Core 2 Duo vs. Core 2 Quad by Intel

We finally got an answer on what exactly Intel tells its business customers when it wants to put some contrast between dual and quad-core CPUs.

Intel claims that dual-core is best for:

1. Maximizing productivity for multi-tasking business users
2. IT builds with numerous background applications
3. Demanding office applications and collaboration software

The same paper tells the business customers that quad-core is best for:

1. CAD design and 3D rendering for advanced business applications
2. Complex calculations such as Monte Carlo and Black-Scholes
3. HD Video Encoding for business video authoring

In Office productivity Sysmark 2007 test, dual-core is actually some 15 percent faster than the Quad-core and Intel is comparing E8600 at 3.33GHz and Q9400 at 2.67GHz, both priced at around €220 price tag. In Complex calculation Excel 2007, Monte Carlo Simulation this same quad-core can end up 21 percent faster than the dual-core.

Intel left out 3D gaming from this equation simply as it tries to sell the PCs to business customers who should not be playing Call of Duty at work hours, but at the same time tells most of you that you might not need a Quad-core.

Source : Here

OCZ's 12GB kits should be out soon

According to our info, OCZ's 12GB kits should be available in retail/e-tail really soon. OCZ has two kits and both will work at 1333MHz.

The kits in question are the OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 Gold Low-Voltage Triple-Channel 12GB (6x2GB) kit working at 1333MHz with 9-9-9-20 latencies and at 1.65V, and the OCZ DDR3 PC3-10666 Platinum Low-Voltage Triple-Channel kit working at 1333MHz with lower 7-7-7-20 latencies and at the same 1.65V voltage.

OCZ has designed this kit for enthusiasts/early adopters of Intel's Core i7 CPU that are running memory-hungry applications, as 12GB is just way too much for gaming and everyday work.

Both of these kits are already listed and the current lowest price for the Gold one stands at €393.40 while the low latency Platinum 12GB kit sells for €406.49. We suspect that the price might fall a bit due to the fact that only two retailers/e-tailers have these kits listed.

Source : Here

DFI makes mATX X58 motherboard

DFI has announced a new member of its Lanparty Jr. series of motherboards, and this time around it's something really out of the ordinary, a mATX X58 board. The Lanparty Jr X58-T3H6, as its known, is the first mATX X58 board that we're aware of.

Despite its small size, DFI hasn't skimped on features, as the board has the full six memory slots, a pair of x16 PCIe slots with full bandwidth and even a x4 PCIe slot. There's also a single PCI slot, six SATA connectors, one IDE port, a floppy connector and, of course, power and reset buttons as well as a debug LED display.

Around the back you'll find two PS/2 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet , a BIOS reset jumper and 7.1-channel audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF out. There are also three headers on the board for an additional six USB 2.0 ports.

This crazy little board has no less than six fan headers (including the one for the CPU cooler) and there's a floppy-style power connector near the bottom PCIe slot for adding some extra power for power-hungry graphics cards.

No details on a launch date or pricing have emerged, but we'd guess this one won't be cheap.

Source : Here

ATI working on RV740

The main limitation of RV735 was the 128-bit wide bus, but ATI has been working on a new version of the chip, simply codenamed RV740 that will end up with a 256-bit bus.

This card should be available in Q1 2009 and it looks that it slipped the original schedule to launch in late 2008. This card will help ATI has a better position and more power in under $100 market and put the Geforce 9600GT under even more pressure.

This is obviously a 55nm chip, and it will help ATI dominate the sub-$100 market and try to get as many OEM deals as it possibly can. We expect to see some products based on this chip in Q1 2009.

Source : Here

EVGA to ship GTX 260 55nm on Tuesday

EVGA has informed us that they will be the first with EVGA Geforce GTX 260 Core 216 / 55nm cards, at least in Europe. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as EVGA is not the only big one to support Nvidia only, as XFX has defected to ATI, and BFG is not that big as it used to be. There will be at least three models of the new 55nm GTX 260: the reference clocked, Super Clocked and Super Super Clocked cards.

Flextronics make the cards, and these cards should have some very good overclocking capabilities. Nvidia usually uses Flextronics for its first NVTTM (Nvidia Time To Market) production batch and EVGA decided to get the first ones, and we don’t believe that they had any choice.

We found the card listed in Austria, Grafikkarte PCI-E 2.0 EVGA e-GeForce GTX 260 Core216 55nm Superclocked, Retail, 896MB listed at ditech.at for €299 and with 626MHz clock speed.

SuperSuper clocked should work at, at least 666MHz, while we suspect that it might even reach 700MHz.

The cards are shipping as of early next week and there is a tiny chance you might have one to put under the Xmas tree. This will be the third version of GTX 260 product, as the first one has 192 shaders, the second one is again 65nm chip with 216 Shaders, and finally the one that is available as of week 52, the GTX 260 with 55nm chip and 216 shaders.

Source : Here