Electronista

"Intel's upcoming processor generations will double the number of cores per chip and add a brand new language for specialized code, according to leaked slides obtained by CanardPlus. Although the semiconductor company's Core i7 will just receive a manufacturing process shrink down from 45 nanometers to 32 during 2009, reducing its power use and allowing more complex parts, a replacement architecture codenamed Sandy Bridge will replace it by 2010 and double the number of cores per die to eight. Hyperthreading support will let it handle as many as 16 code threads at once, while a large 16MB pool of Level 3 cache will be shared to make best use of the cores.

The most important advancement of Sandy Bridge is nonetheless described as software, according to the roadmap outlined in the slides. Intel will reportedly introduce a new instruction set termed Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) that will ultimately supercede the Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) found in today's Core 2 and eventual Core i7 designs. The improvement will double the size of instructions to 256 bits and will optionally perform as many as four calculations in a single instruction. AVX will also be extensible and let Intel add new code over time to improve features without changing the hardware itself."

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Tweaktown

"The other day we looked at the Smooth Creations Asylum and inside was the new Diamond HD 4870 XOC Black Edition. This isn’t your normal overclocked HD 4870, though; if you have a look at the specifications on the thing, you will quickly discover that the card is packing some mega serious clock speeds.

... Diamond have managed to pull some serious speed out of the already fast HD 4870; the massive increase in memory clock speeds really manages to give us a serious boost in performance, making it compete against the GTX 280 in a lot of tests.

It doesn’t come as any real surprise that the Diamond HD 4870 comes with a bigger price tag, but when looking online the difference seems to be a measly $20. When you look at the performance boost you get, the small increase in price really does seem like nothing."

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Digitimes

"Intel has dropped the Centrino Atom brand name for Mobile Internet Device (MID) products and will now list all its Internet connection-based products including CPUs for netbooks and MIDs under the Atom brand, according to the company.

Intel was originally using the brand Centrino Atom for its MID processor codenamed Silverthorne, which uses smaller packaging and has a lower power consumption than the Atom processor for netbook.

However, Intel was afraid that the name Centrino Atom could mislead consumers into thinking MID products were related to its mainstream Centrino notebook products.

Intel is expected to unveil its second generation MID platform at the Intel Developer Forum in the US soon."

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Dailytech

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PCGH

"Coolermaster is going to present a new product series called “Storm” at the Games Convention. The first case of the series is called “Sniper”. The appearance is almost final, but there will be many changes made to the interior until the final release. So the case pictured is a mockup.

Nevertheless some features can be recognized: The Sniper will have two handles integrated into the lid. The lid also hosts a control panel. Among Power and Reset button there is another specialty: A rotary switch can be used to dim or switch off the inside illumination of the case. Furthermore it is said to be possible to connect fans to this control. Four USB, Firewire, E-SATA and headphone ports are located in the lid, too.

The inside of the Sniper is black. The fittings for plug-in cards are colored in the mock-up, but this will be changed almost certainly. The lid, the floor and the front of the case have many aerating holes, which are supposed to enable a good air movement and offer possible positions for fans or a radiator. The motherboard tray has the same features as the one of the Coolermaster HAF 932: For improved cable management and an easier installation of CPU coolers with a backplate, there are many openings next to and below the motherboard. ..."

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Hardwarezone

"Last spotted at Computex Taipei 2008, the touch screen Vista-based Gigabyte M912V finally makes its way down into our labs for a review. Strangely enough, the M912V crosses a barrier by being both a netbook - and a UMPC due to its form factor and touch screen capabilities. While we wouldn't actually classify the M912V as a UMPC, it's probably pretty close to the original intent of the UMPC makers, especially when you take into consideration that netbooks in general tend to be much cheaper and closer to the price target of US$500 that was originally intended to be for UMPCs.

But let's set the record straight folks, the M912V is a netbook with a touchscreen and slightly more. It's the first Intel Atom-based netbook we've seen running Vista and it's also the first netbook we've encountered that doesn't use a 1024 x 600 resolution that's found in almost all Atom-based netbooks so far. The Gigabyte M912V's native screen resolution of 1280 x 768 does give it a slight edge over the current models, though how all this translates to real world experience, well, that's what we'll find out with our review."

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VR-Zone

HardwareInfos

"Intel announces Remote Wake Technology. This is a new feature for their next chipsets, which wakes up the PC from the deep-mode, when a VoIP call is received. The prerequisites are that the computer is connected to the mains, an Internet connection and that the software Jajah installs."

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CPU3D: Special Weekend Deals 

Here's this week's list of special deals from our sponsors ... Also check out our discussion forums for further deals. Click HERE.

 - Sapphire ATI HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 @ £182.52
 - AMD Phenom X4 Quad-Core 9350e @ £130.23
 - OCZ Core 64Gb SATA 2 Solid State Drive @ £172.53
 - OCZ NIA Neural Impulse Actuator @ £89.95
 

Immortal Gaming

 - Asus ATI Radeon HD 4870X2 2GB GDDR5 @ £393.61
 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 LGA775 Conroe 2.33GHz (1333FSB) @ £105.74
 - EVGA 9800 GX2 "SSC Edition" 1024MB GDDR3 @ £293.74

The INQ

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CNet: Webware

"We have been reminded several times lately that Web 2.0 is in no way a synonym for "reliable." Major services have crashed. Big product launches have fizzled. Users have raised their collective fists in the air. What's going on? Is the Web crumbling? Well, no, it's not. But users' expectations are rising, and Web companies often get themselves into trouble by promising far more than they can deliver. "

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