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It looks like we’re in store for a serious speed up when it comes to Windows 7. While previous talk revolved around GPU acceleration, Microsoft is now implementing something called the WARP system, which will make it so DirectX 10 acceleration can occur on the CPU alone.

Apparently, part of the reason for the WARP is to stave off some of the problems Vista occurred when some systems couldn’t run the OS, even though the spec list said they could. WARP stands for Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform. This system will work fine on systems with just an 800MHz processor.

Microsoft has already performed some Crysis benchmark tests on the new system and the results were quite impressive with 7.36fps frame rate with 800 x 600 on a PC running Core i7. This is better than the current Intel integrated graphics have been able to produce. And while this certainly isn’t an alternative to a dedicated GPU, it is a decent built-in solution.

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• Alienware boosts Area-51 7500 with Quad Core

Get ready for a flurry of Core i7 desktop PC announcement folks. First up is Dell with three new gaming desktops – the Alienware Area-51 X-58, Area-51 ALX X-58, and Dell XPS 730x. Here’s what you need to know about the three desktops.

Alienware Area-51 X-58:

 

• Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor
• Intel X-58 Chipset
• Dual NDIVIA and ATI Graphics
• 1066MHz DDR3 memory – up to 12GB
• Single or dual RAID 0/1 Hard Drives
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 7.1/5.1 HD Audio
• 8 USB 2.0 ports
• 2 IEEE 1394b ports
• 1 eSATA port
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit OS

Alienware Area-51 ALX X-58:

• Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor
• Intel X-58 Chipset
• Dual NVIDIA and ATI Graphics
• 1600MHz DDR3 memory – up to 12GB
• Single or Dual RAID 0 hard drives
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 7.1/5.1 HD audio
• 8 USB 2.0 ports
• 2 IEEE 1394b ports
• 1 eSATA port
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit OS

Dell XPS 730x:

• Intel Core i7 920/940/965 processor
• Intel X58 chipset
• Windows XP or Windows Vista
• Up to 6GB DDR3 1066MHz memory
• Several hard drive options
• Single card - ATI Radeon HD4850, NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT, NVIDIA GeForce  GXT280
• Dual card - ATI Radeon HD4850 CrossFireX
• 7.1 channel HD audio
• Dual gigabit Ethernet

Technorati Tags: Dell, Alienware Area-51 X-58, Alienware Area-51 ALX X-58, Dell XPS 730x

   Ardjuna dives into Alienware's Area51 to see if its performance is out of this world.

   Ardjuna dives into Alienware's Area51 to see if its performance is out of this world.