Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 mainboard review

Gigabyte recently released an Intel X48 based mainboard that needed a review. Pretty high-end gear for sure as Intels X48 chipset brings support for the all new 1600 Mhz FSB processors, two 16x PCI-E 2.0 slots, which you can use for ATI CrossFire, two ATI graphics cards and heaps of niche features.

The GA-X48-DQ6 mainboard includes a Quad BIOS, no less than 8 SATA devices can be connected, you'll have eight USB 2.0 connectors on the rear, as stated earlier on, two PCI-Express gen 2.0 ports. Also when you first glimpse at the mainboard you'll notice some subtleties, the first is that Gigabyte is trying to tackle heat in an original manner, and they are doing a nice job with that.

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Corsair announced today that Corsair Labs has set the world record for the highest achieved DDR3 frequency.

Verified and validated by CPU-Z, Corsair Labs achieved an astounding speed of 2462MHz at CL=9 with a single-rank 1GB module. This new world record eclipses all previous CPU-Z validated memory benchmarks. This record was set using Corsair's DOMINATOR DDR3 memory module paired with an Asus P5E3 Premium motherboard based on the Intel X48 chipset. This is now the highest achieved DDR3 frequency of all time. Validated results and setup details can be found at valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=361829.

The DOMINATOR family of memory represents company's enthusiasts series. DOMINATOR is designed with the highest performing IC over-clocking capability and Corsair's patented DHX cooling. DHX technology is an innovative quad-layer heat sink design that improves thermal dissipation. With DHX Technology, heat is removed via two paths

Logitech today announced the Logitech Pure-Fi Mobile speaker system. If you have a mobile phone that uses Bluetooth wireless technology with the Advanced Audio Distribution (A2DP) profile, you can stream stereo audio through the compact Pure-Fi Mobile speaker system

Who could possibly have envisaged Nintendo

Some nasty news for Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. Since a few hours a leaked (stolen) version of a presentation made for the E3 2007 of Clear Sky can be found in different relevant forums and online exchange services.

As known from the development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost (later Shadow of Chernobyl) there is again a playable version of one single level in which is only shown the same things that GSC Game World presented already on the E3 last year. Who wants to see the gameplay of Clear Sky, some storyelements or new things in connection with DirectX10 will be disappointed. Those things are not included.

Appearantly the Pre-Alpha plays extremely well, with high frame rates and excellent quality on a wide range of, even the most basic, systems. If the hype wasn't enough, this leak may prove an excellent PR weapon for the game's creators since it seems to be carrying out the job of a good demo.

Let's hope the finished product will be just as good. I'll prefer the finalized product if you don't mind.

The Q9650 will be priced at $530 close to half the price of the similarly spec'd high-end "Extreme" QX9650, which is listed at $999 on Intel's pricing Web page. It's very likely that the main difference is the lack of a free multiplier.

Similar to the QX9650, the Q9650 will have a clock speed of 3GHz, a 1333MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 12MB of cache memory. The other notable desktop processor slated to debut in the third quarter is the Core 2 Duo E8600. This will have a clock speed of 3.33GHz, a 1333MHz FSB, and 6MB of cache memory. It is expected to be priced at $266.

The E8600 will top the currently available E8500, which runs at 3.16GHz and is priced at $266.

Also rumored are some price cuts. The quad-core Q9550 (2.83GHz), for example, is slated to drop from $530 to $316 (the upcoming Q9650 will push the Q9550 down to a lower price point). The widely-used Q6600 (2.4GHz) is expected to fall from $224 to $203. The Core 2 Duo E8500 should see its price fall from $266 to $183.

Good stuff.

IC Insights announced its rankings for the top 20 semiconductor vendors in the first quarter of 2008. Intel takes the top spot, followed by Samsung and Texas Instruments. The biggest winners however are TSMC, NVIDIA and Qualcomm, these firms saw their shipments go up with 44%, 37% and 29%.

In its May update to The McClean Report, President Bill McClean said cell phone IC supplier Qualcomm boosted first-quarter revenues by 29% year-over-year, jumping four spots to rank as the 10th largest semiconductor supplier.

Broadcom also jumped four positions and is now the 20th largest semiconductor supplier. Panasonic moved to 19th, and NEC edged up two spots to the 13th position.

Nvidia (Santa Clara, Calif.), the second-largest fabless supplier, registered a

Some guy thought it would be a good idea to throw eggs at Steve Ballmer while he was giving a speech at a Hungarian University. The idiot missed with all of his throws. Steve did not get egg on him at all and he's a pretty big target. ;-)

A new trailer for Project Origin (planned for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) has been released, showing Monolith Productions' upcoming horror shooter - this is a direct sequel to F.E.A.R.

You must be 17 or older to download or view it.
 

Thanks to James for submitting this one. What do you do with your time when you have a lot of used car parts, and adore Transformers ? Build a Transformer replica of course. Standing at 87 inches tall and weighing a respectable 485 pounds, this Optimus Prime statue is a probably the most compelling argument for recycling we've ever seen. And its leg detail is as astounding as the torso.

- Height: 220
- Weight: 250 kg.
- Packing size: 150 x 150 x 230 cm3
- Volume weight:  862.50 kg.
- Shipping volume: 5.18 m3

If you got money to burn, it could be yours for $4,838.71 (plus shipping of course).

Ambient converts your thoughts into speech...

All you need to do is speak in your head. Dont just think, though, you need to make the words in your mind without worrying about moving your lips. The computer will then capture the chatter and send it over the internet to your friends PC, which will speak your thoughts. This might all sound like science fiction, but TI has recently demonstrated a system that picks up the electric nerve signals travelling between the brain and the vocal chords. using a pre-programmed vocabulary it then anylises the nerve data and creates digital speech. All the speaker needs to do is wear a neck band sensor.

The current system only has a vocabulary of only 150 words and the resulting voice is rather robotic, but TI is working on it.

[More info]

AMD is launching AMD GAME!, an ecosystem level initiative led by AMD to

XtremeNotebooks announced it's the first to offer a notebook with Intel's quad core chips for the United States, with its Xtreme 917-V mobile workstation and server. Offered with a choice of five Intel quad core CPUs borrowed from desktop PCs, the laptop can be optioned up with the latest hardware, including up to three 64GB SSD drives and a Blu-ray optical drive. The 17-inch display is capable of 1600x1050 resolution, but can be upgraded to a 1920x1200 display.

Xtreme shares the distinction of being the first to bring a quad core Xeon chip notebook to market with the Eurocom Phantom-X laptop, which is based on the same architecture and sharing many of the same components.

The workhorse also features a 4.1-channel audio set-up, an integrated webcam and one or two Nvidia GeForce Go 8700M GT or 7950 GTX graphics cards. A TV Tuner is on the options list, as is 802.11n Wi-Fi. The 917-V ships without an OS, although Windows XP or Vista can be ordered. While the current RAM limit is 4GB, Xtreme promises it will soon offer 8GB of memory in its powerhouse laptop.

The Xtreme 917-V can be pre-ordered on the company's web store, with prices for the quad-core chip models starting at nearly $2,900, though clicking every option bumps that total to well over $10,000.

Razer launched the Razer Goliathus, a premium-grade soft mat in two versions with three sizes co-developed with global professional gaming teams.

• Speed Edition: Advanced cloth weave for maximum speed and effortless control
  Control Edition: Heavily textured weave for maximum mouse control
• Pixel-precise targeting and tracking
• Optimized for all mouse sensitivity settings and sensor types
• Rubber base for a secure grip on smooth surfaces
• Dimensions: 270mm x 215mm x 4mm, 355mm x 254mm x 4mm, 444 x 355 x 4.3mm

The adaptable Razer Goliathus Speed Edition melds the full-scale speed, acceleration and sharp responsiveness of hard mats with the precise control and comfort offered by uncoated soft pads. The Razer Goliathus Speed Edition features an improved iteration of Razer's woven fiber technology.

The Razer Goliathus Control Edition enhances the precision and tactile response of gaming-grade mice without introducing excessive drag and premature surface degradation. The tournament-tuned textured weave in the Razer Goliathus Control Edition enables all mice to register even small movements.

The novelties will be available worldwide this month priced as follows: US: $14.99, 19.99, 24.99; Europe:

The 0.99 Final version comes with these changes:

• Fix: Incorrect recognition of 45nm Mobile Intel CPUs.
• Fix: CPU temperature not displayed in Core Temp window on Phenom CPUs (0.98 and 0.98.1).
• Fix: CPU load would sometimes display -1% load.
• Fix: AMD K8 would sometimes spike to 206C, the false reading is now ignored.
• Fix: AMD K8 sometimes constantly reads -49C.
• Fix: Core Temp does not show up automatically on G15 LCD with 2.02 driver.
• Fix: Shared memory structure was not properly filled on multiprocessor systems.
• Fix: System tray setting "Show highest temperature of each CPU\" only displays one temperature reading in a multi CPU system.
• Fix: Certain problems with font resizing should now be fixed.
• Fix: G15 LCD would not update after using soft buttons.
• Fix: On temperature display mode change, high and low records were not reset.
• Fix: Changing the reading interval in settings did not actually update, restart of Core Temp was needed to apply the change.
• Fix: Incorrect VID detection on 45nm desktop Intel parts.
• Add: Shared memory - developers now have access to Core Temp data.
• Add: Register dump to text file function.
• Add: Preliminary Atom (Silverthorne) support - Untested.
• Add: Support for Intel Core 2 Duo E7000 45nm series.
• Add: Option to show a single icon instead of temperature in the system tray.
• Add: Custom font and size for G15 LCD screen or simply use the built in compact font and layout. (via Settings.ini)
• Change: Improved detection of L2 cache on Intel chips for more accurate recognition.
• Change: Rewritten temperature calculation to fix problems with shared memory.
• Change: Default G15 LCD text layout and font changed.
• Change: Doesn't create a log file containing session start and end times if logging is disabled.
• Change: Settings.ini file is automatically created with default settings in case one doesn\'t already exist.

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Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1 Pro Surround Sound Headset

CyberSnipa has its crosshairs on surround sound gaming headsets, but do they hit the mark?  Yes and no is the definite answer.  The Sonar 5.1 Pro Surround  Sound Headset offers a decent all-in-one headset with 8 speakers, plush velvety comfort, and a USB connection.  But it only offers mediocre sound quality.

There