C.P. Technology introduces fanless SS8-D3L graphics card on S3 DeltaChrome S8

TwinX2048RE-3200 — 2GB registered kits from Corsair

IA-32 EL: Itanium 2 systems to process IA32 code better

Soltek unveils graphics cards on GeForce FX5700

SGI releases Altix 350 server

C.P. Technology introduces fanless SS8-D3L graphics card on S3 DeltaChrome S8

It´s nice to state that S3 Graphics´s DeltaChrome has finally left the nursery for masses. C.P. Technology introduced its new PowerColor SS8-D3L graphics card interesting with its fanless cooling system.

As you know, DeltaChrome S8 is one of two mainstream GPUs with 8 pipelines and 1 texture unit. According to the previously disclosed roadmap, S3 first established the production of 8-pipeline DeltaChrome S8 for mid-end graphics cards and left high-end DeltaChrome F1 and F1 Pole for some later time. Besides, in the future we should see mainstream cards on 4-pipeline DeltaChrome S4 and S4 Nitro GPUs.

According to SS8-D3L specs — 256MB of 128-bit DDR, 300/250MHz — we assume the novelty has a 6-layer PCB. The card has D-Sub, DVI and TV-out and supports resolutions up to 2048x1536.

No data has been disclosed about PowerColor SS8-D3L shipment dates and pricing in Europe. But we know that in Japan such cards should appear in the first third of February for about $165. According to the provisional S3 DeltaChrome S8 tests, this might be too much, but don´t forget about the fanless design. But we still doubt that such a mid-range cards really needs 256MB RAM...

TwinX2048RE-3200 — 2GB registered kits from Corsair

Corsair Memory released 2GB kits of registered DDR400 SDRAM w/ECC, TwinX2048RE-3200, positioned for AMD Athlon 64 FX systems. Each 1GB DDR400 SDRAM CMX1024RE-3200 module features 18 x 64Mx8 (512Mbit) chips.

Traditionally for "enthusiasts memory" modules feature black or platinum aluminium heatsinks and 3-3-3-8 timing at 200MHz clock speed (tested on ASUS SK8N motherboard.)

Until now Corsair was releasing only 1GB kits (in particular for Athlon FX) — TwinX1024R-3200C2 and TwinX1024RE-3200LL, TwinX1024-3200C2PRO.

IA-32 EL: Itanium 2 systems to process IA32 code better

As you know Itanium processors with IA64 architecture originally and mostly designed for 64-bit applications didn´t perform very well with 32-bit code. Though Intel initially positioned 32-bit apps as something minor to Itanium.

But the real life shows that it´s still early to count 32-bit obsolete even in the class of Itanium 2 systems. On this background it was very interesting to know that Intel officially introduced the IA-32 Execution Layer (EL) software for systems on Itanium 2 and 64-bit Microsoft Windows.

IA-32 EL is integrated into Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems, and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition. By the way, Japanese sources claim IA-32 EL to be available for Linux.

After IA-32 EL is installed, the IA-32 code of processed 32-bit applications is translated into Itanium architecture code for execution. This to some extent resembles codemorphing software (CMS) for on-the-fly IA32 code translation into VLIW code of Transmeta Crusoe/Efficeon.

Is IA-32 EL really effective? According to Michael Fister, Intel´s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Platforms Group, the 32-bit processing performance boost reaches 50-70%. With time the IA-32 EL is to be perfected alongside Itanium 2 clock speeds growth.

Soltek unveils graphics cards on GeForce FX5700

Soltek unveiled its new NVIDIA GeForce FX5700-based series that currently includes SL-5700-QD and SL-5700-XD. The former has 256MB DDR, while the latter — 128MB DDR.

Both novelties have standard interfaces, including the TV-out. According to the design, both novelties should be close to the reference.

SGI releases Altix 350 server

Yesterday Silicon Graphics (SGI) announced its new server on 64-bit Intel Itanium 2 — Altix 350 — operating under 64-bit Linux and intended for mid-level server market

Altix 350 supports up to 16 CPUs and is based on modular system with common for all processors NUMAflex memory architecture and NUMAlink bus providing up to 6.4GB/s throughput. The same technologies were used in the previously announced Altix 3000.

According to SGI website, with 4 processors Altix 350 costs $21600.

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