MSI announces Neo X2-based X-Slim X430

This time, MSI has introduced a new member of its X-Slim family with an Athlon Neo X2 processor and Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, AMD's latest second-generation Ultrathin Platform Congo.

Equipped with 14-inch, 1366x768 display, MSI has still managed to keep it thin and light. A weight of 3.3 lbs (1.5kg) and a thickness of only 0.96" (24.5mm) at the machine's thickest point. Internally, the new X-Slim also features 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a choice of 320GB or 500GB hard drives, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 7 Home Premium, and a battery with either four or eight cells.

MSI blends graceful and gentle feather-like lines into a special luminous exterior that features customizable colors around the frame. This gives the X430 a design that embraces a metro fashion sense and displays the individual taste and professional self-confidence that is representative of MSI's craftsmanship and skill. The X430, an ultra-thin, power-saving platform with AMD's latest VISION technology, provides dual-core processing performance and consumer-friendly pricing.

Read MSI News HERE. Product Catalogue HERE.

Lenovo Readies World’s First AMD-Based ThinkPad

Lenovo is getting ready to unveil the first ever ThinkPad computer with a microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices. Neither IBM, the original creator of ThinkPad brand, nor Lenovo have ever used AMD chips inside their laptop line.

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is based on AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 (single-core, 1.60GHz, 512KB cache, 15W, 65nm SOI) and AMD 780V core-logic with integrated ATI Radeon DirectX 10-supporting graphics core. The laptop features 11.6” display with unknown high-def resolution, media card reader, 3 USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 0.3MP webcam and so on. The mobile computer may be equipped with up to 4GB DDR2 memory; up to 500GB hard drive; various connectivity options, including WWAN, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS and so on, reports Netbooknews.de web-site.


Considering that this is still a ThinkPad, the X100e is equipped with high-quality spill-resistant keyboard, UltraNav trackpoint, business OS support, basic manageability functions and some other functions.

Lenovo plans to offer its ThinkPad X100e globally starting at $449 starting early January, 2010.

Hemlock Reclaiming the Speed Crown

AMD has launched their new Radeon HD 5000 series to great success. The Radeon HD 5870 might be the fastest single GPU yet, but it is not the undisputed fastest graphics card. While it is certainly a match for the GeForce GTX 295, it doesn't exactly beat it.

Deviating from the usual "X2" suffix, the new Radeon HD 5970, codenamed Hemlock, is ATI's biggest, boldest and most powerful graphics card yet. The Radeon HD 5970 essentially squeezes two Cypress chips onto a single GPU, and as such the card boasts a whopping transistor count of 4.3 billion, 3200 stream processors, 160 texture mapping units and 64 raster operator units. This makes the new Hemlock card, the most powerful graphics card in existence.


The card comes equipped with 2GB of GDDR5, which is split between the two GPUs, giving it an effective memory capacity of 1GB. The card will be selling for $600, at least so long as vendors and retailers hold the line on MSRP. AMD’s official guidance for this card is that the minimum requirements are a 650W power supply, and they recommend a 750W power supply.

For a size comparison here are all the Radeon HD 5000 series cards lined up. From top to bottom you have the Radeon HD 5970, 5870, 5850, 5770 and the 5750. You can clearly see how large the Radeon HD 5970 is compared to the other cards. It was one inch longer than the Radeon HD 5870! At 12.125" in length Radeon HD 5970 is very long and isn't going to fit in all the cases on the market today.


Reviews:
Legit Reviews
AnandTech
Hardware Zone
Tech Report
AMD at Play

AMD and Intel Announce Settlement of All Disputes

SUNNYVALE/SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Nov. 12, 2009 – Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices today announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes.

Under terms of the agreement, AMD and Intel obtain patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions. As a result, AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in U.S. District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide. The agreement will be made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said there are three key components to the agreement:

* First, Intel has agreed to an important set of ground rules that we hope will define the path to a free and open market in the microprocessor industry;

* Second, we have agreed to a new patent cross-license agreement that gives AMD broad rights and the freedom to operate a business utilizing multiple foundries,

* And third, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has agreed to terms that allow them the freedom to operate as an independent world-class leading-edge foundry company, going forward, without being a subsidiary of AMD.

AMD said in a conference call this morning that this agreement gives ATIC, the co-owner of GlobalFoundries, much more flexibility and could allow it to merge GlobalFoundries and Chartered Semiconductor, which ATIC acquired in September. This deal also allows AMD to produce all of its processors in third-party fabs, freeing it from the restriction of having to be GlobalFoundries' parent company.

The two companies commented in a joint statement about today's agreement, "While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development."

Related news:
CNN Money-Intel settlement: The power of emails
PCWorld-AMD Settlement Expected to Hit Intel's Net Profit in Q4
Fudzilla-Intel's cash will help AMD
The Washington Post-Intel settles AMD suits, but antitrust investigations by U.S., E.U. continue

Dell Zino HD Nettop

Dell has started offering the Zino HD, a low-cost, small-form-factor, Athlon-powered PC. Measuring just 7.8" x 7.8" x 3.4" and weighing 3.53 lbs, the base Zino HD model carries a 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon 2650E processor, Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics with HDMI output, 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 320GB 7,200-RPM hard drive, a DVD burner, 802.11n Wi-Fi, an external Serial ATA port for additional storage, and Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Slated for pricing as low as $199, Dell's cube-shaped Zino is targeted at households wanting a handy and moveable multimedia center low on energy consumption. The device outfitted in interchangeable "lids," or tops, which will come in an assortment of colors and patterns.


We can customize the Zino HD with dual-core Athlons, discrete Radeon HD 4330 graphics, Blu-ray, up to a terabyte of storage, and up to 8GB of RAM.

nVidia poke fun at Intel with cartoons

nVidia has put up a website with a handful of professionally drawn cartoons meant to poke fun at Intel.

The site, entitled "Intel's Insides," bears an nVidia logo at the bottom right as well as the mention, "This website is not provided, sponsored or endorsed by Intel Corporation." A whois lookup shows the "intelsinsides.com" domain is tied to an address in Portugal, but it uses the same DNS servers as nVidia's website.