We spent some time talking to Microsoft about Media Centre and X360. Whilst there is some good news, there is some even better news if you are planning to upgrade to VISTA.

HEXUS

Seeing all those IDF news items zoom by on the right hand side? Stay up to date with the latest happenings from San Francisco with our handy index.

Bit-Tech

IDF ? I would like to give you a thousand words about what I've seen during this first day of the Intel Developer Forum, but instead I have a picture that I think is worth even more.

TechReport

OCIA.net has teamed up with OCZ Technology to give away an OCZ PC-3200 Gold 1GB (2x 512MB) Dual Channel DDR Kit.

Word has it ATi Technologies' multi VPU graphics has been up and running for a while now, and not even on ATi chipsets... but they've been hanging on to ensure things run smoothly from the offset.

HEXUS

Creating accessories for the iPod is a lucrative market and Logitech knows it. The company already launched a bunch of high priced headphones and speaker systems for this popular digital audio player and today they present the Logitech Wireless Music System for iPod, which enables users to wirelessly connect their iPod (or any other MP3 player) to a stereo or speaker system.. Read on at DV Hardware

OCZ Ready to Splash with Enthusiast Heatsinks

OCZ Technology is now more associated with its performance power supplies and memory modules in the enthusiast market segment than cooling solutions for microprocessors. A while back, OCZ introduced a series of average heatsinks that were priced competitively, but performed averagely. At the time, they were decent enough to recommend even for slight overclocking adventures, however, the series has just lost touch with the market without updates to the product line.

Canon has released the following new Cameras:

Browsing the ATi exhibition booth, Nick encountered a working sample of MSI's CrossFire capable RD480 Neo2 mainboard for AMD Socket 939 processors.

HEXUS

The Chinese website HKEPC Hardware have thrown up their review of Gigabyte's soon to be released DDR 2 to DDR Converter! Which as the name suggests lets you use your DDR1 memory module in your DDR2 slot.

It is interesting to see how the upcoming ATi R520 core based on 90nm micron process looks like. Seems like the R520 core is slightly smaller than the 0.13 micron R480 core though it is packed with many more transistors than the latter.

VR-Zone

Today, we're going to test several of socket 939 PCI Express motherboards. There are four motherboards using NForce 4 chipsets are ABIT's AN8 Ultra, ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe, Gigabyte's K8NF-9, MSI K8N SLI Platinum. ABIT's AX8 3rd Eye is the odd man out with VIA K8T890. The SLI motherboards (A8N SLI Deluxe, MSI K8N SLI Platinum) may have the added advantage of SLI support (dual physical PCI-E x16 slots), but non SLI motherboards should be more affordable to users so don't count them out yet.

At GC 2005, HEXUS.net spotted the new Enermax Galaxy PSU, which consumes 1.4kW of power to produce a maximum output of 1kW. Who could possibly run so many components in their PC as to need that much from their PSU?

With the launch of the GeForce 7800 GTX, Nvidia showed that the strong performance of its former SM3 flagship, GeForce 6800 Ultra, may still be topped. Beneath more and improved pipelines, the G70 offers higher clock speeds. Useful new anti-aliasing modes were added as well.

It's no secret that ASUS motherboards perform very well. But what's their secret to success? Great engineering? Or something more than that? Today, we take a look at the ugly side of the hardware industry and see the real ace ASUS had up their sleeves!

Adrian's Rojak Pot

Bjorn3D takes new GT BIOS for a spin and gives it a round of tests: PowerColor X800 GT Strikes Back With Improved Performance

The new BIOS from Tul Corporation seems like a trick up their sleeve. Albeit PowerColor X800 GT performs marvelously with stock BIOS, additional FPS will never hurt anyone -- just the opposite. The updated software provides a whopping 24% benefits in some cases. On average and across all resolutions there is ripping ~8% increase in scores, especially with Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering enabled. PowerColor X800 GT Strikes Back With Improved Performance

Elite Bastards have some interesting tidbits for you - Although the pipeline and ROP configuration and math capabilities of ATI's R520, RV530 and RV515 parts are still basically unknown, one of our sources has provided us with a comprehensive list of core and RAM clock speeds, cooling solutions and slated release dates for the entire R5xxx range of boards.

To help prospective Pentium D purchasers get a handle on the platforms available to them, we've rounded up half a dozen motherboards and a small form factor system that support Intel's dual-core chips. Several chipsets are represented among the competitors, and we also have entries from a number of different manufacturers, including Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, and Shuttle. Read on for an in-depth comparison of these dual-core-capable platforms.

The Creative WebCam Live! Effects comes bundled with the Creative Advanced Video FX utility software that brings Video Instant Messaging (Video IM) to a new level. Users can now thrill family and friends with fun mirrors, face morphs and special photographic effects during Video IM sessions. They can even hide their location with lively and intriguing backdrops. Creative Advanced Video FX will be the next fun craze for Video IM, and will definitely be an enjoyable conversation topic when instant messaging with friends!

A distinctive speaker system that surprises and delights. The stylish I-Trigue 3220 delivers an all-encompassing sound spectrum, thanks to its unique BasXPort? technology, which gives a more pronounced mid-range in your audio playback. The result of this is a seamless blending of deep bass tones and crystal clear treble. It's the 2.1 speaker system that lets you make a bold statement - about great design and sound.