Mobo integrators are ready to launch their Core i7 compatible products and in a couple of months we’ll get to pit the Nehalem CPUs against AMD’s Deneb. The first Core i7 specs were signaling the fact that Nehalem should be faster than Deneb, but a recent clarification shrouded all those expectations into a thick cloud of confusion. Fudzilla reports that the Bloomfield CPU (he first Nehalem CPU to hit the market in Q4 2008) will only support DDR3 800 and 1066.

Even the extreme edition 3.2GHz Core i7 which will be launched early next year officially supports only DDR3 modules clocked up to 1066 MHz. Intel didn’t mention anything about specific support for DDR 3 1333, 1600 or higher. However, it might be possible for motherboard integrators to come with a solution for this problem.

The guys over at Fudzilla also found out that the memory-CPU voltage has to be synchronized and this would mean that overclocking the Core i7 CPUs will be pretty limited. Current evaluations pointed out that you cannot go over 1.65V as far as memory voltage is concerned. DDR 3 1600 usually requires 1.8V or higher. Moreover, since the voltages have to be synchronized, everything over 1.65V is likely to turn your Nehalem CPU to a toast.

Bloomfeld won’t be supporting any DDR2 memories either. Only the motherboard integrators and chipset makers, excluding Intel, may be able to lift these limits.

2007 saw quite a few overclocking records. I remember seeing a Core CPU pumped up all the way to 8 GHz. Pretty impressive, but now we have the Core2’s and the upcoming Core i7. It seems tht the Core 2 CPUs are not that susceptible to highly overclocked frequencies. The most recent record was set by Vince Kingpin and Peter Tan, who managed to overclock an Intel Core2 Extreme QX9650 to 5.6 GHz.

The two professional overclockers used the latest EVGA 790i SLI FTW motherboard which comes with digital PWMs. According to Fudzilla, they used 3Dmark 06 and Vantage and all things were stable. The Corsair Dominator DDR3 memory was clocked at 1864MHz, the board FSB worked at 467MHz, while the multiplier was running at 12X. This is enough for 5605MHz and they scored 32929 marks in 3Dmark 06. The system also featured a three-way SLI configuration with three GTX 280 video cards, which were overclocked as well.

The new motherboard is practically the same as the EVGA 790i FTW model, but comes with digital PWMs for extreme overclockers. EVGA is clearly determined to stick to high-end mobos and NVIDIA chips. The new board is said to be the first ever mobo to come with digital PWMs.

You know Asus has a wide variety of products. Well, I decided to buy a Silent Knight II CPU cooler last year and from what I have seen thus far, the cooler is only slightly better than the stock one, even though it comes with an impressive design. Now Asus is updating the cooler lineup with the Royal Knight.

The Royal Knight cooler retains the all-copper buildup of its predecessor and integrates 6 heat pipes. It doesn’t look that massive anymore, as this time, Asus wanted to give it a British Chevalier allure. To fit the new medieval style, Asus included a motif comprised of a crown, an eagle and a coat of arms.
The cooler also includes a 120mm LED fan (22 dBA noise) with a top-flow design and PWM function. The massive corona fin design of the previous cooler is replaced with a twin wing-shaped copper fin design that expands the heat exchange area for improved thermal performance.

Here is some additional info:
- CPU support:
Intel Core 2 Extreme (LGA 775)
Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo (LGA 775)
Intel Pentium processor family (LGA775)
AMD Phenom FX/X3/X4 (Socket 1207/AM2+)
AMD Athlon 64 FX/X2 (Socket AM2/AM2+)
AMD Athlon X2 (Socket AM2/AM2+)
- Cooler dimension / Net Weight 131mm(W) x 140mm(L) x 138mm(H) / 790g
- Connector: 4 pin
- Fan dimension 120 x 120 x 25 (mm)
- Fan speed 800 ~ 1,300 rpm ±10%

No availability and price details for now.

Microsoft has been teasing us lately with an ad that boldly encourages us to “say Goodbye to Laser.” Not laser sabers, guns, Blu-rays or terahertz beams. No, Microsoft is ready to launch a new type of mouse sensors next month and claims that those laser sensors currently considered the best have nothing on their new technology. The new mouse will officially be launched on September 9.

Since Microsoft is not that good at keeping secrets and most of the time we get to catch a glimpse of their soon-to be-launched products way before the official announcement, Engadget went ahead and came up with some pics and additional info on the new mouse technology. Engadget found something on that German Amazon site, which seems to be allowed to post pictures and info sooner than official sources. It seems that Microsoft preps a new Explorer Mini Mouse for notebooks with "Blue Track" technology.

Apparently, the technology doesn’t use any fancy optics, just a blue LED in combination with a wide-angle lens. Rumor has it that this new combination will alow mice to provide smoother reactions on even more surfaces. The Blue Track stuff should be extended to all the other mice, including the gaming-grade ones.

So LEDs are making a comeback. I was expecting something more sophisticated, but I guess Microsoft knows better and we’ll get to see just how well this new technology performs in the weeks to come.

Are gamers really requesting more improved PC chasses since AMD/ATI introduced the Radeon HD 4870X2 graphics cards? I don’t know, but it looks like NZXT has done some market studies and came to the conclusion that there is a great demand for efficient PC chasses. Not that they don’t have a wide array of chasses already, but NZXT already announces another addition to their high-end lineup.

Fudzilla informs that the new NZXT Whisper comes in a full tower case design. The case is specifically built for those of you who like to keep things quiet and cool at the same time. In this sense, the case is equipped with 10mm noise dampening foam pads pre-fitted to the case sides and top panel, as well as rubber grommets for the HDDs and a padded PSU holder. I’d say this setup should be enough to reduce noise under 40 db.

On the cooling side, we find out that the new Whisper case integrates four fans: one 120mm blue LED intake, one 120mm rear exhaust and two 80mm rear exhaust fans.

Since the Whisper is a full tower case, you’ll find enough room to connect up to nine hard drives, plus you get a total of six 5.25 inch bays. NZXT didn’t forget about the air flow issues and provided a cable management system consisting of holes that can be use to hide most of the cables. In case you are planning to transform you rig into a LAN party system, do note that the Whisper is made from steel and it has a plastic door on the front, so you might have to work out a bit more to move the chassis around.

This time we know the Whisper comes in September and should retail for $139.99.