COMPUTER NEWS & TRENDS ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme forms foundation for fastest gaming PCs      ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd., a leading award-winning NVIDIA AIC, announced the ultimate platforms for gamers and system enthusiasts----the ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme. The new platform combine the power of high-performance Intel Core 2 processors, extreme overclocking, high-speed DDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, 2-way, 3-way and Quad SLI technology, ESA and NVIDIA Control Panel to power the world’s fastest gaming PCs for unmatched DirectX 10 performance.      Powering the new ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme motherboard is NVIDIA’s latest nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP and SPP, designed for Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Core 2 Extreme and Pentium processors, including 45nm Penryn models, with front-side bus speeds up to 1600 MHz.      The ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme has plenty of overclocking headroom, allowing adventurous users to extract every ounce of performance from the latest 45nm Penryn-based Intel Core 2 processors. Sky’s the limit when it comes to performance tweaking with the ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme.      “PC enthusiasts and gamers always seek the best components available for their systems, the ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme delivers the best foundation for their systems,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. “The ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme combines all the latest technologies available and encompasses it into a single high-performance motherboard.”      New to the ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme is support for DDR3 memory up to 2000 MHz, with enhanced performance profiles 2.0, or EPP 2.0 technology. Users can optimize DDR3 memory modules hassle-free for maximal performance with EPP 2.0 technology.      PCI Express 2.0 technology is the backbone for 2-way, 3-way and Quad SLI technologies. PCI Express 2.0 delivers double the bandwidth of first-generation PCI Express while maintaining backwards compatibility, providing up to 5 GT/s of bandwidth when paired with PCI Express 2.0 compliant devices, to feed bandwidth-hungry 3D games and applications.      The ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme support the latest 2-way, 3-way and Quad SLI technologies with three full-speed PCI Express x16 slots. SLI technology allows gamers to add multiple ZOTAC GeForce graphics cards to achieve up to 2.8x performance increases for mind-blowing frame rates with next-generation DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 games and applications.      New ESA technology provides complete system performance management in real-time, granting users unprecedented control over thermal, electrical, acoustic and operating characteristics for maximal system performance. A new NVIDIA Control Panel unifies all ESA-compliant components for easy system monitoring with an intuitive and customizable 3D user interface.      “ESA technology is the latest development in providing high optimization capabilities to the end user,” Berger added. “With ESA technology, anyone can fine tune their system for the best performance, no matter what their skill level is.”      Existing NVIDIA technologies make a return to the ZOTAC nForce 790i-Supreme, including MediaShield Storage, DualNet and FIrstPacket.      NVIDIA MediaShield Storage technology allows users to safeguard data or speed up hard disk performance with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1 and 5, with up to six SATA 3.0Gb/s drives.      NVIDIA DualNet technology provides two native Gigabit Ethernet controllers for high-speed networking performance. DualNet technology is joined by FIrstPacket technology for easy network optimizations with an intuitive wizard----allowing users to prioritize specific network traffic, such as games for ultra-low ping times and VoIP for crystal clear calls.      ZOTAC added also a graphics solution based on NVIDIA’s new GeForce 9800 graphics processor----the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2.      Making use of NVIDIA multi-GPU technology, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 packs dual GeForce 9800 graphics processor onto a single card and ousts the previous performance king, the GeForce 8800 Ultra, by 30-to-50 percent in 3D games and applications.      The new performance king doubles the amount of stream processors available in the previous generation, an unbelievable 1GB of graphics memory and packs support for PCI Express 2.0, NVIDIA HybridPower, Quad SLI, Microsoft DirectX 10 with Shader Model 4.0, OpenGL 2.1, Unified Architecture, Lumenex Engine, GigaThread and Quantum Effects technologies to deliver a complete extreme high-definition PC gaming experience with no-holds-barred visual effects and buttery smooth frame rates.      Powering the new ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 are 256 screaming-fast stream processors for unparalleled 3D processing power. The raw power of 256 stream processors renders the latest games with the utmost precision for cinematic, life-like quality visuals.      Feeding the data hungry stream processors is 1GB of high-speed GDDR3 graphics memory. The 1GB of graphics memory ensures data is fed to the graphics processors for blazing fast frame rates and the highest quality visuals.      The new ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 maintains backwards compatibility with previous generation PCI Express 1.0 motherboards but also supports the latest generation PCI Express 2.0 bus. When installed in a PCI Express 2.0 compatible motherboard, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 doubles the available bandwidth between motherboard and graphics card to 5 GT/s, up from the 2.5GT/s from PCI Express 1.0.      New to the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 is NVIDIA HybridPower technology. When paired with a HybridPower compatible motherboard, such as motherboards based on the NVIDIA nForce 7-series chipsets, HybridPower technology allows the system to dynamically switch between the power of integrated graphics on your motherboard and the raw power of 256 stream processors of the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2.      “With NVIDIA HybridPower technology, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 can deliver high-performance 3D graphics while maintaining low power consumption,” said Berger. “The dynamic switching also allows the system to power-down the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 to reduce noise during idle or casual system usage.”      If a single ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 isn’t enough, two ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 graphics cards can be installed in a single SLI compatible motherboard for Quad SLI support. With Quad SLI using two ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 graphics cards, users can have the power of 512 screaming-fast stream processors and 2GB of graphics memory to achieve performance and visual realism never thought possible.      Moving beyond 3D is NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology for a high-performance and high-quality multimedia experience. With NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 graphics card handles 100-percent of video decoding tasks of high-definition H.264 video.      H.264 encoded videos are commonly found on high-definition Blu-ray and HD DVD discs. VC-1 hardware decoding is accelerated using the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 for ultra-low CPU utilization when watching VC-1 encoded titles. To ensure compatibility with the latest high-definition television sets and extreme high-definition monitors, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 packs HDCP compliant dual-link DVI and HDMI outputs, with support for resolutions up to 2560x1600. The ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2 also features a native HDMI output that simultaneously sends audio and video signals over a single cable, for a quick and easy PC-to-TV connection.      To help users enjoy the extreme performance of the ZOTAC GeForce 9800GX2, the card comes bundled with Ubisoft’s new title Lost: Via Domus, based on the hit TV show. In Lost: Via Domus, gamers can experience the show with full interactivity. Extended warranty for Europe      ZOTAC has a new extended product warranty for its motherboards and graphics cards, adding an additional 3 years of warranty to the regular 2 year warranty for customers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Russia. The extended warranty guarantees ZOTAC products are free of material and workmanship defects for a total 5 years.      Under the new warranty terms, the product is warranted through the original reseller for the first 2 years, which means ZOTAC owners can take their graphics card back to its original place of purchase. After 2 years, but before 5 years, owners can contact ZOTAC directly for warranty repairs.      The ZOTAC extended warranty goes into effect as soon as the customer purchases the ZOTAC product, seeks to register it with ZOTAC, and maintain a copy of the sales receipt.      ZOTAC International is a part of PC Partner Ltd. Group. ZOTAC is also one of the largest NVIDIA add-in board and motherboard manufacturers in the world with over 10 years of quality manufacturing experience. For further information visit www.zotac.com.