Nvidia on Tuesday welcomed a new mid-range part to its family of Fermi graphics cards. Based on the company's 40nm GF116 GPU, the new GeForce GTX 550 Ti is priced below $150, making it Nvidia's most affordable 500 series desktop card thus far. Keep reading after the break for more detailed GTX 550 Ti specs.

An upcoming Linux kernel patch has Linux patriarch Linus Torvalds very excited about the huge performance boost it promises. His enthusiasm is not unfounded either. The 233 line patch by Linux kernel developer Mike Galbraith  punches way above its weight by reducing maximum desktop latency by over ten times and average latency by a factor of 60, paving the way for a faster, more responsive desktop experience.

“Yeah. And I have to say that I'm (very happily) surprised by just how small that patch really ends up being, and how it's not intrusive or ugly either. It's an improvement for things like smooth scrolling around, but what I found more interesting was how it seems to really make web pages load a lot faster,” Torvalds said in an email.

“So I think this is firmly one of those "real improvement" patches. Good job. Group scheduling goes from "useful for some specific server loads" to "that's a killer feature".

According to Linux-centric site Phoronix, the wonder patch has been designed to “automatically create task groups per TTY in an effort to improve the desktop interactivity under system strain.” As the Linux 2.6.37 nearing a second release candidate milestone, users will have to wait until 2.6.38 to tap into the huge speed boost.

Meanwhile, you can watch the two demo videos Phoronix posted to elucidate the tremendous performance boost this scheduler patch provides.

Video 1: Without the Patch

Hit the jump for the "after" video.

Acer probably takes the name of its gamer-specific Predator desktop range too literally. The world's second largest PC maker has left no stone unturned in making every singly Predator desktop look curiously intimidating. The latest members of the Predator family also manifest this design philosophy. But let's for once turn blind to the exterior so we can sift through their innards.

The Acer Aspire Predator AG7750-U3222 packs in a quadcore Intel Core i7-930 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX470 graphics, 1.5TB storage (supports up to 8TB), and 12GB SDRAM. Acer is asking $1,999 for the liquid-cooled  AG7750.

But if you can't justify giving an arm and a leg for the AG7750, then try to justify spending $1,350 on the mid-range AG5900, which features a Core i7-870 CPU, 8GB of memory, 1.5TB of storage space and ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB graphics.

“We’re now offering two killer Predator models with the goal of satisfying a wider range of gamers,” said Steve Smith, senior business manager of consumer desktops for Acer America. “Not everyone needs the most extreme gaming rig, so we designed the AG5900, a more mainstream alternative to our premium AG7750. The AG5900 boasts excellent core features, such as a high- speed processor, excellent graphics and tons of memory to hobble the competition at an affordable price.”

Hewlett-Packard has announced two new all-in-one (AIO) desktops with an eye on the upcoming holiday season. The world's leading PC maker has embarked on a generational overhaul, or so it claims, with the new TouchSmart 310 PC. According to the company, the TouchSmart 310 is “the fourth generation of the HP TouchSmartPC.” Aesthetically, the multitouch AIO is markedly different from its antecedents. Actually, it is closer to the iMac than its elder cognates as far as looks go.

The 310 features a 20-inch touch screen, AMD Athlon II 240e dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 1-TB hard drive, DVD burner, and ATI Radeon HD 4270 graphics. The basic SKU will be available for $699. Before we move onto the second AIO, it is worth mentioning that HP has also revamped the TouchSmart software interface. Furthermore, there are a bunch of new built-for-touch apps, including Marvel Comics, Facebook and Cartoon Network, to go along with the cosmetic changes. The Marvel Comics app is particularly exciting as it can be used to access more than 8,000 comics (paid).

Finally, let us move onto the second AIO, the Omni 100, which is a non-touch PC built around a dual-core AMD Athlon II 260u CPU. The $499 all-in-one features a 20-inch display, 3GB RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Both the PCs are “planned to be available Sept. 22 at www.hpdirect.com and at select retailers nationwide on Oct. 24.”