Turtle Beach, a leader in premium gaming headsets and audio entertainment accessories, today announced its new Ear Force DX11 7.1 Surround Sound System Bundle, available exclusively at Best Buy stores nationwide. The Ear Force DX11 combines the exceptional audio quality and comfort of Turtle Beach's battle-tested Ear Force X11 gaming headset with the Ear Force DSS Dolby 7.1 surround sound processor. This dynamic duo delivers a rich and immersive surround sound experience with full chat support during Xbox 360 or PC gaming and while enjoying movies, TV and music.

"The DX11 headset bundle represents the ultimate in value and performance for discriminating gamers seeking a Dolby surround sound experience." Explains Michael Arzt, vice president, marketing and business development at Turtle Beach. "Players will gain a competitive edge and greater enjoyment of all their games (and movies) thanks to the well-defined directional cues and immersive power of the DX11."

VisionTek Products, LLC today announced the North American launch of the CandyBoard their wireless mini keyboard with integrated touch pad, with plug & play 2.4GHz frequency USB dongle. The keyboard is slightly bigger than the classic American candy bar and complements your collection of typical home remote controls. It features 69 keys and a "capacitive-sensing" touchpad that's comparable to a real notebook touchpad, which eliminates the need for a separate mouse. The media center PC is becoming the in-home library for movie storage and play back, creating a need for smaller and more efficient remote navigation. The VisionTek CandyBoard features backlit LEDs keys to use in low-light environments, making it a perfect complement to any home theater PC or family room game console.

The VisionTek CandyBoard is the perfect HTPC accessory and offers full Windows Media compatibility. "The integration between your home computer and your television entertainment system creates a need for more mobile and user-friendly peripherals." Stated, Mark Bilson, VP of Sales. "Web based content has ballooned in the last year and only promises to explode in the next decade. I can honestly envision a CandyBoard in every family room across America." In addition to compatibility with the PC, the VisionTek CandyBoard is fully compatible with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. The need for text and search capabilities in the console environment is magnified, as more web based content becomes readily available via these platforms. Compatibility doesn't stop with the PC and console, the CandyBoard is also compatible with Mac systems and Linux based environments too.

While NVIDIA's official GTX 465 launch won't be until Monday 31st 3 AM EST, large online retailer Newegg already started listing the cards. In total seven cards from NVIDIA's largest board partners are listed. They're all priced at $279 and available immediately. This is good news because it confirms that we will see a hard launch on Monday, without inflated prices. In terms of cooling everybody will stick to the GTX 470's thermal solution with the exception being Gigabyte and Palit (we reviewed the GTX 470 with the dual fan cooler here).

The listings also confirm the rumored specifications of 352 shaders cores, 1 GB memory, 256-bit memory interface and clock speeds of 607 MHz core / 1215 MHz shader.

Our review will be ready on time and posted when the NDA is expired.

Creative Labs, Inc. today announced the Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is now available at AAFES, Amazon.com, Apple.com, BestBuy.com, Blizzard.com, Creative.com, Dell.com, Frys.com, Newegg.com and Tiger Direct for $159.99. "As the leading innovator in precision audio for PC gaming we were well positioned to develop a headset that could live up to the high standards set forth by Blizzard Entertainment games," said Steve Erickson, VP and GM for audio and video at Creative. "The Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is a result of this, providing an unprecedented combination of wireless technology, THX TruStudio PC technology for enriched audio performance and a unique design that stands out from anything else available to gamers."

The controversy surrounding Newegg's shipment of counterfeit Intel Core i7 920 processors to some customers has finally met its logical conclusion, with Newegg disposing facts and making great headway in resolving the issue with affected customers. In a statement to HardOCP.com, Newegg said that it is conducting a thorough investigation in collaboration with Intel and law-enforcement agencies, to get to the bottom of how counterfeit merchandise could get into its supply chain.

Another major revelation here is that Newegg named IPEX as the supplier behind the merchandise, and not another supplier called D&H Distributing, which the media was fairly confident in alleging for this controversy. The said company earlier issued cease and desist orders to those media sources for misinformation and wrongfully dragging it into the issue.

The supplier, IPEX, had initially told Newegg that it had accidentally shipped "demo boxes", a keyword Newegg adopted in its initial press statement and communications to affected customers. In course of time, it was found out that these so-called demo boxes indeed were counterfeits. Newegg has terminated its business relations with IPEX. Sections of the media which named D&H Distributing in the controversy tendered their apologies.

After last week's report on some of Newegg.com's customers receiving what the store calls "demo boxes" that it described to have been accidentally shipped by one of its "long term partners", Intel stepped in with a clarification on how it looks at these anomalies. In a statement to HardOCP.com, Intel's Dan Snyder said "Intel has been made aware of the potential for counterfeit i7 920 packages in the marketplace and is working to how many and/or where they are being sold. The examples we have seen are not Intel products but are counterfeits. Buyers should contact their place of purchase for a replacement and/or should contact their local law enforcement agency if the place of purchase refuses to help."

The "examples" Intel is referring to in the statement are these so-called "demo boxes", apparently 300 of them, which could be out on the loose. Meanwhile, Newegg.com is making efforts to get in touch with each of the affected customers and rush-delivering genuine merchandise or providing 100% refund, depending on what the customer chooses. While the whole episode seems to have taken a toll on Newegg's image as one of the most reliable, efficient, and competitive online retailers which it built over years, in the line of fire seems to be its "long term partner", a certain distributor in charge of these Intel processors. The same company sent cease and desist letters to some online publications to withdraw their reports on this issue, blaming them for publishing "untrue statements" about it. However Intel's statement adds clarity to the issue. Indeed some customers may have received "counterfeits", and indeed there are no such things as "demo boxes", at least as far as Intel is concerned. That said, whoever is behind these "demo boxes" still stands to face the law for infringement and imitation of Intel's product design, and trying to profit from it.

Newegg.com, one of America's leading online retailers of computer hardware and related sales, on its official Twitter page admitted to a botchup with one of its long-term partners that resulted in several customers who ordered Intel Core i7 processors receiving what it calls "Demo Boxes". These boxes probably are used to demonstrate what the boxes look like or weigh, or probably it's a case of "adulteration", forgery, and counterfeiting. Each of these so-called demo boxes contain a completely non-functional dummy of the processor, heatsink fan, and the instruction leaflet. When opened, the three don't really look like mockups, but when packed into the box, can easily pass off as the product.

Newegg swung into action after several customers got back to it reporting "fake Core i7 920" chips. Many of them were taken aback when their $290 investment yielded a big chunk of plastic, and a slab of metal on which is strapped on the processor's IHS. The chunk of plastic is molded roughly to the shape of an HSF, and a sticker of the HSF's top was pasted, so it could be visible from the little window on the box that lets you see the HSF. Newegg said that it has acknowledged that a number of "demo boxes" were shipped, and that its staff is working directly with each of the affected customers to resolve the issue at the earliest. It kind of begs the question: where did so many so-called demo boxes come from, and why are there so many of them?

Intel silently made its newest addition to the Core i7 desktop processor family official: the Core i7 960. This socket LGA-1366 processor is designed to work on motherboards with the Intel X58 Express chipset. After Intel's gradual replacement of the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition with the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, there remained a scope for a non-XE Core i7 model with the same clock-speed as the i7 965 XE, albeit with an upwards locked bus frequency multiplier.

The Core i7 960 comes clocked at 3.20 GHz (24.0 x 133 MHz), with a maximum Turbo Boost speed of 3.43 GHz. It has four processing cores, and with the HyperThreading Technology, provides the operating system with eight logical CPUs. It comes with a QuickPath Interconnect speed of 4.8 GT/s, and supports up to 24 GB of memory with its triple-channel (192-bit wide) DDR3 memory interface. Each processing core has a dedicated L2 cache of 256 KB, while an 8 MB L3 cache is shared between all four cores. It is built on the 45 nm HKMG process, with a TDP of 130W.

The Core i7 960 is touted to displace the Core i7 950 from its existing price-point of around US $562 (in 1000 unit tray quantities). As evidence of that, popular American retailer Newegg.com has listed the OEM part (chip-only) at $589.99, a mere $10 higher than the retail box of the Core i7 950 listed on the same store.

Ahead of a formal launch, pricing of socket LGA-1156 processors, an untimely leak from Newegg.com that was updating its site, spilled pricing details of a broad range of socket LGA-1156 processors and motherboards. These prices give us an indication of what prices will finally look like, in the US market, and more or less match speculated prices doing rounds for quite some time now.

To begin with, Intel Core i5 750, Core i7 models 860 and 870 are priced at $209.99, $299.99, and $579, respectively, close to the 1000 unit prices that surfaced weeks ahead. At $209.99, the 2.66 GHz Core i5 750 will be highly competitive with AMD's Phenom II X4 BE offerings in that price range. The 2.80 GHz Core i7 860 is expected to perform on par, or better than the Core i7 920, while being priced a notch higher. The Core i7 870 2.93 GHz only holds premium value at $579, since it ends up being the fastest socket LGA-1156 processor money can buy.

With NVIDIA lowering the prices of the GeForce GTX 260 almost at will, its partners are pushed to innovate their own designs that lets them make the most margins out of the tight market segment. At $170~$200, partners have come up with a newer breed of GeForce GTX 260 (55 nm, 216 SP) accelerators with some very interesting designs. MSI on its part has come up with a certain design that looks very familiar for the fact that it looks to be inspired to a large extent by the ATI Radeon HD 4870/4890. The MSI N260GTX-T2D896-OCv4 uses a red PCB, and a cooler design that takes inspiration from that of the reference Radeon HD 4870 to the extent that it looks pleasantly amusing. The heatsink over the card's VRM area coarsely resembles a shorter one on the reference-design Radeon HD 4850. Aesthetics apart, this card is factory overclocked, with speeds of 655/2100 MHz (core/memory). It packs 896 MB of GDDR3 memory. American retailer Newegg.com has it listed for $174.99, which further goes down to $154.99 with the optional rebate.Images Courtesy: Newegg.com

The GeForce GTX 280 served as NVIDIA's flagship graphics accelerator for long enough. While it may not have retained the performance crown for too long, it certainly did offer a great product for its price and thermal characteristics post R700. With two new avant-grade accelerators in the form of GeForce GTX 295 and GeForce GTX 285, NVIDIA seems to have sensed that it needs to let the market digest current inventories of the GeForce GTX 280 to create favourable shelf-space for the new products.

It has been noted on Newegg.com, a leading online retailer, that price-cuts have been injected across brands for the GeForce GTX 280. The card is now available for as low as US $314.99 for the MSI N280GTX-T2D1G OC (a factory overclocked card) with prices of reference-design cards staying below $360 for most of the available products. Leading vendors such as BFGTech, EVGA, and Zotac have placed their base models around the $320 range with factory overclocked models ranging around the $350 mark. The GeForce GTX 280 will be suceeded by the GeForce GTX 285 that is expected to launch on 15th January, which sports a refreshed G200b graphics processor built on the 55nm manufacturing process and running at higher clock speeds. NVIDIA has resorted to similar price-cuts for its GeForce GTX 260 graphics accelerator to serve two purposes: making the product attractive during the crucial Christmas shopping season, and to digest inventories for the 55nm GeForce GTX 260 launch.

During my most recent eggscursion, I came across the EVGA 512-P3-N879-AR. The card is a non-reference GeForce 9800 GTX+ model. EVGA took the advantage of the lower thermal footprints of the 55nm G92 core, and developed this shorter card that makes do with a single 6-pin PCI-E power input. The cooler slightly resembes that of the 8800 GTS 512, but comes with a shroud that resembles that of the GTX 200-series cards by design.

The card is 3-way SLI capable with any other 9800 GTX+ card. It sports 512 MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 2200 MHz, with the core clocked at 740 MHz, with an 1840 MHz shader domain. The card is available at Newegg.com for US $174.99 before a $25 optional rebate.Images courtesy: Newegg

The company slogan change, from "Smarter Choice" to "The future is fusion" marked a major shift in core-Strategy for AMD. The company now focuses on delivering solutions, more so than mere products, with a solution comprising of several products working together to let the PC serve a purpose. One such solution is the AMD Maui entertainment platform. Maui platform makes AMD hardware work with AMD's own Live! Media Center software to deliver a complete home-theater PC solution.

On the hardware front, Maui includes a qualifying AMD Athlon X2 or Phenom series processor, a motherboard based on the AMD 7-series chipset with integrated graphics. Video is handled by the 7-series IGP, while audio is handled by a special audio component-riser card that has pre-amp circuitry onboard, which enables users to connect speakers in the 5.1 channel configuration directly to the motherboard. Future models would bring in 7.1 channel support. The first motherboard to use this design, is the MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 780M.

The ever-popular American IT online store Newegg is heading for a sister-store in Canada. Newegg draws hits from all over the world for having the broadest range of IT products and at some very attractive prices, in close to 99 percent of the orders placed in the US, deliveries were approved within 24 hours of placing orders.

The entry of Newegg into Canada could shake up the Canadian online retail sphere and promises to bring the best available prices to Canadian buyers. With expansion being a key company policy for Newegg, starting off with a Newegg Mall in the United States, and now the store in Canada, we can tell the company is aggressively expanding. The site is currently at a construction stage, another URL to keep handy is www.newegg.ca

Although the colourful 2G Surf Eee PCs weren't expected until January, online retailer NewEgg has already started selling them. The new models have a price tag of $299.99 and come in three colors: lush green, sky blue and blush pink, as shown below. The blue and pink versions are in stock at the moment available here and here respectively, but the green one, which was on this page, now seems to have been withdrawn.

Newegg hardly needs an introduction, boasting a reseller rating of 9.90. On the traditional day of online sales, dubbed "Cyber Monday", though, that reputation was put to the test. It all started innocently enough: Newegg was offering 20% cash back on anything purchased via PayPal between Monday and Wednesday (November 26th through November 28th). They promised to put the cash in by January 31st 2008. The only rule Newegg gave customers was that the refund would not be any more than $50USD.

Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, about two and a half hours after people started splurging, PayPal ran out of funds to give people cash back, and Newegg was forced to call a hasty end to the promotion. This left Newegg in a very sticky situation, as the promotion banners were prominently displayed all over the site. Newegg later edited the terms-and-conditions to say that the promotion would end on 11/26, would only last "while supplies last", and began damage control. Newegg is now in the very tough position of trying to get people the refunds they deserve. If Newegg cannot get the customers the cash back they promised, they will send said customer a free gift, assuming the customer contacts Jason on the Newegg forums.

It seems as though Sapphire is having some sort of sale, offering their entire stock of HD 2900 graphics card either at a discount, or with free shipping. Get them while they are hot:

• 2900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3: $170 + shipping.
• 2900Pro 512MB 512-bit GDDR3: $250 shipped.
• 2900XT 512MB 512-bit GDDR3: $280 + shipping.
• 2900Pro 1GB 512-bit GDDR4: $300 + shipping
• 2900XT 1GB 512-bit GDDR4: $340 + shipping.

ASUS' miniature notebook, the Eee PC, has now been officially launched and is available on Newegg.com - a day before the originally expected release date. The 4G model on Newegg has dimensions of 8.9" x 6.5" x 1.4" and weighs just two pounds, featuring an Intel Celeron M ULV 900MHz processor, a 4GB solid state hard drive, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 802.11g wireless networking, three USB ports and a 7" 800x480 screen. The OS shipped with the Eee PC is a modified version of Xandros Linux, optimised by ASUS, with a battery that is expected to last about 3.5 hours between charges. Although it was rumoured the Eee PC could go on sale for as little as $199, Newegg has the notebook listed at $399, available here, plus $10.03 for shipping.

The 8800GT truly is the star of today, and Newegg is happy to announce that they have plenty in stock. As of the time of writing, you can get two 8800GT's: A $269 XFX model at stock clocks, and a "superclocked" $279 EVGA model.

If you've been paying attention to techPowerUp! news for the past few days, you know that NVIDIA and its partners have recently released the GeForce 8600 series. I won't bore you with the details, as you've probably read them at least fifty times by now (though if you'd like a refresher, please click here). However, prospective customers of this new graphics card have asked themselves: Where can I get it? And as of today, the answer is one of the most loved computer part providers in the USA: Newegg. If you live in the USA, and want an 8600, you'll be very happy to know that they are quite available on Newegg. The 8600GT series starts at $170, and the 8600GTS series starts at $200.

One of the most legendary online hardware stores, Newegg, again shows that they can offer the latest products for the lowest prices. Unfortunately, it seems they are only fulfilling the "latest product" part this time. Newegg is now accepting orders for the legendary EA shooter Crysis. The game costs $57.99, plus $4.99 3-day business shipping. It is listed as a Rating-Pending game, with no word as to when it will ship. Crysis, using the CryENGINE 2, will be the first DirectX10 game...let's hope it's a good one.

A couple days back, we reported that both European and American online vendors were selling copies of Windows Vista early. The very popular American source, Newegg, was only offering it in three-packs. Now however, they are offering single-packs, and have quite a deal for OEM builders.

• Windows Vista Home Basic costs $100, 50% of the $200 retail version.
• Windows Vista Home Premium costs $120, 50% of the $240 retail version.
• Windows Vista Business costs $150, 50% of the $300 retail version.
• Windows Vista Ultimate costs $200, 50% of the $400 retail version.

All the links posted are for the 32 bit version, I found a 64-bit single DVD of Windows Vista Home Basic, Business, and Ultimate.

Windows Vista is available on Newegg. And with an exception to the $150 OEM copy of Windows Vista Business (x86), all of the OEM Vista's come in packs of three.

• A three pack of 32-bit Home Basic will cost $280, which is roughly $93 a copy, making it $3 a copy more expensive than the $90 OEM copy of Windows XP Home.
• A three pack of 64-bit Home Premium will cost $350. This translates to nearly $117 per copy, making it $7 more expensive per copy than the $110 OEM copy of Windows XP Media Center.
• A three pack of 32-bit Business will cost $450. That turns into $150 a copy, which is $10 more expensive than a single OEM copy of Windows XP Professional.
• A three pack of 32-bit Ultimate will cost $600, making it $200 a copy for an OEM buyer.

All of the figures posted do not include Newegg's $5 shipping fee, which is not charged for a copy of Windows XP. It should also be noted that every version of Vista except for Home Premium is only for a 32 bit computer, and Home Premium is only available for a 64 bit computer.

The worlds famous online computer hardware and software retailer Newegg plans to to start European operation. As you know Newegg has warehouses in California, Tennessee and New Jersey, and it operates only in USA, till now. The biggest problem is that such a move will put a lot of people out of business in Europe especially the smaller players. Newegg buys incredible volumes and gets great prices. This story is confirmed by very high ranked officers of the egg company, but the final decision is yet to be made.