Advanced Micro Devices today introduced the AMD 690 series chipset, the company’s first chipset to combine AMD processor and platform technology with the ATI Radeon X1250 GPU.

“As a result of the ATI merger, AMD is delivering innovative platforms for the commercial and consumer markets featuring best of breed performance, visual computing experience, energy efficiency and stability,” said Dirk Meyer, AMD president and COO. “With the launch of the AMD 690 series chipset, AMD is delivering on the commitment we made to our customers, channel partners and end users to bring to them customer-centric innovation. Our largest global customers are already committed to offering AMD 690 series-based solutions, and more than 30 motherboard designs will be available.”

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Elitegroup Computer Systems recently released the ECS NF650iSLIT-A LGA775 ATX motherboard built around the NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI chipset with Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core processor support. It is designed for gamers, overclockers and multimedia enthusiast, ECS announced.

“With 8-channel HD audio and NVIDIA SLI technology for dual graphics card power, the NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI MCP delivers a high-performance gaming experience, giving overclockers an amazing 1333 MHz FSB (OC) bandwidth and expansive connectivity,” according to the company.

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Appro, an enterprise computing systems provider, today announces the Appro XtremeWorkstation featuring two to four AMD Opteron 8000 series processors and up to 128GB of DDR2 memory.

The new Appro XtremeWorkstation is ideal for technical workloads in Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD), Engineering (MCAE), petroleum visualization, automotive, aerospace, electronic design, digital content creation artists, 3D modeling and CAD.

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Samsung announced today that it has increased the data transfer speed of the world’s fastest graphics memory GDDR4 (series four of graphics double-data-rate memory) by two-thirds.

“Our new GDDR4 memory will add even more zip in video applications, making gaming, computer-aided design and video editing a lot faster than ever before,” said Mueez Deen, marketing director, graphics memory, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “This will enable ultra-smooth movements in animation, making games incredibly realistic, resulting in a truly immersive experience,” he added.

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Microsoft has published a list of applications that have earned the “Certified for Windows Vista” logo or the “Works with Windows Vista” logo. The list applies to both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista versions.

Microsoft explains that the “Certified for Windows Vista” logo is a compatibility designation for applications and devices that have passed a rigorous testing program on computers that are running Windows Vista. The technical requirements for this designation target four core areas: reliability, security, compatibility with Windows Vista and future operating systems, and installation and removal.

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Elitegroup Computer Systems recently introduced the micro ATX form factor motherboard series based on Intel’s 945GC and 945GZ chipsets for Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium and Celeron processors. The new budget-minded socket 775 ECS 945GCT-M and ECS 945GZT-M mainboards incorporate Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, support for up to 2GB of dual-channel DDR2 533/400 system memory and ICH 7 Southbridge.

The only difference between ECS 945GCT-M and ECS 945GZT-M motherboards is related to expansion slots. ECS 945GCT-M has one PCI Express x16 slot and one PCIe x4 slot, while the 945GZT-M has one PCI Express x16 at reduced x4 bandwidth. Both products have 2 PCI slots.

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NVIDIA has released the world’s first WHQL-certified drivers with support for Microsoft’s DirectX 10, the latest suite of multimedia application programming interfaces (APIs). The announced NVIDIA’s ForceWare 100.65 drivers support GeForce 6- and 7-series graphics cards, as same as 8-series designed for DirectX 10 gaming and multimedia.

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Microsoft has released Virtual PC 2007 1.0 virtualization software, which enables the use of multiple operating systems at the same time on the same physical computer. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the new Virtual PC 2007 are available free of charge.

Along with support for Windows Vista 64-bit as a host, VPC 2007 compared to previous VPC 2004 also includes support for 32-bit Vista as a host and as a guest OS. The performance is also improved compared to Virtual PC 2004, Microsoft says.

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AMD today introduced energy-efficient 45-watt Athlon 64 single-core processors 3500+ and 3800+, as same as AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor 6000+. Prices for the 65nm energy-efficient Athlon 64 3500+ and 3800+ are $88 and $93, respectively for 1000-units. Pricing for the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ is $464 in 1KU, the company announced.

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ CPU has 2.2GHz clock speed and 512KB L2 cache. The Athlon 64 3800+ is at 2.4GHz with also 512KB L2 cache. Both new 64-bit processors are with 2000MHz HyperTransport bus and are made for socket AM2.

The dual-core Athlon 64 X2 6000+ is a 64-bit processor at 3.0GHz with 2MB of total dedicated L2 cache, and has 2000MHz HyperTransport bus. It uses socket AM2.

AMD also added the Athlon 64 4000+ single-core processor to its pricing list. It is made using 90nm technology and features 64-bit ability, 2.6GHz clock speed, 512KB of L2 cache, 2000MHz HyperTransport bus and socket AM2 interface. It is priced at $102.

Super Talent’s web site has revealed the details of forthcoming DDR3 system memory standard, which is set to bring the faster clock speeds and lower power consumption. The DDR3 will support up to 1600MHz clock speed and will have 1.5V voltage, compared to 800MHz and 1.8V of current DDR2.

“DDR3 modules use the same 240-pin form factor used by DDR2 modules, but they are not inter-compatible. DDR2 and DDR3 modules have the middle notch in different locations to prevent plugging memory sticks into the wrong motherboard,” Super Talent says.

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Asus will showcase at CeBIT Exhibition in March the book-size P2-M2A690G barebone home-theater system supporting the high definition Blue-ray Disc technology, Azalia 8 Channel Audio CODEC and Gigabit Ethernet LAN.

The Windows Vista Ready Asus P2-M2A690G provides HDMI, D-sub and S/PDIF output, IEEE 1394, as same as CF, MS, SD, MMC card readers and much more, the company says.

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A program used by eBay Inc.’s Skype Internet phone service collected identifying information from users’ computers running a 64-bit version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, the software’s developer said.

It is reported that an older version of software - when running a PC with the 64-bit version of Windows - collected the serial number of the PC’s main circuit board and settings stored in the PC’s BIOS, which contains code for controlling keyboard, display, disk drives and other important functions.

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Albatron will be showing off the Nano Abox V2.0, the company’s latest version of Mini-PC, at forthcoming CeBIT 2007 Exhibition in Hannover, Germany this March. It is claimed to be “perfect for an inconspicuous living room multimedia center or mobile enough to take on the road”.

Nano Abox V2.0 features 155 x 87 mm TFT screen and supports 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo processors, as same as up to 2GB of DDRII memory using SO-DIMM connectors. This Mini-PC, which is “no bigger than a textbook”, is packed with multimedia capabilities boasting VIIV compatibility and includes integrated graphics, eight-channel audio, USB 2.0, IEEE1394 and Gigabit Ethernet LAN.

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ASRock announced the ALiveNF5-eSATA2+ motherboard featuring NVIDIA’s new nForce 520 Chipset with AM2 socket for AMD Athlon 64FX / 64 X2 / 64 and Sempron processors.

Introduced as an affordable motherboard with many practical features, ASRock ALiveNF5-eSATA2 is capable of running at 1000MHz (2.0GT/s) and is designed with four DIMM slots for Dual Channel DDRII800/667/533 memory with maximum capacity up to 8GB. This AMD Live! Ready mainboard has one PCI Express x16 slot, two PCIe x1 slots and comes with 7.1 CH Windows Vista Premium Level HD Audio (ALC888 Audio Codec), which is one important criteria to support Windows Vista Premium.

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CyberLink Corporation, a digital home solutions provider, today released CyberLink Software Encoder 1.1, for enabling real-time MPEG-2 TV recording via Windows Vista Media Center, including 64-bit version.

CyberLink Software Encoder 1.1 offers native 64-bit support for PCs using the Windows Vista operating system. The benefits include better multi-tasking with less loading on system resources, as same as creation of larger, higher-quality, video files achieved by using more memory made available on 64-bit systems, according to CyberLink.

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