The Zone

Taking a page from the hip world of fashion ASUS recently launched their latest N series notebooks and P552w PDA phone at the KLPac in the form of a fashion showcase. With clothes from fashion designer Key NG of the KN boutique line, models and a number of celebrities were on hand to sashay their way on the catwalk with either the N series notebooks or the P552w PDA phone.

The N Series Notebooks are meant more for mobility with three of the four models in the series designed for portability.

The P552w PDA phone features the latest touch screen functions with the GLIDE feature for easy navigation. 

For more details on the event take a look at our latest issue of HWM.

Right after the GO OC 2008, Gigabyte was kind enough to let us play around with their new P45 Ultra Durable 3 board. With a 2 Oz copper layer in between the PCB, as well as stronger components this board is quite likely what the Toughbook is to notebooks, the ruggedly tough version. We didn't manage to play too much with it in that we didn't push it too much (overclock) but the board does have custom BIOS function to do so. For more information and details on the board check out our full coverage in the latest issue of HWM.

The second stage of the Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championships 2008 (GO OC 2008) was a thrilling race to shatter the world's current overclocking records. Several World OC Records fell that day with a neck and neck race between Team Vietnam and Team USA 2 that culminated in a 5:4 win for the champs of the P45 Freestyle competition. For more details on the thrilling drama, check out our report in the latest issue of HWM.

The first stage of GO OC 2008 (Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championship 2008) is finally over and we have the top three teams for the P45 OC bash. They include team Sweden 2, team Russia and team USA 1. For more indepth info and who exactly is the champ (if you can't recognise them from the pic!) then take a look at our latest issue of HWM. Next will be the freestyle event and we'll really see how far these catz can take it to the next level.

Gigabyte's Open Overclocking Championship 2008 live from the Grand Hyatt Ballroom at Taipei. Check out all the boyz doing their thing in HWM's latest issue.

Other notebook makers are quickly jumping on the Centrino 2 bandwagon with their versions. So far we have seen improved notebook performance overall but nearly as impressive as the first Centrino 2 notebook we got our hands on. However, the other Centrino 2 notebook we tested had much better stability compared to the first, so take a look at the PCMark05 score and if you're interested, pick up the September issue of HWM for a more indepth analysis.

NVIDIA's latest entry level graphic card to hit the market is the 9500 GT. We managed to get our hands on the 512MB version and found a teeny tiny mighty single-slot titan waiting for us. At first glance it looks like it can barely hold its own weight in terms of gaming performance, but this miniscule card can even run Crysis with a reasonable amount of tweaking! Check out the 3DMark06 score below for an idea about the card but for a more indepth analysis go get the September issue of HWM 2008.

We finally managed to get our hands on the dual GPU HD 4870 X2 graphic card from AMD-ATI. So far, the card looks and feels more or less like a carbon copy of the HD 3870 X2, featuring the same long dual slot design. The card is still heavy as ever but it does boast a 3DMark Vantage score that blows everything including the GTX 280 out of the water. However, there are definite shortcomings. Read the full review in our September issue of HWM.

Intel's performance notebook processor, the Centrino 2 has hit the streets, with plenty notebook makers already beginning the churn out for notebooks with the Centrino 2 processor. We were quite surprised by its performance because it not only tries its best to beat out equal desktop systems, it is also quite successful. Check out the PCMark05 score below. For the full-blown analysis check it out in our September issue of HWM.

NVIDIA's much awaited built-in PhysX is finally getting some support. NVIDIA has released power packs which should whet the appetite for more on their website through their CUDA interface. The power packs contain drivers, tools you can explore, a full game (WarMonger) and a number of demos that should tie you over until a commercial PhysX game comes out (NOT! Most such games are supposedly for next year!). Download them after the jump for a glimpse at PhysX.

After AMD-ATI put out the HD 4870 and HD 4850 it seemed as if it was directly challenging NVIDIA with the HD 4870 against NVIDIA's own GTX 260. NVIDIA has never been one to take this lying down and has fired back a salvo of its own with the 9800 GT, which according to our tests should be nicely positioned against the previously unchallenged HD 4850. Check out our 3DMark06 test below. For a full review and analysis of some of the 9800 GT cards out there, check out our latest issue of HWM (HWM September 2008).

How cute, a colorful way to explain to your kids how terabytes work! 

Howdy folks. HWM was recently invited to a regional product launch in Beijing courtesy of HP Malaysia and we sure liked what we saw

zerotau posted a picture of his workplace the other day, so I thought I'd do the same myself. :D It's not as messy but what's not pictured are the 10 or so product boxes aptly "boxing" me in my cubicle. I'll spare you the utter cluttersome of my workplace surroundings and just quickly describe what's on my desk.

Last month I had to review 5 AMD motherboards and I thought I wouldn't have to write so many reviews of the same type of product for a while.

I thought wrong. OTL

This month seems to be the month of notebooks, as those are mostly what have been given to me to review for the October issue of HWM - 2 normal size notebooks, 3 ultra portable notebooks. In addition, I've 3 graphic cards, 2 motherboards, and a SFF PC sitting idly on my desk, all waiting to be tested. Yikes. There goes my weekend.

Out of all 5 notebooks, only one of them sports the latest AMD Turion 64X2 processor. Can you guess which one is it? ;)