ATI's new Linux drivers already support R600

WHILE CES 2007 is in full swing it seems that reviews and the like are quite thin on the ground, so today's hardware roundup is somewhat sparse. Of course should you feel you need more hardware info you can always check out the vast amount of tech news being delivered by the hastily erected Las Vegas office of the INQ.

Along with their own take on CES Day 2 and Day 3 HardwareLogic has put up and interesting piece entitled Know Thy Host! which delves into the myriad of uses of the hosts file that harks back to the days before domain name service servers and acts as something of a phone book for websites, which can be configured to act as a screening filter for your PC.

TweakTown has reviewed the Rosewill RX353-S 3.5" SATA to USB/e.SATA External Enclosure. The black brushed aluminium casing looks very good and the performance is impressive as is the price, it even comes with an external PC bracket to hook it up to your PC.

BIOS magazine has been pottering about with the Lenovo ThinkCentre A60 which is very clearly aimed at the business end of the market, with the forma factor options, rock solid performance, security and support technologies appealing to the corporate types.

Phoronix has been looking at what the new ATI 8.33.6 Display Drivers for Linux. Whilst there isn't much in the way of performance boosts, we can already see support for the upcoming R600 chips, which is an encouraging sign.

Elite Bastards has put up the Auzentech X-Meridian sound card review. It looks to be a fairly hardcore piece of aural periphery, but if your ears will only accept high class input then it looks like the price tag may be justified.

Most gamers and other tech heads know that the G80 series of graphics cards are the best out there at the moment, and there really won't be any competition until the release of an R600 card. According to HardOCP the ASUS EN8800 GTX is no different providing a solid card with a good bundle, but the price tag is still likely to put off all but the most enthusiastic, and well off, gamers.

Anandtech brings us a review of the Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 declaring it to be affordable and highly overclockable, meaning this chip is shaping up to be the processor of choice for many people looking to the best bang for their buck. µ

* SEND YOUR hardware news to Ian Williams.