Content and news by Rob Williams

“WITH MICROSOFT’S OFFICIAL announcement of its next-generation Xbox 360 console this week, ATI has decided to disclose some of the architectural details of the graphics processor that it created for the system. I had a brief but enlightening conversation with Bob Feldstein, Vice President of Engineering at ATI, who helped oversee the Xbox 360 GPU project. He spelled out some of the GPU’s details for me, and they’re definitely intriguing. Read on to get my graphics-geeky take on the inner workings of the Xbox 360 GPU.”

Read all about it at Tech Report.

“Everyone has heard of Zalman and Arctic Cooling graphics card coolers but Jetart is relatively unknown in this market. However, they may have a potential winner in their new JACSH1 graphics card cooler!

Don’t ask us about the name – we really have no idea why they named it JACSH1. But we know how well it performs! Check out the review and find out just how good this cooler is!”

Check out the review at Rojak Pot.

“May 18 was the first day of E3 2005. We head over and had quite a bit of fun with all the games and such. Take a look and see all our pretty pictures.”

Head on over to InsaneTek for all the coverage.

“Gigabyte is very well known for their high quality motherboards but they also have a few other tricks up their sleeves. This CD-RW/DVD-Rom combo is a great alternative from the ones we’re used to seeing.”

Head over to InsaneTek for the full review.

“To sum up this peek at MSI’s mini marvel, it’s the absolute perfect size for my uses, outshining the horrible DTR models I’ve reviewed for HEXUS by a massive margin. Plenty of disk space and rock solid WiFi, along with great basic ergonomics have me putting the screen’s reflective nature to one side while I enjoy the size and lack of weight of almost a perfect notebook for my needs. I’m a journo with no need for on-the-go 3D performance. I just write, so all I need is something tiny with plenty of pixels, good wireless and a keyboard I’m happy to tap on for hours on end.”

Check out the full review at Hexus.

“First off we have to say that this Titan Bianca is not sold as an all powerful all conquering water cooler heatsink system but as an economic universal AMD & Intel processor water system. The whole Bianca kit is well made as you expect from Titan and comes complete with all the accessories you need and a fully comprehensive manual, but then the Bianca is easy to set up and use.”

Check out the full review at A1 Electronics.

“The Geforce 6600/6600GT GPU, like its opposite the ATI X700/X700 PRO, offers considerably more for the money than the mainstream cards of previous generations did. PCstats is testing out nine Geforce 6600 and Geforce 6600 GT based videocards, in both AGP and PCI Express versions. The features of each videocard will be compared, as well as the standard run of gaming benchmarks. SLI benchmarks will be analyzed wherever possible with the overall aim of deciding which of the mainstream graphics cards solutions in this roundup provides the best value for money, whether you are looking for a single mid-range gaming card or a dual-videocard SLI powerhouse.”

GREAT round-up with a lot of cards to compare. Check it out at PC Stats!

“This is a quick reminder, to let everyone know the Phoronix Logisys contest is still going, but will be ending at the end of the month. The prizes include a Logisys computer chassis, keyboard, and fan mouse. Registration is simple so join now!”

Check out the full rules and info at Phoronix.

“When we think of Giga-byte we tend to think of motherboards and video cards. Today 3DXtreme has the pleasure of reviewing a cooling product by Giga-byte, the G-Power cpu cooler. We have reviewed a cooler by Giga-byte in the paste, the 3D Cooler-Ultra GH-PCU31-VH. This time around they take the heatpipe theme and apply it in a different fashion. What they come up with is this cooler we are looking at today. Let’s see how well it performs…”

Check out the full review at 3D Xtreme.

“Coming complete with 6 interchangeable DC output jacks, the Universal Notebook Adapter is compatible with most popular notebook models from brands such as Sony, Dell, IBM and Toshiba to name a few. The interchangeable DC jacks will let you smugly allow others to charge their lappies from your cable too… definitely a ‘one-upper’ in the office.”

Why didn’t they think of this before? Read about it at Hexus.

“PDPsys recently launched the XBL (eXtreme Bandwidth and Latency) product line, offering one of their best overclocking memory lines so far. The flexibility of that XBL line can be seen and is offered in both the original DDR and new DDR 2 line-up of products. XBL DDR can operate from PC3200 400Mhz at eXtreme Low latency of 2-2-2-5 to the eXtreme Bandwidth of PC4200 at 533 Mhz (above ~420 MHz with slower timings though) on the same memory module. And that offers nice overclocking potential. Rated PC3200 this is not the fastest memory available in terms of clock frequency, yet it might offer you some good value between performance and price when you look at the really fast timings it offers.”

Head over to Guru 3D for the full review!

“Addlogix’s new UniXpress USB 2.0 Port Replicator is a good example that takes advantage of a single USB 2.0 connection to provide SVGA video, Ethernet, audio, mic-in, 5-port USB hub and also KVM support for 2 PCs. The video mode allows you to do mirroring, extending and replicating the display at up to 1280 x 1024 in 16-bit colors. Addlogix claims DVD playback is possible.”

Check out the full article at Everything USB.

“This product is intended for use as a Home Theatre PC Case; however, it could just as easily be a desktop case. It fits standard ATX motherboards and power supplies so building a fast, affordable system is easy. It has a very stylish aluminum front but the rest is steel, so the case is fairly heavy (19LBS). It has an open design which makes installation simple, comes with plenty of drive bays and three fans. Watch the Video to find out more…”

Head over to 3D Gameman for the full video review!

“Cold cathodes have been around for a long time. If you see a case with lighting then there is most likely a cold cathode inside. Today we will be looking at a different type of light, which may even be better than a cold cathode. It uses 12 LED’s to illuminate your case. So let’s get this review started!”

Check out the review over at Think Computers.

“LOS ANGELES, May 17 /PRNewswire/ — At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), AGEIA(TM) Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that ASUS Computer will be AGEIA’s first PhysX board partner. Details of the agreement will be announced at a later date, but the two companies have agreed in principle that ASUS will develop and market PPU boards with the AGEIA PhysX processor, the world’s first and only dedicated physics processing unit. Gamers using ASUS add-in boards with the AGEIA PhysX processor will experience unprecedented physics-based effects and environments in next-generation games. Products are expected within 2005, coinciding with the release of popular game titles incorporating AGEIA physics technology.”

This is quite interesting.. ASUS jumped on the bandwagon first. We will have to wait and see how good the PhysX processor will prove to be. Check out the full release here.

“GeIL’s new Ultra-X memory based on the Winbond UTT BH5 memory is getting excellent reviews and results all over the world. Here’s your chance to get some for free! “

Check out the related thread over at Insane Tek!

“Few minutes after ATI has released the Catalyst 5.5 and x64. We already have the performance results for the following versions: 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.4 x64, 5.5 x64. Check this article for the results.”

Check out the results at NGOHQ!

If you consider yourself an “overclocker,” then you already know everything about the Prometeia brand of phase-change coolers, and we really don’t have to say a single word more. For anyone who isD:@Advert_Code_Promos@ n’t familiar with the name “Prometeia,” it is special device that chills an Intel or AMD processor down to an operating temperature of between -20°C to -30°C, with the end goal being better overclocking.

As temperature plays a very significant role in the long and complex overclocking equation, the quest for ever lower temperatures has influenced the adaptation of several industrial and laboratory cooling equipments into the world of personal computing. Over the following pages we’ll be testing out an ECT Prometeia Mach II GT phase change cooler – tooled for an AMD Athlon64 processor no less.”

Check out the full article at PC Stats.

“Microsoft’s Internet Explorer development team acknowledged Monday that it was a mistake not to build tabs into IE earlier. But the team’s not rushing into updating: the tab feature in the next version of the popular browser will on the “basic” side.”

Read all about it at InformationWeek.

Details have been released on the upcoming Sony console, the PS3. The specs are amazing, and the console styling is moreso.

• Backwards compatibility with both PSone and PS2 games.
• Will use Blu-Ray discs for media; also supports: CD-ROM, CD+RW, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD+R, and SACD
• Cell processor at 3.2GHz
• 2.18 teraflops of performance
• 512MB total: 256MB XDR system RAM at 3.2 GHz; 256MB of GDDRVRAM at 700MHz
• Slot that supports a detachable 2.5in HDD
• Six USB ports; Memory Stick Duo, SD and Compact Flash support
• 2 HDMI outputs, 1 A/V output, 1 SPDIF optical output, and a 1 gigabit ethernet port
• Video chat, Internet access, digital picture, audio, and video viewing
• Capable of handling seven Bluetooth controllers
• WiFi capable

Graphics:

• Chip is called RSX “Reality Synthesizer” by nVidia, runs at 550MHz
• 128 bit pixel precision and 1080p support
• 300 million transistors; 90nm process
• Said to be more powerful than two GeForce 6800 Ultras

Damn, that’s incredible. Faster than two 6800U’s? Doubtful, but they must have some amazing technology, or this thing is going to cost an arm and a leg.

More info can be found at Shacknews and you can view the official PR at Sony.