Digitimes

"AMD is planning to launch two 45nm Phenom X4 CPUs (Deneb) in 2008 with core frequencies of between 2.5-2.8GHz and 2.4-2.7GHz, with both adopting 6MB L3 Cache and having a TDP rating of 95W, according to sources at motherboard makers.

AMD will announce the final order date for its 125W Phenom X4 9750 by the end of the second quarter and the CPU will be replaced by a 95W version – which is available this quarter – while the 95W Phenom X4 9850 will appear before January of 2009. The company is also planning to launch an updated version of its upcoming Phenom X4 9950 (schedule to launch in June) at the end of the fourth quarter.

In addition to the current triple-core CPUs, AMD will launch the Phenom X3 8550 with a core frequency of 2.2GHz in the third quarter (production beginning in the second quarter) and the company will launch more triple-core CPUs in the fourth quarter.

The company will begin production and take orders for the low-power Phenom X4 9350e (Agena) in the third quarter, while the low-power 8450e (Tollman) will see production begin in the second quarter, though order availability will not begin until the third quarter. The Phenom X4 9150e, which was originally planned to be launched in the second quarter, will not be available for orders until the third quarter, along with the 9350e. In the fourth quarter, AMD will launch another low-power CPU, while in the first half of 2009, the 45nm low-power quad-core Phenom CPUs (Propus) will appear in the market. The company will stop taking orders for the Athlon 64 FX-74 in the beginning of the fourth quarter.

AMD's 45nm CPUs are already in EVT testing and motherboard makers should receive their samples by August or September this year, if the process goes smoothly, 45nm Phenom X4 CPUs should appear in the market by the end of November, added the sources."

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Dailytech

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Techreport

"Although Intel's processors and chipsets have long been embraced by PC enthusiasts, the company's motherboards have largely been ignored. Years ago, it was easy to see why. Intel motherboards didn't come with the tweaking and overclocking options that we crave, and that was understandable, since we never really expected Intel to endorse overclocking. However, times have changed, and so has Intel's tune. The firm now has several products targeted specifically at enthusiasts, including the new DX48BT2 "Bonetrail 2" motherboard that comes loaded with many of the features we'd expect from a modern, high-end mobo.

Based on Intel's flagship X48 Express chipset, Bonetrail's second coming faces stiff competition from Taiwanese mobo makers with far more street cred in the enthusiast space—credibility that, for the likes of Asus, is well deserved. Asus one of the biggest players in the motherboard market, and it's been catering to enthusiasts for as long as I can remember. Asus has embraced the X48 Express, as well, most recently with its Rampage Formula motherboard.

The Rampage Formula and DX48BT2 effectively target the same market, albeit with one DDR2 memory and the other with DDR3. For once, however, Intel is the underdog. Read on to see if the processor giant can beat Asus at its own game. "

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Xbitlabs

"Although TN matrices are an attribute of budget monitor models, they have not just penetrated the relatively expensive 24-inch monitor segment, but they tend to be a leader there already, at least judging y the number of new models announced lately. But is it necessarily a bad thing? Not very advanced characteristics of TN matrices are well compensated by their low price. Today we are going to talk about 6 monitors on such matrix from Acer, Dell, NEC and Samsung.

... You will see six new models of 24” monitors in this roundup. They are based on two matrix types, PVA and TN. Although the latter type is traditionally considered an attribute of low-end models due to its modest technical characteristics, it is not only available in the sector of rather expensive 24-inchers but claims the leadership, at least in terms of the number of new products announced. For example, only two monitors to be discussed here are based on PVA, and the remaining four are TN."

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BBC

"Highly anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV has gone on sale worldwide with analysts expecting it to smash sales records. Many shops in the UK and the United States opened their doors at midnight. The game is tipped to break the opening week sales figures of Microsoft's Halo 3, and pull in up to $400m (£201m).

Early reviews of the game have hailed it a "masterpiece" and it is on course to be the most critically acclaimed title of all time. The game currently has an average review score of 99.1%, according to Gamerankings.com, which amalgamates reviews from all publications.

The critical response and strong sales could bolster developer Rockstar's publisher Take Two, which is the subject of a takeover bid by games giant Electronic Arts (EA).

Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick rejected EA's original offer, saying it was too low and insisted on waiting until after GTA IV's launch before entering discussions. "

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TheInquirer

I don't prefer integrated graphics, and never have really liked the idea either, as the "intelligent I/O" approach for everything may be a more balanced choice for a PC desktop anyway - rather than stealing cycles from CPU and/or its memory buses to refresh frames and play with textures - or even sounds, RAID computations and so on.

Also, the current batch of Intel's integrated graphics chipsets, pre-G45, isn't stellar on either performance or features. Intel is working hard on the compatibility problems with specific games, but the real performance boost will only be seen in the G45, hopefully out in the next month or two.

So, instead of the battle, let's talk shop. Why didn't Nvidia simply make full use of Intel's G45 delay and launch its own, "better" integrated graphics chipset for all those Core 2 CPUs? Wouldn't that be a far sweeter way of trouncing the giant, with real money gains instead of an all-out public war with a far bigger opponent?"

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Theinquirer

"THE GOOD FOLKS at Futuremark have finally come up with the replacement for the ubiquitous 3DMark06 benchmark. The new one is called 3DMark Vantage, and it has many high points, and one very low low.

Vantage is designed to be a gaming benchmark, not just a GPU benchmark, and to that end, has four distinct subtests with a few feature tests thrown in for good measure. The four tests are Jane Nash, New Calico, AI and Physics, each doing something very different."

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AnandTech

"After a very successful DFI P35 T2R motherboard launch, DFI endeavored to apply the same level of engineering expertise to Intel's X38/X48 chipsets. We did not review the DFI X38 motherboard, but instead decided to look at the X48-based motherboard from DFI in DDR2 form. Finally, after a slew of delays, Intel's X48 chipset is available in large enough quantities to manufacturers to allow full retail rollout. Intel delivered the initial batches of X48 chipsets to preferred launch partners such as ASUS and Gigabyte who were first to market, but now we are seeing this chipset in boards from other suppliers.

Expectations placed on the LANParty series from DFI are always high, but it has become more difficult for companies like DFI to stay ahead of the pack as boards from ASUS's ROG line have also begun to employ many of the additional BIOS functions that provided DFI with elite status among overclocking circles in the past. Although some of the competitors are now within a whisker of DFI's approach to BIOS options, a slight gap still remains in ultra fine voltage and memory clock skew control ranges; these allow users to dial in the last few MHz of stability while using lower levels of memory and chipset voltages (with some perseverance).

While this level of control to return ratio may not interest most users, DFI still enjoys a loyal following of people who regard tuning a DFI BIOS as a hobby and notable pastime. This does not mean that DFI's current boards only favor users who have vast levels of BIOS tuning experience or masses of time. In fact, DFI has improved the auto default settings of their boards considerably over the past year. So much so, that it is now no longer necessary to hold a masters degree in BIOS manipulation just to get the boards to boot and work in a stable manner. Online communities serve to provide additional information for those who are just starting out and want to learn more about the finer tweaking options that DFI provides.

Overall, we still have to concede that a particular user will lean towards this kind of motherboard. If you subscribe to the belief that all boards are the same, or if fine tweaking options do nothing to float your boat, there's a whole host of sub-$200 motherboards based on Intel's P35 chipset that fill the role of a good overclocking board perfectly. Boards priced above $200 must fight fiercely not only to provide masses of BIOS options and functionality, but also justification for their price tag against a competitively priced product. Ultimately, the boards are often so closely matched that winners emerge based upon the ease at which a user can attain high FSB speeds that can be run in a stable manner. The question is: can DFI topple ASUS's X38/X48 DDR2-based boards such as the Maximus Formula and superlative Rampage Formula?"

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DailyTech

"Its hard to keep a good old OS down

Last week, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer addressed the media and delivered controversial comments that customers simply did not want XP, so that Microsoft would likely discontinue its sales in June 30 as planned.  From the feedback on DailyTech alone, it was obvious that some users did want XP, particularly in IT scenarios, while others couldn't care less about its death.

In the end, the fate of XP really rests in the hands of retailers which will be most affected by its discontinuation.  These retailers are not sitting idly by and consenting to XP's death though.  In fact, they are looking for sneaky ways to prolong its life, apparently choosing by their actions to dissentingly opine against Ballmer's valuation of consumer interest in XP.

Leading computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard, both announced plans to use a loophole to allow computers to continue to be sold with Windows XP.  The key is a part of the Windows Vista license agreement, which grants "downgrade rights".  Essentially the company will be buying Vista and then "downgrading" the computers.  Thus the customer will essentially receive a PC with Windows XP that can be upgraded to Vista if they should so choose.

HP says that in the business sector it will continue to sell desktops, notebooks, and workstations "pre-downgraded" to XP, until July 30, 2009, over a year after Microsoft's planned discontinuation.  Dell will stop taking orders for XP machines as part of a default package on June 18, but will thereafter offer the same "pre-downgraded" option on its website."

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Legit Reviews

"Miscommunication Between our Factory and Engineering
This past Tuesday we did an article on the Diamond Viper Radeon HD 3870 1GB video card and it turns out some of the details in that article were incorrect. When the Diamond Multimedia launched the first 1GB ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics card they had the memory interface incorrectly labeled as 512-bit. One of our sharp eyed readers that purchased the card caught the mistake and let us know about it.  We looked around the internet and found that Diamond and every retailer selling the card has the memory interface listed at 512-bit."

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