ASUS announced its new ASUS Xonar DX PCI Express 7.1 Audio Card earlier this year. The company makes the bold statement that the new sound card delivers 35 times cleaner audio compared to onboard audio built into your mainboard.

The new Xonar DX card is tuned for audio quality with 116dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and features other sound enhancing technologies like Dolby Home Theater and DS3D GX. To compare ASUS says that the typical on-board audio solution has 85dB SNR.

The Xonar DX uses the CirrusLogics CS4398 audio DAC that is typically used in Hi-Fi devices. The card is also able to take advantage of the latest DirectSound and EAX 5.0 sound effects in PC games for Windows Vista. ASUS also integrates its VocalFX technology that allows for users voices to be integrated into games via VoiceEX and to emulate background scenes in online chats (ChatEX).

Other features include support for Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker, and Dolby Pro Logix IIx. The audio processor used for the card is the ASUS AV100 High-Definition Sound Processor. The analog playback sample rate and resolution s 44.1K/48K/96K/192KHz at 16/24 bits. The analog recording sample rate and resolution is the same. A digital S/PDIF Digital Output is featured as well with Dolby Digital and DTS.

The best news for PC users that like the specifications of the Xonar DX is that the card will retail for only $89. The new Xonar DX will fit into the ASUS line alongside the previously announced Xonar sound cards including the Xonar U1 external audio processor, Xonar D2 and the Xonar D2K.

French publisher Ubisoft has announced that it has acquired all intellectual property rights to the name 'Tom Clancy' from the thriller author (Rainbow Six Vegas 2 etc).

These newly acquired rights, which help to guarantee an important multi-franchise product for the publisher, extend on a perpetual basis, free of any future royalty payments, and include use in video games and related products including books, movies and merchandising. The price of the all cash acquisition has not been disclosed explicitly, but Ubisoft implied in its announcement that the initial payment in this fiscal year was of 20 million euros ($30 million). Additional payments are to also be made in the fiscal years of 2008-09 and 2009-10. Hot on the heels of this announcement comes word that they are using that name to build themselves a Tom Clancy MMO.

Codemasters have released a new trailer for their upcoming racer called Race Driver: G.R.I.D, and it looks really really good! Check it out.

Recently Tuniq (part of Sunbeamtech) released a trio of power supplies. The Ensemble comes in 1200 and 1000 Watt versions, and their "lower" specced Miniplant is "only" a 950 Watt animal. Despite the fact that the PSU can suck up 950 Watts, this actually is an energy friendly product .. it has everything to do with it's high efficiency topping out at 80%+, no worries though, we'll explain and demonstrate that over the next few pages. According to the specs it's rated at ~87%, which is quite notable and surely important as Energy consumption of our PC's has grown massively over the past year or two. Right, let's head to the next page where we'll discuss some of the features after which we'll dive into a photo shoot, test and verdict.

You can read the article right here:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/psu/503/

Some times you'd just wondewr how much money they actually make on graphics cards eh ? At this very moment the Radeon HD 3870 can still can be purchased for little as $189.99, but the 9600 GT has dropped from its $179.99 launch price to just $149.99 in certain scenarios.

In light of those changes, The Inquirer claims AMD is prepping an additional price cut for both of its Radeon HD 3800-series graphics cards. Supposedly, the 3870 will dip to an all-time low of "$159 or less," while the 3850 will sink to $145 or less. Those drops should give the 9600 GT some stiffer competition, especially considering how certain Radeon HD 3850 offerings compare with Nvidia's new budget wonder. Naturally, the price cuts will leave the $200-300 price arena pretty much devoid of any AMD cards once again. Luckily for fans of the red team, recent reports suggest AMD plans to introduce new Radeon HD 4800 series graphics cards some time in the second quarter of this year.

Thse are great prices, I'll sort some stuff out for you deals wise this week.

Guru3D Radeon 3850 & 3870 review

Crytek. The 37MB download fixes a security hole in the game which caused client and server crashes during online games. You'll need patch 1.2 installed before updating to 1.2.1. The update also has word on new documentation for server operators for the game.

The highly anticipated hotfix for Crysis has been approved and is now ready for distribution. The 37MB sized patch for Crysis fixes the known security hole in the game code which causes client and server crashes when playing online.

Be sure that you have patch 1.2 installed before, since this is required to apply the hotfix to your Crysis installation.

Changelog

• Added "Basic Setup" section (beginners guide how to get the server running with the least amount of work)
• Added "Anti-Cheat Protection" section
• Added "Crysis Internal Anti-Cheat Solution" description
• Adjusted "Hardware Recommendations"
• Adjusted "Server Update"
• Re-worked complete document for a better readability and understanding.
• Re-worked "Advanced Setup" section
• Updated "Standard Server Settings"
• Updated "Launching the Server"
• Updated "Punkbuster" description
• Updated "Server Command List"

Okay apparently is was already available for two weeks now, but hey .. you've been able to score a four-platter 1TB hard drive for over a year now, but the cooler, quieter, economical and speedy two-platter hard drive has always been a bit of a sweet spot for storage, and Western Digital has finally hit that mark with its new WD Caviar SE16 640GB SATA drive. The 3.5-inch disks hold two 320GB platters, boast 3GB-per-second transfer rates, and are available now for $140.

The new high-capacity drives are based on the 320GB-per-platter technology the company introduced in January. The new platform was designed for cool and quieter computing. Western Digital is rolling out the new technology across its product lines, including desktop, enterprise, and external hard drives.

The drives are targeted toward users of data-intensive applications, thanks to "performance with their extreme areal density, 3GB-per-second transfer rate, and Native Command Queuing (NCQ)," according to the company.

For those interested, the GeForce 9800 GX2 just hit our price-watch databases, for the expected 599 USD. I sorted out a couple should you be interested, just click on the price to visit the stores directly.

• BFG Technologies BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GX2 BFGE981024GX2E Video Card - $599.99
• EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2 01GP3N891AR Video Card - $599.99 - $599.90
• XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 PVT98UZHF9 Video Card - $599.99
• XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 PVT98UZHF9 Video Card - $599.99

NiBiTor allows graphics card enthusiasts, or the hardcore overclockers to have full control over some advanced features and functionality found on firmware of supporting cards. Doing so users gain some extra performance, enable certain hidden features, tweak memory latencies, provide extensive information, adapt boot up settings, change fan speed options and/or get extra stability on the NVIDIA based graphics accelerators.

Changes in this Version

• Added Support for GeForce 9800 GX2
• Added Support for GeForce 8800M GTS

> Download

The HardwareOC Crysis Benchmark is a very hard opponent against the synthetic benchmark. Many usefull options, many tweaks, many lost FPS...

System requirements

• 32/64 bit Windows XP / VISTA
• The latest drivers for your graphics card
• The v1.2 patch

Feature

• Change the resolution from 800

OCZ Technology Unveils Ultra-Fast Two Gigahertz DDR3 Modules Optimized for the New NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Platform

OCZ Technology today unveiled PC3-16000 DDR3 modules that are also NVIDIA SLI-certified to run at an extreme 2GHz on the next generation NVIDIA nForce

Corsair today released two Dominator kits and one XMS - the TW3X2G2000, TW3X2G1800 and TW3X2G1600, all 2GB offers. The most expensive kit is certified to work at 2000 MHz while the others reach respective frequencies of 1800 and 1600 MHz. All kits come with lifetime warranties.

Corsair announced today their NVIDIA 790i Ultra SLI high-performance DDR3 partner memory offerings, including a record-breaking 2GHz module.

After extensive partnership efforts between NVIDIA and Corsair, the NVIDIA 790i Ultra SLI platform was found to exhibit extreme overclocking capabilities with the latest in DDR3 memory architectures.  All Corsair SLI-ready partner memory is pre-loaded with EPP2, the latest in memory performance specifications.  EPP2 is designed to deliver an automatic memory performance boost for enthusiasts when used with the 790i Ultra SLI platform.

Back in early February a source familiar with the plans of AMD revealed that AMD Phenom processor models 9550 (2.20GHz), 9650 (2.30GHz) and 9750 (2.40GHz) based on the new stepping will be released commercially in April. Various media reports now suggest that along with the launch of the new microprocessors AMD will also release model 9850 at 2.50GHz clock-speed.

If you search a little then you'll notice that the upcoming Phenom 9750 and 9850 listed at an American e-tail stores.

AMD Phenom 9850 will come as a black overclockable edition works at 2.5G GHz, has the TDP of 125W and it fits in socket AM2+. It should start selling soon and it will cost $302.99. The second fastest in this line up is Phenom 9750 with the same TDP and 2.4GHz clock. It is not a Black Edition and it will sell for $278.99. 

Both CPUs come with free shipping. You can order 9850 here and 9750 here.

The new microprocessors are based on the new B3 core stepping and should generally have a little higher performance due to the lack of the well-known TLB erratum compared to AMD Phenom models 9500 and 9600 available now.

Latest rumors in the channel are now confirming that NVDIA's upcoming GeForce 9800 GTX, normally slated for a release next week. Has been delayed to April the 1st (and that's not a joke).

A well, you'll have to wait a week longer.

We already heard the rumor, which is now confirmed. Intensly sucky howevere is that the trade-up program only applies in Northern America.

BFG Technologies announced today the BFG Trade Up program. The program is designed to give customers a one time opportunity to exchange their current BFG graphics card within 100 days of the original date of purchase for a better model and only pay the difference in price, plus applicable taxes.

Ubisoft sent out a press release announcing that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2, the sixth iteration of the multimillion-selling Rainbow Six tactical shooter franchise, has shipped to retail stores, for PS3 and Xbox 360. The PC version will be available on April 15th.

• More Multiplayer - The highly acclaimed multiplayer mode in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas has been upgraded to include 13 new maps with more intense face-offs, two new adversarial modes, more rewards and easier access to matches using the improved and intuitive matchmaking system. 
• Unprecedented Customizable Experience - Create your own identity that persists through both the single player and multiplayer modes and progresses along with you online and offline. Reap the benefits of your single player rewards in multiplayer, and vice versa. 
• Vastly Improved Co-op Mode - Turn single player mode into co-op mode at any time seamlessly with join in progress. Now a friend can jump your story campaign and assist without any change to the story. The single player maps and storyline were created with co-op in mind, with every map having multiple entry points 
• Challenging AI - The AI is more challenging than ever. Now, the terrorists are equipped with thermal vision, night vision and shields - not to mention a multitude of varying tactics - all of which are guaranteed to give you a new playing experience every time you go into battle. As you progress within the game, you'll be able to outsmart your enemies by taking advantage of intelligence opportunities, such as using thermal scan. 
• New Weapons and Armor - Take down the terrorists more effectively using 11 new weapons. New camouflage, clothing and gear allow for the ultimate customizations. 
• More Vegas - Sin City is back and bigger than before. Explore all-new Vegas hot spots and gritty back streets, creating a visual experience that is as challenging as it is breathtaking.  

NVIDIA today launches it's worst kept secret of all times, the GeForce 9800 GX2. Basically the highest performing graphics card to date, though with a twist .. as pretty much NVIDIA merged two cards together and is selling that symbiosis as one.

Guru3D will put the NVIDIA reference card and a retail sample from BFG towards the test. Guru3D will discuss everything from Architecture towards gaming performance. You can find the article at the direct URL below:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/bfg-geforce-9800-gx2-1024mb-review/

Next to the release of NVIDIA's GeForce 9800 GX2, NVIDIA also is launching their nForce series 790 mainboards. Guru3D will peek at the highest performance model available, the eVGA nForce 790i Ultra SLI. They slap DDR3 memory on it, a 9800 GX2 and started overclocking a Q6600 Core to quad processor towards pretty nice heights and observe overall performance, with a gaming perspective.

Next to that Guru3D has build an entire new water-cooled platform based on ESA components. Just to check how well that bi-directional component communication is actually working out. A pretty interesting read for sure. Check out the full article here:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/nvidia-nforce-790i-ultra-sli-review-evga/