EVGA GTX 660 SuperClocked Uses GTX 680 Cooling

Nvidia’s GTX 660 and GTX 650 video cards will be launching next week, right after the Apple iPhone 5 launch. EVGA is ready with its own cards and the SuperClocked version of the GTX 660 is using an impressive cooling system. It’s not that the EVGA GeForce GTX 650 SuperClocked video card has an innovative cooling system, but the sheer size of the thing makes us wonder about the clock frequency that the company will set for its GK106-based card. The cooling system is just the same as the one used on the company’s GTX 680 video cards, although the GK106 GPU itself is supposed to be half as hot. The card will be 2-way SLI capable and will pack 2 GB of fast GDDR5 memory. EVGA GeForce GTX 650 SuperCloked video cardImage credits...

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More Notifications on Windows Phone 8 Lock Screen

One of the appealing features that Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system has been launched with was the presence of app notifications on the lock screen. There, users could quickly make an idea of whether they had missed calls, unread emails or SMS messages, and the like. With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft might have enhanced the feature a bit, with more such notifications being displayed on the lock screen. Although details haven’t been provided, official press photos with Lumia 920 showed five notification icons on the phone’s lock screen, one of which is a Windows Phone logo, WMPoweruser found out. There is also a notification icon for Skype, which is said to be integrated in WP8, present on said screen along with two...

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Nokia Lumia 920 Video Demo (New)

Nokia’s first Windows Phone 8 device, the Lumia 920, is already seen by many as being a great device, regardless of the issues the company has had with the publishing of a misleading ad for it. In fact, many suggest that it could prove to be the best Windows Phone 8 handset of the year, based on its hardware specs and on the various capabilities it has been already packed with. Among these, there’s the 8-megapixel PureView camera on the back, which actually created a lot of fuss last week, complemented by the Lenses apps that Microsoft themselves have demoed last Wednesday in New York City. A new video demo with the smartphone, available courtesy of a Microsoft employee (via Nokia Innovation) and embedded above, offers some more details on what the new device is capable...

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Oppo Preparing Find5, 5’’ Smartphone with a 1080p Screen

Chinese mobile phone maker Oppo is apparently gearing up for the launch of its first smartphone to feature a full HD touchscreen display. The handset, supposedly called Oppo Find5, is said to sport a 5-inch screen that would boast the 1080p resolution and 441ppi, higher than any other smartphone on the market today. The company has already managed to impress the world with the launch of Oppo Finder, the smallest Android handset in the world, and it seems set to do that once again. The Oppo Find5 smartphone will run Android too, only that it will be powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and it is said to pack a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor inside, fit for its large screen. No specific info on when the...

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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 WindForce 2X OC 1,098 MHz Graphics Card

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 graphics card, and many custom-designed versions, will be released in three days (September 13), but at least one retailer has jumped the gun, from Malaysia. What we have in that picture up there is none other than the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC, equipped with the WindForce 2X cooler. This time around, we at least know two clock speed numbers. While we would not have minded to find all three (GPU base, GPU Boost and memory), we will make do with what we assume to be the GPU Boost maximum (1,098 MHz) and the memory speed (6,008 MHz). Speaking of which, the GPU, for those who haven't been keeping up with NVIDIA's latest activities, is powered by the GK106 chip. This graphics processing unit features...

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HP ENVY 20 and 23 TouchSmart AiO PCs

Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system is finally bringing the touch revolution to the PC world and HP is one of the leaders. Today the company is presenting two new all-in-one (AIO) systems that feature the much-needed touch interface for Microsoft’s Metro UI. Unlike the HP Pavilion 20 AIO that we discussed here, the HP ENVY 20 and ENVY 23 AIO systems are coming with the complete package that’s needed to enjoy Windows 8 properly. The systems are powered by Intel’s powerful 3rd-generation Core processors based on the Ivy Bridge architecture, while the Pavilion 20 AIO will only feature Sandy Bridge CPUs or AMD APUs. We’re quite disappointed HP is not preparing an AMD A10-powered ENVY TouchSmart system, but we’re hoping...

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EK Supremacy Elite CPU Waterblocks

Water cooling specialist EK has formally launched four waterblocks, which are supposedly already in such high demand that they may show up as out of stock. The four newcomers are called EK Supremacy Elite 115x (sockets LGA1155, LGA1156), EK Supremacy Elite 1366 (socket LGA1366), EK Supremacy Elite 2011 (socket LGA2011) and EK Supremacy Elite AMD (sockets AM3+, FM1, AM3, AM2+, AM2). They are successors to the EK-Supreme HF line launched in 2010 and have better hydraulics (improved design for up to 20% higher flow) and, of course, better cooling effectiveness (up to 2 degrees Celsius lower CPU temperatures). Design-wise, EK chose to construct the EK Supremacy Elite waterblocks with a circle pattern on the top and tool-less...

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HP Pavilion 20 AiO PC with Intel CPUs or AMD APUs Options

In the light of the following Microsoft Windows 8 launch, HP is announcing a plethora of touch-based systems, but the company is not forgetting the budget users that might want an all-in-one (AIO) system. HP is launching the Pavilion 20 AiO PC today and this system joins the HP Pavilion 23 AiO PC released some time ago, but unlike its big brother, the Pavilion 20 is likely missing the touch screen. This is certainly a move to reduce the cost of the device as HP is touting a starting price of just $500 (390 EUR) for the new budget systems. The HP Pavilion 20 AiO PC will be powered by Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs or AMD’s APUs and we’re glad that HP is supporting the competition and it is offering alternatives with decent graphics...

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Intel Manufacturing Lead Will Make ARM CPUs Obsolete

Intel’s Medfield low-power CPU can surely be considered a success as this is Intel’s first foray into the smartphone market and despite the legacy overhead, the platform actually managed to keep up with last year’s competition. All that aside, Medfield has the manufacturing process advantage, being produced in the company’s own 32nm process while the other ARM chips in the competition are made in 40nm technology at TSMC. Despite the manufacturing advantage, Medfield didn't excel in performance nor in power consumption. The thing is that the complexity of having to deal with the x86 overhead, the increased power consumption (greater than 40nm chips) and the lack of a clear performance lead made Medfield unappealing to smartphone...

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AMD-Based Biostar A68I-350 Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard

The new product from Biostar Microtech is not nearly as small as a certain product that VIA released recently (VIA EPIA-P910), but it isn't much larger either, belonging to the form factor class immediately above it. By form factor, we mean to say that A68I-350 DELUXE, as Biostar's motherboard is called, has the mini-ITX form factor (VIA's small board is a Pico-ITX). Thus, it is suited to home-theater personal computers (HTPCs) and the like, not embedded and industrial applications. For those who want to know the specific measurements, the piece of hardware is square, with a side length of 17 cm / 6.69 inches. Even in such a small package, though, A68I-350 DELUXE has all the features that a media-centric system could possibly...

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