Lian-Li Launches New Power Supply Line, Rack Mount Kit and Fan Blower-August 26, 2008
Lian-Li has quickly announced three new product lines, covering power supplies, rack mount kits and fan blowers. The MAXIMA Force series of enthusiast-level power supply units headlines this new wave, and offer a range of different wattages, all with full 80 Plus certification. The MAXIMA Force lines ships in 470W, 650W and 750W models, and all support the latest ATX 12V V2.3 and EPS 12V standards. Other features include Power Failure Detection, full support for multi-core CPU, multi-graphics cards and multi-GPU single cards, and the interesting option of a maximum 100W overpower capability for one hour.
Lian-Li has also launched another pair of new case enhancement products, including the EX-H34 HDD rack mount kit and the BS-08 fan blower. The EX-H34 HDD rack features an all-aluminum frame and housing, and includes a front-loading door with individual handles on a bracket for each HDD. The rack mount kit features a back panel PCB that supports SATA hard drives in RAID 0, 1 and 0+1 formats, in a hot-swap plug & play configuration. Cooling is supplied by a 120mm fan, which spins at 1500-RPM and includes a washable nylon dust filter. The BS-08 is a fan ducting system that helps cool the graphics cards. It features dual 120mm fans within an aluminum shroud duct, which attaches to a system bracket (taking up 2 PCI slots) and expels hot air from the case. Lian-Li has yet to announce retail pricing on these new products.
OCZ Gets Rough with the Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse-August 26, 2008
OCZ Technology has been diversifying of late, offering a wide range of product choices for the high-end gaming market. The new Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse is the latest, and this offers a rock solid design and stability, combined with excellent customizing options. The first part is covered by a wired mouse, with no-slip rubber grips, which uses a high-speed, bi-directional USB 2.0 connection delivering a poll rate of up to 500Hz. The Dominatrix mouse features a laser tracking engine with multiple DPI settings of 2000/1600/800/400, and a combined maximum of 3200 DPI, for a tracking speed of up to 45-inches per second and a frame rate of up to 7080 fps.
The Dominatrix Laser Gaming Mouse also includes a standard 2-button + 4-way scroll wheel design, along with two programmable buttons. The bundled software allows customization of the mouse features, as well as loading scripts, and the mouse has onboard memory for profile storage and retrieval. As an added bonus, OCZ has even bundled weight cartridges that can be used to boost the mouse weight up to 40 grams. OCZ continues to expand its product line into new and interesting markets, including SSD drives and DIY gaming notebooks. "The new Dominatrix mouse is no exception, offering world-class performance and specifications guaranteed to provide the discerning gamer and enthusiast with an unparalleled tactile control experience," said Ryan Edwards, Director of Product Management. OCZ backs the Dominatrix with a full 3-year warranty and offers OS support for Windows XP and Vista, but has not announced suggested retail pricing.
Palit Breaks Through with the Radeon HD 4850 Sonic-August 26, 2008
The Radeon HD 4850 Sonic video card is not just another ATI reference design, and Palit Microsystems has gone back to the drawing board for their latest performance model. According to Palit, this graphics card has been redesigned from the ground up, and the end result is what overclockers have been yearning for. The primary difference between the Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic and a standard ATI model is the clock speeds, but Palit has also adjusted other areas of the reference design, including the power management system and cooling hardware.
The clock speeds of the Palit Radeon HD 4850 Sonic video card are slightly higher than their reference ATI counterparts, and include a 685 MHz GPU core frequency (compared to 625 MHz reference) and a memory clock set at a full 2.0 GHz, or just slightly higher than a standard model. Palit employs a dual heat-pipe cooling solution with a 3400-RPM fan, which the company contends is 10 dBA quieter while dropping temperatures by 20 degrees at full load. Palit has also moved to a full 3-phase power management system, as opposed to the default 2-phase system AMD employs, which can prolong card lifespan and allow higher overclocks. The default power connector has been upgraded to a 150 W 8-pin design, from the standard 75 W 6-pin connector. Palit has not announced pricing on the new card.
CoolIT Unleashes the MTEC Docking Station for Core 2 Extreme Notebooks-August 25, 2008
The latest MTEC Docking Station from CoolIT Systems goes right after the top-end of the notebook market, and is specially targeted at platforms running the Intel Core 2 Extreme mobile processor, including first mobile quad core, the Core2 Extreme mobile processor QX9300. This docking station has been built with collaboration from Intel, and according to CoolIT, sports a 40-watt cooling boost with a 10-degree overall decrease in temperatures.
The overall design of the new MTEC Docking Station utilizes a physical docking base that elevates the notebook and links up to its existing cooling system. This allows the notebook to be raised off the table or desktop, and CoolIT's MTEC Technology then pumps chilled air directly into the laptop's existing CPU and GPU intakes. It also channels the notebook's heat exhaust through the back of the MTEC Docking Station, where low-noise cooling fans expel it. The unit also includes CoolIT's MTEC Control Center software, which lets end users customize the fan speeds, airflow and other factors to achieve the best results. The MTEC Docking Station will be available in Q1 2009, but CoolIT has not yet announced pricing.
OCZ Launches the ModXStream Pro Series of Power Supplies-August 22, 2008
OCZ Technology has announced the release of the ModXStream Pro Series of power supplies, introducing a gaming-grade PSU with the added flexibility of a modular cable management system. These are targeted at both the gaming and enthusiast markets, and combine a high-performance power supply with efficiencies of 86% at a typical load scenario and up to 82% at full load, along with the ability to support power both NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFire multi-GPU graphics modes. The OCZ modular cable management system is a nice feature, offering wired connectors for the primary cables, and removable cabling for the secondary power connectors.
The ModXStream Pro Series come in three different configurations, at 400W, 500W, 600W, and 700W capacities. These differ in a few ways other than power rating, as the 400W unit features a 140mm cooling fan, while the 500W-700W power supplies include a 120mm fan and add 1x8-pin CPU, 1x6+2-pin PCI-E and 2xSATA connectors to the standard 400W configuration. These units are ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V compatible, offer overvoltage/overcurrent/short-circuit protection, and include OCZ PowerWhisper Technology, which lowers ambient noise while maintaining power levels and efficiency. All ModXStream Pro Series power supplies are backed by a full 3-year warranty, supplemented by OCZ's exclusive PowerSwap Warranty replacement program, which lowers downtime by letting you to "swap" a defective power supply and receive a new one in its place. OCZ has not announced pricing.
Microsoft Rolls out the SideWinder X6 Keyboard and X5 Mouse-August 20, 2008
The newest members of the Microsoft Sidewinder family encompass the two most important areas of the high-end gaming market, the keyboard and mouse. The SideWinder X6 Keyboard is a departure for Microsoft and will be their first gaming keyboard created from the ground up. It includes a switchable (left or right side) key pad for both left and right-handed gamers. Other features like mode-switching allow gamers to toggle between standard mode and either of the two gaming modes, while the keyboard offers two-color adjustable backlighting. The Sidewinder X6 will be available at a suggested retail price of $79.95.
The SideWinder X5 Mouse is a mainstream option that offers fast-paced gaming with a hard-wired USB cable for total stability and control. Featuring a nine-button design, a wide rubber scroll wheel and durable outer housing, the SideWinder X5 Mouse is tailored especially for the gaming crowd. It sports a 2,000 DPI laser tracking engine that allows full user control between six DPI settings, with the ability to instantly switch between high, medium and low sensitivity with just one click of the mouse. The X5 Mouse includes vertical side buttons, five customizable buttons, and a Quick-Launch button that offers one-touch access to the Windows Vista Games Explorer. It will debut at a suggested retail price of $59.95.
Razer Fires up the Megalodon Headset and its Maelstrom Audio Engine-August 20, 2008
Razer has announced a new Maelstrom Audio Engine-powered, 7.1 surround sound Megalodon gaming headset at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. The Maelstrom Audio Engine offers an improved virtual surround sound system, which is incorporated into the Razer Megalodon. The Maelstrom engine is based on military-grade audio technology, which according to Razer, was originally developed for fighter pilots. It also supports a high-end HRTF algorithm that provides a more convincing and enjoyable surround sound experience.
The Razer Megalodon headset includes a circum-aural headset with replaceable ear-pad cushions, a cushioned headband and an adjustable boom microphone. These three components supply the audio input and output, while the unit features a rotating dial adjustment for volume, mic, bass and positional sound, and allowing easy user switching between 2.0 stereo and 7.1 surround sound modes. Headphone specifications include Neodymium magnets, a frequency response of 20 - 20,000 Hz, and a maximum input power of 200 mW. The Razer Megalodon headset will be available in the second quarter of 2008, and sport a suggested retail price of $149.99 USD and €139.99.
OCZ Upgrades their Core Solid-State Drive Line to V2-August 19, 2008
OCZ Technology has announced a new addition to its Core Series SATA II 2.5" Solid State drives, moving it up to Core V2. This upgrade entails an improvement in the feature set, a gain on the performance end, and significantly higher storage capacities. The OCZ Core Series has been built on offering solid drives technology at an affordable price, and the new Core V2 won't change that. But there have been some improvements, such as OCZ building the Core V2 SSD on a new architecture capable of up to 170 MB/s read and 98 MB/s write speeds, compared to 143 MB/s and 93 MB/s, respectively for the first generation.
Access times have also improved, from <.35ms seek for the Core V1 SSDs, down to <.2-.3ms for the Core V2 drives. Data capacity has been ramped up for the Core V2, and while the original Core SSD line featured 32GB, 64GB and 128GB configurations, the Core V2 solid-state drives include 30GB, 60GB, 120GB, and 250GB capacities. The new Core V2 drives are RAID compatible, and feature a MTBF of 1.5 million hours with a full 2-year warranty. The drive dimensions and weight also remain consistent at 100.2 x 70 x 9.3mm and 77 grams. OCZ has also added in a mini-USB port, which makes it possible to update the Core V2’s firmware, should new versions become available. OCZ Technology has not yet announced suggested retail pricing on the Core V2 SSD line.
CoolIT Unleashes the Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler for the Radeon HD 4870 X2-August 19, 2008
The ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 is the latest in high-end, dual-GPU powerhouses, and CoolIT Systems has developed a new solution to the higher thermal requirements this video card brings to the table. The new Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler uses what CoolIT terms "Aggressive Heat Dissipation", which ramps up cooling and will help enthusiasts take their Radeon HD 4870 X2 cards to the next level. This technology has been co-developed with AMD, and utilizes liquid cooling to really drop the temperatures, not to mention lowering ambient noise levels.
According to CoolIT, the Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler allowed a reference Radeon HD 4870 X2 card to be stably clocked up to an 880MHz core clock speed (representing a 13.5% increase) while the GDDR5 memory was pushed to 1GHz (an 11% increase). The company also promotes the increase in 3DMark Vantage scores, which check in at over 10%. "The liquid cooling technology that AMD co-developed with CoolIT provides superior cooling protection for users who want to operate their ATI Radeon graphics processors at high clock speeds for extended periods of time," said Dr. Gamal Refai-Ahmed, AMD Fellow and Chief Thermal Architect, AMD Graphics Product Group. CoolIT Systems will have the Dual Drive Bay VGA Cooler for HD 4870 X2 ATI Radeon Graphics cards available by September, but the suggested retail pricing is still to be determined.
