Gateway has announced two new desktop PCs from the FX series, featuring the Intel Core i7 processors and Intel X58 Express Chipset.

The new PCs are dubbed as the Gateway FX6800-01e and Gateway FX6800-05.

Gateway FX6800-01e comes powered with Intel Core i7-920 Processor and Intel X58 chipset plus and ATI Radeon HD4850 w/ 512 MB discrete video memory.

It has 3 GB of three channel DDR3 memory and 750 GB SATA II hard drive. Also incorporated are 18X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive featuring LabelFlash Technology. The other features include 15-in-1 High Speed Digital Media Card Reader with Smart Copy Button and 8 USB ports. There is also a HDMI Connetor v1.3 and the system the PC operates on is Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit with Service Pack 1.

The Gateway FX6800-01e is available for an MSRP of $1,249.99.Next is the high-performance Gateway FX6800-05 that engages in it Intel Core i7-940 Processor, Intel X58 Express Chipset and ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Graphics w/ 2048MB Discrete Video Memory.

Memory options provided are 6GB DDR3 and 1000GB SATA II hard drive and 80GB SSD. There is also the 18X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive with the LabelFlash Technology as present in the FX6800-01e as well. Also there is the 15-in-1 High Speed Digital Media Card Reader with Smart Copy Button, 8 USB ports and HDMI Connector v1.3 and requires 1000 Watt Power Supply unlike the FX6800-01e which requires 500W.

Gateway FX6800-05 can be purchased for $2,999.99 MSRP.

The FX series desktop are available with a one year limited warranty.

NZXT rolls out its latest gaming chassis Guardian 921 which adds to its Crafted Series line. Sporting elegant curves and a clear side panel, this good looking chassis has a spacious interior that can house large high end video cards and up to four hard drives.

The Guardian 921 chassis constantly monitors the temperature and prevents overheating by allowing users to gauge thermals within the system at all times.The Guardian 921 offers various multimedia and peripheral inputs like Intel HD audio, E-SATA, mic, and dual USB inputs on the front side. Made of 0.8mm and 1mm steel, it equips three standard 120mm fans that help maximize cooling with minimal noise.

“With the Guardian 921, we’ve reached an optimal balance of pricing and performance” said Johnny Hou, Chief Designer at NZXT. “This chassis is perfect for the PC Gamer/enthusiast who’s looking for a phenomenal building block for their new rig without breaking the bank.”

The Guardian 921 retails for $89.99 (approx Rs.3,797) and will be available this month.

Gaming controllers, be it a gamepad, joystick, wheel or mouse, are some of the central defining elements of any gaming experience. Any gamer with a modicum of experience knows how a bad controller or control scheme can completely ruin the experience of playing an otherwise excellent game. Judging from the huge variety of input devices available, we put a high value on the kind of immersiveness that a good controller-to-game match can create.

While game controllers come in all shapes, sizes and colors, the input technologies they feature are surprisingly universal. Nearly all game controllers receive some or all of their input from various switches of some type. More advanced controllers may also incorporate analog sticks, throttle wheels, visual sensors and motion sensors. Regardless of which combination of these input technologies are incorporated into a controller, the end result is nearly always a device that is controlled with the hands or feet, so it was quite refreshing to learn that OCZ's idea of a game controller doesn't require any of your extremities to operate.OCZ Technology has laid claim to being the first company to bring a "brain-computer" interface to the retail market and they have aimed it squarely at the gamer. The device is called the NIA, which is an acronym that stands for Neural Impulse Actuator, and instead of buttons, sticks, gyroscopes or motion sensors, it reads the body's natural biosignals and translates them into commands that can be used to control PC games.
The NIA is able to detect three types of biosignals generated by your brain, facial muscles and eye muscles via a special headband. The user can bind these signals to any keystroke using the driver and configuration software. This allows the NIA to take the place of any keyboard command in any game. OCZ claims the NIA allows for a new level of immersion not possible with traditional tactile input devices. Not to mention the obvious advantage in input response time that a brain-computer interface could provide.

Now you may be understandably skeptical, as we certainly were. The whole concept of the NIA sounds more than a little outlandish. When we first heard of OCZ's interesting "brain-computer" interface a couple of years ago, we couldn't help but have visions of The Matrix. The very notion of controlling a computer with the mind conjures up images of exotic, fictional technologies from sci-fi movies. We were also slightly skeptical about the NIA's ability to improve our gaming experience, even if it were to work as advertised. Don't get us wrong, controlling the computer hands-free with our mind sure sounds neat, but we really like our mice, keyboards and gamepads. Perhaps we're old fashioned but there is at least one member of the HotHardware team that thinks the keyboard and mouse are the only input devices you will ever need, well at least for the foreseeable future.

As pundits at a computer hardware publication, there is only one way we know how to settle our suspicions and curiosity, as well as try and shed some light on this product for you. So we've obtained a retail-ready NIA sample and have put it through its paces to see for ourselves if it's the real deal or just another gimmick product.

Not everyone is sold on SSDs, but that isn't stopping almost everyone from trying to sell you one. Competition has started to heat up, and it looks as though OCZ and Super Talent are lining up for a race to see which company can offer the fastest SSDs at the lowest price point. Super Talent kicked things off with its MasterDrive MX line, offering 120MB/sec write and 40MB/sec read speeds in 30GB, 60GB, and 120GB sizes for as low as $299, but OCZ joined the race just a few months later with a low cost line of its own. OCZ's Core series drives upped the ante with a hat trick that includes slightly more storage space, better read and write speeds at up to 143MB/sec and 93MB/sec respectively, and lower price points. Game, set, match?Not quite. Super Talent doesn't appear ready to concede the mainstream market, and to prove it, the company has revised its MX series SSDs to offer faster speeds. Both the 15GB and 30GB models now sport read speeds of 120MB/sec and write speeds of 60MB/sec, while the 60GB and 120GB boast the same read speed but increases the write speeds to 80MB/sec. "Our expert engineering team is constantly discovering new ways to improve our proudcts, and this is one improvement that will be well received by power laptop users," said Super Talent director or marketing, Joe James.

The tweaked SATA-II SSDs still trail behind OCZ's Core series, but to make them more competitive, Super Talent has begun offering a $40 rebate (PDF) when purchased through Newegg. Is it enough to make you consider a SSD?

Gamers! Here is a latest desktop from ASUS dubbed ARES CG6155 to provide ASUS’ legendary quality, reliability, high performance and stability for their every gaming need.

The design of the system is adapted by ancient and modern armor with both Eastern and Western influences. It presents an aesthetic appeal that exudes pure power.

This bullet proof-looking desktop PC ensures a secure gaming experience with its wide range of features such as enhanced Quad-Core Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 CPUs, 3-way SLI graphic cards and extreme factory over-clocking (up to 4.0GHz) that boosts CPU performance by up to 33%. It also carries a Blu-ray optical disc drivehigh-definition audio and Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz up to 8GB memory.

It runs on Microsoft Vista Ultimate operating system, up to 4TB hard disk drive, LAN support. In addition, the ASUS ARES CG6155 is pre-loaded with Dual Power and customized liquid cooling modules that are compatible with up to 2 kilowatts of power, assuring stability in maintaining cooler operations.

Some of the accessories that are packed with the ASUS ARES CG6155 gaming desktop include gaming keyboard, mouse, mousepad and headset. Gamers have all the possible equipments to enjoy their exciting games on the computer.

Asus maintains its mum on the pricing and availability of ARES CG6155 Gaming Desktop PC.