Chip firm VIA is set to fight back against NVIDIA's Nforce 2 success by releasing a dual channel DDR chipset for the Athlon, an Asian web site claims today.

According to OC Workbench, VIA will release a K7 chipset soon with similar specs to the Nforce 2, and which will support dual channel DDR 400 and Serial ATA.

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has won some foundry business from NVIDIA, in a move which may serve as a reminder to the graphics firm's best chip friend, TSMC.

According to the Economic News, David Roman, a vice president of corporate marketing, will use UMC to build Media Q portable device chips, following its acquisition last week.

TerraTec presents the 7th sound dimension: with the HomeArena TXR 884, the Nettetal-based (Germany) manufacturer of multimedia hardware lets users convert any computer into a powerful surround-sound home theater and gaming system that can hold its own with professional equipment. This 7.1 speaker system is also a compact and stylish surround-sound solution for multichannel DVD audio formats such as DTS, Dolby Digital or Dolby Pro Logic. The HomeArena TXR 884 will be available at the end of September.

NVIDIA believes that DirectX 9 will be a driving force behind near-term growth in the graphics chip industry, according to company vice president of sales and marketing David Roman.

Asustek Computer has introduced its P4S800D-Deluxe motherboard supporting SiS?s 655FX chipset, an 800MHz FSB (front-side bus) and dual-channel DDR400 memory, for bandwidth speeds of up to 6.4GB/sec.

AMD has confirmed the existence of the Applebred processor, and said that the Duron-branded core has already begun shipping.

As we

A press briefing held for British hardware hacks by memory company Corsair has cast some doubts on the performance of the future Athlon 64 microprocessor.

Company officials told the journalists that registered memory modules don't overclock that well on the AMD64 platform, and as the Athlon 64 is aimed at enthusiasts, that's a bit of the paradox.

NVIDIA has confirmed that it will support the PCI Express next-generation expansion bus at some point in the future.

That's not entirely surprising, and was always on the cards - even if roadmaps listing NVIDIA's PCI Express-enabled chips hadn't leaked out of the company.

AMD will shortly ship a new low-end processor, codenamed 'Appalbred', the successor to the Duron.

So

SiS' recently spun off graphics chip operation, XGI, will drop the Xabre brand that gave it its name when it launches its first product next month.

The company's first graphics chip was expected to be called the Xabre II, the successor to SiS' Xabre 400 and Xabre 600 parts. XGI hasn't said what it will call the chip, which it has already said will be announced next month.

A report from the excellent Dataquest arm of Gartner said there are clear signs a recovery in the memory market is on the way. But it's being pushed by shortages and if the memory makers get greedy, they could well upset the applecart.

A woman called Marvine D Buckett, who is NVIDIA's Chief Financial Officer has lavished praise on her company's chief competitor.

In a recent NVIDIA investor conference call, the chief beancounter made a most interesting statement about ATI's integrated graphics.

Xbitlabs have snagged what they claim are the Spec's for ATI's upcoming RV360 GPU's? Here's a byte.

While we still are not sure about the official brand-names of ATI RV360-based products, X-bit labs now can share the specifications of RV360 graphics cards suggested by ATI Technologies.

Just got word from 3dchips-fr.com that a Mysterious GeForce FX 5900 has hit the streets from Leadtek, which is clocked at slower speeds! here's a rip from goggle translation services.

according to the shop which proposes it, if it is equipped with 128 Mo of memory, this memory posts an access time of 2.8 NS instead of 2.2 NS, and the chart is not given rhythm which 400/700 MHz have against 400/850 MHz for GeForce FX 5900 standards.

Just got word that PC Watch have snagged a scoop on Creative's new line of Sound Blaster Audigy 2 cards called ZS, which come in three different packages: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Digital Audio, Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum and Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. All of these cards should arrive in retail channels in late August with MSRP of $157, $233 and $292, respectively.

July revenue growth varied considerably among Taiwan?s second-tier motherboard makers, with Jetway Information enjoying a 39.6% increase while ABIT Computer suffered a 19.2% plunge compared to the previous month.

Jetway Information generated NT$305 million in revenues for July, up 39.6% from June, due to increased shipments of both motherboards and graphics cards, according to the company. It projects similar revenues for August.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) will start marketing graphics cards based on the entry-level Radeon 7000 and Radeon 9200SE chips from ATI Technologies, said ATI Taiwan agent AMI Technologies.

ECS will only target the Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets, added AMI.

IBM's 300m wafer fabrication plant in East Fishkill, New York was shut down for a two days last week in the wake of Thursday's massive blackout.

The plant's production line cycled into what IBM call "maintenance mode" after the mains power failed. Emergency back-up generators took over immediately, allowing wafers passing through the production line to be completed, a company spokesman told EBN on Friday.

Having had a chance to ponder the numbers, market researchers are cautiously forecasting continued recovery for the chip industry.

"Noteworthy improvements in market conditions during the last few weeks confirm that the industry is continuing its recovery as expected and is about to enter a more accelerated growth phase," said Gartner today.

Documents from Intel that The Inquirer has seen confirm that the future 90 nano chip will dissipate over 103 watts.

According to the documents, Prescott taped out in late May and it had originally estimated the original power requirements lower than the reality.