low latencies of CL4-4-4-12. All modules will also employ Corsair's Dual-Path Heat Xchange (DHX) technology. Pricing information will be available when the kit is officially released.

Kingston Technology Company, the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is first to release high performance, ultra low-latency 800MHz notebook memory. Shipping immediately in 4GB memory kits, the HyperX PC2-6400 CL4 SO-DIMMs offer the additional benefit of Serial Presence Detect (SPD) capabilities to provide performance benefits to a wider array of notebooks.

US based memory maker GeIL has recently unveiled that it will make use of DBT (Die-hard Burn-in Technology) when manufacturing not only its DDR2 SO-DIMMs but also the Black Dragon and BD EVO ONE Gaming series of DDR2 memory modules. Thanks to DBT every module of the above series will go through a series of burn-in tests to detect if there are any early failures. The proces quarantees to improve the overall product quality of GeIL memories and minimize the chance of getting defect GeIL memory to minimum. The DBT process is conducted in GeIL's own designed burn-in chamber called DBT-1. Inside it, 1000 pieces of modules are slotted onto DRAM controller boards. The modules are then dynamically tested by own-designed testing software simultaneously. DBT-1 can elevate the testing temperature up to 100 °C and maintain a full 24 hours of burn-in testing. GeIL will be announcing the following product lines that are scheduled to adopt DPT in the near future.

Gigabyte has given all its DDR2-supportive motherboards based on the Intel P45 and P43 chipsets a BIOS upgrade with which they now support assured overlocking headroom till DDR2 1333+ for the P45 series and DDR2 1200+ for the P43 series, with the "+" denoting it could go higher. DDR2 1333 and DDR2 1200 memory would be natively supported by the motherboards. The following motherboards benefit from the BIOS update.

Gigabyte Intel P45 Motherboards:
GA-EP45-DQ6
GA-EP45-DS5
GA-EP45-DS4P
GA-EP45-DS4
GA-EP45-DS3P
GA-EP45-DS3L

MSI, a leading manufacturer of motherboard products, unveils its latest "P45-D8 Memory Lover" motherboard which is equipped with eight memory slots. When users want to upgrade the motherboard, they can use the current DDR2 memory to save money as well, also retain the future escalation of the DDR3 memory flexibility. When the price of DDR3 memory declines, users can utilize this to increase the performance.

The new MSI P45-8D Memory Lover motherboard is powered by the latest Intel P45 Express chipset. It supports the Intel Core 2 Extreme / Quad and other multi-core processors with an FSB up to 1600MHz. The main feature of P45-8D Memory Lover is the superb memory expansion flexibility. It has a total of eight memory slots which users can expand to 16GB by using four DDR2 memory or 8GB by using four DDR3 memory.

Here are the highlights from the MSI booth at Games Convention.The GeForce 9600 GT Hybrid Freezer uses a special cooler that keeps the card cool without fan most of the time. In case the card gets too hot for the passive solution the fan will kick in.

Addressing the never ending need for greater amounts of system memory, OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced all new "P45 Special" 4GB modules, a module density optimized specifically for Intel 's latest chipset. Available in 8GB dual channel kits and a special 16GB "quad kit," this new line of modules support the latest memory-hungry applications and games, offering superior performance gains. As an industry first, OCZ brings memory densities to the desktop segment that were reserved previously for high-end server configurations, offering a unique range of high-density kits to suit the varying requirements and budgets of everyday consumers.

Fujitsu has announced an Intel Atom-based UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC), not to be confused with ULPC. This ultra-portable will focus on the high-end market with a US $1000 to $1200 price tag. It has a 5.6-inch LCD screen, 3.5G data connectivity and GPS and tips the scales at 610g. Specifications can be summarized as:

• Intel Centrino Atom Z530
• SCH US15W (Poulsbo) Chipset
• Touch Screen, 5.6 inches diagonally, 1280 x 800 pixels (WXGA)
• 1 GB DDR2 533 MHz memory
• 60 GB conventional HDD
• Wireless interfaces - Wi-Fi 8021.11n and Bluetooth
• Other - fingerprinting sensor, web-camera, kartovod SD format and CF
• 20wh 2-cell battery

This notebook will be available in three colour models: U2010BU (Ocean Black), U2010GU (Pink Gold), U2010RU (Fuchsia Red).

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and PC components, today announced the first memory modules available in their Fatal1ty Series after the partnership was announced last month. These high-performance memory kits were co-developed with the expertise of Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, 12-time World champion, to meet the specific needs of fellow gamers. OCZ Fatal1ty Professional Series kits are the official memory modules of Championship Gaming Series (CGS), and feature incredible performance to power through the latest PC titles and contribute to the success of professionals and everyday gamers.

"OCZ worked closely with Fatal1ty and his team to design new memory kits that pair perfectly with the top selling motherboards for a superior gaming experience," commented Alex Mei, Chief Marketing Officer of the OCZ Technology Group. "Fatal1ty knows what it takes to win at the highest level of eSports, and these new kits deliver superior stability and performance to gamers whether you are a professional player on the Championship Gaming Series, or a weekend warrior looking to dominate when playing the latest titles."

A relatively unknown brand, Cherrypal introduced a PC module dubbed 'cloud computer'. It carries a price tag of US $250. Sure you do find pre-owned full-size PCs for that price, but just think of it: this PC consumes a mere 2W of power when idle (excludes the consumption of monitor and other peripherals).

On the features front, there's enough computing power to get you onto the internet, it is driven by a 400 MHz Freescale MPC5121e mobileGT triple-core processor, 256 MB DDR2 memory and 4 GB of NAND flash memory to store the OS, a Debian-derived Linux OS, Mozilla Firefox as the core internet application (supports all add-ons and Linux media plugins). 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, two USB ports, an Ethernet port, VGA out, and stereo audio out. It beats the $929 VidaBox PC convincingly at its price-point. Sure, such devices are mere toys for average users like us sitting cozy with powerful gaming PCs, but such devices are a step in the right direction, towards Cloud Computing.

Cloud computing, a new buzzword in the computing industry, is the computing methodology where software is thin and light, and streamed onto a computer. A user accesses software either freely or on a subscription basis. All you need is a standards compiant web-browser, OS isn't a factor. This has gotten players such as Microsoft, Google, Adobe and others looking up to it as the next big thing. You don't need to buy those installation discs and throw gigabytes of hard-drive space at applications anymore.

Toshiba launched the Qosmio G55-802, the first laptop available with a CELL-design based Co-Processor. The CELL developed jointly by Toshiba, Sony, and IBM comes in a 4-SPE avatar which Toshiba chooses to call Toshiba Quad-Core HD processor. The laptop features a Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P7350 at 2.00 GHz as the primary system processor, certain CPU-intensive tasks such as hardware HD video decode, transcode, etc., are performed by the CELL processor. It also features a NVIDIA GeForce 9600M graphics processor for smooth video playback and exceptional gaming performance. 4 GB of DDR2 800 memory is standard, with the GPU supporting TurboCache for additional video memory. A DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash (think of it as something similar to LightScribe) drive, 2x 250GB 5400rpm HDDs, and 802.11b/g/n supportive wireless network controller. The chassis features rugged yet stylish matte finish. It tips the scales at 5.4 kg (~ 10.8 lbs), rather heavy. It is priced at US $1549.99. An online brochure can be viewed here. For product details, please visit this page.

Just when you thought Mini-ITX would mean extremely compact system components for great HTPC builds, came in the limitations of integrated graphics and relatively weak processors. VIA for example, have had ITX boards for quite some time. Just that the features most essential for HTPC builds such as graphics capable of high-definition video output, processors capable of decoding them at acceptable rates lacked, and hence those older ITX solutions from VIA remained a niche solution for embedded computing or thin-clients.

Picture this: a Mini-ITX board, AM2+ socket, AMD 780G (one of the fastest integrated graphics embedded), four SATA II ports, video output as HDMI (with digital audio pass, HDCP compliant) DVI-D / D-Sub, 8-channel audio with SPDIF optical and co-axial pass, all rolled into one? Awesome, isn't it? Several sources point out that J&W Technology is planning the release of such a board next week, the MINIX-780G-SP128MB.

OCZ Technology Group today announced the latest addition to the award-winning OCZ NVIDIA SLI certified series, the world's first 4GB PC2-8000 SLI-Ready DDR2 modules. Optimized specifically for the nForce platforms, this series features an ideal combination of reduced latencies and high density to support the ultimate gaming experience. The PC2-8000 SLI-Ready Series are certified to run at optimal performance levels and are the ultimate upgrade for entry-level enthusiasts seeking an exceptional memory kit with true "plug and play" functionality at an excellent price point.