W.I.L. Hardware Tech-News Highlights for August 2005

Rewiring a home office – link.

Wiring DRM into the system – link.

Systems

Lian Li’s F1 computer desk is that it is very well designed, manufactured, and finished, and represents something completely unique … definitely a product that is at the very top of its class – review.

Build your own render farm, on a shoestring budget – link.

Socket 939 SFF system roundup shows that the average SFF is quieter but more expensive than the typical ATX setup. The perfect 939 SFF is always a matter of balancing compromises – link.

Build your own render farm – link.

Are computers without hard drives useless? – link.

Toshiba Libretto U100 ultraportable notebook highlights many of the technologies that make Toshiba one of the leading laptop manufacturers – review.

CPUs, motherboards, chipsets

AnandTech’s August motherboard price guide – link.

Chipsets today and tomorrow – link.

AMD, IBM to co-develop 32nm, 22nm chip fabrication processes – link.

– AMD

The Athlon 64 X2 can benefit from higher speed memory in some scenarios, unlike with single core A64s – link.

The Athlon 64 x2 3800+ makes dual core more affordable – link 1, link 2, link 3.

AMD’s Opteron 100-Series support unbuffered memory, switch to Socket 939 – link.

AMD announces low-power dual-core processors, for embedded applications – link.

AMD cranks up performance of mobile Athlon 64 – link.

AMD’s Sempron 3400+ brings in support of the AMD64 extensions and thus can effectively replace a junior Athlon 64, but it is Socket 754 – review 1, review 2.

nVidia new nForce 4 SLI X16 chipset solidifies the company’s position in the core logic market and helps to push prices down across the board – review.

ULi’s M1695 PCIe/AGP for AMD64 gets a followup look, and shows that ULi belongs on your short list for a new Athlon 64 mainboard next to ATI and nVidia’s offerings – link.

– Intel

The hidden currents powering Intel’s next generation chips – link.

Intel phases out old-generation Centrino platforms, 852/855-series mobile chipsets to be discontinued – link.

Intel to disclose peculiarities of next-generation processors at upcoming Intel Developer Forum – link.

Intel massively slashes desktop CPU (Pentium 4) pricing – link.

Foxconn’s 925XE7AA mainboard is an ideal solution for those users who work with networking technologies and try to build a server in their home – link.

– Other

Via releases chipset for Via C7-M and Intel Pentium M processors, primarily aimed at manufacturers of low-power and low-cost notebooks – link.

Graphics

AnandTech’s August video card price guide – link.

PowerColor’s X850XT Platinum Edition is the world’s fastest AGP 8x graphics card, and it is fairly quiet – review.

Matrox Graphics adds more PCI Express x1 products into lineup – link.

ATI announces highly-integrated Xilleon 240 Digital TV-on-chip – link.

ATI introduces Radeon X800 GT, targets mainstream market – link.

nVidia mulls general purpose processing on GPUs – link.

nVidia’s 7800 series own the high end graphics space for now. Now it is time for monitor makers to catch up and start releasing panels that can make use of the available dual-link DVI port at reasonable prices – link.

XFX’s GeForce 7800 GT provides good performance for a lower, but still high, price – review.

EVGA’s e-GeForce 7800 GTX retail graphics card is much faster than the regular GeForce 7800 – review.

Memory, storage

August memory market overview – link.

Crucial follows rivals, unveils 1GHz DDR2 SDRAM modules – link.

– Hard disk drives

Toshiba ships first commerical HDD based on perpendicular recording technology. Model MK4007GAL comes in 1.8” form-factor and can store up to 40GB of data on its only platter – link.

SATA vs. Parallel ATA performance – link.

– Optical drives

Plextor’s PX-740A DVD writer offers a great drive at an affordable price – review.

Optical disc makers would prefer HD DVD over Blu-Ray due to lower transition costs – link.

BenQ, Sony to offer BD-ROM drives in H1 2006 – link. Blu-Ray DRM plans released – link.

ASUS’s SDRW-0804P-D portable DVD±R burner is a small drive with big capabilities – review.

Cases, power supplies, cooling

First look at Zalman’s CNPS9500 LED CPU cooling system: the power of air, the efficiency of water – review.

A lighter and cooler graphics card cooler using a CPU cooler – link.

Miscellaneous components and periferals

Creative unveils new sound cards – link.

Is Creative Labs’ X-Fi PCI sound card worth the price. If you are a serious audio buff … maybe – review.

Closer look at 17" LCD monitor features, part VI – link.

Plasma displays have drawbacks, but the future is bright (so to speak) – link.

Logitech’s G5 laser optical mouse may be the most sophisticated gaming mouse ever designed (for $70 it had better be) – review.

ACECAD’s DigiMemo A501 digital notepad could make life easier for a lot of people – review.

Brother’s MFC-620CN multi-function printer is “Jack of all trades …” – link.

PDA market on the rise, says Gartner Research – link.