Asustek and Gigabyte - Intel P45 chipset launch

In an attempt to gain an edge in the competitive motherboard market, Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology have already unveiled motherboards featuring the new Intel P45 chipset for media review, as they gear up for the official June 2008 launch of the P45.Intel reportedly will officially launch its 4-series chipsets at Computex 2008, while motherboard makers will start shipping products later that month. However, Gigabyte's good sales performance in motherboard equipped with Intel 965 and P35 chipsets have brought significant competitive pressure on Asustek and both companies are circulating P45 boards for media reviews. As the P45 will have a long product life cycle of 18-24 months, the product is expected to be a crucial revenue driver for leading Taiwan-based makers of motherboards, the sources indicated.

via: DigiTimes

Asustek releases Xonar audio cards

Asustek Computer has introduced the PCI Express interface Xonar D2X and the USB interface Xonar U1 audio devices. The Asustek Xonar family of audio cards utilizes an Asustek exclusive technology – the new DS3D GX extension in the Xonar D2X driver; to provide full support for surround sound and hardware accelerated features by translating DirectX to the DS3D GX, according to the company. Other solutions like OpenAL require special installation and game support, while, DS3D GX does not, pointed out Asustek. Gamers can enjoy DirectX gaming with hardware enhanced surround sound and EAX effects automatically and immediately after installation, it added.

DigiTimes

AMD Barcelona Review

In just a short few hours AMD will officially launch its newest addition to is server processor lineup named Barcelona. Barcelona marks an important point in the AMD roadmap as it is AMD's first quad core server cpu.

This is the AMD Barcelona, or Opteron 2347 Quad Core processor which clocks in a 1.9Ghz. As some might have noticed this chip differs slightly from previous CPU's offered. The integrated heat spreader has a beveled edge. We can only speculate that this assist with heat transfer and mating of the heatsink to the CPU. The new Quad Core AMD Barcelona retains the same socket F as the current generation Opterons making the upgrade a no-brainer for IT admins looking to increase processing power and density without having to buy an entirely new board.

The new Opteron (Barcelona) not only adds two additional cores to the server lineup but it also adds a number of unique new features. Let's take a look at the guts of the Barcelona and compare them to the current Rev. F Opterons.

As you can see the new Barcelona reduces the amount of L2 cache by half of its older sibling but it adds 2MB of shared L3 cache and a 2nd FPU.

More @ TechWareLabs

ASUS P5K3 Premium/WiFi AP

Intel's newest P35 Express chipset brought along support for both DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules. As DDR3 modules are still not widely interesting because of their high price, ASUS decided to celebrate its 18th birthday in a specific manner. We have in front of us an ASUS P5K3 Premium/WiFi AP motherboard which has 2 GB of DDR3 memory - integrated!!!

The Black Pearl, as this motherboard model is suffixed, is supposed to be associated with the limited number of produced models. The bundle is very rich, so, alongside necessary cables, one can also find a WiFi antenna in the package as well. Still, let's start with the board layout. What comes to attention first is the heatpipe system. The quality of this kind of cooling is unquestionable.

Full Review...

Asus 2600XT and 2600Pro - ATI mid range performance

ATI released their HD 2900 XT to an awaiting enthusiast audience who were (it has to be said), a little disappointed. Apart from the price and awesome bundle the card offered little new to the market.

Now the mid-range cards are upon us and once again ATI trail behind nVidia on release schedule. Having said that, Asus have given us a couple of nice looking cards with some 3rd party coolers so it will be interesting to see how these go down.

R600 becomes R630

In the spirit of making the lower chips have higher numbers than the top end, ATI have named their mid-range R630. With a scaled down version of the R600 architecture and boasting a nice 194 GFLOPS of power, the 2600 series looks pretty sweet on paper.

Full Review...

Asustek's Manual Overclocking Tool for Graphics Cards

Asustek Computer has unveiled what it calls “the world’s first hardware based real-time overclocking device for graphics cards” along with its new Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT-based graphics board. Asustek’s OC Gear real-time overclocking device should be installed into a spare 5.25” bay and connected to a USB port. Specially developed software will allow end-users to adjust system master volume, GPU clock-speed, GPU fan speed using a simple knob as well as monitor GPU temperature and current FPS information.

The EN8600 GT OC Gear graphics card from Asus is equipped with 256MB of high-speed 1ns GDDR3 memory as well as high-performance cooling system. The Asus OC Gear device itself is also compatible with various graphics cards by Asustek Computer, however, the company did not reveal whether the software needed for Asus OC Gear will support other than EN8600 GT graphics boards. Additional money end-users may have to pay for the OC Gear device compared to typical Asus EN8600 GT graphics card without it is unknown.

Xbit Laboratories

Intel, Asus Announce $199 'Eee PC'

Asus and Intel have teamed up to develop a cheap notebook PC – the "Eee PC," an inexpensive laptop designed to help spread computing to poorer regions. Two models were demonstrated: a $199 and $299 model, both representing Intel’s "World Ahead" market initiative. A shipping date was not announced for the new device. The Eee PC will apparently connect to the Internet, as it will allow users to make VOIP calls. Chairman and chief executive of Asus, Jonney Shih, said the computer weighs about 900 grams – a working model of the Eee PC booted in about fifteen seconds to what was clearly not a Microsoft OS.

PCMAG

Asustek to ship motherboard with HD interface

Asustek Computer plans to launch a PC motherboard in April with an interface that will allow users to watch high definition (HD) movies on either the Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD formats. The ASUS M2A-VM-HDMI comes with an HDMI (high definition multiple interface) slot, which is where users can plug in a high definition player and enjoy cinema-like films on their PC monitors - so long as the monitors are also high-end LCD (liquid crystal display) products. HDMI can also be used with other disc formats, such as DVD. The board, which is aimed at home theater PC users, is priced at NT$3,190 (US$96.46)

Source: InfoWorld

ASUS Prepares PCIe x1 Sound Card

Last week at CeBIT, ASUS demonstrated its upcoming Xonar-series sound cards, available in two variants: the D2 and D2K in PCI and PCIe x1 interfaces. Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect multi-channel audio encoding technologies are available for digital multi-channel audio while 7.1-channel analog outputs are available for those that prefer analog to digital. Unconfirmed reports claim the ASUS Xonar-series feature an Analog Devices audio DSP. ASUS also touts Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker and Dolby Virtual Headphone technologies for multi-channel upconverting and surround sound. ASUS rates the Xonar-series with an 118dB playback and 115dB recording signal-to-noise ratios. The upcoming Xonar-series sound cards support 24-bit/192 KHz playback and recording resolutions as well as ASIO 2.0. ASUS internal testing reveals the Xonar-series is capable of low total harmonic distortion rates: 0.000006% THD on all eight analog outputs and the single line input, between the frequencies of 20Hz to 20 kHz. ASUS also equips the Xonar-series with an EMI shield and touts it provides “stable audio quality.”

Source: DailyTech

Asus EN8800GTS 320Mb Videocard

Most of us know that Cebit is going on and new videocards are probably shown there, the 8800GTS is still fairly new and it looks like it might be a excellent choice for most consumers if you look at price and performance. We are going to test this card vs some older high performers to see how it really does perform.

Full Story @ RBMODS

Asustek's Water-Cooled Graphics Card...

Taiwanese hardware maker Asustek Computer Incorporated has unveiled a water-cooled graphics card: the AquaTank EN8800GTX graphics board, based on a Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX with 768MB DDR3 memory. According to an Asustek executive manning the company's booth at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, the AquaTank cards are currently in production and will soon be available. The company claims the water-cooling system helps to keep the graphics chip running 12 degrees Celsius (54 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than other 8800GTX boards which translates into a performance gain of around 11% percent.

Source: PC World