Creative offers two more Sound Blaster Audigy 2 models

Tyan announces new S2885 mobo for Opteron-based workstations

Updated info on AMD Athlon 64 chipsets

AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX 5600S in our lab

InnoVISION launches inno3D Tornado Personal Cinema FX

Photo of the day: OCZ Technology´s DDR500 SDRAM DIMMs for our lab

Lexar Media Expands Product Line with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo

Transcend Announces USB 2.0 Internal 6-in-1 Card Reader/Writer

Creative offers two more Sound Blaster Audigy 2 models

Creative extended its Sound Blaster Audigy 2 line with two new models coming as three different packages: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Digital Audio, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum and Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. All of these should arrive to retail late in August with MSRP of $157, $233 and $292, respectively.

From the previous models the basic Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Digital Audio differs by design and 7.1-channel connector. Features include 108dB SNR, DirectSound, MME, WDM, ASIO 2.0 (up to 16bit/48kHz), EAX 4.0 ADVANCED HD support.

Interfaces are: digital audio, 3 line-outs, DIN connector, line-in, mic-in, TAD-in, midi connector, 1 x IEEE1394, optical SPDIF-in/out.

The Platinum package includes the basic soundcard model as well as the white/black 5" interface module.

Platinum Pro differs by both features, and architecture, featuring 3 line-outs (7.1), AUX-in, external module power connector. The package also includes remote control.

All packages also include Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield games.

Source: PC Watch

Tyan announces new S2885 mobo for Opteron-based workstations

Tyan announced a new dual-way Thunder K8W (S2885) workstation motherboard for 64-bit AMD processors supporting up to 2 Opteron CPUs and PCI-X.

The model also features AGP Pro 8X/AGP 8X Pro 110 slot, integrated SPDIF and 8 sockets for up to 16Gb ECC memory.

Sampling now, Thunder K8W (S2885) is scheduled for shipping in volumes for the near future.

Updated info on AMD Athlon 64 chipsets

Taiwanese chipset makers report they are ready to release solutions for AMD Athlon 64. According to the local mobo manufacturers, new processors will receive wide support along with the volume shipments in early 2004.

Source: The DigiTimes

AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX 5600S in our lab

We are currently testing the AOpen Aeolus GeForce FX 5600S 256MB card featuring 325/250 (500) MHz GPU/memory clock speeds; supporting hardware monitoring, LED information, core/memory voltage and fan speed adjust. The most interesting is the feature of storing all the above parameters in card´s flash memory.

InnoVISION launches inno3D Tornado Personal Cinema FX

InnoVISION Multimedia announced today a new route to Digital Home Media Center with inno3D Tornado Personal Cinema FX. Inno3D Tornado Personal Cinema FX is (by manufacturer´s own words) a combination of personal video recording (PVR) capabilities, industry-leading 3D graphics and a new software enabling DVD burning, playback and video editing. The ergonomic design & multi-function RF remote control takes command of PC CD/DVD player, TV tuner, PVR, and MP3. Built-in TV Turner supports NTSC or PAL video Standard and external AV Breakout Box for linking up various A/V devices .

The device is powered by the GeForceFX 5600 / 5200, nVIDIA CineFX engine (DirectX 9 & Vertex Shader 2.0+). As for bundled software, it includes InterVideo WinDVR, Ulead VideoStudio 6SE, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2SE, nVIDIA NVDD 2.0 and Comanche 4 from Novalogic Inc.

Photo of the day: OCZ Technology´s DDR500 SDRAM DIMMs for our lab

OCZ Technology placed at the disposal of our test lab its rather rare here DDR500 SDRAM DIMMs. So, this is a kit – two 184-pin unbuffered 256 MB EL DDR SDRAM DIMM that are produced using traditional ULN Technology: (U)ltra (L)ow (N)oise shielded PCB and equipped with Copper Heat Spreaders. DIMMs based on OCZ brand EL DDR IC , CL 3-4-4-8, voltage — 2.8 Volts.

So, here they are:

Besides of the kit test lab received two Premier series PC3200 (DDR400) DIMMs (timings 2.5-3-3-7 2T, voltage – 2,6 V – JEDEC standard).

Lexar Media Expands Product Line with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo

Lexar Media, Inc. announced plans to manufacture and distribute Memory Stick Duo. The newly introduced Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo are one-third the volume and one half the weight of a standard Memory Stick, which makes them ideal for mobile phones, compact digital cameras and mobile electronic devices.

The Memory Stick Duo offered by Lexar Media will be available in capacities of 32MB, 64MB and 128MB, and utilizes a parallel interface for high speed data transfer when connected to host products with a parallel interface. It will be compatible with most existing Memory Stick Duo devices and Memory Stick devices when used with an adapter that is supplied with the product.

Lexar Media’s Memory Stick PRO Duo utilizes the latest generation Memory Stick format and will be available in capacities of 256MB and 512MB, with a theoretical maximum storage capacity of 32GB. Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick PRO Duo are equipped with MagicGate, a copyright protection technology that consists of authentication and encryption technologies. The authentication technology ensures that protected content is only transferred between compliant devices and media, and that protected content is recorded and transferred in an encrypted format to prevent unauthorized copying or playback.

Lexar Media plans to begin shipments of Memory Stick Duo in September 2003, and shipments of Memory Stick PRO Duo in capacities of 256MB and 512MB in September and October 2003, respectively.

Transcend Announces USB 2.0 Internal 6-in-1 Card Reader/Writer

Transcend Information Inc. (Transcend) has released a 6-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal high-speed Card Reader/Writer. This internal design fits into the 3.5" drive bay of any desktop system. It requires only an internal USB interface on motherboard and supports six types of storage media: CompactFlash Card (types I and II), IBM/Hitachi Microdrive, SmartMedia Card, Secure Digital Card, MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, and Memory Stick Pro.

According to the manufacturer, device supports Windows 98/2000/Me/XP, Linux kernel 2.4 and later.

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