TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

According to a post on its support forum, Intel has managed to reproduce the nasty bug that's been bricking SSDs. Intel replicated the issue on Windows 7 X64 with version 1.3 of the firmware upgrade tool and a 34nm X25-M SSD. The company has placed the bug as a high priority and will deliver a fix as soon as possible.

Last month, Intel pulled the TRIM firmware update (02HA) and associated SSD Toolbox for its 34nm SSDs after users reported problems with the new software. The bug left many X25-M owners with disk read errors and an otherwise inoperable drive. In the meantime, Intel is recommending that users hold off on updating to 02HA if they have not already. The company notes that if you have successfully applied the update, you are in the clear.

Intel is currently seeking direct feedback from members on the bug, and has accepted many of the busted drives for analysis.

Samsung announced that it has produced the world's thinnest multi-chip memory package for smartphones, portable media players, and other devices. The package measures a mere .6mm in height and contains 32GB of storage. Samsung's new product is 40% thinner and lighter than currently available memory packages.

The .6mm-package contains eight 30nm, 32Gb NAND flash chips, each measuring only 15um (.015mm) thick. This super thin multi-die memory package overcomes the conventional technology limits of a chip's resistance to external pressure when under 30um in height, and will allow for double the density of previous multi-chip packages, according to Samsung. The company has not publicly named any customers for the new product, but I imagine they'll find a home in various gadgets soon enough.

Research from iSuppli suggests that demand for memory cards of 2GB densities and higher will grow from 310 million units in 2009 to 7.7 billion units by 2012. The outfit also estimates demand for memory cards 16GB and higher to be 35 million units this year, and 530 million by 2012 -- a 15-fold growth.

DFI has announced the world's first P55-based mini-ITX motherboard, the MI P55-T36. The company's new system board will allow users to cram the power of Intel's Lynnfield processors into a tiny package, and is aimed at overclockers and DIY enthusiasts. Unfortunately, no price or availability have been disclosed.

DFI's MI P55-T36 measures 170 x 170mm, and specifications include a PCIe 2.0 16x slot, two DIMM slots for dual channel DDR3 RAM, three SATA II ports with RAID, six USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB port, Gigabit Ethernet, Coaxial/Optical SPDIF, Realtek ALC 885 7.1 audio, six-phase PWM with Japanese-crafted solid capacitors, high-frequency multi-layered inductors, a dump-proof CMOS reset button, an LED POST code display, and ABS II.


Being that there is no onboard graphics chip, you'll have little choice but to occupy that PCIe 2.0 16x slot with a video card, and with support for Intel's LGA 1156 Core i5 and i7 processors, DFI's MI P55-T36 should provide the foundation for a well-geared HTPC.

Dell has finally fully disclosed the specifications of its newly crafted ultra-thin notebook, the Adamo XPS. The laptop is only .4" (just over a centimeter) thick and weighs just over 3lbs.

Specs include a 13.4" LED-backlit 720p display, 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage CPU, GS45 integrated graphics, 4GB of DDR3-800 RAM, a 128GB SSD, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, DisplayPort, two USB 2.0 ports, a 20WHr (about 2.5 hours of life) or 40WHr (a bit over 5 hours of life) Li-Ion battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium X64.


The system ships with Ethernet, VGA and HDMI dongles, as well as an optional DVD burner, Blu-ray drive, and a 250GB or 500GB external HDD. Other noteworthy features include built-in location awareness, an unconventional hinge placement (which angles the laptop), capacitive touch-sensitive latching mechanism, and a full-sized keyboard with aluminum capped chiclet-style keys.

The Dell Adamo XPS' design appears to be very Mac-inspired -- and that includes its asking price. The notebook starts at $1,799 and will reportedly ship in time for the holidays.

Steam is hosting yet another fantastic weekend sale with a 50%-off, $10 copy of Mass Effect. Originally released for PC in May 2008, Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare (Demiurge Studios handled the PC port).

The game takes place in the year 2183, and puts the player in the shoes of Commander Shepard, an elite human solider who has set out to explore the Galaxy. The title received wide critical acclaim, with an average GameRankings score of 89.78% on PC 90.71% on the Xbox 360. A sequel (Mass Effect 2) is slated for debut on January 26, 2010.

Steam's listed system requirements include Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista, a 2.4GHz Intel Pentium 4 or 2GHz AMD processor (or faster), at least 1GB of RAM on XP or 2GB on Vista, an ATI X1300 XT/Nvidia GeForce 6800 or better, and 12GB of free storage space.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) expects its own-brand motherboard sales to remain flat at 7 to 8 million units during 2009, but foresees significant growth next year, according to VP of ECS' channel business, David Chien. The company will expand its mid-range and high-end product lines, and plans for a growth of 20%, with a total of 8.4 to 9.6 million shipments.

With OEM motherboards included, ECS plans to move 17.5 million units in 2009, down 17% from 21 million in 2008. The loss is mostly attributed to stiff competition from rival motherboard makers like Foxconn and ASRock. The company noted that about 80% of the motherboards sold this year were Intel-based, while the remaining 20% were for AMD platforms.

Earlier this year, ECS set a goal to ship four million notebooks in 2009, but with sales for the first three quarters totaling less than 2.5 million units, the company may not meet its target.

It would seem that several PC vendors are feeling the effect of AMD's limited graphics card supply. The company's 40nm Radeon HD 5000 series and 55nm Radeon HD 4000 series video cards are both tight in supply at the moment. The former is said to be the result of low yields on TSMC's 40nm process, and the latter is reportedly due to AMD's conservative stance toward the sales of its 55nm graphics cards after the launch of its 40nm products.

The dry stock of GPUs is forcing PC makers to delay their mass shipment schedules by about two months, to the first quarter of 2010. AMD isn't escaping unscathed, either. Sources of DigiTimes say that the shortage has also caused a delay in the company's mass shipment of Mobility Radeon HD 5000 (Manhattan) series GPUs. AMD has moved the shipment date of its new notebook graphics chips from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010.

Toshiba has expanded its line of 1.8-inch hard drives today with a new dual-platter model that can hold up to 320GB of data -- a world's first in this form factor. The MK3233GSG features a 3Gbps SATA interface and 16MB cache buffer, produces just 19dB of noise during seeks and spins at 5,400 rpm for a maximum transfer rate of 830Mb/s.

The company is positioning its 1.8-inch line as more suitable for portable media devices and thin laptops than competing 2.5-inch drives. According to Toshiba, the tiny storage devices can handle non-operational shock up to 1,500Gs and operational shock up to 500Gs, marking respective improvements of 50 percent and 25 percent. They also consume 42 percent less power when seeking than the best 5,400rpm 2.5-inch HDDs.

There's still no word on pricing but the company says the new MK3233GSG will go into mass production in December 2009. The drives will also be available in 250GB and 160GB versions.

According to sources cited by DigiTimes, AMD plans to announce two new desktop platforms in May of next year. The two platforms are said to be named Leo and Dorado, the former of which will target the high-end segment, and the latter will be more mainstream.

It is expected that Leo will be comprised of current 45nm Phenom II processors, future six-core Thuban desktop chips, and an 890FX or 890GX northbridge with an SB850 southbridge. The Tech Report notes the 890GX chipset is likely to contain integrated graphics.

Meanwhile, Dorado will supposedly consist of an Athlon II processor, 880G northbridge (also likely packing a graphics chip) and SB810 southbridge. AMD's DirectX 11-capable Radeon HD 5000-series graphics cards are also said to be a part of both new platforms.

As one would expect, AMD is keeping quiet, declining the opportunity to comment on its upcoming products.

AMD has unveiled a new revision (RB-C3) of the Phenom II X4 965 processor that comes with a reduction in its TDP rating -- just 125W versus the original’s 140W. This thermal improvement is expected to yield greater overclocking headroom for AMD's flagship CPU, which remains a black edition part priced at $195.

Arriving a bit earlier than anticipated, the renewed socket AM3 processor maintains its 3.4GHz clock speed, 512KB of L2 cache of per core for a total of 2MB, and a shared L3 cache of 6MB. In addition to the lower TDP, there are a few other tweaks, such as official support for four DDR3 modules at 1333 MHz, and improved C1E support to allow systems to switch power states faster with little to no impact to performance.

At its current price point the Phenom II X4 965 should directly compete with Intel's Core i5 750 -- though as we've seen in our own tests the latter seems like a better deal overall. That said, for those who already own an AM2+/AM3 motherboard the new Phenom II X4 965 might be worth an upgrade. AMD's new RB-C3 revision is also expected to bring a 95W Phenom II X4 955 and probably a new flagship down the road.

Nvidia has confirmed that Intel will not be packaging USB 3.0 support into its chipsets until at least 2011. Motherboard manufacturers have been, and will continue to use discrete USB 3.0 controllers from third-party companies, but at an extra cost. That being the case, we should continue to see motherboards and devices equipped with the latest USB spec, but a mass adoption is unlikely at this point in time.

Nvidia spokesman Brian Burke has expressed his company's disappointment with Intel. Burke also took the opportunity to say that Nvidia's chipsets have always been full of innovative features, and have been better than Intel's own chipsets, citing the popular nettop and netbook Nvidia ION chipset as an example of his company's superiority.

"With no competition in chipsets, it seems Intel has decided that innovation is not needed for USB any time soon. With no one to push Intel to innovate, PC enthusiasts are left with Intel chipsets and the features and performance they deliver, or lack there of," said Burke.

The two companies have been at odds over a licensing disagreement earlier this year that forced Nvidia out of the chipset market for Intel's latest CPU platform.

Even though Intel is expected to delay USB 3.0 support until sometime in 2011, motherboard makers have gone on their own including the new interconnect in select products via third party controllers. Naturally, compatible devices are starting to make their way onto the market as well, and now Super Talent has announced it plans to start shipping the world's first USB 3.0 flash drives as soon as next month.


Available in 32, 64 and 128GB capacities, the new RAIDDrive USB 3.0 series uses what Super Talent calls “multiple pairs of differential serial data lines technology” for optimal NAND flash performance. We can expect 200MB/s transfer rates in USB 3.0 mode and up to a whopping 320MB/s using a separate UAS Protocol driver. USB 2.0 and even 1.1 port compatibility has been preserved, albeit operating at their respective slower speeds.

To put this into perspective, filling up Super Talent's 64GB USB 3.0 flash drive would take a little over 3 minutes at top speed, whereas the same task would take nearly 30 minutes over a USB 2.0 port. There's still no word on pricing, but the company says we can expect retail availability in December from resellers worldwide.

Nvidia has reportedly begun hiring former engineers from Transmeta and is looking to develop its own x86-compatible processor core in a bid to continue its lucrative chipset business. The now-defunct microprocessor producer specialized in low-power, x86-compatible processors before turning into an intellectual property licensing firm and eventually closing doors in September of 2008.

Similar rumors have surfaced and died several times over the last few years along with speculation about an Nvidia acquisition of VIA. However, Doug Freedman of research house AmTech feels an internally developed solution is more likely and a necessity to preserve revenue from its integrated graphics solutions.

The chip maker is currently caught up in a legal battle with Intel over the scope of a 2004 chipset licensing agreement. Clearly, this is already limiting its ability to sell chipsets and it's only expected to get worse for Nvidia once Intel and AMD start including graphics functionality onto the CPU die. The company knows this and has been looking into x86 development for some time, saying it is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’

EVGA has announced a new dual-GPU video card, aptly named the Hybrid GTX 275 Co-op PhysX. The card houses both Nvidia GTX 275 and GTS 250 chips, which are linked together in some form of Hybrid SLI configuration. The GTX 275 is responsible for rendering graphics, while the GTS 250 tackles all of the PhysX calculations -- an interesting offer, even if Fermi is just around the corner.

The Hybrid GTX 275 Co-op PhysX card features 1.28GB of combined VRAM with a maximum memory bandwidth of 179.8GB/s, and the GTX 275 is clocked at 633MHz while the GTS 250 runs at 738MHz. It attaches via PCIe 2.0 x16, has two DVI-I ports, supports a maximum analog resolution of 2048x1536 or digital resolution of 2560x1600, and can be set up in a SLI configuration with another EVGA Hybrid GTX 275 card.


EVGA's new Hybrid graphics card costs $350 and is up for preorder now. Buyers also receive a downloadable copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which explains why Joker's image is branded on the side of the card.

VIA has announced its new Nano 3000 Series processors, which are said to offer enhanced digital media performance and less power consumption for ultrathin notebooks and all-in-one desktops. The new line brings strong competition to Intel's Atom CPU, and consists of six 64-bit Isaiah-based chips.

VIA's Nano 3000 processors are clocked between 1GHz and 2GHz with an 800MHz FSB, and feature SSE4 instructions, hardware virtualization, and Windows 7 and Linux compatibility. Along with being 20% more power efficient than current-gen Nano processors, they are also said to be capable of delivering 20% more performance, and are able to play 1080p video.

The latest Nano chips use the same NanoBGA2 package, which should allow hardware vendors to easily upgrade existing systems. Samples are currently available for OEMs and motherboard vendors, and mass production will begin in the first quarter of next year.

Lenovo has introduced the business-conscious ThinkCentre A70z all-in-one PC and A58e desktop tower. The A70z features a 19" 1440x900 display (a bit small, I know), your pick of a dual-core Intel Celeron or Core 2 Duo processor, up to 500GB of storage, a DVD burner, six USB ports, two audio speakers, as well as optional Wi-Fi, webcam, and bundled Skype software.

The A70z is reportedly quick to boot and shutdown, a mere 2.4" thick, and can be mounted on a wall to save additional desk space. Its power supply brick is integrated to further reduce clutter, and you can access both the HDD and RAM by removing only two screws -- a nice touch over other all-in-ones, especially for businesses. Prices start at $499, and it ships later this month with Windows 7.


Lenovo's A58e desktop system offers similar specifications in a larger package, including the choice between a Celeron or Core 2 Duo processor, up to 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB HDD. Lenovo claims its new desktop can cut electricity costs by up to 69% per year, and it starts at $349 and will also be available later in the month.

Maingear has unveiled the SHIFT desktop PC, which is aimed at the high-end enthusiast market. Referring to the SHIFT as an "everyday supercomputer," the company says it will "reshape the current landscape of high performance computing" -- a bold claim if I ever saw one.

Externally, the SHIFT shows a clean-cut aluminum chassis, which lacks the excessive lighting of other gaming systems. Inside is a vertical airflow system that vents air through the top of the case, and the system can be based on Intel's P55 or X58 platforms.
General hardware includes Intel's Core i7 processor, your choice of Nvidia or ATI graphics (over a dozen configurations), 3GB to 12GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 6 HDDs or 8 SSDs, a liquid cooling system, optional Blu-ray and plenty of other options, like the ability to have your system factory-overclocked.

The base P55 configuration starts at $2,199 and the X58 rig costs $400 more. Out of sheer curiosity, I maxed out the X58 system at just under 19 grand before shipping.

MSI has introduced the CR610, a new 16" laptop built on AMD's upcoming Tigris platform. The machine seems fitting for standard multimedia use, and features a LED-backlit 1366 x 768 HD display, an AMD Athlon II CPU and RS880 chipset with Radeon HD 4200 graphics, up to 4GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM, a choice of 250GB, 320GB and 500GB HDDs, and a DVD burner.
Other specifications include Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth connectivity, a 1.3 mega-pixel webcam, an Express Card slot, a four-in-one memory card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, VGA- and HDMI-out, the usual headphone and mic jacks, and a six-cell battery. The MSI CR610 measures 374 x 247 x 18-30mm -- about 20% thinner than traditional 16" notebooks according to MSI -- and weighs 2.48kg or 5.46lbs.

Naturally, the CR610 will ship with Windows 7, but no details on a price or availability have been announced.

In addition to announcing that its 15" OELD display will hit Korean shelves in November, LG revealed plans to release 20"-plus OLED panels in 2010, 30"-plus in 2011, and 40"-plus in 2012 -- quite the outlook. While smaller panels will use sixth-generation substrates with a low-temperature polycrystal silicon, OLED panels larger than 40" will require eight-generation size glass substrates.

According to LG's OLED sales and marketing VP Won Kim, eighth-generation substrates will require LG to develop equipment that can handle a temperature of over 700 degrees Celsius. The company says oxide semiconductor is one of the candidate materials to be used for large panels, but it has a low reproducibility because of variations among lots. It was also made known that fluorescent materials will be used until 2011, followed by phosphorescent materials.

LG hopes to achieve a 50% higher material cost and a 30% lower yield than those of LCD panels in 2012, and a 20-30% lower material cost with an equivalent yield in 2016 -- meaning that 40" OLED displays may be cheaper than their LCD counterparts in 7 years.

A recent rumor suggests that AMD may have plans to halt orders for various Phenom II X4 processors starting in the fourth quarter of 2009 into the first half of 2010. It is suspected that AMD's decision is based on a plan to launch a revised Phenom II X4 (Deneb 45nm) processor, which will have lower thermals and support higher clock rates.

If the speculation holds any truth, AMD's Phenom II X4 910 and 945 will be pulled first, with the last order being made this quarter, and shipments will cease in the second quarter of next year. Next to die will be the Phenom II X4 925, which will stop shipping in the third quarter of 2010. The 125W Phenom II X4 955 will be replaced with a 95W iteration in the second quarter of next year, along with the 140W 965 which will be swapped with a 125W unit.

In other AMD news, the company has postponed the launch of its 1.8GHz 45nm 25W Regor-based CPU (dubbed Athlon II X2 620u) until late first quarter 2010. The 1.6GHz Athlon II X2 520u is still slated for a late 2009 debut.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, recently confirmed it has run into new issues with their 40nm process technology that have sent yield rates down to 40%. Major customers for TSMC's 40nm processes include AMD, which just released its Radeon HD 5000 series, and Nvidia, who is expected to launch the GT300 series in December.

On first thought the conspiracy theorist in me found this suspiciously untimely for AMD, which for the first time in a long while had a great opportunity to capitalize on its early-to-market status. Their latest 40nm-based cards are not only the first to support DirectX 11, with Nvidia's answer arriving a few months later, but they have also been getting high marks for their performance and feature set in reviews around the web.

Then again TSMC's recent issues will reportedly impact shipping schedules for both AMD and Nvidia -- not to mention the manufacturer's financial performance. Company chairman and CEO Morris Chang pledged to get the problem fixed during the current quarter. The company had previously improved yield rates for its 40nm processes to around 60% from as low as 20-30% in the second quarter of 2009.

Acer has introduced a new multitouch monitor, the perfect complement to a fresh copy of Windows 7. At 23", the T230H is a bit larger than competing units from HP and Dell, and it has some respectable specifications. With multitouch support, the monitor will recognize both one and two-finger gestures, like pinch-zoom.

It features a native 1080p resolution, a 2ms response time, an 80,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, .265mm pixel pitch, 16.7 million colors, connectors for VGA, DVI, HDMI, and USB (for touch functionality), and built-in 1.5W stereo speakers. The T230H has an adjustable height of 110mm along with -5/15 degree tilt and swivel capabilities. It also has VESA wall mount and Kensington Lock support.


Acer backs the T230H with a 3-year "bring-in service" and will launch the display soon in Europe at a cost of 349 euros (about $514). While there is no information on US availability or pricing, the T230H is listed on Acer's US site, so a stateside debut seems imminent.

Acer is quickly striding toward its goal of becoming the number one PC vendor worldwide, aiming to ship more than 30 million notebooks this year, and over 40 million next year. Acer's strongest competitor at this point is HP, which currently holds the top position for units shipped, and is also forecasted to move 40 million or more notebooks in 2010. Both companies are expected to further trounce Dell in shipments.

Acer's performance for the fourth-quarter of 2009 is somewhat uncertain. The company originally planned for shipments to grow 10% sequentially, but component shortages may affect that. Despite its efforts to prepare for shortages, Acer says supplies of optical drives, panels, hard disk drives, and graphics chips are running thin. Even if Acer lands a bit behind target in the last quarter, the first three quarters were better-than-expected, so the company will meet shipment goals for the year.

In only two years, Acer has doubled its annual notebook sales from 15.4 million in 2007, which is mostly attributed to its success in the netbook segment.

Even though Intel is facing virtually no competition on the high-end processor market, the arrival of its Lynnfield-based Core i7 860 early last month threatened to cannibalize sales at the lower end of the enthusiast LGA1366 spectrum. The chip carries the same $290 price tag as the "Bloomfield" Core i7 920, yet it comes with higher clock speeds and Turbo Boost capabilities, a tighter power envelope, and fits into a cheaper platform.

Thus is not really surprising to hear Intel will be discontinuing the latter. However, rather than leaving a wide hole in its LGA1366 lineup, the chip maker will apparently be replacing it with a higher clocked Core i7 930 processor next quarter. The quad-core, eight thread part will run at 2.88GHz and should cost the same as its Core i7 920 predecessor.

Although still unconfirmed by Intel at this point, the move sounds plausible enough. We have already witnessed the replacement of the 3.20GHz Core i7 Extreme 965 with the 3.33GHz i7 975, as well as the 2.93GHz Core i7 940 with the 3.06GHz Core i7 950 and once again with the Core i7 960 running at 3.2GHz.

Intel and Numonyx, the chipmaker's flash memory joint venture with STMicroelectonics, have released details on what the companies hope will be a breakthrough in the development of phase-change memory (PCM). Specifically, the companies developed a new manufacturing process that would allow stacking several memory/selector layers atop each other so memory can be packed more densely in a given volume.

The design paves the way for non-volatile memory chips with larger capacity and greater energy efficiency than current memory types while using a minimum of die space. While such stacking is the goal, yesterday's announcement was of a working 64Mb, single-layer version of the new memory architecture -- multiple layer variants are still on the drawing board.

Phase-change memory stores data in small cells of chalcogenide, a special compound that can change physical states between crystalline and amorphous with the application of heat. The chips can run faster and with greater longevity than conventional transistor-based NAND chips. What's more, phase-change memory is "RAM-like" in that bits can be changed individually, not only in blocks as is required by NAND, yet it is also non-volatile so power isn't required to keep the data in memory.

These attributes could allow the merging of DRAM memory and storage into one high-speed, high-bandwidth architecture. Unfortunately, such a leap is still a long way off according Intel developers.

Heads up to VAIO owners: Sony is recalling some 69,000 AC power adapters following four reports of units short circuiting -- none of which occurred in the United States. It seems there is a weakness in the insulation that could pose an electrical shock hazard to consumers, but nobody has been injured at this point.

The Sony VGP-AC19V17 is the exact AC adapter being recalled. It's used in Sony's all-in-one VAIO desktops (VGC-LT and VGC-JS2 series), and VAIO docking stations (models VGP-PRBX1 and VGP-PRFE1) -- all of which were sold via SonyStyle stores, as well as authorized electronics retailers and business-to-business dealers from September 2005 through October 2009. The PCs were priced from $900 to $3,300 and the docks ran $250 to $300.


If you happen to own a VGP-AC19V17 adapter, it is recommended that you stop using it immediately and contact Sony for a free replacement. You can call Sony at 877-361-4481, or head over to the company's support site.

Gigabyte has joined Asus in the race to build motherboards equipped with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s connectivity, introducing an entire P55-based lineup sporting the next-generation I/O technology. The company has brought a host of new motherboards to the table, including the GA-P55A-UD6, GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD4,GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, GA-P55A-UD3.

This series of boards can be easily distinguished by the "P55A" branding, as opposed to the company's previous "P55" boards -- they also feature "Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration." The "333" refers to the onboard third-gen SATA and USB parts, as well as USB 3.0's new voltage profile, which Gigabyte says offers triple the power to external devices.With seven listed units, Gigabyte likely has most budgets and builds covered. All of the boards support Intel's recent Lynnfield (Core i5 and i7 8xx) LGA 1156 processors. The motherboards rely on NEC's uPD720200 chip for USB 3.0, and Marvell's 88SE9128 controller for 6Gbps SATA, and bring the expected features and in-house technologies.

If you've been in the market for a netbook at any given moment for the past year, you may have noticed how manufacturers are basically just putting different enclosures around the same hardware -- 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 160 or 250GB hard drives, and no more than 1GB of RAM. This is largely the result of restrictions set by Intel and Microsoft, and apparently with the arrival of Intel's Pine Trail platform early next year things won't be too different.

According to Fudzilla, netbooks based on the upcoming 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, which will debut in January featuring an on-die graphics core and memory controller, will still be tied to the 1GB limit. These systems should also have display sizes ranging from 7" to 10.2", either a 120GB hard drive or up to 20GB of solid-state storage, and a four-cell battery -- but on the flip side should start selling for as low as $250.

Further down the road, around March 2010, the 1.83GHz Atom N470 will reportedly allow running 2GB of RAM and up to 32GB of solid-state storage. The higher limit should provide a decent jump in performance for netbooks, while still targeting the $299 to $349 price points.

These restrictions are aimed at making a clear distinction between netbooks and ultraportables, while protecting the profit margins from more lucrative CULV-based offerings.

Intel has temporarily pulled its just-released TRIM firmware update (02HA) and associated SSD Toolbox from their download site, following a number of reported problems with the new software. Details remain scarce at the moment, but according to several posts on Intel's support forums, users are left with a disk read error and no way to load Windows after rebooting from a seemingly successful firmware upgrade.

The company gave its official statement on the matter to Engadget, claiming they are investigating and working toward resolution. Although some say they have had no problems whatsoever, and in their tests both PC Perspective and Legit Reviews were able to confirm the claimed speed gains, you should probably hold off on updating your X25-M drive until Intel works out all firmware defects -- again.

Third quarter graphics processors shipments jumped 21.2 percent sequentially after an initial rise in Q2 2009, according to the latest numbers from Jon Peddie Research. Overall 119.45 million units were shipped during the period, exceeding the record 111 million units that were shipped in the year-ago quarter, as computer vendors built up inventory in preparation for the Windows 7 launch.

As usual, JPR's report includes market share data and covered both discrete and integrated graphics -- thus as expected Intel continued to hold the top spot with 52.7% of the market, bolstered by its installed base of integrated graphics chipsets. Nvidia was second with 24.9%, followed by a closing in AMD with 19.8%.

In terms of growth, Intel and AMD were the clear winners with quarter-to-quarter shipments rising by 25.2 and 30.2 percent respectively, while Nvidia only managed 3 percent. What's more, compared to Q3 2008 the latter actually saw a 4% decline in shipments. JPR registered growth of 3.1% for AMD, while Intel enjoyed a 14.6% growth in shipments from last year helped by strong netbook and notebooks sales.