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Saturday, December 31st 2011
Taiwan Foundries Cut Prices
Taiwan foundries are going to be cutting prices by 10 to 15% for wafers built on mature node processes. Since these wafers have lower production costs the foundries are passing on the savings. This move is to boost consumer confidence in building their inventory after a year of shaky ground in the U.S. and European markets. This according to DigiTimes.
Also DigiTimes is reporting despite slow demand for mature process manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) continues to see orders heat up for advanced 28nm technology, according to sources at non Taiwan-based chip suppliers.
This news could mean that these same vendors that are getting a cut in overhead thanks to the foundries could pass on the savings to the end customer to boost revenue.
Also DigiTimes is reporting despite slow demand for mature process manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) continues to see orders heat up for advanced 28nm technology, according to sources at non Taiwan-based chip suppliers.
This news could mean that these same vendors that are getting a cut in overhead thanks to the foundries could pass on the savings to the end customer to boost revenue.
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 Custom-Design Graphics Card Pictured
Here is the first picture of a non-reference design Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Made by Gigabyte, the GV-R797OC-3GD is a factory-overclocked graphics card, which makes use of a custom Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB by the company, and a custom-design triple-fan WindForce cooler. Its Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB makes use of 2 oz copper layer for better electrical stability and heat distribution, ferrite-core chokes, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, hand-picked high-performance GDDR5 memory chips, etc.
The cooler makes use of a combination of heatsinks and aluminum fin arrays to which heat from the GPU, memory, and VRM is fed by copper heat-pipes, and ventilated by three fans. Gigabyte also has a reference-design graphics card, which uses a reference-design cooling assembly, and most likely also a reference design PCB, except that it's colored red. It's not likely that red color PCB will be standard among AIB-branded retail cards, because the HIS and MSI cards pictured by OCUK recently, were found to have black-colored ones. There's no word of the pricing or clock speeds.
The cooler makes use of a combination of heatsinks and aluminum fin arrays to which heat from the GPU, memory, and VRM is fed by copper heat-pipes, and ventilated by three fans. Gigabyte also has a reference-design graphics card, which uses a reference-design cooling assembly, and most likely also a reference design PCB, except that it's colored red. It's not likely that red color PCB will be standard among AIB-branded retail cards, because the HIS and MSI cards pictured by OCUK recently, were found to have black-colored ones. There's no word of the pricing or clock speeds.
TechPowerUp Wishes You An Awesome 2012
TechPowerUp wishes you a Happy New Year! Have an awesome (and safe) 31st night!
After the fine and eventful year that 2011 has been to the tech world, we look forward to 2012, kick-started by the International CES held in early January. 2012 promises to be another roller coaster, with new GPU launches, new PC platform launches, a new Windows operating system, and much more...that is, if the Mayans were kidding.
Just kidding, have a great one!
After the fine and eventful year that 2011 has been to the tech world, we look forward to 2012, kick-started by the International CES held in early January. 2012 promises to be another roller coaster, with new GPU launches, new PC platform launches, a new Windows operating system, and much more...that is, if the Mayans were kidding.
Just kidding, have a great one!
Sapphire Readies Radeon HD 7970 Cards with 1335 MHz Core Clock, 6 GB Memory
It looks like AMD's claims of HD 7970's extreme overclocking capabilities weren't the usual PR hoopla. A confidential company document revealing the non-reference models Sapphire has in the works, got leaked to the web, and it is a bundle of surprises. To begin with, Sapphire plans no less than six non-reference Radeon HD 7970 models apart from the vanilla AMD reference design card. Among these, the top-of-the-line cards are codenamed "Atomic RX" and "Atomic WC". One can guess that the "RX" is an air-cooled card, and the "WC" a water-cooled one. It packs blistering clock speeds of 1335 MHz core, with 5735 MHz (1433 MHz actual) memory.
The other card that caught our eyes is codenamed "FLEX 6G". The Flex variant typically features a flexible display output configuration. This card is said to have six mini-DP connectors. While this card sticks to AMD reference clock speeds, it packs a whopping 6144 MB of video memory, all wired to a single GPU. While 4 Gbit GDDR5 chips don't exist, we expect Sapphire to be using 24 * 2 Gbit chips on this card, with twelve sets of two chips sharing 32 bit paths. Then there are other milder factory overclocked cards apart from the Atomic; there's Toxic 3G, and VaporX 3G, both packing impressive out of the box clock speeds.
The other card that caught our eyes is codenamed "FLEX 6G". The Flex variant typically features a flexible display output configuration. This card is said to have six mini-DP connectors. While this card sticks to AMD reference clock speeds, it packs a whopping 6144 MB of video memory, all wired to a single GPU. While 4 Gbit GDDR5 chips don't exist, we expect Sapphire to be using 24 * 2 Gbit chips on this card, with twelve sets of two chips sharing 32 bit paths. Then there are other milder factory overclocked cards apart from the Atomic; there's Toxic 3G, and VaporX 3G, both packing impressive out of the box clock speeds.
Friday, December 30th 2011
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- AMD A8-3870K HT4U (de)
Hurt Locker Copyright Extortion Racket In Tatters, Plaintiffs' Hypocrisy
Voltage Pictures, producers of movie Hurt Locker attempted to use a reverse class action tactic to extort hundreds of millions in 'settlement' claims aka extortion demands over alleged 'losses' due to 'piracy' - something that has never and can never, be quantified and proved. However, their attempt has failed miserably - plus read on for how Voltage Pictures did a little content 'theft' of their very own to make the movie.
The idea was to use the services of the US Copyright Group (USCG) to extract personal subscriber information from ISP's via subpoenas and then send demand letters averaging US $2,000 to hapless victims, with the hope of racking in a grand total of around US $94 million - way more than the film ever made, about US $12.6 million.
The idea was to use the services of the US Copyright Group (USCG) to extract personal subscriber information from ISP's via subpoenas and then send demand letters averaging US $2,000 to hapless victims, with the hope of racking in a grand total of around US $94 million - way more than the film ever made, about US $12.6 million.
The USCG quickly unloaded lawsuit claims against 47K members of the unwitting American public, even as Voltage Picture spewed a stream of vitriol suggesting that the children and families of file sharers would hopefully "end up in jail".explained DailyTech, putting it very well. Yes, let's get the kiddies in the name of corporate copyright and profit...
Congress Debates SOPA, Hypocritically Downloads Illegally Itself
Almost everyone who understands something about technology will have heard of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) (H.R.3261) currently being debated in the U.S. House. This is internet censorship legislation by any other name and anyone that doesn't have a vested interest in it like the big media cartels is against it. This is because it hands almost total control of the internet to powerful (read: money) special interest groups, allowing them to shut down websites at the mere whiff of an accusation of 'piracy', however small and however unfounded. This will easily ruin many legitimate businesses, all on the pretext of 'protecting copyright' from supposed 'financial losses' due to content 'theft'. It also does an awful lot of other things, all of them bad, which are fully detailed in the link above. Now, if anyone thinks that this is far-fetched, just look at how the current 'darling' of the internet, GoDaddy operates: they pulled the DNS records of weebly.com, because of one little complaint against the site and without even contacting the domain owner first to advise of the situation. Disgraceful. Give them SOPA and a webmaster doesn't stand a chance, regardless of their size.
MSI and HIS Radeon HD 7970 Pictured, 3-way CrossFireX Tested
Until now, any site that has reviewed the Radeon HD 7970 has done so, using the sample AMD provided. There are very few CrossFire reviews out there, because it's simply too hard to get more than one AMD sample. 3-way and 4-way CrossFire reviews could be even rare, if such reviews even exist to begin with. This will change on the 9th of January, when AMD's add-in board partners are officially allowed to launch their Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards, when retailers can start selling these cards, and for reviewers to end up with enough cards to do CrossFire reviews.
Apparently British retailer Overclockers.uk got its stock of Radeon HD 7970 from at least two manufacturers, MSI and HIS. The site proudly showed off stacks of HIS and MSI Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards (first picture below). We certainly hope those are not all the cards it has in its inventory. OCUK did get a chance to pull three cards out of those boxes, and set up a 3-way CrossFireX setup using an Intel Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" system. At least one of those three cards is an MSI card, which isn't much different from the reference card than the MSI badge on the fan. Since the system is PCI-Express Gen 3.0 compliant, we can expect there to be close to no interface bottlenecks. And the guy who set that system up for a few snaps did what every enthusiast would do - run some benchmarks.
Apparently British retailer Overclockers.uk got its stock of Radeon HD 7970 from at least two manufacturers, MSI and HIS. The site proudly showed off stacks of HIS and MSI Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards (first picture below). We certainly hope those are not all the cards it has in its inventory. OCUK did get a chance to pull three cards out of those boxes, and set up a 3-way CrossFireX setup using an Intel Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" system. At least one of those three cards is an MSI card, which isn't much different from the reference card than the MSI badge on the fan. Since the system is PCI-Express Gen 3.0 compliant, we can expect there to be close to no interface bottlenecks. And the guy who set that system up for a few snaps did what every enthusiast would do - run some benchmarks.
Aqua Computer Unveils First Water Block for Radeon HD 7970
Aqua Computer is the first in the industry with a water block designed for AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Called the AquagrATIx 7900, the block provides full-coverage for the obverse side of the AMD Radeon HD 7970 PCB, which is where all the heat-producing components are. Its primary material is copper, with a stainless steel top. Its channel bears a nearly symmetric shape, the portion over the GPU is ridged to increase sub-surface area for improved heat dissipation to the coolant. While the AquagrATIx 7900 doesn't include fittings, it features two standard G1/4" threads (the inlet and outlet). The block is also said to be compatible with Radeon HD 7950. Aqua Computer is accepting orders for this, with estimated delivery time of 21 days. It is priced at €89.90.
University of Technology Sydney Unveils LiquidKeyboard
Computer systems researcher Christian Sax and his colleague Hannes Lau from the University of Technology Sydney, unveiled a new kind of keyboard technology that morphs itself around around the user's fingers, by breaking down the keyboard to chunks of keys that a finger is most likely to hit. This technology ensures faster typing, particularly in touchscreen devices such as tablets. By now you may have guessed that LiquidKeyboard is in fact a virtual-keyboard application, but the concept itself opens up many possibilities. Think of keyboards that are entirely made of touchscreen, coupled with Senseg's revolutionary haptic touchscreen technology. If nothing, this one's going to bag a prize from James O'Loghlin.
A video demo of the LiquidKeyboard follows.
Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS to Reach Korea in January
First shown to the world at the IFA 2011 event in Berlin in September, Samsung's Series 7 CHRONOS premium notebook will be launched in Korea, next month. Apart from its sleek aluminum body, the CHRONOS packs a punch, thanks to quad-core Core i7 "Sandy Bridge" processor, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, and Samsung's Fast Starter technology (similar to Diskeeper's Express Cache). Its 15.6-inch screen sports a 1600x900 pixels resolution, and packs a proprietary panel technology that provides up to 300 nit brightness. Its pricing will range from 1,790,000 to 2,000,000 Won (US $1,545 to $1,726), depending on its configuration. With it, Samsung wants to tap into the premium market in its home country.
BungBungame Intros Business Tablet PC Driven by AMD Z01 APU
Taiwan-based tablet PC developer BungBungame unveiled Photon 100, a Windows 7 Home Premium-driven tablet PC with a highly-customized user-interface that makes it ideal for use by businesses, in the healthcare industry, restaurants, hotels and insurance, according to the company. The 10.1-inch tablet PC is driven by AMD Z01 accelerated processing unit (APU), with 4 GB of DDR3 memory, and 64 GB SSD. It weighs 820 grams. It is priced at NT $20,000 (US $662), and will be available in February 2012. BungBungame will demo the Photon 100 at the upcoming CES event.
AMD A8-3870K Overclocked to 5.87 GHz CPU, 1.32 GHz GPU in Suicide-Run
A Japanese overclocker achieved a 96% CPU clock speed increase and 121% GPU clock speed increase during a "suicide-run" using a retail AMD A8-3870K Black Edition processor. The feat was conducted by OverclockWorks, a tech-community and store for Japanese overclockers. A CPU clock speed of 5,875 MHz was achieved using a base clock speed of 125 MHz, and multiplier of 47.0x, and a brutal core voltage of 1.872V. The integrated Radeon HD 6550D GPU was overclocked to 1,327 MHz from its default 600 MHz. The overclocker claimed that his feat is "probably the world's best", though, like some of the most unstable suicide-runs, the system was too unstable to run benchmarks. Apart from the A8-3870K, the test-bench consisted of ASUS F1A75-V Pro motherboard, G.Skill RipjawsZ memory, and a certain SilverStone PSU.
Gigabyte X79-UD3 and Core i7-3930K Set Records with New F7 BIOS
It's been a tough week or so for Gigabyte marketing. It had to admit that quite a few people had burned their motherboards, to which it offered free replacements, and isolated the problem to faulty firmware. There has been talk that this firmware cripples overclocking by throttling CPU clock speed under extreme stress. Gigabyte set out to do some myth-busting. Renowned overclocker and Gigabyte PR guy HiCookie set up a test-bench using Core i7-3930K, an "infamous" X79-UD3 motherboard running the latest version F7 BIOS, and a typical extreme-cooling bench.
HiCookie achieved 5643.2 MHz clock speed, using a base clock of 99 MHz, 57.0x multiplier, and CPU voltage of 1.584V. The rest of the test-bench consisted of Kingston HyperX Genesis memory, and Corsair AX1200W PSU. To demonstrate that this isn't a hit-and-run feat, HiCookie put the overclocked bench through Super Pi 1M and 32M and PiFast benchmarks, with record-setting scores. The CPU-Z validation can be found here. Details of the HWBot record scores can be accessed here.
A video of the benchmarks follows.
HiCookie achieved 5643.2 MHz clock speed, using a base clock of 99 MHz, 57.0x multiplier, and CPU voltage of 1.584V. The rest of the test-bench consisted of Kingston HyperX Genesis memory, and Corsair AX1200W PSU. To demonstrate that this isn't a hit-and-run feat, HiCookie put the overclocked bench through Super Pi 1M and 32M and PiFast benchmarks, with record-setting scores. The CPU-Z validation can be found here. Details of the HWBot record scores can be accessed here.
Intel To Launch Sandy Bridge LGA1155 Processors That Lack iGPU
"Visibly Smart" was the tagline with which Intel brought its 2nd Generation Core processor family codenamed "Sandy Bridge" into the market. What every Sandy Bridge chip in the LGA1155 package launched thus far has in common is its integrated graphics controller. Apparently, Intel is planning to launch three new Core i5 quad-core processors, which lack that integrated graphics. The processors very much will work on H61, H67, and Z68 chipset-based motherboards, only you can't use the integrated graphics, making them functionally-identical to first-generation LGA1156 Core i5 quad-core chips.
The Core i5-2550K, which has been talked about for the past few weeks, is one of these three models that will lack iGPU. This chip is geared for overclocking, as it features an unlocked base clock multiplier. The other two models are the Core i5-2450P, and Core i5-2380P. Intel is perhaps counting on the "P" marker to intuitively denote lack of iGPU, like with P67 chipset. Clocked at 3.10 GHz with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.40 GHz, the Core i5-2380P is clocked identically to the Core i5-2400, except of course it lacks the iGPU. The Core i5-2450P, on the other hand is a little unique, with a clock speed of 3.20 GHz and 3.50 GHz Turbo Boost speed. Pricing and availability are not known, though it is expected that some of these chips will be priced lower than existing models with iGPU.
The Core i5-2550K, which has been talked about for the past few weeks, is one of these three models that will lack iGPU. This chip is geared for overclocking, as it features an unlocked base clock multiplier. The other two models are the Core i5-2450P, and Core i5-2380P. Intel is perhaps counting on the "P" marker to intuitively denote lack of iGPU, like with P67 chipset. Clocked at 3.10 GHz with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.40 GHz, the Core i5-2380P is clocked identically to the Core i5-2400, except of course it lacks the iGPU. The Core i5-2450P, on the other hand is a little unique, with a clock speed of 3.20 GHz and 3.50 GHz Turbo Boost speed. Pricing and availability are not known, though it is expected that some of these chips will be priced lower than existing models with iGPU.
Lenovo Dumps the 'Netbook' Moniker with Ideapad S110
Although not officially announced, Lenovo's Ideapad S110, which is based on the Intel "Cedar Trail" Atom processor platform, showed up on a teaser video by the company. Lenovo is referring to this 10.1-inch netbook as a "mini notebook". Generally, big vendors such as Lenovo refer to portable computers in this category as "netbook" or "sub-notebook". In its video, Lenovo revealed the Ideapad S110 to come in four fabulous color options. The S110 is driven by Intel Atom N2600 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 320 GB HDD, a 10.1-inch HD screen featuring 720p resolution, a 2 megapixel web camera, 98-percent full-size chicklet keyboard, Lenovo's Quick Start feature, and USB 3.0. 10/100 ethernet and WiFi b/g/n are standard, though 3G HSDPA can be opted for. Windows 7 Starter is the OS of choice. ProVantage already listed the Ideapad S110 (base) for US $321.62
Lenovo's teaser video follows.
Apple Patents New Face-Recognition Device Unlock Technology
Some time in June 2010, Apple filed a patent application for a unique new facial-recognition technology that's light on the resources. It was discovered by AppleInsider. Entitled "Low Threshold Face Recognition," the application defines a method of recognizing a person using a front-facing camera of a device (could be anything from an iPhone, iPad, to even a Mac or Macbook), that consumes very little system resources, and is hence light on the device's power source.
It could very well be an evolution of the "Slide to Unlock" mechanism found on iOS devices, and conventional password entry to wake Macs up. If granted, this technology comes to being at a particularly important time, when a similar technology evolving out of Android Face Unlock, and when facial-recognition will be a key feature of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, to log into systems and wake devices up from their e-slumbers. Apple's proposed technology relies on analyzing a "high information portion" portion of the human face, rather than using the conventional resource-heavy method of recognition. Apple claims its technology will be just as reliable.
It could very well be an evolution of the "Slide to Unlock" mechanism found on iOS devices, and conventional password entry to wake Macs up. If granted, this technology comes to being at a particularly important time, when a similar technology evolving out of Android Face Unlock, and when facial-recognition will be a key feature of Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, to log into systems and wake devices up from their e-slumbers. Apple's proposed technology relies on analyzing a "high information portion" portion of the human face, rather than using the conventional resource-heavy method of recognition. Apple claims its technology will be just as reliable.
Thursday, December 29th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Processors
PSUs
HD 7970: Bulldozer vs. Sandy Bridge vs. Nehalem Review
In our CPU scaling article we investigate gaming performance of AMD's latest Radeon HD 7970 flagship. The processors in our test group have been selected to match popular CPUs used by gamers and enthusiasts: AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer, Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge and Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem.
More HD 7770 Leaks: Pictures, Plus 3DMark Benchmarks
Not quite two weeks ago, we reported on leaked pictures of AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7770 mid-range graphics card based on the new Southern Islands architecture and listed its basic specs. Well, the leaks keep coming and bigpao007 of ChipHell has leaked more pictures with some benchmarks to go with them. The test setup consisted of an Ivy Bridge ES CPU - Core i5-3550K at 3.3Ghz and Z77 chipset-based motherboard. The driver used was the AMD Catalyst 8.940 RC2, giving the following 3DMark benchmark results:
The GoDaddy Boycott: It Worked
The GoDaddy boycott over their support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation, which took effect today, appears to have worked. The initial fallout over GoDaddy's support for it, resulted in a furious backpedal and then a bit of dirty tricks to stop customers leaving. However, this backpedal stopped short of actually criticising it. The boycott, called by a user on Reddit and aided by Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia, appears to have focused GoDaddy's mind on what's right and what's wrong. They have finally given us that criticism of SOPA that they should have made in the first place, as CEO Warren Adelman, said in this statement:
We have observed a spike in domain name transfers, which are running above normal rates and which we attribute to GoDaddy's prior support for SOPA, which was reversed. GoDaddy opposes SOPA because the legislation has not fulfilled its basic requirement to build a consensus among stake-holders in the technology and Internet communities. Our company regrets the loss of any of our customers, who remain our highest priority, and we hope to repair those relationships and win back their business over time.
QNAP Announces New V3.6 Beta NAS Software with Support for VPN, LDAP, and Much More
QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced new V3.6 beta NAS management software for its Turbo NAS series, providing highly anticipated features such as VPN Server, LDAP Server, and Proxy Server, cloud music and photo sharing with a web browser, enhanced backup features, and more. Firmware V3.6 beta also includes new version of MyCloudNAS 1.2, QPKG center and more compatible IP camera.
Firmware V3.6 beta provides several new business-class features. The VPN Server offers the businesses with a cost-saving way to create a secure and private network. The LDAP Server simplifies mass account management and saves business' IT hardware expenditure. The Proxy Server provided with the "Squid" QPKG provides the IT administrator a great solution to manage network loading yet maintain network security. "Firmware V3.6 beta proves the Turbo NAS firmware is business-ready," commented Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. Bandwidth control for Real Time Remote Replication (RTRR) and rsync backup is also included in firmware V3.6 beta.
Firmware V3.6 beta provides several new business-class features. The VPN Server offers the businesses with a cost-saving way to create a secure and private network. The LDAP Server simplifies mass account management and saves business' IT hardware expenditure. The Proxy Server provided with the "Squid" QPKG provides the IT administrator a great solution to manage network loading yet maintain network security. "Firmware V3.6 beta proves the Turbo NAS firmware is business-ready," commented Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. Bandwidth control for Real Time Remote Replication (RTRR) and rsync backup is also included in firmware V3.6 beta.
Silicon Power Launches LuxMini 720 with Three Brand New Colors
Inherited from its original fashion essence, the combination of exquisite metallic casing, silk-shine exterior, and perfect circular arc brings out its unique modernistic look, SP/Silicon Power hereby launches 3 brand new colors of LuxMini 720 - Peach, Deep Blue and Bronze to represent consumers' individualities through the language of design.
LuxMini 720 is easy to carry and can be used as a decorative accessory suited to the consumers' own lifestyle such as attaching it to a key chain or a necklace It is available in storage capacities from 4 GB to 32 GB to meet different user demands. LuxMini 720 allows instant plug and play and is also compliant with the RoHS requirement conforming with the trend of environmental awareness.
LuxMini 720 is easy to carry and can be used as a decorative accessory suited to the consumers' own lifestyle such as attaching it to a key chain or a necklace It is available in storage capacities from 4 GB to 32 GB to meet different user demands. LuxMini 720 allows instant plug and play and is also compliant with the RoHS requirement conforming with the trend of environmental awareness.
Biostar Officially Launches the TPower X79 (LGA 2011) Motherboard
Taiwanese manufacturer Biostar has this week introduced its very first LGA 2011 motherboard, the previously-leaked TPower X79 targeting enthusiasts, overclockers and gamers.
Biostar's board has an ATX form factor and features support for Intel's Sandy Bridge E processors, a 9-phase power design, an 8-layer, 2 oz Copper PCB, four DDR3-2400 memory slots, and three PCI-Express x16 3.0 slots enabling Quad CrossFireX and 3-way SLI setups.
Biostar's board has an ATX form factor and features support for Intel's Sandy Bridge E processors, a 9-phase power design, an 8-layer, 2 oz Copper PCB, four DDR3-2400 memory slots, and three PCI-Express x16 3.0 slots enabling Quad CrossFireX and 3-way SLI setups.
Sharkoon Intros Internal USB 3.0 Adapter
Apart from the three USB 3.0 front-panel models that were unveiled last week, Sharkoon announced the market launch of a cute little USB 3.0 Internal Adapter accessory that converts a standard 2-port USB 3.0 front-panel header to two type-A USB 3.0 ports. The accessory is as simple as a tiny PCB with a front-panel header socket on one end, a 2-port type-A USB 3.0 port cluster on the other, and some insulation. This accessory could be useful if you want to boot off or maintain a "secret" USB 3.0 flash drive or portable HDD/SSD, and ensure it doesn't stick out of your PC case. The Sharkoon Internal USB 3.0 Adapter is priced at €5.99.
Intel Plans to Launch Medfield Platform in Q2, Clover Trail-W platform in Q4, 2012
According to the latest information received by industry observer DigiTimes, Intel plans to launch the first processor platform for ultra-thin Android tablets based on its x86 architecture, codenamed "Medfield", in Q2 2012. Tablets based on this will be able to run Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich". Then in Q4 2012, Intel plans to launch the more powerful Clover Trail-W platform. Currently, Intel's Oak Trail platform consisting of Atom Z670 processor and SM35 chipset drive Windows 7 or Android Honeycomb tablets.
The fundamental difference between Medfield and Clover Trail-W with its predecessor Oak Tail, is that Medfield will be designed for ultra-thin tablets with long batter life, currently only ARM processors provide the kind of performance-per-Watt to achieve this form-factor. Oak Trail and its succeeding Clover Trail-W, are designed for slightly more capable tablets. Oak Trail is opted today, to design tablets that run Windows 7 PC operating system. Microsoft will design performance and UI-optimized Windows 8 variants when its next-gen operating system sees the light of the day next year.
The fundamental difference between Medfield and Clover Trail-W with its predecessor Oak Tail, is that Medfield will be designed for ultra-thin tablets with long batter life, currently only ARM processors provide the kind of performance-per-Watt to achieve this form-factor. Oak Trail and its succeeding Clover Trail-W, are designed for slightly more capable tablets. Oak Trail is opted today, to design tablets that run Windows 7 PC operating system. Microsoft will design performance and UI-optimized Windows 8 variants when its next-gen operating system sees the light of the day next year.
Galaxy Intros Laser GT Series SSDs
Galaxy, better known for its NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards in the western world, sells more than that in its home country China, where it unveiled its Laser GT series consumer SSDs. Built in the common 2.5-inch SATA form-factor these drives use the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and are driven by SandForce SF-2281 SSD controllers. Pictured below is its 120 GB model. The drive offers maximum sequential transfer speeds of 550 MB/s (read), and 500 MB/s (write), with 4K random performance of 30,000 IOPS reads, and 41,000 IOPS writes. It makes use of MLC NAND flash with 5,000 rewrite cycle life. The 120 GB Laser GT variant is priced at 1,399 RMB, that's about US $221.
Akasa HDM-23 Multi-Utility 5.25-inch Enclosure Launched
Taiwanese company Akasa announced the HDM-23 multi-utility 5.25-inch drive enclosure. This enclosure occupies a 5.25-inch drive bay in your case, and converts it an exposed 3.5-inch bay, or a discrete 2.5-inch bay for SSDs. The exposed 3.5-inch bay can then be used for devices such as fan-controllers in the 3.5-inch form-factor, card readers, such as the one pictured below (not included), or ye olde floppy disk drives. The 3.5-inch bay has mounting holes at the right spots to hold drives in the 2.5-inch form-factor, such as most of today's SSDs. Lastly, there are mount holes on its underside, to which you can attach a 140 mm fan. The enclosure measures 149 x 154 x 42 mm (WxDxH), about as big as an optical drive. It is priced at 880 JPY or about US $11. It will reach stores in late January, 2012.
Intel DZ77RE First and Only to Feature Thunderbolt from Intel's 7-series Board Stable
This week, we got two important bits of news, firstly, that Intel's third-generation Core processor family (codenamed "Ivy Bridge"), is scheduled for launch on April 8, 2012; and secondly, that Intel will use that occasion to launch its new 7-series chipset, and with it, bring its 10 Gbps Thunderbolt interconnect to the PC platform. A road-map slide tabling Intel's own Desktop Board division products based on 7-series chipset, shows that only one motherboard from Intel's stable will feature Thunderbolt, the DZ77RE.
The DZ77RE is likely listed within the Extreme Series, which will be a top-of-the-line product. This is a bit of a contradiction to the idea behind Thunderbolt, and the way Intel's Desktop Board lineup is designed. It typically consists of Extreme Series, geared for gamers and overclockers; Media Series, for content-creation professionals; Classic Series, for office PCs with room for upgrades; and Essential Series, which well, covers the essentials. None of the supposed Media Series boards from Intel's 7-series chipset based Desktop Board lineup is listing Thunderbolt support, when it's the content-creation industry that stands to be the primary user of the interface. Thunderbolt facilitates ultra-high bandwidth for multiple lossless high-resolution video streams which will help in tomorrow's video-editing systems.
The DZ77RE is likely listed within the Extreme Series, which will be a top-of-the-line product. This is a bit of a contradiction to the idea behind Thunderbolt, and the way Intel's Desktop Board lineup is designed. It typically consists of Extreme Series, geared for gamers and overclockers; Media Series, for content-creation professionals; Classic Series, for office PCs with room for upgrades; and Essential Series, which well, covers the essentials. None of the supposed Media Series boards from Intel's 7-series chipset based Desktop Board lineup is listing Thunderbolt support, when it's the content-creation industry that stands to be the primary user of the interface. Thunderbolt facilitates ultra-high bandwidth for multiple lossless high-resolution video streams which will help in tomorrow's video-editing systems.
Japanese Vending Machines Double Up as Free WiFi Hotspots
You have got to love the ingenuity behind this latest marketing idea from Japan, by a company named Asahi Soft-drinks. They've designed a new drink vending machine, which comes with a low-power (small coverage area) WiFi hotspot that's completely free to anyone standing close to the machine (you don't have to buy anything from the machine). So while your phone, tablet, or notebook is juicing up on some free bits and bytes, you can juice up on the drinks that machine offers, which includes juices, sodas, shakes, and coffees. You'll obviously have to pay for those.
HP Starts Selling the Compaq LE2002xm 20-inch Monitor
Just as 2011 draws to a close, HP has decided to add another Compaq-branded, business-oriented monitor to its product offering, the 20-inch LE2002xm. This new widescreen features a slim design, an LED backlight, a native resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels, a 5 ms response time, a contrast ratio of 1,000:1 (3,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio), a typical brightness of 250 cd/m2, built-in stereo speakers, and dual input options - D-Sub and DVI.
The Compaq LE2002xm is backed by a three-year warranty, it costs $155 and is set to ship next week.
The Compaq LE2002xm is backed by a three-year warranty, it costs $155 and is set to ship next week.
Elpida Starts Shipments of 4 Gbit Wide-IO LPDDR3 Memory Chips
Elpida Memory, Inc., the world's third largest Dynamic Random Access Memory manufacturer, today announced that it has begun sample shipments of 4-gigabit Wide IO Mobile RAM and 4-gigabit DDR3 Mobile RAM (LPDDR3).
Wide IO Mobile RAM is a next-generation mobile memory chip that provides solutions to opposing needs for faster speed and lower power consumption. The rising performance of smartphones and tablet devices in recent years has led to demand for faster DRAMs (DRAMs with greater data transfer rates), but in turn this has generated concerns about increases in system power consumption.
The solution is that Wide IO Mobile RAM expands the I/O width by using x512-bit, a data width that is more than 10 times larger than the width for existing DRAMs, which enables a data transfer rate of 12.8 gigabytes per second (GB/s) per chip while operating at a low speed of 200MHz. The reduced DRAM speed results in approximately 50% less power consumption compared with DDR2 Mobile RAM (LPDDR2), currently the leading DRAM choice for mobile devices, configured at the same transfer rate.
Wide IO Mobile RAM is a next-generation mobile memory chip that provides solutions to opposing needs for faster speed and lower power consumption. The rising performance of smartphones and tablet devices in recent years has led to demand for faster DRAMs (DRAMs with greater data transfer rates), but in turn this has generated concerns about increases in system power consumption.
The solution is that Wide IO Mobile RAM expands the I/O width by using x512-bit, a data width that is more than 10 times larger than the width for existing DRAMs, which enables a data transfer rate of 12.8 gigabytes per second (GB/s) per chip while operating at a low speed of 200MHz. The reduced DRAM speed results in approximately 50% less power consumption compared with DDR2 Mobile RAM (LPDDR2), currently the leading DRAM choice for mobile devices, configured at the same transfer rate.
New USB 3.0 Webcam Controller Makes Quality 1080p Streaming Possible
Genesys Logic announced its newest application processor, the GL3620. This chip is designed to be the prime-mover of tomorrow's high-definition 1080p web-cameras, which will strike mainstream price-points. This chip takes advantage of the USB 3.0 interface, particularly its isochronous transfer mode, which guarantees sufficient bandwidth to stream uncompressed (lossless) 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) video at 30 frames per second. This defined theoretical bandwidth limit is about 380 MB/s between the chip and the USB 3.0 host. Lossless video streaming from the webcam gives users the ability to use higher-quality software video encoders.
The Genesys Logic GL3620 also packs native HISP, which encodes RGB RAW data from CMOS sensors to interpolated YUV format. It also looks after bad pixel correction, image scaling, gamma correction, image quality enhancement, etc., to maintain backwards compatibility with USB 2.0, probably albeit, at lower resolutions. The chip also includes a native MJPEG encoder that offloads the host CPU from doing the lossless stream to MJPEG conversion to stream to IM clients. Genesys Logic will exhibit GL3620 demo at CES 2012 in Las Vegas from January 10th to January 13th 2012. In related news, Genesys logic will also demo its three other new USB 3.0 chips, the GL3520, which is a USB 3.0 hub controller; the GL3321, which is a USB 3.0 to SATA bridge chip; and GL3220, which is a USB 3.0 flash card reader controller.
The Genesys Logic GL3620 also packs native HISP, which encodes RGB RAW data from CMOS sensors to interpolated YUV format. It also looks after bad pixel correction, image scaling, gamma correction, image quality enhancement, etc., to maintain backwards compatibility with USB 2.0, probably albeit, at lower resolutions. The chip also includes a native MJPEG encoder that offloads the host CPU from doing the lossless stream to MJPEG conversion to stream to IM clients. Genesys Logic will exhibit GL3620 demo at CES 2012 in Las Vegas from January 10th to January 13th 2012. In related news, Genesys logic will also demo its three other new USB 3.0 chips, the GL3520, which is a USB 3.0 hub controller; the GL3321, which is a USB 3.0 to SATA bridge chip; and GL3220, which is a USB 3.0 flash card reader controller.
ASUS Announces the MS-100 USB Speakers and HS-W1 Wireless USB Headset
ASUS has announced two new USB sound products, the MS-100 compact USB stereo speaker set, and HS-W1 wireless USB headset. Both are designed with sharp, striking looks, fantastic audio quality and a pure Plug 'n Play design, but with a minimal size that's easily packed and to traveled with.
MS-100 USB Speaker
The MS-100 is a compact stereo USB speaker set, powered entirely by a USB 2.0 (or 3.0) port, yet still capable of providing punchy sound without distortion. Its minimalist and strong Art Deco cone design mimics the classic speaker shape, making them a perfect feature for any home or office environment. Meanwhile inside, its large 54 mm speaker drivers can generate up to 93 dB of sound with less than 3% distortion for its rich highs, thumping mids and full low tones.
No additional software driver is required on Windows Vista or Windows 7 machines, making it suitable for any desktop or laptop that needs an immediate sound boost!
MS-100 USB Speaker
The MS-100 is a compact stereo USB speaker set, powered entirely by a USB 2.0 (or 3.0) port, yet still capable of providing punchy sound without distortion. Its minimalist and strong Art Deco cone design mimics the classic speaker shape, making them a perfect feature for any home or office environment. Meanwhile inside, its large 54 mm speaker drivers can generate up to 93 dB of sound with less than 3% distortion for its rich highs, thumping mids and full low tones.
No additional software driver is required on Windows Vista or Windows 7 machines, making it suitable for any desktop or laptop that needs an immediate sound boost!
RunCore to Showcase New Solid State Drives at CES 2012
Next month at CES 2012 in Las Vegas (January 10-13), Chinese company RunCore Innovation Technology (RunCore for short) is set to show off a trio of NAND-based storage solutions, the Xapear, Falcon and Pro V 7mm solid state drives.
The ultrabook-friendly Pro V 7mm SSDs come with a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and deliver read/write speeds of up to 540/500 MB/s, while the Falcon Series models are known to have SATA 6.0 Gbps connectivity and a Marvell controller (no word on speeds through).
The Xapear drives are a bit special because they feature both automatic AES128 encryption and RFID (radio-frequency identification) support so as to ensure a high level of data security. Moreover, the Xapear allows users to check drive status or activate a self-erase function via mobile phone. Other specs were not revealed but will surely be available at RunCore's CES booth.
The ultrabook-friendly Pro V 7mm SSDs come with a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and deliver read/write speeds of up to 540/500 MB/s, while the Falcon Series models are known to have SATA 6.0 Gbps connectivity and a Marvell controller (no word on speeds through).
The Xapear drives are a bit special because they feature both automatic AES128 encryption and RFID (radio-frequency identification) support so as to ensure a high level of data security. Moreover, the Xapear allows users to check drive status or activate a self-erase function via mobile phone. Other specs were not revealed but will surely be available at RunCore's CES booth.
Danger Den Announces DD-M6 CPU Block
Danger Den announced the release for sale the new highest performing CPU waterblock, the DD-M6 CPU Block with shipments beginning January 2nd, 2012.
The DD-M6 CPU Block replaces the long running MC-TDX block improving upon the performance and reliability. Thermal performance is significantly improved while maintaining a low flow restriction design. Available in solid copper and brass parts that are non-plated or nickel plated. A new and improved mounting system is also part of the DD-M6 CPU block package allowing reliable mounting pressure in an attractive package.
The DD-M6 CPU Block replaces the long running MC-TDX block improving upon the performance and reliability. Thermal performance is significantly improved while maintaining a low flow restriction design. Available in solid copper and brass parts that are non-plated or nickel plated. A new and improved mounting system is also part of the DD-M6 CPU block package allowing reliable mounting pressure in an attractive package.
Wednesday, December 28th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mouse
Processors
PSUs
Antec Eleven Hundred Review
Antec made a big splash with the P280 and now is following up with a new gamer case called Eleven Hundred. Will the chassis manage to put Antec back on the map for pure gamer/enthusiast cases or leave us unimpressed with a lack of functional features?
LCD Makers Settle Price-Fixing Case
Five major LCD panel makers, including Samsung, Sharp, Hitachi, HannStar, and Chimei Innolux; agreed to pay over US $553 million in settlement to regulators for a price-fixing case. The case by regulators alleged that these companies colluded to fix prices of LCD panels 1999 and 2006, affecting billions of dollars of commerce. The scam unearthed in 2006, by regulators of Japan, Korea, United States, and the European Union. Many companies and executives have since pleaded guilty to criminal antitrust violations and paid more than US $890 million in fines so far.
The latest payout of $553 million is aimed to resolve claims by "indirect" purchasers that bought televisions and computers with thin film transistor LCDs, as well as claims by eight USA states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It also includes payments of $14.7 million by the companies to settle civil fine and penalty law claims by the states, the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. He stated "This price-fixing scheme manipulated the playing field for businesses that abide by the rules, and left consumers to pay artificially higher costs for televisions, computers and other electronics."
The latest payout of $553 million is aimed to resolve claims by "indirect" purchasers that bought televisions and computers with thin film transistor LCDs, as well as claims by eight USA states: Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It also includes payments of $14.7 million by the companies to settle civil fine and penalty law claims by the states, the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. He stated "This price-fixing scheme manipulated the playing field for businesses that abide by the rules, and left consumers to pay artificially higher costs for televisions, computers and other electronics."
Empire Brands' Wicked Audio Unveils Mind-Blowing Sound With New Solus Headphones
Empire Brands, manufacturers of aesthetically appealing headphones, will be releasing its new Solus (Latin for "Be Yourself") headphones, at CES 2012. The Solus headphones are the next big thing from Wicked Audio, with the highest quality design and most impeccable sound yet.
The soon-to-be-released Solus headphones is the first Wicked Audio product of 2012 to sport the companies brand new packaging. These headphones are available in a black/red dual-colored design and feature a thick braided cord for the ultimate in on-the-go convenience. The headphones also come equipped with a built-in volume control as well as a DJ switch, allowing users to switch from DJ to stereo sound, to experience impressive music sounds in both or either ears.
The soon-to-be-released Solus headphones is the first Wicked Audio product of 2012 to sport the companies brand new packaging. These headphones are available in a black/red dual-colored design and feature a thick braided cord for the ultimate in on-the-go convenience. The headphones also come equipped with a built-in volume control as well as a DJ switch, allowing users to switch from DJ to stereo sound, to experience impressive music sounds in both or either ears.
Intel Launches the 'Cedar Trail' Atom Platform
Following a good few months of delays, Intel has today finally introduced its third-generation Atom processors, the 32nm chips codenamed Cedar Trail.
While still paired up with the NM10 Express chipset found in Pine Trail-based systems, the 'Cedar Trail' CPUs bring quite a few updates, including the already mentioned 32nm process (enabling higher clocks and a drop in power draw of up to 20% for the whole platform), plus a media engine that allows for Full HD (1080p) video playback and Blu-ray support, an integrated memory controller supporting DDR3-800/1066 memory, and updated, but still DirectX 9-enabled graphics (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650 based on the PowerVR SGX 545 from Imagination Technologies).
While still paired up with the NM10 Express chipset found in Pine Trail-based systems, the 'Cedar Trail' CPUs bring quite a few updates, including the already mentioned 32nm process (enabling higher clocks and a drop in power draw of up to 20% for the whole platform), plus a media engine that allows for Full HD (1080p) video playback and Blu-ray support, an integrated memory controller supporting DDR3-800/1066 memory, and updated, but still DirectX 9-enabled graphics (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3600/3650 based on the PowerVR SGX 545 from Imagination Technologies).
Intel Granted New Network-Power-On Technology Patent
Intel has just been granted a patent by the USPTO, which it has had in filing since 2007. The patent is related to a technology that is an evolution of today's WoL (wake on LAN). In a network of at least three devices, where a device is requesting data from a second device that is turned off, there is a third device that will be capable of determining that state and switch on a computing device on demand. The technology can possibly wake computers up from "deep sleep" (powered down S5 state), which consumes much less power than a computer that's sleeping in S3 or S2 states.
Intel states that this feature the "powering on devices via intermediate computing device" feature, as described in the patent, not only applies to enterprise scenarios with large local networks, but also home and small-business scenarios where "devices coupled to a network may act as distributed media storage and playback with reduced power consumption when such devices are not in use." Details of how the proposed technology will be implemented still remain sketchy.
Intel states that this feature the "powering on devices via intermediate computing device" feature, as described in the patent, not only applies to enterprise scenarios with large local networks, but also home and small-business scenarios where "devices coupled to a network may act as distributed media storage and playback with reduced power consumption when such devices are not in use." Details of how the proposed technology will be implemented still remain sketchy.
Zalman AMP1000 Aluminum-Rubber Mousepad Starts Selling
Zalman started selling its AMP1000 aluminum-rubber mousepad. This mousepad uses a combination of anodized aluminum and rubber as its primary material. Its surface is optimized for all kinds of mice with resolutions well over 1000 dpi. Its surface has a smooth matte-black finish, and should present a balance between speed and control. A shiny chrome line frames it. The AMP1000 makes zero use of fabrics, and hence is spill-resistant. The AMP1000 measures 210(W) x 297(H) x 3(D) mm, weighing 668 g. Although its base is rubberized, the AMP1000 has rubber feet for additional grip with the surface below. The AMP1000 has reached Japanese stores, priced at 3,800 JPY, or about US $49.
Tomorrow's Internet More Like Yesterday's Internet: McAfee 2012 Threat Predictions
McAfee today unveiled its 2012 Threat Predictions report, outlining the top threats that McAfee foresees for the coming year. The list indicates that emerging threats from 2011 are on track to become the major players for cyberactivity in 2012, including mobile banking, "legal" spam and virtual currency. McAfee Labs also predicts that attacks involving political motivation or notoriety will also make headlines, including high-profile industrial attacks, cyberwarfare demonstrations and hacktivist attacks targeting public figures.
"Many of the threats that will become prominent in 2012 have already been looming under the radar in 2011," said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. "Over the past year, the general public has become more aware of some of these risks, such as threats to critical infrastructure or the impact of hacktivism as they gain international media attention. In the meantime, we continue to see cybercriminals improving their toolkits and malware and are ready to make a significant impact in 2012."
"Many of the threats that will become prominent in 2012 have already been looming under the radar in 2011," said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. "Over the past year, the general public has become more aware of some of these risks, such as threats to critical infrastructure or the impact of hacktivism as they gain international media attention. In the meantime, we continue to see cybercriminals improving their toolkits and malware and are ready to make a significant impact in 2012."
Majority of Facebook Attacks Feed Fraudulent Affiliate Marketing Sites: Commtouch
Commtouch (NASDAQ: CTCH) today published an in-depth analysis of 2011 Facebook attacks within its Internet Threats Trend Report, a year-end synopsis of Internet threats. The report and infographic present a comprehensive analysis of scores of malicious Facebook activities during the past year, as identified by Commtouch Labs. Affiliate marketing sites are the final destination in three-fourths of all Facebook deceptions, according to the report. Visitors to these sites are induced to fill out surveys that generate affiliate payments for the scammers, victimizing legitimate businesses that pay affiliate fees.
Users are induced to click on the scams through social engineering tactics such as free merchandise offers, celebrity news, new (fake) Facebook applications, or simply a trusted friend sending a message stating: "You have to see this!" After users first click on the scams, malware or malicious scripts are to blame for the further spread of slightly over half the analyzed scams, with those falling into three main categories: likejacking, rogue applications, and malware or "self-XSS," each of which is described in the report.
Users are induced to click on the scams through social engineering tactics such as free merchandise offers, celebrity news, new (fake) Facebook applications, or simply a trusted friend sending a message stating: "You have to see this!" After users first click on the scams, malware or malicious scripts are to blame for the further spread of slightly over half the analyzed scams, with those falling into three main categories: likejacking, rogue applications, and malware or "self-XSS," each of which is described in the report.
HDD Vendors Want Long-Term Contracts with PC Makers
Well, it seems that the flooding in Thailand has done a lot more than destroy lives, wreck a few factories and cause HDD prices to shoot up. There appears to be a lot of opportunities for changing the terms of business too - to less favourable ones for customers of hard disc drives. First, we had the severe and unwelcome warranty reductions and now we have HDD manufacturers trying to lock branded PC makers into expensive long-term contracts, according to Digitimes. Some PC makers buy hard disk drives on a quarterly basis, at a fixed price, but now that prices have shot up and supplies restricted, HDD manufacturers are trying to coerce them into signing one year contracts at current high prices. However, it looks like it might not be such a good deal for PC makers, because the recovery in supply is continuing, with a full recovery potentially not so far away, which will of course make those prices plummet again. As it is, HDD shipments are projected to be around 140 million units in the first quarter of 2012, while the same quarter last year was 170-180 million units - so the fall isn't really that hugely less than before anyway and should become less severe as 2012 wears on.
One does get the impression that the HDD manufacturers are playing up the difficulty of restoring production volumes in order to give them a better bargaining hand. There's also the fact that recovering from the disaster is hugely expensive for them, so HDD makers will want to charge more to recoup those costs faster, motivating them to use tactics like these.
One does get the impression that the HDD manufacturers are playing up the difficulty of restoring production volumes in order to give them a better bargaining hand. There's also the fact that recovering from the disaster is hugely expensive for them, so HDD makers will want to charge more to recoup those costs faster, motivating them to use tactics like these.
Orico HM01 SSD Series Pictured
Orico unveiled its latest HM01 series performance SSD, which was pictured in a recent review by Expreview. Built in the standard 2.5-inch form-factor, these drives take advantage of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface. These drives use a Marvell-made controller, and MLC NAND flash memory. The HM01 series will be available in three capacities: 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. While the 256 GB variant offers read/write speeds of up to 500 MB/s (read) and 440 MB/s (write), the other variants offer speeds of up to 500 MB/s (read) with 330 MB/s (writes). The company did not give out pricing/availability details.
Gigabyte Gives Lifetime Warranty to X79 Board Corrective BIOS Users, Isolates Problem
On Tuesday, a major problem associated with Gigabyte's X79-UD3, X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2 motherboards came to light after a Gigabyte press-release, where enthusiasts subjecting their boards to voltage-assisted overclocking with stress-testing, ended up with burnt CPU VRM. Till that press-release, the scale of the problem was not known. Gigabyte announced remedies to existing owners, which included either updating their motherboards' BIOS to the latest "F7" version posted on the company website, or sending their boards dead or alive for free replacements.
We're getting to know now that to all those who opt to keep their boards and update their BIOS, Gigabyte is offering a lifetime product warranty, an extension of the limited warranties their products come with. Gigabyte's own version of what went wrong with these motherboards is that it shipped several of its motherboards with bad BIOS firmware that did not have "overclocking limits", which motherboards by other manufacturers did. This claim means that "japan0827", the overclocker from XFastest community who ended up with a burned X79-UD3 that he posted on YouTube, would have been running his setup way off spec, electrically.
We're getting to know now that to all those who opt to keep their boards and update their BIOS, Gigabyte is offering a lifetime product warranty, an extension of the limited warranties their products come with. Gigabyte's own version of what went wrong with these motherboards is that it shipped several of its motherboards with bad BIOS firmware that did not have "overclocking limits", which motherboards by other manufacturers did. This claim means that "japan0827", the overclocker from XFastest community who ended up with a burned X79-UD3 that he posted on YouTube, would have been running his setup way off spec, electrically.
Intel Ivy Bridge Platform Reportedly Set for April 8 Debut
Known to be missing out on both CES 2012 and CeBIT 2012, Intel's next-generation processor platform, codenamed Ivy Bridge, is now claimed to be rolling out on April 8th. Of course, April 8th is a Sunday so it's probable that the actual launch, accompanied by a long press release and a flurry of reviews, will be scheduled for Monday, the 9th of April.
According to Digitimes' Taiwanese sources, the first Ivy Bridge wave will include no less than 25 processors (17 desktop models and 8 notebook/ultrabook chips) and 8 chipsets (Z77, H77, Z75 and B75 for desktops, HM77, UM77, HM76 and HM75 for mobile PCs). More Ivy Bridge products, including the Core i5-3470T CPU and the Q77, Q75, QS77 and QM77 chipsets, are said to become available in May.
According to Digitimes' Taiwanese sources, the first Ivy Bridge wave will include no less than 25 processors (17 desktop models and 8 notebook/ultrabook chips) and 8 chipsets (Z77, H77, Z75 and B75 for desktops, HM77, UM77, HM76 and HM75 for mobile PCs). More Ivy Bridge products, including the Core i5-3470T CPU and the Q77, Q75, QS77 and QM77 chipsets, are said to become available in May.
Gigabyte Intros New Revision of GA-EG41MFT-US2H
The market for socket LGA775 is still far from dead as there are large inventories of cheap Core 2, Pentium, and Celeron chips left in the market, as well as buyers upgrading their DDR2 systems to those with DDR3, to benefit from the DDR3 fire sale. Gigabyte introduced a new revision of its GA-EG41MFT-US2H, revision 1.4, with an updated gigabit Ethernet chip. The micro-ATX motherboard uses 3+1 phase VRM to power the processor, a wide range of Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors are supported. The processor is wired to Intel's G41 northbridge. Surprisingly, its graphics controller gives out an HDMI connection apart from DVI and D-Sub. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 8 GB of memory.
Expansion slots include two PCI, one each of PCI-Express 1.1 x16 and PCIe x1. The ICH7 southbridge drives four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and an IDE connector. The gigabit ethernet controller has been updated to RTL8111E, from the 8111D found on the older revision. Other features include 8-channel HD audio, Firewire, FDC, COM, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Expect a sub-$100 pricing for this board.
Expansion slots include two PCI, one each of PCI-Express 1.1 x16 and PCIe x1. The ICH7 southbridge drives four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and an IDE connector. The gigabit ethernet controller has been updated to RTL8111E, from the 8111D found on the older revision. Other features include 8-channel HD audio, Firewire, FDC, COM, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Expect a sub-$100 pricing for this board.
Apple Seeks Patent for Fuel-Cell Powered Notebooks
Apple reportedly started ground-work on developing a design with which future Macbooks can be powered by fuel-cells, pushing the battery life envelope further up. Apple has applied for two key patents with USPTO, titled "Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device", and "Fuel Cell System Coupled to a Portable Computing Device."
The filing states "Our country's continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling." It continues "These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources."
The filing states "Our country's continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling." It continues "These problems have led to an increasing awareness and desire on the part of consumers to promote and use renewable energy sources."
New Intel Server Board to Hold 1 TB of RAM
Intel is working on a new four-socket LGA2011 Server Board product, S4600LH (codename "Lizard Head Pass"), which is capable of holding a total of 1 terabyte of RAM. It is designed mainly for high-performance computing and math-intensive server applications, such as video streaming sites using it for transcoding, etc. The board is able to achieve such large memory expansion room, by providing three DIMM slots per memory channel. Each socket gives four memory channels.
The board supports 8-core Xeon E5-4600 series Sandy Bridge-EP processors. It is driven by Intel C600 "Patsburg" chipset with up to 8 SCU ports and 2 SATA 6 Gb/s ports. There are no standard expansion slots on the board as such, but there are two PCI-Express 3.0 x48 risers, to which daughterboards with three x16 slots each, can be attached (as shown in the CGI drawing below). Apart from these PCIe x48 risers, there is one PCIe 3.0 x8 I/O module on board. The board features dual Intel LAN with VT support. KVM and BMT logic is in-built. The Server Board S4600LH from Intel will be available in Q2 2012.
The board supports 8-core Xeon E5-4600 series Sandy Bridge-EP processors. It is driven by Intel C600 "Patsburg" chipset with up to 8 SCU ports and 2 SATA 6 Gb/s ports. There are no standard expansion slots on the board as such, but there are two PCI-Express 3.0 x48 risers, to which daughterboards with three x16 slots each, can be attached (as shown in the CGI drawing below). Apart from these PCIe x48 risers, there is one PCIe 3.0 x8 I/O module on board. The board features dual Intel LAN with VT support. KVM and BMT logic is in-built. The Server Board S4600LH from Intel will be available in Q2 2012.
Google+ Said to Have Passed 62 Million Users
According to Paul Allen, the self-proclaimed 'unofficial statistician' of Google+, Google's social project continued to see solid, double-digit growth in December, and managed to surpass 62 million users just after Christmas.
Given the current (estimated) sign-up rate of 625,000 per day (as a comparison, Andy Rubin confirmed about a week ago that Android as a platform has 700,000 activations/day), Google+ can reach 100 million users by the end of February (2012). But apparently this is just the tip of the sign-up iceberg…
Given the current (estimated) sign-up rate of 625,000 per day (as a comparison, Andy Rubin confirmed about a week ago that Android as a platform has 700,000 activations/day), Google+ can reach 100 million users by the end of February (2012). But apparently this is just the tip of the sign-up iceberg…
Epson Rolls Out Endeavor Pro 750 Gaming PC in Japan
In Japan, Epson does more than selling printing and imaging devices. It sells pre-built PCs. Its latest creation is the Endeavor Pro 750, a gaming PC based on Intel Sandy Bridge-E platform. The Endeavor Pro 750 is housed in an airy aluminum-built case. The case has two permanently-fixed handles on top, and its 3.5/2.5-inch drive bay stack can be access from the front-panel, to give it some hot-plugging capabilities. The front-panel also has two USB 3.0 ports next to audio I/O. It's the insides that are more interesting.
The Endeavor Pro 750 is driven by an Intel Core i7-3930K, though an i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor can be opted for, the CPU is cooled by a custom air-cooler. The processor sits on a custom OEM motherboard labelled Epson, but in all likelihood, it may have been built by any of the major motherboard ODMs, such as Foxconn. There are a variety of memory options, starting from 4 GB, all the way up to 32 GB, with DDR3-1600 MHz being the standard memory type. The base model ships with an AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card, but it can be configured all the way up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. Storage options, too, are configurable, with various HDD RAID and SSD (Intel 510 series) available.
The Endeavor Pro 750 is driven by an Intel Core i7-3930K, though an i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor can be opted for, the CPU is cooled by a custom air-cooler. The processor sits on a custom OEM motherboard labelled Epson, but in all likelihood, it may have been built by any of the major motherboard ODMs, such as Foxconn. There are a variety of memory options, starting from 4 GB, all the way up to 32 GB, with DDR3-1600 MHz being the standard memory type. The base model ships with an AMD Radeon HD 6450 graphics card, but it can be configured all the way up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. Storage options, too, are configurable, with various HDD RAID and SSD (Intel 510 series) available.
Tuesday, December 27th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
CPU Coolers
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Processors
CyberpowerPC Announces Third Generation 'Fang III' Desktop PC Series
CyberpowerPC is taking no prisoners to close out the year. The company today announced the third generation of its Fang desktop gaming PC series - a meaner, faster, bolder way to experience immersive high definition gaming.
The Fang III series, which consists of the Rattler, Viper, Cobra, and top-of-the-line Black Mamba, have been re-armed with an arsenal of powerful new features to conquer all the latest games and give you the performance to dominate your opponents. Speed is the key and the Fang III have all been retooled with new 2nd Generation Intel Extreme Core I processors; the latest Intel Chipsets that support blazing fast dual channel and quad channel memory; PCIe 3.0 motherboard support; CyberpowerPC's Advanced hydro liquid cooling matched with feature-rich gaming cases, and an injection of Venom Boost overclocking.
The Fang III series, which consists of the Rattler, Viper, Cobra, and top-of-the-line Black Mamba, have been re-armed with an arsenal of powerful new features to conquer all the latest games and give you the performance to dominate your opponents. Speed is the key and the Fang III have all been retooled with new 2nd Generation Intel Extreme Core I processors; the latest Intel Chipsets that support blazing fast dual channel and quad channel memory; PCIe 3.0 motherboard support; CyberpowerPC's Advanced hydro liquid cooling matched with feature-rich gaming cases, and an injection of Venom Boost overclocking.
Zalman F1-Series SSDs Start Selling
Zalman's newest line of solid state drives, the F1-series, started selling in Japan. These drives are slated for launch tomorrow. These drives are a typical implementation of the SandForce SF-2281 controller, backed by MLC NAND flash memory. The F1-series is available in three sizes, 60 GB, 120 GB, and 240 GB; priced at 11,980 JPY (US $153), 19,800 JPY ($254), and 39,980 JPY ($513), respectively. The drives take advantage of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor. The drives offer read speeds of up to 560 MB/s, and up to 530 MB/s writes. The 60 GB and 120 GB models offer 4K random write performance of 30,000 IOPS, while the 240 GB one offers 45,000 IOPS.
CTL Releases the MB40U 14.1-inch Ubuntu-Running Notebook
Portland-based CTL Corp. has recently launched its very first Ubuntu-based laptop, the business-oriented MB40U which features a 14.1-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display, Sandy Bridge power, and runs the latest Ubuntu release, version 11.10 aka Oneiric Ocelot.
CTL's Ubuntu-flavored notebook is equipped with a Core i3/i5/i7 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to a 500 GB hard drive or an SSD with a capacity of up to 512 GB, Intel HD integrated graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ WiFi, Bluetooth, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 6-cell battery enabling up to 5 hours of use per charge.
The MB40U starts at $449 and can be found here.
CTL's Ubuntu-flavored notebook is equipped with a Core i3/i5/i7 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to a 500 GB hard drive or an SSD with a capacity of up to 512 GB, Intel HD integrated graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ WiFi, Bluetooth, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 6-cell battery enabling up to 5 hours of use per charge.
The MB40U starts at $449 and can be found here.
Tranquil Unveils MMC-12 Media Center PC
British PC maker and specialist with "small and silent PCs", Tranquil, unveiled its latest MMC-12 media center PC that will give your home video player (DVD/Blu-ray player) a run for its money, for in its 1.5-inch tall form-factor, it packs a throbbing Intel Core i3/i5/i7 "Sandy Bridge" processor (buyer chooses model). Its body is milled out of blocks of metal with a satin-textured matte finish. It has a minimalist front-panel with a slot-in optical drive, DVD or Blu-ray (again, buyer chooses). Tranquil didn't give out much more information about the MMC-12. Its previous media center PCs earned quite some praise for their acoustics.
ASKTech Intros NT-TX3000BK Fanless Mini-ITX Chassis
Japanese company ASKTech introduced its latest ultra-compact, fan-less mini-ITX case, the NT-TX3000BK. Measuring 295 (W) x 270 (D) x 76 (H) mm, this case is designed for your living room shelf. It can hold mini-ITX motherboards that feature Intel LGA775 or LGA1155/LGA1156 sockets, specifically these sockets, because its bundled ZENO (zero-noise) fan-less CPU cooler. The sides of the case double up as a heatsink. Due to power supply limitations it only supports CPUs with TDP under 65W.
The ZENO cooler consists of a base with retention module, from it, two sets of heat pipes arise, that lead to the two sides of the case, where heat is dissipated to the air passively. The location of the base can be adjusted, as also the points where the heat pipes make contact with the sides of the case, so you don't have to worry about where the CPU socket of the board is located.
The ZENO cooler consists of a base with retention module, from it, two sets of heat pipes arise, that lead to the two sides of the case, where heat is dissipated to the air passively. The location of the base can be adjusted, as also the points where the heat pipes make contact with the sides of the case, so you don't have to worry about where the CPU socket of the board is located.
Apple: A Touch of Fraud Over Guarantees
It looks like Apple has been a bit naughty in Italy according to Reuters and not been informing customers of their rights to product guarantees and assistance. Not only that, but they encouraged customers to buy their AppleCare Protection Plan, which actually overlapped with the free assistance required by law. Italy's anti-trust body has been looking at the activities of Apple Sales International, Apple Italia and Apple Retail Italia and fined them for the above practices. They have now fined Apple a total of 900,000 Euros over these shenanigans, which will hopefully put a stop to this. Reuters tried having a chat with three Apple spokesmen about this issue, but they were surprisingly elusive.
Separately, Apple faces an investigation over price-fixing deals with ebook publishers, blocking rivals and hurting customers. But there's more: EU anti-trust authorities are also looking closely at Apple's patents dispute with Samsung, as they suspect that their intellectual property rights may have been unfairly used against their rivals to block sales. We reported on this previously, here, concluding that Apple will now have to actually compete in the marketplace, rather than muzzle their rivals. Oh, such a shame.
It does feel to us as if the departure of Steve Jobs has lead Apple to try more underhand tactics than before. It's one thing to apply the Reality Distortion Field, aka clever marketing and lock your products in with DRM, but quite another to commit such obvious fraud against your customers. It looks like Apple may have started, or will soon start to haemorrhage customers and quite rightly, too.
Separately, Apple faces an investigation over price-fixing deals with ebook publishers, blocking rivals and hurting customers. But there's more: EU anti-trust authorities are also looking closely at Apple's patents dispute with Samsung, as they suspect that their intellectual property rights may have been unfairly used against their rivals to block sales. We reported on this previously, here, concluding that Apple will now have to actually compete in the marketplace, rather than muzzle their rivals. Oh, such a shame.
It does feel to us as if the departure of Steve Jobs has lead Apple to try more underhand tactics than before. It's one thing to apply the Reality Distortion Field, aka clever marketing and lock your products in with DRM, but quite another to commit such obvious fraud against your customers. It looks like Apple may have started, or will soon start to haemorrhage customers and quite rightly, too.
MSI Announces MultiConnect Panel and Voice Genie
Internationally renowned mainboard and graphic card manufacturer MSI announces today two new exclusive products: MultiConnect Panel and Voice Genie.
With support for Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 3.0 wireless transfer, MSI's MultiConnect Panel provides an OC Genie button for MSI mainboard users to instantly increase system performance with a simple push of a button! The MSI-exclusive Super Charger on the MultiConnect Panel also allows users to quickly charge their smart-phones, tablet PCs, wireless keyboards, and wireless mice via any MSI X79 mainboard.
MSI's groundbreaking Voice Genie is the world's first voice control technology with system startup support without the need for keyboard or mouse operation! Aside from turning on and off the system, users can even enable and disable OC Genie, open a web browser, wake up the system, and set the system to sleep mode all via voice command! Full compatibility with all MSI X79 Series mainboards helps bring added value to the MSI computing experience with MultiConnect Panel and Voice Genie.
With support for Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 3.0 wireless transfer, MSI's MultiConnect Panel provides an OC Genie button for MSI mainboard users to instantly increase system performance with a simple push of a button! The MSI-exclusive Super Charger on the MultiConnect Panel also allows users to quickly charge their smart-phones, tablet PCs, wireless keyboards, and wireless mice via any MSI X79 mainboard.
MSI's groundbreaking Voice Genie is the world's first voice control technology with system startup support without the need for keyboard or mouse operation! Aside from turning on and off the system, users can even enable and disable OC Genie, open a web browser, wake up the system, and set the system to sleep mode all via voice command! Full compatibility with all MSI X79 Series mainboards helps bring added value to the MSI computing experience with MultiConnect Panel and Voice Genie.
Leak: The Intel Medfield Files
VR-Zone have been having a little chat with Intel 'sources', who have leaked some juicy tidbits for us to enjoy in the form performance and power news. The upcoming next generation Medfield platform is Intel's first true System on a Chip (SoC) and is designed to compete with various low power ARM offerings in the tablet space. To help achieve this, they've gone through an internal restructure, merging four business units into just one: Ultra-Mobility, Mobile Wireless, Mobile Communications and Netbook & Tablet PC. The business unit is now simply known as Mobile and Communications. It's being run by Mike Bell and Hermann Eul and the first product to emerge from it will be is the 32 nm Medfield SoC solution.
VR-Zone explained that the competition will be "Apple's A-Series, NVIDIA Tegra, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, Texas Instruments OMAP and the likes. Out of all the chips mentioned above, only Samsung's Exynos is currently manufactured in 32nm process, just like Medfield."
VR-Zone explained that the competition will be "Apple's A-Series, NVIDIA Tegra, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, Texas Instruments OMAP and the likes. Out of all the chips mentioned above, only Samsung's Exynos is currently manufactured in 32nm process, just like Medfield."
Gigabyte Recalling X79 UD3, UD5, G1.Assassin 2 Motherboards
Last week, a Taiwanese overclocker putting his OC workbench through an relatively laxed OC stress test saw its Gigabyte X79 UD3 motherboard go bust. Its CPU VRM couldn't cope with the stress, and blew a MOSFET. At the time, people responding to his video condoled him for his bad luck. It appears now that his wasn't a one-off case of "bad-egg". Gigabyte, in its latest press release on its Chinese website, noted the issue. Apparently it received several such complaints from overclockers where even moderate voltage-assisted CPU OC fried its VRM. The issue was found to be widespread, among three of its main socket LGA2011 products, the GA-X79-UD3, GA-X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2.
Apparently, the issue is caused by a cocktail of bad firmware to complement the board's PWM circuitry, and bad quality PWM components. As an immediate remedy, Gigabyte issued a BIOS update for the affected products. This BIOS, however, will cripple the board's overclocking abilities. The new BIOS will throttle CPU when subjected to extreme stress, to save the VRM. The BIOS remedy is only for those who opt to keep their boards, or don't subject the board to extreme tuning. The other remedy, is to return the board to Gigabyte, for a free replacement when the "right" boards are available. Gigabyte also announced a general recall of the GA-X79-UD3, GA-X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2, from the market. A video of the "unlucky" (not anymore) overclocker's day going bad, can be watched here.
Update (29/12): Gigabyte's German office wrote to us and explained that on their end they find the problem to be because of bad firmware, and not bad component quality; and that unlike Gigabyte Taiwan, they are not recalling products or soliciting replacements, but asking users to update their BIOS to the latest available. Gigabyte Germany set up a hotline for German customers, that's 040-253304-55.
Apparently, the issue is caused by a cocktail of bad firmware to complement the board's PWM circuitry, and bad quality PWM components. As an immediate remedy, Gigabyte issued a BIOS update for the affected products. This BIOS, however, will cripple the board's overclocking abilities. The new BIOS will throttle CPU when subjected to extreme stress, to save the VRM. The BIOS remedy is only for those who opt to keep their boards, or don't subject the board to extreme tuning. The other remedy, is to return the board to Gigabyte, for a free replacement when the "right" boards are available. Gigabyte also announced a general recall of the GA-X79-UD3, GA-X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2, from the market. A video of the "unlucky" (not anymore) overclocker's day going bad, can be watched here.
Asus Readies the E-450-Powered Eee PC 1225B Netbook
Next month Asus is set to add a new member to its Eee PC line, the Eee PC 1225B which runs Windows 7 Home Premium, features an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display, and is powered by an AMD Brazos APU, either the 1.0 GHz C-60 or the much more enticing 1.65 GHz E-450.
The incoming netbook weights 1.4 kg and also has 2/4 GB of RAM, up to a 750 GB hard drive, integrated DirectX 11 graphics (Radeon HD 6290 for the C-60 version, Radeon HD 6320 for the E-450 unit), a 0.3-megapixel webcam, LAN, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 (this is optional), stereo speakers, an SD/MMC card reader, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 6-cell battery allowing for up to 7 hours of operation per charge.
The Eee PC 1225B will be available in five color versions - gray, red, silver, black and white, and is supposed to start at 349 Euro.
The incoming netbook weights 1.4 kg and also has 2/4 GB of RAM, up to a 750 GB hard drive, integrated DirectX 11 graphics (Radeon HD 6290 for the C-60 version, Radeon HD 6320 for the E-450 unit), a 0.3-megapixel webcam, LAN, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 (this is optional), stereo speakers, an SD/MMC card reader, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 6-cell battery allowing for up to 7 hours of operation per charge.
The Eee PC 1225B will be available in five color versions - gray, red, silver, black and white, and is supposed to start at 349 Euro.
MCJ Intros NextGear-Note i950PA5-SP Gaming Notebook
Mouse Computer Japan (MCJ) introduced its latest notebook for gamers on the move, the i950PA5-SP. With its 17.3-inch form-factor, it classifies more as a desktop replacement, making it quite the LAN Party-animal. Under its hood is an Intel Core i7-2960XM quad-core processor clocked at 2.70 GHz (3.70 GHz max. turbo), a whopping 32 GB of RAM, two Intel SSD 320 series 120 GB drives in RAID 0, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M graphics with 2 GB GDDR5 memory, Blu-ray writer, WiFi b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0. The 17.3-inch display packs a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The i950PA5-SP is priced at 299,880 JPY, that's US $3,850.
Evercool Coming Out with the White Knight Laptop Cooling Pad/Table
Taiwanese manufacturer Evercool has recently unveiled the White Knight, a new accessory that can be used as a laptop cooling pad or a laptop table, depending on the user's needs. The White Knight supports up to 17-inch notebooks and features a metal frame and metal feet that allow it to be expanded and set up as a table.
Evercool's 2-in-1 device weights 1.8 kg and comes equipped with a USB-powered 120 mm fan operating at 900 RPM (rotations per minute). No word yet on pricing.
Evercool's 2-in-1 device weights 1.8 kg and comes equipped with a USB-powered 120 mm fan operating at 900 RPM (rotations per minute). No word yet on pricing.
LG Unveils Stylish New 3D Glasses for 2012
LG Electronics (LG) announced today that its newest collection of 3D glasses, including a pair designed by renowned eyewear designer Alain Mikli, will be introduced in the first quarter of 2012. The new 3D glasses -- the F310, the clip-on F320 and the Alain Mikli F360 -- are lighter and more comfortable to wear while upgraded design features such as curved lenses and clean frame structure have transitioned 3D glasses from burdensome requirements to stylish fashion accessories.
"Compared to active shutter glasses, LG's 3D glasses are far more comfortable to wear and much more affordable, making it possible for large groups and entire families to watch 3D programs and movies together," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of the LG Home Entertainment Company. "LG is addressing two of the biggest barriers to 3D acceptance head-on and we're confident consumers will react favorably to our strategy in the coming year."
"Compared to active shutter glasses, LG's 3D glasses are far more comfortable to wear and much more affordable, making it possible for large groups and entire families to watch 3D programs and movies together," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of the LG Home Entertainment Company. "LG is addressing two of the biggest barriers to 3D acceptance head-on and we're confident consumers will react favorably to our strategy in the coming year."
NTT DOCOMO, Samsung, NEC and Others to Form Mobile Chip Venture
Japanese mobile operator NTT DOCOMO has today announced the upcoming formation of a fabless joint venture company that will focus on the development of "feature-rich, small-size, low-power-consumption semiconductor products equipped with modem functionality."
Allegedly targeting Qualcomm, this new joint venture, which will be established by the end of March 2012, is set to be backed by NTT DOCOMO (of course), Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Mobile Communications, NEC, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Semiconductor. This six-company JV will start off by making chips for the LTE and LTE-Advanced mobile communication standards. Said chips will be available worldwide so a variety of manufacturers can adopt them for future devices.
To get the ball rolling on the joint venture, DOCOMO wants to invest 450 million yen (~ US $5.8 million) into a new, wholly owned subsidiary, called Communication Platform Planning. This entity will be headed by Mitsunobu Komori who's the executive vice president and Chief Technical Officer of DOCOMO. The subsidiary will be established by the middle of January.
Allegedly targeting Qualcomm, this new joint venture, which will be established by the end of March 2012, is set to be backed by NTT DOCOMO (of course), Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Mobile Communications, NEC, Fujitsu and Fujitsu Semiconductor. This six-company JV will start off by making chips for the LTE and LTE-Advanced mobile communication standards. Said chips will be available worldwide so a variety of manufacturers can adopt them for future devices.
To get the ball rolling on the joint venture, DOCOMO wants to invest 450 million yen (~ US $5.8 million) into a new, wholly owned subsidiary, called Communication Platform Planning. This entity will be headed by Mitsunobu Komori who's the executive vice president and Chief Technical Officer of DOCOMO. The subsidiary will be established by the middle of January.
Intel Centerton Atom A True Single-Chip SoC
Intel has, in the past, referred to its two-chip low-wattage computing solutions as "SoC" (system on a chip), keeping with that trend, it was assumed that "Centerton", an Atom-derived processor for NAS servers that the company is working on, could be a similar 2-chip solution with the tiny NM10 PCH sitting next to the CPU. It is now coming to light that Intel will design Centerton to run as a true single-chip SoC, without the PCH.
Centerton's core and uncore components, housed on the same piece of silicon, are detailed in the first picture, below. It packs two x86-64 cores. Each core has 32 KB L1I cache, 24 KB L1D cache, and 512 KB of dedicated L2 cache. There is no shared tertiary cache between the cores, however, they converge at the integrated memory controller (IMC). This IMC can control a single DDR3 memory channel, supporting 1.5V DDR3 UDIMMs with ECC support or 1.35V DDR3 SO-DIMMs, at speeds of PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333 MHz). Up to 8 GB of RAM is supported. The core can be clocked as high as 1.60 GHz. It features HyperThreading technology, enabling four logical CPUs for the OS to deal with. Any current 32-bit or 64-bit x86-capable OS should run.
Centerton's core and uncore components, housed on the same piece of silicon, are detailed in the first picture, below. It packs two x86-64 cores. Each core has 32 KB L1I cache, 24 KB L1D cache, and 512 KB of dedicated L2 cache. There is no shared tertiary cache between the cores, however, they converge at the integrated memory controller (IMC). This IMC can control a single DDR3 memory channel, supporting 1.5V DDR3 UDIMMs with ECC support or 1.35V DDR3 SO-DIMMs, at speeds of PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333 MHz). Up to 8 GB of RAM is supported. The core can be clocked as high as 1.60 GHz. It features HyperThreading technology, enabling four logical CPUs for the OS to deal with. Any current 32-bit or 64-bit x86-capable OS should run.
Orico Designs P5K Series Portable HDDs with Both eSATA and USB 3.0
Chinese data storage solutions provider Orico unveiled its new P5K line of portable hard drives. These drives feature rugged brushed-aluminum bodies. The drives are available in variants that feature both eSATA 3 Gb/s and USB 3.0, and those which feature just USB 3.0. Some of these variants even pack internal SSDs instead of HDDs, with a single "direct" PCB that holds both the host interface logic and the SSD. Unfortunately, these designs are still in the realm of CGI, and the manufacturer did not publish detailed specifications.
Intel Thunderbolt To Go Beyond Macs in April 2012
Intel notified its partners in the PC industry that its Thunderbolt 10 Gbps interconnect will enter the PC ecosystem in April, 2012. Around that time, Intel will launch its third-generation Core processor family, and waves of new motherboards are likely to launch. It is likely that Thunderbolt will be the defining feature of many of these motherboards. Along with PC motherboards, the technology is likely to feature on pre-built desktops, and notebooks. The propagation of Thunderbolt is limited for a variety of reasons. First, its host controller costs more than $20, second, there already an established ecosystem of USB 3.0, a slower, yet competitive interconnect that maintains backwards compatibility with its older versions, and third, Intel has restricted the technology to Apple.
The cost of adoption, starting with host controllers, is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, and so the technology should standardize gradually in the future. 10 Gbps might be more than plenty of bandwidth for now, but the demand for faster device interconnects will only rise. Among the companies that have come forward with plans to adopt the technology, Sony is expected to adopt it among many of its product lines; ASUS into its high-end notebooks, and so will Gigabyte. Gigabyte will also embrace the technology for its motherboards in April, in a bid to increase competitiveness against ASUS and ASRock. Thunderbolt will be the next "features USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s" marketing label for motherboard vendors.
The cost of adoption, starting with host controllers, is expected to drop in the second half of 2012, and so the technology should standardize gradually in the future. 10 Gbps might be more than plenty of bandwidth for now, but the demand for faster device interconnects will only rise. Among the companies that have come forward with plans to adopt the technology, Sony is expected to adopt it among many of its product lines; ASUS into its high-end notebooks, and so will Gigabyte. Gigabyte will also embrace the technology for its motherboards in April, in a bid to increase competitiveness against ASUS and ASRock. Thunderbolt will be the next "features USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s" marketing label for motherboard vendors.
Epson Announces Settlement of Lawsuit with Nokia and Extraordinary Loss
Seiko Epson Corporation ("Epson," TSE: 6724) today announced that it has agreed to settle for US$80 million civil lawsuits filed against it in the United States and United Kingdom by Nokia Corporation of Finland and its subsidiaries ("Nokia") seeking damages stemming from purchases of liquid crystal displays.
In November 2009, Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States and United Kingdom against Epson and its subsidiary companies including Epson Imaging Devices Corporation alleging violations of antitrust and competition laws. Epson has denied liability and vigorously defended the lawsuits. Because of the ongoing impacts of the lawsuits on its business and the expense of continuing litigation, however, the company has determined that settlement of the litigation is in Epson's best interests.
In November 2009, Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States and United Kingdom against Epson and its subsidiary companies including Epson Imaging Devices Corporation alleging violations of antitrust and competition laws. Epson has denied liability and vigorously defended the lawsuits. Because of the ongoing impacts of the lawsuits on its business and the expense of continuing litigation, however, the company has determined that settlement of the litigation is in Epson's best interests.
Monday, December 26th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Game Controllers
Gaming PC
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mouse
Mousepads
Processors
Parrot AR.Drone Review
Parrot's AR.Drone is a remarkable piece of kit which incorporates video games with RC-piloting. The AR.Drone is a fully fledged drone with on-board cameras and hardware which allows it to almost fly itself.
GoDaddy Plays Dirty: Thwarts Domain Transfers To Competitors
GoDaddy has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons. It all started when it expressed support for the American Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) internet censorship which no one in their right mind would support, unless they have a vested interest like the RIAA/MPAA or News International (Rupert Murdoch) and especially not a company that is in the business of supporting the very infrastructure of the internet, such as a domain registrar. They initially made this surprising statement in support of SOPA:
This bill cannot reasonably be equated with censorship. This bill promotes action pursuant to preexisting criminal and civil laws. Not only is there no First Amendment concern, but the notion that we should turn a blind eye to criminal conduct because other countries may take oppressive steps in response is an affront to the very fabric of this nation.However, there was a very predictable and severe backlash from everyone that wasn't a vested interest, which would have likely resulted in GoDaddy winning the race to the bottom and going bust Real Soon Now. Therefore, GoDaddy were forced to backpedal furiously on their true feelings in this press release as a damage limitation exercise.
Radeon HD 7950 Specifications Leaked
Last Thursday, AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970 graphics card based on its new 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, but it remained tight-lipped about the specifications of the more important SKU that will be based on it, the Radeon HD 7950. The HD 7970 will carry a launch price of US $550, making the HD 7950 an SKU to watch out for. According to details released by XTReview, the "Tahiti Pro" or HD 7950 will be carved out this way:
- 1792 stream processors, 28 GCN compute units
- 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs (derived)
- 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface
- 3 GB memory, memory clock around 5.00 GHz
Intel Readies Atom-based SoC for NAS Devices
Intel is planning to launch a new system-on-chip (SoC) processor derived from Atom, for network-attached storage (NAS) devices. NAS devices simple computers that connect hard drives directly to the network, where they are accessed by other computers. Over the years, NAS devices have added several functions, such as the ability to expand storage from external storage devices, the ability to perform simple tasks such as bit-torrent downloads, etc. To keep up with the growing need for compute power with these "super-NAS" devices, and to keep power draws low, there is a demand for low-power, low-footprint (small in size), and high-performance processing cores. This is one small but emerging segment that Intel doesn't want to concede to high-end multi-core ARM processors.
Sources told DigiTimes that Intel is working on an entire lineup of Atom processors for NAS devices, targeting various performance and power-draw segments. Intel is codenaming these Atom processors "Centerton". The chips are built on second-generation Atom architecture, and will be built on the 32 nm process. In related news, Intel also plans to roll out 22nm Silvermont-based Atom processors in 2013 and 14nm Airmont-based Atom parts in 2014, according to sources.
Sources told DigiTimes that Intel is working on an entire lineup of Atom processors for NAS devices, targeting various performance and power-draw segments. Intel is codenaming these Atom processors "Centerton". The chips are built on second-generation Atom architecture, and will be built on the 32 nm process. In related news, Intel also plans to roll out 22nm Silvermont-based Atom processors in 2013 and 14nm Airmont-based Atom parts in 2014, according to sources.
Buffalo Unveils New 8 GB Memory Modules
Buffalo Japan unveiled new 8 GB memory modules in the 204-pin SO-DIMM and standard 240-pin DIMM form-factors. These modules pack 8 GB capacity, and stick to JEDEC DDR3-1333 MHz standards. Featured in the D3N1333 series, these modules 1024M x 64bit DIMM configuration. They achieve 1333 MHz speeds with CAS latency of 9T and DRAM voltage of 1.5V. The Buffalo Tools software comes bundled with these modules. The two are priced at 26,670 JPY, around US $341.6.
ASRock Readies Hasbro Transformers-Themed Motherboards
Although ASRock's lineup of socket LGA2011 motherboards is expansive, covering several price-points, and being available in various form-factors (ATX, XL-ATX, and Micro-ATX), all its X79 Extreme series motherboards launched so far, barring the X79 Fatal1ty Profess1onal, features the same black+silver color scheme. ASRock wants to add some color and side-branding to its X79 Extreme motherboards without necessarily investing much in coming up with new designs. Hence it came up with the idea of making Hasbro Transformers-themed motherboards.
On its Facebook page, ASRock disclosed some rough-sketches (for now, Photoshop quickies), of the X79 Optimus Prime, and the X79 Bumblebee, named after two of the most iconic Autobots from the franchise. These essentially look like the X79 Extreme9 with appropriately-colored heatsink shrouds and expansion slots. The quality of those pictures indicates that ASRock is still in the brainstorming stage of these products, seeking opinions of its Facebook fans, and it will be a while before these products take shape, if they take shape to begin with.
On its Facebook page, ASRock disclosed some rough-sketches (for now, Photoshop quickies), of the X79 Optimus Prime, and the X79 Bumblebee, named after two of the most iconic Autobots from the franchise. These essentially look like the X79 Extreme9 with appropriately-colored heatsink shrouds and expansion slots. The quality of those pictures indicates that ASRock is still in the brainstorming stage of these products, seeking opinions of its Facebook fans, and it will be a while before these products take shape, if they take shape to begin with.
LG Unveils DM92, DM82 and DM52 Series 3D-Optimized IPS Monitors
LG Electronics (LG) will unveil its 2012 IPS monitor line-up at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month. LG's new IPS monitors will provide consumers with the most optimal 3D viewing solution, offering immersive 3D viewing with higher resolutions from wider viewing angles. The new IPS monitors are divided into the DM92, DM82 and DM52 series, in addition to the D43 3D monitor.
"The quality and technological superiority of LG's 3D display products are second to none, according to the findings of internationally renowned research organizations and respected media outlets," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company. "The 2011 IPS monitor line-up shows LG's commitment to further build upon on this reputation and technological prowess in order to provide consumers with the most immersive home entertainment experience possible."
"The quality and technological superiority of LG's 3D display products are second to none, according to the findings of internationally renowned research organizations and respected media outlets," said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company. "The 2011 IPS monitor line-up shows LG's commitment to further build upon on this reputation and technological prowess in order to provide consumers with the most immersive home entertainment experience possible."
Sony and Samsung Shift to New LCD Panel Business Alliance
Sony Corporation ("Sony") and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. ("Samsung") today announced that the two companies have signed agreements to transition the current business relationship with respect to LCD panels.
Under the agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony's shares of S-LCD Corporation ("S-LCD"), the two companies' LCD panel manufacturing joint venture, making S-LCD a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung. In consideration for the share transfer, cash consideration of approximately KRW 1.08 trillion* will be paid to Sony by Samsung. Concurrently, the two companies have entered into a new strategic agreement for the supply and purchase of LCD panels with a goal of enhancing the competitiveness of both companies. The agreement also allows Sony and Samsung to continue cooperative engineering efforts focused on LCD panel technology.
Under the agreement, Samsung will acquire all of Sony's shares of S-LCD Corporation ("S-LCD"), the two companies' LCD panel manufacturing joint venture, making S-LCD a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung. In consideration for the share transfer, cash consideration of approximately KRW 1.08 trillion* will be paid to Sony by Samsung. Concurrently, the two companies have entered into a new strategic agreement for the supply and purchase of LCD panels with a goal of enhancing the competitiveness of both companies. The agreement also allows Sony and Samsung to continue cooperative engineering efforts focused on LCD panel technology.
Mozilla a Partner, Not Competitor: Google Chrome Engineer
In what could be a sign of improving ties between Google and Mozilla, Peter Kasting, engineer in the Google Chrome web-browser development team referred to Mozilla as a partner, and not a competitor. The statement came in context of the recently-renewed search engine deal between the two, where Google pays Mozilla for setting Google as its primary search engine, both on its browser search bar, and its Firefox start page. Kasting also went to the extant of stating that Chrome isn't necessarily a profit-seeking operation by Google.
Kasting stated: "People never seem to understand why Google builds Chrome no matter how many times I try to pound it into their heads. It's very simple: the primary goal of Chrome is to make the web advance as much and as quickly as possible. It's completely irrelevant to this goal whether Chrome actually gains tons of users or whether instead the web advances because the other browser vendors step up their game and produce far better browsers. Either way the web gets better. Job done."
Kasting stated: "People never seem to understand why Google builds Chrome no matter how many times I try to pound it into their heads. It's very simple: the primary goal of Chrome is to make the web advance as much and as quickly as possible. It's completely irrelevant to this goal whether Chrome actually gains tons of users or whether instead the web advances because the other browser vendors step up their game and produce far better browsers. Either way the web gets better. Job done."
LG Display Announces World's Largest OLED Panel
LG Display, a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, today announced that it has developed the world's largest 55-inch OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diodes) TV panel. The 55-inch panel is a significant step forward in the popularization of OLED TVs and demonstrates the effective application of AM OLED technology to larger panel sizes at a more cost efficient level.
"Our objective has always been to actively define and lead emerging display technology markets," said Dr. Sang Beom Han, CEO and Executive Vice President of LG Display. "Although OLED technology is seen as the future of TV display, the technology has been limited to smaller display sizes and by high costs, until now. LG Display's 55-inch OLED TV panel has overcome these barriers."
"Our objective has always been to actively define and lead emerging display technology markets," said Dr. Sang Beom Han, CEO and Executive Vice President of LG Display. "Although OLED technology is seen as the future of TV display, the technology has been limited to smaller display sizes and by high costs, until now. LG Display's 55-inch OLED TV panel has overcome these barriers."
Targus Announces The Market’s First USB 3.0 Docking Solution
Targus Inc., maker of the world's top-selling laptop computer cases and accessories today announced it is first to market with USB 3.0 docking technology. The Targus USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Dual Video Docking Station (ACP70US) allows you to connect all of your peripherals while offering the benefit of enhanced speed and power associated with USB 3.0. It is the ideal solution for various work environments that support multiple laptop standards or where there is the need for a shared workspace, "Hot Desking" or "Hoteling". In addition, with the emergence of Ultrabooks, users will need additional USB ports for all of their necessary peripherals.
Utilizing USB 3.0 graphics technology by DisplayLink, the new docking station also includes dual video ports, which provides beyond HD video and graphics with up to 2048 x 1152 resolution. This is ideal for peripherals that require enriched image and text clarity such as external HD monitors. It also features the first-of-its-kind Gigabit Ethernet via USB for high-speed networking. The wedge design offers an ergonomic tilt and improved ambient airflow while its horizontal form factor allows users to place the docking station under a laptop, thus saving desk space.
Utilizing USB 3.0 graphics technology by DisplayLink, the new docking station also includes dual video ports, which provides beyond HD video and graphics with up to 2048 x 1152 resolution. This is ideal for peripherals that require enriched image and text clarity such as external HD monitors. It also features the first-of-its-kind Gigabit Ethernet via USB for high-speed networking. The wedge design offers an ergonomic tilt and improved ambient airflow while its horizontal form factor allows users to place the docking station under a laptop, thus saving desk space.
PNY Launches Brick Attaché USB Flash drive
PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") is considered a leading designer, manufacturer and a worldwide leader in DRAM Memory and Flash Memory products, today announced the new Brick Attaché USB Flash drive. This drive sports a unique, playful and fun building block design of children's toys, steering away from the traditional serious designs associated with USB flash drives.
PNY's new Brick Attaché drive is made of strong non-slip polymer material with a dotted embossed texture. The dark blue body has a wedge-shaped notch at the end far from the white cap, while the cap has a similar shaped protrusion, which fits snugly in this notch. This prevents the cap from getting lost. Additionally, if you have more than one such drives, you can connect them one after another forming a train or any such imaginary object according to your creativity.
PNY's new Brick Attaché drive is made of strong non-slip polymer material with a dotted embossed texture. The dark blue body has a wedge-shaped notch at the end far from the white cap, while the cap has a similar shaped protrusion, which fits snugly in this notch. This prevents the cap from getting lost. Additionally, if you have more than one such drives, you can connect them one after another forming a train or any such imaginary object according to your creativity.
Sunday, December 25th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Input Devices
Keyboards
Memory
Notebooks
'Locked' AMD Zambezi Silicon Being Branded As New Phenom II Line
Besides the fact that they are carved out of the same piece of silicon by disabling components, all AMD FX series processors, from the quad-core FX-4000 series, to the eight-core FX-8000 series have one thing in common: they're all "unlocked", meaning they have an upwards-unlocked base-clock multiplier, which makes overclocking them a whole lot easier. Take that away and what do you get? A new Phenom II processor line. That's right, it is learned that AMD has a new line of Phenom II processors, eight-core for now, that are being carved out of the 32 nm Zambezi silicon.
Intuitively branded within the new Phenom II X8 and existing Phenom II X6 markers, these chips feature relatively lower clock speeds, meaning they will be priced low, competitive with Intel's sub-$200 Core i3 and Core i5 processors. AMD will also tinker with Zambezi's caches. The new chips came to light when some motherboard manufacturers leaked them on CPU support lists of certain motherboards, on their websites. For now we're getting to hear about two eight-core models, the 2.40 GHz Phenom II X8 2420, and 3.00 GHz Phenom II X8 3020; and two six-core models, the 2.50 GHz Phenom II X6 2520, and 2.80 GHz Phenom II X6 2820. Relevant details are tabled below. It beats us why AMD didn't take the opportunity (new silicon) to label these "Phenom III".
Intuitively branded within the new Phenom II X8 and existing Phenom II X6 markers, these chips feature relatively lower clock speeds, meaning they will be priced low, competitive with Intel's sub-$200 Core i3 and Core i5 processors. AMD will also tinker with Zambezi's caches. The new chips came to light when some motherboard manufacturers leaked them on CPU support lists of certain motherboards, on their websites. For now we're getting to hear about two eight-core models, the 2.40 GHz Phenom II X8 2420, and 3.00 GHz Phenom II X8 3020; and two six-core models, the 2.50 GHz Phenom II X6 2520, and 2.80 GHz Phenom II X6 2820. Relevant details are tabled below. It beats us why AMD didn't take the opportunity (new silicon) to label these "Phenom III".
Christmas Special: The PC Technology of 2011
Welcome to the TechPowerUp 2011 PC technology Christmas special. We hope that you will enjoy reading it while tucking into your turkey, Christmas presents and a little too much wine... In this article, we go through the technology of 2011 that has had the most significance, the most impact and was generally the most talked about. It's not necessarily the best tech of 2011 which is the most significant though, since lemons can be just as significant as the ground-breakers in how they fail to deliver - and the backlash that goes with it.
January: Intel Sandy Bridge i5 & i7
Released on January 9th, the new Intel Core i5 & i7 processors were based on Intel's second generation Core architecture built on a 32 nm production process (HEXUS review). They included an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) physically on the same piece of silicon along with HyperThreading. These new dual and quad core processors soundly beat all previous generations of Intel processors in terms of processing performance, heat, power use, features and left AMD in the dust. Therefore, Intel badly needed some competition from AMD and unless you have been living under a rock, you will know how that turned out in October with the launch of Bulldozer. Sandy Bridge was a sound win and is generally considered to be the only architecture worth considering at this point. The i5-2500K is currently at the sweet spot of price/performance. It comes at a stock speed of 3.3 GHz, but typically overclocks to an amazing 4.5 - 5 GHz with a decent air cooler and without too much difficulty in getting there. Models in the budget i3 range were released at various times later. See this Wikipedia article for details.
January: Intel Sandy Bridge i5 & i7
Released on January 9th, the new Intel Core i5 & i7 processors were based on Intel's second generation Core architecture built on a 32 nm production process (HEXUS review). They included an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) physically on the same piece of silicon along with HyperThreading. These new dual and quad core processors soundly beat all previous generations of Intel processors in terms of processing performance, heat, power use, features and left AMD in the dust. Therefore, Intel badly needed some competition from AMD and unless you have been living under a rock, you will know how that turned out in October with the launch of Bulldozer. Sandy Bridge was a sound win and is generally considered to be the only architecture worth considering at this point. The i5-2500K is currently at the sweet spot of price/performance. It comes at a stock speed of 3.3 GHz, but typically overclocks to an amazing 4.5 - 5 GHz with a decent air cooler and without too much difficulty in getting there. Models in the budget i3 range were released at various times later. See this Wikipedia article for details.
Saturday, December 24th 2011
Seagate Takes Three Years To Realize It's Using The Wrong Branding!
Five years ago, almost to the day, Seagate issued a press release stating that it had bought EVault Inc for $185 million. This allowed Seagate to provide an online cloud-based backup service. It then renamed it to i365 in September 2008, to reflect its all-year-round availability. However, it has now made a screeching U-turn and renamed the service back to EVault. Why? Apparently, because i365 has no product recognition, but EVault has plenty. One wonders what took them so long to figure this out? You can currently see a marketing graphic about this on the EVault homepage. We have taken a snapshot of it below, to preserve it.
U.S. Army Attacks the CryEngine
The U.S. Army might be financing one of the most epic videos games ever made that very few people may ever play. The "game" is called Dismounted Soldier Training System and was commissioned by the U.S. government back in May for a staggering cost of 57 million dollars. The contract was awarded to RealTime Immersive Inc. All of this according to PC Gamer. Everything about this simulator is said to be cutting edge but the hardware it runs on. In a GamePro interview with the director of strategic programs at Intelligent Decisions, Floyd West is said to have stated, "With CryEngine 3 being used for Crysis 2 and the capabilities that game engine provides, it allows us to make the most realistic simulation possible. We're able to transport soldiers to accurately recreated locales like Afghanistan and Iraq, where we can simulate everything from visuals to 360-degree sound."
The virtual reality headsets the trainees wear will run from a backpack unit similar to a top of the range gaming laptop, called the 'Man Wearable Unit'. "While the man wearable units aren't running on an off-the-shelf Alienware, the internal components themselves are commercial off-the-shelf CPUs and GPUs like NVIDIA graphic cards and whatnot."
As this is an internal military training simulator we the public may never play it. However that doesn't mean we cannot watch the trailers in awe and wonder if our own rigs could render thousands of kilometers in such massive detail.
Trailer 1 | Trailer 2
The virtual reality headsets the trainees wear will run from a backpack unit similar to a top of the range gaming laptop, called the 'Man Wearable Unit'. "While the man wearable units aren't running on an off-the-shelf Alienware, the internal components themselves are commercial off-the-shelf CPUs and GPUs like NVIDIA graphic cards and whatnot."
As this is an internal military training simulator we the public may never play it. However that doesn't mean we cannot watch the trailers in awe and wonder if our own rigs could render thousands of kilometers in such massive detail.
Trailer 1 | Trailer 2
Friday, December 23rd 2011
Today's Reviews
Cooling
Graphics Cards
Memory
Notebooks
ASUS P9X79 Deluxe Intel LGA 2011 Review
When most people think of ASUS, they immediately think of the "ROG" product line, one that has set itself apart from the rest due to extensive functionality, and top-level overclocking ability. however, ASUS does have a few other products out there that offer the same, if not more, and the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe that recently arrived on our doorstep is definitely one of those products. Boasting ASUS's improved "Dual Intelligent Processors III" VRM design, the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe offers performance customization abilities that few other products do, easily setting it apart form the rest.
HP Printer Firmware Vulnerability Fixed: Opportunistic Lawsuit's Lost Opportunity?
Three weeks ago, we brought you news that researchers had apparently found serious vulnerabilities in the firmware of HP printers that can allow hackers to cause the fuser to overheat and almost make the paper inside catch fire. HP dismissed these claims as exaggerated, but said that they would look into it. Three days later, we reported that some enterprising New Yorker called David Goldblatt sued HP, alleging that he would not have bought their printers had he known about this problem beforehand, which seems a bit unlikely when you consider that HP is the number one printer brand by a mile. Now HP have released patches for these vulnerabilities and issued the following press release:
Merry Christmas from TechPowerUp!
It is the time of the year once more and we at TechPowerUp! would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Hopefully everyone is able to enjoy this precious time with their friends & loved ones, that the season manages to inspire and bring some peace and tranquility during these turbulent times!
Firefox 10 Beta Available for Download
Since it already got its holiday present, the new three-year search agreement with Google, Mozilla has went into a gift-giving mode and served up the first public beta build of the next Firefox release, version 10.0.
According to the developers, Firefox 10 comes with Full Screen APIs (so web apps can run in full screen mode), with support for CSS3 3D-Transforms and WebGL Anti-Aliasing, and an added HTML5 treat, the < bdi > element for bi-directional text isolation.
The beta also includes a forward button which stays hidden until you navigate back, an Inspect tool with content highlighting, IndexedDB APIs, and a few fixes. Just like its predecessors, the Firefox 10.0 beta is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The download links can be found here.
According to the developers, Firefox 10 comes with Full Screen APIs (so web apps can run in full screen mode), with support for CSS3 3D-Transforms and WebGL Anti-Aliasing, and an added HTML5 treat, the < bdi > element for bi-directional text isolation.
The beta also includes a forward button which stays hidden until you navigate back, an Inspect tool with content highlighting, IndexedDB APIs, and a few fixes. Just like its predecessors, the Firefox 10.0 beta is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux. The download links can be found here.
Go Daddy No Longer Supports SOPA
Go Daddy is no longer supporting SOPA, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" currently working its way through U.S. Congress. "Fighting online piracy is of the utmost importance, which is why Go Daddy has been working to help craft revisions to this legislation - but we can clearly do better," Warren Adelman, Go Daddy's newly appointed CEO, said. "It's very important that all Internet stakeholders work together on this. Getting it right is worth the wait. Go Daddy will support it when and if the Internet community supports it."
Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims and specific provisions to protect free speech.
Go Daddy and its General Counsel, Christine Jones, have worked with federal lawmakers for months to help craft revisions to legislation first introduced some three years ago. Jones has fought to express the concerns of the entire Internet community and to improve the bill by proposing changes to key defined terms, limitations on DNS filtering to ensure the integrity of the Internet, more significant consequences for frivolous claims and specific provisions to protect free speech.
Cougar Announces Global Expansion
COUGAR, exclusive brand for high-end quality PC cases, power supplies and cooling fans, has been renown among demanding gamers for some time already. But until 2011 COUGAR had only been available in few countries. Now, COUGAR has announced that their global expansion with newly founded branch offices in all major territories around the world has been successfully initiated in 2011, effectively catering to gamers' needs everywhere.
The award winning PC cases, power supplies and cooling fans are not only being appreciated by users, but also won accolades from virtually all major computer magazines and review sites, as well as being awarded design and innovation awards such as the Computex 2010 Award. For 2012, COUGAR is already nominee for the highly acclaimed industry design award Designpreis Deutschland 2012. All this demonstrates, that user orientation and listening to the needs from the enthusiast and gaming community is still a major driver of the entire IT industry and for COUGAR in particular.
The award winning PC cases, power supplies and cooling fans are not only being appreciated by users, but also won accolades from virtually all major computer magazines and review sites, as well as being awarded design and innovation awards such as the Computex 2010 Award. For 2012, COUGAR is already nominee for the highly acclaimed industry design award Designpreis Deutschland 2012. All this demonstrates, that user orientation and listening to the needs from the enthusiast and gaming community is still a major driver of the entire IT industry and for COUGAR in particular.
Windows 8 build 8172 Screenshots Emerge
Sometime in 2012, Microsoft is expected to announce its next major version of Windows for the client platform. It has the working name "Windows 8", and was previewed to developers at the BUILD Conference, this September. A member of Chinese tech site PCbeta community got to play with a newer build of Windows, build 8172. Screenshots of its most common user interface elements, such as desktop, Windows Explorer, PC Settings (control panel), etc., were posted. Engadget notes that these screenshots don't reveal much else from the Windows Developer Preview shown at the BUILD Conference.
Zalman's CNPS10X Optima CPU Cooler Goes up for Pre-order
Announced earlier this month, Zalman's CNPS10X Optima CPU cooler has started to pop up in store listings as a pre-order item. Set for a January arrival, this new tower cooler makes use of Direct Touch Heatpipe (DTH) technology and comes with support for Intel LGA 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 775 and AMD AMD Socket FM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 processors.
Zalman's creation measures 132 (L) x 85 (W) x 152 (H) mm, it weights 630 grams, and has four copper heatpipes, aluminum fins, and one 120 mm FSB (Fluid Shield Bearing) fan which features Shark Fin blades (for increased airflow and lower noise & vibration) and operates at 1,000 to 1,700 RPM (sound output is 17 to 28 dBA).
The CNPS10X Optima is bundled with a pinch of ZM-STG2M thermal grease and can be found priced as low as 22.76 Euro.
Zalman's creation measures 132 (L) x 85 (W) x 152 (H) mm, it weights 630 grams, and has four copper heatpipes, aluminum fins, and one 120 mm FSB (Fluid Shield Bearing) fan which features Shark Fin blades (for increased airflow and lower noise & vibration) and operates at 1,000 to 1,700 RPM (sound output is 17 to 28 dBA).
The CNPS10X Optima is bundled with a pinch of ZM-STG2M thermal grease and can be found priced as low as 22.76 Euro.
TSMC 18-inch Wafer Volume Production On Course for 2015
TSMC told industry observers that its plans to test large 18 inch wafers are on schedule for 2012-13, and should reach volume production in 2015. Silicon chips are manufactured on large discs known as wafers, and cut out of them. Like pizza, the sizes of wafers are measured by their diameters. The 18 inch diameter wafer has been something TSMC has been working on. Larger the wafer, the more chips can be cut out of a single wafer. It works to reduce production costs. TSMC expects to have 95% of its 18 inch wafer production equipment installed in 2014, and commence volume production by 2015. Currently, TSMC faces technical hurdles that have to be solved in collaboration with equipment and material suppliers.
AMD Dual-GPU Radeon HD 7990 to Launch in Q1 2012, Packs 6 GB Memory
Even 12 months ago, an Intel Nehalem-powered gaming PC with 6 GB of system memory was considered high-end. Now there's already talk of a graphics card taking shape, that has that much memory. On Thursday this week, AMD launched its Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, which features its newest 28 nm "Tahiti" GPU, and 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. All along, it had plans of making a dual-GPU graphics card that made use of two of these GPUs to give you a Crossfire-on-a-stick solution. AMD codenamed this product "New Zealand". We are now getting to learn that codename "New Zealand" will carry the intuitive-sounding market name Radeon HD 7990, and that it is headed for a Q1 2012 launch.
This means that Radeon HD 7990 should arrive before April 2012. Tests show that Tahiti has superior energy-efficiency compared to previous-generation "Cayman" GPU, even as it has increased performance. From a technical standpoint, a graphics card featuring two of these Tahiti GPUs, running with specifications matching those of the single-GPU HD 7970, looks workable. Hence, there is talk of 6 GB of total graphics memory (3 GB per GPU system).
This means that Radeon HD 7990 should arrive before April 2012. Tests show that Tahiti has superior energy-efficiency compared to previous-generation "Cayman" GPU, even as it has increased performance. From a technical standpoint, a graphics card featuring two of these Tahiti GPUs, running with specifications matching those of the single-GPU HD 7970, looks workable. Hence, there is talk of 6 GB of total graphics memory (3 GB per GPU system).
Sanwa Intros USB Hub with Micro USB Connector and USB Charging Support
Japanese company Sanwa Supply announced a new pocket USB 2.0 hub, the USB-HMU403. The hub can be used to expand the number of USB ports to four, and also charge your gadgets, as it supports higher-than spec power delivery. The hub features a retractable standard USB 2.0 connector that plugs into to the host, and also a micro-USB connector that can plug into compatible gadgets (such as Android-driven tablets and smartphones), and expand their USB connectivity, or charge them. Measuring 70 x 43.5 x 9.6 mm (WxDxH), and weighing 26 grams, the hub is available in black and white color options. It is priced at 1,764 JPY (US $22).
ASRock Aims to Ship 10 Million Motherboards in 2012
ASRock is aiming to reach a milestone only two other companies have managed to reach, ASUS and Gigabyte, of shipping 10 million motherboards in an year. With shipments of 1.9 million motherboards in Q4 2011, ASRock will have shipped around 7.8 million motherboards in 2011, that's 13.3% short of its goal for 2011 of shipping 9 million boards. The markets of profitable high-end motherboards have been traditionally dominated by the likes of ASUS and Gigabyte, though ASRock has managed to make inroads to this segment with some competitively-priced products in 2011, note sources.
In 2012, with a more established brand, ASRock finds that 10 million goal realistic. Next year, Intel will launch its third generation Core processor family, and with it, a new line of desktop chipset, codenamed "Panther Point", leaving motherboard makers like ASRock scope to design and launch new products. Motherboards amount to 90% of ASRock's revenues, with the remaining 10% from HTPCs, sources note.
In 2012, with a more established brand, ASRock finds that 10 million goal realistic. Next year, Intel will launch its third generation Core processor family, and with it, a new line of desktop chipset, codenamed "Panther Point", leaving motherboard makers like ASRock scope to design and launch new products. Motherboards amount to 90% of ASRock's revenues, with the remaining 10% from HTPCs, sources note.
ECS Announces Wi-Bridge Wireless Display Adapter
Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, notebook and mobile device manufacturer has launched its first wireless display solution for HDMI display devices-ECS Wi-Bridge designed to delight your entertainment experience with wide and big screens.
ECS Wi-Bridge not only is small in size, but also smart in function. ECS Wi-Bridge is a lightweight, wireless display adapter which is portable and compact to save more space in your living room or on your office desk. ECS Wi-Bridge successfully breaks wired limitations and bridges your PC or NB to a big screen display supporting 1080P HD high quality resolution output via HDMI. ECS Wi-Bridge supports varying display modes meeting users different browsing performance needs. In addition to easy life, ECS Wi-Bridge is ideal for office use. Save time unplugging and easily switch between various presenters. You will find conferences smoother and more enjoyable.
ECS Wi-Bridge not only is small in size, but also smart in function. ECS Wi-Bridge is a lightweight, wireless display adapter which is portable and compact to save more space in your living room or on your office desk. ECS Wi-Bridge successfully breaks wired limitations and bridges your PC or NB to a big screen display supporting 1080P HD high quality resolution output via HDMI. ECS Wi-Bridge supports varying display modes meeting users different browsing performance needs. In addition to easy life, ECS Wi-Bridge is ideal for office use. Save time unplugging and easily switch between various presenters. You will find conferences smoother and more enjoyable.
Sharkoon Releases a Trio of 3.5-inch USB 3.0 Front Panels
Sharkoon Technologies has now introduced not one but three 3.5-inch front panels which offer easier access to a few precious USB 3.0 (aka SuperSpeed USB) ports. Two of the panels, the A and B models, include two USB 3.0 connectors, while the C version provides four ports.
The USB 3.0 Frontpanel A connects to two external SuperSpeed USB ports and costs 12.54 Euro, while the Frontpanel B and C, which can be hooked up to internal USB 3.0 headers, are selling for 11.51 Euro and 15.79 Euro, respectively.
The USB 3.0 Frontpanel A connects to two external SuperSpeed USB ports and costs 12.54 Euro, while the Frontpanel B and C, which can be hooked up to internal USB 3.0 headers, are selling for 11.51 Euro and 15.79 Euro, respectively.
Rambus Signs Patent Deal with Broadcom, Ends One More Litigation
If you're Rambus then this is the season to be… making money through settlements. That's right, the XDR creator has scored a new out-of-court victory as Broadcom has agreed to sign a patent license agreement that spans five years.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Broadcom, a global leader in the semiconductor industry," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Business Group at Rambus. "We are committed to continuing the development of innovative technologies to help our licensees deliver great products to the market."
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Broadcom, a global leader in the semiconductor industry," said Sharon Holt, senior vice president and general manager of the Semiconductor Business Group at Rambus. "We are committed to continuing the development of innovative technologies to help our licensees deliver great products to the market."
Micron Technology, Inc., Reports Results for the First Quarter of Fiscal 2012
Micron Technology, Inc., today announced results of operations for its first quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended December 1, 2011. For the first quarter, the company had a net loss attributable to Micron shareholders of $187 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.1 billion. The results for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compare to a net loss of $135 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.1 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, and net income of $155 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.3 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.
The company's consolidated gross margin remained at 15 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Improvements in NAND Flash margins were offset by declines in DRAM. Revenue from sales of NAND Flash products was 6 percent higher in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 due to an 18 percent increase in sales volume partially offset by a 10 percent decrease in average selling prices. Revenue from sales of DRAM products was essentially unchanged in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the previous quarter, as a 14 percent increase sales volume was offset by a 12 percent decrease in average selling prices. Sales of NOR Flash products were approximately 14 percent of total net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
The company's consolidated gross margin remained at 15 percent for the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Improvements in NAND Flash margins were offset by declines in DRAM. Revenue from sales of NAND Flash products was 6 percent higher in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 due to an 18 percent increase in sales volume partially offset by a 10 percent decrease in average selling prices. Revenue from sales of DRAM products was essentially unchanged in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the previous quarter, as a 14 percent increase sales volume was offset by a 12 percent decrease in average selling prices. Sales of NOR Flash products were approximately 14 percent of total net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2012.
Club3D Radeon HD 7970 Graphics Card Pictured
Although AMD's Radeon add-in board partners (AIBs) are still "under oath" (read: NDA) not to disclose their products before the 9th of January, Club3D's Radeon HD 7970 press-shots still made it to the web. Pictured below are the Club3D Radeon HD 7970 graphics card and its box-art. The box art is typical Club3D, nothing exceptionally new there. The card, too, sticks to AMD's reference board design, till the point where it uses a red-colored PCB instead of a black one (found on AMD's HD 7970 press samples).
Based on the 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, Radeon HD 7970 is the first DirectX 11.1 compliant graphics card, it packs 2048 GCN cores, and 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. The core is clocked at 925 MHz, and the memory at 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz). It is expected that this card will stick to the price AMD disclosed, around US $550.
Based on the 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, Radeon HD 7970 is the first DirectX 11.1 compliant graphics card, it packs 2048 GCN cores, and 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. The core is clocked at 925 MHz, and the memory at 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz). It is expected that this card will stick to the price AMD disclosed, around US $550.
Thursday, December 22nd 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
Game Controllers
Graphics Cards
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Guru3D
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Hardware Secrets
- AMD HD 7970 3GB HardwareCanucks
- AMD HD 7970 3GB HardwareHeaven
- AMD HD 7970 3GB HardwareHeaven
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Hardwareluxx (de)
- AMD HD 7970 3GB HotHardware
- AMD HD 7970 3GB HT4U (de)
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Legit Reviews
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Madshrimps
- AMD HD 7970 3GB NeoSeeker
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Overclockers.com
- AMD HD 7970 3GB Planet 3DNow! (de)
- AMD HD 7970 3GB VR-Zone
- EVGA GTX 560 Ti 2Win HardwareOverclock
Headphones
Keyboards
Memory
Mouse
Notebooks
PSUs
SSD
Introducing World's Smallest USB Stick
Today Dutch company Deonet known for their strange USB storage designs has yet again introduced something different. Deonet claims to have made the worlds smallest production USB stick. Coming in at a meager 31.5 x 14.8 x 7.3 mm, Deonets touts seem to be true.
The stick is set to hit the market in 4, 8 or 16 GB flavors at the PSI Düsseldorf this coming January. According to Gizmag, "It's based around something called the Micro UDP chip (where UDP stands for the USB Disk In Package assembly process, which sees the controller, flash IC, substrate and passive components molded into a very small, single package), which is less than half the physical size of other USB memory solutions."
Since this USB stick is so small its said to fit flush and is almost invisible on a dark surface. No pricing has been set by Deonet yet.
The stick is set to hit the market in 4, 8 or 16 GB flavors at the PSI Düsseldorf this coming January. According to Gizmag, "It's based around something called the Micro UDP chip (where UDP stands for the USB Disk In Package assembly process, which sees the controller, flash IC, substrate and passive components molded into a very small, single package), which is less than half the physical size of other USB memory solutions."
Since this USB stick is so small its said to fit flush and is almost invisible on a dark surface. No pricing has been set by Deonet yet.
Elecom Unveils New M-TG01DL Series Designer Wireless Mice
Japanese company Elecom unveiled its latest M-TG01DL series designer wireless mice. Available in color options of black, silver, and cherry-red, these right hand-oriented wireless mice use dark-field microscopic optical sensors that let you use it even on transparent glass surfaces with nothing underneath them (such as glass tables). The sensor itself has a resolution of 1200 dpi, which is just fine for most non-gaming tasks.
The mice have five buttons apart from the scroll-wheel. The main unit communicates with a USB micro-receiver over 2.4 GHz radio band, and is powered by a single AAA-size battery which can provide up to 106 days of continuous uptime before needing a replacement. The mouse measures 51.0 x 77.0 x 32 mm (WxDxH), weighing 55 grams (without its battery). The M-TG01DL series will be available in the Japanese market in mid-January, its pricing is not known.
The mice have five buttons apart from the scroll-wheel. The main unit communicates with a USB micro-receiver over 2.4 GHz radio band, and is powered by a single AAA-size battery which can provide up to 106 days of continuous uptime before needing a replacement. The mouse measures 51.0 x 77.0 x 32 mm (WxDxH), weighing 55 grams (without its battery). The M-TG01DL series will be available in the Japanese market in mid-January, its pricing is not known.
Intel Xeon E5-2690 Sandy Bridge-EP Performance Leaked
We sourced a presentation, allegedly by Intel, detailing its Sandy Bridge-EP platform, and giving out early performance figures. After successful and trouble-free launches of its Sandy Bridge architecture across all PC form-factors, including the recently-launched Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" HEDT (high-end desktop), Intel is taking the architecture to its ultimate market, enterprise, where processors derived from it will make up new lines of Intel Xeon processor families. Intel has two branches of enterprise variations the architecture, Sandy Bridge-EN, designed for high-density, low-power servers, and Sandy Bridge-EP, designed for high-performance servers and workstations. Sandy Bridge-EP is multi-socket capable.
Sandy Bridge-EP uses essentially the same piece of silicon as Sandy Bridge-E, but enabled with several of its features otherwise off limits to the Core processor family. These include twoQuickPath Interconnect (QPI) links, which facilitate high-bandwidth inter-socket communication in multi-socket systems, up to eight cores, sixteen threads enabled by HyperThreading, and up to 20 MB of L3 cache memory. Like its Core family cousins, Xeon Sandy Bridge-EP packs a quad-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, and PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600 MHz) is its optimal memory standard, but unlike it, supporting up to 768 GB of memory (by two sockets, eight DDR3 channels in all, LRDIMMs). Other key features are listed in the first slide below.
Performance figures follow.
Sandy Bridge-EP uses essentially the same piece of silicon as Sandy Bridge-E, but enabled with several of its features otherwise off limits to the Core processor family. These include twoQuickPath Interconnect (QPI) links, which facilitate high-bandwidth inter-socket communication in multi-socket systems, up to eight cores, sixteen threads enabled by HyperThreading, and up to 20 MB of L3 cache memory. Like its Core family cousins, Xeon Sandy Bridge-EP packs a quad-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, and PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600 MHz) is its optimal memory standard, but unlike it, supporting up to 768 GB of memory (by two sockets, eight DDR3 channels in all, LRDIMMs). Other key features are listed in the first slide below.
Intel Cuts Prices of Sandy Bridge Mobile CPUs to OEMs
Intel notified its partners among OEMs and ODMs, price cuts of processors based on the "Sandy Bridge" architecture, by 10 to 15 percent, according to sources in the notebook industry. The company hopes that reduced prices will stimulate market demand, and help quicker digestion of inventories as it gears up to launch its new generation of Core processors based on the 22 nanometer "Ivy Bridge" silicon, in April 2012.
Major notebook vendors such as Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, have already brought prices of their models based on the popular Core i5-2430 below US $659 (NTD 20,000), and those based on cheaper Core i3 models under NTD 13,000 (US $430). Intel's upcoming Core i5-3450 and Core i7-3370, which will be found in Intel's mid-thru-performance lineup of new-generation Core processors, are expected to be just about $10-$15 costlier than the chips they're about to displace. The two are expected to be priced in the range of US $184-332. It is expected that notebook vendors will convey these fresh price cuts to the end-user, resulting in slightly more affordable notebooks.
Major notebook vendors such as Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, have already brought prices of their models based on the popular Core i5-2430 below US $659 (NTD 20,000), and those based on cheaper Core i3 models under NTD 13,000 (US $430). Intel's upcoming Core i5-3450 and Core i7-3370, which will be found in Intel's mid-thru-performance lineup of new-generation Core processors, are expected to be just about $10-$15 costlier than the chips they're about to displace. The two are expected to be priced in the range of US $184-332. It is expected that notebook vendors will convey these fresh price cuts to the end-user, resulting in slightly more affordable notebooks.
Buffalo Unveils New, 1 TB External Hard Drive
Buffalo Japan has this week announced a new addition to its MiniStation family, an all-white external drive codenamed HD-PCT1TU2-BWJ which offers 1 TB worth of storage space, and features a USB 2.0 interface, a glossy finish, and a power saving mode that can cut consumption by up to 20%.
Buffalo's drive measures 77 x 17 x 114 mm, it weights 210 grams, it comes with a one-year warranty, and is set to become available early next month (Japan gets it first, other markets will probably have to wait a bit longer). Its recommended price tag is 16,800 yen which is about US $215.
Buffalo's drive measures 77 x 17 x 114 mm, it weights 210 grams, it comes with a one-year warranty, and is set to become available early next month (Japan gets it first, other markets will probably have to wait a bit longer). Its recommended price tag is 16,800 yen which is about US $215.
I-O Data Intros TB-PW Secure USB Flash Drives
Japanese company I-O Data launched its latest TB-PW series of secure USB flash drives, that feature native 128-bit AES data encryption. The drives use USB 2.0 interface, and comes in capacities of 4 GB and 8 GB; and color options of black and blue. The drives stick to the "slider" form-factor, leaving you with no cap to lose. They are slated for availability in early 2012. I-O Data did not give out pricing information.
ASRock Readies X79 Extreme6/GB Motherboard with 8 DIMM Slots
ASRock kicked off its "Sandy Bridge-E" compatible motherboard series with one of the most complete lineups, including a micro-ATX model. It did include some oddities, such as the X79 Extreme7, with its six DIMM slot arrangement. Socket LGA2011 Core i7 processors embed a quad-channel integrated memory controller, and so it's only logical to either have one DIMM slot per channel (four DIMM slots in all), or two DIMM slots per channel (eight in all).
ASRock unveiled its latest addition to its X79 Extreme family, the X79 Extreme6/GB, which sets this oddity straight, while creating another. This model is supposed to be a notch inferior to the X79 Extreme7, yet it provides eight DIMM slots (two per channel). Other features, however, are consistent with those of the cheaper X79 Extreme4. So it's safe to call this ASRock's answer to MSI's recently-launched X79A-GD45 8D, a relatively cheaper X79 motherboard with eight DDR3 DIMM slots. 8 DIMM slots stopped being a thing of the "premium" (again, relatively), the moment Intel launched a $210 X79 motherboard that features it, the DX79TO.
ASRock unveiled its latest addition to its X79 Extreme family, the X79 Extreme6/GB, which sets this oddity straight, while creating another. This model is supposed to be a notch inferior to the X79 Extreme7, yet it provides eight DIMM slots (two per channel). Other features, however, are consistent with those of the cheaper X79 Extreme4. So it's safe to call this ASRock's answer to MSI's recently-launched X79A-GD45 8D, a relatively cheaper X79 motherboard with eight DDR3 DIMM slots. 8 DIMM slots stopped being a thing of the "premium" (again, relatively), the moment Intel launched a $210 X79 motherboard that features it, the DX79TO.
ASRock Develops three Cedar Trail-Based Mini-ITX Motherboards
Intel's Cedar Trail platform may be ignored by US PC maker Dell but it's getting quite a bit of attention from Taiwanese company ASRock who's using it for no less than three HTPC-ready motherboards, the AD2500B-ITX, AD2700B-ITX and AD2700-ITX.
As it's evident from their name, these boards have a Mini-ITX form factor and come with a 32nm Atom processor pre-installed. The AD2500B-ITX is equipped with the Atom D2500 chip (two cores @ 1.86 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache) while the AD2700B-ITX and AD2700-ITX make use of the higher-clocked D2700 (2.13 GHz). All three models have a passive cooling solution for the CPU.
As it's evident from their name, these boards have a Mini-ITX form factor and come with a 32nm Atom processor pre-installed. The AD2500B-ITX is equipped with the Atom D2500 chip (two cores @ 1.86 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache) while the AD2700B-ITX and AD2700-ITX make use of the higher-clocked D2700 (2.13 GHz). All three models have a passive cooling solution for the CPU.
Razer Blade Delayed to 2012, Pre-Orders Get Free Razer Orochi Black Edition Mouse
Razer delayed the market release of its much touted Blade 17-inch gaming notebook. Originally slated for Q4 2011, it will now only ship sometime in Q1 2012. This delay is caused due to a last-minute specifications change, of using a 256 GB solid-state drive instead of a 320 GB hard disk drive (original specs). To those looking forward to buying it, Razer apologized for the delay, but to those who already placed orders (pre-orders) for the Blade, Razer announced that it's giving away coupons for a free Razer Orochi Black Edition gaming mouse that will ship with their Blades. Earlier this week, Razer announced a delay in shipments of its Tiamat 7.1 channel gaming headset.
Razer Secures US$50M In First Round of Venture Capital Funding
Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, today announced it has secured a US$50 million round led by IDG-Accel China Capital Fund ("IDG-Accel"), one of the leading global investment funds in the world with IDG and Accel Partners as its strategic partners.
The minority investment by IDG-Accel is the first-ever round of venture capital raised by Razer. Funding to date has been contributed by angel investors as well as through Razer's global operations.
"We took a long time raising our first VC round as games like Battlefield 3 kept us pretty busy recently," said Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer. "More importantly, we took our time selecting an institutional investor as we wanted to find a partner that understood our commitment to gaming and our no-compromise attitude to designing products. Plus these guys didn't freak out when we disappeared for a week in the middle of the deal when Skyrim launched."
The minority investment by IDG-Accel is the first-ever round of venture capital raised by Razer. Funding to date has been contributed by angel investors as well as through Razer's global operations.
"We took a long time raising our first VC round as games like Battlefield 3 kept us pretty busy recently," said Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer. "More importantly, we took our time selecting an institutional investor as we wanted to find a partner that understood our commitment to gaming and our no-compromise attitude to designing products. Plus these guys didn't freak out when we disappeared for a week in the middle of the deal when Skyrim launched."
PCI Express 3.0 Has Zero Performance Incentive for Radeon HD 7970: Tests
Over the last few months, motherboard manufacturers have been raising a big hoopla over how it's important to pick their products that feature PCI Express 3.0 (Gen 3.0) slots. There was even some drama between competing motherboard manufacturers over who was first to the market with this technology, even when consumers couldn't really make use of the technology. To begin with, you needed a next-generation Ivy Bridge CPU, then you needed a compliant graphics card. Sandy Bridge-E, fortunately, formally introduced the technology, complete with motherboards and processors that support it.
GPU maker AMD wanted to be the first to be out there with a GPU that's compliant with this interface, and so one thing led to another, and VR-Zone got to set up a test-bed using Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E", ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (which allows users to change PCI-Express standard mode in the BIOS setup program, by forcing Gen 2 or Gen 1 mode), and an HD 7970, to see if running the GPU on PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 3.0 modes made any worthwhile difference. The results are in: zero, nada, zilch, sunna (zero in my language).
GPU maker AMD wanted to be the first to be out there with a GPU that's compliant with this interface, and so one thing led to another, and VR-Zone got to set up a test-bed using Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E", ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (which allows users to change PCI-Express standard mode in the BIOS setup program, by forcing Gen 2 or Gen 1 mode), and an HD 7970, to see if running the GPU on PCIe 2.0 and PCIe 3.0 modes made any worthwhile difference. The results are in: zero, nada, zilch, sunna (zero in my language).
Hasbro Sues Asus over Transformer Prime Tablet, Shouts Trademark Infringement
Shipment delays aside, Asus now has another problem involving its Tegra 3-powered Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet, a trademark lawsuit. Last week US-based toy maker Hasbro has filed a complaint with the Los Angeles federal court through which it accuses Asus of violating its uber-popular 'Transformers' trademark.
Hasbro is obviously annoyed with the name of Asus' tablet which combines two important brands - Transformers and Optimus Prime. To 'make things right', Hasbro is asking for monetary damages and a temporary injunction that would prevent the sale of the Transformer Prime in the US.
Asus didn't respond to the lawsuit but it's probably taking action to ensure nothing disrupts Transformer Prime sales.
Hasbro is obviously annoyed with the name of Asus' tablet which combines two important brands - Transformers and Optimus Prime. To 'make things right', Hasbro is asking for monetary damages and a temporary injunction that would prevent the sale of the Transformer Prime in the US.
Asus didn't respond to the lawsuit but it's probably taking action to ensure nothing disrupts Transformer Prime sales.
StarTech.com Announces Low-Profile Dual Port PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Card
StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts has announced the release of the (SKU: ST1000SPEXD2) Low Profile Dual Port PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Network Card - a PCI Express Network Adapter Card that supports high performance, dual-channel networking and maximum data transfer speeds of 1000 Mbps in each direction (2000 Mbps total) - up to 10 times faster than 10/100 Ethernet.
The network card is ideal for adding two separate Gigabit network ports to any PCI Express-enabled client, server or workstation, which enables the host system to connect to two networks simultaneously. The network card features a low profile design that makes it suitable for small form factor computers (servers, desktops), and includes an optional full profile bracket for installation in full-sized computer systems and larger servers.
The network card is ideal for adding two separate Gigabit network ports to any PCI Express-enabled client, server or workstation, which enables the host system to connect to two networks simultaneously. The network card features a low profile design that makes it suitable for small form factor computers (servers, desktops), and includes an optional full profile bracket for installation in full-sized computer systems and larger servers.
TRENDnet Launches Compact 200Mbps Powerline Adapter
TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, today announces the availability of the 200Mbps Compact Powerline AV Adapter, model TPL-306E, and the 200Mbps Compact Powerline AV Adapter Kit, model TPL-306E2K, which comes with two TPL-306E adapters. These high performance Powerline adapters network computers, televisions, and other devices using existing home or office electrical lines.
The TPL-306E replaces and is approximately 30% smaller than the older TPL-303E series. Its small form factor saves space when plugged into a crowded electrical outlet. Network one adapter to a router and plug another adapter into any outlet on the same electrical system for instant high speed network access. TRENDnet adapters connect automatically to each other over a secure encrypted signal with no CD installation required. A minimum of two adapters are required to build a network. For additional security, press the Sync button to change existing encryption keys.
The TPL-306E replaces and is approximately 30% smaller than the older TPL-303E series. Its small form factor saves space when plugged into a crowded electrical outlet. Network one adapter to a router and plug another adapter into any outlet on the same electrical system for instant high speed network access. TRENDnet adapters connect automatically to each other over a secure encrypted signal with no CD installation required. A minimum of two adapters are required to build a network. For additional security, press the Sync button to change existing encryption keys.
NEC Readies the LCD-EA243WM 24-inch WUXGA Monitor
Next month after CES 2012, NEC is set to release a new LCD monitor, a 24-inch model known as LCD-EA243WM (that's the white version, the black one is named LCD-EA243WM-BK) which features an LED backlight, a TN panel with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels (WUXGA), and no less than four connectivity options - D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.
NEC's incoming widescreen also has a 5 ms response time, a dynamic contrast ratio of 25,000:1, 250 cd/m2 typical brightness, a four-port USB 2.0 hub, two 1W built-in speakers, an ambient light sensor, and an 'ergonomic' stand allowing for up to 130 mm height adjustment and 90-degree panel rotation.
The LCD-EA243WM/LCD-EA243WM-BK is supposed to become available in Japan as of January 18, priced at 45,000 yen (~ US $576).
NEC's incoming widescreen also has a 5 ms response time, a dynamic contrast ratio of 25,000:1, 250 cd/m2 typical brightness, a four-port USB 2.0 hub, two 1W built-in speakers, an ambient light sensor, and an 'ergonomic' stand allowing for up to 130 mm height adjustment and 90-degree panel rotation.
The LCD-EA243WM/LCD-EA243WM-BK is supposed to become available in Japan as of January 18, priced at 45,000 yen (~ US $576).
LG Previews 27-inch 3D Monitor with an IPS Panel
LG Electronics has today unveiled in South Korea a sexy new (passive) 3D monitor, the 27-inch Cinema 3D DM92 series. While most details about this display will be supplied at CES 2012 in January, LG couldn't refrain from teasing and mentioned that the DM92 has a slim (1 mm) bezel and makes use of an e-IPS (In-Plane Switching) panel with 178/178 degree viewing angles.
The DM92 also boasts an LED backlight and hopefully it comes with a native resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels. Hopefully.
The DM92 also boasts an LED backlight and hopefully it comes with a native resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels. Hopefully.
AMD Introduces the Radeon HD 7970 Graphics Card, The 28nm Era Begins
AMD Introduces the Radeon HD 7970 Graphics Card, The 28 nm Era Begins
Bring ye a fresh set of bragging rights because today AMD has (paper) launched the first graphics card powered by a 28 nm GPU, the Radeon HD 7970. Equipped with one Tahiti chip, this new, high-end offering is the first to make use of the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture which is claimed to deliver an improvement 'of over 150% in performance/sq mm over the prior generation.'
The Radeon HD 7970 also adopts the PCI Express 3.0 standard (which ensures a large, healthy bandwidth), and implements the PowerTune and AMD ZeroCore Power technologies that allow for 'higher performance levels while maximizing power efficiencies'.
Bring ye a fresh set of bragging rights because today AMD has (paper) launched the first graphics card powered by a 28 nm GPU, the Radeon HD 7970. Equipped with one Tahiti chip, this new, high-end offering is the first to make use of the GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture which is claimed to deliver an improvement 'of over 150% in performance/sq mm over the prior generation.'
The Radeon HD 7970 also adopts the PCI Express 3.0 standard (which ensures a large, healthy bandwidth), and implements the PowerTune and AMD ZeroCore Power technologies that allow for 'higher performance levels while maximizing power efficiencies'.
Wednesday, December 21st 2011
Today's Reviews
Accessories
Cases
CPU Coolers
Game Controllers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Notebooks
PSUs
AMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB Review
Today AMD launches their new Radeon HD 7970. The card is based on brand-new 28 nanometer silicon which promises reduced power consumption. Another important change is AMD's move to a new shader architecture, enabling increased performance, easier design of future products and more efficient rendering.
SteelSeries Sensei Gaming Mouse Review
SteelSeries' newest rodent, dubbed Sensei, gets put to the test. The Sensei mouse features a few new tricks due to the implementation of an ARM CPU. The addition of a CPU makes the mouse capable of running all acceleration and smoothing corrections onboard and even allows for interpolation up to 11400 DPI.
Windows 7 Plus Web Browser Plus Special Sauce Make Simple Blue Screen Recipe!
To make this delicious poison dish, simply take a large dollop of Windows 7 Professional, mix it with a portion of Safari and add a dash of special iFrame sauce and voila! instant Blue Screen of Death. The flaw is triggered by running Apple's Safari web browser on a fully patched 64-bit Windows 7 Professional, then feeding it a web page containing a simple iFrame with an overly long height attribute, like this: < iframe height='18082563'></iframe> (remove the space after the first angle bracket) Result: Windows 7 falls over instantly with a memory corruption error. Ouch. Interestingly, it seems that 32-bit Windows 7 doesn't suffer from this vulnerability and neither does XP SP3 32-bit, although this is by no means certain at this point. The flaw appears to be in the win32k.sys kernel-mode driver, which is a common source of critical Windows vulnerabilities. It was first reported by Twitter user webDEViL (@w3bd3vil) and being a zero day vulnerability, there's currently no fix or workaround for it. However, the worst part about this critical vulnerability, is that Safari runs 100% in User Mode, which is effectively a type of sandbox, preventing an application from bringing down Windows, regardless of what it does. There's obviously a little loophole here though.
Self-Repairing Circuits On The Horizon, Skynet, Here We Come
Engineers at the University of Illinois have developed what they claim to be "self-repairing electronic circuits", which have the ability to restore broken circuits, and restore the functionality of whatever uses them. The technology works at the level of the PCB design, countless microscopic capsules filled with liquid metal are placed along with everything else, as the circuit board is being made. When the circuit is broken at a point, those micro-capsules break, and the secreted liquid metal gets channeled into the path of the broken portion of circuit, closing it back up (restoring it). This happens at a very small and localized scale, and dramatically increases MTBF (mean time before failure), if done right.
The researchers behind this technology call it an excellent solution for electronics that are supposed to be fail-safe, such as avionics, electronics running commercial aircraft, so broken circuits could fix themselves mid-air, and become operational within microseconds. Terms like "self healing electronics" and "liquid metal" instantly bring back pop-culture references to Hollywood epics such as the Terminator, and its dystopian future brought about when one of those self-healing circuits is also made "self-aware". And no, those are just surface-mounted capacitors in the picture.
The researchers behind this technology call it an excellent solution for electronics that are supposed to be fail-safe, such as avionics, electronics running commercial aircraft, so broken circuits could fix themselves mid-air, and become operational within microseconds. Terms like "self healing electronics" and "liquid metal" instantly bring back pop-culture references to Hollywood epics such as the Terminator, and its dystopian future brought about when one of those self-healing circuits is also made "self-aware". And no, those are just surface-mounted capacitors in the picture.
2012 International CES Microsoft's Last, Company Blames Expo's Timing
For those heading to the International CES expo 2012 held in January, it would be a final chance to see a Microsoft booth there; and a final chance to, if you're lucky, get to shake hands with Badboy Steve (CEO Steve Ballmer). After 2012's expo, Microsoft doesn't plan to have a CES keynote, or even place their booth there. The company blames the annual timing of the expo for its decision to stop setting up big presence at CES. It says that its product and service launches aren't able to align with CES' typical January timing.
In a press-note, the company said: "We'll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won't have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing."
In a press-note, the company said: "We'll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won't have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don't align with the show's January timing."
Square Enix December Hack: 'Nothing To See' , Member's Service To Resume Soon
Following on from the hack into Square Enix's (Deus Ex, Tomb Raider franchises) servers last week, the Japanese company has been sending out an email to its members, updating them on the situation. They explain that no personal information was lifted, but have suspended their member's service while investigations continue. This rather reassuring explanation is in stark contrast to initial reports that up to 1.8 million accounts (1M in Japan, 800K in America) had had personal information lifted, such as names, phone numbers and email addresses. However, it does appear that no personal, login or credit card info was accessed in the end, the company reports (hopefully honestly). Here is that Square Enix email in full:
Asus ET2700 27-inch All-in-One PC Makes its US Debut
Previously showcased at CeBIT (in March) and Computex (in June), Asus' 27-inch ET2700 all-in-one PC has now been launched in the US where it's set to go head-to-head with the Apple iMac.
The ET2700 is equipped with an LED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) MVA panel offering 178/178 degree viewing angles (and, depending on model, 10-point multi-touch) and features a Sandy Bridge processor (Core i3-2120, i5-2400S, i5-2405S or i7-2600S), up to 8 GB of RAM, Intel HD integrated graphics or an NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1/2 GB card, up to a 2 TB hard drive, and either a DVD writer, a Blu-ray combo drive, or a Blu-ray burner.
The ET2700 is equipped with an LED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) MVA panel offering 178/178 degree viewing angles (and, depending on model, 10-point multi-touch) and features a Sandy Bridge processor (Core i3-2120, i5-2400S, i5-2405S or i7-2600S), up to 8 GB of RAM, Intel HD integrated graphics or an NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1/2 GB card, up to a 2 TB hard drive, and either a DVD writer, a Blu-ray combo drive, or a Blu-ray burner.
All-Bamboo Wireless Keyboard Mouse Combo Awaits X'mas Sales
Here's a good gifting idea for the geek in your family (other than you) or your friends-circle, a new wireless keyboard-mouse combo made it to online stores, that's fabricated almost completely of bamboo wood. Practically every part otherwise made of ABS plastic uses bamboo. The keyboard has a warm wooden feel to it; its frame, and all its keys are made of bamboo. The keys have their symbols/functions etched into them, instead of being printed or embossed upon them. It has a standard 108-key US-QWERTY layout, which also includes a few shortcut keys. Underneath is a common membrane switching mechanism. The keyboard connects to a USB micro receiver over 2.4 GHz wireless band.
The mouse, too, is fabricated almost entirely of bamboo. This includes its top side, its two main buttons, and its underside. The scroll-wheel is made of rubber. The mouse uses a common optical sensor that's fit for everyday tasks. Like the keyboard, the mouse talks to the receiver over 2.4 GHz wireless. The keyboard weighs 1020 g, with the mouse 69 g. The keyboard measures about 465 x 160 x 25 mm, and the mouse 57 x 94 x 35 mm. The combo is priced at US $89.
The mouse, too, is fabricated almost entirely of bamboo. This includes its top side, its two main buttons, and its underside. The scroll-wheel is made of rubber. The mouse uses a common optical sensor that's fit for everyday tasks. Like the keyboard, the mouse talks to the receiver over 2.4 GHz wireless. The keyboard weighs 1020 g, with the mouse 69 g. The keyboard measures about 465 x 160 x 25 mm, and the mouse 57 x 94 x 35 mm. The combo is priced at US $89.
Acer Working on 15-inch Ultrabook PC
After seeing market success with 11-inch and 13-inch ultrabooks (ultra-compact notebooks), Acer began working on a new, larger 15-inch ultrabook, which it plans to sell at a price-point of US $699. According to sources, Pegatron is the upstream ODM behind this model. Acer's current ultrabooks are manufactured on contract by Wistron. The sales of ultrabooks are expected to reach 250,000-300,000 units by the end of this year. Pegatron's total notebook shipments to reach 18.99 million units by the end of this year, with an annual growth of 22%, which will make it the fourth largest ODM by volume.
MSI Announces GT780DX Gaming Notebook
What makes the GT780DX as the gamers' ultimate weapon? In terms of power, it features the Intel Core i7 quad core CPU and latest NVIDIA's top-end GeForce GTX 570M discrete graphics card with 3 GB of GDDR5 display memory, giving it superior performance, so you can enjoy smooth graphics even when playing the latest games in high resolution. The impressive performance also serves to greatly enhance game realism and make these machines the ultimate weapons for the extreme gamer.
Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, explains that the latest GT780DX not only packs performance to keep the extreme gamer engaged, it also comes with a SteelSeries keyboard specifically designed for serious gaming. The new keyboard is much more rugged and the new design better meets the needs of extreme gamers to give you the edge in the heat of battle. MSI has also incorporated Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro envelope-pushing sound technologies for a riveting audio experience. Designed both inside and out for gaming, the GT780DX has got your back when you're hip-pocket deep in goblin blood.
Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, explains that the latest GT780DX not only packs performance to keep the extreme gamer engaged, it also comes with a SteelSeries keyboard specifically designed for serious gaming. The new keyboard is much more rugged and the new design better meets the needs of extreme gamers to give you the edge in the heat of battle. MSI has also incorporated Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro envelope-pushing sound technologies for a riveting audio experience. Designed both inside and out for gaming, the GT780DX has got your back when you're hip-pocket deep in goblin blood.
Orico Unveils Internal Hot-Swap HDD Enclosures
Got a few blank 5.25" drive bays that will otherwise never hold anything? Chinese company Orico, which specialises in small and medium business data storage solutions, has a few new enclosures for you. The company unveiled its latest 620xSS family of enclosures that fit into multiple (two or three) 5.25-inch drive bays, and provide 3.5-inch hot-swap ready drive bays. The hot-swap bays are key-locked to protect against accidental or unauthorised drive swaps.
Orico introduced an enclosure that converts two 5.25" bays to three hot-swap 3.5" ones, an enclosure that converts three 5.25" bays to four hot-swap 3.5" bays (vertical stacking), and an enclosure that converts three 5.25" bays to five hot-swap 3.5" bays (horizontal stacking). These enclosures are 'dumb', meaning they lack any local storage controller logic, or even port-multiplication logic. They rely entirely on the host for each drive's SATA connectivity. They just share the power connectors between drives. The enclosures, however, are ventilated by exhaust fans. Orico did not give out pricing or availability information.
Orico introduced an enclosure that converts two 5.25" bays to three hot-swap 3.5" ones, an enclosure that converts three 5.25" bays to four hot-swap 3.5" bays (vertical stacking), and an enclosure that converts three 5.25" bays to five hot-swap 3.5" bays (horizontal stacking). These enclosures are 'dumb', meaning they lack any local storage controller logic, or even port-multiplication logic. They rely entirely on the host for each drive's SATA connectivity. They just share the power connectors between drives. The enclosures, however, are ventilated by exhaust fans. Orico did not give out pricing or availability information.
ASRock Readies the Fatal1ty X79 Professional (LGA 2011) Motherboard
Since apparently six X79 motherboards aren't enough, ASRock is now putting the finishing touches on yet another LGA 2011 model, the Fatal1ty X79 Professional. This new, gamer-oriented board supports Intel's Sandy Bridge-E processors, and features a 2oz copper PCB, Premium Gold Caps, four DDR3-2400 memory slots, ten SATA ports (six are likely 6.0 Gbps while the rest are 3.0 Gbps), and four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots enabling CrossFireX or 4-way SLI setups.
NVIDIA Delivers the GeForce 290.53 Beta Driver
While AMD is gearing up to launch new hardware (the Radeon HD 7970), NVIDIA is keeping it light this week by only rolling out an updated driver for existing products. Bearing a beta tag, the 290.53 driver includes support for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500-series desktop cards, and for ION desktop GPUs, and features the following:
Optimizations for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Increases performance by up to 25% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs. 290.36 drivers (measured with GeForce GTX 560 at 19x10 Ultra - Indoor Scene)
- Updates the NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a higher performance profile.
- Added new 3D Vision laser sight /crosshair options to better match Skyrim crosshairs.
Optimizations for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Increases performance by up to 25% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs. 290.36 drivers (measured with GeForce GTX 560 at 19x10 Ultra - Indoor Scene)
- Updates the NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a higher performance profile.
- Added new 3D Vision laser sight /crosshair options to better match Skyrim crosshairs.
Cost-Effective Radeon HD 7900 PCB Already In The Works
A little earlier today, we showed you pictures of AMD's first Radeon HD 7900 series single-GPU PCB that makes use of digital-PWM power delivery. Some of the first batches of Radeon HD 7900 graphics cards will stick to that PCB and board design, as it's backed by AMD's engineering. Even as the SKU's launch is less than 24 hours away, there are pictures of AMD's cost-effective Radeon HD 7900 PCB surfacing on Asian media sites. Once ready, AMD add-in board partners can opt for this cost-effective PCB if they want to fine-tune their prices. It looks like AMD is ready well ahead to face competition from NVIDIA, with its GeForce Kepler 104 (GK104) GPU.
The cost-effective PCB, without any components laid, is pictured below. The first picture shows its obverse side, the second, its reverse side. The PCB is completely up to speed with everything Tahiti GPU will need. It has provision for two 8-pin PCIe power inputs, an 8+2 phase cost-effective analog VRM, probably driven by a cost-effective CHIL controller, and a different display output connector loadout. It has provision for two DVI, and one each of HDMI and full-size DisplayPort. Partners can still use a single DVI connector, and keep their cards single-slot capable. Provisions for 12 GDDR5 chips are right where they should be. There is nothing eventful in the reverse side, just traces for all the supportive components.
The cost-effective PCB, without any components laid, is pictured below. The first picture shows its obverse side, the second, its reverse side. The PCB is completely up to speed with everything Tahiti GPU will need. It has provision for two 8-pin PCIe power inputs, an 8+2 phase cost-effective analog VRM, probably driven by a cost-effective CHIL controller, and a different display output connector loadout. It has provision for two DVI, and one each of HDMI and full-size DisplayPort. Partners can still use a single DVI connector, and keep their cards single-slot capable. Provisions for 12 GDDR5 chips are right where they should be. There is nothing eventful in the reverse side, just traces for all the supportive components.
AMD Radeon HD 7970 PCB Pictured Clear
Here is the first clear picture of Radeon HD 7970 engineering sample PCB. The final product will feature an all-black PCB color. The picture reveals the PCB to have provision for two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, though on this sample, there are two 6-pin connectors. We've seen other samples using 8 + 6 pin connector arrangements. Unlike earlier thought, the HD 7900 single-GPU reference board very much does use a digital-PWM power design. There appears to be CPL-made single-phase PWM chokes, and Volterra-made regulators. Not all power domains, though, seem to have digital-PWM. We can find a 5+1+1 phase VRM, with some miscellaneous analog power domains.
The GPU package design is nothing like we've seen from AMD. It looks to be slightly larger than that of AMD Cayman. The die is oriented diagonally, with a sturdy brace around it reduce and stabilize the pressure applied by the cooling assembly. There are twelve memory chips around the GPU, as this chip features a 384-bit wide memory interface, to deliver nearly 50% higher memory bandwidth over the previous generation. The card features redundant BIOS, loaded into two separate EEPROM chips that can be toggled using a small 2-way switch located next to the Crossfire connectors. Display connectors include one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DP connectors. The second picture below reveals a curvy back-side of the cooling assembly. A nice aesthetic touch with zero function.
The GPU package design is nothing like we've seen from AMD. It looks to be slightly larger than that of AMD Cayman. The die is oriented diagonally, with a sturdy brace around it reduce and stabilize the pressure applied by the cooling assembly. There are twelve memory chips around the GPU, as this chip features a 384-bit wide memory interface, to deliver nearly 50% higher memory bandwidth over the previous generation. The card features redundant BIOS, loaded into two separate EEPROM chips that can be toggled using a small 2-way switch located next to the Crossfire connectors. Display connectors include one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DP connectors. The second picture below reveals a curvy back-side of the cooling assembly. A nice aesthetic touch with zero function.
EVGA's GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra 3 GB graphics card goes on sale
Outed last week, the highly-customized GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra from EVGA has become available for purchase, 'coincidentally' just before AMD launches the Radeon HD 7970.
This new, GF110-powered model features 512 CUDA Cores, GPU/shader clocks of 900/1800 MHz (772/1544 MHz stock), a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 memory set to 4212 MHz (4008 MHz), a 14+3 phase power design, a dual-slot cooler, 4-way SLI and EVBot support, one NEC Proadlizer, Super Low ESR SP-Cap capacitors, and high frequency 3 MHz shielded inductors.
The GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra costs $619.99 and can be found @ Newegg.
This new, GF110-powered model features 512 CUDA Cores, GPU/shader clocks of 900/1800 MHz (772/1544 MHz stock), a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 memory set to 4212 MHz (4008 MHz), a 14+3 phase power design, a dual-slot cooler, 4-way SLI and EVBot support, one NEC Proadlizer, Super Low ESR SP-Cap capacitors, and high frequency 3 MHz shielded inductors.
The GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra costs $619.99 and can be found @ Newegg.
Apple Acquires Israeli Flash Technology Firm Anobit
Not waiting on Santa, Cupertino-based Apple Inc. simply went on to give itself a holiday present worth, according to reports, about $500 million. This self-made gift is Anobit, a company based in Israel which is known for developing the MSP (Memory Signal Processing) technology.
According to Anobit, MSP enables SLC (one bit-per-cell) endurance and performance with MLC (two bits-per-cell) NAND Flash memory, and MLC endurance and performance with TLC (three bits-per-cell) NAND. Given Apple's high reliance on NAND Flash (it's used for the iPhones, iPad and MacBook Air) it's not surprising that the company decided to snatch up Anobit and its technology. Just don't expect Apple to come forward and actually say what they'll do with Anobit, they are secretive like that.
According to Anobit, MSP enables SLC (one bit-per-cell) endurance and performance with MLC (two bits-per-cell) NAND Flash memory, and MLC endurance and performance with TLC (three bits-per-cell) NAND. Given Apple's high reliance on NAND Flash (it's used for the iPhones, iPad and MacBook Air) it's not surprising that the company decided to snatch up Anobit and its technology. Just don't expect Apple to come forward and actually say what they'll do with Anobit, they are secretive like that.
Google Nears $1 Billion Investment in Renewable Energy
On Tuesday, Google announced in its official blog that it invested another $94 million in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (solar cell) projects. These are being undertaken by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. The investment brings Google's portfolio of clean energy investments to $915 million, nearing the $1 billion mark. By the end of 2011, Google will have helped fund 10,000 homeowners set up solar PV panels on their rooftops. Google is investing alongside global investment firm KKR and Recurrent Energy, a leading solar developer. The energy produced by these projects is already contracted for 20 years with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), and is governed by a feed-in tariff program (FIT), which adjusts homeowners' utility bills by balancing how much their PV panels feed into the grid, and how much the homeowners draw from it.
Initial Determination from ITC Finds That Motorola Didn't Violate 6 of 7 Patents
Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) ("Motorola Mobility") today announced that it has received notice that the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") in the U.S. International Trade Commission ("ITC") action brought by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) against Motorola Mobility has issued an initial determination. The ALJ determined that Motorola Mobility does not violate six of the seven Microsoft patents listed in Microsoft's suit. The Company noted that Microsoft had previously dropped two patents from its original case which included nine patents.
"We are very pleased that the majority of the rulings were favorable to Motorola Mobility," said Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility. "The ALJ's initial determination may provide clarity on the definition of the Microsoft 566 patent for which a violation was found and will help us avoid infringement of this patent in the U.S. market."
"We are very pleased that the majority of the rulings were favorable to Motorola Mobility," said Scott Offer, senior vice president and general counsel of Motorola Mobility. "The ALJ's initial determination may provide clarity on the definition of the Microsoft 566 patent for which a violation was found and will help us avoid infringement of this patent in the U.S. market."
Tuesday, December 20th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
- Antec Solo II eTeknix
- BitFenix Spectre Pro Overclock3D.net
- Fractal Design Define XL Hardware Secrets
- Nexus Prominent 5 TechReaction
- NZXT Phantom 410 Legit Reviews
- Rosewill Ranger Benchmark Reviews
- Rosewill Ranger Motherboards.org
- Silverstone Sugo SG08 Ninja Lane
- SilverStone Grandia Series GD06 Tweaktown
- Xigmatek Elysium Allround-PC (de)
- Xigmatek Gigas HardwareHeaven
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Memory
Motherboards
Networking
Processors
PSUs
Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275 W Review
Thermaltake recently added three new models to the Toughpower XT series. Today we are testing the 1275W model, which is the first Platinum unit that Thermaltake releases. With more and more Platinum certified models on the market, it will be interesting to see how Thermaltake's latest power supply manages.
DRAM Prices to Rebound
Prepare for your RAM to cost you a little bit more early next year! According to the chairman and CEO Simon Chen for Taiwan-based memory module maker Adata Technology the previous cuts in DRAM production will begin to take effect in early January thus effecting the consumers bottom line. He is quoted as saying, "The rebound is mainly because cuts in DRAM output will begin to take effect, PC makers will replenish DRAM inventories and so will buyers on the spot market in January.' He also said, 'PC makers are expected to hike inventory level from two weeks to one month."
Mr. Chen went on to say, "The popularity of Ultrabook PCs will reduce demand for DRAM, but total demand for DRAM will not decrease because of large potential demand for server DRAM arising from fast growth in cloud computing-based applications. However, large demand for Ultrabook PCs will take off when prices fall to US$599 and they are equipped with Microsoft Windows 8." In tough economic times this is a bitter pill to swallow but to be expected given the laws of supply and demand.
Mr. Chen went on to say, "The popularity of Ultrabook PCs will reduce demand for DRAM, but total demand for DRAM will not decrease because of large potential demand for server DRAM arising from fast growth in cloud computing-based applications. However, large demand for Ultrabook PCs will take off when prices fall to US$599 and they are equipped with Microsoft Windows 8." In tough economic times this is a bitter pill to swallow but to be expected given the laws of supply and demand.
ASUS to Outsource Motherboard to Cal-Comp Electronics
Today ASUS announced that they will be outsourcing a portion of their motherboard manufacturing to Cal-Comp Electronics. The total amount is estimated to be around 5 or 6 million motherboards out of a total shipment forecast of 24.5 million units for 2012. This is somewhat a surprise move by ASUS as they originally outsourced its motherboard orders to Pegatron and other smaller ODMs in Southern China.
The reasons for the shift are unknown. Cal-Comp currently has production bases in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico and is mainly manufacturing PC peripherals and components such as printers, external hard drive and printed circuit board (PCB) as well as communication products such as set-top box (STB), handsets and Bluetooth earphones.
The reasons for the shift are unknown. Cal-Comp currently has production bases in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico and is mainly manufacturing PC peripherals and components such as printers, external hard drive and printed circuit board (PCB) as well as communication products such as set-top box (STB), handsets and Bluetooth earphones.
Sony's Anti-Class Action ToS Attracts Class Action Lawsuit!
In perhaps one of the more ironic legal moves to be seen recently, Sony's clause in its Terms of Service preventing PlayStation 3 owners from filing class action lawsuits has itself attracted a class action lawsuit! The lawsuit was filed in Northern California in November, by a man on behalf of PS3 owners who signed up for the PlayStation Network before September, when the ToS were updated and this anti-class action clause added.
The killer clause is buried deep into the contract and is very hard to spot, requiring the contract to be read all the way through with a fine toothcomb - if the reader can rise to the challenge of reading the complicated and dry legalese it's written in. Compounding the problem is that the agreement isn't even readily available online for anyone to study - it can only be viewed on the PS3 itself (so the console is already used before you can even see the agreement - hardly fair?) and appears near the bottom of the 21-page form. Previous agreements had been posted online for anyone to inspect. On top of that, the only way of opting out of it, is to mail a physical letter to Sony within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS - very inconvenient and likely to be forgotten by the average person. The main thrust of the lawsuit are allegations of unfair business practices, since PS3 owners are forced to choose between forfeiting their rights or access to the PSN. Note that since Sony introduced this clause, Electronic Arts and Microsoft have both introduced similar clauses, which doesn't put them in a very good light either and potentially at the receiving end of a lawsuit themselves.
The killer clause is buried deep into the contract and is very hard to spot, requiring the contract to be read all the way through with a fine toothcomb - if the reader can rise to the challenge of reading the complicated and dry legalese it's written in. Compounding the problem is that the agreement isn't even readily available online for anyone to study - it can only be viewed on the PS3 itself (so the console is already used before you can even see the agreement - hardly fair?) and appears near the bottom of the 21-page form. Previous agreements had been posted online for anyone to inspect. On top of that, the only way of opting out of it, is to mail a physical letter to Sony within 30 days of agreeing to the ToS - very inconvenient and likely to be forgotten by the average person. The main thrust of the lawsuit are allegations of unfair business practices, since PS3 owners are forced to choose between forfeiting their rights or access to the PSN. Note that since Sony introduced this clause, Electronic Arts and Microsoft have both introduced similar clauses, which doesn't put them in a very good light either and potentially at the receiving end of a lawsuit themselves.
Mozilla Officially Releases Firefox 9.0, Signs New Search Deal with Google
Open source software supporter Mozilla has today announced two things, the launch of the 9.0 version of Firefox, and the signing of a new search deal with Google. Firefox 9.0 features the Type Inference which boosts JavaScript performance, it brings better theme integration on Mac OS X Lion, and also includes goodies like:
- two finger swipe navigation for Mac OS X Lion
- support for querying Do Not Track status via JavaScript
- support for font-stretch
- improved support for text-overflow
- improved standards support for HTML5, MathML, and CSS
- fixes for several stability and security issues
- two finger swipe navigation for Mac OS X Lion
- support for querying Do Not Track status via JavaScript
- support for font-stretch
- improved support for text-overflow
- improved standards support for HTML5, MathML, and CSS
- fixes for several stability and security issues
RAIDON Delivers a New 2.5-inch Internal RAID Module
RAIDON unveiled a new Internal RAID module-MR2020 is in the market. With the aim to industrial market and embedded application, MR2020 accepts two 2.5-inch hard drives to enhance the reliability of the system and supports RAID 1 for instantly data backup.
Considering the advantages of 2.5-inch hard drives such as less noise, heat-resistance, stability, less heat production and space saving etc, RAIDON transfers the hardware backup technology from 3.5-inch hard drives to 2.5-inch. MR2020, an internal storage module designed for working in IPC, product lines, servers and work stations.
Considering the advantages of 2.5-inch hard drives such as less noise, heat-resistance, stability, less heat production and space saving etc, RAIDON transfers the hardware backup technology from 3.5-inch hard drives to 2.5-inch. MR2020, an internal storage module designed for working in IPC, product lines, servers and work stations.
NFC Forum and Bluetooth SIG Publish Developers Guide to Use NFC for Bluetooth Pairing
The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the trade association responsible for the development, promotion and protection of the Bluetooth specification, today announced the publication of Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC. The new document provides developers with examples of how to implement Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) using NFC to take maximum advantage of both technologies when they are present in the same device. The publication is available for free download.
Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC describes the interaction of Bluetooth technology and NFC during SSP in detail and provides examples of both negotiated and static handover in the most feasible use cases involving both technologies. Developers will find the examples useful guides for their own work, including:
Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC describes the interaction of Bluetooth technology and NFC during SSP in detail and provides examples of both negotiated and static handover in the most feasible use cases involving both technologies. Developers will find the examples useful guides for their own work, including:
AMD Announces New A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)
AMD today updated its A-Series line-up of desktop and notebook Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), further improving its top-performing family of dual- and quad-core APUs. Along with speed and performance improvements, AMD Steady Video update make this unique feature more compelling than ever. For desktop users, AMD extends its overclocking pedigree to the APU; for the first time users can tune both x86 and graphics settings in a single processor for boosted performance.
The updated AMD A-Series APUs combine up to four x86 CPU cores with up to 400 Radeon cores, delivering powerful DirectX 11-capable, discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. These new APUs increase performance and deliver a richer feature set than existing AMD A-series APUs. Plus, only AMD APUs offer AMD Dual Graphics for an up to 144 percent visual performance boost when a select APU is paired with a select AMD Radeon HD 6500 Series graphics card.
The updated AMD A-Series APUs combine up to four x86 CPU cores with up to 400 Radeon cores, delivering powerful DirectX 11-capable, discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. These new APUs increase performance and deliver a richer feature set than existing AMD A-series APUs. Plus, only AMD APUs offer AMD Dual Graphics for an up to 144 percent visual performance boost when a select APU is paired with a select AMD Radeon HD 6500 Series graphics card.
AOC to Show Off 23-inch Monitor with Built-In iPhone/iPod dock at CES 2012
Next month at CES 2012 in Las Vegas (January 10-13) monitor maker AOC is promising to showcase a widescreen display which includes a built-in iPhone/iPod touch dock. This extra allows people to view videos or photos taken with their Apple-flavored handheld on the monitor's 23-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel, or to listen to the music on the device via the monitor's SRS Premium Sound speakers.
Beside this slim, sleek, and dock-enhanced monitor (called e2343Fi), AOC will show off at CES a new USB-powered display, and a fresh, passive 3D display.
Beside this slim, sleek, and dock-enhanced monitor (called e2343Fi), AOC will show off at CES a new USB-powered display, and a fresh, passive 3D display.
GameFly Delivers PC Client with 'Unlimited PC Play'
Following in the footsteps of Valve's Steam and EA's Origin, GameFly is now venturing into the world of the online delivery platform. Only GameFlys client brings it with a twist. If you are a subscriber to the GameFly service you will be able to play certain games for as long as you want without actually having to purchase the game.
Gameflys co-founder Sean Spector said "We are thrilled to finally be able to open up the beta so anyone interested in video games can start using the client, and we are hard at work expanding our catalog of PC titles for our users to play for free in the Unlimited PC Play section"
GameFly currently works as the gaming worlds answer to Netflix. Digital content delivery is the next logical step in its evolution. Currently you can download the beta application and give it a try for yourself. At the end of the day Steam may finally have a true competitor on the PC platform. A client with unlimited gameplay for a annual small cost.
Gameflys co-founder Sean Spector said "We are thrilled to finally be able to open up the beta so anyone interested in video games can start using the client, and we are hard at work expanding our catalog of PC titles for our users to play for free in the Unlimited PC Play section"
GameFly currently works as the gaming worlds answer to Netflix. Digital content delivery is the next logical step in its evolution. Currently you can download the beta application and give it a try for yourself. At the end of the day Steam may finally have a true competitor on the PC platform. A client with unlimited gameplay for a annual small cost.
Sharkoon Announces T28 Case for Long Graphics Cards
Sharkoon presents another series of cases: Available in three color editions, the Sharkoon T28 offers a lot of space especially for hard drive installation, thankfully due to the removable hard drive cage, and also perfect for extra-long graphic cards.
Externally the Sharkoon T28 offers a black body and a rectilinear mesh front design. Power and Reset buttons are elegantly chromed. In regards to the front connectors, Audio In/Out stands ready between three USB2.0 ports and a USB3.0 interface. An acrylic window on the left side panel gives an insight into the interior of the colored mainboard tray. Choose from three color editions: Red, green, and for the first time after numerous customer suggestions, blue. Also, the operating and hard drive LEDs illuminate in the edition color as well as the three pre-installed 120 mm fans. Two fans rotate in the front, the third in the back. All possess a 4-pin power supply and a 3-pin mainboard connector.
Externally the Sharkoon T28 offers a black body and a rectilinear mesh front design. Power and Reset buttons are elegantly chromed. In regards to the front connectors, Audio In/Out stands ready between three USB2.0 ports and a USB3.0 interface. An acrylic window on the left side panel gives an insight into the interior of the colored mainboard tray. Choose from three color editions: Red, green, and for the first time after numerous customer suggestions, blue. Also, the operating and hard drive LEDs illuminate in the edition color as well as the three pre-installed 120 mm fans. Two fans rotate in the front, the third in the back. All possess a 4-pin power supply and a 3-pin mainboard connector.
Trust Across America Deems AMD Most Trustworthy Tech Company
Despite having a rough year with lay-offs, AMD can end 2011 on a high, as brand survey group Trust Across America that lists out America's top-10 most trustworthy companies, deemed AMD as the fifth most trustworthy American company. The list included just two other tech companies, semiconductor major Texas Instruments at number 9, and printing and digital imaging company Lexmark at number 10.
Trust Across America evaluated its top-10 candidates on five factors it calls "FACTS"; that's acronym for Financial stability and strength, Accounting conservativeness, Corporate integrity, Transparency, and Sustainability. It's quite surprising that other, more financially stable tech companies such as Microsoft and Intel didn't make it to this list.
The top-10 list follows.
Trust Across America evaluated its top-10 candidates on five factors it calls "FACTS"; that's acronym for Financial stability and strength, Accounting conservativeness, Corporate integrity, Transparency, and Sustainability. It's quite surprising that other, more financially stable tech companies such as Microsoft and Intel didn't make it to this list.
The top-10 list follows.
Seagate Finalizes the Acquisition of Samsung's Hard Drive Business
Seagate Technology has today announced that it completed the acquisition of Samsung Electronics' hard drive unit. Worth $1.4 billion, this deal covers the assets, infrastructure and employees of Samsung's HDD business and is supposed to boost Seagate's production capacity, R&D strength and customer access in China, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Germany and the Russian Federation.
As part of the agreement, Seagate will be supplying HDDs for Samsung PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics devices, while the South Korean giant will provide Seagate with semiconductor products needed for enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid-state hybrid drives and other products. Moreover, the two companies have signed an extended patent cross-license agreement, and have agreed to collaborate on the development of enterprise storage solutions.
As part of the agreement, Seagate will be supplying HDDs for Samsung PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics devices, while the South Korean giant will provide Seagate with semiconductor products needed for enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid-state hybrid drives and other products. Moreover, the two companies have signed an extended patent cross-license agreement, and have agreed to collaborate on the development of enterprise storage solutions.
TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.5.7 Released
TechPowerUp today released GPU-Z version 0.5.7, the latest version of our popular graphics system information and diagnostic utility. This release of GPU-Z comes just in time for the launch of AMD's Radeon HD 7000 series. It packs tested support for Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7350. It packs an updated PCI Express 3.0 detection routine, with better detection reliability. It fixes a bug related to "APIC counter broken" on AMD Fusion APU platforms. Detection is improved for some rare GPUs, such as HD 6450A, HD 6470M, and the more popular HD 5570.
Several reliability updates were introduced. This includes fixed (improved) fillrate calculation on Fermi architecture, fixed ROP count on GT 420, GT 520, HD 5450, HD 6450; fixed random values showing as default clocks on some NVIDIA cards; fixed random value showing as shader clock on NVIDIA cards without shader clock; and addition of process size, die size, transistor count for Radeon E6760.
DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.5.7 and TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.5.7 ROG-Themed
Several reliability updates were introduced. This includes fixed (improved) fillrate calculation on Fermi architecture, fixed ROP count on GT 420, GT 520, HD 5450, HD 6450; fixed random values showing as default clocks on some NVIDIA cards; fixed random value showing as shader clock on NVIDIA cards without shader clock; and addition of process size, die size, transistor count for Radeon E6760.
Zalman to Also Sell NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Cards
Earlier this month, we learned that Korean PC cooling solutions expert Zalman was entering the graphics card market. At the time we could only see AMD Radeon graphics cards, those too, re-branded HIS Radeon graphics cards. We're now seeing the first true Zalman graphics cards, that implement Zalman's generations of expertise with VGA cooling. Pictured below are Zalman's HD 6700, HD 6800; and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics card designs that implement Zalman-made VGA coolers. This also confirms that Zalman will be a neutral board partner, selling both AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce. Zalman will show off its graphics cards at the upcoming CES event.
Radeon HD 6930 2 GB Tested
Unbeknownst to many, AMD launched the Radeon HD 6930 in some markets. The company apparently doesn't want this launch to disturb reviewers from key high-volume markets, who have their hands full with Radeon HD 7970, and so the HD 6930 got a limited launch. For one, the HD 6930 is most certainly launched in China, and so Expreview gave it a run against the HD 6950 1 GB. The Radeon HD 6930 is carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, on which other HD 6900 series products are based. It features 1280 VLIW4 stream processors, 1 GB or 2 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and clock speeds of 750 MHz (core), 1200 MHz or 4.80 GHz effective (memory). Very few partners made English press-releases about this SKU, HIS was among them. The company launched an IceQ-X graphics card on Monday.
Performance summary follows.
LG and Intel Sign Strategic Alliance for Intel Wireless Display Technology (WiDi)
LG Electronics (LG) and Intel entered into a strategic alliance to adopt and jointly promote Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology. Intel WiDi will be embedded into next year's LG CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, making them the first in the TV industry to feature Intel WiDi technology. Intel WiDi is a wireless connectivity inter-face which allows for instant, high-definition viewing of content stored in notebooks and other external mobile devices on large screen TVs, projectors or monitors.
"Through this strategic alliance, CINEMA 3D Smart TV users will be able to access a wider variety of content in a more convenient manner," said Seog-ho Ro, Senior Vice President of LG Home Entertainment Company's TV Business Unit. "Intel WiDi will be one of several features that will enhance the user convenience of our CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, further differentiating our products from the competition."
"Through this strategic alliance, CINEMA 3D Smart TV users will be able to access a wider variety of content in a more convenient manner," said Seog-ho Ro, Senior Vice President of LG Home Entertainment Company's TV Business Unit. "Intel WiDi will be one of several features that will enhance the user convenience of our CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, further differentiating our products from the competition."
Razer's Tiamat Gaming Headset Delayed, to Ship in Late January
Bad news for gamers hoping to find a Tiamat 7.1 or Tiamat 2.2 headset under the Christmas tree (or simply on their desk), Razer has delayed the arrival of both products to polish them up some more. Both Tiamat headsets were supposed to be available during this last quarter of 2011 but now they are expected to ship at the end of January.
"Rest assured this product is coming out soon, but as we get ready to ship, we are also putting final touches to perfect this headset. We want to be sure that what you get is going to blow your ears away, no holds barred, and unfortunately like all Razer products, it's ready when it's ready," says a message from Team Razer.
Razer apologized for this delay and is trying to make up for it by offering a free Razer T-shirt and Razer flask (worth $40) to all customers who add their names to the Notify Me list at the Tiamat minisite. As a reminder, the Tiamat 7.1, with its 10 built-in drivers, costs $179.99 / EU €179.99 while the Tiamat 2.2, which has 'just' four drivers, is priced at $99.99 / EU €99.99.
"Rest assured this product is coming out soon, but as we get ready to ship, we are also putting final touches to perfect this headset. We want to be sure that what you get is going to blow your ears away, no holds barred, and unfortunately like all Razer products, it's ready when it's ready," says a message from Team Razer.
Razer apologized for this delay and is trying to make up for it by offering a free Razer T-shirt and Razer flask (worth $40) to all customers who add their names to the Notify Me list at the Tiamat minisite. As a reminder, the Tiamat 7.1, with its 10 built-in drivers, costs $179.99 / EU €179.99 while the Tiamat 2.2, which has 'just' four drivers, is priced at $99.99 / EU €99.99.
VMware Expands its View, Brings Windows Virtual Desktop to Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux
VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the availability of new VMware View Clients for Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux, along with updates to its popular VMware View Clients for Android and iPad. Available today as technology previews, the new VMware View Clients for Mac and Linux allow IT organizations to empower more agile, productive and connected workforce or school communities by enabling an easy to access, high fidelity desktop virtualization experience optimized for the device of their choice.
"More and more people want the freedom to choose the device that best fits their computing needs in school and into the workplace," said Pat Lee, director, end user clients, VMware. "With the new VMware View Clients, both IT and end users win with a complete, secure and easily-accessible virtual desktop on the devices that best meet their needs."
"More and more people want the freedom to choose the device that best fits their computing needs in school and into the workplace," said Pat Lee, director, end user clients, VMware. "With the new VMware View Clients, both IT and end users win with a complete, secure and easily-accessible virtual desktop on the devices that best meet their needs."
Samsung, Sony, Others, Form 'Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative'
Panasonic Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., SanDisk Corporation, Sony Corporation and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they have reached an agreement in principle to collaborate on a new content protection technology for flash memory cards such as SD Cards and various storage devices. Under the "Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative," the five companies will start preparing for licensing and promotion of HD (high-definition)-capable security for SD Cards and embedded memory for use in advanced consumer applications such as tablets and smartphones.
This content protection solution will be robust enough to protect HD content. A high level of content security will be realized through the use of the initiative's technologies, including unique ID (identification) technology for flash memory and robust copy protection based on public key infrastructure.
This content protection solution will be robust enough to protect HD content. A high level of content security will be realized through the use of the initiative's technologies, including unique ID (identification) technology for flash memory and robust copy protection based on public key infrastructure.
Apple Wins ITC Patent Case Against HTC, US Import Ban is Pending
These holidays are being quite kind to Apple as after over a year and a half of investigating, the US ITC (International Trade Commission) has ruled that HTC has indeed violated two of its patents. According to the ITC ruling, HTC is infringing on patents No. 5,946,647 which covering a 'system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data' and No. 6,343, 263 relating to a 'real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data'.
As a result of this decision the ITC will be issuing an exclusion order (beginning April 19, 2012) that will prevent US imports of infringing HTC Android devices (the ITC didn't specify which products are affected by this).
As a result of this decision the ITC will be issuing an exclusion order (beginning April 19, 2012) that will prevent US imports of infringing HTC Android devices (the ITC didn't specify which products are affected by this).
AMD's Own HD 7970 Performance Expectations?
Ahead of every major GPU launch, both NVIDIA and AMD give out a document to reviewers known as Reviewer's Guide, in which both provide guidelines (suggestions, not instructions), to reviewers to ensure new GPUs are given a fair testing. In such documents, the two often also give out their own performance expectations from the GPUs they're launching, in which they compare the new GPUs to either previous-generation GPUs from their own brand, or from the competitors'. Apparently such a performance comparison between the upcoming Radeon HD 7970 and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580, probably part of such a document, got leaked to the internet, which 3DCenter.org re-posted. The first picture below, is a blurry screenshot of a graph in which the two GPUs are compared along a variety of tests, at a resolution of 2560 x 1600. A Tweakers.net community member recreated that graph in Excel, using that data (second picture below).
A couple of things here are worth noting. Reviewer guide performance numbers are almost always exaggerated, so if reviewers get performance results lower than 'normal', they find it abnormal, and re-test. It's an established practice both GPUs vendors follow. Next, AMD Radeon GPUs are traditionally good at 2560 x 1600. For that matter, the performance gap between even the Radeon HD 6970 and GeForce GTX 580 narrows a bit at that resolution.
A couple of things here are worth noting. Reviewer guide performance numbers are almost always exaggerated, so if reviewers get performance results lower than 'normal', they find it abnormal, and re-test. It's an established practice both GPUs vendors follow. Next, AMD Radeon GPUs are traditionally good at 2560 x 1600. For that matter, the performance gap between even the Radeon HD 6970 and GeForce GTX 580 narrows a bit at that resolution.
Monday, December 19th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mousepads
Notebooks
DDR4 May Use 3D Stacking Technology
Micron Technology, one of the biggest DRAM companies, has announced that it's working the JEDEC standards organization for computer memory, to standardize a new DRAM interface and die-stacking technology called three-dimensional stacking, or 3DS, which may be incorporated into the upcoming DDR4 standard. X-bit labs has a nice summary of how 3DS works:
The idea behind 3DS is to use specially designed and manufactured master-and-slave DRAM die, with only the master die interfacing with the external memory controller. 3DS technology uses optimized DRAM die, single DLL per stack, reduced active logic, single shared external I/O, improved timing, and reduced load to the external world. This combination of features can improve timing, bus speeds, and signal integrity while lowering both power consumption and system overhead for next-generation modules, according to Micron.
Password Security The Windows 8 Way
Windows 8 implements a radical new user interface called Metro for desktop PC's, which has so far received a mixed reception. However, there's many other changes under the hood and one of those is how password security is handled, which we look at here. It's a fact of life, that in today's modern world, we have to remember a plethora of passwords and PIN's, which can be daunting. This leads to security issues as users end up writing down passwords and/or create very insecure ones which can be easily guessed. Windows 8 aims to uphold strong password security, while at the same time, easing the burden on the user. Also, passwords can be obtained in various ways by miscreants, such as phishing, keylogging, guessing, and cracking. Windows addresses each of these problems in three main ways:
Super Talent Announces Storage POD Mini USB 3.0 External SSD
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND flash storage solutions, today announced the Storage POD Mini, a portable SSD that will change how you think about external storage.
External hard disk drives have made it easy to back-up important data and move data from one machine to another but its performance was limited and always slower than an internal hard drive. Thanks to USB 3.0 and SSD technologies, it is now possible to create a USB storage solution that is smaller, lighter and more rugged than a traditional HDD. A blue anodized, all-aluminum enclosure enables this drive to be both lightweight and rugged yet measure a mere 110 x 68 x 10 mm (roughly the same size as an internal 2.5" HDD; without the enclosure) It fits easily in your pocket and requires no power adapter. It's the perfect travelling companion.
External hard disk drives have made it easy to back-up important data and move data from one machine to another but its performance was limited and always slower than an internal hard drive. Thanks to USB 3.0 and SSD technologies, it is now possible to create a USB storage solution that is smaller, lighter and more rugged than a traditional HDD. A blue anodized, all-aluminum enclosure enables this drive to be both lightweight and rugged yet measure a mere 110 x 68 x 10 mm (roughly the same size as an internal 2.5" HDD; without the enclosure) It fits easily in your pocket and requires no power adapter. It's the perfect travelling companion.
Club3D Intros New GeForce GTX 570 Battlefield 3 Edition Graphics Card
Club3D introduced a new custom-design GeForce GTX 570 special-edition graphics card that's Battlefield 3-themed. Carrying the item code CGNX-X5780B, this card is based on a cost-effective GF110 in-house board design by Club3D, that includes a custom-design blue-colored PCB, and Club3D's CoolStream cooler, which uses a large aluminum fin heatsink to which heat is fed by copper heat pipes, and is ventilated by a single large temperature-controlled fan. The card sticks to reference clock speeds of 732 MHz core, 1464 MHz CUDA cores, and 950 MHz (3.80 GHz GDDR5 effective) memory. The GeForce GTX 570 features 480 CUDA cores, and 1280 MB of GDDR5 memory across a 320-bit wide memory interface. This special-edition package most likely includes a copy of the game. Pricing and availability information is not at hand.
Be Quiet Announces Free LGA2011 Compatibility Upgrade for its CPU Coolers
German PC cooling and power manufacturer Be Quiet announced a free compatibility upgrade for all its customers. The upgrade gives users support for Intel's latest LGA2011 socket platform, and is particularly well timed, since some of the company's best CPU coolers were released only recently, such as its famed Dark Rock series, which are more than capable of handling 130W TDP processors, which LGA2011 Core i7 processors, are. The LGA2011 mounting kit can be availed for free (including shipping charges), by filling up a request form, and supplying Be Quiet with product serial numbers, or any proof of ownership of an LGA2011 motherboard. The request form can be filled here.
Intel 'Ivy Bridge' Core Desktop Processor Prices Compiled
In 2012, Intel will update its processor lineup up to performance 2 tiers with new models based on the spanking new 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" silicon, which will increase performance over the current generation, and bring some new features to the table. In late November, a list of desktop Core i5/i7 models could be compiled, which were later confirmed on roadmap slides. CPU World compiled retail channel pricing of several of those Core i5/i7 "Ivy Bridge" chips. The prices look to be more or less consistent with current "Sandy Bridge" Core processors, which those chips are bound to replace. The Core i7-3770K, for example, which will replace the Core i7-2600K, will be similarly priced to it.
HIS Unveils the Radeon HD 6930 IceQ X Graphics Card
Rumored but still not officially launched by AMD, the Cayman-powered Radeon HD 6930 has now been outed by Hong Kong-based add-in board maker HIS (Hightech Information System). Known as the Radeon HD 6930 IceQ X, HIS' card comes equipped with a dual-slot IceQ X cooler (boasting a 92mm fan and four heatpipes), and features a blue PCB, a GPU clock of 750 MHz (the, a 256-bit memory interface, 1 GB of GDDR5 memory set to 4800 MHz, CrossFireX and Eyefinity support, plus dual-DVI, HDMI and dual mini DisplayPort outputs.
According to previous reports, the Radeon HD 6930 packs 1280 Stream Processors and will sell for under $200. No word yet on availability so it's not certain where HIS will ship this card.
According to previous reports, the Radeon HD 6930 packs 1280 Stream Processors and will sell for under $200. No word yet on availability so it's not certain where HIS will ship this card.
New Google+ Update Brings Circle, Pages, Photos and Notification Improvements
Google has kicked off this week by initiating the roll-out of a new update for Google+, one that brings some highly-desired features while also improving those already available. First up, Google is adding a slider to every Circle so people can choose how much information from that Circle reaches their main stream. This basically allows users to limit the updates going to the stream, making it more focused on things of greater importance (less spam for everyone).
Notifications are also getting a boost thanks to the arrival of 'sneak previews' and the ability to see the +1's and shares received by posts. As for Photos, they can take advantage of a redesigned Lightbox which allows for 'improved navigation, enhanced comment legibility and better overall utility'. Photo tagging has also been improved and is now faster and easier.
Notifications are also getting a boost thanks to the arrival of 'sneak previews' and the ability to see the +1's and shares received by posts. As for Photos, they can take advantage of a redesigned Lightbox which allows for 'improved navigation, enhanced comment legibility and better overall utility'. Photo tagging has also been improved and is now faster and easier.
Pioneer Intros Internal Drive Capable of Writing BDXL At 6X Speed
Pioneer announced a new internal SATA Blu-ray disc burner drive in Japan, that's capable of burning Blu-ray XL (BDXL) discs at speeds of 6X. Carrying the model number BDR-207JBK, the drive can burn double-layer BD-R discs at 12X, and quad-layer BDXL discs at 6X. The drive features a few of Pioneer's proprietary technologies, PureRead2 and Peak Power Reducer. Slated for market availability in January, the Pioneer BDR-207JBK internal SATA Blu-ray disc burner is priced at 18,000 JPY (about US $231).
AMD FX 8150 with Microsoft KB2592546 Put Through 'Before and After' Patch Tests
To the surprise of many, last week, Microsoft rolled out a patch (KB2592546) for Windows that it claimed would improve performance of systems running AMD processors based on the "Bulldozer" architecture. The patch works by making the OS aware of the way Bulldozer cores are structured, so it could effectively make use of the parallelism at its disposal. Sadly, a couple of days later, it pulled that patch. Meanwhile, SweClockers got enough time to do a "before and after" performance test of the AMD FX-8150 processor, using this patch.
The results of SweClockers' tests are tabled below. "tidigare" is before, "nytt" is after, and "skillnad" is change. The reviewer put the chip through a wide range of tests, including synthetic CPU-intensive tests (both single and multi-threaded), and real-world gaming performance tests. The results are less than impressive. Perhaps, that's why the patch was redacted.
The results of SweClockers' tests are tabled below. "tidigare" is before, "nytt" is after, and "skillnad" is change. The reviewer put the chip through a wide range of tests, including synthetic CPU-intensive tests (both single and multi-threaded), and real-world gaming performance tests. The results are less than impressive. Perhaps, that's why the patch was redacted.
Apple Supplier Factory Explosion Injures 57 Workers, Could Affect iPad 2 Supply
Issues of labour-welfare and ethical-sourcing are back to haunt Apple, as one of its key foundry partners, Pegatron, reported an explosion at its facilities of Riteng Computer Accessory Company, Shanghai. The explosion injured 57 workers in all, hospitalising 23, while leaving 34 more with minor injuries. No deaths are reported so far. This facility manufactures the aluminum bodies of iPad 2, the incident is similar in nature to a previous one earlier this year, caused by improper exhaustion of combustible bi-products.
Pegatron CFO Charles Lin confirmed to the press, the number of people injured, the extant of their injuries, and what is being done. He went on to detail the current state of the facility. "The factory has not started operations yet. Part of the facility is still under pre-operation inspection and part is running trial production." Meanwhile, Apple expressed its condolences. In a statement, it said "Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang. We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident." This incident could affect supply of iPad 2.
Pegatron CFO Charles Lin confirmed to the press, the number of people injured, the extant of their injuries, and what is being done. He went on to detail the current state of the facility. "The factory has not started operations yet. Part of the facility is still under pre-operation inspection and part is running trial production." Meanwhile, Apple expressed its condolences. In a statement, it said "Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang. We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident." This incident could affect supply of iPad 2.
Monster Digital Readies the Le Mans SandForce-based SSDs
Monster and SDJ Technologies have recently teased the very first solid state drives coming out under the Monster Digital brand, the 'Le Mans' Series. These drives feature a 2.5-inch form factor, a SandForce SF-2200 controller, Toshiba-made synchronous MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, and deliver read and write speeds of up to 550 MB/s and 515 MB/s, respectively.
The Le Mans family of SSDs will ship in Q1 2012 and will include 80 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB and 400 GB models. The drives' prices were not announced but such info should be made available early next month at CES 2012.
The Le Mans family of SSDs will ship in Q1 2012 and will include 80 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB and 400 GB models. The drives' prices were not announced but such info should be made available early next month at CES 2012.
Radeon HD 7970 Listed by European Retailer
Dutch online retailer Comcom.nl couldn't hold its rocks, and listed the upcoming Radeon HD 7970 on its site. Listed, was an ASUS-branded card (with no pictures, of course), so it could be a paper listing for pre-orders. Comcom is asking €482.11 for this card before applicable taxes, about €573.71 with them. Disturbing as the pricing looks, it endorses speculated North American pricing of US $550 (pre-tax) for these cards. In its listing the retailer mentions the card's model number as HD7970-3GD5, and as having 3 DVI connectors, 1 HDMI, and two mini-DP.
Intel Core i7-3820 LGA2011 Processor Gets Listed, Still Not Available
Intel Sandy Bridge-E may be a duo this time, having only two processors (the Core i7-3960X and i7-3930K hexa-cores) to choose from, but early next year it will turn into a trio through the release of the Core i7-3820. This new model is the cheapest in the Sandy Bridge-E family and has begun to become available for pre-order around the world.
Built using 32nm process technology, the i7-3820 features four cores clocked at 3.6 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo), eight threads, 10 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel memory controller, and a TDP of 130W. The Core i7-3820 can be found listed in the US at $311.54 and in Europe at 276 Euro.
Built using 32nm process technology, the i7-3820 features four cores clocked at 3.6 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo), eight threads, 10 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel memory controller, and a TDP of 130W. The Core i7-3820 can be found listed in the US at $311.54 and in Europe at 276 Euro.
NVIDIA Kepler To Do Away with Hotclocks
Since the days of NVIDIA's very first DirectX 10 GPUs, NVIDIA has been using different clock domains for the shaders and the rest of the GPU (geometry domain). Over the past few generations, the shader clock has been set 2x the geometry domain (the rest of the GPU). 3DCenter.org has learned that with the next-generation "Kepler" family of GPUs, NVIDIA will do away with this "Hotclock" principle. The heavy number-crunching parts of the GPU, the CUDA cores, will run at the same clock-speed as the rest of the GPU.
It is also learned that NVIDIA will have higher core speeds overall. The clock speed of the GK104, for example, is expected to be set "well above 1 GHz", yielding compute power "clearly over 2 TFLOPs" (3DCenter's words). It looks like NVIDIA too will have some significant architectural changes up its sleeve with Kepler.
It is also learned that NVIDIA will have higher core speeds overall. The clock speed of the GK104, for example, is expected to be set "well above 1 GHz", yielding compute power "clearly over 2 TFLOPs" (3DCenter's words). It looks like NVIDIA too will have some significant architectural changes up its sleeve with Kepler.
AMD Radeon HD 7900 Key Features Listed
We've already been through the specifications of HD 7970 "Tahiti" in some detail that matters to those who can draw a performance hunch looking at them. This latest slide shows you the feature-set this GPU comes with. To begin with, there are three main categories of feature updates: Graphics CoreNext, AMD Eyefinity 2.0, and AMD APP Acceleration. AMD claims CoreNext to be a "revolutionary" new architecture that changes the way the GPU crunches numbers.
For the past five generations (since Radeon HD 2000), AMD GPUs have used the VLIW (very-long instruction word) core arrangement. Even the latest VLIW4 introduced by Radeon HD 6900 series, was an evolution, than a revolution of that. CoreNext replaces VLIW stream processors with super-scalar Graphics Compute cores. This should translate to higher performance per mm² die-area, resulting in smaller GPUs, giving AMD room for greater cost-cutting if the competition from NVIDIA for this generation takes effect. The GPU itself is built on TSMC's new 28 nm silicon fabrication process. Next up, AMD confirmed support for PCI-Express 3.0 interface, that nearly doubles system bus bandwidth over the previous generation.
For the past five generations (since Radeon HD 2000), AMD GPUs have used the VLIW (very-long instruction word) core arrangement. Even the latest VLIW4 introduced by Radeon HD 6900 series, was an evolution, than a revolution of that. CoreNext replaces VLIW stream processors with super-scalar Graphics Compute cores. This should translate to higher performance per mm² die-area, resulting in smaller GPUs, giving AMD room for greater cost-cutting if the competition from NVIDIA for this generation takes effect. The GPU itself is built on TSMC's new 28 nm silicon fabrication process. Next up, AMD confirmed support for PCI-Express 3.0 interface, that nearly doubles system bus bandwidth over the previous generation.
Sunday, December 18th 2011
New Radeon Pictures Leaked: HD 7770
First pictures of AMD's mainstream card, HD 7770, have now been leaked online. This card is the first major upgrade to the HD 5770 in two years, since the HD 6770 was just a rebrand. It features the Cape Verde GPU, which replaces the Juniper GPU used in the HD 5770/HD 6770. The card looks somewhat different, with a large fan sitting on top of the GPU, blowing directly onto it and the card's length is the same as the HD 5770, at around 8.25 inches.
Skyrim becomes 'Fastest Selling Title in Steam’s History'
It should come as no surprise that Skyrim would be a popular game for the PC platform. However not many people would have ever guessed it would surpass Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in PC sales. On Thursday that became a fact as Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation confirmed to IndustryGamers in a candid interview. He is quoted as saying,
"Skyrim is the fastest selling title in Steam's history," said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve Corporation. "Bethesda's commitment to and understanding of the PC as a gaming platform shows in the great review scores, spectacular launch, and continued high player numbers that Skyrim has received. We are delighted that Bethesda chose to use Steamworks to support Skyrim both at retail and digitally."Considering the Call of Duty franchise has been a SteamWorks distributed game for the PC since Modern Warfare 2, it says a lot for Skyrim's popularity on the platform. As a matter of fact, one could say Call of Duty was on its way to being the best selling game ever on the PC......until it took an arrow to the knee.
Saturday, December 17th 2011
AMD Bulldozer Threading Hotfix Pulled
Since we reported on the AMD Bulldozer hotfix, The Tech Report reports in an updated post, that the Bulldozer threading hotfix said to improve performance of the processor, has been pulled:
We've spoken with an industry source familiar with this situation, and it appears the release of this hotfix was either inadvertent, premature, or both. There is indeed a Bulldozer threading patch for Windows in the works, but it should come in two parts, not just one. The patch that was briefly released is only one portion of the total solution, and it may very well reduce performance if used on its own. We're hearing the full Windows update for Bulldozer performance optimization is scheduled for release in Q1 of 2012. For now, Bulldozer owners, the best thing to do is to sit tight and wait.It will be very interesting indeed to see how this much maligned processor benchmarks after the fully developed patch is released. It's true, actually attempting to download the hotfix and agreeing to the licence terms, at the moment, one is lead to a page that shows it as unavailable.
The Witcher 2 Contains Secret Sauce To 'Catch 100% Of Pirates'
Yes, really - 100% of those pesky "pirates" will be brought to book! The game's studio, CD Projekt RED (CDP Red) isn't letting on how it's doing so, either, claiming it's a "trade secret" and not giving out the name of the external company that's implementing the anti-piracy technology, claiming that to do so would damage their business. Seriously. The problem with identifying a dodgy copy of something is that the main info they have to track them down, are the IP addresses of the suspect. This has been shown many times over now, not to be a reliable tracker of who's doing what. At the most, it will pinpoint the account holder that it relates to, in some cases. However, this outfit reckons they've nailed this dealbreaking problem once and for all - and without any evidence on how they go about it. Snake oil, perhaps? The Polish company have therefore been sending out legal notices to thousands of suspects in Germany, chosen because this country has some of the strictest copyright laws in Europe. Presumably, they must be leaning on the ISPs to hand over customers' physical street addresses, although this isn't made clear, but read on for how this might be accomplished. In an email to PC Gamer, CDP Red VP Michael Nowakowski made the following statement:
Seagate Take A Leaf Out Of WD's Book, Offer Crummy ONE YEAR Warranties On Some HDD's
Two days ago, we reported on Western Digital's unwelcome warranty cuts. In that article, we said: "It would be surprising if Seagate didn't follow WD's lead on warranties." Well, as sure as water flows downhill and not up, Seagate has now followed suit - and then some. They will now offer miserly one year warranties on most Barracuda and Momentus hard disk drives. Seagate wrote the following letter on 6th December to its authorised distributors explaining this:
Effective December 31, 2011, Seagate will be changing its warranty policy from a 5 year to a 3 year warranty period for Nearline drives, 5 years to 1 year for certain Desktop and Notebook Bare Drives, 5 years to 3 years on Barracuda XT and Momentus XT, and from as much as 5 years to 2 years on Consumer Electronics.So that's just a fifth of the time on some drives - a shockingly massive drop! Doesn't sound like a company that cares about its customers much then, does it? The new warranty periods will apply from shipments dated 31st December and the details of the new warranty periods are as follows:
Friday, December 16th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Graphics Cards
Keyboards
Motherboards
Notebooks
PSUs
- Be Quiet! Straight Power E9 400W PC-Experience.de (de)
- Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid 1050 W TechPowerUp
- Corsair TX750M Vortez
- NZXT HALE82 750W Test Freaks
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 600W Real World Labs
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 500W Technic3D (de)
- SilverStone Strider Gold Evolution 750W Hardware Secrets
- Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 1000W HardwareHeaven
SSD
Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid 1050 W Review
Today we test the middle member of Coolermaster's fresh Silent Pro Hybrid series, which with its 1050W will easily power even the most power hungry systems and at the same time will save you some money from electricity bills, thanks to its Gold efficiency. This PSU will be loved by all silence fans out there since it goes fanless at low loads and on top of that you can control its fan speed.
Intel Readies Core i5-2550K Quad-Core Unlocked Processor
Intel started its "Sandy Bridge" LGA1155 family with two processors geared for overclocking, the Core i7-2600K, at a $320 price-point, and Core i5-2500K at around $210. Both are extremely successful products, among the two the Core i5-2500K struck a price-performance sweet-spot, while the Core i7-2600K became the ideal chip to build high-end gaming PCs with. Around the time when AMD was releasing its AMD FX processor family, Intel released the new Core i7-2700K. This chip didn't necessarily replace the i7-2600K, but took a price point slightly higher than it. According to a CPU World report, Intel is readying a new sweet-spot processor geared for overclocking, the Core i5-2550K.
With a retail channel part number BX80623I52550K and OEM part number CM806230121300, the Core i5-2550K was added to the MDDS database. It will carry the S-spec code SR0QH. The exact clock speed of this chip is not known, but CPU World expects it to be 3.40 GHz. Based on the Sandy Bridge LGA1155 package, the Core i5-2550K will feature four cores, 256 KB L2 cache per core, 6 MB shared L3 cache, integrated dual-channel DDR3 IMC, , integrated PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and TDP of 95W. We expect this not to necessarily displace the i5-2500K, but occupy a price-point slightly above it. Let's say, $239-$249, just to heat things up for the AMD FX-8150.
With a retail channel part number BX80623I52550K and OEM part number CM806230121300, the Core i5-2550K was added to the MDDS database. It will carry the S-spec code SR0QH. The exact clock speed of this chip is not known, but CPU World expects it to be 3.40 GHz. Based on the Sandy Bridge LGA1155 package, the Core i5-2550K will feature four cores, 256 KB L2 cache per core, 6 MB shared L3 cache, integrated dual-channel DDR3 IMC, , integrated PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and TDP of 95W. We expect this not to necessarily displace the i5-2500K, but occupy a price-point slightly above it. Let's say, $239-$249, just to heat things up for the AMD FX-8150.
SteelSeries Kinzu v2 Pro Edition Gaming Mouse Arrives in Europe
Without much fanfare, peripheral company SteelSeries has begun shipping in Europe one of its latest gaming mice, the tournament-grade Kinzu v2 Pro Edition. This new rodent measures 64 (W) x 36 (H) x 127 (D) mm and has an ambidextrous design, three buttons and a clickable scroll wheel, Omron button switches, Teflon feet enabling a low-friction glide, and a 3200 dpi optical sensor.
The Kinzu v2 Pro Edition also features a 1,000 Hz polling rate, a 2 meter braided cable, USB 2.0 connectivity, and comes in three color versions - black, red and silver. Currently only the black model is available and it costs 44.90 Euro. The global availability of this mouse is planned for early January.
The Kinzu v2 Pro Edition also features a 1,000 Hz polling rate, a 2 meter braided cable, USB 2.0 connectivity, and comes in three color versions - black, red and silver. Currently only the black model is available and it costs 44.90 Euro. The global availability of this mouse is planned for early January.
Foxconn and NVIDIA Setting Up Cloud Computing R&D Center in China
OEM major Foxconn, graphics and ARM processor major NVIDIA, in coordination with the local government, plan to set up a new research and development center in the city of Tianjin, northern China. The three signed for establishment of the joint venture today. Heads of Foxconn and NVIDIA, Terry Guo and Jen-Hsun Huang, were present at the ceremony.
The center is slated to be dedicated for research and development in the fields of mobile terminal devices and cloud computing-based applications, and we can already see the right ingredients going into setting it up: an investment-friendly local government that provides a fertile platform and human resources, the vast expertise of Foxconn in design and manufacture of consumer electronics, and the expertise of NVIDIA in ultra-high performance application processors for portable computing devices.
The center is slated to be dedicated for research and development in the fields of mobile terminal devices and cloud computing-based applications, and we can already see the right ingredients going into setting it up: an investment-friendly local government that provides a fertile platform and human resources, the vast expertise of Foxconn in design and manufacture of consumer electronics, and the expertise of NVIDIA in ultra-high performance application processors for portable computing devices.
Corsair to Announce Several Key Products at 2012 International CES
Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced its participation at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from January 10th to 13th, 2012.
"We're very excited about our presence at the 2012 International CES," said Andrew Paul, President and CEO of Corsair. "Not only is it a fantastic showcase for the new products we'll be announcing, it allows us to present all of our high-performance product lines."
"We're very excited about our presence at the 2012 International CES," said Andrew Paul, President and CEO of Corsair. "Not only is it a fantastic showcase for the new products we'll be announcing, it allows us to present all of our high-performance product lines."
KFA2 Launches GeForce GTX 580 MDT X4 Graphics Card
KFA2, the European premium NVIDIA brand, announced today the GTX 580 MDT X4 EX OC, the latest in the line of MDT series multi-display performance gaming graphics cards. The KFA2 GeForce GTX 580 MDT X4 is designed to be the flagship product within our MDT range, offering unparalleled performance in the latest DirectX 11 games in full 1080p.
Whilst the KFA2 GeForce 580 MDT X4 supports up to 4 monitors for multi-display, its main feature includes 'Virtual single monitor mode' which shares one desktop across 3 screens, producing surround HD game play (50Mhz compatible monitors needed for this feature). This myriad of features and unrivaled performance is complimented by a KFA2 custom designed LED chassis and high efficiency triple fan cooling solution.
Whilst the KFA2 GeForce 580 MDT X4 supports up to 4 monitors for multi-display, its main feature includes 'Virtual single monitor mode' which shares one desktop across 3 screens, producing surround HD game play (50Mhz compatible monitors needed for this feature). This myriad of features and unrivaled performance is complimented by a KFA2 custom designed LED chassis and high efficiency triple fan cooling solution.
NSS Labs Accuses Google of Undertaking Campaign to Knock Firefox Off The Market
Google Chrome is a fast and functional web browser. Let's get that out of the way first. But one of the main reasons a largely successful corporation put resources into developing a web-browser into a market that isn't very profitable, is cost-cutting. Since it's inception, the search bar Mozilla Firefox came with, has Google as its default search provider. Every time people search using that search bar in Firefox, Mozilla Foundation makes money. It is estimated that these Google searches amount to a majority of Mozilla's revenue, as Google pays it as much as 50 million dollars an year. Google Chrome, despite its genuine merits, is a cost-cutting operation. The more people use it over Firefox, the less Google has to pay Mozilla.
Web security researchers have historically rated Google Chrome has having the worst security and privacy compared to Firefox, and Internet Explorer (read this, and here), but the most recent research by Denver-based security consultancy Accuvant claimed that Google Chrome has the best security and privacy features, while Mozilla Firefox has the worst. Want to hear the kicker? That research by Accuvant was funded by Google. Want to hear another one? A similar research firm that has historically done vendor-funded research, NSS Labs, voiced strong objections to Accuvant's research, calling it an all-out attempt to malign Mozilla Firefox.
Web security researchers have historically rated Google Chrome has having the worst security and privacy compared to Firefox, and Internet Explorer (read this, and here), but the most recent research by Denver-based security consultancy Accuvant claimed that Google Chrome has the best security and privacy features, while Mozilla Firefox has the worst. Want to hear the kicker? That research by Accuvant was funded by Google. Want to hear another one? A similar research firm that has historically done vendor-funded research, NSS Labs, voiced strong objections to Accuvant's research, calling it an all-out attempt to malign Mozilla Firefox.
Toshiba Unveils the 220 MB/s TransMemory-EX USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Toshiba Japan has this week announced the TransMemory-EX, a new, USB 3.0 flash drive which is set to ship in February and will deliver read and write speeds of up to 220 MB/s and 94 MB/s, respectively (34/30 MB/s read/write speeds when on USB 2.0).
This speedy drive makes use of a low-power SuperSpeed USB controller, it measures 68.8 (L) x 21 (W) x 10.5 (H) mm, and will be available in 32 GB and 64 GB capacities. Toshiba didn't reveal the drives' prices but a report says the 32 GB TransMemory-EX will go for around $102, while the 64 GB model will cost $150.
This speedy drive makes use of a low-power SuperSpeed USB controller, it measures 68.8 (L) x 21 (W) x 10.5 (H) mm, and will be available in 32 GB and 64 GB capacities. Toshiba didn't reveal the drives' prices but a report says the 32 GB TransMemory-EX will go for around $102, while the 64 GB model will cost $150.
VIA Announces Android Support for Embedded x86 Boards
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced Android support for VIA x86 embedded platforms, starting with support for the VIA EITX-3002 Em-ITX board. Running Android on an x86 platform offers increased flexibility, great multimedia support and cost saving advantages for embedded applications such as in-vehicle entertainment and interactive kiosks.
Key advantages for Android on x86 include leverage of Android development resources and existing apps, rich I/O flexibility, greater CPU performance as well as higher display resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080. In addition VIA has released SMART ETK, an Embedded Tool Kit which allows monitoring and control of peripheral devices through the Android OS, allowing for greater environmental control of kiosk and other installed environments.
Key advantages for Android on x86 include leverage of Android development resources and existing apps, rich I/O flexibility, greater CPU performance as well as higher display resolutions of up to 1920 x 1080. In addition VIA has released SMART ETK, an Embedded Tool Kit which allows monitoring and control of peripheral devices through the Android OS, allowing for greater environmental control of kiosk and other installed environments.
Aerocool XPredator Evil Green Edition Full-Tower Case Coming in January
Following the release of the Black, Evil Black and White versions, Aerocool is now preparing the arrival of the Evil Green edition of its flagship full-tower PC chassis, the XPredator. This latest XPredator model still has a black coating on the outside but the motherboard tray and various other elements inside and out are colored green.
The green-themed XPredator measures 600 (H) x 234 (W) x 555 (D) mm, and features a 0.8/1.0 mm SECC steel construction, a top-placed storage compartment, an I/O panel with USB 3.0 (x 1), USB 2.0 (x 3), eSATA, mic and headphone ports, a 6-channel fan controller, and a side window which can be pretty much covered up with four 120/140 mm fans.
The green-themed XPredator measures 600 (H) x 234 (W) x 555 (D) mm, and features a 0.8/1.0 mm SECC steel construction, a top-placed storage compartment, an I/O panel with USB 3.0 (x 1), USB 2.0 (x 3), eSATA, mic and headphone ports, a 6-channel fan controller, and a side window which can be pretty much covered up with four 120/140 mm fans.
Radeon HD 7970 Tessellation Performance Figures Surface
Among the bits and pieces (read: slides) of AMD's press presentation that we're getting, a slide that's definitely missing is performance against competitive or previous generation graphics cards across a range of applications/games. Instead, there's a slide detailing tessellation performance improvements of the Radeon HD 7970 over the previous-generation HD 6970. On average, AMD is looking at about 1.5x (50%) improvements in the tests that it run. One has to also take in to account that the HD 7970 is a faster GPU overall, compared to HD 6970, and of course, that these are AMD's figures.
Dell Giving Up on Netbooks, to Focus on 'Thin and Powerful' Laptops
In Dell's eyes, the age of netbooks is drawing to a close, and because of that, the company has already stopped selling consumer netbooks (the Inspiron Mini is now history), and decided against developing new (Cedar Trail-based) 10-inch machines powered by Intel Atom processors.
Despite the thumbs down given to netbooks, Dell is still selling Atom-based products like the business-oriented Latitude 2120 and the display-flipping Inspiron Duo, but their days are numbered. According to Dell, low-cost solutions like netbooks are no longer of interest, the focus now being on 'thin and powerful' machines like ultrabooks. Of course, ultrabooks are somewhat premium products but they should go mainstream in 2012 when cheaper, Ivy Bridge-based models will come about.
Despite the thumbs down given to netbooks, Dell is still selling Atom-based products like the business-oriented Latitude 2120 and the display-flipping Inspiron Duo, but their days are numbered. According to Dell, low-cost solutions like netbooks are no longer of interest, the focus now being on 'thin and powerful' machines like ultrabooks. Of course, ultrabooks are somewhat premium products but they should go mainstream in 2012 when cheaper, Ivy Bridge-based models will come about.
NVIDIA Appoints Rob Burgess to Its Board of Directors
NVIDIA announced today that it has named Rob Burgess, a veteran technology executive and independent consultant, to its board of directors. Burgess, age 53, served as chief executive officer of Macromedia, Inc., a provider of Internet and multimedia software, from 1996 to 2005, and as the company's chairman or executive chairman from 1998 to 2005, when it was acquired by Adobe Systems Inc. He has been a member of Adobe's board since then, and has served since 2010 as a director of IMRIS Inc., a provider of image-guided therapy solutions.
AMD to Appoint Dr. Lisa Su as Senior Vice President and GM, Global Business Units
AMD announced today that Dr. Lisa Su, 42, has agreed to join the company as senior vice president and general manager, Global Business Units. She will report to president and chief executive officer Rory Read. Dr. Su, who was most recently senior vice president and general manager, Networking and Multimedia at Freescale Semiconductor Inc., will oversee AMD's business units focused on the Client, Commercial, Graphics, Professional Graphics, and Game Console markets.
EVGA Introduces Two GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra graphics cards
To spice up the holidays of Nvidia fans, EVGA has developed a couple of 'new' GeForce GTX 580 Classified cards, two 'Ultra' models which come with GPU/shader/memory clocks of 900/1800/4212 MHz (previously-released GTX 580 Classified cards topped out at 855/1710/4212 MHz).
Beside the ultra-high clocks mentioned, EVGA's latest offerings feature 512 CUDA Cores, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, 4-way SLI and EVBot support, a custom PCB, a 14+3 phase power design, one NEC Proadlizer, Super Low ESR SP-Cap capacitors, and high frequency 3 MHz shielded inductors.
The air-cooled GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra costs $619.99 while the water-cooled GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra Hydro Copper has a price tag of $749.99. Neither card is shipping yet but hopefully they will become available very soon. 
Beside the ultra-high clocks mentioned, EVGA's latest offerings feature 512 CUDA Cores, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, 4-way SLI and EVBot support, a custom PCB, a 14+3 phase power design, one NEC Proadlizer, Super Low ESR SP-Cap capacitors, and high frequency 3 MHz shielded inductors.
The air-cooled GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra costs $619.99 while the water-cooled GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra Hydro Copper has a price tag of $749.99. Neither card is shipping yet but hopefully they will become available very soon.
StatCounter Says Chrome 15 is the Most Popular Browser Version, But it Won't Last
Dublin-based web analytics firm StatCounter has announced that the end of November saw Google's Chrome 15 become the most popular browser version worldwide for the first time on a weekly basis. In the last full week of November, Chrome 15 managed to take 23.6% of the global browser market, inching in front of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 which had a 23.5% share. Better yet, for Google at least, in the first week of December Chrome 15 topped 24.55% while IE8 slipped to 22.16%.
These results don't change the big picture though, so Internet Explorer (with all its still working versions) continues to be the number one browser worldwide, while Chrome is on the second spot. Chrome 15's performance is certainly noteworthy but it should be short-lived since Google this week released the stable 16.0.912.63 build and people are likely upgrading to it as we speak. It remains to be seen if Chrome 16 will get the browser crown like its predecessor.
These results don't change the big picture though, so Internet Explorer (with all its still working versions) continues to be the number one browser worldwide, while Chrome is on the second spot. Chrome 15's performance is certainly noteworthy but it should be short-lived since Google this week released the stable 16.0.912.63 build and people are likely upgrading to it as we speak. It remains to be seen if Chrome 16 will get the browser crown like its predecessor.
AMD Radeon HD 7970 Reference Board Design Detailed, Single Slot Capable - Finally!
AMD Radeon HD 7970 launch is just around the corner. Ahead of its launch, AMD conducted its usual press briefing. DonanimHaber has access to some of the slides shown in that meeting. Earlier this day, we brought you perhaps the most important of them all, specifications. Let's take a look at the reference board design itself. AMD is sticking to the black+red colour scheme, and has come up with a swanky new cooling assembly design. The design, unlike those of higher-end Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards, is surprisingly curvy and features dashes of red plastic making up its contours, surrounded by tougher black ABS.
A welcome change here from the previous generations, is that the card is truly single-slot capable, when say, a single-slot full-coverage water block is used. High-end cards from previous generation HD 5000 and HD 6000 have a dual DVI connector cluster that extends into two expansion slots, which many enthusiasts found to be annoying, especially when setting up benches with four single-GPU graphics cards in scenarios where PCI-Express slot spacing isn't kind. Moving on to display connectivity, the card has one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort connectors, all arranged in the confines of a single expansion slot. The space of the second slot is dedicated to a hot-air exhaust of the cooling assembly. All board partners are required to ship HDMI-to-DVI dongles, and active mini-DP dongles.
A welcome change here from the previous generations, is that the card is truly single-slot capable, when say, a single-slot full-coverage water block is used. High-end cards from previous generation HD 5000 and HD 6000 have a dual DVI connector cluster that extends into two expansion slots, which many enthusiasts found to be annoying, especially when setting up benches with four single-GPU graphics cards in scenarios where PCI-Express slot spacing isn't kind. Moving on to display connectivity, the card has one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort connectors, all arranged in the confines of a single expansion slot. The space of the second slot is dedicated to a hot-air exhaust of the cooling assembly. All board partners are required to ship HDMI-to-DVI dongles, and active mini-DP dongles.
Radeon HD 7970 Raw Specs Leaked
If slide leaked on Orb-Hardware is to be believed we GPU consumers are in for a pretty big treat in the next month or so. The slide shown below states that the AMD 7970 will have a default core clock speed of 925MHz and a whopping 3 GB of GDDR5 memory.
It also sports a 3.5 TFLOPs precision floating point. Which would put it well beyond the NVIDIA flagship single GPU solution. The slide states the a ROP count of 32, against an earlier speculated count of 48. This could be because AMD may have delinked ROP clusters from memory bus. The cooler itself is under the trademark AMD black shroud so there is no way to see if it uses the rumored "vapor chamber" as seen in after market solutions.
Looking past all the beastly prowess of this slide one cannot help but think about power draw. The "leaked" slide states the 7970 will have a peak power draw of 300 W and an idle draw of 3 W. We will have to wait for review to see if any of these amazing stats are true.
It also sports a 3.5 TFLOPs precision floating point. Which would put it well beyond the NVIDIA flagship single GPU solution. The slide states the a ROP count of 32, against an earlier speculated count of 48. This could be because AMD may have delinked ROP clusters from memory bus. The cooler itself is under the trademark AMD black shroud so there is no way to see if it uses the rumored "vapor chamber" as seen in after market solutions.
Looking past all the beastly prowess of this slide one cannot help but think about power draw. The "leaked" slide states the 7970 will have a peak power draw of 300 W and an idle draw of 3 W. We will have to wait for review to see if any of these amazing stats are true.
AMD Pulls Radeon HD 7970 Launch to December 22
In a surprising move, AMD pulled the launch date of Radeon HD 7970, a high-performance single-GPU graphics card based on the 28 nm Tahiti silicon, up to December 22, 2011; from its earlier launch date of January 09, 2012. The January date was a lot more than speculation, as older presentation slides from AMD to distributors and retailers talked specifically about it. The move to pull December 22 (next Thursday) spices things up in the run up for CES. First, it gives AIB partners full freedom to show off their custom-design graphics cards at the event, along with full details about GPU specifications and clock speeds.
According to a VR-Zone report, Radeon HD 7970 will launch on December 22, 2011, this will be the day you will be able to read reviews of the card (at least the AMD reference design board), online. It will be a limited launch (read: paper-launch), but one can expect "full" retail availability of the card by January 09. Another interesting bit of information is concerning the Radeon HD 7950. This card will be available in non-reference board designs from day one, it will however launch on January 09.
According to a VR-Zone report, Radeon HD 7970 will launch on December 22, 2011, this will be the day you will be able to read reviews of the card (at least the AMD reference design board), online. It will be a limited launch (read: paper-launch), but one can expect "full" retail availability of the card by January 09. Another interesting bit of information is concerning the Radeon HD 7950. This card will be available in non-reference board designs from day one, it will however launch on January 09.
Thursday, December 15th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Processors
WD Slashes HDD Warranties By A Third – But You Can Buy Them Back
Way back in 2008, we reported that Seagate was lowering warranties of its hard disk drives from 5 years to 3. This trend quickly spread throughout the HDD industry and unsurprisingly, wasn't something that customers were too happy about. Now, Western Digital is lowering the warranty on some of its HDD lines from 3 years to a mere 2, with the affected lines being the Caviar Blue, Caviar Green and Scorpio Blue. Lines not affected are the Caviar Black, Scorpio Black, A/V drives and externals. Also, as the stock feeds through the channel, there will be a transition period where the same model in a store will have either a 2 or 3 year warranty, depending on its serial number, which can be checked on WD's support site. It will be interesting to see if retailers will clearly differentiate to customers which drives have which warranty, as it might be rather convenient for them not to.
Channel partners have received a letter from SelectWD about this:
Channel partners have received a letter from SelectWD about this:
Microsoft Announces the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000
Nokia BFF Microsoft has today revealed a new peripheral which caters to the typing needs of Windows, Android and iOS tablet owners, the Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000. This keyboard measures 165 × 355 × 13 mm, it features a sleek, Comfort Curve design (allowing for a more natural wrist posture), Bluetooth connectivity (range is up to 10 meters), and comes with a three-year warranty.
The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 requires two AAA batteries to work and is scheduled to become available later this month. Its price tag is $49.95.
The Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 requires two AAA batteries to work and is scheduled to become available later this month. Its price tag is $49.95.
AMD 'Bulldozer' gets an Update from Microsoft.
Today Windows updater may have brought "Bulldozer" users a little surprise. A hotfix that increases the AMD flagship processors performance. As this "hotfix" is bleeding edge news any benchmarks have yet to be seen but this confirms Windows 7 was in fact hampering "Bulldozer" from performing at 100% in all prior benches. What percentage it was previously performing at has yet to be determined. Here is a small snippet from the Hotfix release notes.
This article introduces an update that optimizes the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers. Currently, the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs is slower than expected. This behavior occurs because the threading logic in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 is not optimized to use the Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) scheduling feature. This feature was introduced in the Bulldozer family of AMD CPUs.You can download the Hotfix here.
Zalman Intros CNPS20LQ CPU Cooler
Zalman took its first dip into water cooling after a while, with the CNPS20LQ, a self-contained (closed loop) CPU cooler. Designed and made originally by Asetek, a well-established brand name in OEM water cooling solutions, the CNPS20LQ uses a single-fan (dual-fan capable) radiator design. Its radiator measures 120 (W) x 158 (L) x 25 (H) mm. The radiator houses a small reservoir. The block houses a pump, which draws power from standard 4-pin CPU power header, and supports PWM control. The two are connected by flexible tubing. The block features a copper base with pre-applied thermal interface material. The CNPS20LQ supports all current socket types, including Intel LGA2011, LGA1155/1156, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD AM3+, FM1, and AM3/AM2+/AM2. It is priced at €69.90.
Valve teases 'Something with a Three'
Shacknews has reported today Valve's Gabe Newell announced they will debut "something with a three in it" at E3 2012 in an e-mail to 4Chan. With almost all of Valve's franchises up for a third installment its anyone's guess what "three" it is. If rumors around the internet are to be believed we are in for another run in with Dr. Freeman. The world is truly coming to an end in 2012.
Microsoft will Automatically Update Internet Explorer, if You Let it
In an effort to ensure that Windows users have the latest version of Internet Explorer installed and ready for use, Microsoft has decided to add its browser to the automatic update list. This means that Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 installations which have automatic updating enabled in Windows Update, will also be seamlessly upgrading Internet Explorer, from time to time.
For starters the automatic update switch for IE will be turned on for customers in Australia and Brazil. This will happen in January (2012) and will expand in other areas throughout the year.
For starters the automatic update switch for IE will be turned on for customers in Australia and Brazil. This will happen in January (2012) and will expand in other areas throughout the year.
Acer to Downsize Two-Thirds in 2012
Today DigiTimes reported Acers Chairman JT Wang, announced that the company will be downsizing its product line two-thirds by the end of 2012. Mr. Wangs statement leaned this maneuver as more of a streamline process rather then a downsize citing he expected sales to increase by 10% or higher within the next year. Mr. Wang also stated that this downsize will not effect its outsourcing partners. However, Acer's major partners including Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron and Pegatron Technology have decline to comment. One cannot help but wonder how many other manufactures will follow suit in these hard economic times.
Corsair Announces 8GB and 16GB DDR3 Memory Upgrades for Apple Computers
Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced of 8GB and 16GB DDR3 memory upgrade kits for Apple Mac desktop and laptop systems.
Mac systems with two memory slots have traditionally been limited to only 8GB of memory. By increasing the individual module capacity to 8GB, Corsair's latest memory upgrade kits allow Mac owners to upgrade to 10GB, 12GB, or even 16GB of memory.
Mac systems with two memory slots have traditionally been limited to only 8GB of memory. By increasing the individual module capacity to 8GB, Corsair's latest memory upgrade kits allow Mac owners to upgrade to 10GB, 12GB, or even 16GB of memory.
ROCCAT Releases Taito Mouse Pad in New Sizes and Heights
Offering a fresh take on one of the best-selling gaming mouse pads in history, ROCCAT Studios - the Hamburg, Germany-based manufacturer of professional PC gaming devices and equipment - today announced that the legendary ROCCAT Taito Shiny Black Gaming Mousepad now comes in two thicknesses of 3mm and 5mm, as well as in the three sizes of Mini-, Mid- and King.
The introduction of a new thickness allows gamers to select a Taito that best offsets the amount of hand pressure used during play - which means hours of playing comfort no matter what a gamer's style is. The two heights also let players pick a Taito best suited to their desktop, as each pad provides a form fit on most playing surfaces, compensating for unevenness on a gamer's desk and delivering uninterrupted gliding.
The introduction of a new thickness allows gamers to select a Taito that best offsets the amount of hand pressure used during play - which means hours of playing comfort no matter what a gamer's style is. The two heights also let players pick a Taito best suited to their desktop, as each pad provides a form fit on most playing surfaces, compensating for unevenness on a gamer's desk and delivering uninterrupted gliding.
Corsair Announces Retail Availability of New Vengeance Gaming Keyboards and Mice
Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced immediate retail availability of their new line of Vengeance PC gaming peripherals.
Corsair's new PC gaming peripherals line includes four new HID products: The Vengeance K60 and Vengeance K90 gaming keyboards and the Vengeance M60 and Vengeance M90 laser gaming mice. A key feature of all four of these new Vengeance Series products is the use of an aluminum structure to provide strength and durability, as well as a stunning industrial design.
Corsair's new PC gaming peripherals line includes four new HID products: The Vengeance K60 and Vengeance K90 gaming keyboards and the Vengeance M60 and Vengeance M90 laser gaming mice. A key feature of all four of these new Vengeance Series products is the use of an aluminum structure to provide strength and durability, as well as a stunning industrial design.
26 December Launch Date for AMD A8-3870K and A6-3670K Black Edition Unlocked APUs
December thru January looks to be a busy time for AMD. Along with a few new graphics products, AMD will launch new CPUs and APUs. The company has chosen December 26 to launch its A8-3870K and A6-3670K Black Edition "Llano" accelerated processing units (APUs) in the FM1 package, which feature unlocked base clock multipliers for the processor component, making overclocking a breeze. In two of its presentation slides to distributors, it unveiled the swanky new box art of these unlocked APUs.
These chips pack four x86-64 cores based on the "Stars" K10.5 architecture with 1 MB dedicated L2 cache per core, dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz integrated memory controller, PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and a "discrete-class" graphics processor that packs 400 VLIW5 stream processors, DirectX 11 support, and the ability to pair with similarly specc'd discrete GPUs. The A8-3870K Black Edition features x86 core clock speed of 3.00 GHz, and Radeon HD 6550D graphics that features all 400 of those stream processors, with 600 MHz GPU clock speed. The A6-3670K Black Edition, on the other hand, has its x86 component clocked at 2.70 GHz, it features Radeon HD 6530D graphics that has 320 out of the 400 stream processors enabled, and a GPU clock of 433 MHz.
These chips pack four x86-64 cores based on the "Stars" K10.5 architecture with 1 MB dedicated L2 cache per core, dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz integrated memory controller, PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and a "discrete-class" graphics processor that packs 400 VLIW5 stream processors, DirectX 11 support, and the ability to pair with similarly specc'd discrete GPUs. The A8-3870K Black Edition features x86 core clock speed of 3.00 GHz, and Radeon HD 6550D graphics that features all 400 of those stream processors, with 600 MHz GPU clock speed. The A6-3670K Black Edition, on the other hand, has its x86 component clocked at 2.70 GHz, it features Radeon HD 6530D graphics that has 320 out of the 400 stream processors enabled, and a GPU clock of 433 MHz.
AMD Starts Shipping 28 nm GPUs for Revenue
AMD CEO Rory Read, speaking at the IT Supply Chain conference organized by Raymond James this Tuesday, said that his company had begun shipping 28 nm GPUs for revenue (meaning, in volumes big enough to fetch revenue). With it, AMD fulfilled its promise to be the first to the market with GPUs built on the 28 nm silicon fab process. AMD's foundry partner for these chips is TSMC. "We are ramping 28nm [products] with TSMC in Taiwan and shipping the products here and now. We are very excited about the products," said Read.
At the upcoming CES event, AMD will formally unveil a range of products that will use its 28 nm GPUs. CES will give AMD a good opportunity to bag design wins with large volume manufacturers of notebooks and PCs. What this means for the enthusiast community is that whenever AMD does launch its Radeon HD 7900 series, it won't be a "paper-launch".
At the upcoming CES event, AMD will formally unveil a range of products that will use its 28 nm GPUs. CES will give AMD a good opportunity to bag design wins with large volume manufacturers of notebooks and PCs. What this means for the enthusiast community is that whenever AMD does launch its Radeon HD 7900 series, it won't be a "paper-launch".
ADATA Intros S396 30 GB Value SSD
ADATA introduced a new value consumer SSD in its 300 Series, the S396 30 GB. Built in the conventional 2.5-inch form-factor, the drive makes use of the SATA 3 Gb/s interface. The drive offers sequential read speeds of up to 280 MB/s, up to 250 MB/s sequential write speeds, and up to 44,000 IOPS 4K random write performance. If those speeds hold up, the ADATA S396 30 GB should make for a decent entry-level SSD. Unfortunately, we don't have a price at hand.
Build a Cooler, Faster PC with the Revolutionary Lian Li PC-100 Case
Experienced case maker Lian Li has unveiled a radical rethink of the PC case, the new PC-100. The PC-100 is a long overdue redesign of the traditional PC chassis that improves cooling, prolongs component life, and saves space. This beautiful and compact mid tower case is roomy enough for the longest graphics cards and largest E-ATX/XL-ATX/ATX motherboards, thanks to its innovative layout. It is also remarkably easy to assemble without tools. Lian Li's innovative PC-100 is a breath of fresh air for the stagnant PC case market.
Superior cooling helps CPUs and graphics cards run at maximum speed without slowdowns or crashes due to overheating. This also means higher speeds for overclockers, and extends the life of disk drives and motherboards. However, traditional case layouts have two serious barriers to optimal cooling, performance, and ease-of-use: firstly, they block airflow with a wall of hard disk drives inside the front of the case. Secondly, important ports and connectors are at the back, making them difficult to access - a defect that manufacturers can only try to address by adding a few front panel connectors.
Superior cooling helps CPUs and graphics cards run at maximum speed without slowdowns or crashes due to overheating. This also means higher speeds for overclockers, and extends the life of disk drives and motherboards. However, traditional case layouts have two serious barriers to optimal cooling, performance, and ease-of-use: firstly, they block airflow with a wall of hard disk drives inside the front of the case. Secondly, important ports and connectors are at the back, making them difficult to access - a defect that manufacturers can only try to address by adding a few front panel connectors.
MSI Intros the X79A-GD45 (8D) LGA2011 Motherboard Supporting 128 GB of RAM
Taiwanese company MSI has today unveiled the eight DIMM version of its X79A-GD45 motherboard released last month. This new, module-enriched board is called X79A-GD45 (8D), it supports LGA2011 (Sandy Bridge-E) processors, and, according to MSI, can handle up to 128 GB of RAM (G.Skill will need to take notice).
The X79A-GD45 (8D) features Military Class III components (DrMOS II, Hi-C CAP, Solid CAP, Super Ferrite Choke), the mentioned eight (DDR3-2400) memory slots, two SATA 6.0 Gbps and four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, plus three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots.
MSI's board also comes with one PCIe x1 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the back plate, two via a header), 7.1-channel audio, Click BIOS II (UEFI), and the OC Genie II overclocking function. The X79A-GD45 (8D) has yet to be priced but since its quad-DIMM sibling costs 195 Euro, we're thinking it will go over the 200 Euro mark.
The X79A-GD45 (8D) features Military Class III components (DrMOS II, Hi-C CAP, Solid CAP, Super Ferrite Choke), the mentioned eight (DDR3-2400) memory slots, two SATA 6.0 Gbps and four SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, plus three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots.
MSI's board also comes with one PCIe x1 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the back plate, two via a header), 7.1-channel audio, Click BIOS II (UEFI), and the OC Genie II overclocking function. The X79A-GD45 (8D) has yet to be priced but since its quad-DIMM sibling costs 195 Euro, we're thinking it will go over the 200 Euro mark.
Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Up For Pre-Order, Already Back-Ordered
Lenovo put its IdeaPad U300s ultrabook up for pre-order on its company online store. Soon enough, many buyers found themselves to have back-ordered it. The initial few waves of orders got December 19 as the expected shipment date, the rest will have to wait for at least another few weeks. Not only is the U300s back-ordered, but it's also that the winter break is falling in between that period. The only model available for orders is a 13.3-inch one powered by Intel Core i7 ULV processor, with up to 4 GB of memory and 256 GB of SSD storage. The fact that this $1999 model is being sold at a sweet web-price of $1499 could be driving the rush.
GammaTech Reveals the Durabook R13C Rugged Convertible Laptop
GammaTech Computer has just announced the Durabook R13C, its newest, fully rugged, convertible notebook which has managed to pass the Military Standard 810G certification for drop, shock, and spill protection, plus explosive atmosphere, salt, fog, and freeze/thaw standards.
This rough and touch machine makes use of a magnesium alloy casing that's 20 times stronger than ABS plastic, and features a water-resistant backlit keyboard, a 13.3-inch (1000 NIT) multi-touch display, a Core i7-620LM processor, up to 8GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (which can be quickly swapped for an SSD), an ultra-slim DVD drive, an SD card slot, GPS, and connectivity options like WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and 3G.
The Durabook R13C also has a Smart Card reader, a fingerprint scanner, a built-in handle, and comes with a stylus. Unfortunately, GammaTech did not reveal the notebook's pricing or its availability date.
This rough and touch machine makes use of a magnesium alloy casing that's 20 times stronger than ABS plastic, and features a water-resistant backlit keyboard, a 13.3-inch (1000 NIT) multi-touch display, a Core i7-620LM processor, up to 8GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (which can be quickly swapped for an SSD), an ultra-slim DVD drive, an SD card slot, GPS, and connectivity options like WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and 3G.
The Durabook R13C also has a Smart Card reader, a fingerprint scanner, a built-in handle, and comes with a stylus. Unfortunately, GammaTech did not reveal the notebook's pricing or its availability date.
INSIDE Secure to Provide NFC Technology and Products to Intel
INSIDE Secure, a leader in semiconductor solutions for secure transactions and digital identity, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) to provide the company with INSIDE's NFC products and technologies. The agreement marks a significant milestone for INSIDE Secure and the future of the NFC industry, helping move this emerging technology towards full-scale market adoption.
The agreement gives Intel access to INSIDE's software, firmware and core hardware technology for development of future Intel products. In addition, INSIDE will provide Intel's Mobile Wireless Group with access to scalable NFC solutions based on INSIDE's MicroRead, SecuRead and Open NFC products.
The agreement gives Intel access to INSIDE's software, firmware and core hardware technology for development of future Intel products. In addition, INSIDE will provide Intel's Mobile Wireless Group with access to scalable NFC solutions based on INSIDE's MicroRead, SecuRead and Open NFC products.
HP Rolls Out the X4000 and X5000 Wireless Laser Mice
webOS-shedding PC company HP has now expanded its peripheral offer through the release of two new wireless mice, the X4000 and X5000. Both models measure 4.21" (L) x 2.64" (W) x 1.52" (H) and feature an ambidextrous design, a 1600 dpi laser sensor, 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, an operating range of up to 30 feet, and a micro receiver which can connect up to five devices (to save precious USB ports).
The X4000 has a battery life of up to 30 months and a 'regular' scroll wheel, while the X5000 comes with a touch scroll and lasts up to 24 months on a pair of AA batteries. The X4000 sells for $29.99 whereas the X5000 is available for $39.99.
The X4000 has a battery life of up to 30 months and a 'regular' scroll wheel, while the X5000 comes with a touch scroll and lasts up to 24 months on a pair of AA batteries. The X4000 sells for $29.99 whereas the X5000 is available for $39.99.
HIS Develops Radeon HD 6450 with 2 GB of Memory and a PCIe x1 Interface
Claiming to help owners of 'legacy systems', Hong Kong-based add-in board maker Hightech Information System (HIS) has constructed a Radeon HD 6450 card which is equipped with 2 GB of DDR3 memory and makes use of a PCIe x1 interface.
Suited for compact systems, HIS' new card features a low-profile design, a blue PCB, a passive cooler, 160 Stream Processors, a 64-bit memory interface, GPU and memory clocks of 625 MHz and 1000 MHz, respectively, and three display outputs - D-Sub, dual-link DVI and DisplayPort. No word on pricing.
Suited for compact systems, HIS' new card features a low-profile design, a blue PCB, a passive cooler, 160 Stream Processors, a 64-bit memory interface, GPU and memory clocks of 625 MHz and 1000 MHz, respectively, and three display outputs - D-Sub, dual-link DVI and DisplayPort. No word on pricing.
Firm Thinks More Factors Than HDD Shortage Behind Intel's Reduced Q4 Revenue Forecast
Nomura Equity Research, an investment broker, recons that factors other than, and more significant than hard disk drive (HDD) shortage caused due to the recent Thailand floods affecting HDD manufacturing, are behind Intel's reduced Q4 forecast. Earlier this week, Intel shaved off close to a billion dollars from its Q4 Revenue Guidance, leveling the blame on HDD shortages, as HDD is a near-indispensable component in manufacture and assembly of a vast majority of PCs. Nomura Equity Research thinks "weak sell-through" is that other factor.
Nomura Equity Research said "HDD shortages are a concern, but we think weak sell-through is also contributing to the $1 billion shortfall." It continues, "We see softness in China, continued demand for ARM-based more power-efficient devices, and low volumes for ultrabooks." Intel is clearly feeling the heat with depleting demand for Wintels, as entire PC form-factors are challenged by leaner, fitter computing devices such as tablets, netbooks, and smartphones driven by ARM processors are growing in demand.
Nomura Equity Research said "HDD shortages are a concern, but we think weak sell-through is also contributing to the $1 billion shortfall." It continues, "We see softness in China, continued demand for ARM-based more power-efficient devices, and low volumes for ultrabooks." Intel is clearly feeling the heat with depleting demand for Wintels, as entire PC form-factors are challenged by leaner, fitter computing devices such as tablets, netbooks, and smartphones driven by ARM processors are growing in demand.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and ARM Deliver Optimized SoC Solution based on ARM Cortex-A Series
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and ARM today revealed the latest advances in their longstanding collaboration to deliver optimized system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for ARM Cortex-A series processor designs using ARM Artisan advanced physical IP and GLOBALFOUNDRIES' leading-edge process technologies. The companies announced the industry's first test chip based on a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor operating at frequencies of more than 2.5GHz. In addition, a 20nm tape out using GLOBALFOUNDRIES' Technology Qualification Vehicle (TQV) was also announced for SoCs based on Cortex-A9 processors.
The two companies worked closely together to develop a TQV strategy that allows GLOBALFOUNDRIES to optimize its advanced process technology for customer designs based on Cortex-A series processors. The solution is more than a standard test chip. Each TQV is designed to emulate a full specification SoC and aims to improve performance, lower power consumption and facilitate a faster path to market for foundry customers.
The two companies worked closely together to develop a TQV strategy that allows GLOBALFOUNDRIES to optimize its advanced process technology for customer designs based on Cortex-A series processors. The solution is more than a standard test chip. Each TQV is designed to emulate a full specification SoC and aims to improve performance, lower power consumption and facilitate a faster path to market for foundry customers.
Wednesday, December 14th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Keyboards
Motherboards
Notebooks
Sound Cards
Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitors Review
Ultimate Ears have quite the reputation in the in-ear industry. Today we will be taking a thorough look at the In-Ear Reference Monitors. The name tells us that Ultimate Ears are excited, we put them to the test and see how they compare to the very best in-ears available today.
ECS X79R-AX Intel LGA 2011 Review
With the launch of Intel's latest well under way, ECS has sent us another warrior to battle the twin dragons of injustice, the ECS X79R-AX. Undoubtably the best board ECS has ever released, the ECS X79R-AX is ready for battle, after receiving training no ohter boards has. Set to finally banish the dragons back to the demise they planned for humanity, the ECS X79R-AX has hit the TechPowerUp testing battlefield.
Apple Unable To Beat Competitors By Applying Lawsuits, Forced To Actually Compete
There's nothing quite like the irony of trying to shut down your prime competitor and giving their products a big boost in brand awareness instead. It seems that there are two basic ways to compete in this world: make a better product at a better price, or try to shut down your competitors with lawsuits and sell your inferior product at a nice fat mark-up. Well, unfortunately for Apple, they chose the latter. A week ago, we brought you news on how Apple's lawsuit against a Chinese competitor had suffered a setback over the name "iPad" which Apple tried to take off them - the court didn't buy Apple's arguments and the competitor kept the name.
Now, Apple have suffered a much bigger setback in Australia by taking on formidable opponent Samsung, with what appears to be a meritless lawsuit. Samsung had released a competitor product to the iPad, called the Galaxy Tab running Android, which has received good reviews. Apple tried to ban sales of the device, claiming it infringed various patents and look and feel - and it worked. Until Samsung appealed and the ruling was overturned. Oops. Samsung is now delighted with the whole fiasco, as it's given them a huge marketing boost. Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee said: "At the end of the day the media awareness certainly made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 a household name compared to probably what it would've been based on the investment that we would've put into it from a marketing perspective." Yes, it's probably better to compete by outcompeting your competitor, rather than use dodgy legal tactics to try and stifle them. However, now Apple have turned to a patent troll to do their dirty work for them against various competitors. We can just see Apple going far with this strategy. Is this what Steve Jobs would have wanted?
Now, Apple have suffered a much bigger setback in Australia by taking on formidable opponent Samsung, with what appears to be a meritless lawsuit. Samsung had released a competitor product to the iPad, called the Galaxy Tab running Android, which has received good reviews. Apple tried to ban sales of the device, claiming it infringed various patents and look and feel - and it worked. Until Samsung appealed and the ruling was overturned. Oops. Samsung is now delighted with the whole fiasco, as it's given them a huge marketing boost. Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee said: "At the end of the day the media awareness certainly made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 a household name compared to probably what it would've been based on the investment that we would've put into it from a marketing perspective." Yes, it's probably better to compete by outcompeting your competitor, rather than use dodgy legal tactics to try and stifle them. However, now Apple have turned to a patent troll to do their dirty work for them against various competitors. We can just see Apple going far with this strategy. Is this what Steve Jobs would have wanted?
Apple Founders: The Third Man
It's common knowledge that Apple was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, as is often parroted in news stories, history articles and documentaries about Apple. However, what isn't such common knowledge, is that there was actually a third man who founded Apple, one Ronald Wayne. This fact has now become very apparent, because the original contract to found the company and signed by the three men, has just been sold at upmarket auction house, Sotheby's, for a cool $1.35 million. Yes, seriously, $1.35 million. There's much better things to spend that kind of money on, we think. On top of that, the winning bidder, Eduardo Cisneros, chief executive officer of Miami-based Cisneros Corporation, had to pay Sotheby's a 12% commission, making the total amount spent $1.6 million, which caused his credit card to catch fire and explode (we made that last bit up). Anyway, the document was expected to sell for a maximum of around $150K, but somehow did much better. Perhaps this is because of Jobs's fame and the fact that he has sadly passed away recently.
Duke Nukem Forever Gets Second, More Promising, DLC Upgrade
Duke Nukem Forever Gets Second, More Promising DLC Upgrade
Yes, everyone's favourite game they like to hate has received its second dose of DLC goodness. The first one was a bit of a ho-hum looking Hail to the Icons Parody Pack, but this second one, The Doctor Who Cloned Me, looks more promising, as it includes a "full new single player campaign", it's set in Area 51 (you know, where all the aliens live) features an evil would-be world dominator (how original) Dr Proton, new weapon types, new enemy types, bosses, more achievements and new interactive items. It also includes four new multiplayer maps. In short, if you liked DNF, then you'll likely enjoy this expansion pack, which costs $9.99. Teaser video follows the jump.
Yes, everyone's favourite game they like to hate has received its second dose of DLC goodness. The first one was a bit of a ho-hum looking Hail to the Icons Parody Pack, but this second one, The Doctor Who Cloned Me, looks more promising, as it includes a "full new single player campaign", it's set in Area 51 (you know, where all the aliens live) features an evil would-be world dominator (how original) Dr Proton, new weapon types, new enemy types, bosses, more achievements and new interactive items. It also includes four new multiplayer maps. In short, if you liked DNF, then you'll likely enjoy this expansion pack, which costs $9.99. Teaser video follows the jump.
Scamming A Good Days' Work: Data Storage Cartel Busted, Slaps On The Wrist All Round
Optical disc drives have been pretty cheap for years now, yet there is enough money in the business, that three executives managed to collude in price fixing of these devices, scamming HP, Dell and Microsoft in the process - and in the end the consumer, who foots the higher prices. The three are from Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc. (HLDS) and have reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on price fixing charges for optical disc drives during the 2005-2009 timeframe. According to Security Week, the three executives, Sang Hun Kim, Young Keun Park, and Sik Hur, will each pay $25,000 USD in fines and serve little sentences of seven to eight months in prison at a "correctional facility" aka prison, that is yet to be decided.
AMD Gives Bulldozer 6-core a Speed-Bump with FX-6200
AMD launched its AMD FX processor family with two eight-core parts (FX-8150, FX-8120), a six-core part (FX-6100), and a quad-core one (FX-4100), apparently a newer, slightly faster six-core FX processor is just around the corner, the FX-6200. Since all AMD FX processors are unlocked out of the box, the FX-6200 is essentially a speed-bump. Out of the box, it is clocked at 3.80 GHz, with 4.10 GHz maximum TurboCore speed. It features six cores, 6 MB total L2 cache, and 8 MB total L3 cache. Its TDP is rated at 125W. In a presentation to retailers sourced by DonanimHaber, AMD pitched the FX-6200 to have about 10% higher performance at Mainconcept HD to Flash conversion, than the FX-6100 (3.30 GHz nominal, 3.90 GHz max. turbo).
Pogoplug Launches the Series 4 'Cloud Expansion Device'
Online storage adopters may be interested to know that Pogoplug has just released a new 'cloud expansion device' which allows local storage to be added to an existing Pogoplug cloud.
By default, the Pogoplug Cloud service offers 5 GB of online storage space for free, but the product released today, which is officially called Pogoplug Series 4, can expand available capacity. To do that the user just has to connect the Pogoplug Series 4 to the internet via the built-in Gigabit Ethernet port, and then hook up to the device an external storage solution like a Seagate GoFlex drive, or any other USB-connected HDD/SSD. You can even put in an SD card.
The Pogoplug Series 4 includes one USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports, and one 2.5-inch SATA/USM (Universal Storage Module) connector, and is available in the US for $99.95 (+ shipping).
By default, the Pogoplug Cloud service offers 5 GB of online storage space for free, but the product released today, which is officially called Pogoplug Series 4, can expand available capacity. To do that the user just has to connect the Pogoplug Series 4 to the internet via the built-in Gigabit Ethernet port, and then hook up to the device an external storage solution like a Seagate GoFlex drive, or any other USB-connected HDD/SSD. You can even put in an SD card.
The Pogoplug Series 4 includes one USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports, and one 2.5-inch SATA/USM (Universal Storage Module) connector, and is available in the US for $99.95 (+ shipping).
Cougar Revises GX-Series PSUs with Newer Fan Design and Flat Cables
COUGAR revised the award-winning 80PLUS Gold certified GX-series Power Supply. The fan used previously was replaced by a proprietary development of COUGAR. From now on, one 140 mm fan COUGAR VORTEX HDB is used. The fans of the VORTEX HDB series have a much longer lifetime (300,000 hours MTBF) and are still much quieter. Bearing noise is through the hydro-dynamic bearings almost impossible.
We have responded. In response to a lot of customer feedback, now modular flat cables are used to achieve a perfect airflow and provide a simpler interface cable assembly. The internal filtering has been optimized for better ripple noise levels and a further increase in efficiency achieved. Special attention was paid to the design of the power supply housing. This is enhanced by the redesigned golden fan grill and the fan comes with its patented VORTEX fan blade design very nicely. The new photo-realistic packaging gives the impression that you had the power supply before opening in your hands.
We have responded. In response to a lot of customer feedback, now modular flat cables are used to achieve a perfect airflow and provide a simpler interface cable assembly. The internal filtering has been optimized for better ripple noise levels and a further increase in efficiency achieved. Special attention was paid to the design of the power supply housing. This is enhanced by the redesigned golden fan grill and the fan comes with its patented VORTEX fan blade design very nicely. The new photo-realistic packaging gives the impression that you had the power supply before opening in your hands.
Apple Working on Retina Display for Macbook Pro
Apple sure knows how to surprise us when it comes to display advancements, be it its retina display on iPhone products, 2560 x 1440 pixels in 27-inch monitors (Apple was first to market with that density), or talk of 2048 x 1536 pixels native resolution with the next generation iPad. This latest news is bound to shock and awe. Apparently, Apple is working with upstream suppliers to develop a retina display for its Macbook Pro products. As early as in Q2 2012, Apple will launch a new Macbook Pro with 2880 x 1800 pixels (that's more pixels than even the costliest of today's 30-inch displays can manage). More importantly, it's a return to the 16:10 aspect ratio. It will achieve this without upscaling display dimensions. Meanwhile, Apple's PC competitors ASUS and Acer plan 1920 x 1080 display notebooks around that time.
Rightware Announces Gaming Performance Benchmark for OpenGL ES 3.0/Halti
Rightware, the provider of world's most widely adopted benchmarking software for mobile phones, tablets and other embedded devices, today announced that it is developing Basemark Halti, an OpenGL ES 3.0 / Halti benchmark product slated for launch in 2012. The benchmark continues the popular Basemark product line's graphic products, formerly known as 3DMarkMobile, and will set the new global standard for OpenGL ES 3.0/Halti gaming and graphics performance measurement. Basemark Halti will provide a solid performance benchmarking tool to semiconductor companies, device manufacturers, operators, and various other players in the embedded ecosystem across different vertical markets.
Rightware's objective is to offer industry standard benchmark products that help its customers to identify graphics performance bottlenecks in all phases of development. For this purpose, Rightware has established the Benchmark Development Program (BDP) consisting of renowned and highly respected companies. See more from here.
Rightware's objective is to offer industry standard benchmark products that help its customers to identify graphics performance bottlenecks in all phases of development. For this purpose, Rightware has established the Benchmark Development Program (BDP) consisting of renowned and highly respected companies. See more from here.
PQI Reveals the i817L Capless Flash Drives
Taiwanese company PQI (Power Quotient International) has this week announced a new flash drive, the compact and sleek i817L which features a capless design with a little twist. The twist is the spring-like mechanism which pulls the USB connector inside the drive's casing as soon as the device is disconnected from a PC or Mac.
The i817L makes use of chip-on-board (COB) technology so it's also waterproof, dustproof, and resistant to (most) shocks. This drive measures 48.63 (L) x 13.4 (W) x 5.6 (H) mm, has a USB 2.0 interface, is backed by a three-year warranty, and comes in three colors (spray white, ocean blue, coral pink) and four capacities (4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB). Unfortunately PQI didn't announce any prices.
The i817L makes use of chip-on-board (COB) technology so it's also waterproof, dustproof, and resistant to (most) shocks. This drive measures 48.63 (L) x 13.4 (W) x 5.6 (H) mm, has a USB 2.0 interface, is backed by a three-year warranty, and comes in three colors (spray white, ocean blue, coral pink) and four capacities (4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB). Unfortunately PQI didn't announce any prices.
Futuremark 3DMark 11 Updated to v1.0.3
Futuremark today released an update for its 3DMark 11 benchmark suite that's built to put today's and tomorrow's DirectX 11 GPUs through their paces. Although this is a relatively minor update, Futuremark recommended that all existing users update to this version for reliability. It packs the following changes:
- Bullet physics library updated to version 2.79 to improve compatibility with future CPUs and GPUs.
- For most systems containing multiple GPUs, for example integrated graphics and an additional discrete graphics card, the user can now select the GPU to be tested using a new option on the Help tab.
- Improved error handling and user messages for the most common compatibility issues.
- SystemInfo component updated to version 4.5 for improved compatibility with current and future hardware.
- New "More" tab with information about other Futuremark products and services.
Sapphire Works on Two Value Motherboards
Sapphire is working on two new entry-level motherboards for AMD FM1 and Intel LGA1155 platforms. The FM1 board, called the Pure White A55, is a budget micro-ATX board based on the AMD A55 FCH; while the LGA1155 board is the Pure Platinum H61P, an ATX board based on the Intel H61 chipset. The Pure White A55 uses a simple 5+1 phase VRM to power the AMD A-Series APU or Athlon II FM1 CPU. The FM1 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. The "Memory Free" feature stabilizes memory clock speeds, voltages, and timings if wrong settings make the system fail POST, at the push of a button.
Expansion slots of the Pure White A55 include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, two PCIe 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. All six SATA 3 Gb/s ports of the A55 FCH are assigned as internal ports. Display outputs include HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub. Other connectivity features include 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board uses redundant BIOS on separate ROM chips, that protect it against bad BIOS updates. The Pure Platinum H61P uses a 6 phase VRM to power the LGA1155 processor. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory.
Expansion slots of the Pure White A55 include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, two PCIe 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. All six SATA 3 Gb/s ports of the A55 FCH are assigned as internal ports. Display outputs include HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub. Other connectivity features include 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board uses redundant BIOS on separate ROM chips, that protect it against bad BIOS updates. The Pure Platinum H61P uses a 6 phase VRM to power the LGA1155 processor. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory.
Zaward Intros New 50 mm Fan
Zaward introduced a new 50 mm fan for PC, server, and electronics applications. Measuring 50 x 50 x 10 mm, the fan spins at speeds of up to 5,000 RPM ± 10%. It uses a 9-blade impeller that pushes 8.9 CFM of air, with a noise level of 29.2 dBA. It uses a common ball-bearing design that gives it an MTBF of 50,000 hours. It is available in 3-wire, 3-pin connection, that draws 1.2W of power using 12V DC / 0.1A. It will be available through OEM and retail channels soon.
AMD CMO Nigel Dessau Leaving in January, Axed?
AMD's chief marketing officer (CMO) Nigel Dessau, will be leaving the company. AMD's new CEO Rory P. Read has been making some aggressive changes to the company in a bid to turn it into a lean, well-oiled, profit-making business that it should be. Recently, he laid off a big chunk of AMD's staff, most reported to be from the marketing department. This only goes on to reinforce the theory that Nigel Dessau was axed, and not that he will quit. Nigel Dessau joined the company in 2008. He has served as CMO at StorageTek, Sun Microsystems and IBM, previously. Dessau said in his Twitter page that he will leave AMD in January, but will see the company through at CES, when new GPU products will be unveiled.
PNY Launches HP v240b/v240g Tiny USB Flash Drives
PNY Technologies, Inc., is considered a leading designer, manufacturer and a worldwide leader in DRAM Memory and Flash Memory products, and authorized partnership with HP since 2008. December 2011 PNY has introduced its popular line-up - the HP v240b/v240g, which is a tiny but elegant designed drive targeting mainly business people. The drive comes in no-nonsense plastic casing in classic blue and green colors. The clean design is meant to symbolize tidiness and a coherent professional feeling at the workplace.
The drive comes with a cap to protect the USB plug from dust and water. In fact, the drive is not only rugged, it is also dustproof and waterproof, with the strong polymer lending it durability and resistance to shock. The cap has a keyhole to attach a lanyard, useful to attach it to your purse, keychain, belt, etc. The COB packaging helps achieve such a small dimensions of 7 mm x 16 mm x 31 mm and just 4.2 grams, thus giving it ultra-portability.
The drive comes with a cap to protect the USB plug from dust and water. In fact, the drive is not only rugged, it is also dustproof and waterproof, with the strong polymer lending it durability and resistance to shock. The cap has a keyhole to attach a lanyard, useful to attach it to your purse, keychain, belt, etc. The COB packaging helps achieve such a small dimensions of 7 mm x 16 mm x 31 mm and just 4.2 grams, thus giving it ultra-portability.
Kingston HyperX Beats Three World Records
Kingston Technology Europe Ltd, an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced that the Romanian overclocking team, Lab501 achieved three new world records with the world's fastest dual channel memory kit, the Kingston HyperX KHX2544C9D3T1FK2/2GX, during a live overclocking session.
The three new records for RAM modules were set on the 3rd of December 2011, by Matei "Matose" Mihatoiu, Tudor "Monstru" Badica and Razvan "Micutzu" Fatu, the three Romanian overclocking champions from the world renowned Lab501 team. The records were achieved in an overclocking event organized in the eMAG showroom in Bucharest, Romania, in front of approximately 100 overclocking enthusiasts and two local TV crews.
The three new records for RAM modules were set on the 3rd of December 2011, by Matei "Matose" Mihatoiu, Tudor "Monstru" Badica and Razvan "Micutzu" Fatu, the three Romanian overclocking champions from the world renowned Lab501 team. The records were achieved in an overclocking event organized in the eMAG showroom in Bucharest, Romania, in front of approximately 100 overclocking enthusiasts and two local TV crews.
Toshiba Readies WT301/D Wintel tablet for Early 2012
Toshiba's push into the tablet market will continue next month with the release in its home market (Japan) of the WT301/D, a 10.1-inch model which is powered by an Intel Atom processor (maybe the Z670?) and runs Microsoft's Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.
The incoming tablet has an LED-backlit touchscreen (1366 x 768 resolution), 2 GB of RAM, a 64 GB solid state drive, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 1.3-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 0.3MP webcam, stereo speakers, a micro HDMI output, and one USB 2.0 port.
The WT301/D has not been priced.
The incoming tablet has an LED-backlit touchscreen (1366 x 768 resolution), 2 GB of RAM, a 64 GB solid state drive, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a 1.3-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 0.3MP webcam, stereo speakers, a micro HDMI output, and one USB 2.0 port.
The WT301/D has not been priced.
Intel Outs Extreme Board DX79TO, Sandy Bridge-E Platform On The Cheap
Intel's Desktop Board division didn't miss out on the Sandy Bridge-E LGA2011 platform launch, after all, it's ceremonial for Intel to launch a new generation of processors with its own branded motherboards that are fully compatible with them. While Intel had two models of LGA2011 motherboards in the pipeline, the DX79SI and DX79TO, only the former was launched in November, which made it to most platform reviewers. The DX79SI was launched at a price point of US $289 - $299 MSRP, though some retailers easily set that price above $300. The new DX79TO is designed to be a down-scaled version of the DX79SI, targeting a price range of $203 - $208, according to ARK. Naturally then, the price that's 30% lower than that of the DX79SI invites some aggressive feature-cutting.
To begin with, the DX79TO could have a slightly slimmer CPU VRM. Thankfully, it doesn't cheap out much on VRM heatsinks, with the same exact ones found on the DX79SI. The heatsink cooling the VRM area south of the socket is not linked to the PCH heatsink with a heat-pipe, like on the DX79SI. The PCH heatsink itself looks slightly slimmer, though it's not a major area of concern. The CPU socket is still wired to as many as eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3 memory.
To begin with, the DX79TO could have a slightly slimmer CPU VRM. Thankfully, it doesn't cheap out much on VRM heatsinks, with the same exact ones found on the DX79SI. The heatsink cooling the VRM area south of the socket is not linked to the PCH heatsink with a heat-pipe, like on the DX79SI. The PCH heatsink itself looks slightly slimmer, though it's not a major area of concern. The CPU socket is still wired to as many as eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3 memory.
Chrome 16 Goes Stable, Brings Multiple Profile Support, More Fixes
A new 'stable' build of Google's browser is now available to the masses and it offers one fresh feature - multiple profiles. This addition allows a single instance of Chrome to handle several user profiles and enable easy switching between them. This is great for shared PCs as it enables people to quickly access their bookmarks, apps, extensions, history, and other settings, but it's not really suited for those who like their privacy.
Beside multiple sign-in support, Chrome 16.0.912.63 comes with Sync enhancements and multiple bug fixes. This stable build is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
Beside multiple sign-in support, Chrome 16.0.912.63 comes with Sync enhancements and multiple bug fixes. This stable build is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
NVIDIA Opens Up CUDA Platform by Releasing Compiler Source Code
NVIDIA today announced that it will provide the source code for the new NVIDIA CUDA LLVM-based compiler to academic researchers and software-tool vendors, enabling them to more easily add GPU support for more programming languages and support CUDA applications on alternative processor architectures.
LLVM is a widely-used open source compiler infrastructure with a modular design that makes it easy to add support for new programming languages and processor architectures. It is used for a range of programming requirements by many leading companies, including Adobe, Apple, Cray, Electronic Arts, and others.
LLVM is a widely-used open source compiler infrastructure with a modular design that makes it easy to add support for new programming languages and processor architectures. It is used for a range of programming requirements by many leading companies, including Adobe, Apple, Cray, Electronic Arts, and others.
Westone Intros Talk Series TS-1 IEM Headset
Audiophile brand Westone today released its Talk Series One "communication IEM", that's a pair of in-ear monitors (IEMs) with a microphone strapped along the cable. It makes for an ideal audiophile-grade companion for smartphones, as they are increasingly replacing portable music players among other everyday gadgets. Talk Series One could also make for a great PC/notebook headset.
The IEMs have a sensitivity rating of 114 dB @ 1mW, 20Hz - 16kHz frequency response, and 25 ohms @ 1kHz impedance. They use Westone's balanced armature, full-range driver design. The microphone is strapped along the main line, and features Westone's Microphone In Control System (MICS). It also features basic call/end buttons to take or drop calls. Shipping now, the Westone Talk Series TS-1 is priced at US $129.99.
The IEMs have a sensitivity rating of 114 dB @ 1mW, 20Hz - 16kHz frequency response, and 25 ohms @ 1kHz impedance. They use Westone's balanced armature, full-range driver design. The microphone is strapped along the main line, and features Westone's Microphone In Control System (MICS). It also features basic call/end buttons to take or drop calls. Shipping now, the Westone Talk Series TS-1 is priced at US $129.99.
Tuesday, December 13th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Game Controllers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Mouse
Notebooks
Processors
PSUs
SSD
So, What's So Fantastic About Quantum Photonic Chips?
Quantum photonic chips: these featured in the University of Bristol's press release today and sound like something out of Star Trek. So, what's so fantastic about them? This can best be explained by analogy with the transition from valves to transistors ie when electronic circuits went "solid state" in the 1960's, bringing huge advances in miniaturization and functionality. Current quantum experiments involve heavy and bulky equipment that can fill up a lab, uses lots of power, operates at close to absolute zero degrees kelvin and usually involve multiple lasers somewhere along the line. However, these photonic chips are just that, tiny solid state pieces of silicon that can store and manipulate qubits, the quantum equivalent of the bit. On top of that, they can be stacked together, to make complex digital circuits which can be reconfigured for various general purpose tasks.
Multi-Purpose Photonic Chip Paves The Way To Programmable Quantum Processors
A multi-purpose optical chip which generates, manipulates and measures entanglement and mixture - two quantum phenomena which are essential driving forces for tomorrow's quantum computers - has been developed by researchers from the University of Bristol's Centre for Quantum Photonics. This work represents an important step forward in the race to develop a quantum computer.
The fundamental resource that drives a quantum computer is entanglement - the connection between two distant particles which Einstein famously called 'spooky action at a distance'. The Bristol researchers have, for the first time, shown that this remarkable phenomenon can be generated, manipulated and measured entirely on a tiny silica chip. They have also used the same chip to measure mixture - an often unwanted effect from the environment, but a phenomenon which can now be controlled and used to characterize quantum circuits, as well as being of fundamental interest to physicists.
The fundamental resource that drives a quantum computer is entanglement - the connection between two distant particles which Einstein famously called 'spooky action at a distance'. The Bristol researchers have, for the first time, shown that this remarkable phenomenon can be generated, manipulated and measured entirely on a tiny silica chip. They have also used the same chip to measure mixture - an often unwanted effect from the environment, but a phenomenon which can now be controlled and used to characterize quantum circuits, as well as being of fundamental interest to physicists.
AMD Catalyst 11.12 WHQL Software Suite Released
AMD today released the final installment of its monthly Catalyst Software Suite updates for this year, Catalyst 11.12 WHQL. The software provides device drivers for AMD/ATI Radeon GPUs, AMD Chipset-integrated graphics, AMD Fusion APU-integrated graphics, AMD HDMI audio, and related software such as AMD Catalyst Control Center for discrete Radeon GPUs, and Vision Control Center for integrated ones; and HydraVision.
Key Features:
For more information about resolved issues, refer to the Release Notes.
Key Features:
- AMD OpenGL 4.2 production support
o AMD Catalyst 11.12 delivers official support for the OpenGL 4.2 specification - AMD Eyefinity technology enhancements
o Enables support for AMD HD3D technology when using a 3x1 Landscape Eyefinity display group, on supported DisplayPort 3D monitors. - AMD Vision Engine Control Center enhancements for Dual Graphics
o Improvements have been implemented to better facilitate the enabling and control of the Dual Graphics within the Vision Engine Control Center
For more information about resolved issues, refer to the Release Notes.
Antec Announces European Availability of the Eleven Hundred Enclosure
Antec, Inc. is proud to announce the Eleven Hundred, the newest member of the award-winning Gaming Series. The Eleven Hundred marks a new chapter in the Gaming Series with an all-new attractive design and a revamped lineup of expandability, cooling and convenience features. Gamers seeking the highest level of performance will want to take advantage of the Eleven Hundred's support for XL-ATX sized motherboards and four-way GPU configurations - the greatest expandability of any Antec chassis.
The Eleven Hundred features default 200 mm top and 120 mm rear fans and mounts for up to seven more fans for advanced GPU and hard drive cooling - including one 120mm intake fan behind the motherboard tray to cool the CPU. Users can also utilize the included fan power hub to connect up to four 3-pin fans to a single Molex for improved cable management.
The Eleven Hundred features default 200 mm top and 120 mm rear fans and mounts for up to seven more fans for advanced GPU and hard drive cooling - including one 120mm intake fan behind the motherboard tray to cool the CPU. Users can also utilize the included fan power hub to connect up to four 3-pin fans to a single Molex for improved cable management.
GeForce Kepler 104 and 100 GPU Specifications Compiled
A quick stroll through our previous article about how the GeForce Kepler family of next-generation GPUs is laid out, would tell you that GeForce Kepler 104 (GK104), is going to be NVIDIA's answer to AMD's Tahiti. GK104 will be a high-performance (≠ high-end) GPU by NVIDIA that will have many of the features that were reserved for its previous high-end GPUs (such as a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface), but will not be NVIDIA's most powerful GPU in the series. The throne will be kept empty for GK100, which will comply with NVIDIA's "go all in" design ideology for high-end GPUs.
3DCenter.org compiled a few specifications of the GK104 and GK100. They go like this:
GK104
3DCenter.org compiled a few specifications of the GK104 and GK100. They go like this:
GK104
- 640 to 768 CUDA cores
- 80 to 96 TMUs (depending on what the CUDA core count ends up being)
- 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface, 48 ROPs
- Built on the 28 nm TSMC process
- Products based on this will launch in the first quarter of 2012
OCZ Officially Announces the Petrol Series Solid State Drives
Leaked last week, OCZ's newest solid state drive, the Indilinx Everest-based 'Petrol' has now been made official and is confirmed to reach distribution channels in the 'coming weeks'.
The Petrol targets 'cost-sensitive' applications and has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, 2xnm asynchronous MLC NAND Flash memory (backed by the life span-enhancing NDurance technology), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and three years worth of warranty.
The Petrol targets 'cost-sensitive' applications and has a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, 2xnm asynchronous MLC NAND Flash memory (backed by the life span-enhancing NDurance technology), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and three years worth of warranty.
Kingston Intros New DataTraveler Micro USB Flash Drives
Kingston released its newest line of ultra-compact USB flash drives in Europe, the DataTraveler Micro. Available in capacities of 8 GB and 16 GB, the biggest selling point of these drives are their dimensions of 256 x 167 x 84 mm. That aside, they use the older USB 2.0 interface. The drives use a capped design with shortened body. The outer body is a hard plastic shell. There's provision to strap in a lanyard. The 8 GB variant is priced at 8.50 Euros, and the 16 GB one at 16 Euros.
Futuremark Releases Powermark Battery Life Test for Windows 7 Devices
Futuremark, the world leader in performance benchmarking software and services, today expanded its product line with Powermark a new battery life and power consumption test for Windows 7 notebooks, laptops, tablets and other battery powered devices. Powermark is a professional grade benchmark designed for industrial testing of battery powered Windows 7 devices by OEMs, corporations and governments. It includes a convenient set of standard tests based on productivity and entertainment use-case scenarios, as well as allowing custom settings for bespoke testing requirements. Powermark Professional Edition commercial licenses start at $200 for 10 activations. For further details and to purchase Powermark please visit this page.
Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark said, "Battery life is critical to delivering a positive user experience. Powermark helps PC industry OEMs and their suppliers strike a balance between performance and power consumption by providing a consistent, accurate and reliable testing and measurement tool created with Futuremark's deep experience in quality benchmarking software."
Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark said, "Battery life is critical to delivering a positive user experience. Powermark helps PC industry OEMs and their suppliers strike a balance between performance and power consumption by providing a consistent, accurate and reliable testing and measurement tool created with Futuremark's deep experience in quality benchmarking software."
Radeon HD 7900 to Introduce Eyefinity 3D, HD 7970 European Pricing Surfaces
Reliable sources among AMD add-in board partners told DonanimHaber that the upcoming AMD Radeon HD 7900 series will introduce a new feature that other SKUs based on Southern Islands GPUs could also include. It's called Eyefinity 3D, and as the name might suggest, it's the next major update to Eyefinity, a technology that lets you span a single display head across up to six physical displays, and gives you the ability to use your available physical displays to accommodate multiple such display heads.
Eyefinity 3D adds support for 3D-optimized (120 Hz) displays, and lets you create large stereoscopic 3D display heads using a number of physical 3D displays. The technology behind this might not be as simple as it sounds, because the driver has to take into account the viewing angles of the displays in perspective to the user (as entered by the user), and calibrate the 3D image output. The same sources also hinted about the pricing of Radeon HD 7970.
Eyefinity 3D adds support for 3D-optimized (120 Hz) displays, and lets you create large stereoscopic 3D display heads using a number of physical 3D displays. The technology behind this might not be as simple as it sounds, because the driver has to take into account the viewing angles of the displays in perspective to the user (as entered by the user), and calibrate the 3D image output. The same sources also hinted about the pricing of Radeon HD 7970.
Dell Introduces LGA 2011-based Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop
Dell's Alienware team has today launched an updated version of the Aurora gaming desktop which is based on Intel's Sandy Bridge-E platform. Known as model R4, the upgraded Aurora makes use of a head-turning ALX mid-tower chassis, and features a liquid-cooled Core i7-3930K or i7-3960X processor, up to 32 GB of RAM, up to a 2 TB hard drive and/or up to a 512 GB solid state drive, and up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 card or two AMD Radeon HD 6950s.
Dell's desktop can also be equipped with one or two optical drives, a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio or Titanium audio card, and runs Windows 7. The Alienware Aurora R4 starts at $2,199 and can be found here.
Dell's desktop can also be equipped with one or two optical drives, a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio or Titanium audio card, and runs Windows 7. The Alienware Aurora R4 starts at $2,199 and can be found here.
AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview Drivers Released, Support HD 7900 Series
AMD today released its latest unofficial drivers, Catalyst 12.1 Preview. Surprisingly, this release comes ahead of the month's scheduled WHQL-signed release, Catalyst 11.12 WHQL. According to sources, 12.1 Preview is the first driver that provides early (read: rough-on-the-edges) support for AMD's next generation Radeon HD 7900 series graphics cards, scheduled for launch on the 9th of January, 2012. That apart, Catalyst 12.1 brings the following changes to the table:
- AMD HD3D technology support enhancement
o Enables support for AMD HD3D technology in conjunction with AMD CrossFireX configurations
o Delivers a new Stereo 3D mode over HDMI 1.4a connections - 1080p at 30Hz is now enabled on supported displays. - AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center enhancements - Application Profiles
o AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver enables users to create per application profiles to individually control 3D and CrossFireX settings for Direct3D applications
o Please be sure to select the "Restore Factory Defaults" option under the Catalyst - Control Center Preferences menu before using the new application profiles feature - this ensures there are no compatibility issues between previous drivers and the new AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver with regards to application profiles
- AMD Catalyst Control Center / Vision Engine Control Center enhancements - Video UI improvements
o AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver includes user interface enhancements to simply adjustment of video color and video quality controls - Performance highlights of the AMD Catalyst 12.1 Preview driver (in addition to the AMD Catalyst 11.11c performance driver)
o Improves performance (10%) in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim when Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing is enabled on the AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series for single GPU and AMD CrossFireX configurations
Team Group Inc. Presents Team Elite DDR3 U-DIMM and SO-DIMM
After releasing the tri-channel RAM to take "Triple-Channel" initiatives, the global leading brand Team Group Inc. presents the 8GB memory module of the Team Elite DDR3 series. The ultra memory storage item goes with the JEDEC standard, marking a turning point of the RAM market to enter the "Triple-Channel" and also the ultra big storage generation.
The new memory module of the Elite series, U-DIMM with 16 GB (8GBx2 kit) as its largest storage capacity and SO-DIMM 8GB, both uses selected DDR3 chips and passes 100% stringent testing. The item is in BGA package with stability and compatibility between memory modules and PC platforms have been greatly improved. Meanwhile, the Elite's exclusive heat spreader is helpful in cooling computing temperatures and enlarging storage to offer stability and efficiency. In addition, it features high speed, low power consumption, and high efficiency. It takes only 1.5V low voltage to function well, it lowers carbon emissions, is electricity-saving, power-saving, and environmentally friendly. All these taken together make it the best choice for your PC.
The new memory module of the Elite series, U-DIMM with 16 GB (8GBx2 kit) as its largest storage capacity and SO-DIMM 8GB, both uses selected DDR3 chips and passes 100% stringent testing. The item is in BGA package with stability and compatibility between memory modules and PC platforms have been greatly improved. Meanwhile, the Elite's exclusive heat spreader is helpful in cooling computing temperatures and enlarging storage to offer stability and efficiency. In addition, it features high speed, low power consumption, and high efficiency. It takes only 1.5V low voltage to function well, it lowers carbon emissions, is electricity-saving, power-saving, and environmentally friendly. All these taken together make it the best choice for your PC.
Transcend Rolls Out Two 85 MB/s SDHC Memory Cards
Transcend Information Inc. has recently expanded its memory card offer with two products which are supposed to 'unleash the full potential of today's high-end digital cameras and camcorders'. The products in question are 8 GB and 16 GB SDHC cards which comply with the SD version 3.01 specifications, have an Ultra-High Speed Class 1 (UHS-I) rating, and are capable of transfer speeds of up to 85 MB/s.
The two cards feature built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) for correcting errors that might occur during data transfer, they are pre-loaded with the RecoveRx software for easy data recovery, and are backed by a lifetime warranty. The 8 GB model has a recommended price tag of $32, while the 16GB card costs $54 .
The two cards feature built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) for correcting errors that might occur during data transfer, they are pre-loaded with the RecoveRx software for easy data recovery, and are backed by a lifetime warranty. The 8 GB model has a recommended price tag of $32, while the 16GB card costs $54 .
G.Skill Unveils 64 GB Quad-Channel DDR3-2400 memory kit
As if the three kits introduced last month weren't enough, G.Skill has developed yet another quad-channel package for Sandy Bridge-E systems, one that is made up of eight 8 GB modules certified to operate at 2400 MHz. Part of the RipjawsZ series, this new 64 GB kit works at 2400 MHz with 10-12-12-31 latencies, features XMP 1.3 support, and is hand-tested to ensure maximum stability.
G.Skill's new quad-channel kit is backed by a lifetime warranty and can be found on pre-order priced at (hold on to your headset) 3,199 Euro!
G.Skill's new quad-channel kit is backed by a lifetime warranty and can be found on pre-order priced at (hold on to your headset) 3,199 Euro!
Hitachi Debuts the Ultrastar C10K900 10,000 RPM Hard Drives
Following yesterday's announcement of two 4TB consumer hard drives, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has today unveiled a little something for the enterprise market, the Ultrastar C10K900 series. This new line includes 300 GB, 450 GB, 600 GB and 900 GB HDDs which feature a 2.5-inch form factor, a SAS (Serial attached SCSI) 6.0 Gbps interface, 64 MB of cache, an average seek times of 3.8 milliseconds, an average latency of 3.0 ms, and an operating/idle power draw of 5.8/3.0 W. A Bulk Data Encryption option will also be available on specific models.
According to Hitachi, its new Ultrastar drives deliver 18% higher sequential and up to 17% higher random performance than the nearest competitor, and are perfect for Tier 1 enterprise networked storage arrays, or for blades and other rack-mounted servers.
The Ultrastar C10K900 hard drives have begun shipping in small quantities but they'll go into volume production in Q1 2012.
According to Hitachi, its new Ultrastar drives deliver 18% higher sequential and up to 17% higher random performance than the nearest competitor, and are perfect for Tier 1 enterprise networked storage arrays, or for blades and other rack-mounted servers.
The Ultrastar C10K900 hard drives have begun shipping in small quantities but they'll go into volume production in Q1 2012.
Sapphire Releases the Pure Black 990FX (AM3+) Motherboard
Well-known add-in board maker Sapphire Technology has today introduced the Pure Black 990FX, a high-end full ATX motherboard which is based on AMD's 990FX/SB950 chip combo and supports both AM3 and AM3+ processors.
Sapphire's new board comes with a black PCB and features a passive cooling solution, Diamond Black chokes, four DDR3 memory slots, nine SATA ports (six are SATA 6.0 Gbps, the rest are 3.0 Gbps) and six PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX setups.
The Pure Black 990FX also has dual Gigabit Ethernet, one eSATA connector, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the back panel, two more via a header), Bluetooth, 7.1 channel audio, UEFI BIOS (and a Dual BIOS), a debug LED, and a MOLEX connector to supply graphics cards with more power. This motherboard has already started shipping and can be found listed with a price tag of 159.90 Euro.
Sapphire's new board comes with a black PCB and features a passive cooling solution, Diamond Black chokes, four DDR3 memory slots, nine SATA ports (six are SATA 6.0 Gbps, the rest are 3.0 Gbps) and six PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX setups.
The Pure Black 990FX also has dual Gigabit Ethernet, one eSATA connector, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the back panel, two more via a header), Bluetooth, 7.1 channel audio, UEFI BIOS (and a Dual BIOS), a debug LED, and a MOLEX connector to supply graphics cards with more power. This motherboard has already started shipping and can be found listed with a price tag of 159.90 Euro.
GlacialTech Launches New A1 & A2 SnowPad Series Cooling Pads
The new GlacialTech Cooling Pad is the best way to keep your laptop cool. In order to achieve the best cooling performance, GlacialTech launched another two SnowPad series cooling pad in the title of A1 & A2 which fit laptop from 7" to 12" and the A1 series includes two 70 mm cooling fans with much superior air flow which provides the best cooling performance and not only this the light weighted and portable designed A1 series is convenient for use also. The ergonomic designed A1 series snowpad gives great comfort to the user. This can be accommodated with most of the notebooks, dimensions and wide screens wise. The A1 series snow pad consumes power directly from the notebook with ON/OFF power button. The Anti-slip rubber pads of the A1 series prevent the notebooks from sliding. It is available in black color.
USB-IF Announces Intel 7 Series and Intel C216 Chipset Family USB 3.0 Certification
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today announced the upcoming Intel 7 Series Chipset and Intel C216 Chipset Family host silicon has achieved SuperSpeed USB certification by the USB-IF. The certified solution includes four SuperSpeed USB ports integrated into the chipset, enabling manufacturers to conveniently incorporate SuperSpeed USB into their systems.
"This is a tremendous milestone for the industry," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President & COO. "With USB-IF certification of Intel's integrated USB host silicon, host manufacturers will be able to bring SuperSpeed USB to the masses. Intel's commitment to SuperSpeed USB will continue to provide peripheral device manufacturers a compelling incentive to develop a growing number of diverse SuperSpeed USB products."
"This is a tremendous milestone for the industry," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President & COO. "With USB-IF certification of Intel's integrated USB host silicon, host manufacturers will be able to bring SuperSpeed USB to the masses. Intel's commitment to SuperSpeed USB will continue to provide peripheral device manufacturers a compelling incentive to develop a growing number of diverse SuperSpeed USB products."
Monday, December 12th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Game Controllers
Headphones
Motherboards
Notebooks
NZXT Tempest 210 Review
The NZXT Tempest 210 is the entry level chassis for the current Tempest family. While costing a bit more than the Source line-up, it shares a lot of functional similarities. We take the case for a spin to find out if it is all a more expensive deja vu or if the Tempest 210 offers more than just higher price tag when compared to the Source variants.
PS3 'OtherOS' Scandal: Sony 1, Customers 0
The verdict is in: a company can flog you a product while loudly advertising a significant feature likely to sway your buying decision, then yank it away from you sometime later - and get away with it. Yay!
Sounds like a ridiculous, awful parody, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it isn't. This is what's happened with the "OtherOS" feature so unceremoniously yanked by Sony from the PlayStation 3 way back in March 2010 with a firmware update - the infamous version 3.21 - all in the name of increasing system security to prevent game "piracy". At the time the feature was advertised, many enthusiasts realized that they could use the PS3 as a cheap, but powerful computer and Linux was lovingly ported over to it. Even the US military built a "supercomputer" around a cluster of 1760 PlayStation 3's, finding them very useful for such things as researching artificial intelligence, image enhancement and pattern recognition, all things requiring intensive computer power. They can't do this any more, all because of the "fight against piracy." As machines die off, they can't be replaced with new ones. Unless those can somehow have the old firmware put on them using some unofficial workaround, of course...
Sounds like a ridiculous, awful parody, doesn't it? Unfortunately, it isn't. This is what's happened with the "OtherOS" feature so unceremoniously yanked by Sony from the PlayStation 3 way back in March 2010 with a firmware update - the infamous version 3.21 - all in the name of increasing system security to prevent game "piracy". At the time the feature was advertised, many enthusiasts realized that they could use the PS3 as a cheap, but powerful computer and Linux was lovingly ported over to it. Even the US military built a "supercomputer" around a cluster of 1760 PlayStation 3's, finding them very useful for such things as researching artificial intelligence, image enhancement and pattern recognition, all things requiring intensive computer power. They can't do this any more, all because of the "fight against piracy." As machines die off, they can't be replaced with new ones. Unless those can somehow have the old firmware put on them using some unofficial workaround, of course...
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Hits $1 Billion Milestone in Just 16 Days
Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), announced today that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 crossed the $1 billion mark in sales since its launch on November 8, 2011, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information. Highlighting the trend of interactive entertainment gaining a greater hold of audiences worldwide, the game achieved this milestone in just 16 days, eclipsing the record set in 2009 by the feature film "Avatar," which reached the $1 billion milestone in 17 days.
While 2011 box office revenue is on the decline - down 4 percent this year at $9.4 billion, compared with $9.8 billion in 2010 -- the number of people purchasing and participating in gaming is on the rise, with no sign of slowing.(1) With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.
While 2011 box office revenue is on the decline - down 4 percent this year at $9.4 billion, compared with $9.8 billion in 2010 -- the number of people purchasing and participating in gaming is on the rise, with no sign of slowing.(1) With more than 30 million gamers, the Call of Duty community now exceeds the combined populations of the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Madrid.
IBM To Help World Medicine And Beat Patent Trolls At Their Own Game
Who hasn't heard of Watson? No, not Sherlock Holmes's sidekick, but the computer built by IBM called Watson in honour of this sidekick. This is the artificial intelligence research project that recently made headlines by making mincemeat of human contestants on popular gameshow Jeopardy. Running on a supercomputer, it comprises of the following major components: speech recognition, natural language processing, machine learning and data mining from a huge database to help it understand natural language and quickly come up with the right answers - and it works incredibly well. Now, IBM is looking to apply this awesome technology to help medical science and beat patent trolls at their own game.
Apple Outsources IP Disputes to Patent Trolls
These are some lively times at Apple's legal department. The company is locked in intellectual property disputes with multiple companies, in multiple countries. Some of these are familiar foes such as Motorola Mobility and Samsung, others regional and lesser-known. The one thing patent disputes do, to all parties involved in them, is dent PR. Every legal dispute attracts or at lease leaves scope for bad press, and more often shapes public opinion against the disputing parties.
Apple learned a new trick in the trade which at least two recent events with very different outcomes, may have helped shape. First, it recently thwarted display IP infringement claims by S3 Graphics thanks to timely help by GPU supplier AMD, and second, it suffered a setback with regards to some brand names claimed by Chinese company ProView. You see, the ups and downs of IP disputes can have some very varied effects on the company's image. Apple's new trick is simple: make a different company, with a much different brand name, to handle those IP disputes on behalf of Apple, so brand Apple isn't directly dragged into the mess. Enter your friendly neighbourhood patent-troll, Digitude.
Apple learned a new trick in the trade which at least two recent events with very different outcomes, may have helped shape. First, it recently thwarted display IP infringement claims by S3 Graphics thanks to timely help by GPU supplier AMD, and second, it suffered a setback with regards to some brand names claimed by Chinese company ProView. You see, the ups and downs of IP disputes can have some very varied effects on the company's image. Apple's new trick is simple: make a different company, with a much different brand name, to handle those IP disputes on behalf of Apple, so brand Apple isn't directly dragged into the mess. Enter your friendly neighbourhood patent-troll, Digitude.
Adblock Plus To Let ''Acceptable Ads'' Pass, By Default
Adblock claimed its spot under the Sun when it started out as a browser extension that blocked all advertisement frames and popup scripts by default. Apparently, the people behind it feel there is something they call "acceptable ads", and that they should be allowed to pass on to users by default, and will make sure the next version (2.0) of the software will do just that. Ironic? Adblock, thanks to its catchy, self-explanatory name, built a sizable user-base, as typical PC users assume it's a fire-and-forget solution to internet advertisements. This new move to exempt "acceptable ads" might not compute with many.
So what makes up an "acceptable ad"? According to the people behind Adblock, it's that which lacks any form of animation or sound, and that which loads up no more than one script. One could imagine Amazon.com's best deals ads and Google's text-only ads fitting the description more or less, but it throws open a new set of debates: Whether selective filtering only goes on to benefit well-established agencies such as Google as Google's trademarks in the ad frame are an instant credibility boost for those text-ads; and more importantly, why should Adblock's define what should be "acceptable" and why should they be allowed by default to begin with. Pick your topic and fire away.
So what makes up an "acceptable ad"? According to the people behind Adblock, it's that which lacks any form of animation or sound, and that which loads up no more than one script. One could imagine Amazon.com's best deals ads and Google's text-only ads fitting the description more or less, but it throws open a new set of debates: Whether selective filtering only goes on to benefit well-established agencies such as Google as Google's trademarks in the ad frame are an instant credibility boost for those text-ads; and more importantly, why should Adblock's define what should be "acceptable" and why should they be allowed by default to begin with. Pick your topic and fire away.
Acer Intros New 23-inch Ultra-Slim Monitors in Japan
Acer introduced two new ultra-slim LED-backlit LCD monitors in Japan, both sized 23-inch. These include the S235HLBii and S230HLCii (pictured below in that order). The S235HLbii sports a swanky sharp-edged design with a smart base (that which holds the connections), while the S230HLCii features a more conventional design. Another major difference between the two is that while the former is HDCP-capable and features as many as two HDMI inputs, the latter, quite shockingly, lacks digital inputs - even DVI at that - and only features a D-Sub analog input. Those aside, both monitors sport 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, 5 ms response time, 250 cd/m² maximum brightness, 1,000:1 static contrast ratio, and viewing angles of 170/160 degrees. The pricing of the two remains unclear.
January 9 Launch Date for AMD Radeon HD 7900
Ladies and Gentlemen with graphics card upgrade plans, circle the date January 09, 2012, for this is going to be the day AMD will launch its next generation high-performance graphics cards in the Radeon HD 7900 series, according to reliable market sources DonanimHaber spoke with. On the 9th, AMD is expected to unveil at least two new SKUs in the HD 7900 series, most likely, HD 7970 and HD 7950. These will be based on the new 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon that will use completely redesigned number-crunching machinery, and a very wide memory bus.
Intel Lowers Q4 Revenue Guidance, Blames Hard Drive Shortages
Microprocessor maker Intel has revealed that its Q4 revenue will be lower than previously expected, mostly due to the hard drive supply problems brought on by the floods in Thailand. Intel says that the HDD shortages are forcing PC makers to reduce CPU inventories, and this, of course, is affecting its sales. The chip company expects the hard drive shortages to continue into Q1 but is hopeful that things will get back on track in the first half of 2012.
The updated Q4 guidance talks about a revenue of $13.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. This is down from the $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million predicted in October.
The updated Q4 guidance talks about a revenue of $13.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. This is down from the $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million predicted in October.
Apple Mac App Store passes 100 Million Downloads
Cupertino-based Apple Inc. has just announced that its Mac-friendly app store has managed to surpass 100 million downloads in less than a year. Launched on January 6th (2011), the Mac App Store is accessible to Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Mac OS X Lion users, and offers thousands of free and paid apps covering Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. In contrast, the iOS-only App Store has over 500,000 apps and has surpassed 18 billion downloads.
"In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world."
For more info about the Mac App Store just see Apple's website.
"In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With more than 100 million downloads in less than a year, the Mac App Store is the largest and fastest growing PC software store in the world."
For more info about the Mac App Store just see Apple's website.
Hitachi Announces the 4 TB Deskstar HDD and 4 TB Touro Desk External Drive
Hitachi Global Storage System has now taken the veil off not one but two 4 TB storage solutions, the Deskstar 5K4000 3.5-inch hard drive which we mentioned on Friday, and a 4 TB Touro Desk external drive. The 4 TB Deskstar HDD features a 3.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, 32 MB of buffer, it utilizes the CoolSpin technology (~ 5900 RPM) and is currently shipping in limited quantities in both OEM and retail versions. The retail package, which includes the drive, mounting screws, and install instructions, costs $399.99.
The 4 TB Touro Desk is equipped with one Deskstar 5K4000, has a black, textured body, a USB 3.0 interface, and offers 3 GB of cloud storage for free from HitachiBackup.com. This drive will ship in January and will cost $419.99.
The 4 TB Touro Desk is equipped with one Deskstar 5K4000, has a black, textured body, a USB 3.0 interface, and offers 3 GB of cloud storage for free from HitachiBackup.com. This drive will ship in January and will cost $419.99.
Thecus Announces N4100EVO 4-bay NAS Powered by Cavium Dual-Core Processor
Thecus is well known in the market for always putting innovative hardware and state of the art technology on the table for a fair price in order to guarantee our customers the best value. Thecus's new N4100EVO NAS offer a broad range of advanced features and differentiate themselves with low-energy hardware for those who place strong value on cutting down their electricity costs and carbon footprint. This cost-effective hardware is the first four-bay NAS on the market to feature the speedy and efficient dual-core Cavium CPU to get the quick transfer speeds necessary for large backups and heavy use. The N4100EVO is designed to change the way you run your office, at home or at work.
Samsung Introduces the Series 5 Ultrabook
Today Samsung Electronics unveiled the Series 5 Ultra, a 'high-performance' ultrabook which will debut in South Korea at the end of this month and will probably (hopefully) reach other markets in early 2012.
This new mobile solution makes use of an aluminum chassis, comes in 13.3-inch and 14-inch versions (the 13-inch model is 14.9 mm thick, the 14-inch is 20.9 mm), and features a yet unnamed Intel processor, up to 8GB of RAM, a 500GB/1TB hard drive or a 128GB solid state drive, and 8GB of ExpressCache memory which ensures lower boot and access times (Samsung claims that its machine can come out of sleep mode in under 2 seconds). The 14-inch unit boasts a Radeon HD 7550M discrete graphics card and an optical drive while the 13.3-inch model has to settle for an integrated Intel GPU and no ODD.
The Series 5 Ultra also has WiFi, a webcam, two USB 3.0 ports, and both D-Sub and HDMI outputs. Pricing in Korea is said to range from about US $1,121 to US $1,339.
This new mobile solution makes use of an aluminum chassis, comes in 13.3-inch and 14-inch versions (the 13-inch model is 14.9 mm thick, the 14-inch is 20.9 mm), and features a yet unnamed Intel processor, up to 8GB of RAM, a 500GB/1TB hard drive or a 128GB solid state drive, and 8GB of ExpressCache memory which ensures lower boot and access times (Samsung claims that its machine can come out of sleep mode in under 2 seconds). The 14-inch unit boasts a Radeon HD 7550M discrete graphics card and an optical drive while the 13.3-inch model has to settle for an integrated Intel GPU and no ODD.
The Series 5 Ultra also has WiFi, a webcam, two USB 3.0 ports, and both D-Sub and HDMI outputs. Pricing in Korea is said to range from about US $1,121 to US $1,339.
Intel Core i7-3960X and i7-3930K CPUs Transitioning to C2 stepping in January
As previously reported, Intel's first wave of Sandy Bridge-E processors have VT-d (Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O) disabled due to an errata in the C1 stepping. That issue couldn't be resolved in time for the launch but it's getting fixed with the C2 stepping which is set to start rolling out to customers on January 20th, 2012 (samples have already been delivered).
The CPUs moving to the C2 stepping are the hexa-core Core i7-3960X (3.3 GHz) and Core i7-3930K (3.2 GHz). Beside the fixed VT-d, the C2 chips will feature new S-spec and MM numbers so a BIOS update for current motherboards will likely be required.
The CPUs moving to the C2 stepping are the hexa-core Core i7-3960X (3.3 GHz) and Core i7-3930K (3.2 GHz). Beside the fixed VT-d, the C2 chips will feature new S-spec and MM numbers so a BIOS update for current motherboards will likely be required.
Intel Core i7-3770 Put Through 3DMark 06, Cinebench, and Fritz Chess
An increasing number of people within the industry have access to Intel Ivy Bridge engineering samples. Some of them are generous enough to share performance details with the public. One such kind soul posted 3DMark, Fritz Chess, and Cinebench test results. An Intel Core i7-3770 sample was the test candidate, this chip has all components and features available to Ivy Bridge LGA1155 enabled, including HyperThreading, a faster uncore, and the full 8 MB L3 cache. The chip was put through 3DMark 06 (to test its CPU and iGPU performance), Cinebench 11.5 (both single-thread and multi-threaded), and Fritz Chess Benchmark (again, both single and multiple threads).
More screenshots follow.
HanJung Tech Tron 200 and 200 EX Midi-Tower Cases available in Europe
South Korean company HanJung Tech has recently expanded its European presence and started selling here (or there, depending on your location) two more PC cases, the Tron 200 and Tron 200 EX midi-towers.
Both models measure 472 (H) x 180 (W) x 478 (D) mm, and have a black paint job (inside and out), a steel structure, four 5.25-inch bays, four internal 3.5-inch drive bays, a top-mounted SATA HDD/SSD docking station, a 2-channel fan controller, and four built-in fans - one 120mm model with blue LEDs in front, one 120mm spinner at the rear plus two more on top.
Both models measure 472 (H) x 180 (W) x 478 (D) mm, and have a black paint job (inside and out), a steel structure, four 5.25-inch bays, four internal 3.5-inch drive bays, a top-mounted SATA HDD/SSD docking station, a 2-channel fan controller, and four built-in fans - one 120mm model with blue LEDs in front, one 120mm spinner at the rear plus two more on top.
Motorola Breaks Through Apple's FRAND Defense in Germany
In a development that threatens to prevent Apple's European sales arm from selling 3G-enabled iPad and iPhone products, Motorola Mobility won an injunction against it in Germany. On the table was a key Motorola patent related to cellular data transmission, which is part of wireless data transmission standards that are obstructed by an agreement to license it on "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) terms.
Motorola claimed that Apple was infringing this patent, to which, Apple responded by putting up a FRAND defense (counter-accusing the patent-holder of not being fair/reasonable/non-discriminatory with licensing a patent that makes up an industry standard. The court ruling in Germany stated that raising a FRAND defense against standards-essential patent infringement claims could be a difficult proposition, and may force Apple to accept Motorola's licensing terms-FRAND or not-for "past infringement." Apple won similar FRAND defenses against Samsung, in the past, in other European countries such as The Netherlands and France.
Motorola claimed that Apple was infringing this patent, to which, Apple responded by putting up a FRAND defense (counter-accusing the patent-holder of not being fair/reasonable/non-discriminatory with licensing a patent that makes up an industry standard. The court ruling in Germany stated that raising a FRAND defense against standards-essential patent infringement claims could be a difficult proposition, and may force Apple to accept Motorola's licensing terms-FRAND or not-for "past infringement." Apple won similar FRAND defenses against Samsung, in the past, in other European countries such as The Netherlands and France.
HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source
HP today announced it will contribute the webOS software to the open source community. HP plans to continue to be active in the development and support of webOS. By combining the innovative webOS platform with the development power of the open source community, there is the opportunity to significantly improve applications and web services for the next generation of devices.
webOS offers a number of benefits to the entire ecosystem of web applications. For developers, applications can be easily built using standard web technologies. In addition, its single integrated stack offers multiplatform portability. For device manufacturers, it provides a single web-centric platform to run across multiple devices. As a result, the end user benefits from a fast, immersive user experience.
webOS offers a number of benefits to the entire ecosystem of web applications. For developers, applications can be easily built using standard web technologies. In addition, its single integrated stack offers multiplatform portability. For device manufacturers, it provides a single web-centric platform to run across multiple devices. As a result, the end user benefits from a fast, immersive user experience.
Intel adds Celeron G460 to its Processor Offer
As 2011 is drawing to a close Intel is keeping it light with new releases. So light that that the latest update to its processor line-up brings just one new chip, the entry-level Celeron G460. The G460 is made on 32nm process technology and features one core clocked at 1.8 GHz, two threads, 1.5MB of cache, integrated Intel HD Graphics, and a TDP of 35W.
The Celeron G460 costs $37 (pricing is for 1,000-unit tray quantities) which means it shares a price point with the 1.6 GHz Celeron G440.
The Celeron G460 costs $37 (pricing is for 1,000-unit tray quantities) which means it shares a price point with the 1.6 GHz Celeron G440.
Microsoft to Roll Out 14 Patches on Tuesday
Tomorrow, Tuesday aka December 13th Microsoft is set to let loose no less than 14 updates which are supposed to resolve 20 vulnerabilities affecting products like Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Publisher, and Windows Media Player.
Three out of the 14 patches are rated 'Critical' and target bugs that could lead to remote code execution, while the other 11 are rated 'Important' and are set to plug in holes that can result in remote code execution and (unwanted) privilege elevation. As always, Microsoft isn't giving out specifics on the vulnerabilities that will be patched so we'll have to wait for tomorrow to get the full scoop. And to update of course.
Three out of the 14 patches are rated 'Critical' and target bugs that could lead to remote code execution, while the other 11 are rated 'Important' and are set to plug in holes that can result in remote code execution and (unwanted) privilege elevation. As always, Microsoft isn't giving out specifics on the vulnerabilities that will be patched so we'll have to wait for tomorrow to get the full scoop. And to update of course.
AMD Tahiti GPU Specifications Compiled
If the word on the optical fibers is true, we are less than a month away from the launch of AMD's next high-end graphics card family based on its next high-performance GPU, codenamed "Tahiti". According to 3DCenter, AMD will launch new graphics card models based on this GPU around January 10, 2012. It is expected that we'll learn a lot more about these GPUs, maybe even come across AIB-branded graphics cards, at the upcoming CES event.
3DCenter compiled specifications of "Tahiti", based on bits and pieces of information from various sources. The specs can be listed out as:
3DCenter compiled specifications of "Tahiti", based on bits and pieces of information from various sources. The specs can be listed out as:
- 4.50 billion transistors, die-area of 380 mm², built on TSMC 28 nm process
- Advanced GCN 1D architecture
- 2048 1D processing cores
- 128 TMUs, 48 ROPs
- 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, memory clock slightly below 1 GHz, target bandwidth of 240~264 GB/s
Sunday, December 11th 2011
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Early January Launch for Cooler Master Cosmos II
We got our first glimpse of the next major update of the iconic Cosmos case from Cooler Master, the Cosmos II, in as early as June, as the Computex event was wrapping up. It still had some rough edges, and we were then told that a market launch was expected in the September~October time-frame. That of course, never happened, and the only other time we saw this elusive case was when it was chosen to house the MaximumPC Dream Machine 2011, in July. Alas, even as this year draws to a close, there's no sign of the Cosmos II anywhere. That was, until Cooler Master sent a press and subscriber email last week (dated 10th December), pointing out that the official launch was about 24 days away, or the 3rd of January, 2012. Just in time to hog some CES limelight.
HP's Hackable Printers: The Lawsuit
Three days ago, we brought you news of how researchers have made proof-of-concept attacks on HP printers by reprogramming their firmware. Among other things, these attacks could deliberately cause the fuser in a printer to overheat and singe the paper, until shut down by a built-in unoverridable thermal switch, preventing a fire. Now, in light of this, a lawsuit has been filed by David Goldblatt of New York, seeking damages for fraudulent and deceptive business practices and is looking for class action status: "As a result of HP's failure to require the use of digital signatures to authenticate software upgrades, hackers are able to reprogram the HP Printers' software with malicious software without detection," the suit says. "Once the HP printers' software is maliciously reprogrammed, the HP printers can be remotely controlled by computer hackers over the Internet, who can then steal personal information, attack otherwise secure networks, and even cause physical damage to the HP printers, themselves." Note that HP has used digital signatures since 2009 to authenticate the firmware updates, helping to mitigate this potential problem in recent models.
Despite this though, HP still intends to patch the firmware to eliminate threats from this hack, which exploits bugs in the firmware. As these attacks have only actually been demonstrated in the lab and no actual losses have been incurred by Goldblatt, it makes one wonder if he is just using the prevailing American "victim culture" to try and make a quick buck off HP. HP are the top printer brand, mainly because their products are excellent, performing well and lasting a long time, plus other companies' printers and embedded devices have the same problems, so it seems unlikely that he would really not have bought HP printers.
Despite this though, HP still intends to patch the firmware to eliminate threats from this hack, which exploits bugs in the firmware. As these attacks have only actually been demonstrated in the lab and no actual losses have been incurred by Goldblatt, it makes one wonder if he is just using the prevailing American "victim culture" to try and make a quick buck off HP. HP are the top printer brand, mainly because their products are excellent, performing well and lasting a long time, plus other companies' printers and embedded devices have the same problems, so it seems unlikely that he would really not have bought HP printers.
uTorrent Goes Freemium: $24.95/Yr Option For Extra Features
Well, it looks like the freemium model of selling software is working quite well in the industry, as Bram Cohen's very popular BitTorrent application, uTorrent, has just adopted this model. Known for being fast, efficient and light on system resources, it has now gained a few pounds, sorry features in version 3, some of which are available only for a subscription of $24.95 per year. These include things like an antivirus scanner powered by BitDefender, a media player and integrated support for converting popular video file types such as MPEG4, H.264, Theora, and VP8, as well as MP3, AAC and AC-3 audio files. The media player is interesting, in that it allows playback of videos that are still downloading. Note that this feature is also available in the free version.
For those that still want to hang on to the lean and mean free version, it's still available and isn't going away any time soon. Both versions can be compared here. Perhaps it's ironic that this legal application which is often used for software "piracy" can now itself be pirated… Cohen's take on this will be interesting.
For those that still want to hang on to the lean and mean free version, it's still available and isn't going away any time soon. Both versions can be compared here. Perhaps it's ironic that this legal application which is often used for software "piracy" can now itself be pirated… Cohen's take on this will be interesting.
Saturday, December 10th 2011
R&D: 15 nm Circuits Have Wires Just 150 Atoms Apart
The process of microchip miniaturization continues apace, with researchers at McGill University and Sandia National Laboratories having build a circuit that has two wires that are separated by a mere 150 atoms having built them at the incredibly tiny 15 nm (nanometres) level. Circuits of this size should bring all the usual benefits of reduced power and heat, along with greater functionality due to the larger transistor density. Of course, the challenges of working at this level are great. Dan Olds, an analyst at The Gabriel Consulting Group said of this research: "This kind of research also uncovers other potential problems arising from ever smaller shrinks. Getting to 15nm or 16nm will mean smaller and more powerful devices that are more energy efficient. But when we're talking about such a small scale, designing chips that can be mass-produced with decent yields is quite a challenge. There will also be challenges for the design of devices that will use these processors." Of course, the benefits are significant and therefore well worth the challenge: "Devices based on 15nm processes will pack more performance and functionality into much smaller form factors. Functions that used to take two or more chips will be accomplished by one transistor-jammed processor." Of course, Intel, the world leader in chip manufacturing is also researching manufacturing at this process node, but there isn't much information available about it at this time.
HDD Shortage To Go On And On And On
The recent Thailand floods appear to be taking a bigger toll than expected, with the effects of the shortages to be felt all the way into 2013, according to market research firm IDC. This isn't helped by the fact that the largest manufacturer of HDDs, Western Digital, was hit the hardest. As the situation is so volatile, companies such as HP, Dell & Lenovo are keeping watch on the market daily and are even sometimes having to accept drives of a lower spec if they are to ship some systems at all. As expected, the retail purchaser of hard disk drives comes bottom of the allocation list. IDCs John Rydning said in a statement: "I think the most painful period will occur now through February of next year. We expect the situation will improve, but it won't feel as if things are back to normal until 2013". There's more detail and analysis over at Network World.
Silverlight 5 Available for Download
Today, we're happy to announce the release of Silverlight 5. Silverlight is part of a rich offering of technologies from Microsoft helping developers deliver applications for the web, desktop and mobile devices. Download Silverlight 5, a free plug-in less than 7 MB in size that can be installed in less than 10 seconds.
New features in Silverlight 5 include Hardware Decode of H.264 media, which provides a significant performance improvement with decoding of unprotected content using the GPU; Postscript Vector Printing to improve output quality and file size; and an improved graphics stack with 3D support that uses the XNA API on the Windows platform to gain low-level access to the GPU for drawing vertex shaders and low-level 3D primitives.
New features in Silverlight 5 include Hardware Decode of H.264 media, which provides a significant performance improvement with decoding of unprotected content using the GPU; Postscript Vector Printing to improve output quality and file size; and an improved graphics stack with 3D support that uses the XNA API on the Windows platform to gain low-level access to the GPU for drawing vertex shaders and low-level 3D primitives.
AMD Releases CAP3 Profiles For Catalyst 11.11 Drivers
AMD have just released their Catalyst Application Profiles 3 for their latest driver, version 11.11, delivering the following improvements:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Improves CrossFire performance
- Saints Row 3 (DirectX 9 version): Improves CrossFire performance
- Serious Sam 3: Improves CrossFire performance
- Java Control Panel: Fixes black screen corruption seen on single and multi GPU configurations when Anti-Aliasing is forced on through the Catalyst Control Center
Your Paid For Windows 8 Metro Apps: Microsoft's Handy Big Brother Kill Switch
Buy into Microsoft's new Windows 8 Metro interface and you'll be buying into considerably more than you bargained for. The Metro interface is extending the idea of walled garden technology eco systems to the very core of the Windows user experience, since it replaces the standard, versatile and open desktop we've all known and loved for over 15 years. And of course, with it comes Big Brother control over the hapless customer. Microsoft is copying the Apple model of an apps store, with their Windows Store where the store vets each application according to their strict rules, takes a massive 30% cut from developer's royalties (like Apple) and has a kill switch (this last part is much like Google and Amazon too, to be fair, which is somewhat bad when you think about it). Despite this remote ability, Microsoft hasn't wasted the opportunity of denying the customer the option of returning any software that they don't like (just like Steam). This might seem to be standard practice. However, consider the fact that software on disc offered no refunds for an opened copy as the possibility to copy the disc and product key existed. That's not the case here though, as they can simply apply their DRM to quietly take it away from you (and just how does one get around this form of DRM and keep their apps?) This information is from Microsoft's latest update to the Windows Store Terms of Use. We analyze the pertinent bits, below:
OCZ to Introduce the Petrol SATA 6.0 Gbps Solid State Drives
Now that the Octane models are out and about, the OCZ Technology Group is preparing the launch of a second line of solid state drives based on the Indilinx Everest platform, the more value-minded Petrol series. Like the Octane SSDs, the Petrol drives feature a 2.5-inch form factor, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface, and make use of the NDurance technology technology which increases the life span of NAND flash memory by as much as 2 times.
The Petrol models also have 2xnm asynchronous MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory (the Octane line uses synchronous MLC NAND), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and are backed by a three-year warranty. 
The Petrol models also have 2xnm asynchronous MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory (the Octane line uses synchronous MLC NAND), a MTBF of 1.25 million hours, TRIM support, and are backed by a three-year warranty.
Friday, December 9th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Graphics Cards
Monitors
Motherboards
Notebooks
Xigmatek Midgard II Review
The Xigmatek Midgard chassis has been one of the most popular cases in its price class. After almost 3 years, Xigmatek now presents the successor simply called Midgard II. It features a timeless design just like the original one, but includes a long list of new and updated features. The Midgard II has some big shoes to fill - let us see if it manages to impress as much as the original.
Sharkoon Debuts the Tauron Midi-Tower PC Case
Sharkoon Technologies has finished off the work week by rolling out a brand new PC chassis, the midi-tower known as Tauron which measures 510 (L) x 205 (W) x 495 (H) mm, weights 9.5kg, and comes in three color versions - black with a red interior, black with a green interior, and all-white.
The Tauron supports micro ATX and ATX motherboards and has a top-placed I/O panel (2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 and 2 x audio ports), mesh panels both on top and in front, an acrylic side window, two exposed 5.25-inch bays, and seven removable 2.5/3.5-inch drive trays.
The Tauron supports micro ATX and ATX motherboards and has a top-placed I/O panel (2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 and 2 x audio ports), mesh panels both on top and in front, an acrylic side window, two exposed 5.25-inch bays, and seven removable 2.5/3.5-inch drive trays.
AMD Tahiti (Radeon HD 7900) Graphics Card Seen in the Nude
Today may be a Fringe-less Friday but worry not, there are plenty of thing to do like contemplating the two recently-leaked images of an AMD Tahiti-powered graphics card. Tahiti is a 'next-gen' GPU built on TSMC's 28 nm process that's supposed to be at the heart of the Radeon HD 7900 series models (the HD 7950, HD 7970, and then probably the dual-GPU HD 7990).
The card seen below comes with one Tahiti chip protected by a heatspreader/shield (only the die is exposed) and has a red PCB, a 5+1-phase PWM, two BIOSes, two PCIe power plugs, CrossFire connectors enabling quad-GPU configurations, and 12 memory chips which support previous reports of a 384-bit memory interface.
The Radeon HD 7900 series cards are rumored to debut in January at CES 2012 (January 10-13) so we still have one month of leaks to look forward to. Oh, and the winter holidays.
The card seen below comes with one Tahiti chip protected by a heatspreader/shield (only the die is exposed) and has a red PCB, a 5+1-phase PWM, two BIOSes, two PCIe power plugs, CrossFire connectors enabling quad-GPU configurations, and 12 memory chips which support previous reports of a 384-bit memory interface.
The Radeon HD 7900 series cards are rumored to debut in January at CES 2012 (January 10-13) so we still have one month of leaks to look forward to. Oh, and the winter holidays.
4 TB Hitachi Desktop Hard Drive Starts Selling in Japan
While the hard drive industry as a whole continues to be affected by the Thailand floods, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST) is ending 2011 on a high note by starting shipments of its first 4 TB 3.5-inch HDD. Codenamed HDS5C4040ALE630 and likely part of the Deskstar 5K (we're guessing 5K4000) series, the 4TB drive has yet to be announced by Hitachi but it can be found on sale in Japan, priced at 26,800 yen (~ US $ 345 / 259 Euro).
Hitachi's 4 TB hard drive has 32 MB of buffer memory, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and makes use of the CoolSpin technology, which means its (likely four) platters operate at around 5900 RPM. No word yet on a 7200 RPM version but it's probably in the cards for 2012.
Hitachi's 4 TB hard drive has 32 MB of buffer memory, a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and makes use of the CoolSpin technology, which means its (likely four) platters operate at around 5900 RPM. No word yet on a 7200 RPM version but it's probably in the cards for 2012.
KINGMAX Introduces UI-03 Paperclip Flash Drives
KINGMAX, a world renowned leading brand of DRAM and flash memory, announced the KINGMAX latest model UI-03 in the urban series. What would surprise you when you choose a USB drive? Whenever a new style of flash drives comes to the marketplace, of course we look for speed, capacity and the latest technology, but nowadays we also consider its added values, and where added value is concerned, for most people, it is a case of whether it is attachable or waterproof.
KINGMAX latest model UI-03 in the urban series, which really has got the "wow" factor! What is unique is its "paper-clip" design hook, making the UI-03 not simply a storage drive but also a handy USB drive that can also be used to attach pieces of paper together. It can even be attached to your collar as a discrete pendant.
KINGMAX latest model UI-03 in the urban series, which really has got the "wow" factor! What is unique is its "paper-clip" design hook, making the UI-03 not simply a storage drive but also a handy USB drive that can also be used to attach pieces of paper together. It can even be attached to your collar as a discrete pendant.
Sapphire provides Eyefinity on the cheap with the Radeon HD 6450 FleX
If all you want this Christmas is an Eyefinity setup but can't afford to invest much in a graphics card then you may be interested in Sapphire's latest creation, the Radeon HD 6450 FleX. This card comes with a sub-60 Euro price tag and is able to power three DVI monitors right out of the box.
Sapphire's HD 6450 FleX takes up two PCI slots, comes with a blue PCB and features a passive cooler, 160 Stream Processors, a GPU clock of 625 MHz, a 64-bit memory interface, 1GB of DDR3 memory set to 1600 MHz, UVD (Unified Video Decoder) 3, and three display outputs, a single-link DVI, a dual-link DVI, and a HDMI 1.4a port (a HDMI to DVI adapter is included in the box).
The Radeon HD 6450 FleX can be found on pre-order priced as low as 54.37 Euro.
Sapphire's HD 6450 FleX takes up two PCI slots, comes with a blue PCB and features a passive cooler, 160 Stream Processors, a GPU clock of 625 MHz, a 64-bit memory interface, 1GB of DDR3 memory set to 1600 MHz, UVD (Unified Video Decoder) 3, and three display outputs, a single-link DVI, a dual-link DVI, and a HDMI 1.4a port (a HDMI to DVI adapter is included in the box).
The Radeon HD 6450 FleX can be found on pre-order priced as low as 54.37 Euro.
Thursday, December 8th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Memory
Motherboards
Mouse
SSD
Silicon Power Velox V30 60 GB SSD Review
The Silicon Power Velox V30 60 GB SSD is built around Sandforce's successful SF-2281 flash controller which promises outstanding performance and full support for the SATA 6 Gbps interface. After a closer look we noticed that the drive uses only half the flash channels available, will this turn out to be a dealbreaker?
Hackers Can Make HP Printers Catch Fire!! Well, Singe Paper...
Researchers at Columbia University have investigated the security of HP network printers and have found them wanting. The basic problem is the complexity of the devices and the fact that the authenticity of firmware updates for these devices isn't checked by using a digital signature. MSNBC published an exclusive story, explaining how by using a hacked computer, the researchers could make their test printers do various nasties, such as continuously heat the fuser unit until the paper singed, at which point the printer shut off due to the built-in safety device, a thermal switch which cannot be overridden by software. They could also be programmed to spread viruses, which would be very dangerous, as these attacking printers would be within the firewall perimeter, allowing them unrestricted access to the soft underbelly of the network. And as the MSNBC article put it so well: "Few companies are prepared to protect themselves from an attack by their own printer." Quite, seems ridiculous at first sight, doesn't it? The researches focused on HP printers, which are by far the most popular brand out there, but say that there are similar vulnerabilities within all devices which employ embedded networked computers, leaving them wide open to attack, hence the industry should wake up to this threat and fix their systems before hackers start to exploit these for real. HP for their part, played down the overall threat and disagreed on several points made by the researchers. Also, the attacks were carried out using Linux and Mac computers and the suggestion seems to be that it's somehow harder to do with a Windows computer. There's a lot more detail at the MSNBC article and readers are encouraged to check it out.
Twitter makeover goes live for mobile users, claims to boost ease of use
Character-constrained carrier bird Twitter has today begun to showcase to the world its brand new look, one that aims to streamline sharing, connecting, following and discovery. Now available through mobile.twitter.com, Twitter for iPhone, and Twitter for Android, the redesigned micro-blogging platform offers an interface that revolves around five main tabs - Home, Connect, Discover, Me and Tweet.
AMD Radeon HD 7900 ''Tahiti'' Pictured, 384-bit Memory Bus Confirmed?
A Beyond3D forum member posted a mysterious picture of two graphics cards that could very well be engineering samples of AMD's true next-generation Radeon HD 7900 "Tahiti" graphics cards. The final products most probably won't look like these, with a bare red PCB, but it does look like the reference cooler design is ready. A more important feature in that picture is the spotting of traces for at least 11 memory chips, the 12th one (not highlighted) is apparently near the PCIe slot interface. The presence of 12 memory chips gives rumors of Tahiti featuring a 384-bit wide memory interface a shot in the arm. This will be the first AMD GPU in over 5 years to feature a memory bus wider than 256-bit. The R600 Radeon HD 2900 GPU featured a 512-bit GDDR4-capable memory interface.
Microsoft Tells ARM Partners to Pick Notebook Vendors
Windows (PC) will make its first transition to a machine architecture other than x86 in decades with Windows 8 Windows on ARM (WOA), and Microsoft wants to make absolutely sure that it has a well-oiled ecosystem in place to propel its growth. Currently, Microsoft picked three potent players among ARM processor vendors, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments (that have experience and can ship in Zerg volumes), and NVIDIA (which has demonstrated a lot of engineering potential with its latest Tegra products).
Microsoft reportedly asked the three ARM players to pick two notebook vendors each (one major, and one minor) with which they will work to develop some of the first WOA portable computing devices. Qualcomm selected Samsung and Sony, Texas Instruments chose Toshiba and Samsung, while NVIDIA chose Acer and Lenovo. Among these, Samsung, Toshiba, and Lenovo are the major partners. Surprisingly, Taiwan-based companies have an insignificant role in this ecosystem. ASUS, which has thus far been the largest client of NVIDIA for Tegra processors, has been left out. Now that downstream partners are selected, upstream ODMs such as Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron and Pegatron Technology, which manufacture for those companies, are getting their R&D teams in shape to compete for the next-generation platform. The finishing line of ARM's marathon run to get into PCs is in sight.
Microsoft reportedly asked the three ARM players to pick two notebook vendors each (one major, and one minor) with which they will work to develop some of the first WOA portable computing devices. Qualcomm selected Samsung and Sony, Texas Instruments chose Toshiba and Samsung, while NVIDIA chose Acer and Lenovo. Among these, Samsung, Toshiba, and Lenovo are the major partners. Surprisingly, Taiwan-based companies have an insignificant role in this ecosystem. ASUS, which has thus far been the largest client of NVIDIA for Tegra processors, has been left out. Now that downstream partners are selected, upstream ODMs such as Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron and Pegatron Technology, which manufacture for those companies, are getting their R&D teams in shape to compete for the next-generation platform. The finishing line of ARM's marathon run to get into PCs is in sight.
PortableApps.com and CustomUSB release the 'World's Best Flash Drive'
Big words are being thrown around today as PortableApps.com and CustomUSB claim to be offering the world's best flash drive. No, unfortunately this drive doesn't have a built-in lighter, it won't cut soda cans and doesn't come with the phone number of your favorite actor/actress but it does feature a USB 3.0 interface, a durable aluminum casing that can be engraved, it delivers read/write speeds of up to 85/44 MB/s (37/28 MB/s via USB 2.0), and is pre-loaded with the PortableApps.com platform.
Intel to Retire its LGA1366 and LGA1156 Processors in 2012
Since Ivy Bridge is still a few months away from release, Intel has decided to keep itself busy by sealing the fate of a bunch of older processors including the Core i7-930, i7-950, i7-960, i7-980 and i7-990X which are part of the LGA1366 platform, and the LGA1156-compatible Pentium G6950, G6960 and Core i3-540, i5-650, i5-660, i5-670, i5-680, i7-860 and i7-870.
These 45nm and 32nm CPUs are set to be available for further orders until June 29, 2012, and will continue to ship either until supplies are depleted (for the boxed versions) or until December 7th, 2012 (for the tray SKUs). As always, it's onwards and upwards.
These 45nm and 32nm CPUs are set to be available for further orders until June 29, 2012, and will continue to ship either until supplies are depleted (for the boxed versions) or until December 7th, 2012 (for the tray SKUs). As always, it's onwards and upwards.
Fujitsu and SuVolta Demo ULV Operation of SRAM Down to ~0.4V
Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited and SuVolta, Inc. today announced that they have successfully demonstrated ultra-low-voltage operation of SRAM (static random access memory) blocks down to 0.425V by integrating SuVolta's PowerShrink low-power CMOS platform into Fujitsu Semiconductor's low-power process technology. By reducing power consumption, these technologies will make possible the ultimate in "ecological" products in the near future. Technology details and results will be presented at the 2011 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) being held in Washington DC, starting December 5th.
Controlling power consumption is the primary limiter of adding features to product types ranging from mobile electronics to tethered servers and networking equipment. The biggest contributor to power consumption is supply voltage. Previously, the power supply voltage of CMOS steadily reduced to approximately 1.0V at the 130nm technology node, but it has not reduced much further as technology has scaled to the 28nm node. To reduce the power supply voltage, one of the biggest obstacles is the minimum operating voltage of embedded SRAM blocks.
Controlling power consumption is the primary limiter of adding features to product types ranging from mobile electronics to tethered servers and networking equipment. The biggest contributor to power consumption is supply voltage. Previously, the power supply voltage of CMOS steadily reduced to approximately 1.0V at the 130nm technology node, but it has not reduced much further as technology has scaled to the 28nm node. To reduce the power supply voltage, one of the biggest obstacles is the minimum operating voltage of embedded SRAM blocks.
StarTech.com Launches its USB 3.0 to HDMI and USB 3.0 to VGA Display Adapters
StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts has announced the release of the USB 3.0 to HDMI/DVI Adapter (SKU: USB32HDE) and USB 3.0 to VGA Adapter (SKU: USB32VGAE), which leverage the high-bandwidth (5 Gbps) SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface to deliver smooth, high resolution content to your HDMI/DVI-capable display (HDMI to DVI Adapter included), or VGA display, respectively.
The new USB 3.0 video adapters function as external graphics cards that can be used to extend a desktop to double your workspace for increased productivity, or mirror a primary desktop, showing the same image on each display.
The new USB 3.0 video adapters function as external graphics cards that can be used to extend a desktop to double your workspace for increased productivity, or mirror a primary desktop, showing the same image on each display.
Zalman Enters Graphics Card Business, Starts Selling AMD Radeon
Korean company Zalman, known more for its innovative PC air cooling solutions, PSUs, and cases, entered the graphics card business. The company is now an AMD Radeon add-in board (AIB) partner, and started its lineup off with some upper-mainstream models. It makes perfect sense for Zalman to enter this business, as it holds some expertise with high-end graphics card cooling solutions. Zalman can source PCBs from any of the major foundries such as PC Partner, Hightech Information Systems, or TUL, and assemble its coolers on top of them. Zalman's first three graphics cards are based on Radeon HD 6870, HD 6850, and HD 6770, with AMD reference clock speeds. What markets Zalman will target its new graphics card lineup with, is not known.
HP's Folio 13 Ultrabook Goes on Sale
Top PC vendor HP has now begun selling its first-generation ultrabook, the business-oriented Folio 13. This new mobile machine is just 0.7-inch (18mm) thick but has a battery life of up to 9.5 hours and can boot up its pre-installed OS (Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional, 64-bit only) in a matter of seconds.
The Folio 13 starts at $899.99 and features a full-size backlit keyboard, a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) BrightView LED display, a 1.6 GHz Core i5-2467M processor, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB solid state drive.
The Folio 13 starts at $899.99 and features a full-size backlit keyboard, a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) BrightView LED display, a 1.6 GHz Core i5-2467M processor, Intel HD Graphics 3000, 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB solid state drive.
AMD Expands A-Series Line with Seven New Mobile APUs
In addition to introducing the 'new' Radeon HD 7000M mobile GPUs, AMD has this week updated its A-Series family of APUs (accelerated processing units) by adding to it no less than seven models specifically targeting the mobile segment. All seven chips are manufactured using 32nm process technology and should keep laptops makers (relatively) happy until Trinity lands in the first half of 2012.
AMD Radeon HD 7400M, HD 7500M, and HD 7600M Released
Over the week, AMD launched three of the first notebook GPUs in the Radeon HD 7000 series in a bid to stay competitive in the notebook GPU market, even if it means re-branding already launched GPUs like NVIDIA did, with its recent GeForce 600M series launch. The newly [re]launched mGPUs include Radeon HD 7400M, HD 7500M, and HD 7600M. The three are based on current-generation Caicos and Turks GPUs.
The HD 7400M is based on the "Caicos" silicon, featuring 160 stream processors, 8 TMUs, 4 ROPs, and a 64-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The HD 7500M and HD 7600M are based on the "Turks" silicon, the HD 7500M features 480 stream processors, 24 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and 64-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface (more economical with lower number of memory chips, while offering the same performance as 128-bit DDR3); while the HD 7600M features all the features of the HD 7500M, including the full 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface.
The HD 7400M is based on the "Caicos" silicon, featuring 160 stream processors, 8 TMUs, 4 ROPs, and a 64-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The HD 7500M and HD 7600M are based on the "Turks" silicon, the HD 7500M features 480 stream processors, 24 TMUs, 8 ROPs, and 64-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface (more economical with lower number of memory chips, while offering the same performance as 128-bit DDR3); while the HD 7600M features all the features of the HD 7500M, including the full 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface.
XQD Memory Card Format Announced, Promises 125+ MB/s Speeds
Ready or not, here it comes, a brand new memory card format courtesy of the CompactFlash Association (CFA). Named XQD, the new card makes use of a PCI-Express interface (2.5 Gbps for starters, 5 Gbps in the future), features a durable casing that measures 38.5 x 29.8 x 3.8 mm (for comparison, a CompactFlash card is 43 × 36 × 5 mm while an SD card is 32 × 24 × 2.1 mm), and aims to deliver write speeds of 125 MB/s (and higher in future iterations).
"The XQD format will enable further evolution of hardware and imaging applications, and widen the memory card options available to CompactFlash users such as professional photographers," said Mr. Shigeto Kanda of Canon, chairman of the board, CFA. XQD memory cards are set to be showcased at CP+ 2012 (February 9-12) in Yokohama, Japan but it's still uncertain when we'll see them in stores. Licensing of this new format will begin in early 2012 so products supporting it should come later in the year.
"The XQD format will enable further evolution of hardware and imaging applications, and widen the memory card options available to CompactFlash users such as professional photographers," said Mr. Shigeto Kanda of Canon, chairman of the board, CFA. XQD memory cards are set to be showcased at CP+ 2012 (February 9-12) in Yokohama, Japan but it's still uncertain when we'll see them in stores. Licensing of this new format will begin in early 2012 so products supporting it should come later in the year.
SuperTalent Enters Pro-Enthusiast SSD Market with TeraNova Series
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND Flash storage solutions, today announces their fastest 2.5" SSD to date, the SATA3 TeraNova. Targeted at the Pro/Enthusiast seeking extreme performance, the TeraNova is the fastest 2.5" SSD that SuperTalent has released to date. Featuring the SATA3 Interface and SandForce 2200 processor with optimized firmware, the SuperTalent TeraNova was built for speed.
By optimizing the transfer rate at various queue depths, the TeraNova delivers excellent performance in a variety of different conditions. Sure the TeraNova boots quickly and posts outstanding benchmark scores (over 500 MB/s for both read and write), but the TeraNova also excels in general responsiveness. Industry standard applications like Photoshop, Premier, Maya and 3DS Max, load, render and perform much faster when compared to countless other SSDs available on the market. The TeraNova also includes new features that enhance reliability as well. In the event of a sudden power loss, the TeraNova reacts, protecting valuable data from corruption before it powers off.
By optimizing the transfer rate at various queue depths, the TeraNova delivers excellent performance in a variety of different conditions. Sure the TeraNova boots quickly and posts outstanding benchmark scores (over 500 MB/s for both read and write), but the TeraNova also excels in general responsiveness. Industry standard applications like Photoshop, Premier, Maya and 3DS Max, load, render and perform much faster when compared to countless other SSDs available on the market. The TeraNova also includes new features that enhance reliability as well. In the event of a sudden power loss, the TeraNova reacts, protecting valuable data from corruption before it powers off.
GlacialTech Launches V-Shield VX and SnowPad N2 Laptop Cooling Pads
The new GlacialTech Cooling Pad is the best way to keep your laptop cool. In order to achieve the best cooling performance, GlacialTech redesigned SnowPad series cooling pad in the title of N2 & VX which fit laptop of 15.6" and below to include multiple air inlets and the ultra-silent fan which increase airflow for better cooling and the patented wave design also enhances best cooling performance. The ergonomic design is accompanied by two different height setting to provide maximum comfort to the user.
The SnowPad Series are full range metal surface designed. The Anti-slip rubber pads of the N2 series prevent the notebooks from sliding. The N2 series looks Arc shape and the surface is made of super metal and it is directly powered through the users' notebooks and includes the ON/OFF switch.
The SnowPad Series are full range metal surface designed. The Anti-slip rubber pads of the N2 series prevent the notebooks from sliding. The N2 series looks Arc shape and the surface is made of super metal and it is directly powered through the users' notebooks and includes the ON/OFF switch.
Wednesday, December 7th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Mouse
Notebooks
PSUs
Streacom FC5 OD & Streacom ST-150WP Review
There are very few cases out there, which allow you to cool the CPU passively. Of those most only allow for Mini-ITX boards to be installed. Streacom breaks that tradition by offering the FC5 OD, able to take a mATX board and three 2.5 hard drives, while still offering enough cooling power to keep modern, high-performance CPUs cool. Can the 250 Euro enclosure deliver on all these promises and stand the heat?
Thermaltake Commander MS-I USB 3.0 Review
The Commander MS-I case is the most affordable of the new cases from Thermaltake. With the choice between a model with two USB 2.0 and one with a mix consisting of a single 2.0 and a single 3.0 connector at the same price point, it is interesting to see what difference such a feature makes in terms of alternatives and placement in the crowded sub 50 US Dollar range.
Windows 8 'Irrelevant' For PC Users
Well, it looks like the Windows 8 flagship feature, the Metro interface, isn't going down too well with PC users, according to leading market research firm International Data Corp. On top of that, there aren't really any killer improvements in the operating system that make shelling out for a new version compelling. The Metro interface, while suited to a smartphone or tablet, really doesn't do anything for a desktop PC, because it's operation is very restrictive compared to the standard desktop that's been around for over 15 years on Windows and is now a very refined and sophisticated user interface. Also, the fact that many organizations have only recently migrated to Windows 7 and are not looking to spend money in the current economic climate and go through the pains of another upgrade cycle again isn't helping. The poor economy looks like it will hamper sales of Windows 8 on its target devices, tablets, too. Finally, IDC said: "(T)here will be intense scrutiny on Microsoft's ability to deliver a successful tablet experience aboard both x86-based tablets and on devices running ARM processors. This is a tall order for Microsoft, and while the x86 tablet strategy makes sense as a transitional solution for today's PC users, it will be the ARM-based devices that need to shine and clear a high bar already set by Apple."
NVIDIA Quietly Intros First GeForce 600M graphics cards
Without so much of a stale press release, NVIDIA has today outed its very first GeForce 600M series mobile graphics cards. Unfortunately, there's not much to get excited about as the cards in question, named GeForce GT 635M, GT 630M and 610M, are based on the 40nm GPUs already used by the GeForce 500M line.
We don't want to point any fingers but the fact is the GeForce GT 635M, GT 630M and 610M strike an undeniable resemblance to the GeForce GT 555M/550M, GT 540M and GT 520M, respectively. No worries, AMD has done something similar with the first few cards in the Radeon HD 7000M series.
We don't want to point any fingers but the fact is the GeForce GT 635M, GT 630M and 610M strike an undeniable resemblance to the GeForce GT 555M/550M, GT 540M and GT 520M, respectively. No worries, AMD has done something similar with the first few cards in the Radeon HD 7000M series.
SiSoftware SANDRA 2012 Suite Released
SiSoftware are pleased to announce the launch of SiSoftware Sandra 2012, the latest version of our award-winning utility, which includes remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks.
At SiSoftware we operate on a "just-in-time" release cycle: we add features as soon as available and do not wait for the release of major versions of our software to include them. We observe the industry, predict where trends are going, and devise new ways to measure performance. SiSoftware works with all major hardware vendors to ensure we can accurately measure, report and present results in the most accurate and informative way.
At SiSoftware we operate on a "just-in-time" release cycle: we add features as soon as available and do not wait for the release of major versions of our software to include them. We observe the industry, predict where trends are going, and devise new ways to measure performance. SiSoftware works with all major hardware vendors to ensure we can accurately measure, report and present results in the most accurate and informative way.
ASUS Rampage IV Gene Detailed
Nearly a month after going all guns blazing into the Sandy Bridge-E LGA2011 market with the Rampage IV Extreme, ASUS is close to launching its premium Republic of Gamers motherboard in the micro-ATX form-factor, the ROG Rampage IV Gene. News of this board surfaced in mid-November along with details of Rampage IV Formula, but with close to no details, not even a picture to go on. Sweclockers scored an internal presentation by ASUS that details this new kid on the block.
The Rampage IV Gene could very well be the first micro-ATX motherboard that's designed to be 3-way SLI/CrossFire capable, with PCIe slots wired to the system's main root complex. Its top-half layout is similar to that of every other X79 motherboard, with the LGA2011 processor socket sitting between two sets of DDR3 DIMM slots. In this board, each set has just two slots, each with its own 64-bit wide memory path (channel) to the processor IMC. The processor is powered by an 8-phase Digi+ II VRM. The VRM makes use of compact DrMOS chips, that are cooled by two sets of heatsinks connected by a heat pipe.
The Rampage IV Gene could very well be the first micro-ATX motherboard that's designed to be 3-way SLI/CrossFire capable, with PCIe slots wired to the system's main root complex. Its top-half layout is similar to that of every other X79 motherboard, with the LGA2011 processor socket sitting between two sets of DDR3 DIMM slots. In this board, each set has just two slots, each with its own 64-bit wide memory path (channel) to the processor IMC. The processor is powered by an 8-phase Digi+ II VRM. The VRM makes use of compact DrMOS chips, that are cooled by two sets of heatsinks connected by a heat pipe.
Apple Suffers Setback in iPad Brand Name Dispute with Proview in Chinese Court
Barring the Mac, Apple's rather generic-sounding brand names have often invited trademark disputes. Be it Apple's now resolved dispute of the name "iPhone" with VoIP major Cisco, or its rather bizarre claim to the word "App" that was stonewalled by a variety of industry majors such as Amazon.com, which it is likely to lose. A relatively unheard of brand name dispute has been over the name "iPad", which Chinese company Proview Technology claims to have been holding since before the release of the popular tablet device.
The Shenzhen-based company got an immediate respite when the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court rejected Apple's claims to the iPad moniker. Apple had almost brokered a deal with the Taiwan branch of Proview, which the Shenzhen HQ rejected, sending the two in a legal tussle over the brand name. Proview claims to be holding the iPad brand name since the year 2000. Proview plans to take this minor yet significant legal victory forward in seeking an immediate halt of sales of iPad (at least in China), and about US $1.5 billion in damages from Apple, which it can appeal against the verdict in a higher court.
The Shenzhen-based company got an immediate respite when the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court rejected Apple's claims to the iPad moniker. Apple had almost brokered a deal with the Taiwan branch of Proview, which the Shenzhen HQ rejected, sending the two in a legal tussle over the brand name. Proview claims to be holding the iPad brand name since the year 2000. Proview plans to take this minor yet significant legal victory forward in seeking an immediate halt of sales of iPad (at least in China), and about US $1.5 billion in damages from Apple, which it can appeal against the verdict in a higher court.
Raptor Gaming Introduced the M4 Gaming Mouse
German peripheral maker Raptor Gaming Technology has this week announced its latest creation, a flagship gaming mouse called the 'M4' which features an ergonomic, right-handed design, an adjustable weight system, and a 6000 dpi laser sensor (users can adjust the resolution from 400 dpi to 6000 dpi, depending on their needs).
Raptor's new gaming mouse also has a Soft-Touch surface, six buttons, on-board memory to storing game profiles, a 2.5 meter cable, a gold-plated USB connector (500/1000 Hz polling rates are supported), and comes bundled with a wrist rest, the Raptor Mousebag XL, a weight bag with 16 weights (each weight is about 2 grams), and two sets of mouse sliders. This whole package is set to become available very soon (should be a matter of days) and will cost 79.90 Euro.
Raptor's new gaming mouse also has a Soft-Touch surface, six buttons, on-board memory to storing game profiles, a 2.5 meter cable, a gold-plated USB connector (500/1000 Hz polling rates are supported), and comes bundled with a wrist rest, the Raptor Mousebag XL, a weight bag with 16 weights (each weight is about 2 grams), and two sets of mouse sliders. This whole package is set to become available very soon (should be a matter of days) and will cost 79.90 Euro.
AMD Announces Fusion '12 Developer Summit
AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that AMD Fusion '12 will be held June 11-14, 2012 in Bellevue, Washington. The company's annual developer summit will return to the Meydenbauer Center and the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.
This event will build on the success of AMD Fusion '11, where more than 700 leaders from industry, academia, and government converged on the forefront of heterogeneous computing. The summit offers an engaging opportunity to learn more about next-generation software development and AMD Fusion System Architecture (FSA), Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology, central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) processor technologies, and programming methods using industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs) such as OpenCL, OpenGL, Microsoft DirectCompute and C++ AMP.
This event will build on the success of AMD Fusion '11, where more than 700 leaders from industry, academia, and government converged on the forefront of heterogeneous computing. The summit offers an engaging opportunity to learn more about next-generation software development and AMD Fusion System Architecture (FSA), Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology, central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) processor technologies, and programming methods using industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs) such as OpenCL, OpenGL, Microsoft DirectCompute and C++ AMP.
Senseg Develops New Revolutionary Haptic Touchscreen
Touchscreen display developer Senseg revealed prototypes of its haptic touchscreen displays. Simply put, these are displays that can reproduce the texture and "feel" of surfaces, apart from reproducing moving images. For example, it can reproduce the texture and feel of silk and rock. Senseg is calling its display "Feel Screen". The Feel Screen is already backed by a 4D display technology, in which images consist of "tixels" (pixel with touch-texture information). We've all probably been to 4D movies, in which apart from 3D visuals, a fourth dimension (usually physical effects). Think of compact haptic displays as being similar, only here the fourth dimension is touch texture.
How does it work? Feel Screen, like every touchscreen, could be a layered display at its lowermost layer is the LCD that displays visuals (capable of even stereo 3D), above that is a touchscreen layer, and above that, a haptic layer that generates mild electrostatic fields. Touch-textures are created by making and manipulating an attractive force between the finger and that electrostatic field. The screen can reproduce surface textures and create the sensation of vibrations. Sounds too Sci-Fi? Well, Senseg stated that it will be able to mass produce displays based on this technology in 2012, which will then market by 2013. Senseg owns all patents related to this unique technology. Some of the most valuable ones could be related to how Senseg went about designing its electrostatic haptic layer to prevent it from interfering with the capacitive touchscreen layer. Please don't evaporate.
How does it work? Feel Screen, like every touchscreen, could be a layered display at its lowermost layer is the LCD that displays visuals (capable of even stereo 3D), above that is a touchscreen layer, and above that, a haptic layer that generates mild electrostatic fields. Touch-textures are created by making and manipulating an attractive force between the finger and that electrostatic field. The screen can reproduce surface textures and create the sensation of vibrations. Sounds too Sci-Fi? Well, Senseg stated that it will be able to mass produce displays based on this technology in 2012, which will then market by 2013. Senseg owns all patents related to this unique technology. Some of the most valuable ones could be related to how Senseg went about designing its electrostatic haptic layer to prevent it from interfering with the capacitive touchscreen layer. Please don't evaporate.
SilverStone Debuts the TS06 External ODD Enclosure/Storage Tray Combo for Notebooks
SilverStone Technology has now introduced the Treasure TS06, a brand new storage accessory for notebook users which includes an external enclosure supporting one 12.7mm optical drive, and a drive bay converter which allows you to for add an extra 2.5-inch (9.5mm) solid state drive, hard drive, or hybrid drive to a laptop.
The enclosure measures 132 (W) x 17 (H) x 140 (D) mm, has a diamond pattern on its exterior, and comes with a retractable USB 2.0 cable, while the converter bay is 128 (W) x 13(H) x 128 (D) mm, and includes one blue LED showing drive read/write access and a 13pin slim SATA port.
The Treasure TS06 is now shipping and has a recommended retail price tag of 19.50 Euro (VAT not included).
The enclosure measures 132 (W) x 17 (H) x 140 (D) mm, has a diamond pattern on its exterior, and comes with a retractable USB 2.0 cable, while the converter bay is 128 (W) x 13(H) x 128 (D) mm, and includes one blue LED showing drive read/write access and a 13pin slim SATA port.
The Treasure TS06 is now shipping and has a recommended retail price tag of 19.50 Euro (VAT not included).
LG Joins the Ultrabook Club, Unveils the Xnote Z330
The ultrabook supporters club has grown some more recently as LG Electronics decided to adopt this form factor and release the Xnote Z330, an Intel-based mobile PC that weights just 1.21kg and is 14.7mm thick.
LG's first ultrabook comes with a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display boasting a super-thin bezel (8mm), is powered by a Core i5-2467M (1.6 GHz) or Core i7-2637M (1.7 GHz) processor, and can boot up in 9.9 seconds.
LG's first ultrabook comes with a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display boasting a super-thin bezel (8mm), is powered by a Core i5-2467M (1.6 GHz) or Core i7-2637M (1.7 GHz) processor, and can boot up in 9.9 seconds.
Fusion-io Runs Equivalent of All Global Credit Card Transactions from a Single Server
Fusion-io recently announced that its VSL software subsystem and four 1.2 TB Fusion ioDrive2s integrated into a single 64-core AMD Server were able to achieve 1.11 million transactions per second in a Microsoft SQL Server database. The demonstration delivered the data throughput projected to be required to run all credit card transactions on the planet, underlining new solutions for powering efficiency in retail data processing as the 2011 holiday shopping season kicks off with record sales.
"Today's modern CPUs cannot be fed data fast enough with old approaches to application architecture," said Thomas Kejser, SQL Server Customer Advisory Team enterprise database specialist. "To fully leverage the possibilities of the NAND flash revolution in a way that utilizes the hardware, IT professionals need to understand the properties of what we use to build our systems. For example, low latency architecture that uses NAND flash as part of the memory hierarchy helps avoid bottlenecks by integrating close to the CPU for low latency application performance, which is why Fusion-io was selected for this high scale demonstration."
"Today's modern CPUs cannot be fed data fast enough with old approaches to application architecture," said Thomas Kejser, SQL Server Customer Advisory Team enterprise database specialist. "To fully leverage the possibilities of the NAND flash revolution in a way that utilizes the hardware, IT professionals need to understand the properties of what we use to build our systems. For example, low latency architecture that uses NAND flash as part of the memory hierarchy helps avoid bottlenecks by integrating close to the CPU for low latency application performance, which is why Fusion-io was selected for this high scale demonstration."
Microsoft Talks Windows App Store, Sets Windows 8 Beta Release for February 2012
Yesterday at a developer/preview event in San Francisco, Microsoft Corp. has provided the first real details on the Windows app store and 'slipped' out the fact that the Windows 8 Beta will be outed in late February 2012. The Windows Store will debut in the upcoming beta release and is set to be the 'single source' of Metro-style apps.
Built using HTML5 and JavaScript, the Windows Store app boasts a fluid, easy-to-navigate interface that promotes the latest and most popular apps, and is scheduled to be available in 231 countries, supporting no less than 100 languages.
Built using HTML5 and JavaScript, the Windows Store app boasts a fluid, easy-to-navigate interface that promotes the latest and most popular apps, and is scheduled to be available in 231 countries, supporting no less than 100 languages.
Art. Lebedev Optimus Popularis Detailed, Mini Six Up For Pre-Order
Russian studio Art. Lebedev detailed the latest iteration of its super-keyboard, the Optimus Popularis. The studio also put up its newest creation, the Mini Six, up for pre-order. The Optimus Popularis is, as its makers put it, "a million keyboards in one". Each of its keys has a sharp color LCD display. Backed by its key design and function software (for Mac and Windows), users can pretty-much come up with their own unique key-sets. The software includes hundreds of key designs, more can be downloaded.
The design also allows users to change languages on-the-fly, as the keyboard morphs its key-set with OS IME changes. Each key can further be used to display a specific applet (such as graphs, "live buttons" that link to Facebook or GMail, displaying unread updates/mail. Further, between its main key cluster and its topmost row, is a display bar that can be used by applets and gadgets. The Optimus Popularis is no more a concept, it can be purchased for the equivalent of US $1,086. The studio also put a six-key micro-keyboard, the Mini Six, for pre-order, priced at $376.
The design also allows users to change languages on-the-fly, as the keyboard morphs its key-set with OS IME changes. Each key can further be used to display a specific applet (such as graphs, "live buttons" that link to Facebook or GMail, displaying unread updates/mail. Further, between its main key cluster and its topmost row, is a display bar that can be used by applets and gadgets. The Optimus Popularis is no more a concept, it can be purchased for the equivalent of US $1,086. The studio also put a six-key micro-keyboard, the Mini Six, for pre-order, priced at $376.
Super Talent Introduces Quad-Channel, Quad Rank DDR3 RDIMMs
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND flash storage solutions, today announces a new line of 1333 MHz, quad rank registered DDR3 RDIMM modules for servers. Today's new motherboards that support the new 16 core processors, now require a new type of RDIMMs, quad-channel DDR3. On the heels of their single and dual rank RDIMMs, Super Talent is pleased to announce a new Quad-Rank Module for those who require even more DRAM capacity.
At 8 GB per module, today's servers can now support a maximum of 128 GB of RAM. These modules have passed vigorous testing using the new AMD Interlagos compatible motherboards and even support fully loaded configurations at speeds up to 1066 MHz. If you're deploying a new server and have been looking for RDIMMs to deliver maximum performance and capacity, you owe it to yourself to call SuperTalent. Products available and shipping now. Part Number: W13RC8G8x - 8GB RDIMM Module.
At 8 GB per module, today's servers can now support a maximum of 128 GB of RAM. These modules have passed vigorous testing using the new AMD Interlagos compatible motherboards and even support fully loaded configurations at speeds up to 1066 MHz. If you're deploying a new server and have been looking for RDIMMs to deliver maximum performance and capacity, you owe it to yourself to call SuperTalent. Products available and shipping now. Part Number: W13RC8G8x - 8GB RDIMM Module.
Tuesday, December 6th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Harddisks
Memory
Motherboards
Notebooks
PSUs
SSD
Silicon Power Diamond D05 750GB USB 3.0 Review
The Silicon Power Diamond D05 aims to combine the stylish look and feel of brushed Aluminum with a good price/performance ratio. We take a look a the unit to see if all that shines is golden, or if the D05 is just a dull performer.
R&D: IBM's Racetrack Memory, Data Storage At Superfast DRAM Speeds
Racetrack memory, is a new type of magnetic memory that has magnetic domains "racing" along tiny nanometer sized wires, giving performance similar to conventional DRAM. Invented by IBM Fellow, Stuart Parkin, it has been in development since about 2004, with a working prototype having now been unveiled containing 256 "racetrack" cells, each containing a single wire. The technology works by sending very fast electric pulses down these wires, measured in nanoseconds, which transmit very fast moving magnetic domains which are then read by a magnetic head either as a one or a zero, depending on their direction. IBM said in a statement: "This breakthrough could lead to a new type of data-centric computing that allows massive amounts of stored information to be accessed in less than a billionth of a second."
AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series Single-GPU Graphics Card Price-Points Surface
AMD is on course to releasing its latest "Southern Islands" GPU family, and a fleet of desktop graphics card SKUs based on it, which will be led by a new high-performance GPU, codenamed "Tahiti", which will make up Radeon HD 7900 series; followed by performance GPU "Pitcairn", on which HD 7800 series will be based; "Thames" and "Lombok" making up the rest of the lineup. According to a report by DonanimHaber, HD 7970 (working name) is expected to be competitive with (or outperform) GeForce GTX 580, and priced at US $499. The HD 7950 will be competitive with (again, or outperform) GeForce GTX 570, being priced at US $399.
Things get interesting with Pitcairn, which is the successor of "Barts". This performance GPU is designed for sweet-spot SKUs, such as HD 7870 and HD 7850, which will be competitive with GeForce GTX 560 Ti / GTX 560, and priced at US $299 and $199, respectively. The Radeon HD 7670 will be particularly expensive, priced at US $179, followed by HD 7650 at $119. Further, it was reported that HD 7970 and HD 7950 will have a standard memory size of 3 GB.
Things get interesting with Pitcairn, which is the successor of "Barts". This performance GPU is designed for sweet-spot SKUs, such as HD 7870 and HD 7850, which will be competitive with GeForce GTX 560 Ti / GTX 560, and priced at US $299 and $199, respectively. The Radeon HD 7670 will be particularly expensive, priced at US $179, followed by HD 7650 at $119. Further, it was reported that HD 7970 and HD 7950 will have a standard memory size of 3 GB.
Club 3D Announces GeForce GTX 560 Ti CoolStream with 2 GB Memory
Club 3D announced its newest performance-segment graphics card, the GTX 560 Ti CoolStream with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory (model: CGNX-XT5648). Based on the 40 nm GF-114 silicon, this card features 384 CUDA cores, and makes use of 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, double the standard memory amount, across a 256-bit wide memory interface. It sports a compact in-house PCB design by Club 3D, and is cooled by an in-house dual-fan cooling solution that makes use of heat pipes to convey heat through stacks of aluminum fins, which are then ventilated by two 80 mm fans.
The card features clock speeds of 822 MHz core, 1644 MHz CUDA cores, and 1002 MHz (4008 MHz effective) memory, sticking to NVIDIA reference speeds. The card is 2-way SLI capable, draws power from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, and its display outputs include two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The new Club 3D GeForce GTX 560 Ti CoolStream 2 GB is expected to be priced at €245 or US $329, including taxes. Club 3D will also launch a special edition of this card that includes a license of Battlefield 3. The Battlefield 3 Edition variant will be priced at €265 or $355, including taxes.
The card features clock speeds of 822 MHz core, 1644 MHz CUDA cores, and 1002 MHz (4008 MHz effective) memory, sticking to NVIDIA reference speeds. The card is 2-way SLI capable, draws power from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors, and its display outputs include two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The new Club 3D GeForce GTX 560 Ti CoolStream 2 GB is expected to be priced at €245 or US $329, including taxes. Club 3D will also launch a special edition of this card that includes a license of Battlefield 3. The Battlefield 3 Edition variant will be priced at €265 or $355, including taxes.
Samsung Plans New Flash Memory Plant to Fuel Industry Growth
Flash memory major Samsung announced plans to build a new flash memory plant in China to meet growing demands by mobile computing device manufacturers in the coming years. The new manufacturing plant will be built at a cost of over US $4 billion, Samsung hopes it will fuel the $22 billion flash memory industry's growth next year. When operationalised, the new flash memory plant will be Samsung's second outside South Korea.
The NAND flash memory industry is seeing exceptional growth at 20%, it will be worth $26 billion next year. President of Samsung's memory business, Jun Dong-soo, said in a statement "[The new factory] will enable us to meet fast growing demand from our customers and at the same time strengthen our overall competitiveness in the memory industry."
The NAND flash memory industry is seeing exceptional growth at 20%, it will be worth $26 billion next year. President of Samsung's memory business, Jun Dong-soo, said in a statement "[The new factory] will enable us to meet fast growing demand from our customers and at the same time strengthen our overall competitiveness in the memory industry."
Intel and Micron develop first-ever 128 Gb NAND Flash memory chip
Flash buddies Intel and Micron have today announced a significant breakthrough in terms of NAND density, the first 128 Gb (16 GB) MLC NAND memory chip. Manufactured on 20 nm process technology, this 128 Gb chip complies with the ONFI 3.0 specification (enabling speeds of up to 333 megatransfers per second) and can be used for new, high-capacity solid state drives, as well as for next-generation tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.
According to Intel and Micron, this milestone was made possible by the use of a new, innovative cell structure that 'breaks the scaling constraints of the standard NAND floating gate cell by integrating the first Hi-K/metal gate stack on NAND production.'
According to Intel and Micron, this milestone was made possible by the use of a new, innovative cell structure that 'breaks the scaling constraints of the standard NAND floating gate cell by integrating the first Hi-K/metal gate stack on NAND production.'
Cornered Indian Ruling Party Proposes Internet and Social Media Censorship à-la China
India's United Progressive Alliance government is mulling censorship of the internet à-la China, to filter out any content that speaks against members of the ruling party. India's multi-partisan democracy is increasingly making use of the web as a medium of political discourse and exchange, something that only works to make voters more informed. Union minister of IT and Telecommunications Kapil Sibal kicked off a storm this week when he announced that he is in talks with representatives of search engines and social networking websites, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Microsoft to work out a censorship model that filters content that "unfairly maligns" the government. Apart from anti-government content, the government is concerned about hateful or "blasphemous" content, which could disturb communal harmony. "Some of the content which is being carried is blasphemous. This can hurt religious sentiments and it has to be removed," Sibal said.
Google, fresh out of a censorship and GMail espionage tussle with China, stated that it will not remove any content from its search results that are legal, merely on grounds of being "controversial". "We work really hard to both follow the law and also give people as much access to information as we can. So we follow the law when it comes to illegal content. And even where content is legal but breaks our own terms and conditions we take that down too, once we've been notified about it," said Google in a statement. "When content is legal but controversial we don't remove it because people's differing views should be respected, so long as they are legal."
Google, fresh out of a censorship and GMail espionage tussle with China, stated that it will not remove any content from its search results that are legal, merely on grounds of being "controversial". "We work really hard to both follow the law and also give people as much access to information as we can. So we follow the law when it comes to illegal content. And even where content is legal but breaks our own terms and conditions we take that down too, once we've been notified about it," said Google in a statement. "When content is legal but controversial we don't remove it because people's differing views should be respected, so long as they are legal."
Phoenix Technologies Working on SCT 2.2 System Firmware for Windows 8
BIOS developer Phoenix Technologies announced its latest SecureCore Tiano (SCT) version 2.2 UEFI firmware that will be designed for PCs running Windows 8 operating system. The desktop client motherboard BIOS industry is currently dominated by AMI with its AMIBIOS and AMI-UEFI solutions, although Phoenix' AwardBIOS is still found on certain channel PC motherboards. It's with mobile computing devices that Phoenix' firmware solutions get a lot more prevelent. SCT 2.2 is looking to mark the company's bid to return to competitiveness in the PC motherboard BIOS market.
SecureCore Tiano 2.2 is a UEFI BIOS/firmware that conforms to UEFI 2.3.1 specifications, TCG 2.0, 1.2 (Trusted Computing Group) specifications, ACPI 4.0 and 5.0, SMBIOS 2.7, NIST-SP800-147, and USB 3.0 native, making it a feature-packed solution. In addition to Windows on x86 PC platforms (Win32, Win64, WoW64), Phoenix will develop firmware support for the upcoming Windows on ARM (WoA) platform. It is collaborating with ARM majors Qualcomm and Texas Instruments in this regard.
SecureCore Tiano 2.2 is a UEFI BIOS/firmware that conforms to UEFI 2.3.1 specifications, TCG 2.0, 1.2 (Trusted Computing Group) specifications, ACPI 4.0 and 5.0, SMBIOS 2.7, NIST-SP800-147, and USB 3.0 native, making it a feature-packed solution. In addition to Windows on x86 PC platforms (Win32, Win64, WoW64), Phoenix will develop firmware support for the upcoming Windows on ARM (WoA) platform. It is collaborating with ARM majors Qualcomm and Texas Instruments in this regard.
HP Starts Listing Notebooks with Radeon HD 7600M Graphics
PC major HP made a slight slip, disclosing AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7000M series GPUs as options available for some of its notebooks. These are the first public disclosures of a 28 nm GPU. The new options that had been made available were Radeon HD 7670M, and Radeon HD 7690M, both based on the "Thames-XT" GPU. The Thames-XT GPU is built on the 28 nm process, and features current-generation VLIW4 stream processors, a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and is DirectX 11 compliant. AMD unveiled this GPU at a press event in London on the 5th.
New Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop Ruggedized For Students and Schools
Lenovo announced today the ThinkPad X130e laptop, specially ruggedized for education and with the features needed to help students in grades K-12 and their schools get the most out of their PC technology. Equipped with the advanced technology expected for an educational laptop, the ThinkPad X130e comes with choices of the latest Intel or AMD processors and fast, integrated graphics as well as wireless connectivity and multimedia tools for today's digital learning. Designed to be handled by kids, the ThinkPad X130e has a reinforced and extra durable top cover, keyboard and hinges. Schools will also like its performance, reliability and customizable options including asset tags, BIOS modifications, custom imaging and a broad selection of custom colors.
GlacialTech Launches Exciting & Elegant N1 / H2 SnowPad Series Laptop Cooling Pads
The new GlacialTech Cooling Pad is the best way to keep your laptop cool. In order to achieve the best cooling performance, GlacialTech redesigned SnowPad series cooling Pad in the title of N1/ H2 which is compatible with 17"and smaller notebook / computers to include a multi air inlet and ultra - silent fan for super air flow and gives best cooling performance. The USB-powered Cooling Pad can be used comfortably on a desk or in your lap. The SnowPad Series have high quality and full range metal mesh design that looks good in any home or office and allows fast and efficient heat dissipation. The mesh pattern can help it work more efficiently and smoothly while its back props the pad (and your notebook) up at about a perfect-degree angle, both to increase airflow and to give users a better typing position. The Anti-slip design ensures the notebook safety and prevents the notebook from sliding.
Monday, December 5th 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Motherboards
Mousepads
Multimedia
Processors
PSUs
Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Review
The Thermaltake Overseer RX-I is positioned just below the Chaser chassis. It costs slightly less, is slightly smaller, but still has a very similar feature set. We take a close look if there is more to it than meets the eye or if the Overseer RX-I offers the same price/performance value as its bigger counterpart.
DMCA: The Push For Console And Tablet Jailbreak Exemptions Begin
Last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) successfully lobbied to make the jailbreaking of smartphones a legal exemption in the DMCA, much to the displeasure of Steve Jobs, who wanted to keep total control over what users could do with their expensive gadgets, but no longer could. Now, in a totally unsurprising and welcome move for ordinary consumers everywhere, the EFF have explained in a press release what the DMCA was supposed to do, how it can be misused and what they plan to do about it:
Intel Has 14 nm Test Circuits In The Lab, Limited Teaser Info Released
Nordic Hardware has scored an exclusive interview with Pat Bliemer, Managing Director of Intel Northern Europe to discuss the technology following on from the 22 nm one used in the upcoming Ivy Bridge processors. Unfortunately, Bliemer was light on the technical details of this technology and didn't say when it would see the light of day, except to say that it will make fuller use of the Tri-Gate tech being used in the Ivy Bridge processors and that test circuits are running.
We need to keep going and you can trust me that in our labs we actually have the next generation after 22nm running, so we need to keep going.[...]I cannot really disclose more about that other than that in a laboratory-environment, absolutely we do have the path, our engineers do have the path to actually go and produce 14nm products. There are many variables that you can play with of course it is not the right name for it and the engineers would not like it when I say play, that you can influence to actually go and stay to that model. And I think the breakthrough we had now with the 3D metal gates, just the design of the gate will actually allow for much more efficient thermals and power.Back in July, we looked even further ahead and reported that Intel aims to have 10 nm-based processors by 2018 and that the 14 nm tech is due for release around 2014. Watch this space.
Verbatim Announces Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard for Tablets
Verbatim, the global leader in data storage technology, has just announced its new Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard is now shipping to retailers nationwide. Designed to work with iPads, iPhones and other Bluetooth-enabled tablets with HID keyboard support, this thin, portable keyboard delivers a more familiar typing method to touchscreen users. By offering a quick and easy way to compose e-mails and other important documents on-the-go, the Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard enhances productivity and efficiency anywhere.
"The Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard is all about giving our customers the freedom to be mobile," said Ron Hanafin, Verbatim Product Manager, Accessories & Peripherals. "For on-the-go business professionals, for students working on a late-night term paper at the local coffee shop or for the everyday lifestyle blogger, this portable accessory is the perfect travel companion."
"The Ultra-Slim Bluetooth Keyboard is all about giving our customers the freedom to be mobile," said Ron Hanafin, Verbatim Product Manager, Accessories & Peripherals. "For on-the-go business professionals, for students working on a late-night term paper at the local coffee shop or for the everyday lifestyle blogger, this portable accessory is the perfect travel companion."
Acer Announces HR274H 27-inch 3D LED Monitor
Acer America Corp., the number one provider of 3D displays worldwide(1), today introduced the Acer HR274H, a 27-inch 3D monitor featuring new advances in 3D technology. Featuring Acer's innovative chip-based solution, the new monitor can convert any 2D content to 3D, allowing anyone to watch their favorite movies, videos, photos and games in 3D.
With crystal clear 1920 x 1080 resolution, it is the ideal monitor for advanced 1080p full HD gaming on a PC, Blu-ray Disc console gaming, widescreen movie playback and multimedia and productivity applications.
With crystal clear 1920 x 1080 resolution, it is the ideal monitor for advanced 1080p full HD gaming on a PC, Blu-ray Disc console gaming, widescreen movie playback and multimedia and productivity applications.
AMD A8-3870K and A6-3670K up for Pre-Order
Later this month, AMD will finally launch its much overdue unlocked A8 and A6 series APUs in the FM1 package, that are geared for overclocking. The A8-3870K is clocked at 3.00 GHz, and the A6-3670K at 2.60 GHz. The two are quad-core APUs, and differ by the core clock speeds and integrated GPUs. While the A8-3870K packs Radeon HD 6550D graphics with 400 stream processors, the A6-3670K has Radeon HD 6530D graphics with 320 stream processors. The two were listed for pre-order on ShopBLT, with the A8-3870K priced at US $143.77, and the A6-3670K at $121.50. It is expected that prices of A8-3850 and A6-3650 will drop after the launch of these two chips.
Transcend Announces StoreJet Cloud Wireless Portable HDD
Transcend announced the launch of its new StoreJet Cloud Wireless Portable Drive. Featuring small dimensions, long-lasting battery, and capacity of up to 64GB, the portable StoreJet Cloud significantly extends the storage space available on Apple iOS and other Wi-Fi enabled devices. Photos, documents, eBooks, music, and movies are accessed via a dedicated wireless network, providing much-needed freedom from cables.
StoreJet Cloud offers support to the capacity limitations of mobile devices and presents an excellent value alternative to the ongoing expense and coverage demands of Internet storage. By physically storing media with flash-based technology, StoreJet Cloud can provide a further 28 hours of DVD quality movies or 16,000 songs in a small and lightweight design, as well as skip-free playback in an instant. When connected to a computer, StoreJet Cloud acts like any other portable drive. Simply drag and drop files from the computer into personalized folders for straightforward file management.
StoreJet Cloud offers support to the capacity limitations of mobile devices and presents an excellent value alternative to the ongoing expense and coverage demands of Internet storage. By physically storing media with flash-based technology, StoreJet Cloud can provide a further 28 hours of DVD quality movies or 16,000 songs in a small and lightweight design, as well as skip-free playback in an instant. When connected to a computer, StoreJet Cloud acts like any other portable drive. Simply drag and drop files from the computer into personalized folders for straightforward file management.
AMD Working On Radeon HD 6930 Graphics Card
AMD is reportedly working on a new Radeon HD 6900 series single-GPU graphics card based on the "Cayman" silicon, the Radeon HD 6930. This SKU will be designed to make things very competitive for the non-Ti GeForce GTX 560 from NVIDIA. In its most recent salvo, NVIDIA launched a limited edition GeForce GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, targeting select markets in the winter shopping season. Tests showed it to be very competitive with HD 6950 and HD 6970, and is priced accordingly, at $289. AMD's new SKU will be designed to heat things up in the sub-$200 market where GTX 560 non-Ti and HD 6870 are trading blows.
Carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, the GPU in its HD 6930 configuration will carry the codename "Cayman-CE". It will feature 1280 advanced VLIW4 stream processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface that will hold 1 GB of memory. The core will be clocked at 750 MHz, and the memory at 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz effective). Most AIBs will reuse their cost-effective HD 6950 1 GB board designs with the new SKUs. The new Radeon HD 6930 is expected to be priced around $180.
Carved out of the 40 nm "Cayman" silicon, the GPU in its HD 6930 configuration will carry the codename "Cayman-CE". It will feature 1280 advanced VLIW4 stream processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface that will hold 1 GB of memory. The core will be clocked at 750 MHz, and the memory at 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz effective). Most AIBs will reuse their cost-effective HD 6950 1 GB board designs with the new SKUs. The new Radeon HD 6930 is expected to be priced around $180.
Intel SSD 520 Series SandForce-Driven, Launch Very Soon
Although Intel has its SSD 510 series to target the high-end client market segment, it's available in very few capacities, and is facing tough competition from "SandForce-Driven" SSDs (SSDs that use SandForce-made controllers). In 2012, Intel will give its SSD lineup a large-scale revamp, which includes the gradual replacement of SSD 510 series with new SSD 520 "Cherryville" series. Targeting the same high-end client segment, SSD 520 will be available in a wider variety of capacities that includes 60 GB, 120 GB, 180 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB.
We are now getting to learn through a fresh report by TheSSDReview, the idea behind SSD 520: that Intel wants to use SandForce SSD processors. The new drives feature transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads, 520 MB/s writes, 70,000 IOPS 4K random write throughput, and overprovisioned capacities consistent with most SandForce-driven SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs in the market. SSD 520 should hence provide the best of both worlds: the trust Intel brand brings to the table with a possible secret-sauce firmware; and the high-performance of SandForce controllers. Intel's SSD 510 uses a Marvell-made controller, many of its previous generation SSDs have used its in-house SSD controllers. TheSSDReview reports that the launch of these drives is imminent.
We are now getting to learn through a fresh report by TheSSDReview, the idea behind SSD 520: that Intel wants to use SandForce SSD processors. The new drives feature transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads, 520 MB/s writes, 70,000 IOPS 4K random write throughput, and overprovisioned capacities consistent with most SandForce-driven SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs in the market. SSD 520 should hence provide the best of both worlds: the trust Intel brand brings to the table with a possible secret-sauce firmware; and the high-performance of SandForce controllers. Intel's SSD 510 uses a Marvell-made controller, many of its previous generation SSDs have used its in-house SSD controllers. TheSSDReview reports that the launch of these drives is imminent.
Cooler Master Announces CM Elite 431 Plus ATX Mid-Tower Chassis
Cooler Master, an industry leading chassis, thermal solution, power supply, peripheral, and accessory manufacturer, today announced the Elite 431 Plus. This new mid-tower case brings premium case features to a mainstream price and design.
The Elite 431 Plus focuses on a classic subdued outlook with clean and attractive lines. A large windowed side panel is included to allow others to admire your new build. In addition, accent lighting from the front 120mm blue LED fan provides an extra touch to the overall look.
The Elite 431 Plus focuses on a classic subdued outlook with clean and attractive lines. A large windowed side panel is included to allow others to admire your new build. In addition, accent lighting from the front 120mm blue LED fan provides an extra touch to the overall look.
Sunday, December 4th 2011
The Increasing Power Of The Pirate Party
Many people will have heard of the Pirate Party, founded in Sweden in 2006 to fight what some people see as the abuses of big media corporations fronted by their trade organizations such as the RIAA & MPAA to protect their copyrights against the claimed "devastation" that so-called "piracy" causes them. However, no one really took the Pirate Party seriously and saw them as just another fringe party. Then they had two members elected to the European Parliament in 2009. Now they have 9% of the vote in the latest Berlin state parliamentary elections. This level of success, is because they support important issues to do with freedom and lack of oppression from big corporations and governments, something that the traditional parties have consistently failed to address. This is now making the Green Party sweat, because they were previously seen as the "alternative" party to the main ones in Europe and hence had a chance of getting into power. Now they risk getting sidelined and being put back into the category of "fringe" party and being ignored again, somewhere no party wants to be. So, what do the Greens do to fight the Pirate Party?
EA: New Online Gaming Content Codes Could Expire Before Even Being Used
If you're buying an Electronic Arts game, be prepared for the Online Pass that came with it to have already expired. This was the recent experience of a NeoGAF member who bought a brand new copy of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit from Amazon, only to find that he got an error message saying that the code was either incorrect or no longer valid. Gaming website Joystick picked up on this and asked an EA advisor about this situation. It turns out that it's EA's corporate policy to have some of these codes expire, but that no one should be faced with this, as a rule. However, if they are, then they can get a new one for free, by either downloading it or getting it from EA directly. Checking the EULA shows that at the moment, there is only one game with this restriction. It's only Dragon Age 2 (packaged) which has a time-limited an Online Pass code and that it expires on March 31, 2012:
Friday, December 2nd 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Desktop PC
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Graphics Cards
Mouse
Notebooks
SSD
AMD Realizes That Bulldozer Has 800 Million LESS Transistors Than It Thought!
AMD's new flagship Bulldozer "FX" series of processors have turned out to be mediocre performers in almost every review and benchmark going, sometimes even getting bested by the existing Phenom II and certainly no match for their Intel competition. To add to this tale of fail, it now turns out that AMD didn't even know how many transistors they have! Anand Lal Shimpi of AnandTech received an email from AMD's PR department and this is the revelation he had to share with us:
This is a bit unusual. I got an email from AMD PR this week asking me to correct the Bulldozer transistor count in our Sandy Bridge E review. The incorrect number, provided to me (and other reviewers) by AMD PR around 3 months ago was 2 billion transistors. The actual transistor count for Bulldozer is apparently 1.2 billion transistors. I don't have an explanation as to why the original number was wrong, just that the new number has been triple checked by my contact and is indeed right. The total die area for a 4-module/8-core Bulldozer remains correct at 315 mm².
WD Updates Dec. Quarter Outlook, Reports on Recovery Effort in Thailand
Western Digital Corp. (NYSE:WDC) today is updating its financial outlook for the December quarter and the progress to date of its operations recovery effort in Thailand. The company is also providing its view of the industry conditions for the December 2011 quarter and beyond.
AMD Bulldozer A Surprisingly Sell-Out Sales Success. Victims: Phenom II & Athlon II
AMD's new Bulldozer "FX" series of processors may be very lacklustre performers in reviewer's benchmarks and have garnered considerable scorn in enthusiast circles, but they're a very good performer for AMD's bottom line. Incredibly, they are selling out as soon as shops get them in stock - and they are not even priced very competitively against Intel's offerings, so perhaps the "It's an 8 core CPU!!" marketing is working well on the uninformed "enthusiast" after all? Mind you, what enthusiast, however uninformed, wouldn't know exactly how these products perform? Every tech website and computer magazine has covered these chips by now. The mind boggles.
IBM to Produce Micron's HMC in Debut of First Commercial, 3D Chip-Making Capability
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Micron Technology, Inc. announced today that Micron will begin production of a new memory device built using the first commercial CMOS manufacturing technology to employ through-silicon vias (TSVs). IBM's advanced TSV chip-making process enables Micron's Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) to achieve speeds 15 times faster than today's technology.
Micron's Hybrid Memory Cube features a stack of individual chips connected by vertical pipelines or "vias," shown above. IBM's new 3-D manufacturing technology, used to connect the 3D micro structure, will be the foundation for commercial production of the new memory cube.
IBM will present the details of its TSV manufacturing breakthrough at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting on December 5 in Washington, DC.
Micron's Hybrid Memory Cube features a stack of individual chips connected by vertical pipelines or "vias," shown above. IBM's new 3-D manufacturing technology, used to connect the 3D micro structure, will be the foundation for commercial production of the new memory cube.
IBM will present the details of its TSV manufacturing breakthrough at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting on December 5 in Washington, DC.
R&D: Diamond Qubits Are A Quantum Computer Enthusiast's Best Friend
A qubit is the quantum equivalent of the 'bit', which can have the values, or 'states' of zero or one. However, because of their quantum nature, qubits can be in both states at once, due to a property called entanglement, the "spooky action at a distance" so disliked by Einstein. It's this remarkable property that gives quantum computers their huge processing power, such as the ability to crack all encryption schemes based on classical methods. If only mankind could build them. Quantum computers are still very much in an embryonic research phase and have been stuck there for decades, due to the difficulty of producing and working with entangled particles. The best that scientists have been able to do so far is to entangle just a few particles at extremely low temperatures, to reduce thermal noise corruption, to create qubits and research their behaviour. Now, it looks like mankind is a tiny step closer to building such quantum computers and this is where diamond comes in.
HDD Parts Shortage Lessens: HDD Prices To Drop?
Nidec Corp, manufacturer of hard disc drive motors and other HDD components, has reported that after just six weeks since the Thailand floods hit, nine out of its ten factories are operational again, although not all are yet at full capacity. Supplies of HDDs should therefore slowly improve as the parts shortage eases, hopefully with the welcome consequence that the price should drift downwards. Nidec issued this statement about the situation:
We will continue our efforts to further improve the utilization of the factories whose operations have resumed and to bring the company's other flood-stricken factories back into operation to the earliest extent possible. The exact amount of damage and the effect of the floods on the company's performance are being assessed currently. We will continue to report on any actual or potential impact on the company's business performance in a prompt manner.There's more info in this Nidec update (PDF) and at xbit labs.
Team Announces Xtreem LV Quad-Channel, Dual-Channel OC Memory
Team Group Inc. gives enthusiasts the best present of the year that is Releasing 4 masterpieces of OC memory all in one, including Quad-Channel memory which is compatible with the latest Intel X79 platform, and the highest-level Dual-Channel memory on the market.
Team Group releasing 2 masterpieces of Quad-Channel OC memory at the same time, among OC memory, Team Xtreem LV DDR3 2400 CL9 uses selected chips and passes stringent testing, its low latency of 9-11-11-28 and 1T's Command Rate brings you greatest fun at high speed performance. It is the limited edition and it also the highest specification in Quad-Channel Memory module in the market which is surely the dream product for all the OC gamers.
Team Group releasing 2 masterpieces of Quad-Channel OC memory at the same time, among OC memory, Team Xtreem LV DDR3 2400 CL9 uses selected chips and passes stringent testing, its low latency of 9-11-11-28 and 1T's Command Rate brings you greatest fun at high speed performance. It is the limited edition and it also the highest specification in Quad-Channel Memory module in the market which is surely the dream product for all the OC gamers.
Seagate Technology Provides Updated Financial Outlook
Seagate Technology plc., updated its financial outlook for the December 2011 and March 2012 quarters. The company continues to believe that, due to the industry impacts caused by the extensive flooding in Thailand, hard disk drive supply will be significantly constrained for several quarters. For the December 2011 quarter, the company believes the industry will ship between 110-120 million units.
The company believes the industry's ability to manufacture and ship hard disks drives will gradually improve throughout calendar 2012. While this may alleviate some of the unit demand shortfall, it is expected that some companies will optimize unit shipments by manufacturing lower component count/lower capacity hard disk drives; thereby, only modestly offsetting the growing petabyte shortage. Because demand is estimated to significantly exceed supply during this time, pricing is expected to remain stable.
The company believes the industry's ability to manufacture and ship hard disks drives will gradually improve throughout calendar 2012. While this may alleviate some of the unit demand shortfall, it is expected that some companies will optimize unit shipments by manufacturing lower component count/lower capacity hard disk drives; thereby, only modestly offsetting the growing petabyte shortage. Because demand is estimated to significantly exceed supply during this time, pricing is expected to remain stable.
Google Chrome Overtakes Mozilla Firefox in Browser Market-share: StatCounter
According to the latest data sourced by StatCounter for the month of November 2011, Google Chrome has overtaken Mozilla Firefox in terms of web-browser software market-share. The GlobalStats data provides a worldwide picture, and not just specific to a region. According to the data, Chrome took 25.69% of the worldwide market (up from 4.66% in November 2009) compared to Firefox's 25.23%.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer still maintains a strong lead globally with 40.63%. Google Chrome began in mid-2008 as an experimental minimalist UI web-browser based on the Chromium project, it is a multi-process tabbed web browser based on Apple Webkit and several other pieces of free, licensed, and open-source technologies. Its market share is on the rise. The stats can be accessed here.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer still maintains a strong lead globally with 40.63%. Google Chrome began in mid-2008 as an experimental minimalist UI web-browser based on the Chromium project, it is a multi-process tabbed web browser based on Apple Webkit and several other pieces of free, licensed, and open-source technologies. Its market share is on the rise. The stats can be accessed here.
Samsung Announces High-Performance mSATA SSDs for Ultra-Slim Notebook PCs
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, announced volume production of SSDs (solid state drives) that support the Mini-Serial ATA (mSATA) interface. The drives are designed for use in ultra-slim notebooks such as Ultrabook PCs.
"Samsung's compact mSATA SSDs will provide performance of the highest quality in helping to deliver the advanced ultra-slim PCs that consumers have been wanting," said Myungho Kim, vice president of memory marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung plans to continue providing timely delivery of advanced SSD solutions, while preserving its leadership position in the SSD market for notebook PCs."
"Samsung's compact mSATA SSDs will provide performance of the highest quality in helping to deliver the advanced ultra-slim PCs that consumers have been wanting," said Myungho Kim, vice president of memory marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung plans to continue providing timely delivery of advanced SSD solutions, while preserving its leadership position in the SSD market for notebook PCs."
LG Expands its Glasses-Free 3D Monitor Lineup
LG Electronics (LG) extends its glasses-free 3D monitor lineup with the 25-inch DX2500, which incorporates glasses-free parallax barrier 3D and head-tracking technologies. With the DX2500, LG becomes the first in the industry to receive TÜV Rheinland certification for a glasses-free 3D monitor.
"LG is taking glasses-free 3D monitors mainstream with the DX2500," said Si-hwan Park, Vice President of the Monitor Division at LG's Home Entertainment Company. "With the DX2500, we are making the LG brand synonymous with glasses-free 3D monitors. In 2012, we'll continue to expand our range of glasses-free 3D monitors featuring different designs and advanced functions."
"LG is taking glasses-free 3D monitors mainstream with the DX2500," said Si-hwan Park, Vice President of the Monitor Division at LG's Home Entertainment Company. "With the DX2500, we are making the LG brand synonymous with glasses-free 3D monitors. In 2012, we'll continue to expand our range of glasses-free 3D monitors featuring different designs and advanced functions."
NZXT Phantom 410 Case Released
The original NZXT Phantom has been a huge success, spawning multiple versions in many different colors. NZXT now presents their newest case with the same genes by the name of Phantom 410. The case features the same stylish and modern looks as its bigger brethren, but at a much smaller overall size. Thus, the chassis is intended for an ATX mainboard while adding a windowed side panel to the mix.
NZXT revolutionized the case industry with the Phantom Big-Tower, which offered a daring new look - noticeably different than anything else on the market. With the unique design and a long list of features, the Pantheon Big-Tower quickly became one of the most popular cases for those looking for a stylish and modern chassis. With the Phantom 410, NZXT now offers the same beautiful design in a smaller form factor.
NZXT revolutionized the case industry with the Phantom Big-Tower, which offered a daring new look - noticeably different than anything else on the market. With the unique design and a long list of features, the Pantheon Big-Tower quickly became one of the most popular cases for those looking for a stylish and modern chassis. With the Phantom 410, NZXT now offers the same beautiful design in a smaller form factor.
Thursday, December 1st 2011
Today's Contests
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
Notebooks
SSD
Storage
NZXT Phantom 410 Review
The NZXT Phantom has been a huge success, spawning various color options including pink and black/orange. The Phantom 410 continues with the same design elements, but at a much smaller overall size - lovingly called "Phantom Mini".
ECS A990FXM-A Socket AM3+ Review
Once again the dragons are upon us, and once again a challenger emerges to defend humanity from their wrath. ECS's A990FXM-A socket AM3+ has landed on our testbench, ready for battle, sword and shield in hand. Will the ECS A990FXM-A save us from the black hole that is slow computing? We find out.
Intel 2012 Core Processor Model Names Confirmed on Roadmap Slide
Earlier this week, a report tabled the model numbers of Intel's 2012 Core processor family based on the "Ivy Bridge" silicon. Its processor model number scheme consisted of Core i5/i7 3000 series, targeting various market price points. Many of these model numbers are confirmed on the latest roadmap slide detailing the Core processor family for 2012. We are also getting to see what the nomenclature of next-generation Core i3 processors could look like.
The slide shows that Ivy Bridge processors will start selling in Q2 2012, which is consistent with reports of an April 2012 launch. Intel will begin with Core i3-32xx (xx = TBD), i5-3450, i5-3550, i5-3570K, i7-3770, and i7-3770K. Around this time, there will be a market transition among cheaper Core i3 parts. In Q3 2012, i5-3470 and i5-3570 will displace i5-3450 and i5-3550; while a faster Core i7-37x0K processor will displace the i7-3770K. The market transition among some Core i3 parts will continue in Q3. Q4 2012 will largely resemble Q3, except that the lower-end Core i3 lineup will have fully transitioned to Ivy Bridge. There will be no changes in the LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E HEDT lineup, except that an affordable quad-core part will be added in Q1 2012. For quick reference, we re-posted the table from the older report.
The slide shows that Ivy Bridge processors will start selling in Q2 2012, which is consistent with reports of an April 2012 launch. Intel will begin with Core i3-32xx (xx = TBD), i5-3450, i5-3550, i5-3570K, i7-3770, and i7-3770K. Around this time, there will be a market transition among cheaper Core i3 parts. In Q3 2012, i5-3470 and i5-3570 will displace i5-3450 and i5-3550; while a faster Core i7-37x0K processor will displace the i7-3770K. The market transition among some Core i3 parts will continue in Q3. Q4 2012 will largely resemble Q3, except that the lower-end Core i3 lineup will have fully transitioned to Ivy Bridge. There will be no changes in the LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E HEDT lineup, except that an affordable quad-core part will be added in Q1 2012. For quick reference, we re-posted the table from the older report.
The Move Away From x86 To ARM Processors On The Desktop To Start Soon - Survey
It looks like there's a subtle but relentless push to get ARM CPUs into desktop PCs. Morgan Stanley recently surveyed 30 PC makers (names not revealed) and discovered that 40% of them are interested in trying out ARM-based PCs within the next two years. As we reported previously that the Wintel alliance appears to be crumbling, this finding appears to add weight to that assertion. Of course, there's a huge mountain to climb before ARM processors can compete head to head with high performance x86, as explained in our article, not least because Microsoft won't begin supporting ARM until Windows 8 is released late next year and the fact that the vast majority of existing software won't run on ARM. A real catch-22 if ever there was one. Just as crucially, the many high performance enhancements and interface standards that currently go into making a modern x86 chip fly will also have to go into an ARM - and developing that isn't going to be cheap, although it may not take that long, since these are tried and trusted technologies that need to be applied. Still, the interest is there and Morgan Stanley expect that 10% (39 million) PCs, excluding tablets, will have an ARM processor at their heart. If true, it will make for interesting times.
AMD Posts Catalyst 11.11c Performance Driver
AMD published the third performance driver based on Catalyst 11.11, the Catalyst 11.11c. The driver addresses some glaring issues ahead of the upcoming Catalyst WHQL monthly update. The new performance driver addresses the following issue:
Elder Scrolls Skyrim
DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.11c Performance Driver for Windows 7 and Vista | Windows XP
Elder Scrolls Skyrim
- Delivers AMD CrossfireX performance scaling for the AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.11c Performance Driver for Windows 7 and Vista | Windows XP
Scythe Announcing 3 New Rev. B CPU Coolers For Socket LGA 2011
Japanese cooling expert Scythe has today announced the revision of the popular CPU Coolers Scythe Mugen 3, Mugen 3 PCGH and Ninja 3. Scythe has upgraded the CPU Coolers to Rev. B. Users can easily differentiate the new version from the old ones by the added suffix "Rev. B" in the names: Mugen 3 Rev.B, Mugen 3 Rev.B PCGH and Ninja 3 Rev.B. New Revision B brings support to the recently announced Socket LGA2011 and therefore compatibility to Sandy Bridge-E CPUs.
A-Data Launches Waterproof and Shock-Resistant USB 3.0 Flash Drives
ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, has launched a new USB 3.0 Flash drive, the S107. The S107 offers a new approach to shock-resistant designs and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interfaces, with a sporty outlook and dynamic design to satisfy the needs of active consumers who want to express their own personal style.
Targeting the modern crowd with an on-the-go and mobile lifestyle, the S107 combines a sporty modern look with military grade shockproof and water-resistant construction. The S107 drive exterior is constructed of a unique silicone rubber, providing excellent reliability, making it ideal for traveling and excursions. Users need not worry about data loss from accidental drops or spills, which can cause irreparable damage in conventional storage devices.
Targeting the modern crowd with an on-the-go and mobile lifestyle, the S107 combines a sporty modern look with military grade shockproof and water-resistant construction. The S107 drive exterior is constructed of a unique silicone rubber, providing excellent reliability, making it ideal for traveling and excursions. Users need not worry about data loss from accidental drops or spills, which can cause irreparable damage in conventional storage devices.
Corsair Announces Vengeance High-Performance Memory for Laptops
Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced a line of high-performance memory upgrade kits for power laptop users.
Operating at speeds of 1600 MHz and 1866 MHz, the new Vengeance laptop memory upgrade kits are an ideal solution for notebooks equipped with a 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Vengeance laptop memory is designed to be plug-and-play, with no BIOS adjustments needed to instantly take advantage of the faster memory speed.
Operating at speeds of 1600 MHz and 1866 MHz, the new Vengeance laptop memory upgrade kits are an ideal solution for notebooks equipped with a 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Vengeance laptop memory is designed to be plug-and-play, with no BIOS adjustments needed to instantly take advantage of the faster memory speed.
Colorful Announces Cable-Routing King C2 RTX Chassis
Colorful announces their first RTX (Reversed Technology eXtended) chassis named Cable-Routing King C2. Unlike the ordinary chassis, the RTX likes a upside down structure of ATX. With the RTX structure, it fixes the problem that users usually need an external cable to connect the CPU power cable when they route and hide the cables in the back with a PSU downside chassis. Beside, this structure also guarantees the graphics card better heat radiation.
The dimensions of Cable-Routing King C2 are 468mm x 466mm x 190mm, though it is not as large as Mid-Tower chassis, it provides shorter distance for cable routing. The motherboard need to be reversed installation, so the graphics card will be installed in the upside. Due to the meshes on the top, the efficient transport of fresh air into of the chassis is guaranteed to keep the graphics card cool. The PSU bay has been placed on the bottom with anti-dust mesh, and the distance from PSU to CPU power connector is about 15-20CM, so users don't need to purchase any external cables for cable management and hiding.
The dimensions of Cable-Routing King C2 are 468mm x 466mm x 190mm, though it is not as large as Mid-Tower chassis, it provides shorter distance for cable routing. The motherboard need to be reversed installation, so the graphics card will be installed in the upside. Due to the meshes on the top, the efficient transport of fresh air into of the chassis is guaranteed to keep the graphics card cool. The PSU bay has been placed on the bottom with anti-dust mesh, and the distance from PSU to CPU power connector is about 15-20CM, so users don't need to purchase any external cables for cable management and hiding.
Ivy Bridge Official Benchmarks - Markedly Better Performance Than Sandy Bridge
Previous preliminary reports have suggested that the forthcoming Ivy Bridge CPUs will have single threaded performance on par with the existing Sandy Bridge CPUs and will mainly deliver improvements to power consumption and integrated graphics - nothing for PC enthusiasts to get excited about. However, in leaked documents sent to partners, Intel have now revealed official performance figures for IB and they look rather good. They've produced a raft of benchmarks, which reveal improvements such as 56% in ArcSoft Media Expresso, 25% in Excel 2010 and a 199% gain in the 3D Mark Vantage GPU benchmark. Unfortunately, they haven't released any benchmarks based on high performance 3D games, but it's probably safe to say that they will be similarly improved. Now, on to the benchmarks, which compare their new 3.4 GHz i7-3770 (4 cores + HT) with the current 3.4 GHz i7-2600, also with 4 cores + HT:
Wednesday, November 30th 2011
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
- Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti 448 WindForce Cowcotland (fr)
- NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Guru3D
- MSI N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Guru3D
- NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti 448 Roundup HardwareCanucks
- NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti 448 Roundup HardwareHeaven
- EVGA GTX 560Ti 448 Cores Classified Hi Tech Legion
- NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti 448 Core HotHardware
- NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Legit Reviews
- ASUS GTX 560 Ti 448 DirectCu II OCaholic
- Gigabyte GTX560Ti 448 Core Overclock3D.net
- MSI N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Overclock3D.net
- MSI N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Power Edition Overclockers Club
- Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti 448 WindForce TweakPC (de)
- MSI N560GTX-448 Twin Frozr III Tweaktown
Harddisks
Motherboards
Mousepads
Notebooks
PSUs
PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 400 W Review
After testing its bigger brother with 600W capacity, it's high time for the PC P&C Silencer MK3S400 to prove its worth. The new Silencer units pose a big change for PC Power & Cooling since they are the first ever modular PSUs that this company introduces to the market. Along with the top mounted 120 mm fan all PC P&C traditions are broken in these new units.
CaseLabs MAGNUM M8 Review
There are a few cube chassis manufacturers out there, but CaseLabs guns for the ultimate chassis with their MAGNUM M8 and M10, right out of the gates. Will it come out guns blazing and mowing down everything in its path or end up shooting nothing but blanks? We aim to find out!
AMD Still Committed To x86 - But Not In High End Desktop
Further to our article yesterday, that AMD was to give up competing with Intel, they have now made a statement which semi-clarifies their future strategy. AMD told The Verge, that they are still committed to x86, but have decided to concentrate on low power, emerging markets and the cloud:
AMD is a leader in x86 microprocessor design, and we remain committed to the x86 market. Our strategy is to accelerate our growth by taking advantage of our design capabilities to deliver a breadth of products that best align with broader industry shifts toward low power, emerging markets and the cloud.This sounds very much like they are giving up competing with Intel in the high-end x86 CPU market, but will instead compete with the likes of ARM, NVIDIA, TI and Intel in the low power market. It doesn't seem like a good strategy however, not least because getting the power use levels of an x86 CPU right down to ARM levels and still have some semblance of performance seems to be an unachievable aim, as Intel has already found out. The problem is that the ancient and complex x86 instruction set dating from the late 1970s, requires complex decode logic and a bigger chip (more transistors) to implement. It also isn't very fast, which is why all the various "turbocharging" technologies and enhancements have had to be applied to it over the years to bring us the fast CPUs we see today. These are all very expensive on transistor budget, power and require a high clock speed. The fact that all modern x86 CPUs are actually hybrid x86 (32-bit) & x64 (64-bit) machines adds an order of magnitude to the problem, as they're almost two CPUs in one. Time will tell whether AMD were right to go down this road.
PCI-SIG Announces PCI-Express 4.0 Evolution to 16 GT/s, Twice That of PCIe 3.0
PCI-SIG, the organization responsible for the widely adopted PCI Express (PCIe) industry-standard input/output (I/O) technology, today announced the approval of 16 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) as the bit rate for the next generation of PCIe architecture, PCIe 4.0. This decision comes after the PCI-SIG completed a feasibility study on scaling the PCIe interconnect bandwidth to meet the demands of a variety of computing markets.
After technical analysis, the PCI-SIG has determined that 16 GT/s on copper, which will double the bandwidth over the PCIe 3.0 specification, is technically feasible at approximately PCIe 3.0 power levels. The data also confirms that a 16GT/s interconnect can be manufactured in mainstream silicon process technology and can be deployed with existing low-cost materials and infrastructure, while maintaining compatibility with previous generations of PCIe architecture. In addition, the PCI-SIG will investigate advancements in active and idle power optimizations, key issues facing the industry.
After technical analysis, the PCI-SIG has determined that 16 GT/s on copper, which will double the bandwidth over the PCIe 3.0 specification, is technically feasible at approximately PCIe 3.0 power levels. The data also confirms that a 16GT/s interconnect can be manufactured in mainstream silicon process technology and can be deployed with existing low-cost materials and infrastructure, while maintaining compatibility with previous generations of PCIe architecture. In addition, the PCI-SIG will investigate advancements in active and idle power optimizations, key issues facing the industry.
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