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Friday, July 31st 2009
Core i9 ''Gulftown'' Comes to Life
Intel's posterboy processor for the 32 nm Westmere architecture, the six-core Gulftown is now living, breathing silicon. The company seems to have already dispatched samples of the chip. Gulftown is based on the LGA-1366 socket. Featuring 6 cores and 12 threads with HyperThreading enabled, it holds 12 MB of L3 cache to support the additional data load over the QuickPath Interconnect.
A noted enthusiast has two Gulftown processors running in a dual-socket setup. This 12 core, 24 thread monstrosity uses 24 GB of DDR3 memory using 4 GB modules (perhaps 2 x 3 modules). The processors are running at 2.40 GHz (18 x 133 MHz). The machine was put through WPrime multi-threaded benchmark. It crunched WPrime 32M in a little over 6 seconds, and 1024M in 145.6 seconds. Going by older information, Gulftown should be implemented in a commercial product in Q1 2010, when Intel plans a host of other important product launches. When released as Core i9, the processor will target the premium enthusiast market.
A noted enthusiast has two Gulftown processors running in a dual-socket setup. This 12 core, 24 thread monstrosity uses 24 GB of DDR3 memory using 4 GB modules (perhaps 2 x 3 modules). The processors are running at 2.40 GHz (18 x 133 MHz). The machine was put through WPrime multi-threaded benchmark. It crunched WPrime 32M in a little over 6 seconds, and 1024M in 145.6 seconds. Going by older information, Gulftown should be implemented in a commercial product in Q1 2010, when Intel plans a host of other important product launches. When released as Core i9, the processor will target the premium enthusiast market.
Intel to Stop Supplying Atom Z500 ''Silverthrone'' Processors
Intel in its latest circular to netbook manufacturers said that it will stop taking orders for the Atom Z500 "Silverthrone" series processors very soon. Z500 series is Intel's first line of Atom processors since the introduction of the Atom brand. The series consists of single-core chips with clock-speeds ranging between 800 MHz and 2.00 GHz, with almost 11 models. The series is succeeded by the Atom N200 and N400 "Diamondville" and "Pineview" series.
Intel seems to have stopped manufacturing these chips upon the introduction of the Atom N series, and continued taking orders for the inventories to digest. The company will, however fulfill existing orders from manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, and MSI, note industry sources. Intel's Atom Z series targets netbooks and mobile internet devices (MIDs).
Intel seems to have stopped manufacturing these chips upon the introduction of the Atom N series, and continued taking orders for the inventories to digest. The company will, however fulfill existing orders from manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, and MSI, note industry sources. Intel's Atom Z series targets netbooks and mobile internet devices (MIDs).
OCZ Announces the Immediate Availability of the Z-Series 80+ Gold Power Supply Series
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and PC components, today announced the immediate availability of the Z-Series power supplies, the latest high-end enthusiast offering excelling in both performance and ultimate efficiency. Featuring industry-leading 80+ Gold Certifications, the Z850 and Z1000 PSUs offer the highest efficiency on the market combined with a power output to meet exceptional system demands. The Z-Series is the ideal solution for today's high-end gaming systems and professional workstations, and are now shipping to OCZ's widespread resellers.
Thursday, July 30th 2009
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Patriot Xporter Magnum 64 GB Flash Drive Review
If you need to move a lot of data around then the Patriot Xporter Magnum 64 GB is a great choice. It offers enough storage for all your needs on the road and pairs that with maximum transfer speeds of up to 33 MB/s. Patriot has also made their $150 flash drive stand out by designing it in a menacing red.
Latest 785G Motherboards Continue to Support Core Unlocking
When it first surfaced that some triple-core and dual-core AMD Phenom series processors could make their disabled cores available under special circumstances thanks to shoddy BIOS-coding associated with the Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC), the anomaly quickly transformed into a potential selling-point for AMD processors, that with the right motherboard, a cheaper AMD processor could be unlocked into a significantly powerful processor for the price. Although AMD made noise calling motherboard vendors to quickly isolate and fix the issue, months on, it hasn't been fixed even with AMD's newest desktop platform based on the AMD 785G+SB710 chipset. An almost deliberate precedent, one we can't have problem with.
Chinese website Coolaler.com has learned that MSI's newest AMD 785G motherboard, the 785GM-E65, can not only unlock the two disabled cores on the Phenom II X2 550, but also provide reasonable overclocking stability for the processor. Coolaler used a retail Phenom II X2 550 on the new motherboard, and simply set the ACC feature in the BIOS setup to "auto" (which enables it from the BIOS end). The system booted with all physical cores on the processor enabled, and allowed overclocking it to 3.609 GHz (18 x 200 MHz, 1.344 V). The chip was subjected to full-load using two instances of Orthos to test its stability, to which it emerged fairly stable.
Chinese website Coolaler.com has learned that MSI's newest AMD 785G motherboard, the 785GM-E65, can not only unlock the two disabled cores on the Phenom II X2 550, but also provide reasonable overclocking stability for the processor. Coolaler used a retail Phenom II X2 550 on the new motherboard, and simply set the ACC feature in the BIOS setup to "auto" (which enables it from the BIOS end). The system booted with all physical cores on the processor enabled, and allowed overclocking it to 3.609 GHz (18 x 200 MHz, 1.344 V). The chip was subjected to full-load using two instances of Orthos to test its stability, to which it emerged fairly stable.
Micron Introduces a New Way to Increase Server Memory Capacity, Improve Performance
Micron Technology, Inc. today announced that it has produced the industry's first DDR3 load-reduced, dual-inline memory module (LRDIMM) and will begin sampling 16-gigabyte (GB) versions this fall. By reducing load on the server memory bus, Micron's LRDIMMs provide the option to support higher data frequencies and significantly increase memory capacity.
The new LRDIMMs will be manufactured using Micron's leading-edge 1.35-volt, 2-gigabit (Gb) 50-nanometer DDR3 memory chips, allowing the company to easily and cost-effectively increase server module capacity because of the chips' high-density and industry-leading small die size. Micron's 2Gb 50nm DDR3 product is currently in qualification with customers and is ramping toward high volume production.
The new LRDIMMs will be manufactured using Micron's leading-edge 1.35-volt, 2-gigabit (Gb) 50-nanometer DDR3 memory chips, allowing the company to easily and cost-effectively increase server module capacity because of the chips' high-density and industry-leading small die size. Micron's 2Gb 50nm DDR3 product is currently in qualification with customers and is ramping toward high volume production.
EIZO Intros New FlexiScan WUXGA Professional-Grade Monitor
EIZO Japan announced its newest 24.1 inch LCD monitor, the FlexScan S2433W-H. Aimed at graphics professionals and the likes, this monitor sports a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels (WUXGA). It provides a brightness of 360cd/m2, and a static contrast ratio of 1000:1. The EcoView and EyeCare features adjusts brightness to best suit the ambient lighting conditions, and work to conserve energy. The panel has a wide viewing angle of 178 degrees. It takes input from DVI-D (HDCP capable), D-Sub, and DisplayPort. It is able to reproduce 96% of the Adobe RGB colour-space. Available in matte black and silver, the FlexScan S2433W-H started selling in Japan for 94,800 JPY (US $995).
SilverStone GD03 ATX HTPC Case Hits Stores Soon
Case and power specialist SilverStone announced its latest HTPC case, the GD03, which will reach stores soon. The case features in the company's elite Grandia series of HTPC cases, and supports an ATX motherboard with seven expansion slots. Measuring 425mm (W)x182.2mm (H)x436mm (D), the GD03 weighs 7.85 kg (17.3 lbs). The front panel is made of brushed aluminum, while the rest of the case with SECC. It sports two external 5.25" drive bays, three external 3.5" bays of which two allow hard-drive hot-swapping. There are three 80 mm fans to cool this case, positioned in the front (HDD area), rear, and side. A standard ATX power supply fits in the PSU bay. The GD03 is expected to cost around 190 Euro.
GlacialTech Ready with LGA-1156 Igloo Coolers
GlacialTech seems to be ready with its Igloo series models for the upcoming Intel LGA-1156 socket. Igloo coolers are traditionally stock heatsink replacements that are at best slightly better than the cooler the processor ships with, ideal for OEMs. GlacialTech has two models ready this time: the smaller Igloo 1050, and the larger Igloo 1100. The two measure 95x95x57 mm and 95x95x67 mm, and weigh in at 310 g and 380 g, respectively. The two are mounted with an 80 mm PWM controlled fan. These should be out in the market by the time the first LGA-1156 processors arrive, and that's five weeks from now. Variant details follow.
Lian Li Launches PC-8N General Purpose Midi Tower Chassis
Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd has launched the PC-8N Mid Tower chassis ideal for PC systems. The hair-line brushed all aluminum chassis features advanced thermal dynamics, using one fan on the front (1x 120mm@1200RPM) to pump cool air into the chassis where it exhausts out the rear fan (1x 120mm@1200RPM). The 7x PCI expansion slots are vented and assist with airflow. The chassis front face has 4x 5.25" ODD bays and a 3.5" drive bay. The front face clips off easily and conveniently. The dimensions stand at 210x450x490mm (W, H, D). The top panel is removable and the entire system has smoothed edges, and an anti-vibration design.
The chassis supports 4x 5.25" Optical drive bays with 1x 3.5" external. The HDDs have a specially designed cage that secures them snugly via thumb screw struts supported with rubber grommets. The entire cage secures the HDDs via a patented slider bar that secures all the HDDs simultaneously. The PC-8N midi case is for Micro-ATX or ATX motherboards and has 7 PCI expansion slots, which are well ventilated with special vented brackets when not in use. The top panel is removable with the multimedia I/O ports on the front panel consisting of 2x USB2.0 as well as HD+AC97 Audio. The PSU fits securely at the rear top of the chassis.
The chassis supports 4x 5.25" Optical drive bays with 1x 3.5" external. The HDDs have a specially designed cage that secures them snugly via thumb screw struts supported with rubber grommets. The entire cage secures the HDDs via a patented slider bar that secures all the HDDs simultaneously. The PC-8N midi case is for Micro-ATX or ATX motherboards and has 7 PCI expansion slots, which are well ventilated with special vented brackets when not in use. The top panel is removable with the multimedia I/O ports on the front panel consisting of 2x USB2.0 as well as HD+AC97 Audio. The PSU fits securely at the rear top of the chassis.
Wednesday, July 29th 2009
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GELID Solutions GC-2 Thermal Compound Review
The new GC-2 thermal compound by GELID Solutions is unique from its competition. It comes in a large 7 gram container and is priced the same as competitors' 3.5 gram products. Its thermal conductivity is excellent and an included applicator tops this product off.
Active Media Products Introduces Penguin Bootable Linux USB Drive
Active Media Products (AMP), manufacturer of SSDs and WWF series USB drives, today announced immediate availability of a bootable Linux USB (BLU) drive that is compatible with Windows 7 and benefits WWF. These new penguin BLU drives are preloaded with the full installation of Ubuntu Linux 9.0.4.
BLU drives allow booting into Ubuntu Linux from the USB drive regardless of what operating system is installed on the hard drive. Because the hard drive will still be fully accessible when booting from the BLU drive, it's an excellent disaster recovery solution in the event of problems with the operating system on the primary hard drive, because important data files on the hard drive can be backed up onto the BLU drive or another USB storage device.
BLU drives allow booting into Ubuntu Linux from the USB drive regardless of what operating system is installed on the hard drive. Because the hard drive will still be fully accessible when booting from the BLU drive, it's an excellent disaster recovery solution in the event of problems with the operating system on the primary hard drive, because important data files on the hard drive can be backed up onto the BLU drive or another USB storage device.
Silicon Power Releases Built-in Temperature Sensor DDR3 1333/1066 Server DRAM Modules
World class memory/DRAM module manufacturer, Silicon Power sets the sight on server class DDR3 DRAM module. Officially released as of today, the modules come with built-in temperature sensors and are made specifically for servers and workstations. Available in 1333/1066 MHz speeds, they are compatible with Intel Nehalem-based Xeon 5500 platform in tri-channel operation. With its built-in temperature sensor, it can effectively prevent system crashes, maximize efficiency and improve overall performances. It is the perfect fit for servers and workstation PCs that require stability, efficiency and processing power.
For serves and workstation PCs, platform stability is always a concern with system's heat production. Silicon Power's DDR3 1333/1066 temperature sensor can be monitored by the system and will address memory workloads accordingly to prevent overheating or overworking the modules. It effectively lowers module temperatures by evenly distributing workloads to ensure maximum system performance and stability.
For serves and workstation PCs, platform stability is always a concern with system's heat production. Silicon Power's DDR3 1333/1066 temperature sensor can be monitored by the system and will address memory workloads accordingly to prevent overheating or overworking the modules. It effectively lowers module temperatures by evenly distributing workloads to ensure maximum system performance and stability.
Clarkdale 3.06 GHz Faces a Preview, Series Pricing Surfaces
"Clarkdale" is the codename for Intel's upcoming dual-core processors derived from the Nehalem/Westmere architecture. The move marks a leap for Intel in two ways: introducting the first commercial-grade 32 nm microprocessor, and implementing a radical new design that involved relocating the platform's northbridge component entirely to the CPU package. Slated for Q1 2010, Clarkdale will go by three brand indentifiers to grade it according to a performance and feature scale. You have the Core i5 class that enables the entire feature-set of processor, there's the Core i3 class that offers some features, excluding Intel Turbo Boost technology for example, finally there's the sub-$100 Pentium part (yes, Pentium lives on), which offers a smaller feature-set. HyperThreading technology is disabled on this one.
Chinese tech-site IT168 published a comprehensive performance (p)review of the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale part. In the article, the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale was pitted against the 3.00 GHz "Wolfdale" Core 2 Duo processor. The memory (Dual-channel DDR3-1333, 4 GB) and graphics hardware (ATI Radeon HD 4870, 1 GB) were kept common between the two test-beds. Tests ranged from memory and CPU internal bandwidth tests, math-intensive tests, synthetic multimedia and 3D tests, and finally, modern 3D games.
Chinese tech-site IT168 published a comprehensive performance (p)review of the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale part. In the article, the 3.06 GHz Clarkdale was pitted against the 3.00 GHz "Wolfdale" Core 2 Duo processor. The memory (Dual-channel DDR3-1333, 4 GB) and graphics hardware (ATI Radeon HD 4870, 1 GB) were kept common between the two test-beds. Tests ranged from memory and CPU internal bandwidth tests, math-intensive tests, synthetic multimedia and 3D tests, and finally, modern 3D games.
Corsair Launches Ultra-High Performance Dominator GT Family for AMD Phenom II CPUs
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the new Dominator GT line of ultra-high performance DDR3 memory modules, designed specifically for AMD Phenom II processor-based platforms using Socket AM3 motherboards.
The new 4GB (2 x 2GB) Dominator GT memory kit has been precision engineered to operate at a frequency of 1600MHz with ultra low-latency timings of 6-6-6-18 and a Command Rate of 1T. These settings are a perfect match for the latest, high-performance Socket AM3 AMD Phenom II processors, which feature an advanced, low-latency, integrated DDR3 memory controller.
The new 4GB (2 x 2GB) Dominator GT memory kit has been precision engineered to operate at a frequency of 1600MHz with ultra low-latency timings of 6-6-6-18 and a Command Rate of 1T. These settings are a perfect match for the latest, high-performance Socket AM3 AMD Phenom II processors, which feature an advanced, low-latency, integrated DDR3 memory controller.
Samsung Launches 500 Gigabyte per Platter 3.5-inch Spinpoint F3 Hard Drives
Samsung Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today its new line-up of high-density hard drives for high-end computing environments, the Spinpoint F3. The F3 operates at 7200 RPM with offerings of up to 1 Terabyte (TB) data storage capacity by using two 500 Gigabyte (GB) per platter disks. As well as meeting data center requirements for addition storage to meet rising demand and increasing performance needs, the new drives also deliver high-performance with lower power for desktop computers and servers.
The Spinpoint F3 utilizes advanced 500 GB per platter technology, so that two-platter 1 TB capacity is achieved. Increased areal density per platter provides up to a 30 percent higher performance than a three-platter 1 TB in the same 3.5" form factor. A reduction in mechanical parts also contributes to enhanced reliability in terms of anti-shock and data failure.
The Spinpoint F3 utilizes advanced 500 GB per platter technology, so that two-platter 1 TB capacity is achieved. Increased areal density per platter provides up to a 30 percent higher performance than a three-platter 1 TB in the same 3.5" form factor. A reduction in mechanical parts also contributes to enhanced reliability in terms of anti-shock and data failure.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Announces Strategic Customer Engagement with STMicroelectronics
GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced a strategic customer relationship with STMicroelectronics. One of the world's leading suppliers of semiconductor solutions, ST will partner with GLOBALFOUNDRIES to produce products based on 40nm Low Power (LP) bulk silicon technology. The 40nm LP process is ideal for the next generation of wireless applications, handheld devices, and consumer electronics, which require excellent performance and long battery life. First tape out and production of ST products by GLOBALFOUNDRIES is planned to start in 2010.
"When we launched GLOBALFOUNDRIES, our long-term vision was to bring a new business model to the foundry market and to become the partner of choice for the largest and most innovative semiconductor design and manufacturing companies," said Doug Grose, Chief Executive Officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "With the addition of an industry-leader in low-power technology like STMicroelectronics we now begin to deliver on this vision. We look forward to harnessing our full capabilities for ST to provide best-in-class service in bringing their 40nm design innovation to life in high volumes and at mature yields."
"When we launched GLOBALFOUNDRIES, our long-term vision was to bring a new business model to the foundry market and to become the partner of choice for the largest and most innovative semiconductor design and manufacturing companies," said Doug Grose, Chief Executive Officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "With the addition of an industry-leader in low-power technology like STMicroelectronics we now begin to deliver on this vision. We look forward to harnessing our full capabilities for ST to provide best-in-class service in bringing their 40nm design innovation to life in high volumes and at mature yields."
Valore Japan Intros ION 330-DB Blu Ray Nettop
Valore Japan introduced the country's first nettop barebone equipped with a Blu Ray drive. Based on the NVIDIA ION platform, the Valore ION 330-DB packs Intel's Atom 330 1.60 GHz dual-core processor paired with the ION chipset with embedded GeForce 9400M graphics that makes it ready to serve as a compact HD-ready media center PC. Being a barebone, it requires you to separately purchase the memory (up to 4 GB of DDR2 800 MHz), and a 2.5 inch SATA hard drive or solid-state drive. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet and 6 USB 2.0 ports, while A/V IO includes HDMI out, and SPDIF digital audio. The star attraction of course is its Blu Ray drive + CD/DVD RW combo drive. Each of these go for 39800 JPY (297 Euro).
Toshiba Announces its 3.5 inch External Hard Drive Family
Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of a new Toshiba 3.5-inch External HDD, marking Toshiba's first entry into the 3.5-inch external HDD business. The product offers digital consumers and business professionals a stylish and affordable back up device with dual connectivity, robust software features and up to 1TB of capacity from a trusted brand.
"On the heels of successfully building a 2.5-inch external HDD business, we are ready to expand our hard drive expertise into the 3.5-inch HDD market," said Michael Cassidy, director, accessories and HDD marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "We designed the external hard drive to provide consumers an easy-to-use back up option that not only performs above competition, but is also a stylish accessory for their PC."
"On the heels of successfully building a 2.5-inch external HDD business, we are ready to expand our hard drive expertise into the 3.5-inch HDD market," said Michael Cassidy, director, accessories and HDD marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "We designed the external hard drive to provide consumers an easy-to-use back up option that not only performs above competition, but is also a stylish accessory for their PC."
Intel Introduces New RS2 Series RAID Controllers
Intel is excited to announce the launch of Intel RAID Controller RS2BL080 - the first in a series of RAID products designed to deliver significant performance improvements and SAS 2.0 features to Intel-based servers. The Intel "RS2" portfolio of Intel RAID products will allow customers to design higher-performing storage solutions for a diverse set of environments including those based on either mainstream 3 Gb/s SAS/SATA or the latest 6 Gb/s SAS drives.
The Intel RAID Controller RS2BL080, a first-generation 6G SAS adapter incorporating LSI MegaRAID technology, offers unprecedented performance with exceptional data protection and design flexibility. Features including LSI SAS2108 6Gb/s RAID on Chip (ROC) silicon and a native PCI Express Generation 2 architecture allow for significant performance gains for both 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s drive-based solutions. Data protection and availability are enhanced by new features including Decision Feedback Equalization for greater signal integrity, enhanced diagnostics, and more robust error reporting.
The Intel RAID Controller RS2BL080, a first-generation 6G SAS adapter incorporating LSI MegaRAID technology, offers unprecedented performance with exceptional data protection and design flexibility. Features including LSI SAS2108 6Gb/s RAID on Chip (ROC) silicon and a native PCI Express Generation 2 architecture allow for significant performance gains for both 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s drive-based solutions. Data protection and availability are enhanced by new features including Decision Feedback Equalization for greater signal integrity, enhanced diagnostics, and more robust error reporting.
Tuesday, July 28th 2009
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OCZ Reaper HPC 6 GB DDR3 1866 MHz CL 8 Kit Review
OCZ expands the Reaper series with the HPC tri-channel kit. This one runs at 1866 MHz and offers CL8 right out of the box. The heatspreader design with heatpipe cooling looks menacing, but will it manage to keep cool under pressure when we push the memory to the limit and reap some praise?
Super Talent Unveils World's Smallest 32 GB USB Drive
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, has succeeded in squeezing 32GB of NAND Flash storage into a thumbnail sized USB drive that is water resistant and supports data transfer speeds up to 200X (30MB/sec). Six new models of 32GB Pico drives will begin shipping this week.
Just 15 months after launching the 8GB Pico drive, then hailed as the world's smallest 8GB USB drive, Super Talent is now able to pack an astounding 32GB of NAND flash into the same small dimensions. "Our customers have an insatiable need for higher capacity flash drives, but they don't want a big and bulky drive", Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James said in a statement. The Pico C drive measures only 31 x 12 x 3 mm and weighs less than an American nickel (~5g). Super Talent uses a COB manufacturing process for its Pico series to achieve the smallest possible size.
Just 15 months after launching the 8GB Pico drive, then hailed as the world's smallest 8GB USB drive, Super Talent is now able to pack an astounding 32GB of NAND flash into the same small dimensions. "Our customers have an insatiable need for higher capacity flash drives, but they don't want a big and bulky drive", Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James said in a statement. The Pico C drive measures only 31 x 12 x 3 mm and weighs less than an American nickel (~5g). Super Talent uses a COB manufacturing process for its Pico series to achieve the smallest possible size.
Thecus Launches the N0503 ComboNAS
Thecus Technology has racked up an impressive number of firsts. In 2005, Thecus introduced the world's first DAS device with eSATA support, enabling file transfers of up to 3Gb/s. With the N3200 in 2007, Thecus brought the security of RAID 5 to a home NAS. Today, Thecus is pleased to reveal the world's first NAS device with the ability to accommodate both 2.5" and 3.5" hard disks - the N0503.
One look at the N0503 tells you it's different. Using its special combo hard disk bays, the N0503 can actually support up to five 2.5" hard disks or three 3.5" hard disks. Fill the N0503 with three 3.5" hard disks and the N0503 is a high-performance three-bay NAS with up to 6TB of storage capacity. Equip the N0503 with five 2.5" hard disks, and you have a five-bay NAS unit that offers lower power consumption and noise. With dual form-factor hard disk support, users are given unparalleled flexibility with the N0503.
One look at the N0503 tells you it's different. Using its special combo hard disk bays, the N0503 can actually support up to five 2.5" hard disks or three 3.5" hard disks. Fill the N0503 with three 3.5" hard disks and the N0503 is a high-performance three-bay NAS with up to 6TB of storage capacity. Equip the N0503 with five 2.5" hard disks, and you have a five-bay NAS unit that offers lower power consumption and noise. With dual form-factor hard disk support, users are given unparalleled flexibility with the N0503.
A-DATA Technology Extends Its Entire DDR3 Lineup with 4 GB Single Modules
A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., the worldwide leader in DRAM modules and Flash application products, leads the industry by announcing today the availability of high-capacity 4GB single module for its entire DDR3 offering, which includes U-DIMM for desktops, SO-DIMM for laptops, and unbuffered ECC-DIMM/ECC Registered DIMM for workstations and servers.
Memory standards have been quickly evolving to the next generation DDR3 as memory requirement for both hardware and software has grown significantly to cope with the increasingly sophisticated applications and the latest platforms. To address the needs for a more powerful memory support, A-DATA makes high-density memory upgrade available and much easier by offering high-capacity 4GB DDR3 in single module.
Memory standards have been quickly evolving to the next generation DDR3 as memory requirement for both hardware and software has grown significantly to cope with the increasingly sophisticated applications and the latest platforms. To address the needs for a more powerful memory support, A-DATA makes high-density memory upgrade available and much easier by offering high-capacity 4GB DDR3 in single module.
Radeon HD 4860 in the Works?
AMD released the industry's first 40 nm desktop GPU. The RV740 went on to make only one SKU, the Radeon HD 4770. The company filled its Radeon HD 4700 series almost overnight with two more SKUs positioned on either sides of the HD 4770, based on the 55 nm RV770/RV790 GPUs instead, due to stock shortages. These also impacted on the inventories of the HD 4770, which forced AMD to reposition the Radeon HD 4850 in the sub-$110 segment, creating a bit of a void between it and the roughly $150 HD 4870. If anyone of you is up for yet another ATI Radeon SKU, here's one coming your way: Radeon HD 4860.
The Radeon HD 4860 seems to have been already taped out, sampled, and pictured by sections of the Chinese media. At the heart of it is the RV790 GPU in a different configuration codenamed RV790GT. It has 640 stream processors instead of 800 on the HD 4850, except that it uses a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface, and effectively higher clock speeds. The core is clocked at 700 MHz, and the memory at 750 MHz (3000 MHz effective). The PCB pictured shows the card to powered by a single 6-pin power connector. It is expected to be positioned in at the $130 price point, and in theory, competitive with NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 250.
The Radeon HD 4860 seems to have been already taped out, sampled, and pictured by sections of the Chinese media. At the heart of it is the RV790 GPU in a different configuration codenamed RV790GT. It has 640 stream processors instead of 800 on the HD 4850, except that it uses a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface, and effectively higher clock speeds. The core is clocked at 700 MHz, and the memory at 750 MHz (3000 MHz effective). The PCB pictured shows the card to powered by a single 6-pin power connector. It is expected to be positioned in at the $130 price point, and in theory, competitive with NVIDIA's GeForce GTS 250.
IDT and Micron Form Alliance to Develop PCI Express Enterprise SSDs
IDT (Integrated Device Technology,) a leading provider of essential mixed signal semiconductor solutions that enrich the digital media experience and Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced they have entered into an alliance to develop PCI Express Solid-State Drive (SSD) technologies for the server, storage and embedded markets.
As part of this alliance, IDT and Micron will co-develop enterprise flash controllers with a PCIe host interface optimized for Micron's flash devices and future generation RealSSD solid-state drives. Combining Micron's extensive experience in flash design and SSD development with IDT's proficiency in PCIe solutions and memory interface products will enable devices to achieve lower latency, greater performance and new levels of storage integration.
As part of this alliance, IDT and Micron will co-develop enterprise flash controllers with a PCIe host interface optimized for Micron's flash devices and future generation RealSSD solid-state drives. Combining Micron's extensive experience in flash design and SSD development with IDT's proficiency in PCIe solutions and memory interface products will enable devices to achieve lower latency, greater performance and new levels of storage integration.
ASUS P7P55D Deluxe Pictured
ASUS seems to be just about ready with a full-fledged lineup of motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset, that supports LGA-1156 socket CPUs. The newest entry in the company's P7P55 series is the high-end P7P55D Deluxe. The model is placed above the P7P55 EVO and P7P55 Pro, which descend in the same order in the lineup. The P7P55D stands apart with some high-grade components and overclocker-friendly features. The CPU is powered by a lavish 19-phase digital PWM circuit, cooled by chunkier heatsinks that distribute heat among each other using a heatpipe.
The four memory slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory are powered by a 4-phase circuit. The user is given greater control of voltages and clock speeds using the TurboV technology. This board even bundles a pop-out wired remote that provides some on-the-fly controls. The expansion slot layout is identical to that of the P7P55 EVO, with three PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots (two of which are electrically x8 when populated, and one is electrical x4). The P55 chipset provides six SATA II ports, while external controllers give out three additional ports. Connectivity and other expansion options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, over a dozen USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and audio with digital output. The P7P55D Deluxe could feature in the first wave of P55 motherboards released by ASUS.
The four memory slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory are powered by a 4-phase circuit. The user is given greater control of voltages and clock speeds using the TurboV technology. This board even bundles a pop-out wired remote that provides some on-the-fly controls. The expansion slot layout is identical to that of the P7P55 EVO, with three PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots (two of which are electrically x8 when populated, and one is electrical x4). The P55 chipset provides six SATA II ports, while external controllers give out three additional ports. Connectivity and other expansion options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, over a dozen USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and audio with digital output. The P7P55D Deluxe could feature in the first wave of P55 motherboards released by ASUS.
HIS introduces BumpTop Bundles with HIS 4670 IceQ / iSilence 4
Hightech Information System (HIS), a leading manufacturer of ATI Radeon-based graphics cards, today announces the software bundling of BumpTop, a Windows 3D desktop application which makes desktop operations fun, intuitive and much more customizable. It will be available in the HIS 4670 IceQ / iSilence 4 Native HDMI 1GB DDR3 models and downloadable from HIS website.
"With BumpTop's intuitive 3D desktop environment, your desktop will be an interesting playground more than ever seen. You can now drag or resize icons and even post stuff on the walls. Everything is customizable, like a real desk" said Peter Yeung, Global Marketing Director for Hightech Information System. "Taking advantage of the powerful graphics engine, HIS Radeon HD 4000 Series GPUs deliver not only a cinematic gaming experience but also a whole new level of interactivity to desktop PCs."
"With BumpTop's intuitive 3D desktop environment, your desktop will be an interesting playground more than ever seen. You can now drag or resize icons and even post stuff on the walls. Everything is customizable, like a real desk" said Peter Yeung, Global Marketing Director for Hightech Information System. "Taking advantage of the powerful graphics engine, HIS Radeon HD 4000 Series GPUs deliver not only a cinematic gaming experience but also a whole new level of interactivity to desktop PCs."
AMD Delivers ATI FirePro V8750, Its Most Powerful Professional 3D Graphics Card
To meet the extreme productivity needs of today's CAD, Digital Content Creation (DCC) and oil and gas professionals, AMD announces that the ATI FirePro V8750 3D workstation graphics accelerator is joining the AMD line of ultra high-end professional graphics hardware.
ATI FirePro V8750 3D workstation graphics accelerator brings the highest number of shader engines (800) with the highest memory bandwidth (115.2 GB/s) in the entire 3D professional graphics offerings today1 which enables professionals to render incredibly complex models and photo-realistic images in real-time.
ATI FirePro V8750 3D workstation graphics accelerator brings the highest number of shader engines (800) with the highest memory bandwidth (115.2 GB/s) in the entire 3D professional graphics offerings today1 which enables professionals to render incredibly complex models and photo-realistic images in real-time.
Club 3D Working on More Silent HD 4650 Models
Club 3D is reportedly working on two more mid-range Radeon HD 4650 accelerators. The two are identical in design, and differ in memory capacities. The design's main selling point is its two slot silent cooler which cools the GPU. The memory is made to cool passively. These cards come with memory capacities of 512 MB or 1 GB. The memory sub-system is made of 128-bit DDR2 clocked at 800 MHz, while the GPU core runs at 600 MHz. Display outputs care of DVI-D, D-Sub, and HDMI. The 512 MB variant has started appearing in stores for just about 52 Euro.
A-DATA Unveils New XPG Plus Series DDR3-2200+ v2.0 with 2oz Copper PCB Design
A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and flash application products, today announces its new XPG Plus Series DDR3-2200+ v2.0 dual channel kit, which is the highest speed of DDR3 DRAM module in the industry.
The XPG Plus Series DDR3-2200+ v2.0 DRAM module is designed and guaranteed to run on future dual-channel platforms at incredible 2,200MHz killer speed with tight CL8-8-8-24 timings at a voltage of 1.65V, and are available in 1GBx2 and 2GBx2 dual-channel kits.
The XPG Plus Series DDR3-2200+ v2.0 DRAM module is designed and guaranteed to run on future dual-channel platforms at incredible 2,200MHz killer speed with tight CL8-8-8-24 timings at a voltage of 1.65V, and are available in 1GBx2 and 2GBx2 dual-channel kits.
Monday, July 27th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Motherboards
Netbooks
Processors
PSUs
Speakers
SSD
PowerColor Readying New Custom-Design Radeon HD 4890 Accelerator
PowerColor is readying a new custom-designed Radeon HD 4890 accelerator that breaks-away from the reference design, and its lavish components. The new AX4890-1GBD5 seems to concentrate on a simpler, value-oriented design. The accelerator sticks to AMD's reference clock speeds of 850 MHz for the core, and 975 MHz for the memory. It loads 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Other features are fairly standard for the SKU. This product follows PowerColor's HD 4890 PCS+, PCS++ series, apart from the common reference design. It is expected to be positioned around the US $200 mark.
WD Announces Palm-Sized 1 TB My Passport Essential SE External HDD
WD, the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new one terabyte (TB) and 750 gigabyte (GB) capacity My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Available now at WD's online store, the new drives feature a titanium silver finish and put massive storage capacity in the palm of your hand.
Perfect for saving, storing and backing up all of the digital memories captured this summer, the new 1 TB and 750 GB capacity My Passport Essential SE drives are light and compact to carry and, because they are USB-powered, they do not need an external power adapter. Equipped with sync and encryption software (Windows-compatible only), this small drive, with mega-capacity, makes it easy to securely carry thousands of songs or videos or photos.
WD Sync software allows consumers to easily take desktop content with them by simplifying the synchronization of essential personal files and Microsoft Outlook data on a PC. Should owners misplace the drive, they know their data is protected with 128-bit encryption.
Perfect for saving, storing and backing up all of the digital memories captured this summer, the new 1 TB and 750 GB capacity My Passport Essential SE drives are light and compact to carry and, because they are USB-powered, they do not need an external power adapter. Equipped with sync and encryption software (Windows-compatible only), this small drive, with mega-capacity, makes it easy to securely carry thousands of songs or videos or photos.
WD Sync software allows consumers to easily take desktop content with them by simplifying the synchronization of essential personal files and Microsoft Outlook data on a PC. Should owners misplace the drive, they know their data is protected with 128-bit encryption.
Zalman Intros CNPS9900A LED CPU Cooler
Zalman rolled out its newest CPU cooler, the CNPS9900A LED. This cooler is near-identical to the CNPS9900 LED, with the same dimensions of 94(L) x 131(W) x 152(H) mm, weight of 730 g (1.61 lbs), and an all-copper heat dissipation components design. The differences between the two are that CNPS9900A LED packs a Zalman RC33P resistor cable, and a tube of Zalman's ZM-STG2 thermal compound.
The construction involves a copper CPU contact base from which three heatpipes dissipate heat two two circular copper fin rings on either sides of a blue LED-lit 120 mm fan. Without the RC33P cable, the fan spins at 1000 rpm ~ 2000 rpm, with noise levels of 19.5 dBA ~ 38.0 dBA. But when the RC33P is installed, the speeds and noise outputs are reduced, at 800 rpm ~ 1300 rpm, with noise levels between 18 dBA ~ 28.5 dBA. The ZM-STG2 thermal compound has a thermal conductivity of 4.1 W/mK. 3.5 g of this compound is supplied in a tube. The CNPS9900A LED is compatible with all major sockets including Intel LGA-775, LGA-1156, LGA-1366, and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3, 939/940, 754. It is expected to be priced at US $64.
The construction involves a copper CPU contact base from which three heatpipes dissipate heat two two circular copper fin rings on either sides of a blue LED-lit 120 mm fan. Without the RC33P cable, the fan spins at 1000 rpm ~ 2000 rpm, with noise levels of 19.5 dBA ~ 38.0 dBA. But when the RC33P is installed, the speeds and noise outputs are reduced, at 800 rpm ~ 1300 rpm, with noise levels between 18 dBA ~ 28.5 dBA. The ZM-STG2 thermal compound has a thermal conductivity of 4.1 W/mK. 3.5 g of this compound is supplied in a tube. The CNPS9900A LED is compatible with all major sockets including Intel LGA-775, LGA-1156, LGA-1366, and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3, 939/940, 754. It is expected to be priced at US $64.
LucidPort Starts Shipping First USB 3.0 to SATA Bridge Chip
LucidPort Technology commenced shipping of the industry's first USB 3.0 to SATA bridge chip, the LucidPort USB300. The chip connects a SATA II hard drive, or solid state drive to a USB Full-speed 1.1, Hi-speed 2.0, and Super-speed 3.0 port. It supports native command queuing (NCQ), AES 128/256-bit encryption, and transfer-rates as high as 210 MB/s when used with Windows Mass Storage driver. It offers even higher transfer-rates when used with the new USB-attached SCSI (UAS) driver. The most prominent applications of this chip includes external hard-drives, and external drive enclosures. Competitors such as PLX, Fujitsu, and Faraday Electronics, etc., are expected to release similar chips later this year.
Dell Churns Out AMD-based Inspiron 546
Dell introduced its first AMD-based mainstream PC lineup in over 18 months. The company had stopped announcing AMD-based products as its CPU lineup were losing in competitiveness. The Inspiron 546, as American-Statesman's Kirk Ladendorf notes, "could signal a shift in the ongoing relationship between Dell and AMD, which has gone through warm and cold spells in recent years." Inspiron 546 represents one of Dell's most important desktop PC SKUs, that is extensively promoted online.
Priced in the US $270~$710 range, Inspiron 546 models come in four main configurations, featuring Sempron, Athlon X2, Phenom X3, and Phenom X4 processors, with ATI Radeon HD 3200 series graphics. The chassis comes with 8 colour bezel types to choose from. It can further be customised with a variety of Dell monitors, HDD capacities, and memory amounts.
Priced in the US $270~$710 range, Inspiron 546 models come in four main configurations, featuring Sempron, Athlon X2, Phenom X3, and Phenom X4 processors, with ATI Radeon HD 3200 series graphics. The chassis comes with 8 colour bezel types to choose from. It can further be customised with a variety of Dell monitors, HDD capacities, and memory amounts.
RunCore Introduces New Pro IV Series SSDs for PC and Mac
In RunCore's pursuit of the ultimate solid state drive (SSD) upgrade, a full new line of SSD products have been developed, boosting computer performance 5x to 40x. The RunCore Pro IV SSDs provide speed increases in startup, application launch, multitasking between programs, opening/rendering/saving large files, and shutdown. The RunCore PRO IV SSD also offers silent operation, longer battery life, heat reduction, reliability, and durability making it the perfect solution for all applications.
The revolutionary new SSD design not only boosts your sustained performance but it also focuses on random small file Read and Write speeds, the speeds that create bottle necks in current and past PATA, SATA HDDs, and some SSDs. With Operating system and application consisting of thousands of small files, the RunCore Pro IV SSD can process these files at nearly 10X write and 50X read while creating a more efficient and satisfying user experience.
The revolutionary new SSD design not only boosts your sustained performance but it also focuses on random small file Read and Write speeds, the speeds that create bottle necks in current and past PATA, SATA HDDs, and some SSDs. With Operating system and application consisting of thousands of small files, the RunCore Pro IV SSD can process these files at nearly 10X write and 50X read while creating a more efficient and satisfying user experience.
GeForce GTS 240 Spotted in OEM Channels
NVIDIA's move to rebrand the GeForce 9800 GTX+ to GeForce GTS 250 was meant to be followed with a similar rebranding for the GeForce 9800 GT, to GeForce GTS 240. The company even prepared a reference PCB design for the accelerator. Alas, the move wasn't popular NVIDIA's partners, who forced it shelve the plans.
Apparently NVIDIA wants to continue development of the GeForce GTS 240, at least for its OEM customers, if not AIC partners that cater to the retail consumer segment. The GeForce GTS 240 reference design accelerator is in accordance with the schematics that surfaced back in February, and maintains a single-slot design overall. Under the hood is the 55 nm G92b graphics processor with 112 shader processors, a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface, 1 GB of memory, and reference clock speeds that match that of GeForce 9800 GT OC: 675/1620/1100 (core/shader/memory). The card supports 2-way SLI, and should be priced in the sub $130 space.
Apparently NVIDIA wants to continue development of the GeForce GTS 240, at least for its OEM customers, if not AIC partners that cater to the retail consumer segment. The GeForce GTS 240 reference design accelerator is in accordance with the schematics that surfaced back in February, and maintains a single-slot design overall. Under the hood is the 55 nm G92b graphics processor with 112 shader processors, a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface, 1 GB of memory, and reference clock speeds that match that of GeForce 9800 GT OC: 675/1620/1100 (core/shader/memory). The card supports 2-way SLI, and should be priced in the sub $130 space.
European Commission Welcomes New Microsoft Proposals on MSIE and Interoperability
The European Commission can confirm that Microsoft has proposed a consumer ballot screen as a solution to the pending antitrust case about the tying of Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser with Windows. This followed extensive discussions with the Commission which centred on a remedy outlined in the January 2009 Statement of Objections (see MEMO/09/15) whereby consumers would be shown a "ballot screen" from which they could - if they wished - easily install competing web browsers, set one of those browsers as a default, and disable Internet Explorer. Under the proposal, Windows 7 would include Internet Explorer, but the proposal recognises the principle that consumers should be given a free and effective choice of web browser, and sets out a means - the ballot screen - by which Microsoft believes that can be achieved. In addition OEMs would be able to install competing web browsers, set those as default and disable Internet Explorer should they so wish. The Commission welcomes this proposal, and will now investigate its practical effectiveness in terms of ensuring genuine consumer choice.
As the Commission indicated in June (see MEMO/09/272 ), the Commission was concerned that, should Microsoft's conduct prove to have been abusive, Microsoft's intention to separate Internet Explorer from Windows, without measures such as a ballot screen, would not necessarily have achieved greater consumer choice in practice and would not have been an effective remedy.
As the Commission indicated in June (see MEMO/09/272 ), the Commission was concerned that, should Microsoft's conduct prove to have been abusive, Microsoft's intention to separate Internet Explorer from Windows, without measures such as a ballot screen, would not necessarily have achieved greater consumer choice in practice and would not have been an effective remedy.
Western Digital Ships Industry's First 1 TB Mobile Hard Drive
WD today announced two new mobile hard drives that reach new capacity extremes. The highlight is a one terabyte model - the industry's highest-capacity 2.5-inch drive available. Industry-leading 333 GB-per-platter technology enables the new WD Scorpio Blue SATA 2.5-inch hard drives to offer mobile storage device and notebook users an enormous 1 TB capacity. A 750 GB WD Scorpio Blue model also will be available.
The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with a 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) transfer rate.
The WD Scorpio Blue 750 GB and 1 TB hard drives have a 12.5 mm form factor and are ideally suited for use in portable storage solutions, such as the newly released My Passport Essential SE Portable USB Drives. Other applications include select notebooks and small form factor desktop PCs, where quiet and cool operation are important. Both WD Scorpio Blue drives deliver high-performance with a 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) transfer rate.
Intel X25-M G2 Firmware Bug Locks You Out of BIOS Password Changes
Intel's recently announced X25-M G2 series solid state drives (SSDs) gave the company some good PR for being the industry's first 34 nm NAND-flash based SSD, which intends to lower power consumptions, increase data density, and lower prices along the way. Barely a week into its introduction, it has been diagnosed with a severe firmware-related bug. While this bug does not affect the drive's performance or stability in normal operation, it potentially renders it inoperable under some disturbingly common circumstances.
Intel's SSDs are meant for workstations, servers, portable workstations, and other high-end machines. In an enterprise environment, it's common for administrators or power-users to set a password for the HDD BIOS, and change it periodically as part of security practice. The X25-M G2 apparently doesn't respond well to this change, and is rendered inoperable. For the X25-M G2, if you have set a BIOS HDD password, you're advised not to change or disable it. If you don't have one in place, do not set one. Intel is correcting the issue in firmware and will be posting a firmware update shortly.
Intel's SSDs are meant for workstations, servers, portable workstations, and other high-end machines. In an enterprise environment, it's common for administrators or power-users to set a password for the HDD BIOS, and change it periodically as part of security practice. The X25-M G2 apparently doesn't respond well to this change, and is rendered inoperable. For the X25-M G2, if you have set a BIOS HDD password, you're advised not to change or disable it. If you don't have one in place, do not set one. Intel is correcting the issue in firmware and will be posting a firmware update shortly.
Friday, July 24th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Notebooks
Sharkoon Intros Anti Vibration Fan Frames
Fan anti-vibration sleeves are a key ingredient of silent PCs. Several high-end PC cases come preinstalled with these, or they're available in the market for reasonably cheap, as they are usually just molded silicone or rubber. Sharkoon went a step forward and introduced magnets-mounted vibration dampening with the Anti Vibe Magnetic fan frames. Each of these rubber frames have eight magnets enclosed (two in each corner), that help the fan to stick to the metal case frame, without screws. This dampens vibrations further, as they are not transferred between the fan and the case through screws or bolts. Sharkoon however, does not recommend using these frames near hard-drives as the magnets could interfere with their normal operation, or even damage them. Available in 80 mm and 120 mm sizes, the frames are priced at 4.99 and 5.99 Euro respectively.
Maingear Unveils eX-L 18 Desktop-Replacement Gaming Notebook
MAINGEAR Computers, award-winning builders of high performance custom computers for PC gamers and enthusiasts, is proud to announce the world's most powerful desktop replacement notebook, the eX-L 18. Featuring dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M graphics processing units (GPUs) with NVIDIA SLI technology, the eX-L 18 brings your games and multimedia to life with brilliant 3D graphics and movies in 1080p HD resolution. With powerful Intel Core 2 mobile processors, eX-L 18 delivers breakthrough multi-core performance and dual-channel DDR3 memory.
"MainGear has equipped the eX-L 18 with the world's fastest notebook graphics solution," said Rene Hass, General Manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. "With NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs, MainGear's customers will experience breathtaking in gaming physics from titles such as Terminator Salvation or Darkest of Days and are ready for GPU computing applications such as Badaboom, vReveal and Arcsoft SimHD."
"MainGear has equipped the eX-L 18 with the world's fastest notebook graphics solution," said Rene Hass, General Manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. "With NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs, MainGear's customers will experience breathtaking in gaming physics from titles such as Terminator Salvation or Darkest of Days and are ready for GPU computing applications such as Badaboom, vReveal and Arcsoft SimHD."
MSI Announces N250GTS Twin Frozr Series Graphics Cards
MSI received lots of attention after the release of its N250GTS graphics cards for the series' extraordinary price-performance ratio. Today MSI unveils two new cards - N250GTS Twin Frozr 1G and N250GTS Twin Frozr - which utilize the radical Twin Frozr thermal design coupled with dual PWM fans and 3 high-efficiency heatpipes to cool down the temperature and improve the cards' stability. Additionally, MSI's N250GTS Twin Frozr series features 128 stream processors, 256-bit GDDR3 high-speed memory, and Military Class components for the best lifespan and stability. With so many features on the powerful N250 Twin Frozr series, these cards are sure to provide smooth DirectX 10 game play for fantastic enjoyment.
The all new N250GTS Twin Frozr uses the Twin Frozr thermal design featuring intelligent dual PWM fans, which adjust their speed based on the GPU's loading and temperature. This design helps the card to run quietly for normal applications; while maintaining cool, low-noise operation when running 3D programs and games. The dual-fan design also helps to ensure stable operation, if one fan fails, another would be still able to keep running to dissipate heat.
The all new N250GTS Twin Frozr uses the Twin Frozr thermal design featuring intelligent dual PWM fans, which adjust their speed based on the GPU's loading and temperature. This design helps the card to run quietly for normal applications; while maintaining cool, low-noise operation when running 3D programs and games. The dual-fan design also helps to ensure stable operation, if one fan fails, another would be still able to keep running to dissipate heat.
Gateway Readying QX2800 NVIDIA ION Nettop
Gateway is yet another in the league of hardware vendors interested in the NVIDIA ION platform. The Gateway QX2800 nettop resembles Acer's AspireRevo in more ways that one, topped with Gateway's own bunch of changes. Under the hood is Intel's Atom 330 dual-core processor, 2 GB of DDR2 800 MHz memory, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M mGPU, and a 500 GB hard drive.
Display outputs are care of DVI-D and HDMI. Apart from six USB 2.0 ports that provide virtually limitless removable storage options, the nettop features a 4-in-1 flash media card reader. Connectivity options include gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n). A six channel HD audio CODEC tops it up. The Gateway QX2800 comes with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. It could be priced under 350 Euros.
Display outputs are care of DVI-D and HDMI. Apart from six USB 2.0 ports that provide virtually limitless removable storage options, the nettop features a 4-in-1 flash media card reader. Connectivity options include gigabit Ethernet, and WiFi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n). A six channel HD audio CODEC tops it up. The Gateway QX2800 comes with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. It could be priced under 350 Euros.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Breaks Ground on World's Most Advanced Semiconductor Foundry
GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced it officially broke ground on the construction of Fab 2, a new semiconductor manufacturing facility located at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. Once completed, Fab 2 will stand as the most technologically advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility, or fab, in the world and the largest leading-edge semiconductor foundry in the United States. The construction and ramp-up phases for the new $4.2 billion facility are expected to take approximately three years to complete, with volume production expected in 2012.
"Semiconductors are the building blocks of technology innovation and are present in everything from mobile phones to kitchen appliances and solar panels," said Hector Ruiz, chairman of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "As today's chip designers push the boundaries on the next generation of products, there is a growing need for a new approach to design and manufacturing rooted in collaboration and innovation. With Fab 2, GLOBALFOUNDRIES moves the semiconductor industry away from the traditional model of isolated regional development and into an era of global hubs of manufacturing and technology expertise."
"Semiconductors are the building blocks of technology innovation and are present in everything from mobile phones to kitchen appliances and solar panels," said Hector Ruiz, chairman of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "As today's chip designers push the boundaries on the next generation of products, there is a growing need for a new approach to design and manufacturing rooted in collaboration and innovation. With Fab 2, GLOBALFOUNDRIES moves the semiconductor industry away from the traditional model of isolated regional development and into an era of global hubs of manufacturing and technology expertise."
SteelSeries Introduces Xai Laser Mouse, Kinzu Optical Mouse and 9HD Gaming Surface
SteelSeries, the leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, today introduced the SteelSeries Xai Laser Mouse, SteelSeries Kinzu Optical Mouse and the SteelSeries 9HD hard plastic surface. The technology, shape, size, weight and feel of the SteelSeries Xai was designed with one purpose: to create an immediate advantage for gamers by enhancing a user's performance during game play.
"We spent three years methodically perfecting the SteelSeries Xai by researching mouse grips used by professional gaming teams such as Fnatic, SK Gaming and Evil Geniuses in order to create a level of performance that gamers have never experienced before," said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. "The SteelSeries Xai's High Definition sensor offers a huge improvement over the current highest-end gaming mice and it is designed with technical specifications that increase the level of performance results, especially during the most frantic and fast-paced games."
"We spent three years methodically perfecting the SteelSeries Xai by researching mouse grips used by professional gaming teams such as Fnatic, SK Gaming and Evil Geniuses in order to create a level of performance that gamers have never experienced before," said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. "The SteelSeries Xai's High Definition sensor offers a huge improvement over the current highest-end gaming mice and it is designed with technical specifications that increase the level of performance results, especially during the most frantic and fast-paced games."
EVGA's Enthusiast Platform for LGA-1156 Processors Detailed
EVGA seems to have found its roots in Intel's 5-series chipset due to lack of chipsets from NVIDIA that support the latest Intel processors. In the process, EVGA gets to make Intel 5-series motherboards brandishing SLI support, as well as some pretty impressive enthusiast-grade features. With the X58 Classified series, EVGA took on the mighty ASUS to give out a full-featured motherboard for overclocking LGA-1366 processors. It looks like the company is working on another motherboard with similar credentials for LGA-1156 socket processors, based on the Intel P55/P57 chipset.
The EVGA 132-LF-E657 is a full-featured LGA-1156 motherboard focussed on overclocking. The CPU is powered by a lavish 12-phase circuit that makes use of DrMOS (driver-MOSFETs). The CPU socket further seats LICC (Low Inductance Ceramic Capacitors). Electrical stability is brought about by two 8-pin ATX CPU power connectors, a design first featured on the X58 Classified. Additional power stability for the expansion slots is brought about by a 4-pin Molex input. The four DDR3 DIMM slots are powered by a 3-phase circuit. Intel Braidwood technology is supported on this motherboard. The technology involves an NVRAM module that speeds up OS and applications loading. There are two clock generators on this board, perhaps to handle two independent clock domains that gives the user greater control over a few settings.
The EVGA 132-LF-E657 is a full-featured LGA-1156 motherboard focussed on overclocking. The CPU is powered by a lavish 12-phase circuit that makes use of DrMOS (driver-MOSFETs). The CPU socket further seats LICC (Low Inductance Ceramic Capacitors). Electrical stability is brought about by two 8-pin ATX CPU power connectors, a design first featured on the X58 Classified. Additional power stability for the expansion slots is brought about by a 4-pin Molex input. The four DDR3 DIMM slots are powered by a 3-phase circuit. Intel Braidwood technology is supported on this motherboard. The technology involves an NVRAM module that speeds up OS and applications loading. There are two clock generators on this board, perhaps to handle two independent clock domains that gives the user greater control over a few settings.
Scythe Slot Rafter Out Now
Scythe Europe officially introduces the new accessory called "Slot Rafter". The Slot Rafter is a pc accessory, which is placed on an empty PCI-Slot, and it allows mounting of up to four 2,5"-drives (hdd/ssd) on one side and two 80mm-fans on the other side of the construction.
Thereby, the Slot Rafter is a blessing to everyone who gladly wants to use any empty PCI-slots with sense. With multiple combinations of fans and drives being possible, you can use the Slot Rafter in many different ways, e.g. to cool the mounted drives with the fans or to cool a graphiccard above or below the Slot Rafter. Consequently, the Slot Rafter becomes a multifunctional platform, which, if required, can store 2,000 Gb data (using four 500Gb-drives) spending very little space. Hence, at least the empty space in the case is made use of.
Thereby, the Slot Rafter is a blessing to everyone who gladly wants to use any empty PCI-slots with sense. With multiple combinations of fans and drives being possible, you can use the Slot Rafter in many different ways, e.g. to cool the mounted drives with the fans or to cool a graphiccard above or below the Slot Rafter. Consequently, the Slot Rafter becomes a multifunctional platform, which, if required, can store 2,000 Gb data (using four 500Gb-drives) spending very little space. Hence, at least the empty space in the case is made use of.
Scythe Announces Ninja Wire & Slim-Line SATA Cable
Scythe announces the availability of new pc accessories Scythe Ninja Wire and Slim-Line SATA Cable. The Ninja Wire is a slim steel wire rope with hooks on both ends, with which you can stabilize particularly heavy components inside the computer, like heavy-weight cpu coolers or graphic cards. Thus, the burden of the motherboard is decreased and even cpu coolers like the Scythe Orochi can be installed without worries. An ultimate load of 2 kg and a length of 1 m enable multiple types of usage even outside the pc case, e.g. hanging or crabbing of random objects. The Ninja Wire is available from now on and is offered at a recommended retail price of 5.90 EUR (excluding VAT) or US$ 8.50 (excluding TAX).
With the Slim-Line SATA Cable, you get a cable that is designed for data transfer and as an adapter. The 45-cm-long cable is suitable for usage in htpcs, for instance, and connects the sata-slot of the motherboard with an installed slim-line drive. Consequently, you can from now on connect this popular type of drives with the sata-slot with ease, which allows running it with every current motherboard. The power connection, which you need to run the drive, is integrated in the cable. The speed of the data connection is 3 GBit/s. The Slim-Line SATA Cable receives a recommended retail price of 4.15 EUR (excluding VAT) or US$ 5.50 (excluding TAX). and is in stores now.
With the Slim-Line SATA Cable, you get a cable that is designed for data transfer and as an adapter. The 45-cm-long cable is suitable for usage in htpcs, for instance, and connects the sata-slot of the motherboard with an installed slim-line drive. Consequently, you can from now on connect this popular type of drives with the sata-slot with ease, which allows running it with every current motherboard. The power connection, which you need to run the drive, is integrated in the cable. The speed of the data connection is 3 GBit/s. The Slim-Line SATA Cable receives a recommended retail price of 4.15 EUR (excluding VAT) or US$ 5.50 (excluding TAX). and is in stores now.
A-Data Adds SX95 2.5 inch SSD to Its XPG Product Line
As demand for high performance and stable SSD continues to increase, A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in high performance memory and Flash products, today expanded its XPG product line to include SX95 SATA II 2.5" SSD, designed for PC users who is seeking for killer speed and stable SSD storage.
The XPG SX95 SATA II 2.5" SSD features new architecture and controller design, provide outstanding transfer rates up to 230MB/sec read and 180MB/sec write (256GB/128GB), thanks to the onboard DRAM cache buffer. Whereas, the lower-density SSDs with 64GB or 32GB perform up to 210MB/sec and 140MB/sec read/write speeds.
The XPG SX95 SATA II 2.5" SSD features new architecture and controller design, provide outstanding transfer rates up to 230MB/sec read and 180MB/sec write (256GB/128GB), thanks to the onboard DRAM cache buffer. Whereas, the lower-density SSDs with 64GB or 32GB perform up to 210MB/sec and 140MB/sec read/write speeds.
Thursday, July 23rd 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Input Devices
Memory
Motherboards
Netbooks
Processors
Speakers
SSD
Razer Megalodon USB Headset Review
The newest addition to the Razer headset lineup is the USB powered Megalodon headsets. Featuring an all new USB sound card developed by Razer called the Maelstrom sound engine. Depending on user preference you can run in either 2.0 or 7.1 mode.
Marshal Spins Out Slim External BD Writer
Japanese company Marshal corp. released a new slim external Blu Ray disc (BD) writer drive. The Marshal MAL-BDP02U2 is a USB powered (and connected) external drive that uses a slot-in loading mechanism. It burns single-layer BD-R and BD-RE discs at 2x, dual-layer BD-R/RE at 1x, DVD±R at 8x, dual-layer DVD±R at 2.4x, DVD±RW at 6x, DVD-RAM at 5x, and can burn all kinds of CDs at 8x. BDs are read at 2x, DVDs at 8x, dual-layer DVDs at 6x, and CDs at 24x. The unit measures 135 (W) x 145 (D) x 20 (H) mm, and weighs in at 304 g. It hits Japanese market soon at 22,800 JPY, which is around US $240.
Razer Launches Orochi Mobile Gaming Mouse and Kabuto Mouse Mat
Razer, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, has unveiled two new on the go products to add to your arsenal, the Razer Orochi and the Razer Kabuto; a Bluetooth Laser gaming mouse and a sleek ultra-thin microfiber gaming mouse mat.
"We live in a mobile society of gaming where powerful notebook gaming is a must. With all gamers in mind, the Razer Orochi and Kabuto provide the perfect portability to improve your gaming experience anywhere at any time." says Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, President of Razer. "Gaming should never be restricted to one area".
"We live in a mobile society of gaming where powerful notebook gaming is a must. With all gamers in mind, the Razer Orochi and Kabuto provide the perfect portability to improve your gaming experience anywhere at any time." says Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, President of Razer. "Gaming should never be restricted to one area".
Intel Appeals Against EU Antitrust Verdict
Earlier this year in May, the European Commission for anti-competitive practices found Intel guilty of various antitrust practices. The company was then slapped with a massive 1.06 billion Euro (US $1.45 billion) fine, the single largest antitrust fine it has ever meted out to a company. On Wednesday, Intel explored its legal option of appealing against the fine with Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, Europe's second highest judicial body. The company argues that the EC regulator failed to consider the evidence that supported Intel's contention during the trial.
In a telephone interview with ComputerWorld, Robert Manetta, an Intel spokesperson said "We believe the Commission misinterpreted some evidence and ignored other pieces of evidence." Meanwhile, apart from the fine Intel is expected to pay within three months of the verdict, the ruling also puts a stop to Intel's rebates to PC manufacturers and retailers on condition of near or total exclusivity, among several other deemed malpractices. Authorities in South Korea and Japan found similar irregularities in Intel's marketing methods, while the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General's office are investigating the company for abuse of its monopoly position.
In a telephone interview with ComputerWorld, Robert Manetta, an Intel spokesperson said "We believe the Commission misinterpreted some evidence and ignored other pieces of evidence." Meanwhile, apart from the fine Intel is expected to pay within three months of the verdict, the ruling also puts a stop to Intel's rebates to PC manufacturers and retailers on condition of near or total exclusivity, among several other deemed malpractices. Authorities in South Korea and Japan found similar irregularities in Intel's marketing methods, while the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and New York Attorney General's office are investigating the company for abuse of its monopoly position.
Seagate Technology Reports Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2009 Results
Seagate Technology today reported results for the quarter ended July 3, 2009 of 40.6 million disk drive unit shipments, revenue of $2.35 billion, a net loss of $81 million and net loss per share of $0.16. The financial results for the quarter include $21 million of purchased intangibles amortization and other charges associated with acquisitions, and $85 million of restructuring and related accelerated depreciation charges. The aggregate impact of these items is $106 million or approximately $0.22 per share.
"The overall organizational, operational, technical and product progress we have made during the last six months is reflected in our financial results for the June quarter and demonstrates meaningful progress toward the goal of returning to sustained GAAP profitability as soon as possible," said Steve Luczo, Seagate CEO. "We are also seeing signs that the storage markets are improving and are providing better visibility into the demand environment. Our approach to the September quarter with respect to our production volumes and product mix is to continue to manage our factories with an intense focus on maximizing our return on invested capital while satisfying our customers' requirements."
"The overall organizational, operational, technical and product progress we have made during the last six months is reflected in our financial results for the June quarter and demonstrates meaningful progress toward the goal of returning to sustained GAAP profitability as soon as possible," said Steve Luczo, Seagate CEO. "We are also seeing signs that the storage markets are improving and are providing better visibility into the demand environment. Our approach to the September quarter with respect to our production volumes and product mix is to continue to manage our factories with an intense focus on maximizing our return on invested capital while satisfying our customers' requirements."
Medion Details its First NVIDIA ION Nettop
German PC maker Medion unveiled its first product based on NVIDIA's ION platform, the Akoya Mini E2076 D nettop. It is built inside a slim and compact chassis with piano-black finish, seated on a stand a-la LCD monitors. Measuring measures 150 x 170 x 20 mm, the Akoya Mini E2076 D packs a single-core or dual-core Intel Atom processor aided with the NVIDIA ION mGPU chipset with GeForce 9400M graphics. It makes use of 2 GB of DDR2 memory, and offers 320 GB of storage. Connectivity options include gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, and six USB 2.0 ports. Each of these comes with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed. Medion will start shipping these in September at a suggested retail price between 300 and 350 Euro.
AMD Celebrates Shipping its 500 Millionth x86 Processor
AMD recently announced its 40th Anniversary celebrations. Coincidence has it that the company reached another milestone at around the same time. It celebrates shipping its 500 millionth x86 processor, what the company specializes in. As the company, like most other companies is facing turbulent economic weather, the celebrations are largely low-profile. To reward its loyal customers, the company announced a contest that involves following AMD on Twitter, answering the question(s), and standing a chance to win one of four HP Pavilion dV2z ultrathin notebooks powered by AMD's Athlon Neo processors. Details of the contest can be read here.
AMD Silently Intros 95W Phenom II X4 945
AMD quietly decked up shelves with a new processor, this time, a low TDP variant of the Phenom II X4 945 quad-core processor. Carrying the model identifier "HDX945WFK4DGI", the Phenom II X4 945 95W comes with a significantly lower TDP rating compared to its 125W predecessor. It first surfaced on a CPU-support list by MSI, that leaked details of some unreleased processors. Based on the 45 nm Deneb core, in the AM3 package, the Phenom II X4 945 has an operating frequency of 3.00 GHz, 3.6 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, 512 KB L2 cache per core, and a 6 MB shared L3 cache. It supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards. It has a bus multiplier of 15.0x which is upwards-locked since this is not a Black Edition SKU. It will have the same suggested retail price as its 125W version, at US $225.
oZone3D.Net PhysX FluidMark v1.1.0 Benchmark Released
Nearly a year since its first release, the creators of FurMark have released a new version of their Physx based FluidMark, which like Furmark can be used as either a stress test or benchmarking tool. FluidMark is designed to run in hardware mode for all CUDA ready NVIDIA cards, which includes the 8, 9 and 200 series of graphics cards. For all others the program runs in software mode, which can be forced even if your system has one of the above mentioned cards. The creators say in software mode, the tool "is an excellent CPU benchmark." The latest graphics drivers and Physx version 9.09.0428 is recommended to be installed prior to running this. For more information and to download go here
FluidMark 1.1.0 changelog:
FluidMark 1.1.0 changelog:
- New: simple color point rendering mode (press the R key in stability test).
- New: use the code base than FurMark.
- New: command line parameter (/no_sph) to disable SPH fluid simulation method.
- Change: compiled with NVIDIA PhysX SDK 2.8.1.
- Bugfix: minors bugs fixed
Wednesday, July 22nd 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Desktop PC
Gaming PC
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Input Devices
Motherboards
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Notebooks
Sound Cards
Microsoft Officially RTMs Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Corp. today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the next versions of its flagship desktop and server operating systems. With the completion of this development phase, industry partners are readying products in time for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 worldwide general launches. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date. As always, current customers of the Windows Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in the coming weeks.
Microsoft will make the announcement on its Windows Team and Windows Server Blogs later today. More information about today's news is available via the following links:
Microsoft will make the announcement on its Windows Team and Windows Server Blogs later today. More information about today's news is available via the following links:
- Windows Team Blog
- Windows Server Blog
- Partner Web sites: readyset7.com and talkingaboutwindows.com
- Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for businesses: microsoft.com and microsoft.com/windowsserver2008
AMD Releases ATI Catalyst 9.7 Driver Suite
AMD today sneaked in the latest version of its ATI Catalyst driver suite that provides support to several AMD/ATI components such as ATI Radeon series GPUs, AMD desktop chipsets, AMD FireStream GPGPU, and ATI Theater multimedia products. As revealed by the release notes document, AMD introduced several performance and feature-set changes, along with timely bug-fixes. Highlights include:
- Crysis performance at very high quality preset increases by up to 8% on Radeon HD 4800 series
- Lost Planet Colonies - performance increases by 7-11% when 8x Anti-Aliasing is used on the HD 4800 series products
- Introduces support for the ATI Video converter under Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 7 64-bit
- A newly designed Desktops & Displays Manager
- Added support for new OpenGL extensions: EXT_provoking_vertex and EXT_vertex_array_bgra
EVGA SLI Enhancement Patch v14 (07.22.09) Released
Despite NVIDIA now releasing their own SLI patches, EVGA have still continued to release theirs. Version 14 is based on NVIDIA's 190.38 Drivers.
New SLI profiles from EVGA SLI Enhancement Patch:
New SLI profiles from EVGA SLI Enhancement Patch:
- Enables SLI support for Section 8
- Enables SLI support for Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal
- Enables SLI support for Rise of Flight
- Enables SLI support for FUEL
- Enables SLI support for Prototype digital version
- Enables SLI support for Merchants of Brooklyn
Akasa Announces DuoDock Desktop HDD Dock
Akasa expanded its portfolio of hard drive enclosures with the DuoDock. This highly portable desktop dock measuring 140 x 108 x 71 mm, uses a top-loader to mount 3.5 inch and 2.5 inch HDDs or SSDs using the standard SATA II interface. The loader allows you to insert and eject the drives like SNES cartridges. The device draws power from an external DC power plugin, and connects the drive to the system using eSATA or USB 2.0 interface. With an AHCI-aware operating system, the dock provides hot-plug capability it is available in matte-black and piano-white colours. It will be priced around US $40.
Windows 7 RTM to Reach Developers by August 6
Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system will attain "release to manufacturing" (RTM) status soon, following which it will be made available to different sections of users on different dates, according to an official blog post at the Windows Team Blog. The elusive Windows 7 RTM in its English version will be made available to Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers on August 6. It will be available in other languages by October 1. Microsoft further added that Microsoft independent software/hardware vendor partners (ISVs/IHVs), along with TechNet subscribers will also be able to download Windows 7 RTM (English) on Aug. 6. Microsoft's original equipment manufacturer partners (OEMs) will begin receiving Windows 7 two days after RTM, although a fixed date on when exactly the OS gets its RTM status was not mentioned. Windows 7 is on course for an October 22 commercial release, when consumers will be able to buy retail versions of the operating system, as well as PCs and notebooks pre-installed with it.
Biostar Intros 785G-based MATX Motherboard
Biostar announced the T-Series A785GE-128M, its first motherboard based on the AMD 785G + SB710 chipset. The micro-ATX board features an AM2+ socket, and supports a range of AM2/AM2+/AM3 CPUs, with support for DDR2 memory. The CPU is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM with shielded chokes and low RDS (on) MOSFETs. The AMD 785G northbridge embeds an ATI Radeon HD 4200 class IGP, which makes use of 128 MB DDR3 Sideport memory apart from shared system memory. Display outputs include D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI 1.3 (perhaps using a DVI dongle). Over HDMI, the IGP's own 7.1 channel HDCP compliant audio is passed. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, and two PCI slots. The SB710 southbridge provides six SATA II ports with RAID support. Gigabit Ethernet and six-channel Realtek audio make for the rest of the package. It will hit stores soon, at a price of around US $90.
Enermax Rolls Out Staray Mid-Tower Chassis
Enermax introduced a new mid-tower chassis, with the Staray (model: ECA3170). This fairly standard case design packs two illuminated 120 mm fans on the side-panel, and one of its recently introduced Apollish UCAP12 case fans on the front. There are options for blue or red coloured fan lighting. Measuring (D) 450 x (W) 185 x (H) 411 mm, Staray is fabricated with SECC steel and plastic. It has four exposed 5.25 inch drive bays, one exposed 3.5" bay, and six internal 3.5" bays. It has a tool-free drive retention mechanism. It has holes for water-cooling tubing to pass. Targeted at the mainstream segment, the Enermax Staray hits stores, priced at 49.90 Euro.
Club 3D Announces HD4890 Graphics Card with High Performance Cooling
Club 3D global market leader for graphics cards, today announced the release of its new HD4890 graphics card designed specifically for gamers and HD video enthusiasts. The new Club 3D HD4890 delivers High-end performance to users at excellent value. The custom cooling design stays quiet in low demanding operations and cool in heavy 3D applications to ensure safe operating during all your tasks.
Additionally, adopters of the new HD4890 graphics card will find a wide range of adapters bundled inside the retail package to ensure a trouble free integration with HDMI, VGA and DVI displays. Make use of the bundled CrossFireX Bridge by setting up a CrossFireX system to max out your games in any situation and resolution. By maintaining the high quality and reliability standards of existing Club 3D products, the new HD 4890 graphics card rewards users with a high performance product.
Additionally, adopters of the new HD4890 graphics card will find a wide range of adapters bundled inside the retail package to ensure a trouble free integration with HDMI, VGA and DVI displays. Make use of the bundled CrossFireX Bridge by setting up a CrossFireX system to max out your games in any situation and resolution. By maintaining the high quality and reliability standards of existing Club 3D products, the new HD 4890 graphics card rewards users with a high performance product.
AMD Intros Athlon II X2 Models 240 and 245
Nearly six weeks into the introduction of the Athlon II X2 250, AMD added two new models in the series to choose from the Athlon II X2 240 and 245 are clocked at 2.80 GHz and 2.90 GHz respectively, and occupy two lower places in the series. The 240 has a bus multiplier of 14.0x 200 MHz, while 245 is a notch higher, at 14.5x 200 MHz. The chips are based on AMD's 45 nm Regor core, which is a monolithic dual-core, with two physical cores on a die, and no L3 cache. The L2 cache per core instead, has been increased to 1 MB, which makes it 2 MB of total external cache for the chip. It uses a lavish 4.0 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, and comes in the AM3 socket package that supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards. The two will be out soon and will be priced around the US $65 mark.
Corsair Re-launches Dominator GT Ultra-Performance DRAM Modules
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies, and flash memory products including solid-state drives, today re-introduced the popular Dominator GT line of memory modules. These modules had been removed from the market due to unacceptable failure levels of the Elpida "Hyper" components with which the modules are constructed.
"The issue with the Hyper RAMs was discovered with the help of the enthusiast community, and we worked closely with them to solve it," stated John Beekley, VP of Applications Engineering at Corsair. "Our lab was able to correlate the failures to specific batches of early material, we worked very closely with Elpida to determine the root cause of the issue and to define the associated corrective actions to take. We are confident that every GT module using the Elpida Hyper IC Corsair ships from today will meet our strict quality and reliability standard." 
"The issue with the Hyper RAMs was discovered with the help of the enthusiast community, and we worked closely with them to solve it," stated John Beekley, VP of Applications Engineering at Corsair. "Our lab was able to correlate the failures to specific batches of early material, we worked very closely with Elpida to determine the root cause of the issue and to define the associated corrective actions to take. We are confident that every GT module using the Elpida Hyper IC Corsair ships from today will meet our strict quality and reliability standard."
Tuesday, July 21st 2009
Today's Reviews
Cooling
Gaming PC
Keyboards
Multimedia
AMD Phenom II X4 TWKR 42 Auctioned for 11600 USD
AMD's Phenom II X4 TWKR 42 processor is indeed a desirable piece. For even twice the price of commercial Phenom II X4 chips, it has the potential to create demand, given the market segment it would be catering to, but picture this: one of these chips went under the hammer for a whopping US $11,600! That's right, enough money to buy a gold bar over twice its size and weight, a decent sedan, or pretty much anything you can do with 11 grand. Xbit Labs notes that this is probably the highest price ever paid for a commercially-available microprocessor. The Phenom II X4 TWKR 42 is an enthusiast-oriented part. Only 100 of these are made till date, out of which, only two went on sale.
This TWKR part went for auction on Ebay at a starting price of $1. What soon followed was that 37 bidders placed 80 bids, sky-rocketing its price to $11,600 before being sold. The auction was conducted by members of AMD's facility in Austin USA, which had a charity angle to it. 100% of its sale amount would be donated to Family Eldercare, an organisation that provides essential services for elders, adults with disabilities and those who care for them. Phenom II X4 TWKR is derived from binning of AMD's high-performance Phenom II X4 processor, which facilitates record-setting overclocking. There's another chip open for bidding on Ebay, at the time of posting this article, it was poised at $1,050.
This TWKR part went for auction on Ebay at a starting price of $1. What soon followed was that 37 bidders placed 80 bids, sky-rocketing its price to $11,600 before being sold. The auction was conducted by members of AMD's facility in Austin USA, which had a charity angle to it. 100% of its sale amount would be donated to Family Eldercare, an organisation that provides essential services for elders, adults with disabilities and those who care for them. Phenom II X4 TWKR is derived from binning of AMD's high-performance Phenom II X4 processor, which facilitates record-setting overclocking. There's another chip open for bidding on Ebay, at the time of posting this article, it was poised at $1,050.
SteelSeries Unveils Blizzard Entertainment Co-Branded StarCraft II Gaming Surfaces
Today, SteelSeries, a leading manufacturer of game peripherals and accessories, unveiled a new line of gaming surfaces featuring art from Blizzard Entertainment's highly anticipated StarCraft II. The QcK Limited Edition Terran Marine and Kerrigan vs. Zeratul editions are designed with a non-slip rubber base which prevents the pads from sliding, no matter what surface the mousepad is placed on, and is optimized for optical and laser technology providing an overall more reliable gaming experience.
"StarCraft and its expansion have together sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, and we believe StarCraft II will prove equally influential and popular, making this a great opportunity to provide gamers with surfaces that help to improve performance and game play," said Brian Stech, SteelSeries President of the Americas. "We are incredibly excited to have an opportunity to continue our partnership with the designers from Blizzard Entertainment and develop surfaces that we know StarCraft players will enjoy."
"StarCraft and its expansion have together sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, and we believe StarCraft II will prove equally influential and popular, making this a great opportunity to provide gamers with surfaces that help to improve performance and game play," said Brian Stech, SteelSeries President of the Americas. "We are incredibly excited to have an opportunity to continue our partnership with the designers from Blizzard Entertainment and develop surfaces that we know StarCraft players will enjoy."
Intel Delivers First 34 nm NAND Flash SSDs, Advancement Lowers Prices by upto 60%
Intel Corporation is moving to a more advanced, 34- nanometer (nm) manufacturing process for its leading NAND flash-based Solid State Drive (SSD) products, which are an alternative to a computer's hard drive. The move to 34nm will help lower prices of the SSDs up to 60 percent for PC and laptop makers and consumers who buy them due to the reduced die size and advanced engineering design.
The multi-level cell (MLC) Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD is aimed at laptop and desktop PCs and available in 80 Gigabyte (GB) and 160GB versions. SSDs are data storage devices found inside computers. Because SSDs have no moving parts they offer faster performance and greater energy efficiency and durability than traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). A draw for gamers, media creators and technology enthusiasts, SSDs have also played a key role in the emergence of ultra-thin and light notebook PCs that are becoming increasingly popular due to their design, size and longer battery life.
The multi-level cell (MLC) Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD is aimed at laptop and desktop PCs and available in 80 Gigabyte (GB) and 160GB versions. SSDs are data storage devices found inside computers. Because SSDs have no moving parts they offer faster performance and greater energy efficiency and durability than traditional hard disk drives (HDDs). A draw for gamers, media creators and technology enthusiasts, SSDs have also played a key role in the emergence of ultra-thin and light notebook PCs that are becoming increasingly popular due to their design, size and longer battery life.
Evercool Intros Armor HDD Cooler
Evercool unveiled its newest hard drive cooler, the Armor HDD Cooling Box. The cooler serves as a sub-enclosure for 3.5 inch hard drives, and fits into two 5.25 inch drive bays. The 2U design allows users to stack up three 3.5 inch drives which are actively cooled by the air-flow of an 80 mm fan that pulls in fresh air from the outside, passed through dust-filters, which are removable and can be cleaned. The fan spins at 1200 rpm, with a noise level of less than 26 dBA. The body is made of coated iron and plastic. It is also available in silver colour. The company is yet to commence shipping of the Armor HDD Cooling Box.
First Intel Clarkdale Core i3 Low-Voltage Overclocking Feat Yields 4 GHz at 0.832 V
Intel's upcoming dual-core derivatives of the Nehalem/Westmere architecture, codenamed "Clarkdale" seems to have some interesting electrical characteristics. The CPU component of the chip is built on Intel's brand new 32 nanometre process that facilitates higher transistor densities, and in the process, intends to bring down TDP. An overclocking feat by Coolaler.com seems to suggest one of two things: either these chips have naturally low vCore voltages, or that the overlocking headroom at low-voltages is exceptional. Coolaler used a pre-release engineering sample of the Core i3 Clarkdale processor on a compatible platform, and achieved 4 GHz of clock speed with the vCore at 0.832 V. The frequency multiplier of the CPU was set at 25.0x, and a bus speed of 160 MHz used. Intel will be ready with these processors by the end of this year.
Samsung, or How To Fail at Outsourcing
Outsourcing is all the rage in modern times. Every company is hoping to score a contract for a good price and then push the workload off to the local guy. That way they make the big bucks and the local guy can get some money as well. There are plenty of insane little stories of outsourcing like the ones for the "rebuilding" contracts in Iraq, which were awarded to big US companies for unbelievable sums. These then turned around and outsourced that work to a small local company in the country for a fraction of the price.
The Onion News Network - a satire based on real life big shots like CNN and NBC - has been going after that issue with their YouTube video of personal outsourcing of americans. This brings me to my current issue: Samsung and their warranty service.
The Onion News Network - a satire based on real life big shots like CNN and NBC - has been going after that issue with their YouTube video of personal outsourcing of americans. This brings me to my current issue: Samsung and their warranty service.
Intex Launches N101-WC1100 Netbook
Intex, a computer peripheral firm from India, recently unveiled a new netbook - the N101-WC1100. The netbook sports an Intel Atom processor paired with up to 2GB RAM. A 160GB hard drive is available for data storage. The netbook has a 10" widescreen display with a 1.3MP webcam. It also features a 7-in-1 card reader. Connectivity is handled by a 802.11b/g Wi-Fi adapter, as well as a Bluetooth adapter.
The Intex N101-WC1100 netbook comes in two flavors: chic red ($403) and elegant black ($395).
The Intex N101-WC1100 netbook comes in two flavors: chic red ($403) and elegant black ($395).
NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 WHQL Drivers Released
NVIDIA's GeForce 190.38 driver suite which arrived in beta form about a week ago, received its official status with WHQL-certification. The driver, like its beta version, introduces a list of changes as described in the release notes documents for for Windows 7, Vista, and XP, including a new release of the PhysX system software, version 9.09.0428. It supports the entire range of NVIDIA GPUs from GeForce 6 series and upwards, and NVIDIA ION, ION LE platforms. Important changes over the previous 186 series drivers include:
- Support for the OpenGL 3.1 API
- CUDA 2.3 support for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details
- A new user-controlled power management setting for GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards. This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application
- Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes
Mushkin's First ATI Radeon Graphics Card Pictured
Last month, Muskin announced a comeback lineup of graphics cards under the UltimateFX series. The lineup began with a number of high-end graphics cards based on the single-GPU GeForce GTX 200 series, and later topped up with the dual-GPU GeForce GTX 295 model. By then the company had made it clear that it will be selling graphics cards based on ATI Radeon GPUs very soon. One of its first works surfaced in the form of the UltimateFX Radeon HD 4850.
The card uses a fairly standard design with a red PCB with reference cooler markings, with the GPU cooled by 92 mm fan-heatsink made by Arctic Cooling, memory cooled passively under its air-flow, and a heatsink over the VRM area. The card provides output using DVI, D-Sub, and 7.1 channel audio-routed HDMI connectors. It will be available in two variants, one that uses the AMD reference clock speeds of 625/993 MHz (core/memory), and an OC variant with 700/1100 MHz (core/memory). Both feature 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. The cards are sold in the company's seemingly popular WoodBox packaging. Its availability is not known, though we expect a fairly competitive pricing structure for these cards, given the uphill task Mushkin has competing with established players.
The card uses a fairly standard design with a red PCB with reference cooler markings, with the GPU cooled by 92 mm fan-heatsink made by Arctic Cooling, memory cooled passively under its air-flow, and a heatsink over the VRM area. The card provides output using DVI, D-Sub, and 7.1 channel audio-routed HDMI connectors. It will be available in two variants, one that uses the AMD reference clock speeds of 625/993 MHz (core/memory), and an OC variant with 700/1100 MHz (core/memory). Both feature 512 MB of GDDR3 memory. The cards are sold in the company's seemingly popular WoodBox packaging. Its availability is not known, though we expect a fairly competitive pricing structure for these cards, given the uphill task Mushkin has competing with established players.
Samsung First to Begin Mass Producing 2-Gigabit DDR3 Using 40nm Class Technology
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has begun mass producing the industry's first two gigabit (Gb) DDR3 devices using 40 nanometer (nm) class process technology.
"We see market adoption to DDR3 picking up steam and are accommodating that with early entry of 2Gb DDR3 using the most efficient DRAM manufacturing technology available today," said Jim Elliott, Vice President, Memory Marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "This will set the pace for a new standard in premium, eco-friendly DRAM solutions offering the most advanced, low power RDIMM for servers anywhere."
"We see market adoption to DDR3 picking up steam and are accommodating that with early entry of 2Gb DDR3 using the most efficient DRAM manufacturing technology available today," said Jim Elliott, Vice President, Memory Marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "This will set the pace for a new standard in premium, eco-friendly DRAM solutions offering the most advanced, low power RDIMM for servers anywhere."
GEIL Intros Green Series DDR3 Memory Kits
GEIL is yet another company to undertake a green initiative with an appropriately branded product that appeals to the environment-conscious computer enthusiast (apparently the species does exist). After a similar line of memory kits with its DDR2 segment, GEIL announced four new dual-channel DDR3 memory kits based on capacity and speeds. The two come in 4 GB (2x 2 GB) and 2 GB (2x 1 GB) capacities, and two speeds each: PC3-8500 (DDR3 1066 MHz) and PC3-10660 (DDR3 1333 MHz). The biggest USP of these kits are that they offer JEDEC standard memory timings at module voltages 10~20 percent lower than JEDEC specifications. The PC3-10660 kits runs at 9-9-9-24, while the PC3-8500 ones do 8-8-8-20, both at a mere 1.3 V. This allows GEIL to do away with a heatspreader. The modules go through GEIL's rigorous quality-assurance testings and hence carry lifetime warranties. Another part of the green initiative is the product packing, which makes use of recycled paper, a trend which is catching up. GEIL will deck up shelves with these kits shortly, so you could know the price. Model number details follow:
- GG32GB1066C8DC - 2x 1 GB, PC3-8500, 8-8-8-20, 1.3 V
- GG34GB1066C8DC - 2x 2 GB, PC3-8500, 8-8-8-20, 1.3 V
- GG32GB1333C9DC - 2x 1 GB, PC3-10660, 9-9-9-24, 1.3 V
- GG32GB1333C9DC - 2x 2 GB, PC3-10660, 9-9-9-24, 1.3 V
Monday, July 20th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Input Devices
Memory
NAS
Notebooks
Speakers
Intel Preparing Another Round of Price-Cuts
In the run-up for a new generation of processors, Intel is looking to boost sales of its existing Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors by introducing a round of price-cuts. According to the source, this round covers most mainstream-thru-value processors, rather than those chips based on Yorkfield-12M and Wolfdale-6M cores. It includes Core 2 Quad Q9x00 (Yorkfield-6M), Core 2 Quad Q8000 (Yorkfield-4M), Core 2 Duo E7000 (Wolfdale-3M), Pentium Dual-Core E6000, E5000 (Wolfdale-2M) and Celeron E1500 (Conroe). The cuts range between 10 and 20 percent. Notable changes include Core 2 Quad Q9400 pushed down to US $183 (on par with Q9300), from its price of $213, and Core 2 Duo E7500 down to $113 from $133 (influenced by its successor E7600). The existing prices were implemented in April, when Intel introduced a similar round of price-cuts for the market segments. The new prices will be implemented within this month. All prices in USD.
Point of View Releases its First NVIDIA ION Netbook
POINT OF VIEW, well known for its range of NVIDIA-based Graphics cards, is presenting today the first of its NVIDIA ION-powered mini notebooks: the Mobii ION 230. It has been one of the most asked questions in 2009: "When will you start implementing NVIDIA's ION technology in the Mobii netbooks?" The wait is now over and it's finally here! From the moment of its announcement, the ION/ATOM combo has been one of the most anticipated hardware because it offers full PC capabilities in small, low-power designs.
The Mobii ION 230 combines Intel's energy-efficient Atom 230 CPU with NVIDIA ION graphics to create a small, low-power notebook with amazing capabilities. The ION Graphics Processing Unit is DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 enabled and powers a 10.2" 1024x600 LED LCD screen. With NVIDIA graphics technologies such as PurevideoHD and CUDA the possibilities are endless! Get the edge with hardware acceleration in applications and high definition video encoding and playback! Enjoy crystal clear 1080P HD video without hiccups or jaggies on one the smallest and most energy-efficient devices and push it out through the included HDMI port.
The Mobii ION 230 combines Intel's energy-efficient Atom 230 CPU with NVIDIA ION graphics to create a small, low-power notebook with amazing capabilities. The ION Graphics Processing Unit is DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 enabled and powers a 10.2" 1024x600 LED LCD screen. With NVIDIA graphics technologies such as PurevideoHD and CUDA the possibilities are endless! Get the edge with hardware acceleration in applications and high definition video encoding and playback! Enjoy crystal clear 1080P HD video without hiccups or jaggies on one the smallest and most energy-efficient devices and push it out through the included HDMI port.
Enermax Rolls Out Apollish Series Coloured Fans
Power and casing specialist Enermax released its Apollish series of coloured case fans. Available in standard 120 mm (model: UCAP12), and 80 mm (model: UCAP8) sizes, the fans have two attractive features apart from one which enhances its functionality. To begin with, the fans come in four colours: red, blue, silver, and green. Apart from being translucent, the fans have a chrome sputtering coating that gives a metallic sheen. Illumination is care of a patented circular LED design that gives it brilliant, radial streaks of light. In terms of functionality, the fans feature the company's twister-bearing design that extends product life. These fans are rated to serve for 100,000 hours. UCAP8 spins at speeds between 600~2100 rpm, pushing 12.48~33.04 CFM of air, while the UCAP12 spins at speeds between 700~1700 rpm to push 28.98~71.76 CFM. Both fans have a rated minimum acoustic footprint of 15 dBA. The UCAP8 and UCAP12 Apollish fans have recommended price tags of $13 and $19.5 respectively (before applicable taxes).
Scythe Extends Cooler Compatibility to LGA 1156 and LGA 1336 Sockets Using MSMCs
Scythe Europe announces the release of Revision B CPU Coolers Kama Angle, Ninja 2 and Ninja Mini. One of the major improvements besides the new package design is the extended socket compatibility which now allows to mount these Scythe CPU coolers an even wider range of sockets.
Thanks to the M.S.M.C. (Multiplatform Socket Mounting Clips) it is now possible to mount the CPU Coolers on socket LGA 1366 and the upcoming LGA 1156. This improvement allows the new Kama Angle, Ninja 2 and Ninja Mini in the Revision B as well as a few more other Scythe CPU Coolers to gain more flexibility without requiring any further accessory. These new Clips have a wide range for the Push-Pins to slide and therefore can be mounted on the Intel based platforms LGA 1366, LGA 1156 and LGA775 by using only one clip. Well known performance and silence features of Scythe products are hereby compatible to Core i7 as well as Core i5 processors. Furthermore clips for socket 478 (Intel), 754, 939, AM2(+) and AM3 (AMD) are supply as in the first of Kama Angle, Ninja 2 and Ninja Mini.
Thanks to the M.S.M.C. (Multiplatform Socket Mounting Clips) it is now possible to mount the CPU Coolers on socket LGA 1366 and the upcoming LGA 1156. This improvement allows the new Kama Angle, Ninja 2 and Ninja Mini in the Revision B as well as a few more other Scythe CPU Coolers to gain more flexibility without requiring any further accessory. These new Clips have a wide range for the Push-Pins to slide and therefore can be mounted on the Intel based platforms LGA 1366, LGA 1156 and LGA775 by using only one clip. Well known performance and silence features of Scythe products are hereby compatible to Core i7 as well as Core i5 processors. Furthermore clips for socket 478 (Intel), 754, 939, AM2(+) and AM3 (AMD) are supply as in the first of Kama Angle, Ninja 2 and Ninja Mini.
PowerColor Expands Go! Green Lineup with New Silent Models
PowerColor expanded its energy efficient lineup of entry-thru-mainstream graphics cards which it calls Go! Green, with two passively-cooled graphics cards based on ATI Radeon HD 4670 and Radeon HD 4350. The PowerColor Go! Green SCS3 HD 4670 uses a large passive cooler which uses heat-pipes to convey heat to a aluminum fin array. This extends the card's footprint to around two expansion slots. The card maintains ATI reference core clock speeds of 750 MHz, and makes use of 1 GB of memory across a 128-bit GDDR3 memory interface, clocked at 1600 MHz. Output connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Like every other HD 4670 accelerator, it relies entirely on the PCI-Express slot for its power. Hardware CrossFireX connectivity isn't provided.
PowerColor's second offering, the HD 4350 Go! Green HDMI, unlike most other Radeon HD 4350 graphics cards, is a full-height card, with a monolithic aluminum heatsink that cools the GPU and some of the memory chips. The heatsink, although fit for most half-height cards, spans across two expansion slots. Its USP is the onboard HDMI connector, which neighbours DVI and D-Sub ports. Its core is clocked at 600 MHz, with its 64-bit DDR2 memory at 800 MHz. There are three sub-variants based on memory amount: 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB. PowerColor maintains that these graphics cards offer up to 38 percent energy savings compared to standard versions. Other models in this series are the Go! Green HD 4650 SCS, and Go! Green HD 4350 (non-HDMI).
PowerColor's second offering, the HD 4350 Go! Green HDMI, unlike most other Radeon HD 4350 graphics cards, is a full-height card, with a monolithic aluminum heatsink that cools the GPU and some of the memory chips. The heatsink, although fit for most half-height cards, spans across two expansion slots. Its USP is the onboard HDMI connector, which neighbours DVI and D-Sub ports. Its core is clocked at 600 MHz, with its 64-bit DDR2 memory at 800 MHz. There are three sub-variants based on memory amount: 256 MB, 512 MB, and 1 GB. PowerColor maintains that these graphics cards offer up to 38 percent energy savings compared to standard versions. Other models in this series are the Go! Green HD 4650 SCS, and Go! Green HD 4350 (non-HDMI).
Lexar Media Announces Next Generation Crucial M225 Solid-State Drives
Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced its revved-up line of Crucial solid-state drive (SSD) products - the fastest, highest capacity Crucial SSDs to date. The most dramatic change in this new generation of Crucial SSDs is the blazing-fast read and write speeds. The flagship 256 GB Crucial M225 SSD screams at an impressive 250 MB/sec read speed and a 200 MB/sec write speed. The new Crucial SSDs enhance system performance by improving operating system boot and application load times. They also utilize a SATA 2.0 (3 Gb/s) interface and feature MLC NAND flash components housed in an industry standard 2.5-inch drive enclosure, making a Crucial M225 SSD easy to install.
Kingston Out With 256 GB DataTraveller USB Flash Drive
Kingston Technology today announced its new high-capacity USB flash drive, the DataTraveller 300 (model: DT300/256GB), which packs a massive 256 GB of data in a pocketable package measuring 70.68 x 16.90 x 22.99 mm (as big as a typical flash drive, nearly twice as thick). The package design is cap-less, with the USB connector popping-out at the push of a slider. The drive offers read speeds of 20 MB/s, and writes data at 10 MB/s. The company packs its own data-encryption software to protect data. The drive supports Windows ReadyBoost technology on Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems. Backed by a 5-year company warranty, Kingston is selling the DT300/256GB for 775 Euro.
Gateway Introduces Intel Atom N270-equipped LT2000 Netbook
Gateway Inc. today introduces the Gateway LT2000, a new sleek and compact netbook with a 10.1-inch TFT LED-backlit display that will let mobile customers maximize their time on the go to stay connected and productive. At the core of the Gateway netbook line is excellent mobility and wireless communications, so customers can shop online, browse websites, make VOIP calls, and stay in touch with friends and colleagues via email and social networks. The Gateway LT2000 netbook line is powered by Intel Atom processors and can provide easy access to the Internet via Wi-Fi 802.11b/g.
Incredibly portable, the new Gateway LT2000 netbook line measures only about an inch thin and weighs only 2.62 pounds so it is comfortable to hold, easy to transport and fits neatly into a purse or backpack. Boasting the same fashionable design seen in the Gateway LT3100 netbooks launched last month, the new Gateway LT2000 netbooks come in NightSky Black and Cherry Red with an engraved Gateway logo and modern silver trim accents.
Incredibly portable, the new Gateway LT2000 netbook line measures only about an inch thin and weighs only 2.62 pounds so it is comfortable to hold, easy to transport and fits neatly into a purse or backpack. Boasting the same fashionable design seen in the Gateway LT3100 netbooks launched last month, the new Gateway LT2000 netbooks come in NightSky Black and Cherry Red with an engraved Gateway logo and modern silver trim accents.
AMD Preps First AM3-based Sempron Processors
AMD is preparing its first set of Sempron processors based on the DDR3 supportive AM3 package. The first one, codenamed "Sargas" is a single-core chip that comes across as a single-core variant of the Athlon II X2 "Regor". It features a broad 3.6 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, 128 KB of L1 and 1 MB of L2 cache, a dual-channel DDR2/DDR3 memory interface, an up-to-date AMD feature and instruction-set including AMD64, SSE4A, and AMD-V.
Sargas is built on Global Foundries' 45 nm SOI process, and has an operating voltage range of 0.85 ~ 1.35 V. The first SKU based on this core is the Sempron X1 140 (model: SDX140HBGQBOX). It has a clock speed of 2.70 GHz, and a bus multiplier of 13.5x. At that speed, its TDP is rated at 45W. It will be available towards the end of this week, priced around 35 Euro.
Sargas is built on Global Foundries' 45 nm SOI process, and has an operating voltage range of 0.85 ~ 1.35 V. The first SKU based on this core is the Sempron X1 140 (model: SDX140HBGQBOX). It has a clock speed of 2.70 GHz, and a bus multiplier of 13.5x. At that speed, its TDP is rated at 45W. It will be available towards the end of this week, priced around 35 Euro.
Sunday, July 19th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Gaming PC
Motherboards
PSUs
More Details on Intel's 34 nm SSDs Emerge
Reports about Intel's new SSDs with 34 nm NAND-flash chips first surfaced in June, when the company was believed to be working on its quick and silent launch. As it turns out, we still have no signs of these 34 nm SSDs, which Intel reportedly codenamed "Postville". We do have more details about these, however, and how Intel plans to hand over the benefit of lower manufacturing costs to the consumers right away.
Intel's Postville familiy of SSDs use NAND-flash chips made by IM Flash, a joint venture between Intel and Micron Technology. Products based on this series will be part of Intel's X25-M series, which Intel and its partners (such as Kingston, A-Data, PQI, etc.) will market in capacities of 80 GB, 160 GB, and 320 GB. The 320 GB model is a first for Intel in its segment. While the tentative pricing of the 320 GB model isn't known, the 160 GB model is expected to cost at least a 100 Euros less than its 50 nm predecessor, the current X25-M 160 GB, sending its price below 400 Euros. The X25-M 80 GB which currently costs around 270 Euros, will be down to around 200 Euros.
Intel's Postville familiy of SSDs use NAND-flash chips made by IM Flash, a joint venture between Intel and Micron Technology. Products based on this series will be part of Intel's X25-M series, which Intel and its partners (such as Kingston, A-Data, PQI, etc.) will market in capacities of 80 GB, 160 GB, and 320 GB. The 320 GB model is a first for Intel in its segment. While the tentative pricing of the 320 GB model isn't known, the 160 GB model is expected to cost at least a 100 Euros less than its 50 nm predecessor, the current X25-M 160 GB, sending its price below 400 Euros. The X25-M 80 GB which currently costs around 270 Euros, will be down to around 200 Euros.
Friday, July 17th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
GELID Solutions GC-Extreme Thermal Compound Review
The new GC-Extreme thermal compound by GELID Solutions is definitely one to consider when you are in the market for some thermal grease. It has amazing thermal conductivity and does better than the competition.
VIA Eden One Watt Processor Brings Power-Efficiency to Fujitsu Thin Clients
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the adoption of its VIA Eden processor in the latest FUTRO thin client series from Fujitsu. The 500MHz VIA Eden ULV processor, with its remarkably low TDP of only one watt, powers the Fujitsu FUTRO S100, an entirely fanless and silent thin client and virtual workplace solution.
With a dramatically lower TCO, a reduced environmental footprint and a radically improved security infrastructure, it's no surprise to see thin client adoption continue to expand, particularly in enterprise and commercial corporate segments. Fujitsu's new range of FUTRO thin client products bring these benefits into sharper focus, with the FUTRO S100 thin client consuming less than eleven watts for the complete system under full load.
With a dramatically lower TCO, a reduced environmental footprint and a radically improved security infrastructure, it's no surprise to see thin client adoption continue to expand, particularly in enterprise and commercial corporate segments. Fujitsu's new range of FUTRO thin client products bring these benefits into sharper focus, with the FUTRO S100 thin client consuming less than eleven watts for the complete system under full load.
HIS Readying AGP HD 4670
ATI partners continue to show love to AGP users. HIS and PowerColor in particular, have been planning AGP graphics cards based on mid-range, current-generation Radeon HD 4000 series GPUs for a while now. It looks HIS is the first one to materialise them, with the HIS HD 4670 IceQ AGP. The company came up with another of its IceQ series designs, sporting the iconic IceQ cooler, and the blue PCB. The graphics card holds all the more importance to AGP platform users, as the Radeon HD 4670 packs 7.1 channel HDCP compliant audio passed over HDMI.
The card uses the AGP-8X interface. It draws auxiliary power from a 4-pin Molex connector. Under the hood is a Radeon HD 4670 GPU clocked at 750 MHz, with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory over a 128-bit interface, clocked at 873 MHz (1746 MHz DDR). Output is care of a DVI, D-Sub, and audio-routed HDMI. It is priced at US $129.99 on Amazon, with an optional rebate sending it down to $119.99.
The card uses the AGP-8X interface. It draws auxiliary power from a 4-pin Molex connector. Under the hood is a Radeon HD 4670 GPU clocked at 750 MHz, with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory over a 128-bit interface, clocked at 873 MHz (1746 MHz DDR). Output is care of a DVI, D-Sub, and audio-routed HDMI. It is priced at US $129.99 on Amazon, with an optional rebate sending it down to $119.99.
Zotac Beefs-Up GeForce GTX 200 with 15 Phase VRM Design
Armed with a creative engineering department, Zotac is in the news for innovating a new graphics card PCB design every now and then. For NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 200 series alone, the firm developed several performance and value oriented PCB designs. It decided to up the ante with a new single-GPU PCB design that is compatible with all GTX 200 series GPUs from NVIDIA, and is out with a GeForce GTX 260-based model out for the Chinese market. The new PCB focuses on strong power circuitry that allow high stability for overclocking. The 12-layered PCB is jam-packed with high-grade power circuitry, which ensures the GeForce GTX 260 GPU runs at 800 MHz out of the box, with even more overclocking headroom to spare.
To begin with, the vGPU portion consists of a lavish 12-phase digital PWM circuit with Renesas LFPAK MOSFETs, BL high-capacity PWM chokes, and Panasonic SP-CAP, flatbed capacitors and a dedicated VRM controller. The vMem portion has a 3-phase power circuit that uses the same kinds of components as the vGPU, and has its own VRM controller. The PCB draws auxiliary power from PCI-E 8 + 6 pin connectors. It holds place for two more memory chips indicating that the same PCB could be used for a GeForce GTX 285 based SKU in the future. On the outputs front, a DVI-D, HDMI, and D-Sub make for the card's connectivity. The new Zotac GeForce GTX 260 model will be cooled by an Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GTX cooler. It is made exclusive for the Chinese market, with a price of RMB 1399 (US $205). Technical data from its electical-testing can be viewed here.
To begin with, the vGPU portion consists of a lavish 12-phase digital PWM circuit with Renesas LFPAK MOSFETs, BL high-capacity PWM chokes, and Panasonic SP-CAP, flatbed capacitors and a dedicated VRM controller. The vMem portion has a 3-phase power circuit that uses the same kinds of components as the vGPU, and has its own VRM controller. The PCB draws auxiliary power from PCI-E 8 + 6 pin connectors. It holds place for two more memory chips indicating that the same PCB could be used for a GeForce GTX 285 based SKU in the future. On the outputs front, a DVI-D, HDMI, and D-Sub make for the card's connectivity. The new Zotac GeForce GTX 260 model will be cooled by an Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GTX cooler. It is made exclusive for the Chinese market, with a price of RMB 1399 (US $205). Technical data from its electical-testing can be viewed here.
NEC Unveils MultiSync EA231WMi, First 23 inch 16:9 LCD with IPS Panel
NEC Display Solutions will be launching the first 23" screen with IPS technology in 16:9 format in autumn 2009. The MultiSync EA231WMi combines excellent image quality in high resolution (full HD) with low energy consumption and its wide screen format enhances productivity. Another innovation for NEC desktop displays is the DisplayPort interface for future-proof digital connectivity. Priced at a similar level as conventional 19" or wide 22" models it offers more display area to work with several applications at the same time. The monitor comes with TCO 5.0 certification and is therefore ideally suited for professional use.
With IPS technology the EA231WMi offers outstanding viewing angle and image stability which will be appreciated by all office users. Alongside its high-quality panel technology and award-winning design, the MultiSync EA231WMi also provides all the technical benefits of the EA series. These include integrated speakers, 110mm height adjustment and pivot as well as a USB hub. Additional environmental protection is achieved by an ambient light sensor for optimum screen brightness and energy usage at all times. The display features the latest Energy Star 5.0 and TCO 5.0 certification, with TCO 5.0 being one of the world's highest standards for ergonomics and environmental friendliness. This makes the EA231WMi the perfect office monitor from an ecological, economic and ergonomic point of view.
With IPS technology the EA231WMi offers outstanding viewing angle and image stability which will be appreciated by all office users. Alongside its high-quality panel technology and award-winning design, the MultiSync EA231WMi also provides all the technical benefits of the EA series. These include integrated speakers, 110mm height adjustment and pivot as well as a USB hub. Additional environmental protection is achieved by an ambient light sensor for optimum screen brightness and energy usage at all times. The display features the latest Energy Star 5.0 and TCO 5.0 certification, with TCO 5.0 being one of the world's highest standards for ergonomics and environmental friendliness. This makes the EA231WMi the perfect office monitor from an ecological, economic and ergonomic point of view.
MSI Announces CX700 and CR700 Notebooks
MSI announces the release of the 17" C series CX700 & CR700 notebook computers. Featuring MSI's unique wedge-shaped design with streamlined 45 degree angled edges. With powerful multimedia capabilities, these notebooks offer unlimited mobility & classic design with audio and video features that will make the ground feel like its shaking beneath your feet.
MSI new Classic C series CX700 & CR700 feature the latest generation Color Film Print Technology, which protects the external shell while creating vivid crystal patterns, which when viewed from different angles, reveal unique layered lines. Whether at home or on the go, for business or pleasure, the CX700 & CR700 radiate a minimalist classic elegance that defines today's fashion-conscious lifestyles.
MSI new Classic C series CX700 & CR700 feature the latest generation Color Film Print Technology, which protects the external shell while creating vivid crystal patterns, which when viewed from different angles, reveal unique layered lines. Whether at home or on the go, for business or pleasure, the CX700 & CR700 radiate a minimalist classic elegance that defines today's fashion-conscious lifestyles.
Thursday, July 16th 2009
Today's Files
Today's Reviews
Accessories
Cooling
- Cooler Master NotePal X2 Notebook Cooler ProClockers
- Evercool Transformer 4 PureOverclock
- JetArt EzFan Laptop Cooler OverclockersHQ
- Cooler Master Hyper N520 vs. Scythe Mugen 2 vs. Xigmatek Achilles S1284C Hexus
- AeroCool Touch-2000 LCD Touch Screen Fan Controler OverclockersHQ
- NZXT Sentry 2 Fan Controller Overclockers Club
- GELID Solutions GC-2 vs GC-Extreme Thermal Paste BCCHardware
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Harddisks
Keyboards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Nettops
PSUs
Thecus Introduces Unbeatable Convenience with Next Generation AJAX User Interface
Experience a whole new level of network attached storage convenience. Thecus has introduced its next generation user interface using AJAX framework*, an interactive and dynamic window between Thecus NAS and its users.
If you are already familiar with Windows or MAC operations, the new AJAX interface from Thecus will be no stranger to you. Both the administration and web disk interfaces are easy-to-use and extremely user-friendly. It maximizes convenience by simplifying web-based operations. For example, when you want to add users to certain user groups, simply drag users and drop them to designated groups using your web browser - just like in Windows. With more animations and features on the AJAX interface, Thecus introduces unbeatable convenience to both home and office users.
If you are already familiar with Windows or MAC operations, the new AJAX interface from Thecus will be no stranger to you. Both the administration and web disk interfaces are easy-to-use and extremely user-friendly. It maximizes convenience by simplifying web-based operations. For example, when you want to add users to certain user groups, simply drag users and drop them to designated groups using your web browser - just like in Windows. With more animations and features on the AJAX interface, Thecus introduces unbeatable convenience to both home and office users.
NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v5.1 Released
NVIDIA BIOS Editor, better known as NiBiTor, received an update today. The popular NVIDIA graphics card BIOS modification utility has been updated to version 5.1, with a slightly expanded GPU support list, and a number of minor bug fixes. NiBiTor adds support for the following GPUs:
DOWNLOAD: NiBiTor v5.1
- GeForce GTS 160M
- GeForce 9800M GTS 1 GB
- GeForce GTS 250
- GeForce GTX 275
DOWNLOAD: NiBiTor v5.1
MSI N260GTX Lightning Strikes 1.1 GHz Core Clock Speed Mark
It looks like MSI's beating the drums about military-grade superiority of its N260GTX Lightning over its competitors has finally come to bear some fruit. Renowned enthusiast hipro5 from Greece set a new GPU core clock-speed record for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, with a stress-stable 1100 MHz, with its shader domain clocked at 2205 MHz. Aided with an Intel Core i7 975 XE clocked at 5.57 GHz (HTT disabled, 4 GB DDR3 memory clocked at 2064 MHz DDR), the bench stood Aquamark with scores of 392,063 points (GPU score: 71,955, CPU: 40,070). The score validation can be found here The memory of the graphics card remained at its stock frequency of 999 MHz. The same bench at slightly lower speeds of 1070/2205/999 MHz (core/shader/memory), ran 3DMark03 stable, scoring 73461 points. The stock cooler of the N260GTX however, was excluded from this feat. The HWBot record reveals that the graphics card was cooled using a liquid-nitrogen (LN2) cooler.
Biostar's Intel P55 Lineup Detailed
With Intel's LGA-1156 Ibex-Peak platform weeks away from launch, like most major motherboard vendors, Biostar its compatible motherboard lineup ready, top to bottom. The company has at least three motherboards based on the Intel P55 chipset for the first wave, two in its mid-range T-Series, and one high-end T-Power series. The lineup starts with the T-Series T5 XE, continues with T-Series TP55 XE, and ends with the T-Power I55.
The T-Series T5 XE is a low-frills model that relies on the chipset's stock feature-set for the most part. The CPU is powered by a 4+2 phase power circuit, and the memory by a 2-phase circuit. The expansion slots are standard issue, two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots that are electrically x8 when both are populated with video cards, two each of PCI-E x1 and legacy PCI, six SATA II ports routed to the chipset, an additional controller driving the IDE, one gigabit Ethernet connection, and 8-channel audio. Simple anodized aluminum heatsinks cool the chipset and a portion of the board's VRM area.
The T-Series T5 XE is a low-frills model that relies on the chipset's stock feature-set for the most part. The CPU is powered by a 4+2 phase power circuit, and the memory by a 2-phase circuit. The expansion slots are standard issue, two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots that are electrically x8 when both are populated with video cards, two each of PCI-E x1 and legacy PCI, six SATA II ports routed to the chipset, an additional controller driving the IDE, one gigabit Ethernet connection, and 8-channel audio. Simple anodized aluminum heatsinks cool the chipset and a portion of the board's VRM area.
NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 Beta Drivers Released
NVIDIA seems to have a big update for its GeForce driver suite underway, with the bump in version number from the 186 series to 190. The first release in the series carries the unsupported beta tag. Version 190.38 beta introduces a series of changes as indicated in the release notes documents (for Windows 7, Vista, and XP), though the list of supported NVIDIA products remains largely unchanged from its previous release. Important changes are as follows:
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit
- Adds support for OpenGL 3.1
- Adds support for CUDA 2.3 for improved performance in GPU Computing applications. See CUDA Zone for more details
- Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards. This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application
- Includes several new control panel features and numerous bug fixes. More information can be found in the release documentation
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 190.38 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit
Corsair Launches New Extreme Series High-Performance SSDs
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer memory, power supplies and flash memory products, including solid-state drives, today announced the Extreme Series X32, X64 and X128 high-performance SSDs, in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB densities respectively.
Built using the renowned Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC NAND flash memory, the Extreme Series has been designed to offer the highest performance currently available on the market, with read speeds of up to 240MB/s and write speeds of up to 170MB/s.
"The combination of the Indilinx Barefoot controller, Samsung flash memory, and 64MB of on-board cache delivers blistering, stutter-free performance, eliminating the bottleneck imposed by traditional mechanical hard disks," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing at Corsair. "The new Extreme Series SSDs are ideal for use as primary drives in desktop and notebooks systems, and also for RAID 0 configurations in high-performance desktops for enthusiasts who want extreme performance."
Built using the renowned Indilinx Barefoot controller and Samsung MLC NAND flash memory, the Extreme Series has been designed to offer the highest performance currently available on the market, with read speeds of up to 240MB/s and write speeds of up to 170MB/s.
"The combination of the Indilinx Barefoot controller, Samsung flash memory, and 64MB of on-board cache delivers blistering, stutter-free performance, eliminating the bottleneck imposed by traditional mechanical hard disks," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing at Corsair. "The new Extreme Series SSDs are ideal for use as primary drives in desktop and notebooks systems, and also for RAID 0 configurations in high-performance desktops for enthusiasts who want extreme performance."
EVGA Intros InterView 1700 Dual-Panel Display
EVGA keeps growing its visual-computing product lineup by the day, and has made its first major product in the PC display a reality. The InterView 1700 is a dual-panel display that holds two LCD panels side-by-side. The two panels are suspended on a central frame with joints that allow them to individually turn 180 degrees, and fold 90 degrees, so the viewer can customise the viewing experience. What's more, the frame itself bends 180 degrees.
Each panel is 17 inch widescreen LCD, with native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels, response time of 8 m, and 500:1 static contrast ratio. The central frame holds a 1.3 megapixel web-cam built in. It takes input from dual-link DVI and HDMI. At US $650, the EVGA InterView 1700 is targeted at financial analysts, accountants, scientific installations, medical imaging, and other professionals.
Each panel is 17 inch widescreen LCD, with native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels, response time of 8 m, and 500:1 static contrast ratio. The central frame holds a 1.3 megapixel web-cam built in. It takes input from dual-link DVI and HDMI. At US $650, the EVGA InterView 1700 is targeted at financial analysts, accountants, scientific installations, medical imaging, and other professionals.
Auzentech Announces Limited Edition R4 Bulldozer White Case
Auzentech, Inc announced today that a small quantity of white R-4 Bulldozer PC Cases are available to customers in North America. Every bit as striking as the more common black R-4, the white edition gives custom PC builders a rare opportunity to build a system that is distinct from any other at the LAN Party, with no case modifications.
Wednesday, July 15th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Harddisks
Keyboards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Processors
Coolink Introduces SWiF2 Fan Series
Coolink today introduced its new SWiF2 fan series. Successor to the popular SWiF series, the new SWiF2 family takes its successful predecessor's proven qualities one step further. Refined blade designs, high-performance hydro-dynamic bearing and support for PWM fan speed control, combined with an exciting new colour scheme, are the cornerstones of the new series.
"With more than a hundred thousand satisfied users, our Silent Whisper Fans have created a huge following among those looking for true high-end fans at a reasonable price.", says Timothy Chu, Coolink CEO. "Today, we're thrilled to revive the series with new, further improved models as well as an exciting new colour scheme. Of course, the new SWiF2 family remains true to our vision of linking excellent quality with attractive pricing."
"With more than a hundred thousand satisfied users, our Silent Whisper Fans have created a huge following among those looking for true high-end fans at a reasonable price.", says Timothy Chu, Coolink CEO. "Today, we're thrilled to revive the series with new, further improved models as well as an exciting new colour scheme. Of course, the new SWiF2 family remains true to our vision of linking excellent quality with attractive pricing."
Gates Downplays Chrome OS
Google's recent announcement of the Chrome OS, a web-oriented operating system that aims to use practicality and speed as its USPs, created more than just a few waves in the IT world. The firm later added that Chrome was going to be a free software, and has the support of some of the biggest names in the industry. At the receiving end of a potential competitor both in the operating system and cloud computing businesses, undoubtedly is Microsoft.
In an interview with CNet's Ina Fried, Bill Gates took the liberty of commenting on this development and implied that the waves Chrome OS created, are but in a teacup. "There's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways," Gates said, "In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks. It's got a browser in it," he added.
In an interview with CNet's Ina Fried, Bill Gates took the liberty of commenting on this development and implied that the waves Chrome OS created, are but in a teacup. "There's many, many forms of Linux operating systems out there and packaged in different ways and booted in different ways," Gates said, "In some ways I am surprised people are acting like there's something new. I mean, you've got Android running on Netbooks. It's got a browser in it," he added.
Run on Windows 7 Upgrade Deal in Europe
Today marked the first day of the Windows 7 upgrade deal for most european countries. Much like the US variant, customers in the EU were able to preorder Windows 7 Home Premium for 50 € or UK Pounds. According to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Newspaper the entire stock of the new operating system has been sold out within hours in the german speaking region. Large etailers like Amazon.de only had 1500 from the 10000 pieces of the german version - which sold out 7 minutes after the start at 9:00 AM - while others only managed to get 500 or less. Other german etailers like Alternate, OTTO, Neckermann managed to hold out a tad bit longer, but all of their servers - including the ones from Amazon Germany where brought to their knees so that many potential buyers missed out on the deal. Amazon UK on the other hand allowed pre-orders for about 6 hours until listing the item out of stock. Overall, most etailers all over Europe are sold out, while some traditional stores may have some left. It should be noted, that Microsoft actually planned to offer this deal from July 15th until August 9th.
Verbatim Unveils SureFire Line of Portable Hard Drives
Data storage specialist Verbatim today introduced its SureFire line of portable hard-drives. These palm-sized, portable HDDs come with storage capacities of 250, 320, and 500 GB, and boast of two interfaces: USB 2.0 and FireWire 800, making it out of the box compatible with PCs and Macs. It measures 81 x 128 x 15 mm, and weighs in at 186 g. Enclosed in it, is a 2.5 inch hard drive with 5400 rpm spindle-speed and an 8 MB cache. It draws its power from an AC adaptor, though when used with USB 2.0, it can rely on the port for all its power. The Verbatim SureFire is compatible with Mac OS X Leopard's Time Machine backup application. Backed by a 3-year warranty, these drives go for US $109.99, $139.99, and $179.99 for the 250 GB, 320 GB, and 500 GB models, respectively.
MSI Unveils CX600 and CR600 Classic Series Notebooks
MSI has supplemented its classic C series notebook computers with two new 16 inch models, the CX600 & the CR600. Both devices feature wedge-shaped designs with streamlined 45 degree angled edges and optical drive & I/O ports designed with a clean, minimalist style. A distinctive imprint finish on the lid interacts with light to provide ever-changing patterns thanks to MSI's Color Film Print technology. Inside, the touch pad area is treated with sturdy, scratch resistant material that gives off a luminescent shine and brings classic design and functionality into daily life-ideal for entertainment, learning, and business applications.
DFI Intros Blood Iron G41-T33 Motherboard
DFI made a new addition to its popular LAN Party Blood Iron lineup, which offers overclocker-friendly features on a budget. The Blood Iron G41-T33 is the first micro-ATX model in the series, and uses the Intel G41 + ICH10 chipset. The board remains minimalistic, taking care of only the essentials as far as components go. The LGA-775 socket is powered by a 3-phase circuit. There are two DDR2 DIMM slots, with support for dual-channel DDR2-1066 memory. The G41 northbridge packs an Intel GMA X4500 IGP. Expansion is care of one PCI-E x16, a PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. The southbridge provides four SATA II ports internally. 6-channel audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of this product. The LAN Party G41-T33 is expected to retail for around US $90.
Active Media Products Delivers SaberTooth SSD Upgrades for ASUS Eee PC
Active Media Products, maker of unique storage solutions including the WWF endangered species USB drives, today announced immediate availability of their new SaberTooth SSDs that are custom designed for Asus Eee PC upgrades.
This new line of SaberTooth SSDs is built with MLC NAND flash to deliver exceptional performance. These SSDs have been tested with and are guaranteed to operate with Eee PC S101, 900, 900A and 901 models. The SaberTooth SS, offered in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, is the fastest available SSD upgrade for the Eee PC, supporting sequential read speeds up to 155 MB/sec and write speeds up to 100 MB/sec. The SaberTooth S is offered in 16 and 32GB capacities, and supports sequential read speeds up to 90 MB/sec and write speeds up to 55 MB/sec. All these products use standard 3Gbps SATA-II signaling and a Mini PCI express connector, as used in compatible Eee PC models.
This new line of SaberTooth SSDs is built with MLC NAND flash to deliver exceptional performance. These SSDs have been tested with and are guaranteed to operate with Eee PC S101, 900, 900A and 901 models. The SaberTooth SS, offered in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, is the fastest available SSD upgrade for the Eee PC, supporting sequential read speeds up to 155 MB/sec and write speeds up to 100 MB/sec. The SaberTooth S is offered in 16 and 32GB capacities, and supports sequential read speeds up to 90 MB/sec and write speeds up to 55 MB/sec. All these products use standard 3Gbps SATA-II signaling and a Mini PCI express connector, as used in compatible Eee PC models.
USPTO Rejects Additional Rambus Patent Claims Against NVIDIA
NVIDIA announces that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has initially rejected an additional eight claims challenged by NVIDIA in two patents that Rambus has asserted against it in litigation. This follows the USPTO's rejection last month of 41 other claims in seven patents that Rambus had asserted against NVIDIA.
NVIDIA has compiled a 100 percent success rate at the USPTO in challenges to the claims in the patents asserted against it by Rambus in an International Trade Commission (ITC) action filed in November 2008.
NVIDIA has compiled a 100 percent success rate at the USPTO in challenges to the claims in the patents asserted against it by Rambus in an International Trade Commission (ITC) action filed in November 2008.
Super Talent Delivers 128 GB Luxio USB Drives
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today began shipping a 128 GB USB 2.0 flash drive that includes AES-256 hardware encryption as a standard feature.
The new 128GB Luxio drive is smaller in size than most competing 64GB USB drives, measuring approximately 77 x 21 x 10 mm (3.0 x 0.81 x 0.37 inches). The pocket-sized drive stores up to 40,000 six megapixel photos or up to 32,000 MP3 songs. The 128 GB Luxio is offered in three colors: black, silver and wood grain, and is packaged in an elegant gift box. Each drive comes with a custom black leather carrying case. Luxio drives are now available in capacities from 16 GB to 128 GB.
The new 128GB Luxio drive is smaller in size than most competing 64GB USB drives, measuring approximately 77 x 21 x 10 mm (3.0 x 0.81 x 0.37 inches). The pocket-sized drive stores up to 40,000 six megapixel photos or up to 32,000 MP3 songs. The 128 GB Luxio is offered in three colors: black, silver and wood grain, and is packaged in an elegant gift box. Each drive comes with a custom black leather carrying case. Luxio drives are now available in capacities from 16 GB to 128 GB.
Intel Reports Second-Quarter Results
Intel Corporation today reported second-quarter revenue of $8.0 billion. Excluding the effects of the European Commission fine, the company had non-GAAP operating income of $1.4 billion, net income of $1.0 billion and EPS of 18 cents. On a GAAP-basis, the company reported an operating loss of $12 million, a net loss of $398 million and a loss per share of 7 cents.
"Intel's second-quarter results reflect improving conditions in the PC market segment with our strongest first- to second-quarter growth since 1988 and a clear expectation for a seasonally stronger second half," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Intel's strategy of investing in new technologies and innovative products, combined with ongoing focus on operating efficiencies, continues to yield benefits that are evident in our strengthening financial performance."
To read the complete earnings release, click here.
"Intel's second-quarter results reflect improving conditions in the PC market segment with our strongest first- to second-quarter growth since 1988 and a clear expectation for a seasonally stronger second half," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Intel's strategy of investing in new technologies and innovative products, combined with ongoing focus on operating efficiencies, continues to yield benefits that are evident in our strengthening financial performance."
To read the complete earnings release, click here.
Tuesday, July 14th 2009
Today's Files
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Desktop PC
Headphones
Motherboards
PSUs
Servers
SSD
A-DATA S805 Flash Drive Review
The S805 from A-DATA is the perfect storage companion for the outdoor user or as a key chain. The nice metal clip along with a solid frame make this stick perfect in that regard, even if it is not a speed demon, but the S805 still manages to be Vista Readyboost ready.
Patriot Releases Xporter Mini II USB Drives
Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Xporter Mini II USB.
Designed around today's advancing computer technology, the Mini II provides a lightweight, cap-less slider architecture that makes it portable and convenient. With its sleek design, the Mini II allows for easy plug and play across multiple platforms.
"Our Xporter Mini II is a novelty of ingenious design," says Eric Akerson, Patriot's Director of Marketing. "The Xporter Mini II, now available up to 16 GB, is an affordable portable storage solution allowing users to be on the go and have the convenience of large data storage."
Designed around today's advancing computer technology, the Mini II provides a lightweight, cap-less slider architecture that makes it portable and convenient. With its sleek design, the Mini II allows for easy plug and play across multiple platforms.
"Our Xporter Mini II is a novelty of ingenious design," says Eric Akerson, Patriot's Director of Marketing. "The Xporter Mini II, now available up to 16 GB, is an affordable portable storage solution allowing users to be on the go and have the convenience of large data storage."
ASUS P6X58 Premium Detailed, Updates Platform with USB 3.0 and SATA III
Motherboard mogul ASUS is ready with a new premium motherboard for the LGA-1366 platform. The P6X58 Premium breaks away from the "P6T" nomenclature the company used for its Intel X58-based motherboards, and flashed "X58" in the model name. This motherboard brings two new connectivity standards to the platform: USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed", and SATA III 6 Gbps. It uses additional controllers onboard to expand the chipset's feature-set.
The board looks similar to the P6T Deluxe series at a glance, but uses a different layout of its expansion slots, rear-panel, and connectors in general. Unlike with the P6T Deluxe, the three PCI-Express x16 are spaced-out, with the first two (blue) slots providing full x16 lane bandwidth, with the third (white) one sharing 8 lanes with the second slot (x16, x8, x8, when all three slots populated). The chipset+VRM cooler is nearly identical to the one on the P6T Deluxe. The CPU is powered by a 16-phase circuit.
The board looks similar to the P6T Deluxe series at a glance, but uses a different layout of its expansion slots, rear-panel, and connectors in general. Unlike with the P6T Deluxe, the three PCI-Express x16 are spaced-out, with the first two (blue) slots providing full x16 lane bandwidth, with the third (white) one sharing 8 lanes with the second slot (x16, x8, x8, when all three slots populated). The chipset+VRM cooler is nearly identical to the one on the P6T Deluxe. The CPU is powered by a 16-phase circuit.
Mushkin Announces Europa III SSD Series, Intros 250 GB Model
Mushkin today announced the third-generation of its flagship solid-state disk lineup, the Europa III. The new series revolves around using a high-performance controller chip made by Samsung. The NAND flash configuration is of the multi-level cell (MLC) type, and in conjunction with the controller, provides high transfer rates.
The first model in this series is the Mushkin esi25607. This 250 GB SSD is of the standard 2.5 inch form-factor, and weighs 80.1 g. It is driven by Samsung S3C29RBB controller, which helps this drive churn out speeds of 220 MB/s (read), 200 MB/s (write). It uses the standard SATA II interface. The drive maintains a low power draw of 0.15W when idling, and 0.25W when active. It has its MTBF rated at one million hours. The drive comes packed in a fancy aluminum case. Details on its pricing and availability are yet to surface.
The first model in this series is the Mushkin esi25607. This 250 GB SSD is of the standard 2.5 inch form-factor, and weighs 80.1 g. It is driven by Samsung S3C29RBB controller, which helps this drive churn out speeds of 220 MB/s (read), 200 MB/s (write). It uses the standard SATA II interface. The drive maintains a low power draw of 0.15W when idling, and 0.25W when active. It has its MTBF rated at one million hours. The drive comes packed in a fancy aluminum case. Details on its pricing and availability are yet to surface.
Early Intel LGA-1156 Quad-Core SKUs Surface
Intel recently detailed its strategy with the Core brand, and its various brand-modifiers (namely i3, i5, i7, and i9). The move to give some LGA-1156 processors the Core i7 modifier, based on the performance level they offer, particularly sparked off several debates about if the move actually benefits the consumers as much as it does to Intel. Back then, Intel did not divulge much about a number scheme that characterizes LGA-1156 Core i7 processors from their LGA-1366 counterparts. Fresh information suggests that Intel may have one such number-scheme in place that will demystify its lineup.
The LGA-1156 socket lineup will be spearheaded by quad-core desktop chips that will start selling from September 8, tentatively. These consist of a 2.66 GHz part, a 2.80 GHz part, and another 2.93 GHz one. Sources revealed much earlier that these could be priced US $194, $284, and $562, respectively. Among these three, the 2.66 GHz part lacks HyperThreading technology in its feature-set, and hence, will be placed in the Core i5 series. To further clarify the lineup, the following model numbers have been suggested:
The LGA-1156 socket lineup will be spearheaded by quad-core desktop chips that will start selling from September 8, tentatively. These consist of a 2.66 GHz part, a 2.80 GHz part, and another 2.93 GHz one. Sources revealed much earlier that these could be priced US $194, $284, and $562, respectively. Among these three, the 2.66 GHz part lacks HyperThreading technology in its feature-set, and hence, will be placed in the Core i5 series. To further clarify the lineup, the following model numbers have been suggested:
Logitech Announces Four New Multimedia Speakers with 360-Degree Sound
Today, Logitech announced a significant extension to its line of multimedia speakers, delivering four new systems with 360-Degree Sound - including the Logitech Speaker System Z320, Logitech Speaker System Z323, Logitech Speaker System Z520 and the Logitech Speaker System Z523. Whether you're at work using a desktop computer, at home using a laptop, whether you use a Windows-based or a Mac, computer, all four of Logitech's new speakers just work - and sound great.
Unlike standard PC speakers that use forward-firing drivers, the four new Logitech multimedia speaker systems feature 360-Degree Sound, or omnidirectional acoustics, which creates a substantially wider sweet spot - an especially helpful feature if you often move your computer around your home or office. With speaker drivers that face forward and backwards in each satellite, these four new speakers are designed to transmit sound more consistently over a wider range of space so you never miss a beat no matter where you are in the room.
Unlike standard PC speakers that use forward-firing drivers, the four new Logitech multimedia speaker systems feature 360-Degree Sound, or omnidirectional acoustics, which creates a substantially wider sweet spot - an especially helpful feature if you often move your computer around your home or office. With speaker drivers that face forward and backwards in each satellite, these four new speakers are designed to transmit sound more consistently over a wider range of space so you never miss a beat no matter where you are in the room.
MSI Releases R4890 Cyclone Series Graphics Cards
MSI today announced the R4890 Cyclone graphics card. This Radeon HD 4890 card uses the same basic design as its R4870 Cyclone, and a lite version of AMD's reference PCB. The card first surfaced in May, during the run-up for the Computex event. The card's star attraction is the cooler, consisting of a GPU heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins, from this heatsink about four 8 mm heat-pipes arise, conveying heat to two suspended, curved aluminum fin blocks on either sides of the heatsink. The cooler is nucleated with a 10 cm PWM-controlled fan. The memory and VRM areas are care of this cooler's air-flow.
MSI used a few innovations of its own on the PCB which it calls "military class", including flat-bed high-c capacitors that can be found on server and workstation components, a solid-state choke that has lower core energy loss compared to traditional chokes, and an all-solid-state-capacitor design, which is a standard-issue for graphics cards in its class. The R4890 Cyclone comes in three variants based on clock speeds - R4890 Cyclone, R4890 Cyclone OC, and R4890 Cyclone SOC. These cards come with clock speeds of 850/3900 MHz, 880/3900 MHz, and 1000/4000 MHz, respectively (core/memory). Expect availability in a few weeks. The press-release follows.
MSI used a few innovations of its own on the PCB which it calls "military class", including flat-bed high-c capacitors that can be found on server and workstation components, a solid-state choke that has lower core energy loss compared to traditional chokes, and an all-solid-state-capacitor design, which is a standard-issue for graphics cards in its class. The R4890 Cyclone comes in three variants based on clock speeds - R4890 Cyclone, R4890 Cyclone OC, and R4890 Cyclone SOC. These cards come with clock speeds of 850/3900 MHz, 880/3900 MHz, and 1000/4000 MHz, respectively (core/memory). Expect availability in a few weeks. The press-release follows.
Seagate Releases Cheetah 15K.7, Fastest, Most Efficient, and Highest Capacity
Seagate announced it is now shipping its technology-leading Cheetah 15K.7 enterprise-class hard drives into the worldwide distribution channel. As the highest performing, highest capacity 3.5-inch mission critical hard drive with best-in-class reliability for Tier 1 environments, the Cheetah 15K.7 drive is ideal for a wide range of server and storage applications. With the Cheetah 15K.7 hard drive, Seagate's technology leadership moves firmly past the competition as it delivers the industry's first 15K-rpm drive to reach the 600GB capacity point while providing record reliability of 1.6 million hours MTBF.
The Cheetah 15K.7 drive is available with the latest 6 Gb/s SAS or 4 Gb/s FC interfaces, and includes Seagate PowerTrim technology, which dynamically reduces power consumption. Together, these features enable system builders to deliver lower-cost, multi-drive servers and storage systems, making the Cheetah 15K.7 ideal for use in environments ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to the largest enterprises.
The Cheetah 15K.7 drive is available with the latest 6 Gb/s SAS or 4 Gb/s FC interfaces, and includes Seagate PowerTrim technology, which dynamically reduces power consumption. Together, these features enable system builders to deliver lower-cost, multi-drive servers and storage systems, making the Cheetah 15K.7 ideal for use in environments ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to the largest enterprises.
ASUS Announces TV Monitor T1 Series: Double Entertainment, One Screen
ASUS today unveiled the TV Monitor T1 Series that combines the best in desktop monitor and LCD TV technology to deliver HD TV broadcasting and Full HD Blu-ray Disc playback for the ultimate entertainment and work experience. Featuring inbuilt TV tuners, these large screen monitors-available in 22", 24" and 27" sizes-allow users to watch digital (DVB-T) and analog (PAL/SECAM) channels and enjoy all common TV functions in Europe. The T1 Series also boasts surround sound with a pair of 7-Watt speakers, a rich complement of I/O ports catering to various connectivity needs and ASUS' exclusive Splendid Video Intelligence Technology for spectacular color reproduction.
Windows 7 RTM Release Delayed
Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system was supposed to reach the release-to-manufacture development stage around July 13, a build largely squared off as the final product of its development team before being sent for mass-production. Earlier this week, news from sources claimed another pre-production build (number 7600) as the RTM version due to its timing of a leak to sections of the internet. As it turned out, the build was not the RTM, though as indicated by the jump in build number, included a host of changes.
Microsoft further advises the community to wait for an official announcement from the company before taking any more pre-release versions to be the RTM, as was the case with build 7600. Expect the RTM to be out in the second half of July, and a confirmation from Microsoft when that happens. In related news, Microsoft indicated that the retail packages for all variants of Windows 7 will pack both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs of the OS, as was the case with Windows Vista Ultimate. This leaves consumers the convenience of having to pick just one sub-variant.
Microsoft further advises the community to wait for an official announcement from the company before taking any more pre-release versions to be the RTM, as was the case with build 7600. Expect the RTM to be out in the second half of July, and a confirmation from Microsoft when that happens. In related news, Microsoft indicated that the retail packages for all variants of Windows 7 will pack both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs of the OS, as was the case with Windows Vista Ultimate. This leaves consumers the convenience of having to pick just one sub-variant.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Calls for Renewed Focus on 300 mm Manufacturing Innovation
In its effort to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer technology, the semiconductor industry has long been preoccupied with smaller transistors and larger silicon wafers. While these are important tactics, opportunities for increasing efficiency, becoming more agile, and minimizing waste are often overlooked in manufacturing processes, according to Thomas Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing systems and technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.
At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.
At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.
Monday, July 13th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Motherboards
Processors
PSUs
SSD
Thermaltake Element T Review
The Element T is the most affordable case in the Element family from Thermaltake. It aims to please both the the professional user and the mainstream gamer. This is certainly no easy task, but he case has space for up to six hard drives, an excellent construction and clean looks along with a large red LED fan up top.
Microsoft Office Online to Go Free
Faced with a future competitor in general productivity applications, Google, which recently announced concrete plans with a web-friendly operating system, Microsoft expressed plans to make Office Online - a web-based version of Office - free. Microsoft's upcoming Office 2010 productivity suite will be available both as a paid software that you can purchase and use, and an web-based application that can be run from within a web-browser. According to the company, the upcoming Office Online is designed to work seamlessly with popular web-browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari, apart from its own Internet Explorer. Currently Microsoft has a highly profitable business of selling the Office productivity suite, which amounts for $20 billion of the company's revenue. The company is working on pre-release community versions of Office 2010.
Intel Updates CPU Launch Schedule
Intel's upcoming processor and compatible platform launch schedule gained some clarity today with tentative launch dates and time-frames surfacing from industry sources. Highlights on the client front include:
- Desktop platform initially based on Lynnfield quad-core processor and P55 chipset to be out between September 8~11
- Three recently detailed mobile quad-core processor models based on the Clarksfield core will be announced towards the end of September or early October
- Around the same time as above, Intel will release two new budget chips for its CULV platform, called Celeron SU2300 and Celeron 743. Expect these to be toned-down variants of the existing Core 2 CULV chips
Windows 7 to be Available to Businesses Early
At the ongoing Worldwide Partner Conference held in New Orleans, USA by Microsoft, the company announced that its upcoming client operating system, Windows 7 will be made available to its business customers through volume licensing starting September 1, over a month ahead of its worldwide commercial launch on October 22. Starting September 1, business customers will be able to order the Windows 7 Enterprise variant through Microsoft Software Assurance licensing. The key features of Windows 7 Enterprise as listed by Microsoft are as follows:
- DirectAccess: Give mobile users seamless access to corporate networks without a need to VPN
- BranchCache: Decrease time branch office users spend waiting to download files across the network
- Enterprise Search Scopes: Find information on network locations including SharePoint sites with a simple user interface
- BitLocker & BitLocker To Go: Help protect data on PCs and removable drives, with manageability to enforce encryption and backup of recovery keys
- AppLocker: Specify what software is allowed to run on user's PCs through centrally managed, but flexible, Group Policies
- Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Optimisations: Improved user experience for VDI with multimon and microphone support. Plus the ability to reuse virtual machine (VHD) images to boot a physical PC
- Multi Lingual User Interface: Create a single operating system (OS) image for deployment to users worldwide
Nexus Unveils EDGE Full-ATX Tower Chassis
Nexus announced the newest addition its case lineup. The Nexus EDGE, measuring 64.2 x 23.9 x 57.6 cm (L x W x D) is a full-ATX tower, compatible with most Flex-ATX, M-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX motherboards. The case has a fine brushed-metal finish with polished, rounded-off edges. The external drive bays can be locked off behind a metal front-door. Although the exterior reveals 13 5.25" bays, only 8 of them are accessible. The bottom five bay covers protect the 4-bay 3.5" drive cage inside, which neighbours two 2-bay drive racks that hang above the PSU area. This area is separated from the motherboard area, and shares room for a 120 mm fan with it.
The motherboard tray has room for 7 expansion slots. It has an opening where most motherboards have the CPU socket, which provides accessibility to CPU coolers with bolt-through retention mechanisms. Another 120 mm fan bay is located above the rear-panel, an a 140 mm fan to ventilate the entire case from its top. The case provides a degree of noise control with its noise-absorbtion wave foam padding. The utility panel is located on the top, and is a standard issue with a couple of USB ports, an eSATA port, and audio connectors. The Nexus EDGE is expected to retail for around 160 EUR.
The motherboard tray has room for 7 expansion slots. It has an opening where most motherboards have the CPU socket, which provides accessibility to CPU coolers with bolt-through retention mechanisms. Another 120 mm fan bay is located above the rear-panel, an a 140 mm fan to ventilate the entire case from its top. The case provides a degree of noise control with its noise-absorbtion wave foam padding. The utility panel is located on the top, and is a standard issue with a couple of USB ports, an eSATA port, and audio connectors. The Nexus EDGE is expected to retail for around 160 EUR.
Logitec Out With New External DVD Writer
Japan-based Logitec (not to be confused with the more popular peripheral company with a similar name), is out with yet another compact external DVD writer. The LDR-PME8U2L is a little over a slim DVD writer enclosed in a fancy casing that comes in complete back or topped with red. It measures 136.5 x 143 x 19.2 mm, and weighs in at around 300 g.
The drive offers write speeds of 8X for DVD±R and 6X for DVD±RW, and 5X for DVD-RAM. It writes and rewrites CDs at 24X. It uses the USB 2.0 interface. ArcSoft's TotalMedia Backup & Record comes bundled. The LDR-PME8U2L drive is backed by a one-year company warranty and is priced at US $92.
The drive offers write speeds of 8X for DVD±R and 6X for DVD±RW, and 5X for DVD-RAM. It writes and rewrites CDs at 24X. It uses the USB 2.0 interface. ArcSoft's TotalMedia Backup & Record comes bundled. The LDR-PME8U2L drive is backed by a one-year company warranty and is priced at US $92.
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 Micro-ATX Motherboard Detailed
One of Gigabyte's first LGA-1156 motherboards in the micro-ATX form-factor, the GA-P55M-UD4 was previewed by CPU3D.com, revealing an upper-mainstream motherboard sporting all the essentials and a little more. The CPU socket is powered by a lavish 14-phase circuit, cooled by independent VRM heatsinks. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. The expansion slots on this board include two PCI-E x16 slots (electrically x8, x8 when both are populated), one open-ended PCI-E x4 slot, and a legacy PCI slot. The P55 PCH provides five internal SATA II ports (blue), and one eSATA port on the rear-panel. An additional controller provides two SATA II ports (white) and the legacy IDE connector. 8-channel HD audio driven by Realtek ALC889A codec, one gigabit Ethernet interface, two Firewire ports in all, and 14 USB 2.0 ports make for the rest of the feature-set. It makes use of Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 3 construction. The GA-P55M-UD4 will be part of Gigabyte's first wave of LGA-1156 motherboards.
Hitachi GST Unveils Three Consumer Storage Solutions
As one of the world's most recognized and trusted brands, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today unveiled three new consumer products following the acquisition of SimpleTech by Fabrik earlier this year. The new Hitachi branded products include the SimpleTOUGH portable USB drive, industry's only water-resistant and shock-resistant external hard drive from a global hard drive manufacturer; the stylish and colorful SimpleDRIVE Mini portable USB drive; and the SimpleNET network storage adapter for easily sharing existing USB drive content over a home or office network. All SimpleTech external storage solutions now leverage Hitachi's award-winning, reliable hard drives and strong global brand creating additional advantages for road warriors, prosumers, small office/home office (SOHO) users, or virtually anyone looking for a simple and reliable way to store, protect, and better manage their data.
WhipTail Technologies Introduces 6TB SSD Tier 0 Storage Appliance
WhipTail Technologies Inc., a provider of solid-state drive (SSD) tier 0 storage appliances, announced availability of its 6TB WhipTail SSD appliance. Still manufactured as a 2 rack unit (2U), this makes WhipTail the highest-capacity SSD tier 0 appliance available to mid- to large-sized enterprises, with the smallest footprint.
"Enterprise customers continuously seek solutions that increase performance while satisfying their need for higher capacity. With advancements in technology, SSDs increasingly are sought after to deliver in many demanding applications," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager, Hard Disk Drive Components and Solid State Drives, IDC. "As a relatively new player in the enterprise SSD space, WhipTail is making a name for itself with the introduction of 6TB, high performance SSD, a capacity point rarely seen."
WhipTail, now available in 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 TB and varying levels of redundancies, is best suited for enterprises with poorly performing databases, over-taxed virtualization storage pools and under-performing email systems.
"Enterprise customers continuously seek solutions that increase performance while satisfying their need for higher capacity. With advancements in technology, SSDs increasingly are sought after to deliver in many demanding applications," said Jeff Janukowicz, research manager, Hard Disk Drive Components and Solid State Drives, IDC. "As a relatively new player in the enterprise SSD space, WhipTail is making a name for itself with the introduction of 6TB, high performance SSD, a capacity point rarely seen."
WhipTail, now available in 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 TB and varying levels of redundancies, is best suited for enterprises with poorly performing databases, over-taxed virtualization storage pools and under-performing email systems.
Thermaltake Offering a Variety of Solutions Ready for Intel LGA1156 Processors
Thermaltake, leading thermal solutions provider, is introducing several advanced cooling solutions for the new and upcoming Intel LGA1156 processors, ensuring users have the best choice right from day one.
The brand new Silent 1156 CPU cooler from Thermaltake is specifically designed for Intel Socket 1156 processors. Installation to the motherboard is easily done with a convenient push-pin mechanism, which for the user is an entirely tool-free procedure. For its silent operation, the 9 cm PWM fan is a treat to the users' ears. Through the PWM function the fan speed is automatically adjusted between 800 RPM to 1700 RPM according to the actual work load of the CPU. Furthermore, the side flow design makes the cooler's air flow an integral part of the overall system air flow inside the chassis. With two 8 mm heatpipes and a mirror copper base heat is transferred away from the CPU to the aluminum fins, dramatically reducing heat development.
The brand new Silent 1156 CPU cooler from Thermaltake is specifically designed for Intel Socket 1156 processors. Installation to the motherboard is easily done with a convenient push-pin mechanism, which for the user is an entirely tool-free procedure. For its silent operation, the 9 cm PWM fan is a treat to the users' ears. Through the PWM function the fan speed is automatically adjusted between 800 RPM to 1700 RPM according to the actual work load of the CPU. Furthermore, the side flow design makes the cooler's air flow an integral part of the overall system air flow inside the chassis. With two 8 mm heatpipes and a mirror copper base heat is transferred away from the CPU to the aluminum fins, dramatically reducing heat development.
AMD Adds New Six-Core AMD Opteron HE Processors
AMD today announced the immediate availability of three new members of the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor family that specifically address rising demand for balanced systems with increased performance yet greater power-efficiency for cloud computing and web serving environments.
Lexar Media Develops Fast New Crucial M225 SSDs
During the weekend Lexar Media announced that it is intending to update the Crucial SSD line-up, by providing new 2.5-inch M225 series solid-state drives, designed for use in laptops and desktop computers. The new Crucial M225 SSDs will be based on multilevel cell (MLC) flash memory and come in 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB versions equipped with SATA 3.0 Gbps interface. Read and write speeds for each one drive are as follows: 250 MB/s and 200 MB/s for the 256 GB model, 250 MB/s and 190 MB/s for the 128 GB model, and 200 MB/s and 150 MB/s for the 64 GB model. The official release of Crucial M225 2.5-inch SSDs is scheduled for July 20th, expect more information then.
Saturday, July 11th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Memory
Motherboards
Mouse
Netbooks
Processors
Asus Launches First Xtreme Design Series Motherboard - P6TD Deluxe
ASUS today announced the Xtreme Design series motherboards featuring ground-breaking design innovations and offering the best in performance and reliability. The Xtreme Design series motherboards delivers exceptional overall system compatibility and enhanced reliability by proficiently managing and reliably controlling core processes operating in the PC. Drawing on two decades of engineering excellence, ASUS believes a genetically superior motherboard DNA will provide the winning formula to surpass current user expectations and industry benchmarks. ASUS leads the industry with designs that optimize overall performance and reliability of PC hardware. In the new Xtreme Design series motherboards, ASUS further raises the bar in motherboard designs for the ultimate in performance, reliability, and safe operations.
Friday, July 10th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Netbooks
Nettops
Networking
PSUs
PhotoFast Innovates G-Monster Plug-n-Play RAID Adapter
Solid-state drive specialist PhotoFast innovated an easy RAID builder solution, which doesn't boast of being an expansion card, and doesn't require additional drivers from the OS. The G-Monster Evolution "Simple RAID Adapter", is a small orange PCB with SATA II and power input on one side, and two sets of SATA II data and power connections on the other. Users can connect two hard drives or SSDs to the device, and connect the device like any other hard drive, to the computer's storage controller. The RAID array the device builds using the member drives connected to it, remains abstract to the host machine, which sees it as a single hard-drive. The G-Monster Evolution supports RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID JBOD modes, with maximum transfer rates of 270 MB/s for both read and write. RAID modes are configurable with the bundled software. One limitation of this device is that it does not support SSDs that have internal RAID 0 connections between two or more sets of NAND flash memory. This is perhaps because the device uses the same controller, or at least the basic design, that goes into making SSDs with internal RAID connections. Popular SSDs of this type (incompatible with this device) include PhotoFast G-Monster V2, Patriot Warp V3, OCZ Apex, and G.Skill Titan. Its availability and pricing are yet to be known.
AMD Staring at 140W Barrier with Phenom II X4 965?
Two of AMD's biggest setbacks with the 65 nm Phenom X4 series were 1. the TLB erratum fiasco with the B2 revision of the chip, and 2. the virtual TDP wall it hit with the 2.60 GHz Phenom X4 9950, at 140W. At that wattage, several motherboards were rendered incompatible with the processor because they lacked the power circuitry that could handle it. The company eventually worked out a lower-wattage 125W variant of the said chip, and went on to never release a higher-clocked processor based on the core.
MSI published the complete CPU support list of its a new BIOS for the 790GX-G65 motherboard a little early, revealing quite some about unreleased AMD processors. At the bottom of the list its the Phenom II X4 965. This 3.40 GHz quad-core chip will succeed the Phenom II X4 955 as AMD next flagship desktop offering. Its TDP is an alarming 140W. Alarming, because this is a chip with a mere 2 unit bus multiplier increment over the Phenom II X4 940, the launch-vehicle for AMD's 45 nm client processor lineup. There are, however, two things to cheer about. RB-C2 is not going to be the only revision of this core, future revisions could bring TDP down, or at least make sure clock-speeds of future models keep escalating, while respecting the 140W mark. A future variant of Phenom II 965 could come with a reduced TDP rating. The list interestingly also goes on to reveal that AMD will have a 95W version of the 3.00 GHz Phenom II X4 945.
MSI published the complete CPU support list of its a new BIOS for the 790GX-G65 motherboard a little early, revealing quite some about unreleased AMD processors. At the bottom of the list its the Phenom II X4 965. This 3.40 GHz quad-core chip will succeed the Phenom II X4 955 as AMD next flagship desktop offering. Its TDP is an alarming 140W. Alarming, because this is a chip with a mere 2 unit bus multiplier increment over the Phenom II X4 940, the launch-vehicle for AMD's 45 nm client processor lineup. There are, however, two things to cheer about. RB-C2 is not going to be the only revision of this core, future revisions could bring TDP down, or at least make sure clock-speeds of future models keep escalating, while respecting the 140W mark. A future variant of Phenom II 965 could come with a reduced TDP rating. The list interestingly also goes on to reveal that AMD will have a 95W version of the 3.00 GHz Phenom II X4 945.
AMD Athlon II X4 ''Propus'' 600 Quad-Core Chips Include 45W Models
AMD's 45 nm desktop processor lineup involves three basic core designs codenamed Deneb, Propus, and Regor. Deneb is the flagship design, which features four cores, two 64-bit DDR2(/DDR3) memory controllers, and a large L3 cache of 6 MB. When one core is disabled, the Phenom II X3 "Heka" processor is yielded, when 2 MB out of the 6 MB of L3 cache is disabled, Phenom II X4 800 series processor is yielded, and when two out of four cores are disabled, Phenom II X2 500 is yielded. To cater to sub-$100 market better, AMD needed to cut the manufacturing costs while maintaining a reasonable level of performance, and substantially low TDP ratings. Hence the company designed the Propus quad-core chip, which physically lacks an L3 cache. The lack of L3 cache chops the transistor load on the die, as well as its TDP. AMD further plans to yield a triple-core Athlon II X3 "Rana" processor using this die, by disabling one of the four cores. The third die design, Regor, features no more than two cores physically, and lacks an L3 cache. As an added bonus, the L2 cache per core is doubled to 1024 KB (2 MB total L2 cache), and HyperTransport multiplier set high (10 x 200 MHz).
Some of AMD's first products based on Propus have surfaced thanks to a leak from a motherboard manufacturer. It reveals an initial lineup of four models, including two low-wattage ones. Enter Athlon II X4 600e, 605e, 620, and 630. These chips' clock speeds range between 2.20 and 2.80 GHz. Unlike with Regor, each core on the Propus keeps 512 KB of L2 cache, which makes it 2 MB of total L2 cache. The most surprising part of the specs is the TDP of the low-wattage chips, with the 2.20 GHz 600e and 2.40 GHz 605e, is 45W. In comparison, it took a clock-speed of 2.00 GHz for the previous-generation 65 nm Agena core to reach a TDP rating of 65W. The 2.60 GHz 620 and 2.80 GHz 630 have TDP ratings of 65W. We reckon these chips to hit shelves in this quarter. Below is a die-shot of the Propus core. It bears quite some resemblance to its 65 nm ancestor.
Some of AMD's first products based on Propus have surfaced thanks to a leak from a motherboard manufacturer. It reveals an initial lineup of four models, including two low-wattage ones. Enter Athlon II X4 600e, 605e, 620, and 630. These chips' clock speeds range between 2.20 and 2.80 GHz. Unlike with Regor, each core on the Propus keeps 512 KB of L2 cache, which makes it 2 MB of total L2 cache. The most surprising part of the specs is the TDP of the low-wattage chips, with the 2.20 GHz 600e and 2.40 GHz 605e, is 45W. In comparison, it took a clock-speed of 2.00 GHz for the previous-generation 65 nm Agena core to reach a TDP rating of 65W. The 2.60 GHz 620 and 2.80 GHz 630 have TDP ratings of 65W. We reckon these chips to hit shelves in this quarter. Below is a die-shot of the Propus core. It bears quite some resemblance to its 65 nm ancestor.
MSI Announces the CR400 Notebook
MSI has announced the launch of its new "Classic" notebook series! Reflecting MSI's corporate philosophy of "Insist on the best," the Classic series embodies exquisite craftsmanship and outstanding industrial design. The models that make up the series include the 14-inch CR400, the 16-inch CX600 and CR600, and the 17.3-inch CX700 and CR700. The first model in the series, the 14-inch CR400 features a uni-body design with 45-degree angled edges, which significantly enhance both the visual and tactile appeal of the product. The Classic series really does radiate timeless classic elegance.
The use of MSI-developed CFM (Color Film Print) technology gives the CR400 a crystalline radiance. When the light falls on the laptop from different angles, new patterns appear, giving the product a classic low-key elegance perfectly suited to fashionable lifestyles! Although the CR400 features a large (14-inch) display and 6-cell large-capacity battery, it weighs only 2 kg. This lightweight, easy-to-carry notebook PC offers first-class mobility.
The CR400's keyboard makes use of MSI's unique EDS (Ergonomic De-Stress) technology. Tests have shown that the highly sensitive, responsive EDS keyboard can significantly reduce the strain on the user's fingers. With the CR400, users can enjoy both classic elegance and the latest in high technology.
The use of MSI-developed CFM (Color Film Print) technology gives the CR400 a crystalline radiance. When the light falls on the laptop from different angles, new patterns appear, giving the product a classic low-key elegance perfectly suited to fashionable lifestyles! Although the CR400 features a large (14-inch) display and 6-cell large-capacity battery, it weighs only 2 kg. This lightweight, easy-to-carry notebook PC offers first-class mobility.
The CR400's keyboard makes use of MSI's unique EDS (Ergonomic De-Stress) technology. Tests have shown that the highly sensitive, responsive EDS keyboard can significantly reduce the strain on the user's fingers. With the CR400, users can enjoy both classic elegance and the latest in high technology.
Spire Announces BlackMoon Xtreme Precision PSUs
Spire, global supplier of quality and affordable pc components is introducing their new professional power supply series. The name says it all, Xtreme Precision power supply. Aimed squarely at the professional and PC enthusiast the BlackMoon XP Series is the perfect match for quality and high power demand. Spire has combined efficiency and performance into one unit providing power when you need it whilst maintaining 85% efficiency.
Fashioned in neat black powder coated enclosures and equipped with the signature Spire 120 mm Silent fan, keeping air flowing and your system running cool. Trust the brand with the industry leading specifications and award winning service program, Spire - Powered by Innovation.
Fashioned in neat black powder coated enclosures and equipped with the signature Spire 120 mm Silent fan, keeping air flowing and your system running cool. Trust the brand with the industry leading specifications and award winning service program, Spire - Powered by Innovation.
Prolimatech Intros PK-1 Thermal Compound
Prolimatech, the Taiwanese manufacturer whose claim to fame has been the Megahalems CPU cooler, introduced its first thermal compound. The PK-1 boasts of some very bold numbers as far as its specifications go. The compound edges past the recently announced Arctic Cooling MX-3 in terms of thermal conductivity, at 10.2 W/m °C. It has a specific gravity of 3.2 g/m³. Each 5 g syringe is bundled with a plastic card that serves as a spatula to spread the compound over the heat source. European e-tailer Caseking.de has it listed for 9.90 Euro.
HANNSG HH251HP 25-inch LCD Display Announced
Top 5 monitor manufacturer, HANNSG, has today unveiled a new line of cutting edge monitors. The new HH series of widescreen TFT LCD monitors, which will include a comprehensive selection of display sizes from 18.5" up to 28", perfectly demonstrates HANNSGs development and manufacturing capabilities, combining style, performance and functionality. The first monitor to launch from the new HH range of HANNSG monitors is the new HH251HP. The HH251HP features a number of HANNSG's exclusive cutting edge technologies, developed to ensure sharper pictures without residual images, for the ultimate HD viewing experience, as well as, a unique 25" display.
OCZ Technology Also Halts Sales of Elpida Hyper DRAMs
Following earlier reports of failing memory modules with Elpida Hyper chips, first Corsair and now OCZ Technology is stopping sales of Elpida Hyper DRAMs. Although OCZ claims it has not yet seen extended failures in its Elpida Hyper equipped memory modules, because an earlier batches were used, it is also pulling out the presumably affected memory modules and memory kits. This is OCZ's official statement:
In regards to the potential issues relating to Elpida Hyper IC's, OCZ has not yet seen extended failures in the field, and the Elipda Hyper IC's we have used came from earlier batches so we do not yet know if this is the reason why we are not seeing field issues but as a proactive measure based on the latest information from media reviewers like AnandTech we have officially held the use of any Elpida Hyper IC's at this time. Any customers that are seeing issues are encouraged to contact us and we will absolutely take care of all customers with a no questions asked refund or exchange for another OCZ product of equal value, whichever the customer prefers. We want to make sure that our customers have peace of mind and the confidence that we will take care of any and all issues related to modules that utilize Elpida Hyper chips.
HP Mini 110 Now 720p Ready
HP's flagship netbook, the Mini 110 XP-edition now comes with an optional 1366x768 pixel, 10.1 inch LCD screen. The new screen makes it suitable for 720p HD video, and comes at US $30 over the base-price of $330. The screen is LED-backlit, and comes with an anti-glare coating. The rest of the netbook's base and optional feature remain unchanged. The netbook has to be configured to come with the new screen, and is not really part of a sub-variant. Configuration options for the Mini 110 can be viewed here.
Zalman CNPS-10X Quiet Cooler Detailed
Zalman is readying another CPU cooler in its 10 series, a successor to CNPS-9900. The company broke away from the trademark copper-fin ring design it used for CNPS-9300, 9500, 9700, and until lately, 9900. After the introduction of the CNPS-10X Extreme, the company disclosed the CNPS-10X Quiet. The differences between the two lie in the construction. The CNPS-10X Quiet uses lesser number of aluminum fins, a good 33% of which are anodized with the Zalman blue theme colour, and holds a simpler PWM controlled fan. The cooler measures 135 x 100 x 160 mm, and weighs 750 g. The 120 mm fan attached to it uses a simpler clip-based retention mechanism, it spins at speeds between 700 and 1400 rpm, with a maximum noise level of 26 dBA. The cooler constuction involves a pre-lapped copper CPU contact block, from which five copper heatpipes convey heat to a vertical aluminum fin array - the design standard of today. Its retention module consists of a bolt-through kit. The package includes a tube of Zalman's ZM-STG2 thermal compound. The cooler is compatible with all standard desktop sockets of today, including Intel LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2, and 939. The cooler will hit stores at an estimated price of under 50 Euro.
OCZ Sabre OLED Gaming Keyboard Now Shipping
If you dream of buying a keyboard with OLED keys, but you don't have a thousand dollars to spend on a keyboard, your dream may finally become true. OCZ Technology is now shipping its own Sabre OLED gaming keyboard for the price equivalent of $135, which immediately makes it number one choice in OLED peripherals. ZipZoomfly is now taking orders here. For that money, OCZ gives you a pretty decent gaming keyboard, with nine fully customizable OLED keys, 103 super tactile low-noise keys, software macro configurator, 128 MB of onboard flash memory, blue LED side backlight, and a USB 2.0 interface. Full specs of the OCZ Sabre OLED keyboard are listed here.
Thursday, July 9th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Memory
Motherboards
Mouse
Mousepads
Multimedia
Nettops
Vantec ezSHARE Adapter Review
With more people having more than one computer the need to share and transfer files between them has grown. Vantec has come up with a product geared towards this market with the Vantec ezSHARE Adapter. It boasts an easy setup with no additional software to install and a setup time of only seconds. Let's see what the ezSHARE Adapter has in store.
Microsoft Promotes Steven Sinofsky to President, Windows Division
Microsoft Corp. today promoted Steven Sinofsky to president of the Windows Division. Sinofsky, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, most recently led the Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, contributing to the Oct. 22 availability of Windows 7.
As president, Sinofsky assumes responsibility for the Windows business including both the engineering and marketing functions for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer.
"Steven Sinofsky has demonstrated the ability to lead large teams that deliver great products. The work he and the team have done in getting ready to ship Windows 7 really defines how to develop and ship world-class software," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "He is a perfect fit to lead the Windows group."
As president, Sinofsky assumes responsibility for the Windows business including both the engineering and marketing functions for Windows, Windows Live and Internet Explorer.
"Steven Sinofsky has demonstrated the ability to lead large teams that deliver great products. The work he and the team have done in getting ready to ship Windows 7 really defines how to develop and ship world-class software," said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "He is a perfect fit to lead the Windows group."
IBM Launches Advanced Analytics Center in Tokyo
IBM today announced the launch of its Tokyo-based IBM Analytics Solution center which is part of a recently announced global network of analytics focused centers. Through these centers, IBM is addressing the growing demand for advanced analytics capabilities need to help clients build smarter business systems and drive improved decision-making.
The new center is co-located at IBM's Marunouchi office in Tokyo as well as at IBM's Yamato Lab in Kanagawa Prefecture. It will draw on a wealth of global IBM expertise, including more than 150 mathematicians and software engineers at IBM Research - Tokyo and Yamato Software Development Laboratory to help companies turn data into predictive intelligence. Initially, the center will be staffed by up to 500 IBM Japan consultants, researchers and software experts, with additional expertise added over time.
The new center is co-located at IBM's Marunouchi office in Tokyo as well as at IBM's Yamato Lab in Kanagawa Prefecture. It will draw on a wealth of global IBM expertise, including more than 150 mathematicians and software engineers at IBM Research - Tokyo and Yamato Software Development Laboratory to help companies turn data into predictive intelligence. Initially, the center will be staffed by up to 500 IBM Japan consultants, researchers and software experts, with additional expertise added over time.
Windows 7 Upgrade Family Pack Pre-Order Listed
A very plausible rumor doing rounds has it that Microsoft may sell "family-pack" licenses for its Home Premium (and perhaps Home Basic) variants of the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. The license allows users to install and use a copy of the OS in three PCs in the same household, while being priced significantly less compared three individual copies or paper licenses. Last week, a blogger noticed an interesting term in the license agreement of a pre-release version of Windows 7 Home Premium which read:
b. Family Pack. If you are a "Qualified Family Pack User", you may install one copy of the software marked as "Family Pack" on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the "licensed computers" and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.Today, an American e-tailer started accepting pre-orders for Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade "Family-Pack" (manufacturer product code GFC-00236). It is priced at US $144.99, a mere $25 more compared to its single-user retail price of $119.99. If this sort of a pricing scheme stays on with the full-version retail pack too, it would sweeten the deal many fold. Three fold to be precise.
Dell Broadens Design Studio Customization Options to Inspiron 15 Laptops
When it comes to personalizing a laptop or desktop or getting one as soon as possible, Dell is providing choice and making it the best of both worlds for shoppers. Today, Dell is extending its eye-catching Design Studio customization options to the Inspiron 15, the company's most popular consumer laptop, and is announcing FastTrack, a program that ships select popular pre-configured systems for consumers and small and medium businesses (SMB) out from factories the next business day. Design Studio is an interactive gallery of original contemporary artwork commissioned exclusively for Dell.com that lets people turn their laptops into works of art. The easy-to-use Design Studio, introduced in December for Dell Studio laptops, has grown in popularity. With Design Studio online shoppers can click through a gallery of portraits and select a design, change viewing angles, zoom in on details and read a short bio that explains the artist's work.
NVIDIA GeForce G210 and GeForce GT 220 Now Official
Earlier this week we informed you of the existance of two upcoming 40 nm NVIDIA parts, GeForce GT 220 and GeForce G210. We also gave a hypothetical release date which stated "early Q4", well we lied to you in a good way, the cards are already official and standing on NVIDIA's official page.
Both cards support DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.0 and CUDA, with the G210 having analog VGA, DisplayPort and DVI outputs while the GT 220 has VGA, HDMI and DVI. The GeForce G210 has 16 processor cores and a 589 MHz CPU clock speed; that's paired with 512 MB of DDR2 memory with a 64-bit interface and 500 MHz clock speed. Its shaders run at 1402 MHz. As for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220, it has 48 processor cores and a 615 MHz clock speed, paired with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory with a 790 MHz clock and a 128-bit interface. It has a slightly slower shaders clock speed of 1335 MHz. Neither of the two cards is expected to be available directly to consumers, both offerings are marked as OEM products and meant to be entry-level options in pre-built PCs.
NVIDIA GeForce G210 (OEM Product) Specs
NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 (OEM Product) Specs
Both cards support DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.0 and CUDA, with the G210 having analog VGA, DisplayPort and DVI outputs while the GT 220 has VGA, HDMI and DVI. The GeForce G210 has 16 processor cores and a 589 MHz CPU clock speed; that's paired with 512 MB of DDR2 memory with a 64-bit interface and 500 MHz clock speed. Its shaders run at 1402 MHz. As for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 220, it has 48 processor cores and a 615 MHz clock speed, paired with 1 GB of GDDR3 memory with a 790 MHz clock and a 128-bit interface. It has a slightly slower shaders clock speed of 1335 MHz. Neither of the two cards is expected to be available directly to consumers, both offerings are marked as OEM products and meant to be entry-level options in pre-built PCs.
NVIDIA GeForce G210 (OEM Product) Specs
NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 (OEM Product) Specs
HIS Preps Radeon HD 4350 iFan With PCI-E x1 Interface
HIS company today launched Radeon HD 4350 iFan for people looking to buy a modern video card with PCI-Express x1 interface. Also boasting a low-profile design, HIS HD 4350 iFan PCI-E x1 is perfect for small PCs and HTPCs which motherboards that lack any PCI-E x16 slots. The HIS HD 4350 iFan PCI-E x1 is powered by active cooled ATI RV710 GPU boasting 80 Stream Processors, 512 MB of DDR2 memory and a 64-bit memory interface. The card has analog D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs. The card's clock speeds are set to 600 MHz for the GPU and 800 MHz for the memory. It is unclear how much this card will cost, neither when it should become available.
Buffalo Intros Series of Secure Flash Drives
Buffalo Japan announced a series of secure USB flash drives with capacities ranging between 16 and 32 GB. Products include RUF2-HSCxxGUW, RUF2-HSC32GW, and RUF2-HSCL-U16G (where "xx" is 16 or 32, indicating capacity in GB; pictured in the same order below). Selling points include the security features: SecureLock, which makes it a key for the computer, data encryption, and a native anti-virus solution from TrendMicro that scans files when its being copied, and quarantines infected files into a separate folder. The drive also lets you maintain a usage log of the drive, which tracks every file moved in or accessed. The RUF2-HSC32GUW will sell for 39800 JPY (US $420), the 16 GB variant at 29800 JPY ($320), RUF2-HSC32GW for 38800 JPY ($415), and RUF2-HSCL-U16G at 22800 JPY ($250). The drive will hit stores in Japan by mid-July
MSI Readies 770T-C45 Motherboard
MSI is working on yet another addition to its AM2+ socket motherboard lineup, this time the 770T-C45. This mainstream ATX motherboards draws more than just its layout from the recently announced 770-C35, and the AM3-based 770-C45, in fact an identical board layout with the addition of a few features. This board is uses an AM2+ socket with support for DDR2 memory, with the AMD 770 + SB710 chipset, which provides support for AMD OverDrive Advanced Clock Calibration feature. The CPU is powered by the same 4+2 phase design featured on the older model. An important difference is that this model features Active Phase Switching, which turns off redundant power phases when the load is low. Another change is the colour scheme for the expansion slots connectors, and heatsinks. It will be priced in the sub-$100 range.
QNAP Upgrades Capabilities of Its Turbo NAS Servers, Offers Users Free Upgrade
QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced a ground-breaking upgrade to the NAS management software that powers its Turbo NAS lineup of ultra-high performance NAS servers. Version 3.1 of the NAS management software, embedded as firmware, adds significant new features including virtual disk support (up to 8 virtual disks via iSCSI expansion over the network), exclusive QNAP RAID Recovery that can recover a degraded or inactive RAID 1, 5, or 6 due to unintentional removal of drives. Network Discovery Services are enhanced with new Bonjour support offering zero-configuration networking for HTTP, SAMBA, FTP, AFP, and SSH based networks, and full UPnP support. Other new features of the 3.1 firmware include EXT4 support for very large volumes and file sizes, SNMP support, and bitmap support for faster rebuilding of RAID volume after a crash or adding/removing a drive.
The new 3.1 NAS management firmware ushers in a completely new AJAX based User Interface that allows easy NAS configuration via a Web interface allowing less technical-savvy users to easily install the NAS server on the network with simple wizards for adding new users, and setting up services. The new UI supports Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari (version 3 & 4), FireFox 3, and Google Chrome web browsers. Administrators can choose from 3 different color themes, 15 languages, and even enable a QNAP RSS feed that will keep them up to date with important product news and updates.
The new 3.1 NAS management firmware ushers in a completely new AJAX based User Interface that allows easy NAS configuration via a Web interface allowing less technical-savvy users to easily install the NAS server on the network with simple wizards for adding new users, and setting up services. The new UI supports Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari (version 3 & 4), FireFox 3, and Google Chrome web browsers. Administrators can choose from 3 different color themes, 15 languages, and even enable a QNAP RSS feed that will keep them up to date with important product news and updates.
Industry Majors Support Chrome OS, Free Software in the Making
A day into its announcement, Google's ambitious new venture, the Chrome operating system, is receiving support from some of the biggest players in the IT industry. The company also confirmed that Chrome OS will be a free of charge software, requiring no purchase of license to use it. To ensure the OS gets adequate momentum, Google is working with the likes of HP, Acer, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm (some of the most relevant names in the netbook industry). The company also detailed about the developer support it plans to spread, with possible pre-release versions towards the end of the year. To the consumer, this means that major computer manufacturers could sell netbooks with Chrome OS preinstalled, with seamless support for their hardware. Early community software development will ensure a good selection of software for the netbook by the time the OS becomes release-grade, ready to be shipped with millions of netbooks.
Thermalright Readying Series of VRM Coolers for Radeon HD 4870, HD 4890
Thermalright is readying a couple of VRM area coolers for the AMD reference design ATI Radeon HD 4870 and Radeon HD 4890 graphics accelerators. The Thermalright VRM-R1 and VRM-R2 work in conjunction with the company's T-Rad series GPU coolers, and strive to provide a high level of cooling that allows better overclocking.
The cooler consists of an a heatsink that covers the VRM area of the accelerator. From this heatsink arise two nickel-plated copper heatpipes that convey heat to a small but dense aluminum fin block. This block is big enough to let you latch an 80 mm fan onto it for active cooling. Both VRM-R1 and VRM-R2 are essentially similar in size and shape of the components, except for that the two differ in the positioning of the aluminum fin block. For VRM-R1, the block propagates perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard, while that of the VRM-R2 propagates parallel to the plane. Both coolers weigh 160 g. They are compatible with most Thermalright GPU coolers, namely HR-03 Rev.A, HR-03 GT, HR-03 GT V2, T-Rad2, and T-Rad2 GTX. They will hit stores very soon.
The cooler consists of an a heatsink that covers the VRM area of the accelerator. From this heatsink arise two nickel-plated copper heatpipes that convey heat to a small but dense aluminum fin block. This block is big enough to let you latch an 80 mm fan onto it for active cooling. Both VRM-R1 and VRM-R2 are essentially similar in size and shape of the components, except for that the two differ in the positioning of the aluminum fin block. For VRM-R1, the block propagates perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard, while that of the VRM-R2 propagates parallel to the plane. Both coolers weigh 160 g. They are compatible with most Thermalright GPU coolers, namely HR-03 Rev.A, HR-03 GT, HR-03 GT V2, T-Rad2, and T-Rad2 GTX. They will hit stores very soon.
Samsung Intros 250 GB 1.8-inch Spinpoint HDDs with Native USB 2.0 Controller
Strengthening its line up of portable 1.8-inch hard drives for external use, Samsung today announced its 250 Gigabyte (GB) 1.8-inch hard disk drive, the Spinpoint N3U which incorporates a native USB 2.0 controller on its printed circuit board. Most external hard drives require the addition of a bridge circuit board to convert the hard drive's current interface into a USB interface. Samsung's N3U drive, however, uses a native USB interface and as such does not require this bridge board. This optimized design results in a smaller foot print, less power consumption and optimized performance, which is ideal for portable external storage devices. The N3U 1.8-inch drive consumes about 40 percent less power than a normal 2.5-inch hard drive of an equivalent capacity. It has two 125 GB platters for a total of 250 GB data storage capacity. The Spinpoint N3U also comes in 120 GB, 160 GB, and 200 GB capacities, the disk rotation speed is 3600 rpm. The drives are equipped with an 8 MB of cache memory. Initial shipments to OEMs are scheduled from mid-July with a MSRP of $199.00.
LaCie Introduces the First Mobile HD Multimedia Player: LaCinema Rugged HD
LaCie announced today its LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive is now available in High Definition - LaCinema Rugged HD. The LaCinema Rugged product range has the most compact, reliable, and mobile multimedia players on the market. Now, with enhanced HD capability, the LaCinema Rugged HD is the first multimedia player in its class, to allow users to store and play High Definition content - on any HDTV in Full-HD 1080p resolution.
The LaCinema Rugged HD comes with 500 GB of built-in storage capacity, allowing users to store and instantly watch their favorite television shows and movies, listen to music, and display photo slideshows with their family and friends. Compatible with any HDMI supported display, the LaCinema Rugged HD brings multimedia functionality to users while in the home or on-the-go.
The LaCinema Rugged HD comes with 500 GB of built-in storage capacity, allowing users to store and instantly watch their favorite television shows and movies, listen to music, and display photo slideshows with their family and friends. Compatible with any HDMI supported display, the LaCinema Rugged HD brings multimedia functionality to users while in the home or on-the-go.
Auzentech Launches X-Raider and X-Studio Sound Cards
Auzentech announced today the immediately availability of the Auzen X-Raider 7.1 and X-Studio 5.1 sound cards. These sound cards provide an affordable upgrade from the onboard audio built into desktop PCs, and are ideal for improving audio from games, music, and movies. The Auzen X-Raider 7.1 is a PCI sound card with swappable OPAMPs for all channels, SPDIF(Optical) In/Out, internal digital output via two-pin connector, support for HD front panel audio, Magic Voice, Microphone Echo, key-shifting, Xear3D, EAX 1.0/2.0, A3D and DirectSound. The X-Studio 5.1 is a low profile PCI Sound Card with a swappable front-left and front-right channel OPAMP, internal digital output via a two-pin connector, support for QSound Labs 3D Surround Engine driver, and HD front panel audio. Both sound cards are compatible with Intel and AMD processors and Windows XP or Vista.
Transcend Releases Blazing Fast 600X CompactFlash Cards
Dedicated to fulfilling the demanding requirements of performance-conscious photographers, Transcend Information (Transcend), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, proudly releases its Extreme Plus 600X CompactFlash cards with Turbo MLC technology. These new 600X CF cards raise the bar with blazing fast transfer speeds of up to 92 MB/s read and 87 MB/s write, which makes them as ideal choice for professional photographers and enthusiasts who use digital single lens reflex (DSLR) cameras.
Wednesday, July 8th 2009
Today's Reviews
Graphics Cards
Netbooks
PSUs
Speakers
SSD
Xigmatek Midgard Review
The Xigmatek Midgard aims to redefine the mainstream case segment by packing it full with all kinds of features. From plenty of fan mounts to screw-less systems everywhere, along with an all black interior and a low, low price tag of $60. That is bound to get our attention, so we take a real close look, but will it manage to do away with the doubts?
Patriot Doubles Cache for SSDs and Adds Industry Leading 10 Year Warranty
Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Torqx M28 Series with capacities in 128 GB and 256 GB, backed by a new industry leading 10 year warranty for all Torqx SSD products.
The Torqx M28 SSD has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by increasing the DRAM cache from 64 MB to 128 MB of cache in conjunction with its current NAND flash technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device. Compared to today†s hard drives, the Torqx SSD provides for better stability, faster access times, and lower power consumption. Consumers will also find added value with Patriot's included SSD bracket which makes using SSDs universal across all platforms; desktop or mobile.
The Torqx M28 SSD has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by increasing the DRAM cache from 64 MB to 128 MB of cache in conjunction with its current NAND flash technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device. Compared to today†s hard drives, the Torqx SSD provides for better stability, faster access times, and lower power consumption. Consumers will also find added value with Patriot's included SSD bracket which makes using SSDs universal across all platforms; desktop or mobile.
Buffalo Intros Tiny USB-Powered 3 Port Ethernet Switch
Buffalo Japan rolled out a tiny, pocketable Ethernet switch in the LSW-TX-3EP/C. With three 10/100 Mbps ports to spare, the switch draws power from a USB port, or any other 5V DC source. The USB power input adds portability, letting you build a small LAN anywhere at higher and more reliable speeds than ad-hoc wireless networks. You can grab one for JPY 2280 (US $24.50) when it starts selling later this month.
AMD RS880 IGP 15 Percent Faster
AMD's upcoming chipset with integrated graphics, codenamed RS880 is said to feature a significantly faster integrated graphics processor (IGP), which is about 15 percent faster than the current RS780. While technically it is derived from the AMD RV610 core with some tweaked clock-speeds, it will get the brand name ATI Radeon HD 4200. With 1800 points in 3DMark06, this IGP is as powerful as GeForce 6800 GT a high-end graphics accelerator from the DirectX 9 generation. In today's setting the score isn't exactly spectacular, but makes it highly competitive with IGPs from rival NVIDIA. The chipset will make a formal debut this August.
Altec Lansing Refreshes Value-series Speakers for PCs and Laptops
Altec Lansing, a division of Plantronics Inc. and a market leader in digital audio, today announced the VS2621 and VS2620 speaker systems. Both products bring innovative visual design and Altec Lansing's award-winning sound to any desktop laptop or MP3 player, at budget-friendly prices between 29.99 and 49.99 Euro.
NVIDIA Announces World of Warcraft GeForce Contest
Starting from July 1, 2009 to August 1, 2009 anyone in US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa who has purchased a GeForce 9600 GT, GeForce 9800 GT, GeForce 9800 GTX+ or GeForce GTS 250 (qualifying cards depend on region) can enter in NVIDIA's latest contest which gives two prizes. The winner of the contest will have the chance to win an all expenses paid trip to Blizzcon 2009 for him and a friend of his, valued up to $2400 USD. NVIDIA will also give the winner a free digital download of the complete World of Warcraft Classic. This download includes a full install of the complete retail version of the game with unrestricted 30-day access to character classes, cities, quests, chat, and other features from World of Warcraft Classic. The NVIDIA World of Warcraft bundle and code promotion will begin at 12:01 a.m. PST on July 1, 2009 and will end at 11:59:59 p.m. PST on August 1, 2009. For more information, please refer to the full contest details.
ARCTIC COOLING Adds ARCTIC F PRO TC Case Fans to its Product Line
Swiss ARCTIC COOLING today unveiled the new ARCTIC F Pro TC case fan series in 80 mm, 92 mm and 120 mm diameters. These fans are temperature controlled, each one has a temperature sensor on a 40 cm long cable that measures the inside case temperature. When the temperature in the case is from 0'C to 32'C, the ARCTIC F Pro TC fan speed remains at its lowest - 500 rpm and 400 rpm for the 12 cm model. Once the inside temp rises the fans start rotating faster. When a temperature of 38'C is reached they'll reach their maximum rotation speed of 2000 rpm or 1200 rpm for the 12 cm fan. This way an adequate case cooling is achieved according to ARCTIC COOLING engineers and noise levels are reduced to minimum. The ARCTIC F Pro TC fans come with a 6 year limited warranty. They are available now for a MSRP of US $6.50 / 4.90 Euro for the 80 mm, US $6.90 / 5.20 Euro for the 92 mm, and US $7.90 / 5.90 Euro for the 120 mm model.
- ARCTIC F8 Pro TC 500 - 2000 RPM - 28 CFM / 47.6 m3/h - 0.05 - 0.3 Sone noise
- ARCTIC F9 Pro TC 500 - 2000 RPM - 35 CFM / 59.5 m3/h - 0.05 - 0.4 Sone noise
- ARCTIC F12 Pro TC 400 - 1300 RPM - 33 CFM / 55.8 m3/h - 0.05 - 0.4 Sone noise
NVIDIA Releases Own SLI Profile Patch
Maybe annoyed by EVGA, NVIDIA today released their own SLI profile patch, which primary objective is to accelerate a number of games when ran on systems with multiple NVIDIA video cards. Version one of the NVIDIA SLI profile patch should be used with version 186.18 display driver. It adds support for Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery) and ARMA II. The patch works under Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, both 32-bit and 64-bit.
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA SLI Profile Patch 1
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA SLI Profile Patch 1
BIOSTAR Introduces its G41 Chipset Family Motherboards
BIOSTAR, a professional manufacturer of motherboards introducing Intel G41 chipset motherboards, the "T41 HD", "G41D3G", "G41 DVI", "G41-M7".
The Intel G41 Express Chipset, with the next-generation Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 (Intel GMA X4500), includes built-in support for smooth high-definition video playback without the need for add-in video cards or decoders. Intel GMA X4500 comes with Intel Clear Video Technology, a combination of video processing hardware and software technologies designed to enhance the visual experience.
The Intel G41 Express Chipset, with the next-generation Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 (Intel GMA X4500), includes built-in support for smooth high-definition video playback without the need for add-in video cards or decoders. Intel GMA X4500 comes with Intel Clear Video Technology, a combination of video processing hardware and software technologies designed to enhance the visual experience.
MSI Announces EX460 Performance Notebook
The MSI EX460 with 14-inch LED backlight display and Intel Core Duo processor is so compact, it weighs just 2kg with a 6-cell battery. The minimalist style is perfectly suited to business users wanting a notebook with style but not opulence. Under the hood is a high-end ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 discrete 3D graphic card (with 512MB of graphic memory) for breathtakingly real visual effects. All of your needs for work and play can now be satisfied in just one package.
GeForce GT 220, G 210 Reference Designs Pictured
NVIDIA's upcoming 40 nm value GPUs, GeForce GT 220 and GeForce G 210 are on their way to a early Q4 launch. NVIDIA looks to give its 40 nm desktop GPUs the right profile with its reference designs that include low-profile (half-height), single-slot PCBs and coolers. The size and shape of these cards send out good signals about their thermal characteristics, at least for now.
Both these cards use essentially similar designs: a half-height PCB holds the GPU one one end, and memory chips are distributed on the front and back sides of the PCB. The G 210 offers DVI-D and DisplayPort connectors on the card, while the GT 220 offers DVI-D and HDMI. Both cards feature extensions for the D-Sub connector. The GT 220 has a slightly longer PCB, with a dense aluminum cooler. Both cards rely entirely on the PCI-Express slot for power. G 210 features 24 shaders, 512 MB of 64-bit DDR2 or GDDR3 memory, while the GT 220 features 48 shaders, up to 1 GB of 128-bit GDDR3 memory. Pictured below are GT 220 and G 210 and angled, front, and back pictures in the said order.
Both these cards use essentially similar designs: a half-height PCB holds the GPU one one end, and memory chips are distributed on the front and back sides of the PCB. The G 210 offers DVI-D and DisplayPort connectors on the card, while the GT 220 offers DVI-D and HDMI. Both cards feature extensions for the D-Sub connector. The GT 220 has a slightly longer PCB, with a dense aluminum cooler. Both cards rely entirely on the PCI-Express slot for power. G 210 features 24 shaders, 512 MB of 64-bit DDR2 or GDDR3 memory, while the GT 220 features 48 shaders, up to 1 GB of 128-bit GDDR3 memory. Pictured below are GT 220 and G 210 and angled, front, and back pictures in the said order.
Mushkin Adds UltimateFX GeForce GTX 295 to its Portfolio
Having recently announced a comeback into the consumer graphics card market, Mushkin added a new accelerator to its lineup. The UltimateFX GTX 295 is a reference-design single PCB accelerator, which comes with all the Mushkin paraphernalia such as the WoodBox packing. Mushkin stuck to the reference clock speed profile for this card 576/1008/1242 MHz (core/memory/shader). It packs a total of 1792 MB GDDR3 memory across two 448-bit interfaces. The two GPUs pack 240 shader processors each. Mushkin indicated that it will release more variants in this series based on factory-overclocked settings.
BFG Intros GeForce GTX 295 H2OC and GeForce GTX 285 OCFU Video Cards
BFG Technologies, the leading North American and European supplier of advanced NVIDIA-based 3D graphics cards, power supplies, and the Phobos High-Performance Gaming/Home Theater System, announced today the launch of two new additions to BFG's GeForce family, the BFG GeForce GTX 295 H2OC with ThermoIntelligence Water Cooling Solution and BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCFU graphics cards that both offer outstanding PC gaming performance.
Thermalright Prepares T-Rad 2 GTX VGA Cooler
Thermalright is getting ready to release new and improved version of T-Rad 2, under the name T-Rad 2 GTX. The overall cooler dimensions are L228 x W140 x H25 mm and its weight is just over 360 gram, there are six nickel-plated heatpipes and a cooling surface that gives the option to install two 92 mm fans or a big 120 mm fan. The T-Rad 2 GTX is compatible with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS (G92), 8800 GT, 9800 GTX, GTS 250, GTX 280, and AMD Radeon HD 2600, HD 2900, HD 3870, HD 4850, HD 4890 cards, where the older version was compatible only with NVIDIA 9800/8800 series and ATI HD3850/3870/4850/4870 cards. With the cooler Thermalright supplies the Chill Factor thermal compound. Optional accessories which include TR-FDB fans and a dual heatpipe cooling for ATI Radeon HD4870/4890 VRM area are also available from Thermalright. The cooler's pricing is not yet confirmed, but it might be priced at around 40 Euro.
Google Announces Ambitious Chrome OS
Nearly nine months after launching the Chrome web-browser, which took the browser market by storm at least as far as pure-performance goes, with a conservative figure of 30 million active users, internet giant Google announced that it embarked on the ambitious-sounding Google OS project. The core ideology behind an OS of its own, is that it wants to focus on the web-connected era, which it feels current operating-systems are too dated and archaic in design. Of course it's not going to cater to a PC enthusiast, but the larger mass of internet and productivity users who will soon be using more web-based applications, and staying online and connected in general.
According to Google, its OS will be a light-weight, open-source, which will initially be targeted at netbooks and nettops. What's more interesting, is that it like POSIX-derivatives, it does not stick to one machine architecture. The OS will be available for both x86 and ARM. This opens up a lot of opportunity for consumer electronics companies working on ARM-based netbooks and MIDs. "Simplicity, speed, and security" will be the top design targets of the OS. Under the hood, Google OS will make use of a highly-customised Linux kernel. Google encourages its developer base to code web-applications, not exactly Linux apps, so the focus of its developer community remains on something that will work on any OS with a web-browser, and the developers get to cater to the largest base of target-consumers.
According to Google, its OS will be a light-weight, open-source, which will initially be targeted at netbooks and nettops. What's more interesting, is that it like POSIX-derivatives, it does not stick to one machine architecture. The OS will be available for both x86 and ARM. This opens up a lot of opportunity for consumer electronics companies working on ARM-based netbooks and MIDs. "Simplicity, speed, and security" will be the top design targets of the OS. Under the hood, Google OS will make use of a highly-customised Linux kernel. Google encourages its developer base to code web-applications, not exactly Linux apps, so the focus of its developer community remains on something that will work on any OS with a web-browser, and the developers get to cater to the largest base of target-consumers.
DFI Launches NP100-N16C Intel Atom-equipped Mini-ITX Motherboard
DFI on Wednesday launches new fanless Mini-ITX motherboard - NP100-N16C. This motherboard utilizes the 45 nm 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor (533 MHz FSB) with Intel 945GSE Express chipset and ICH7M I/O controller hub. An integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics is present, as well as a 240-pin DDR2 DIMM slot supporting up to 2 GB of DDR2 400 or 533 MHz memory. The integrated video has analog VGA and digital DVI outputs. In addition, the NP100-N16C has one CompactFlash socket, 2x SATA ports, 8x USB 2.0 ports, 4x Serial COM ports, 2x PCI Express Gigabit LAN controllers, 1x PCI Express x1 slot, and a PCI slot. A Realtek ALC262 2-channel HDA CODEC with S/PDIF I/O reproduces the audio. You can expect the board next month.
Fusion-io Develops a New Class of Enterprise MLC
Fusion-io today announced it has developed a new engineering technique for managing multi-level cell (MLC) flash technology, that combines the enterprise reliability of single-level cell (SLC) technology with the economical consumer-grade MLC flash. Fusion-io products utilizing this technology, called single mode level cell (SMLC), offer a cost-effective MLC-based solid-state solution with the endurance and performance of SLC at a much lower cost per gigabyte (GB). SMLC-based products from Fusion-io will be available starting this quarter.
Corsair Pulls Dominator GT Line from the Market
I'm afraid I have to serve some bad news for owners of the expensive Corsair Dominator GT memories. Corsair today informed the community that they will temporarily stop selling top of the line Dominator GT DDR3 modules due to an issue with the Elpida chips used in them. The DDR3-2000 CAS 7 Elpida chips also called "Hyper" RAMs are likely to fail for an yet unknown reason. Corsair says the fail ratio is very small, but unacceptable to them so they are pulling all affected models from the market until the problem is solved. Corsair will continue to support owners of the already sold modules.
We have seen a number of reports across various forums about failures of modules (from Corsair as well as from other memory manufacturers) built with Elpida "Hyper" RAMs. Through lab testing, we have now been able to reproduce similar failures. We are continuing to test to determine the cause of these failures. Note that although a relatively small percentage of "Hyper" ICs appear to be affected, the rate of failure is not acceptable to Corsair or to our customers. Due to these failures, we will no longer sell Hyper-based modules until the issue can be resolved. We have also have asked our retailers to return any modules they currently have on their shelves. Products impacted include TW3X4G1600C6GTF, TR3X6G1866C7GTF, TR3X6G2000C8GTF, TR3X3G2000C7GTF, and TR3X6G2000C7GTF. We are working on enhancing our manufacturing and testing process to be able to offer these parts again as soon as possible. We continue to stand behind these modules 100% with our standard warranty, which can be found here.
Razer Launches Moray+ In-ear Noise Isolating Earphones
Razer, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, announced the release of the Razer Moray+, an in-ear noise isolating earphone equipped with an inline omnidirectional microphone that provides a smart, portable solution for gamers on the go.
"After the release of the original Razer Moray, we received feedback from gamers who needed something more," says Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, President of Razer. "They wanted a compact headset that provides not only great audio quality but the ability to talk to their friends. Instead of lugging around large headsets, the Razer Moray+ provides a lightweight, portable solution for gamers who need just one pair of earphones for all their audio, communication and gaming needs.
"After the release of the original Razer Moray, we received feedback from gamers who needed something more," says Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff, President of Razer. "They wanted a compact headset that provides not only great audio quality but the ability to talk to their friends. Instead of lugging around large headsets, the Razer Moray+ provides a lightweight, portable solution for gamers who need just one pair of earphones for all their audio, communication and gaming needs.
OCZ Unveils the Vertex Turbo SSDs With a Few Updates
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today released the latest addition to their premium Vertex solid state drive series, the Vertex Turbo Edition. The tried-and-true architecture and performance of the original Vertex has been upgraded to meet the demands of enthusiasts and other performance-seeking users who benefit from SSD technology. The Vertex Turbo Series maximizes the potential for ultimate productivity and state-of-the-art computing experience, by increasing both the host clock-speed and the SDR DRAM Cache to 180 MHz versus 166 MHz on the original series.
Tuesday, July 7th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Motherboards
PSUs
SSD
Sony Vaio W 10.1-inch Netbook Announced
Sony's Vaio P elite netbook claimed top notch hardware specs when it was first unveiled, but its price made it unattractive to buyers, so now it is time for it to step down in flavour of the new Vaio W netbook. The new VAIO W sports a useful 10.1-inch LED-backlit LCD display that offers a better-than-usual resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Available in berry pink, cocoa brown or sugar white it also brings with it a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N280 processor, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics and a 160 GB hard disk drive. Like most netbooks, Sony VAIO W comes with Microsoft Windows XP OS installed, other trimmings include Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n, VGA out, two USB ports, Ethernet, webcam, and a MemoryStick / SD card reader. The system should launch in Japan this August with an estimated retail price of ¥60,000 or around $500. Read the full press release below.
Phenom II TWKR 42 Hits 7.00 GHz, New High for AMD
AMD's Phenom II TWKR 42 quad-core CPU was made with only one objective: to deliver record-setting CPUs to more professional overclockers than thought was possible. Having rolled out at least 100 units, AMD opened a door for several world-record attempts. Some of the most important ones took place at the SF3D OC Gathering in Finland. The new world record the group of overclockers put up was 7.00 GHz. The record was attempted on a DFI LANParty 790FXB-M3eH7 motherboard, and involved (from what the validation page shows) a bus speed of 250 MHz, and 28.0x bus multiplier. Its voltage remains a secret-sauce.
Other highlights include a run of 3DMark06 with the CPU clocked at 6.54 GHz, on a different bench. 3DMark06 tests the stability of this clock speed, as the test includes the CPU test score. The bench was aided by two ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 GPUs in CrossFireX mode. The same bench was used for a run of 3DMark05, with the CPU clocked at 6.67 GHz. This time however, the CPU test was not part of the score.
Other highlights include a run of 3DMark06 with the CPU clocked at 6.54 GHz, on a different bench. 3DMark06 tests the stability of this clock speed, as the test includes the CPU test score. The bench was aided by two ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 GPUs in CrossFireX mode. The same bench was used for a run of 3DMark05, with the CPU clocked at 6.67 GHz. This time however, the CPU test was not part of the score.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Appoints Head of Enterprise Quality, Completes Senior Leadership Team
GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the appointment of Ron Dickinson as vice president of enterprise quality. The appointment marks the completion of the senior management team, cementing a strong leadership base to support the long-term growth and success of GLOBALFOUNDRIES as it aims to reshape the foundry landscape. In his role, Dickinson will enhance the customer experience by driving maximum levels of quality assurance and reliability for internal and external areas across the business.
"To become the industry's premier global foundry company, we need to execute on an uncompromised standard of excellence when it comes to quality management," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Doug Grose. "Ron brings nearly three decades of world-class experience to help us achieve this goal by implementing a program that consistently meets and exceeds industry-leading benchmarks in efficiency, yields, quality, and cost."
"To become the industry's premier global foundry company, we need to execute on an uncompromised standard of excellence when it comes to quality management," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Doug Grose. "Ron brings nearly three decades of world-class experience to help us achieve this goal by implementing a program that consistently meets and exceeds industry-leading benchmarks in efficiency, yields, quality, and cost."
OCZ Teams Up with U.K. Distributor Spire Technology
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, components, and system builds, is pleased to announce the availability of its hardware solutions through Spire Technology, a leading distributor in the United Kingdom.
"OCZ is pleased to partner with Spire Technology a distributor known for both quality of offering and dedication to customer service," commented Justin Shong, Sr. VP of Worldwide Sales at the OCZ Technology Group. "By teaming up with Spire Technology OCZ's complete spectrum of performance hardware will become more accessible to a greater breadth of customers within the region, and we look forward to strong partnership for many years to come."
"OCZ is pleased to partner with Spire Technology a distributor known for both quality of offering and dedication to customer service," commented Justin Shong, Sr. VP of Worldwide Sales at the OCZ Technology Group. "By teaming up with Spire Technology OCZ's complete spectrum of performance hardware will become more accessible to a greater breadth of customers within the region, and we look forward to strong partnership for many years to come."
TSMC Joins the CEA-Leti Program on Multiple E-Beam Lithography for IC Manufacturing
TSMC and CEA-Leti, the leading French semiconductor research institute, signed an agreement today in which TSMC will join the new industrial program IMAGINE, led by CEA-Leti, on maskless lithography for IC manufacturing. Intended to operate for three years, this program allows companies to assess a maskless lithography infrastructure for IC manufacturing and use MAPPER Technology as a solution towards high throughput. It covers a global approach, including tool assessment, patterning and process integration, data handling, prototyping and cost analysis.
Super Talent Introduces Pico Mini USB Drives
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today introduced their new line of colorful and trendy Pico Mini USB drives, available this week in capacities from 2 GB to 16 GB. Like their siblings, the Pico drives, Pico Mini drives are built using COB technology which enables squeezing impressive Flash capacities into extremely small packages. At 32 x 15 x 3 mm (1.3 x 0.6 x 0.1 inches), Pico Mini drives are surprisingly tiny. Even more impressive, they tip the scales at merely 1.5 grams.
SAPPHIRE Announces Environmentally Friendly Packaging
SAPPHIRE Technology, the leading manufacturer and world-wide supplier of AMD/ATI based graphics products is aware of the increasing awareness of the impact of excess packaging on the environment, and has an ongoing programme to play its part in conservation. In another industry first for SAPPHIRE, the company is now introducing paper pulp trays as the inner packaging for graphics cards. SAPPHIRE already offers its customers the option of 'Lite Retail' packaging - in which cards are shipped in a smaller display box with a basic bundle of essential cables and driver disc. This smaller size and weight reduces shipping costs for the customer and material waste both in manufacture and for the end user.
MSI Unveils New G41 Series of Mainboards
With hi-definition audio and visuals becoming ever more common, Home Theater PC (HTPC), offering improved audio support and hi-def multimedia playback, provide more upgradeability and compatibility for the coming future. In light of this trend, more and more people are seeking to build their own HTPC.
Global mainboard and graphic producer, MSI, has integrated Intel's current multimedia platform - the Intel G41 chipset - into its new series of mainboards to meet this growing demand.
Global mainboard and graphic producer, MSI, has integrated Intel's current multimedia platform - the Intel G41 chipset - into its new series of mainboards to meet this growing demand.
Monday, July 6th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Notebooks
Printers
Processors
Sound Cards
Storage
Scimitar Computers Vertex Pyramid Case Review
The Vertex is a very unique HTPC chassis. Shaped like a pyramid and constructed of solid metal sheets along with a choice of three colors, the case is certainly an eye catcher. The chassis is currently available in very limited quantities, but you can count on us to get one of them to fill up with hardware for your viewing pleasure.
Medion Rolls Out AMD-based Akoya Mini E1312 Netbook
AMD-based netbook offerings are not so widespread these days, but Medion's new Akoya Mini E1312 makes an exception. The Mini E1312 gets AMD Sempron 210U power-saving processor technology and ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics instead of the usual Intel combo. It also has a 160GB hard disk, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 6-cell battery with a 9-cell option, 1.3 MP webcam, and Bluetooth 2.1. In addition there are three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, a 3-in-1 multi-format memory card reader, 802.11b/g/draft-n Wi-Fi and an Ethernet port. Finally, there is the netbook's display which is a 11.6-inch screen with 1366x768 native 16:9 resolution. The Medion Akoya Mini E1312 is running Microsoft Windows XP and will be available in black or white starting from 12 July, priced at £339.99 with a 3-year warranty.
Intel Clarksfield Mobile Quad-Core Chips Feature Low TDPs
Using new lows in core clock speeds, Intel is looking to give its upcoming Westmere-based Core i7 "Clarksfield" mobile quad-core processors surprisingly low rated TDPs. Apart from the rest of the known lineup of upcoming Intel processors, it is learned that Intel will initially have three mobile quad-core chips, all branded Core i7, and based on the 32 nm Clarksfield core. The three will include an Extreme Edition (XE) SKU. The clock speeds of these will be surprisingly low: ranged between 1.60 to 2.00 GHz, while having a high Turbo-Boost speed ranged between 2.80 to 3.20 GHz.
The Turbo-Boost speed is enabled when the processor powers-down some of its cores, and increases the clock speed of the cores that are available. In the process, power consumption is reduced. These chips have some very low TDPs that make them ideal for notebooks. The XE variant has a TDP of 55W, while the two lower models have rated TDP of 45W. The low-end model comes with 6 MB of L3 cache, while the higher two have 8 MB. All models have four cores with HyperThreading enabling 8 threads, and lack IGPs. They will run on the new PGA-G1 socket.
In related news, the first three Core i5/i7 "Lynnfield" processors come with rated TDP no higher than 95W. They come with Turbo-Boost Speeds ranging between 3.20 and 3.60 GHz.
The Turbo-Boost speed is enabled when the processor powers-down some of its cores, and increases the clock speed of the cores that are available. In the process, power consumption is reduced. These chips have some very low TDPs that make them ideal for notebooks. The XE variant has a TDP of 55W, while the two lower models have rated TDP of 45W. The low-end model comes with 6 MB of L3 cache, while the higher two have 8 MB. All models have four cores with HyperThreading enabling 8 threads, and lack IGPs. They will run on the new PGA-G1 socket.
In related news, the first three Core i5/i7 "Lynnfield" processors come with rated TDP no higher than 95W. They come with Turbo-Boost Speeds ranging between 3.20 and 3.60 GHz.
GeForce 186.24 Beta Drivers Leaked
NVIDIA's upcoming beta driver suite has been leaked by sections of the Chinese media. The new driver, GeForce 186.24 (6.14.11.8624) is dated 23/06/2009, and follows the release of 186.18 by over two weeks. Due to the lack of a release-notes document from NVIDIA, not much is known about this released except that it expands the supported products list significantly, adding several IGPs and some GPUs belonging to the new 40 nm GT21x series. Be cautioned, this is a beta release that does not originate from NVIDIA's website, and is not guaranteed.
DOWNLOAD: GeForce 186.24 BETA for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows XP 32-bit
Synology Introduces the DS409slim, the Most Compact and Energy Saving 4-Bay NAS
Synology Inc. today launched the new 2.5" 4-bay Disk Station DS409slim, a highly anticipated addition to the 09 series product line that brings lower power consumption, virtually quiet operations and an extremely small footprint both physically and financially while providing the same reliable data sharing and backup solution that Synology is well known for.
The DS409slim is equipped with a 1.2 GHz CPU, 128MB DDRII RAM, one Gigabit LAN port, two USB2.0 ports and one eSATA port. The snap-in disk tray requires minimal effort to install and replace disks. Supporting up to 2 TB with the combination of four 2.5" SATA or SSD hard drives of 500GB which is the largest capacity on the market, it remains stylish and compact (120 x 105 x 142 mm).
The DS409slim is equipped with a 1.2 GHz CPU, 128MB DDRII RAM, one Gigabit LAN port, two USB2.0 ports and one eSATA port. The snap-in disk tray requires minimal effort to install and replace disks. Supporting up to 2 TB with the combination of four 2.5" SATA or SSD hard drives of 500GB which is the largest capacity on the market, it remains stylish and compact (120 x 105 x 142 mm).
Mitsubishi Intros Viseo 24.1 inch Black LCD
Mitsubishi made a return to black with the Viseo MDT243WG satin black. This 24.1 inch LCD monitor has a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels (WUXGA), and comes with a matte-black finish. The panel has a static contrast ratio of 1000:1, maximum brightness of 500 cd/m², and access time of 5 ms. It takes input from two HDMI connectors (perhaps to connect to different sources of video and audio, or different audio/video sources altogether). Apart from HDMI, DVI-D, S-video and D-Sub are available. The monitor embeds a stereo 2x 5W speaker set. At 99,800 Yen (€745), it's your average professional-grade monitor.
Intel SandyBridge Mainstream Quad-Core CPU Architecture Surfaces
Intel is on a golden path, showing no signs of a slowdown as far as technology development is concerned. After having pushed its 32 nm manufacturing node and its derived Westmere architecture to production grade, Intel seems to have already made a prototype on the 32 nm node, which will serve a technology leap on 32 nm. The company uses a "tick-tock" model of process development, where each processor architecture gets to be made in two manufacturing processes, while each process gets to build two succeeding architectures. The current Nehalem architecture meets 32 nm with the Westmere architecture, while the 32 nm node meets its next architecture with the SandyBridge.
SandyBridge is characterised by a larger level of integration of components. While Nehalem and Westmere "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" mainstream processors use a multi-chip module that holds the CPU and north-bridge dice, SandyBridge will see an integration of both into a monolithic, rectangular die spreading across an area of around 225 sq. mm. Significant portions of the die will be occupied with a DirectX 11-compliant integrated graphics processor, the "SandyBridge System Agent" (a component which includes a PCI-Express hub, and DMI. The L3 cache is the largest component on the die. It will have a large 256-bit ring-topology, which lets it not only perform cache operations, but also as a fast transport medium between the various components.
SandyBridge is characterised by a larger level of integration of components. While Nehalem and Westmere "Lynnfield" and "Clarksfield" mainstream processors use a multi-chip module that holds the CPU and north-bridge dice, SandyBridge will see an integration of both into a monolithic, rectangular die spreading across an area of around 225 sq. mm. Significant portions of the die will be occupied with a DirectX 11-compliant integrated graphics processor, the "SandyBridge System Agent" (a component which includes a PCI-Express hub, and DMI. The L3 cache is the largest component on the die. It will have a large 256-bit ring-topology, which lets it not only perform cache operations, but also as a fast transport medium between the various components.
Albatron Unveils K3780E Integrated Platform Motherboard
Albatron Technology Co., LTD., a professional mainboard and graphics card manufacturer, involved in Industry Personal Computer (IPC) area these years. By virtue of sources and experience in the consumer PC market, Albatron developed different products for IPC clients. During Computex Taipei 2009, Albatron unveiled a new product, Albatron K3780E, which combined with System Board and I/O Board. According to customers' demands to adjust I/O interface, SI can apply Albatron K3780E easily on their system with more flexibilities. SemiAccurate.com even praised Albatron K3780E: "Two level mobo wins best of show."
In the diverse IPC industry, Albatron thinks outside the box to provide our clients various options. Unveiled Albatron K3780E shows Albatron's multiple researches and design efforts. As we know customers have their own requests toward I/O interface. If we provide only one solution, it just meets some clients' needs. In addition, restricted by the original design, Albatron will be not able to offer our customers diverse and flexible products.
In the diverse IPC industry, Albatron thinks outside the box to provide our clients various options. Unveiled Albatron K3780E shows Albatron's multiple researches and design efforts. As we know customers have their own requests toward I/O interface. If we provide only one solution, it just meets some clients' needs. In addition, restricted by the original design, Albatron will be not able to offer our customers diverse and flexible products.
Verbatim Intros Colourful Portable HDDs in Europe
Verbatim EMEA released a colourful new line of portable hard drives. Inside its shell is a 2.5 inch hard drive with an unformatted capacity of 500 GB. The drive has a spindle speed of 5400 rpm. The unit weighs in at a mere 161 g (5.68 oz) and uses the standard USB 2.0 interface for power and data transfer. It comes in shell colours labeled "Sun kissed Yellow", "Eucalyptus Green", "Hot Pink", "Caribbean Blue" and "Volcanic Orange". The bundle includes a copy of Nero BackItUp 4 Essentials. Verbatim will ask €109 for this.
A-Data Launches S592 2.5-inch Solid-State Drives
Taiwanese memory manufacturer A-DATA is to update its existing SSD line-up with the introduction of the recently unveiled S592 series of solid-state drives. Enclosed in a 2.5-inch box, the new S592 SSDs come in 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB capacities, featuring SATA 3.0 Gbps interface. The drives use MLC NAND flash memory chips and will likely boast not less than 64 MB of cache. The S592 drives are reported to achieve a sustained read rate at 230 MB/sec and write rate at 170 MB/sec with an impressive performance of 6,740 IOPS at sequential read and 2,851 IOPS at write. The S592 family is backed by a two-year warranty, and has already started to appear in stores, with the 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB models being priced at about 122 Euro, 172 Euro and 317 Euro, respectively.
Inno3D iChill GeForce GTS 250 1 GB Announced
Inno3D has recently added GeForce GTS 250 to its iChill custom line of video adapters. The Inno3D iChill GeForce GTS 250 is equipped with Arctic Cooling's Accelero Twin Turbo PRO cooler that uses a four-heatpipe design and twin 92 mm fans to provide cooling that is superior to the stock cooler. With it, the iChill GTS 250 manages to post temperatures 23'C lower than the reference design boards and also drops noise levels significantly. The new iChill card has a G92 GPU clocked at 738 MHz, and 1 GB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 2300 MHz. The Inno3D iChill GeForce GTS 250 should hit stores later this month.
NZXT M59 Medium Tower PC Chassis Early Look
PC Games Hardware Online is again a step ahead of NZXT themselves, giving us an early look at their latest enclosure - the mid-tower M59 PC chassis. The new all-black case is big enough to fit four 5.25-inch drives, and up to five 3.5-inch hard disks, also the case comes with brackets that allow for up to two 2.5-inch solid-state drives to be installed inside. For adequate cooling NZXT provides two 120 mm fans installed on the side panel and on the back of the case. An additional two 140 mm fans can be installed on top of the case. Lastly, the case has pre-drilled holes that ease the installation of external water cooling radiators a lot. The case is expected to start selling later this month for just under 60 Euro.
Samsung Introduces Super Slim XL2370 LED Monitor
Samsung Electronics, the number one worldwide brand for LCD displays, today announced the Samsung XL2370, a new LED monitor featuring cutting-edge technology and a "finger-slim" design. The Samsung XL2370 is Samsung's highest performance display and the first to incorporate LED technology, giving the model a super-slim profile and significant energy-saving benefits.
Sunday, July 5th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Graphics Cards
Keyboards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Notebooks
DangerDen Ready with GTX 295 V2 Water Block
Danger Den is ready with its offering for those seeking a water block for the single-PCB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 accelerator. The Danger Den GTX295 V2 (DD-GTX295V2) is another entry into the company's portfolio of full-coverage water blocks. It provides cooling to all heat-generating components of the card. Standard copper is the primary material of this block. Inside its chamber, heat-dissipation channels are built on top of the portions directly over the GPUs, the chamber is topped off with hard Lucite. Fittings' options include High Flow G 1/4 - 1/2", 3/8" and 1/4". At US $135.95, the Danger Den GTX295 V2 water block is priced lower than its counterpart from Koolance. It will be available soon at the Danger Den store, and popular component retailers.
Saturday, July 4th 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Gaming PC
Graphics Cards
Keyboards
Mouse
Windows 7 Confirmed to Hit RTM on July 13
It would appear as though rumours which surfaced around a month ago are going to be proved correct, as sources close to multiple technology sites have confirmed that Windows 7 will be released to manufacturing on 13th July. Although general availability is still not until 22nd October, this is a significant milestone as the RTM build will be the final code which also gets shipped to the general public later this year. As well as OEMs, the build should also be available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers and will also no doubtedly find its way on to torrent sites shortly after. The wait for Microsoft's highly anticipated operating system is less than four months away, but for many of us little more than a week of waiting stands in our way.
Friday, July 3rd 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Notebooks
PSUs
A-DATA Unveils New Swivel-designed C903 USB Flash Drive
A-DATA Technology today unveiled a brand-new swivel-designed C903 USB Flash Drive. Accentuated by its glossy, metallic swivel casing with a distinctive asymmetric contour therein, C903 is delicately designed to bring out the minimalist style with an innovative touch.
Unlike conventional swivel-designed USB flash drives, the unique asymmetric outer casing of C903 protects the USB connector and serves as a lock mechanism to prevent the connector from sticking out due to constant turning and wearing. The same design also enables users to turn and store the USB connector properly in place with much of an ease.
Unlike conventional swivel-designed USB flash drives, the unique asymmetric outer casing of C903 protects the USB connector and serves as a lock mechanism to prevent the connector from sticking out due to constant turning and wearing. The same design also enables users to turn and store the USB connector properly in place with much of an ease.
Thermaltake Announces the ISGC-V320 VGA Cooler
Products of Thermaltake's ISGC series have become representative of silent and good performance coolers. Users have already been expecting the newest ISGC VGA cooler to complete the collection. Now, finally the ISGC-V320 is coming with lots of killer features.
The ISGC-V320 is a true masterpiece of Thermaltake's R&D team. Its foremost feature, as a matter of course, is its surprising silence which it inherited from the original ISGC Fan. The ISGC-V320 is equipped with two 120 mm ISGC fans. Users can adjust the fan speed from 800 to 1300RPM according to their needs. Broad compatibility of the ISGC-V320 greatly enhances its convenience factor. Supported are the last graphics cards such as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 and ATI Radeon HD 4890. 5 heatpipes in combination with a large dissipation surface ensure best performance under high stress. With these powerful parts, ISGC-V320 can easily take loads of up to 320W.
The ISGC-V320 is a true masterpiece of Thermaltake's R&D team. Its foremost feature, as a matter of course, is its surprising silence which it inherited from the original ISGC Fan. The ISGC-V320 is equipped with two 120 mm ISGC fans. Users can adjust the fan speed from 800 to 1300RPM according to their needs. Broad compatibility of the ISGC-V320 greatly enhances its convenience factor. Supported are the last graphics cards such as the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 and ATI Radeon HD 4890. 5 heatpipes in combination with a large dissipation surface ensure best performance under high stress. With these powerful parts, ISGC-V320 can easily take loads of up to 320W.
Sapphire HD 4890 Vapor-X Gets 2 GB Variant
Major ATI partner Sapphire is releasing a variant of the HD 4890 Vapor-X accelerator, with double the amount of memory: 2 GB. Being a variant, it retains the rest of the feature-set, with a blue non-reference PCB, Sapphire Vapor-X GPU cooler, and separate heatsinks over the VRM and memory areas. The card comes with clock speeds of 870/4200 MHz (core/memory), and provides output from DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. It is expected to retail in Europe for as low as 226 EUR.
Zalman CNPS9900-NT Closing In
Having released the 120 mm copper monstrosity, the CNPS9900, Zalman is looking to give the NVIDIA-branded CNPS9700-NT an update, only this time, there's no NVIDIA branding to be seen. The CNPS9900-NT is decked with nickel-plated copper, which gives it the chrome appearance. Between the two copper-fin blocks, is nested a 120 mm green LED lit fan, which gives the same illumination as the older NT versions of Zalman's coolers. It measures 94 x 131 x 152 mm (LxWxH), and weighs in at 730 g. The fan spins at speeds between 1000 and 2000 rpm. The cooler supports all current CPU socket types, including LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, and AM3/AM2(+). It packs a tube of the company's ZM-STG2 thermal compound. When released in Europe, it is expected to sell for 70 EUR.
FurMark Returns with Version 1.7.0
Nearly four months after its previous version, the chaps at oZone3D have released Furmark 1.7.0. This release packs a host of nifty new features, and a number of bug fixes. For starters, FurMark is able to work along with GPU-Z to provide real-time readings on the graphics card's temperatures, voltages and VDDC current (for cards that support it). An experimental feature allows you to Twit your score onto your Twitter account. While the stability test or benchmark is running, the main GUI stays minimized, so you needn't have to start another instance to run several tests.
With multiple GPUs doing the rendering, each GPU is given its own temperature graph. You can start or stop the rendering by hitting the space key without having to close the window. A number of new resolutions have been added, and the application is now also available in Castilian, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak, and Spanish, thanks to translations. Issues relating to temperature updates in the graph, and the application's multithreading management are resolved. Give your graphics cards a sunbath.
DOWNLOAD: FurMark 1.7.0
With multiple GPUs doing the rendering, each GPU is given its own temperature graph. You can start or stop the rendering by hitting the space key without having to close the window. A number of new resolutions have been added, and the application is now also available in Castilian, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak, and Spanish, thanks to translations. Issues relating to temperature updates in the graph, and the application's multithreading management are resolved. Give your graphics cards a sunbath.
ASUS P7P55 EVO Detailed
ASUS' P7P55 series includes the company's mainstream-thru-premium motherboards based on Intel P55 chipset, supporting LGA-1156 socket processors. Following the recent exposé of its little sibling the P7P55 Pro, XFastest took the higher-end P7P55 EVO for a photo-shoot. This motherboard retains its lesser sibling's feature-set for the most part, except for additional connectivity. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase power circuit. Additional power management is provided by the ASUS EPU chip. The expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16 slots.
The first two arrange as (x8, x8) electrically, while the third one is electrical x4. Two PCI-E x1 and two legacy PCI slots make for the rest of the expansion. The connectivity options of this board will include support for SATA III. Apart from the six SATA ports the P55 PCH provides, an additional Marvell 88SE9123 two-port PCI-E SATA III controller is present, which also provides an IDE connector. Apart from the 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports in all, there are two gigabit Ethernet controllers. More pictures can be found at the source.
The first two arrange as (x8, x8) electrically, while the third one is electrical x4. Two PCI-E x1 and two legacy PCI slots make for the rest of the expansion. The connectivity options of this board will include support for SATA III. Apart from the six SATA ports the P55 PCH provides, an additional Marvell 88SE9123 two-port PCI-E SATA III controller is present, which also provides an IDE connector. Apart from the 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports in all, there are two gigabit Ethernet controllers. More pictures can be found at the source.
AMD Readying Low Cost ''Suzuka'' Opteron Processors
Over a month into the release of its flagship enterprise processor, the six-core Opteron codenamed "Istanbul", the company expressed plans to roll out another line of Opteron chips, this time targeting the cost-effective SME market, and not exactly power scaling and parallelism offered by its two-socket and multi-socket capable Opteron 2000 and Opteron 8000 series. The new quad-core processor will be codenamed "Suzuka", and will be made for single-socket systems. For this reason, it will not use the 1207-pin Socket F, but rather the AM3 socket, and will be compatible with existing AM2(+) motherboards that support the Budapest quad-core chip (single socket version of Barcelona).
Suzuka shares the same die design as Shanghai (Opteron) and Deneb (Phenom II). It features four x86-64 processing cores on a monolithic die, with 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 6 MB L3 cache. Dual DDR2/DDR3 memory controllers work in ganged or unganged dual-channel modes. Currently three models are ready, the 2.50 GHz Opteron 1381, 2.70 GHz Opteron 1385, and 2.90 GHz 1389. These chips are specified to come with system bus speeds of 2200 MT/s (HyperTransport bus actual speed of 1100 MHz). All three models come with a rated TDP of around 115 W, and is built on the 45 nm SOI process. Opteron 1381 is priced at US $189, Opteron 1385 at $229, and Opteron 1389 at $269.
Suzuka shares the same die design as Shanghai (Opteron) and Deneb (Phenom II). It features four x86-64 processing cores on a monolithic die, with 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 6 MB L3 cache. Dual DDR2/DDR3 memory controllers work in ganged or unganged dual-channel modes. Currently three models are ready, the 2.50 GHz Opteron 1381, 2.70 GHz Opteron 1385, and 2.90 GHz 1389. These chips are specified to come with system bus speeds of 2200 MT/s (HyperTransport bus actual speed of 1100 MHz). All three models come with a rated TDP of around 115 W, and is built on the 45 nm SOI process. Opteron 1381 is priced at US $189, Opteron 1385 at $229, and Opteron 1389 at $269.
Thermaltake Unveils ProWater PW880i Water Cooling System
Thermaltake, leading provider of computer cooling solutions, is introducing their latest addition in their wide range of liquid cooling products, the PW880i gets your PC in gear for the coming summer heat. In addition to this big size water cooling system, Thermaltake also offers water cooling solutions for VGA cards (WB400) and for the motherboard North Bridge (WB200), tailored for your individual cooling needs.
The PW880i is a powerful liquid cooling solution for the core of your PC the CPU. With a 24cm radiator equipped with two 14cm fans this is the ideal device for efficient heat dissipation. The solid CPU water block is made of pure copper with delicate brazing technology. Supporting most mainstream CPU sockets such as Intel LGA1366 and AMD AM3, the PW880i sports excellent cooling performance for demanding users and overclockers alike. As the tank and pump can be placed outside the chassis it offers two practical advantages: you gain more space within the case itself and maintenance is made easier and more convenient.
The PW880i is a powerful liquid cooling solution for the core of your PC the CPU. With a 24cm radiator equipped with two 14cm fans this is the ideal device for efficient heat dissipation. The solid CPU water block is made of pure copper with delicate brazing technology. Supporting most mainstream CPU sockets such as Intel LGA1366 and AMD AM3, the PW880i sports excellent cooling performance for demanding users and overclockers alike. As the tank and pump can be placed outside the chassis it offers two practical advantages: you gain more space within the case itself and maintenance is made easier and more convenient.
MSI Offers Windows 7 Upgrades too
With Microsoft close to the finalization of Windows 7, MSI today also announced that from June 26 onwards it will support the Windows 7 upgrade offer that gives consumers the opportunity to pre-book Windows 7 upgrades online for a small processing fee. Once Windows 7 is officially released, Windows 7 upgrade DVDs will be sent out to consumers by Microsoft so they can upgrade their Vista operating system to the latest Windows 7. This offer will apply to owners of specific new and used laptops and all-in-one PCs under the MSI brand with legal Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, Business and Ultimate operating systems. The offer is legit till January 31, 2010. You can find more information on the MSI Windows 7 upgrade offer here.
Thursday, July 2nd 2009
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Multimedia
Printers
Maximo iM-590 iMetal Earphones Review
Relatively unknown Maximo recently released their iM-590 earphones. Based on a 9 mm driver and boosting a metal exterior these earphones will undoubtedly turn some heads. The price of just $59 certainly will.
Silicon Power Releases DDR3-1333/1066 Dual Channel Pack
Silicon Power's DDR3-1333/1066 dual channel memory module packs not only support the new Intel / AMD platforms but also benefits from Intel's Core i7 Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) technology boosting bandwidths up to 6.4GB/s. It is best suited for gaming, HD multimedia, intense graphic and video editing / processing work.
Silicon Power's DDR3-1333 /1066 memory modules are in compliance with JEDEC DDR3 standards. Using the new Fly-by circuit design for efficient communications between DRAM modules and the controller; its On-DIE Termination (ODT) technology dramatically reduces unwanted reflection signals and maximizes speed. Silicon Power insists on using original memory modules and FBGA packaging for better heat dissipation and accurate data transfer. Tested 100% proof for dual channel operation, Silicon Power's dual channel DDR3 memory pack is stable, durable and highly compatible.
Silicon Power's DDR3-1333 /1066 memory modules are in compliance with JEDEC DDR3 standards. Using the new Fly-by circuit design for efficient communications between DRAM modules and the controller; its On-DIE Termination (ODT) technology dramatically reduces unwanted reflection signals and maximizes speed. Silicon Power insists on using original memory modules and FBGA packaging for better heat dissipation and accurate data transfer. Tested 100% proof for dual channel operation, Silicon Power's dual channel DDR3 memory pack is stable, durable and highly compatible.
Green-House Expands SSD Lineup with New IDE Drives
Japanese manufacturer Green-House recently announced lines of internal and portable SSDs. The company now announced two new IDE SSDs, in 1.8 and 2.5 inch form-factors. Both the 1.8 inch GH-SSDxxGP-1yA and 2.5 inch GH-SSDxxGP-2yA (where "x" is the capacity amount in GB, "y" being S or M, denoting SLC or MLC NAND flash type respectively) use the aging parallel ATA interface, and come in capacities of 16, 32, 64, and 128 GB.
The 1.8 inch drive's SLC variant offers read/write speeds of 65/55 MBps, while its MLC variant offers speeds of 60/35 MBps. The speeds of the 2.5 inch drive shows a simlar trend. The SLC variant provides speeds of 70/60 MBps, with the MLC variant trailing it at 60/40 MBps. While the 1.8 inch drive uses a ZIF ATA interface, the 2.5 inch drive has a standard 44-pin IDE interface. Sales will begin soon in Japan. While not exactly making a mark with its speeds, the SSDs could use durability and low access-times as their selling points for aging notebooks with the older interface.
The 1.8 inch drive's SLC variant offers read/write speeds of 65/55 MBps, while its MLC variant offers speeds of 60/35 MBps. The speeds of the 2.5 inch drive shows a simlar trend. The SLC variant provides speeds of 70/60 MBps, with the MLC variant trailing it at 60/40 MBps. While the 1.8 inch drive uses a ZIF ATA interface, the 2.5 inch drive has a standard 44-pin IDE interface. Sales will begin soon in Japan. While not exactly making a mark with its speeds, the SSDs could use durability and low access-times as their selling points for aging notebooks with the older interface.
MSI Announces X400 Ultra-Slim Notebook
MSI' latest X-Slim X400 14" ultra-slim notebook based on Intel's new ultra low-voltage CULV platform is so slim it is thickness never exceeds one ich. When the battery is included, the notebook weighs just 1.5kg yet delivers long run times. The X400 produces very little noise and heat during its operation so it doesn't heat up after extended use. X-Slim's seductive lines and personalized color bezels redefine the allure of minimalism, making the X400 the best choice of the fashionable urban elite!
The external appearance of the X400 makes clever use of sensual urban curves and a special glossy finish. The perfect proportions enhance its minimalist style while the personalized color bezel gives the X400 a sense of depth. The indentations emphasize X400's exquisite attention to detail and quality, making it a perfect way to express your own personal metro style and professionalism. With the battery included, the X400 is a feather-light 1.5kg making it the world's lightest and thinnest 14" NB. All of these exclusive features on the X400 make its external design the perfect embodiment of minimalist appeal and high quality craftsmanship.
The external appearance of the X400 makes clever use of sensual urban curves and a special glossy finish. The perfect proportions enhance its minimalist style while the personalized color bezel gives the X400 a sense of depth. The indentations emphasize X400's exquisite attention to detail and quality, making it a perfect way to express your own personal metro style and professionalism. With the battery included, the X400 is a feather-light 1.5kg making it the world's lightest and thinnest 14" NB. All of these exclusive features on the X400 make its external design the perfect embodiment of minimalist appeal and high quality craftsmanship.
Arctic Cooling Announces MX-3 High Performance Thermal Compound
The Swiss cooling solution provider ARCTIC COOLING today unveiled the new premium thermal compound ARCTIC MX-3 (4g). Its high thermal conductivity and non-curing nature make it one of the best thermal compounds for overclockers and gamers.
As an upgraded version of the award-winning ARCTIC MX-2, the performance of the ARCTIC MX-3 outranges other well-known thermal compounds clearly. This new compound is composed of carbon microparticles which lead to an extremely high thermal conductivity - 8.2 W/mK. It guarantees that heat from the CPU or GPU can be dissipated quickly and efficiently.
As an upgraded version of the award-winning ARCTIC MX-2, the performance of the ARCTIC MX-3 outranges other well-known thermal compounds clearly. This new compound is composed of carbon microparticles which lead to an extremely high thermal conductivity - 8.2 W/mK. It guarantees that heat from the CPU or GPU can be dissipated quickly and efficiently.
A-DATA Unveils XPG Xupreme 200X Flash Drive
A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, today introduced its new 64 GB capacity XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive, which is the first flash drive compatible with Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit). Coated with an elegant dark grey aluminum color, the XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive presents the high-performance USB flash drive in a simple yet stylish design of XPG product line. It offers capacity from 8GB to incredible 64GB, and supports up to 30MB/s (200X) read speed.
The XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also certified for Windows Vist and Windows ReadyBoost, offering the high performance advantages to this operation system. Moreover, the XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also comes with a practical leather strap and provides true "Plug and Play" function to make your storage utilization more convenient.
The XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also certified for Windows Vist and Windows ReadyBoost, offering the high performance advantages to this operation system. Moreover, the XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also comes with a practical leather strap and provides true "Plug and Play" function to make your storage utilization more convenient.
EVGA Intros X58 SLI Micro Motherboard
EVGA today introduced the compact X58 SLI Micro motherboard (model number: 121-BL-E756-TR), supporting the Micro-ATX form factor. Don't be fooled by the small size, in performance figures this motherboard is a match for all standard ATX Intel X58 equipped motherboards, it supports all LGA1366 Core i7 processors to date, has six DDR3-1600+ memory slots, two PCI-Express x16 slots, a single PCI slot and one PCI-E x1 slot. In addition EVGA gives you full range of overclocking features including: EVGA VDroop Control, EVGA E-LEET support, enthusiast BIOS options and of course the chance to put a SLI or CrossFireX setup of video cards in a micro-ATX system. The board's build quality is also off the hook, 100% solid capacitors are used, and passive heatsink design is incorporated so the board is 100% silent. The EVGA X58 SLI Micro will be available very soon for around $200.
Wednesday, July 1st 2009
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Sony Patents PS2 Emulation Software for PS3
To be fair, Sony made a bit of a mess of the backwards compatibility feature of the PS3. Initially the Playstation 3 shipped with the main processing unit from the Playstation 2, called the Emotion Engine as part of the SKU which meant that in effect, you were buying a PS3 and PS2 in one box, providing universally compatibility for all Playstation games. This feature was present in Sony's Playstation 2 for PS1 games, and it would have provided a good advantage over its main competitor Microsoft's Xbox 360, which only has limited backwards compatibility of original Xbox games. Presumably to cut costs to make pricing of the PS3 more competitive, Sony dropped the Emotion Engine from future SKUs severly crippling support for backwards compatibility.
It would appear that things could be about to change however, as it seems Sony have filed a patent for technology enabling the emulation of the PS2 Emotion Engine on the Playstation 3's beefy Cell processor.
It would appear that things could be about to change however, as it seems Sony have filed a patent for technology enabling the emulation of the PS2 Emotion Engine on the Playstation 3's beefy Cell processor.
Memorysolution Unveils New Ultra Fast SSDs
German Memorysolution today introduces its first 2.5-inch solid-state drives, branded MAXFLASH. Weighting just over 80 grams, the MAXFLASH Rapstore SSDs come in 128 and 256 GB flavours and have a 3 year warranty. Full specs of both drives are listed below:
- MLC-technology
- Read up to 230 MB/s
- Write up to 160 MB/s
- 64 MB Cache
- Compatible with SATA Interface (SATA I/II)
- Low power consumption (410 mA)
- Voltage: 4,5 V ~ 5,5 V
- Shock-proof up to 1500 G max
- ROHS compliant
- NAND flash: Samsung
- Controller: Indilinx (Barefoot) IDX110M00-LC
- MLC-technology
- Read up to 230 MB/s
- Write up to 160 MB/s
- 64 MB Cache
- Compatible with SATA Interface (SATA I/II)
- Low power consumption (410 mA)
- Voltage: 4,5 V ~ 5,5 V
- Shock-proof up to 1500 G max
- ROHS compliant
- NAND flash: Samsung
- Controller: Indilinx (Barefoot) IDX110M00-LC
Spire Introduces PacificBreeze II Laptop Cooler
Spire, famous for over a decade in the field of PC Cooling is proudly introducing the universally compatible PacificBreeze II is designed for multiple application and comfort. The top aluminum surface works like a heat sink and enables fast heat dissipation, it also provides a sophisticated look. The gentle slope improves typing comfort, raises the laptop screen and reduces neck strain. The PacificBreeze accommodates laptop performance, comfort and is affordable. Trust the brand with the industry experience and 3-year warranty, Spire - Powered by Innovation.
NZXT Silently Introduces Sentry 2 Fan Controller
NZXT, specializing in making gaming chassis, has silently introduced Sentry 2 series fan controller. Representing a step up compared to the original Sentry and Sentry LX, the Sentry 2 occupies single 5.25-inch slot and displays all the needed information on a big touchscreen display. There are no buttons or knobs, all there is to be adjusted is controlled by touching. The NZXT Sentry 2 has five temperature sensors, and supports up to five fans. It can display the temperature readings from the sensors, fan speeds, it can also manually control fans rotation speeds and alarm you if there's a fan malfunction. The NZXT Sentry 2 will set you back 29.90 Euro.
HP Introduces First Professional Workstation with Six-core AMD Opteron Processor
HP today announced the immediate integration of the highly anticipated Six-Core AMD Opteron 2400 Series processor into the award-winning family of HP Workstations. Ideal for high-end workstation applications in fields such as engineering, 3-D digital content creation, oil and gas, and science, the HP xw9400 Workstation taps the power of the new AMD Opteron processors to deliver higher productivity, especially for multi-threaded applications, multi-tasking and mega-tasking environments.
With the built-in engineering advantages of HP's highly tuned workstations, the HP xw9400 Workstation can accommodate up to two Six-Core AMD Opteron processors - for a total of 12 cores - each of which offers up to 34 percent more performance per watt over the previous-generation quad-core processors.
With the built-in engineering advantages of HP's highly tuned workstations, the HP xw9400 Workstation can accommodate up to two Six-Core AMD Opteron processors - for a total of 12 cores - each of which offers up to 34 percent more performance per watt over the previous-generation quad-core processors.
Reminder: Microsoft Windows 7 Beta Automatic Two-Hour Shutdowns Begin Today
Microsoft reminds you all that as of today systems running the Beta release of its Windows 7 operating system - launched back in January this year - will begin to automatically shut down every two hours. This is a precaution used by Microsoft to remind testers that their beta copy of Windows 7 will expire on August 1st, so they need to switch to an alternative ligitimate operating system as soon as possible. Users may upgrade to the newer Windows 7 Release Candidate, but this will temporarily stop the bi-hour shut downs. Windows 7 RC will also eventually expire. RC users will face bi-hourly shutdowns beginning on March 1st 2010, and will be prompted to install the already officially released by that time version of Windows 7. Following that, the RC will expire on June 1st, 2010.
Transcend Unveils Thermal Sensor Equipped Server DDR3 Memory Modules
Transcend Information (Transcend), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today released a new line of server-grade DDR3 ECC DIMM and Registered DIMM premium memory modules equipped with thermal sensors. This advanced innovation in thermal monitoring technology can greatly enhance memory reliability, efficiency, and overall system stability, making these new modules perfect for use in dedicated servers as well as workstations.
For high-end systems that constantly process huge amounts of data under non-stop operating conditions, CPU speed regulation and various other techniques to prevent overheating have become increasingly important in hardware design. In order to provide increased performance, Transcend now offers server-grade DDR3 modules that come equipped with an advanced thermal sensor. This allows motherboard chipsets to monitor the exact temperature of each memory module and adjust the memory load accordingly, ensuring the best possible system performance while at the same time protecting the DRAM modules from potentially catastrophic failure and compromised system stability.
For high-end systems that constantly process huge amounts of data under non-stop operating conditions, CPU speed regulation and various other techniques to prevent overheating have become increasingly important in hardware design. In order to provide increased performance, Transcend now offers server-grade DDR3 modules that come equipped with an advanced thermal sensor. This allows motherboard chipsets to monitor the exact temperature of each memory module and adjust the memory load accordingly, ensuring the best possible system performance while at the same time protecting the DRAM modules from potentially catastrophic failure and compromised system stability.
MSI Intros 760GTM-P33 Motherboard
MSI launched a new AMD AM2+ socket micro-ATX motherboard targeting the value and SME markets. The 760GTM-P33 is based on the AMD 760G + SB710 chipset, and supports DDR2 memory from two DIMM slots. It extends compatibility to AM3-socket processors along the way. The CPU is powered by a 4+1 phase circuit, with support for MSI's APS (active phase switching) feature. The SB710 chipset connects to six SATA II ports internally, and one standard IDE connector. The 760G chipset embeds an ATI Radeon HD 3200 class IGP, with slightly lower clock speeds and higher energy efficiency compared to the 780G. Display connectivity includes DVI and D-Sub ports. 8-channel audio, and gigabit connectors, a PCI-E x16, x1, and two PCI slots make for the rest of the package. The MSI 760GTM-P33 will arrive at stores soon, at an expected price under $100.
Dell Vostro 1220 Launches
Dell today announced the latest addition to its expanding line of Vostro laptops, the 12.1-inch Vostro 1220. This stylish, ultraportable laptop was designed exclusively for business travelers who are unwilling to compromise performance, battery life and security for a thin and lightweight design.
Available in Obsidian Black or Deep Cherry Red, the Vostro 1220 starts at a mere 3.36 lbs, is equipped with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and features up to 9 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery, making it an ideal travelling companion for on-the-go, global entrepreneurs.
Available in Obsidian Black or Deep Cherry Red, the Vostro 1220 starts at a mere 3.36 lbs, is equipped with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and features up to 9 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery, making it an ideal travelling companion for on-the-go, global entrepreneurs.
Intel Developer Forum to Mix Business with Pleasure in San Francisco
Intel Corporation's largest technical conference returns to San Francisco on Sept. 22-24. Registration is now underway for the Intel Developer Forum, featuring 3 days of vision, learning and collaboration at Moscone Center West. In its 12th year, IDF focuses on Intel's technology and platform roadmap directions for the next year and beyond in the areas of digital enterprise, mobility, digital home, software, manufacturing and research.
XFX to Create New ATI Brand in China
Our colleagues at Expreview report that XFX is trying to work out its way to the Chinese market by launching a spin off company that will sell ATI Radeon based cards there. XFX is no longer NVIDIA exclusive and there's nothing bad in such an action. The new XFX brand will be called "Jing Tai". That's all the info we got for now.
Koolance Launches GeForce GTX 275, 285 Water Block too
In addition to the shiny $160 piece of metal for GeForce GTX 295 single PCB cards, Koolance also launched full-cover solution for NVIDIA's remaining high-performance video cards - GeForce GTX 275 and GeForce GTX 285. The new Koolance VID-NX285N is a combined GPU and memory cooler that fits reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275, 285 1 GB, and 285 2 GB cards in single or multi video configurations. It couples a full nickel-plated solid copper base plate which cools all primary heat-producing regions of the video card (including the voltage regulators) and an acrylic top. The Koolance VID-NX285N weights exactly 1.5 pounds (680g) and ships standard with 1/4-inch nozzles, but versions for 3/8-inch and 1/2-inch tubings are also available. Getting one will cost you $99.99, you can order the VID-NX285N directly from Koolance's web page here. The firm is also offering optional connect nozzles, in case you're using two of the water blocks for multi-card setups and need to link them.
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