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All is quiet on the hardware front. I can’t seem to find any updates on the latest hardware whether it be graphics cards or motherboards there doesn’t seem to anything going on!  Usually when this is the case the manufacturers are getting ready for something big!  Well I hope so!  With the usual  mentions of Intels technology are all the vendors following  Intel’s white papers?  Are they designing for the next generation? Well we can only hope!

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So whats happening in the world of hardware? Well you guessed it! Nothing much! But we do have a lot of things to look forward to over the up coming months. As you well know I constantly talk about the Core i7 processor and the upcoming graphics/ motherboards that run along side the new architecture. For example we have the x58 motherboards with their new memory implementation (on chip) not to mention Nehalem the graphics card from Intel.

AMD’s side looks bland. They are releasing a new set of triple core processors for the consumer. The reason behind this move is to hopefully take stronghold on the main stream market and offer well priced and well performed products. Since i’m an enthusiast I like to look within the top end specifications and price ranges. This is where AMD are let down.  Lets remind our self’s that Intel are running processors on 45nm fabs and AMD on 65nm. Intel are now creating virtually a new articecture for the new genertion of processors. I have still not heard the Core i7 8 core processors but they should be round the corner.

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Thermaltake Xpressar case may be your next investment ! The case is the first DC inverter type micro refrigeration cooling system to be used in a pc case. The system is virtually a reworked air conditioning system that promises to keep your components 20 C cooler than your average liquid cooling system NOT air cooling, now that’s impressive.

I did predict this would happen over time, enthusiasts across the globe were demonstrating fridge elements that were used as water cooling devices to help condense the water particles. This is a similar device but more effective in its design.

The down side is that the case will only be compatible with a handful of motherboards including asus, gigabyte and MSI. You should also expect to pay a high premium as a result.

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So Corei7 is round the corner what can we expect from the current market of high end hardware? IT has come to my attention that the high end Intel core 2 quads are coming down in price by say 20 dollars! w00t I wouldn’t exactly say the price cut are a large margin.

With this said and the corei7 set to range between $400 to $999 the current quad core processors must drop considerably otherwise the consumer will think the two products are virtually in the same performance boundaries, which cannot be Intel’s interpretation.

With this said, are we looking at a socket 775 Intel processor this Christmas or will it be the latest architecture from Intel. With only four core version available this year I may wait to next year to see if a 8 core variant will be released! I must also add that current applications still do not take advantage of the quad core system. Current dual core processors are still performing well with quad core equivalents.

What do you do? this is deffinetely a tough one!

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Core i7 code named Nehalem could be released by November 2008. Intel have not confirmed this so far but reports are stating the launch dates are around late q4. Not only have the release dates been leaked but pricing of these processors follow.

The following specifications are the first three chips based on the bloomfield core which is the main stream version of the core i7 processor.

Intel Core i7 920 (mainstream) 2.66ghz, 4 cores, 8 threads, 45nm process
Intel Core i7 940 (mainstream) 2.93ghz, 4 cores, 8 threads, 45nm process
Intel Core i7 965 (extreme) 3.20ghz, 4 cores, 8 threads, 45nm process

All processors come with 256kb of cache per core and 8mb of l3 cache shared. The starting price is $284, $562 and $999.

The leaked information states that the 965 is an extreme version I beg to differ just because there are no 8 core processors available even though Intel stated that the Nehalem was based on this fact.

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There isn’t much change in the I.T technology front. I’m not quite sure why this is the case but my guess is all is quiet and then suddenly *BANG* Nehalem, motherboards, Solid State Hard Disk and Larrabee . When the market is usually quiet it indicates that the main vendors are busy creating their next technology advances or rushing around trying to bring out their next generation products to release.

My estimate is that Intel will be releasing Nehalem in the last quarter of this year! The motherboards will follow and then the new Graphics architecture from Intel will be released next year along side the enthusiast level Nehalem products.

Q4 and Q1 of next year are important for the computer hardware enthusiast. Keep posted, updated news is just round the corner!

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Microsoft has announced that they will drop the prices of their XBox 360 console in the US, unfortunately. The pricing move will undercut Nintendo Wii sales and the sony PS3. Correct me if im wrong but with the original xbox 360 Microsoft used the same sales strategy.

The price cut will include the low end Xbox 360 which is currently sold at $279. This will be reduced to $199. The mid and high end versions (all the same to me, how can you dignify high end by a hard disk specification? ) are being reduced by $50.

The Xbox 360 will be the first console of it generation that will be sold in the sub $200 price bracket. The price drops will take immediate effect today.

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There is a rumour that AMD are panning to release the phenom FX CPU next year. Back in the day AMD CPU performance ruled all other the FX was the enthusiast of AMD products.

The AMD FX chip failed once Intel released their Dual Core processors, tut. With AMD’s lack of technological advances continuing the support of the FX chip was a no go area, lets try something new aka Intel.

In 2009 AMD are planning a desktop oriented Phenom processor using a 45nm process (about time). The processors code named Deneb could reach 3Ghz clock speed and beyond!

Predictions indicate that the processor should be around par with the existing 45nm quad core processors from Intel. So what about Core i7? hmmm still some way away yet.

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Here we have a video of computer rendered graphics, i was quite intrigued by the short clip. The reflections on the real life objects were impressive! I wouldn’t say ray tracing but it was a good start The polygon structured shapes must of had 8 sides? compare than now to the polycount of a direct 9/10 model which has thousands! You can easily see the first signs of modeling and how it has progressed over the years.

Take a look at the video bellow! Enjoy!

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IBM has unveiled a 1 terabyte tape drive capable of achieving a data transfer rate of 160 Megabytes per second. The drive supports data encryption and features a magneto-resistive head design that significantly reduces read errors for server enterprise environments.

According to IBM, tapes offer the “most green and cost-effective form of storage and will enable clients to address their growing needs for affordable and robust data solutions”.

The TS1130 will be available in September at a starting price of $39,050. µ Affordable how? who knows but i think i will go the SSD route thank you!

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