I’m afraid to say that the day has come and the decision has been made by Jasper the Site Owner and Babar the Site Admin to close the site down.

It will shortly be becoming a read only forum with no access to create new topics or any further discussion.

I just wish to thank everyone who visited and still visits the site, especially those who have contribute over the years.

All boards other than Shuttle XPC have already been set to read only.

If you wish to discuss this further please post here

tino ( Site Admin )

The Stick, which is about the size of a USB flash drive, plugs into your TV and gives you access to Roku’s more than 400 apps. It packs in Wi-Fi capabilities, a processor, and storage — you can think of it as a miniaturized version of Roku’s set-top boxes.

The device will likely be embraced by consumers who want access to TV apps, but don’t want to sully their home entertainment system with yet another box, and its requisite wires and remote. Since it can turn pretty much any HDTV into a Smart TV (with one caveat, listed below), Roku says it will also bundle the Streaming Stick with some televisions, which means TV manufacturers won’t need to worry about bundling their own Smart TV software.

The Streaming Stick connects to a HDMI port on your TV — but the rub is that your TV has to support……………………Read More @ MediaBeat

But at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rayfield (pictured here) finally got some bragging rights as general manager of Nvidia’s mobile business unit, as it announced a number of customers for its Tegra 2 processors. And in a big industry earthquake, Microsoft showed ARM-based microprocessors — including Nvidia’s Tegra 2 — running a future version of Windows. That version is expected to ship in 2012 and, for the first time, it will run on chips other than Intel-compatible x86 microprocessors.

At the same time, Nvidia unveiled Project Denver, a high-end microprocessor design based on the ARM chip architecture. Project Denver is expected to be Nvidia’s mainstay chip for running Windows and its wedge into the PC microprocessor market. As such, it’s one of the key components that could open up the market for new innovations in blurring the lines between phones, tablets and computers. We talked to Rayfield about the details on the announcement and Nvidia’s push into superphones, tablets, and computers……………………………………..Read More @ VentureBeat

To pave the way for the upcoming launch of 22nm Ivy Bridge processors in April 2012, Intel has notified its hardware partners of its schedule for stopping the supply or production of over 25 existing desktop CPU models, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Intel has issued a notice to suspend the supply of Core i5-661/660, Core i3-530, Pentium E5700 and Celeron E3500 and will cease the production of those models in the second quarter of 2012, the sources indicated.

Intel is also set to crease production of Core i7-960/950/930/870, Core i5-2300/680/670, and Pentium G960 in the second quarter of 2012, added the sources.

Intel will also terminate the production of Core i7-875K/860S, Core i5-760/750S/655K and Celeron 450/430 in the first quarter, as well as Core i7-880S/870S, Core Duo E7500/E7600, Pentium E6600/E550 and Celeron E3300 in the second quarter, revealed the source

Source:  Digitimes

To configure the Compact Gaming PC Core™ i7 X79 SLI® / CrossFireX™ Compact Gaming Computer System click here

To configure the Workstation PC Six-Core Core i7 X79 SFF Computer Workstation click here

To view all small form-factor systems we carry click here

To view all compact systems we carry click here

Source: AVADirect

Alongside the launch of a 7-inch Asus Prime Transformer, Network also makes its way into the news that Asus will lead to a CES 2012 “chatted” refresh Asus Eee Memo Pad . According to rumors, Asus Eee Memo Pad should incorporate a 7-inch capacitive screen (1280×800 pixels), Qualcomm processor Snapdradron dual core 1.2GHz, 16GB to 64GB of flash memory, 3G and WiFi module, and of course the Android operating system. There is also a 3D version.

Among the changes, we also remember Asus Padfone, a device that combines the power of a 4.3-inch Android smartphone with those of a 10-inch tablet. Previewed at Computex 2011, Padfone should officially debut on the market in February 2012, although currently there is no official confirmation on dates.

Could belong to just one of these three devices that we propose today the image preview.

As you can see, the tablet in question is definitely smaller than a 10-inch model, but we can not determine whether this is a version 7-inch (Asus Eee Asus Eee Pad Memo Pad or Prime Transformer 7) or not (Asus Padfone ?). Apparently, the device recalls the lines and the overall design or an Asus Eee Prime Transformer Pad MeMo redesigned compared to the original versions. The display type is glossy (shiny) and the Asus logo is evident on the frame. The operating system is Android.

Source: NotebookItalia

That’s nearly the number of total smartphone activations estimated to have happened over Christmas.

“We’re really excited to have such a massive number of new people get acquainted with Angry Birds over the holidays — we have exciting new releases lined up for 2012, and can’t wait to introduce them to the public,” Rovio’s Ville Heijari told AllThingsD.

That total combines downloads for three games — Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio — and includes a mix of paid and free downloads.

The number is up from Christmas 2010, when the company saw two million downloads across iOS and Android.

It was an appy Christmas overall, with Flurry suggesting more than a billion mobile programs were downloaded during the final week of 2011.

Source: All Thing D

MSI X79 series mainboards with over 5GHz overclocking capacity
The world-renowned tech review website, GURU 3D, based in Netherlands, tested the MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard and recognized its capacity: “We got the CPU steady at 5.2 GHz as well on all six cores. So the OC potential is enormous, especially combined with six active CPU cores.” TweakTown, another famous review website in Australia, also provided a positive review: “Silky smooth testing at 5GHz and some fantastic performance across our benchmarks.” Other professional tech review sites such as China-based EXPreview and Thailand-based Overclock Zone all shared their success in overclocking at 5GHz with MSI X79 series mainboards. These amazing results prove that MSI X79 series mainboards are the best choice for best overclocking performance.

Test result of Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor overclocked at 5GHz with MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard by international professional review website (Source: GURU 3D)

MSI X79 series mainboard based on whole new Military Class III components
To achieve top quality and stability, the all new X79 series mainboard series adopts a 5-star Military Class III component design. With DrMOS II – the next generation of DrMOS with improved double thermal protection – the lifetime of components is maximized, even in warmer environments or when the machine is heavily overclocked. MSI X79 series mainboards also feature the latest PCI Express Gen 3 bus and MSI’s proprietary Click BIOS II for maximum performance and user convenience. When taking into account all of the other advanced technologies X79 series mainboards support, such as 3-Way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX multi-GPU processing technology, THX TruStudio PRO sound, Multi-BIOS II, Control Center II, and Super Charger, MSI’s X79 mainboard series is simply the best for enthusiasts!

Source: MSI Globle News

For more details about the tests, please visit the following websites.
GURU 3D：
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i7-3960x-processor–msi-x79agd65-review/1
Overclock Zone (Thai)
http://www.overclockzone.com/zolkorn/year2011/11/msi_x79a_gd65_8d/index.html
TweakTown：
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4423/msi_x79a_gd65_intel_x79_motherboard_review/index1.html
EXPreview (Simplified Chinese)
http://www.expreview.com/17779.html
Massman – HWBot：
http://hwbot.org/forum/showthread.php?t=34134
Toppc – Coolaler Forum (Traditional Chinese)
http://www.coolaler.com/showthread.php?t=277733

Nevertheless, MSI’s AMD-powered Windpad 110W is about to have company. A Taiwanese manufacturer, Bungbungame, has developed a device based on AMD’s Z-01, dubbed the Photon-100. The tablet features an AMD Z01 APU, Windows 7 Home Premium, a 10.1-inch multi-touch screen, 4GB DDR3 memory, 64GB SSD and a weight of 820 grams, BungBungame indicated. The tablet PC is produced by Taiwan-based Askey Computer on an OEM basis.

Bungbungame is mostly an application developer, but reports that it created the Photon-100 when its customers were unhappy with existing tablets that didn’t meet their needs. The company has already received some 7-8,000 preorders for the device and will showcase it at CES 2012 this year.

We expect to see a handful of x86 tablets running Android at CES, but most of the buzz around such devices will focus on Windows 8 and the 2013 timeframe. AMD’s Z-01 tablet APU is essentially a cherry-picked Ontario without Turbo Mode that’s capable of operating at lower voltages than the 1.05-1.35v specified for AMD’s standard C-50 part. The Z-01′s TDP of 5.9W is 35 percent lower than Ontario’s 9W, but still far too high to compete with the likes of the iPad 2. Intel’s Medfield is supposed to address this when it launches this year, while AMD’s 28nm Bobcat processors (when they eventually appear) should also put the company on a much stronger competitive footing.

Nevertheless, these wins are important for AMD when it comes to building momentum around a portfolio of tablet-oriented products. We expect AMD to make major announcements on this front come February.

Source: HotHardWare

Asustek declined to comment on the news.

The sources noted that Asustek still had an inventory of about one million motherboards from the fourth quarter, although the issue will not affect the company’s sales target of the first quarter of 2012, the company’s upstream component partners may all be affected.

Asustek’s production cut has also affected its chipset orders to CPU makers. The motherboard company’s chipset orders to Intel in the quarter dropped 2.5-2.8 million units with orders to AMD dropped 500,000-700,000 units.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, despite most motherboard players focusing on reducing inventory to counter weakening demand, Asustek maintained its production volume, which piled up its inventory level; as a result, compared to Asustek, the other motherboard players are expected to enjoy on-quarter shipment growths from 5-10% in the first quarter.

In order to boost demand, Intel has already set to reduce its Sandy Bridge CPU prices and with hard drive prices also expected to recover gradually, motherboard players are mostly optimistic about demand in the first quarter of 2012.

Source: Digitimes