Into Tech

In case your dual-core desktop was starting to show its age, Dell is now cramming a quad-core processor inside its top of the line XPS desktop. The new XPS 710 packs Intel’s 2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad-core CPU, letting you throw any multi-threaded app you can find its way. For expansion, the desktop has four memory slots alongside seven expansion slots that comfortably fit as many video cards as you can afford. All this goodness is gonna cost you though. The XPS (available today) starts at $3,699. Having the extra horsepower under the hood sounds inviting, but personally there’s few multi-threaded apps (if any) in my library to justify splurging close to $4 grand on a desktop. – Louis Ramirez

Press Release [Dell]

ASUS knows, like you do, that you can never have too many graphics cards. In a day and age where double- and quadruple-SLI graphics solutions are commonplace, ASUS saw a weakness in traditional motherboards that only house a couple of your $800 GPUs. That’s why the NVIDIA-based P5N32-E comes equipped with not one or two but three 16x PCI Express slots: because more is always better. Read about more additions to the ASUS line after the jump.

How many graphics cards do you really need? With the P5N32-E, you can run two cards in SLI and use the third slot to fill up to two separate monitors on another card. Necessary? I doubt it. Cool as hell? Maybe. Justification for picking up two more sweet LCDs? Now you’re speaking my language. Alternatively, you could use the third slot for a physics processor card and rock out on the two games that support the hardware.

The new ASUS board also sports a redesigned heatpipe chipset cooling system for noise reduction and an upgrade to Intel’s integrated audio with the 7.1-ready SupremeFX sound card. They’ve also released a new on-the-fly overclocking system called AI NOS which reads system temperatures and performance load and overclocks your system automatically to achieve peak performance. No word on whether or not the NOS system requires you to be a jerk about your computer or challenge other gamers to benchmark competitions for pinks.

For $300, you can bring one home in time for the holidays. – Karson Thompson

The ASUS P5N32-E Gaming Motherboard [via Electronista]

It may look like some sort of torture device for your PC, but Asus’ Silent Knight is actually an all-copper cooler designed to keep your CPU from overheating. The cooler supports Intel’s Core 2 Duo, Pentium D, and Pentium 4 family of processors as well as AMD’s Athlon 64-FX and Sempron CPUs, which makes it a handy component for overclockers who like pushing their processors to the max. More medieval pics after the jump.

– Louis Ramirez
Asus to Release All-Copper Cooler for Dual-Core Processors [via AVING.net]

Gateway is showing gamers some love by not only ramming the Core 2 Duo inside their new FX530XL, but also overclocking it for you. The FX530XL comes with a 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor that can be factory overclocked to 4.2GHz. The system will also support Intel’s quad CPUs when they start making their appearance. We especially like that Gateway is backing their overclocked CPUs with a full warranty and will replace them should anything go wrong. For $4,999, they better. – Louis Ramirez

Gateway FX530XL [via Ars Technica]

Four minutes long and loaded on YouTube, this Dell “ad” features Michael Dell, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Intel’s Paul Otellini, among others. Why is it so bad? Because it’s confusing who this ad is actually for. It’s definitely not for consumers, and with all the talk/singing of partners and relationships, we think it’s for other businesses. But…with a viral video that looks like it was made by Jib Jab? – Jason Chen

Did Dell Hire JibJab to Handle Advertising? [Valleywag]

Four minutes long and loaded on YouTube, this Dell “ad” features Michael Dell, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Intel’s Paul Otellini, among others. Why is it so bad? Because it’s confusing who this ad is actually for. It’s definitely not for consumers, and with all the talk/singing of partners and relationships, we think it’s for other businesses. But…with a viral video that looks like it was made by Jib Jab? – Jason Chen

Did Dell Hire JibJab to Handle Advertising? [Valleywag]

Four minutes long and loaded on YouTube, this Dell “ad” features Michael Dell, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Intel’s Paul Otellini, among others. Why is it so bad? Because it’s confusing who this ad is actually for. It’s definitely not for consumers, and with all the talk/singing of partners and relationships, we think it’s for other businesses. But…with a viral video that looks like it was made by Jib Jab? – Jason Chen

Did Dell Hire JibJab to Handle Advertising? [Valleywag]

Looking like a cross between a tank and a mini PC, Tangent’s Rugged Mini is the first rugged desktop we’ve laid eyes on. Spec-wise, it’s not as powerful as your average desktop (it runs off an Intel Pentium M or Celeron M), but otherwise its got all the goods you’d find in its bigger counterparts and one ups them by being VESA compliant. It’s also got a fanless chassis so it’ll be quieter than most desktops. It’ll set you back around $1,400 bucks, which we think could be better spent on an entry to mid-level notebook. Unless you wanna scare the pants off your Mac Mini. – Louis Ramirez

Tangent Rugged Mini [via CNET Crave]

Looking like a cross between a tank and a mini PC, Tangent’s Rugged Mini is the first rugged desktop we’ve laid eyes on. Spec-wise, it’s not as powerful as your average desktop (it runs off an Intel Pentium M or Celeron M), but otherwise its got all the goods you’d find in its bigger counterparts and one ups them by being VESA compliant. It’s also got a fanless chassis so it’ll be quieter than most desktops. It’ll set you back around $1,400 bucks, which we think could be better spent on an entry to mid-level notebook. Unless you wanna scare the pants off your Mac Mini. – Louis Ramirez

Tangent Rugged Mini [via CNET Crave]

Looking like a cross between a tank and a mini PC, Tangent’s Rugged Mini is the first rugged desktop we’ve laid eyes on. Spec-wise, it’s not as powerful as your average desktop (it runs off an Intel Pentium M or Celeron M), but otherwise its got all the goods you’d find in its bigger counterparts and one ups them by being VESA compliant. It’s also got a fanless chassis so it’ll be quieter than most desktops. It’ll set you back around $1,400 bucks, which we think could be better spent on an entry to mid-level notebook. Unless you wanna scare the pants off your Mac Mini. – Louis Ramirez

Tangent Rugged Mini [via CNET Crave]