Todays & Tomorrows Technology

AMD are planning to announce a new flagship processor, the 3.4GHz Phenom II, to take on Intel’s Core 2 Quad range, according to a number of sites. The so-called AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition has been spotted on the ASRock site, which seemingly confirms that it will have the same cache and 125W TDP as the Phenom II X4 955.

News of the unannounced chip has prompted speculation about pricing for AMD’s new flagship. Currently the X4 955 – the highest-spec CPU in AMD’s Phenom II range today – is priced at around $245; Intel’s highest-spec Core 2 Quad CPU meanwhile, the Q9650, is around $320.

AMD might choose to price the new 3.4GHz processor up near the Q9650, at least at first, before dropping it down so as to remain competitive when Intel begin delivering Lynnfield processors later in 2009. Lynnfield chips will slot into Intel’s i5 and i7 mid- and high-range processor lines.

HP have announced a new range of consumer desktop PCs, together with an update to their MediaSmart Server software for TouchSmart PCs. Slimline, Pavilion and Elite desktops have all been announced, together with a new Compaq Presario desktop. In addition, HP have announced that select consumer PCs bought from today onwards will be eligible for their Windows 7 Upgrade Program.
Both AMD and Intel processors are available across the ranges, and Blu-ray is also an option on some models. The Pavilion Slimline kicks off with an AMD Athlon single-core LE1660 CPU, 2GB of RAM and 320GB hard-drive, climbing to a Pentium dual-core CPU, twice the RAM and a 500GB drive. As for the Pavilion, that kicks off with an AMD Sempron LE1300, while the Pavilion Elite starts with a dual-core AMD Phenom II X2 and rises all the way to an Intel Core i7-920 with 6GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB storage and a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics card. Finally the Presario machine has an Athlon X2 dual-core CPU, 3GB or RAM and NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE graphics.

The HP Pavilion Slimline s500 series begins at $289, while the Pavilion p6000 series starts at $269. Meanwhile the Pavilion Elite e9000 starts at $599 and the Compaq Presario CQ5000 is $379.

Gateway have rolled out two new small-form-factor (SFF) desktop PC ranges, its SX Series and DX Series, offering a choice of AMD or Intel processors, HDMI connectivity and compact desk footprints. The first SX model is the Gateway SX2800-01, a Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz desktop with integrated GMA X4500 graphics, 4GB of DDR memory, 640GB hard-drive and a DVD burner.
Meanwhile the two first DX Series models are the DX3400-03 and the DX4820-02. The former has an AMD Phenom X4 9750 2.4GHz processor with 8GB of DDR2 RAM, a 1TB hard-drive, ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics (with 1GB of memory) and integrated WiFi b/g. The later uses Intel’s Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz processor, with 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 750GB hard-drive, and NVIDIA GeForce G210 graphics (with 512MB of memory).

All three systems have gigabit ethernet, a multiformat card reader, at least eight USB ports, VGA or DVI as well as HDMI outputs, and HD audio support. The two Intel-based systems also have Firewire and eSATA ports, while the AMD-based DX model has an integrated TV tuner. Gateway are also hawking their FHD monitor series, the 21.5-inch FHD2101 and 24-inch FHD2402, which both support 1920 x 1080 Full-HD resolution.

The new PCs will be available in the last week of June, priced at $499.99 for the SX2800-01, $749.99 for the DX4300-03, and $899.99 for the DX4820-02 (which also comes with a 23-inch 1920 x 1080 LCD monitor). The FHD2101 LCD display is $199.99 while the FHD2402 is $269.99; both are available now.

Acer have announced new 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch notebooks, the Aspire Gemstone Blue range, priced from just $479.99. The 15.6-inch AS5536 has a 16:9 display, AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.1GHz dual-core CPU, 3GB of RAM and ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, together with a 320GB hard-drive, DVD burner and WiFi b/g/n.

As for the AS7735Z, that has a 17.3-inch 16:9 display, Intel Pentium T4200 2.0GHz processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and Intel’s GMA 4500MHD graphics. There’s also a 250GB hard-drive, DVD burner and WiFi b/g/n. Both machines have a webcam, multi-format card reader, and a multitouch capable trackpad.

The Acer Aspire AS5536 is available now, priced from $479.99, while the AS7735Z is also on sale now, priced from $599.99. As of the end of the month, they’ll be joined by the Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue AS5739G, with a 15.6-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 2.1GHz processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT130M graphics with 1GB of discrete memory and a Blu-ray drive. It also has a 250GB hard-drive, fingerprint reader, WiFi a/b/g/n and the multitouch trackpad; it’ll be priced from $749.99.

Shuttle have announced a new barebones mini-PC, the SA76G2, designed for AMD socket AM3 processors and capable of taking up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM. The 30 x 20 18.5 cm enclosure is backward compatible with AM2 and AM2+, and comes complete with ATI Radeon 3000 onboard graphics.
That graphics chipset is capable of driving two separate displays, and a PCI Express 2.0 slot can take a separate graphics card and – if it’s by ATI – use SurroundView. Six USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out, PS2, VGA and DVI are standard, plus there are mainboard connectors for a further four USB 2.0, two COM, one parallel and S/PDIF digital audio out.

The Shuttle SA76G2 comes with a 250W PSU and heatpipe cooling, and has all the necessary cabling pre-routed inside. It’s available now, priced at €191 ($265).

Well, well -- what have we here? HP's newly unveiled Pavilion dv2z just so happens to have a bit of fresh silicon within, as AMD's latest Neo chips are front and center in the configuration options. The thin-and-light machine can be ordered with single- or dual-core AMD Athlon Neo and Turion Neo dual-core processors, and if you're looking for specifics, you'll find the new 1.6GHz Athlon Neo X2 L335 and 1.6GHz Turion Neo X2 L625. Other specs on the 12.1-incher include a LED-backlit WXGA panel, optional Blu-ray drive, discrete ATI Radeon graphics, up to 500GB of HDD space, a built-in webcam, WiFi, optional WWAN (Verizon, Sprint or AT&T) and a 6-cell battery. It's up for order right now starting at $599.99, but if you're looking to leave that aged Neo MV-40 behind, you'll have to pony up a bit more than that. Full release is after the break.

HP have announced their latest mainstream notebook, the HP dv6z Artist Edition, and as you can see it’s not exactly adopted a retiring color scheme. As the name might suggest, HP pack the dv6z with media creation software, including Magix Music Maker 14, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, Painter Sketch Pad and VideoStudio X2, all running on one of a choice of AMD Turion processors.

The display is either 15.6 or 16-inches, depending on model, and there are ATI discrete graphics cards to be had too. The optical drive is a DVD burner as standard, but a Blu-ray drive is optional. Standard battery is a 12-cell pack, though HP haven’t revealed what sort of runtime can be expected.

Pricing for the HP dv6z Artist Edition starts at $949.99 when it goes on sale on Wednesday June 10th. That gets you the notebook plus a custom-sleeve, mouse and universal notebook stand. Alternatively, there’s a slightly more sober version, the HP dv6t, which drops the graphics and art software bundle plus shaves the price down to $649.