TC Magazine

"Santa Clara's Nvidia Corporation has now released a new set of GeForce drivers, this time, for its non-GT200 cards. The GeForce 175.19 drivers are WHQL certified, feature support for the GeForce 6, 7, 8 and 9 series cards (GeForce FX support only in Windows XP versions) and include:

- Improved 3D performance and load times for GeForce 8 and 9 series GPUs in some DirectX 9, DirectX 10 and OpenGL applications as a result an improved shader optimizer
- Support for single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology
- Support for Hybrid SLI Technology to turbo-charge graphics performance and enjoy intelligent power management (Vista only)
- Support for NVIDIA GeForce 3D Stereo Technology (idem)
- Several game and application compatibility fixes

To get the GeForce 175.19s just follow the links..."

- GeForce 175.19 WHQL (Windows XP 32bit)
- GeForce 175.19 WHQL (Windows XP 64bit)
- GeForce 175.19 WHQL (Windows Vista 32bit)
- GeForce 175.19 WHQL (Windows Vista 64bit) 

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Ever wondered how many PCs would be out there? Well, research specialists at Garner estimate it to be 1 billion and counting!

techConnect

"The personal computer (PC) can finally say "1 billion served" as research specialists at Gartner have estimated that the number of PCs currently installed has surpassed the 1 billion mark. Better yet, with an estimated annual growth of almost 12%, the PC install base on this less than green Earth will pass the 2 billion milestone in early 2014.

Currently, the PC install base is concentrated in mature or developed countries but the tides will turn as emerging markets step up...."

LINK

Digitimes

"Taiwan-based branded networking device maker D-Link has appointed Tony Tsao as its new CEO and president starting July 1, the company said after a board meeting last week. Tsao previously served as president of D-Link's international marketing arm, D-Link International.

Incumbent chairman and CEO John Lee will continue to serve as chairman, while current president JC Liao will retire, the company stated.

D-Link International has helped push sales of D-Link's own-brand networking devices into markets worldwide, especially to emerging markets such as Russia, India and China and other emerging markets in the Middle East and Latin America, with its revenues roughly accounting for 40% of D-Link's total revenues.

In order to achieve better corporate governance at D-Link, Lee, who also serve as chairman of Alpha Networks, said that he will not be involved with operational decision making, and instead, will delegate the role to the new CEO."

LINK

CPU3D Review: Battle of the mainstream - ASRock P45R2000-WiFi vs ECS P45T-A

The battle of the mainstream P45 motherboards begins. The ASRock P45R2000-WiFi is pitted against the ECS P45T-A (Black Series). Both motherboards utilises the Intel P45 chipset/ICH10R southbridge. While the ASRock supports 1600FSB, DDR2 and DDR3 ram, the ECS will only support 1333FSB and DDR2 ram. Who will win the battle of the mainstream? ... Find out more.

Read the rest of the review ... HERE.

Looks like Micro$oft is being watched more closely by the US watchdog. I wonder how it will affect the launch of Windows 7, around summer of 2009.

Dailytech

"Big brother is watching Microsoft. Imagine someone coming into your room and watching you every day as you go about your business, looking through your stuff, waiting for you to make a mistake.  This unpleasant sounding scenario is analogous to what Microsoft is facing as Windows 7 is being reviewed by the federal government.

With Windows 7 set to likely launch holiday 2009 (based on Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer's public remarks), Microsoft handed over the code and copies of Windows 7 in its current state to Department of Justice Technical Committee (TC) members to comb for possible antitrust violations.

The TC is the result of a long legal battle between Microsoft and smaller competitors in various fields, which all allege that Microsoft tries to write its Windows code in such a way to exclude them by defaulting to Microsoft applications.  The U.S. government agreed that such anticompetitive antitrust violations were occurring and in November 2001, Microsoft finally agreed to settle with the U.S. government and face oversight."

LINK

CPU3D Preview: MSI R4850-T2D512 (Radeon HD4850)

Thanks to MSI, we've just received a sample of their latest graphics card ... the MSI R4850-T2D512 (Radeon HD4850). It's based on AMD/ATI's latest RV770 GPU or Radeon HD4850, and features 512MB of DDR3 ram. It's designed and aimed at the mainstream gamer, competing directly against Nvidia's 9600GT and 8800GT.

           

We've expecting some good performance from this card. Whether it can crack Nvidia's dominance in the GPU market, remains to be seen. Watch out for our review coming soon ... in the meantime, take a look at our photo gallery below.

More price wars on the way ... Nvidia is about to slash prices on their mid-range GPUs, in order to compete with AMD/ATI.

More from Digitimes

"Facing pressure from AMD as it launches its ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU priced at US$199, Nvidia plans to counter by reducing the price of the GeForce 9800 GTX GPU. Nvidia will reduce the price of the 9800 GTX from around US$299 to US$199, and will launch the GeForce 9800 GTX+ priced around US$229.

The 9800 GTX+ adopts a 55nm G92 core with a shader clock of 1,836MHz and 738MHz core frequency. Sources at the company claim the performance of the 980 GTX+ will be 22% faster than AMD's 4850."

LINK

Wow, barely has the Radeon HD4850 been releases ... Asus is already planning to release a 1Gb verison.

Asus

Taipei, Taiwan, June 20, 2008 – Catering to users who require top notch graphics cards, ASUS, world-leading producer of quality graphic solutions has today unveiled the world’s first 1GB onboard memory version of the latest ATI Radeon™ HD 4850 GPU with the ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/1G. The unparalleled large onboard memory size is specially designed for feature-rich DirectX 10 gaming, and the best multimedia playback at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings.

Additionally, the ASUS EAH4870 TOP and EAH4850 TOP will be released soon with impressive performance results to provide superb gaming performances. Every ASUS EAH4800 Series graphics card will also soon be equipped with the Glaciator Fansink* – a uniquely designed cooling solution that will keep GPU temperatures up to 7ºC cooler than reference designed boards. On top of all this, the ASUS EAH4870/G/HTDI/512M will also come bundled with the latest survival video game – Alone in the Dark.

More ...

Digitimes

"Despite that most motherboard makers are currently pushing Intel P45 motherboards, second-tier motherboard maker ASRock has launched 7-8 P43 chipset models for different markets, according to sources in the channel.

Due to the fact most motherboard makers are still carrying P35 chipset inventories, these makers do not wish to push P43-based motherboards in order to prevent an impact on their clearance plans.

Since ASRock did not launch P35 models, the company does not have pressure over P35 inventory and will be able to fully push P43-based products.

In addition to ASRock, Gigabyte Technology, who has a small amount of P35 chipset products will also introduce P43-based products."

LINK

A man has got to do what a man's got to do ... when you want to start a new life. One Australian has put his whole LIFE up for auction ... including his house, job and friends. Yes, his friends !!

BBC

"An ex-pat who decided to make a clean break after splitting with his wife has so far attracted 70 bids for his "entire life". Ian Usher, from Darlington, who emigrated to Australia six years ago, is selling his house, friends and job on internet auction site eBay.

The 44-year-old said he hoped to earn about £185,000 for his Perth lifestyle. About five hours after bidding opened on Sunday, the highest offer was just over £314,000 ($628,000).

Up for auction is his three-bedroom home in the western Australian city and everything inside it, including his car, motorcycle, jet ski and parachuting gear. "

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