NEC’s PowerMate range of sexy low-end computers has been extended with the arrival of the P4000 and P6000 (pictured below) and its nice to see attractively designed hardware that doesn’t skimp on the specs.

P6000 Specification

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E7200 (2.53GHz 3M Cache)
• 19″ WXGA+ (1440 x 900) with Smart Super Shine View EX
• 2GB DDR2 800MHz
• 500GB 7200 RPM HDD
• Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9300 Video Graphic
• Supports up to 895MB Shared Video Memory
• Integrated Digital Media Reader
• Slot-in DVD Super Multi DL +/-R (Double Layer)
• Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec)
• Integrated b/g/n Wireless LAN Adapter
• RF Wireless Keyboard with MCE Remote

P4000 Specification

• AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor QL-60 (1.9GHz 1M Cache)
• 16″ WXGA (1366 x 768) with Smart Super Shine View EX
• 1GB DDR2 800MHz
• 250GB 5400 RPM HDD
• Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9100M G Video
• Support up to 383MB Shared Video Memory
• Integrated 13-in-1 Digital Media Reader
• Slot in DVD-Super Multi DL +/-R (Double Layer)
• Gigabit LAN (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec)
• Integrated b/g/n Wireless LAN Adapter
• RF Wireless Keyboard with MCE Remote
• Wireless Optical Mouse
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

Worth bearing in mind if your thinking of buying a small PC system but your pocket won’t stretch to a Sony.

The PowerMate P6000 ($1,675) and PowerMate P4000 ($1,270) will be available in Asia from next week.

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The International Supercomputing Conference in Germany has been host to AMD’s announcement that their new AMD Firestream 9250 floating point processor has become the first to break the one teraflop barrier which AMD claims represents a 55 times speed increase over floating point processing using the CPU alone.

The new processor utilizes a single PCI slot and sports 1GB of GDDR3 memory and a powee rating of 150 watts. The 9250 is aimed at servers and desktop systems.

AMD claims that the chip offers:

…an unprecedented rate of performance per watt efficiency with up to eight gigaflops per watt.

The Firestream 9250 supersedes the 9170 and is reported to incorporate a yet-to-be released ATT RV770 GPU at its heart.

A commercial launch is slated for Autumn this year — expect to pay around $1000.

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• Alienware wheels out Aurora Desktop for a second time

AMD has today, on the inaugural day of Computex, launched its Puma notebook platform featuring the latest Turion “Griffin” processors and ATI Radeon mobile GPUs and also boasting a number of power-saving features. Most of these features have been seen before but this launch does offer a manufacturer-supported combination of these complimentary technologies to compete with Intel’s offerings.

AMD says :

“The AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile processor includes top enhancements including AMD Independent Dynamic Core Technology, a new mobile-optimized memory controller, and power-optimized HyperTransport 3.0. The new mobile AMD 7-series chipset, AMD M780G and AMD SB700, features integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics and delivers support for Microsoft DirectX 10″

AMD claims that the integrated graphics processors deliver up to three times the graphics performance when processing 3D environments compared to its rivals. The new notebooks may sport both integrated and discrete graphics processing circuits enabling a performance boost thanks to the ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. Multiple cards can also be employed using the ATI CrossfireX and smooth HD playback is assisted by the Avivo HD Technology.

Other technologies include 802.11 draft n WiFi and 3G mobile connectivity.

AMD Puma also uses a newly developed power management system incorporating AMD Enhanced PowerNow! and ATI PowerXpress.

The platform also offers the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 discrete video cards, including the new ATI Mobility Radeon 3800 Series and older Radeon 3400 and 3600 Series.

The 3800 supports:

• PCI Express 2.0
• DirectX 10.1
• Integrated HDMI
• DVI
• DisplayPort
• Natively supports 4 displays

AMD is offering three versions of the Puma platform — a collection of the microprocessor, wireless chips to connect to WiFi, and related chips. Puma uses Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core processor as its brain.

• At the cheaper end, AMD’s new platform will use graphics technology integrated in the chipset, allowing video-gaming and also good enough to play back digital media seamlessly.
• For those who want better graphics, AMD will sell another platform to PC makers for about $50 more. That will use both a graphics processing unit, from AMD’s ATI graphics unit, as well as the integrated graphics functions of the chipset.
• At the pricier end, AMD will include a high-end discrete ATI graphics chip for more intense gaming as well as working with high-definition home movies.

AMD claims:

“AMD Enhanced PowerNow! Technology provides independent and dynamic control of core performance, and the ability to shut off areas of core logic when not in use to preserve power. ATI PowerXpress Technology, in turn, provides the high performance of discrete graphics when plugged into a power source and dynamically switches to integrated graphics when unplugged, saving up to 90 minutes of battery life,”

Puma security is handled by Trusted Platform Module and Enhanced Virus Protection.

Here’s the AMD promotional movie:

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• Nvidia GeForce 9600 available before launch!
• Nvidia APX 2500 platform brings 3D application layer to mobiles

AMD and its only partner Sapphire are releasing another outstanding graphics card, the Radeon HD 3870 Ultimate Edition. The cooler is of high quality and the performance is above par, but with all good products, getting your hands on one may be the problem.

If you’re looking for a HD 3870 with something unique, then Sapphire’s passively cooled Radeon HD 3870 Ultimate Edition could be what you’re looking for. Tweak Town had this to say in a recent review:

“I really am quite a fan of the Sapphire HD 3870 Ultimate; the design of the cooling is excellent and hopefully they do something similar come launch of the 4K series of cards from AMD.

The HD 3870 is still a very capable card, and with the popularity of the Intel chipset Crossfire is a more likely dual GPU setup then SLI.

The only real problem with the Sapphire HD 3870 Ultimate is its lack of visibility in the retail channel. You might have to hunt quite hard to find a unit to purchase.

The HD 3870 continues to be a great card, but it’s probably something worth picking up second hand these days instead of being a brand new purchase. If you could hunt down the Ultimate version from Sapphire, go for it.

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• Skull Trail may make you a happy gamer — until you read the small print
• Nvidia GeForce 9600 available before launch!
• Nvidia APX 2500 platform brings 3D application layer to mobiles

Alienware’s award-winning Aurora desktop machines are to rebound onto shelves again but this time with Vista and Quad Core AMD Phenom processors. They’ll also come with a number of graphics acceleration options.

The processors will specifically be Quad Core AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition processors with AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ CPU as an alternative.

The media options include:

• Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer sound card
• Blu-ray Disc options including dual drive setups with Blu-ray players and 4X Blu-ray burners
• Dual layer 20X DVD burners

Operating systems options are between Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate with additional customization options such as:

• Up to 4GB of RAM
• 7.1 sound
• 8 USB ports
• 2x IEEE 1394b (9-pin)
• E-SATA port
• AlienIce™ 3.0 high-performance cooling.

Marc Diana, Product Marketing Manager for Alienware said:

‘We are thrilled to offer the Aurora once again. Not only do Aurora users have access to intense speed and power from the new AMD Phenom processor, Alienware also delivers this performance for under $1,000.’

If those numbers haven’t got you drooling yet here are the full specs:

Processors, Chipset and Memory

• AMD® Athlon™ 64 X2 5200+ Processor w/ HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
• AMD® Phenom™ 9850 Black Edition Processor w/ HyperTransport and Quad Core Technology
• AMD® 790FX Chipset
  Up to 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz
• 4 dedicated SO-DIMM slots for Dual Channel DDR2 Memory

Graphics & Video

• Single Graphics Card
  • 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD3850
  • 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD3870
  • 1GB ATI® Radeon® 3870 X2
• Dual Graphics Card
  • Dual 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD3870
  • Dual 1GB ATI® Radeon® 3870 X2
• Connectivity
  • Video Out 2x DVI
  • With Dual Graphics 4xDVI

Storage

• Single Hard Drive
  • 7200 RPM – 250GB
  • 7200 RPM – 500GB
  • 7200 RPM – 750GB
  • 7200 RPM – 1TB
  • 10000RPM – 150GB
  • 10000RPM – 300GB
• Dual Hard Drives
  • 7200 RPM – 500GB (2x250GB)
• Optical Drives
  • 20x Dual Layer CD-RW/DVD±RW
  • Dual-Layer Blu-ray Reader

Networking

• Wired Connectivity
  • Dual Integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45

Audio

• 7.1/5.1 Digital High-Definition Audio (8 Channel)
• Connectivity Front and Rear
  • 2x Auto-sensing headphone jack
  • 2x Auto-sensing microphone jack

Peripheral Connections

• 8 Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports
• 2 IEEE 1394b (9-pin) port – Powered
• 1 E-SATA port

Case & Chassis

• Exclusive Alienware chassis design
• AlienIce™ 3.0 high-performance cooling
• Standard system lighting
• Optional AlienFX System Lighting
• Standard 750-watt Multi-GPU-approved power supply
• Tool-less front and side panels
• Height: 19.01”
• Width: 9.97”
• Depth: 25.02”

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“Griffin” is the name AMD uses for CPUs in its upcoming “Puma” laptop platform and four of these chips are highlighted in the processor roadmap ComputerBase.de has revealed today.

The roadmap announces the following chipsets:

Turion 64 Ultra

2MB L2 cache, DDR2 800MHz memory compatible, 2GHz to 2.4GHz, consumption: 32 to 35 Watts

Turion 64 dual core

1MB L2 cache, DDR2 800MHz memory compatible, 2GHz to 2.4GHz, consumption: 32 to 35 Watts

Athon 64

1MB L2 cache, DDR2 667MHz memory compatible, 1.9GHz+, consumption: 31 Watts

Sempron “Sable”

Single Core, 512KB L2 cache, 2GHz+, consumption: 25 Watts

The new chips are claimed to be suited for machines where more demanding power consumption criteria apply and enable the firm to continue to supply chips to laptops that are getting ever thinner and for a market that demands ever more usage between recharges.

The roadmap includes the Griffin chips along with the RS780 mobile chipset with the DirectX 10 ready HD3200 integrated graphics and the Unified Video Decoder. The mobile chips include PowerXpress allowing dynamic switching between integrated and discrete graphics to further improve battery performance.

The ”Griffin” -powered laptops will begin to ship in June 2008.

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