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:: PC Perspective . News Archive
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.:News Archive ( 1/2009 )
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: General Tech
Usually when you are looking for recommendations on security software like anti-virus, you ask those in the know to tell you their favourites. You can also gain a lot by asking them which are the worst anti-virus programs, to build a list of software to avoid, just like in this thread. 27 years after the inception, the problem just keeps going like some sort of infected Energizer Bunny.
A far more popular question has to do with overclocking the new parts we are seeing arrive in stores, from both AMD and Intel. The proud owner of a new Phenom x4 9850 is looking for tips on how to overclock the new architecture and how it interacts with the memory. There are also a few members anxiously awaiting a Core i7. There is no point in overclocking your system if it isn't stable and hunting down the exact cause of instability can be incredibly frustrating. While many problems can be isolated quickly, determining if your PSU is the culprit can take quite a long while. As an example, take a look at the testing done in this thread in our Cases n' Cooling forum. The Graphics Forum still hasn't calmed after nVIDIA's recent graphics card releases, in fact it has picked up even more thanks to driver updates for AMD cards as well as nVIDIA PhsyX and even RivaTuner. Head on into our Forums and see what you can discover.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Storage
The OCZ Apex SSD is an odd beast, build on Jmicron MLC flash technology one might expect it to have the slower performance typical of MLC drives, but OCZ is positioning it to take on the mighty Intel X25-M 80GB SSD which uses faster SLC flash for storage. The key is the use of a pair of flash memory controllers and an onboard RAID chip, to help bring the bandwidth up. If you want to see how well OCZ managed, read Ryan's full review.
"Probably the most interesting part of the OCZ Apex drive is the fact that it uses not one, but rather a pair, of the JMicron JMF602 controllers. Yes, these controllers are somewhat notorious for performance issues including stuttering and pausing but they are cheap and allow OCZ to offer drives with larger capacity than what MLC Samsung-based drives and Intel- based drives offer. In order to attempt to address these performance complaints the Apex series uses a PAIR of the controllers with an internal RAID-0 configuration." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: General | Subject: Graphics Card
It may seem like many moons ago since we first learned about the Lucid HYDRA product, but it looks as if there is a significant advancement for the technology courtesy of a Japanese computing company called ELSA. ELSA is a system designer that targets high end graphics systems for HPC (high performance computing), broadcast and medical organizations.
Apparently coming in March, ELSA is going to be distributing systems that support dual and quad-GPU configurations with ANY vendor using the Lucid HYDRA controller that allows for GPU scaling regardless of your platform and even GPU driver. While the initial excitement we had for the product Lucid has developed has wanned slightly without news or progress on the enthusiast front, the theoretical performance gains from a non-proprietary GPU scaling engine are still very enticing and the ability for the HYDRA engine to break up the gaming (and obviously medical and HPC) tasks into much finer packets should allow for a higher scaling percentage as they increase the number of GPUs in a system. 
Lucid HYDRA powered quad-GPU setup There are not a lot more details on this release about the project that ELSA and Lucid have partnered on, but there are some photos that show various configurations that will be available including this quad-GPU setup (seemingly using Quadro FX4800 cards or something like them) seen above. I am still hoping to see a product for the PC gaming and enthusiast market this year but it is nice to see Lucid getting some design wins in so that our hopes for consumer product implementations can live on.
Jan 30th 2009 ELSA Japan (located in Tokyo, Minato district, President - Mr. Nagai Jun), a leading computer graphics solution provider and Lucidlogix (Kfar Netter, Israel, CEO - Moshe Steiner) announce an agreement to deploy Lucid’s HYDRA based chip in ELSA Japan High Performance products.
The companies have teamed up to transform high performance computing in the Japanese marketplace. For the first time, a product based on Lucid’s HYDRA technology will be used in a new line of ELSA Japan high performance systems for the HPC, broadcast and medical markets. End of Mar 2009, The new solution will allow ELSA to provide a cost affective solution based on multi GPUs from any vendor. First products will feature dual and quad GPU configurations. By combining Lucid’s component with Elsa Japan’s PCI-Express end-point device and remote graphics offering, a fully scalable and flexible system can be achieved for the first time at affordable price points. “We are pleased to partner with ELSA, which has the reputation for providing leading performance computing solutions to the Japanese market. ELSA’s selection of Lucid products for graphics and high performance computing platforms demonstrates our commitment to deliver a unique and powerful parallel processing architecture,” said Offir Remez, President of Lucid. “HYDRA technology will allow ELSA to combine multiple GPUs on one device, for efficient, high performance in compute intensive, large scale visualization scenarios.” "Partnership with Lucid is very important for our customers who require high performance computer. We can provide scalable performance and configurable solutions to break through the performance barrier.” said Jun Nagai, president, ELSA Japan Inc.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: X-Bit Labs | Subject: Graphics Card
The last Catalyst release, 8.12, offered huge improvements to all Radeon owners excepting those with multiple HD4850s. The hotfix for the 8.12 even cheered those unfortunates up, as it fixed the degradation they were seeing. Just yesterday we saw the release of the first driver for this year, Catalyst 9.1, which adds support for OpenGL, but not much in the way of other features. X-bit Labs compares the 8.12 driver, both with and without the hotfix, against the new 9.1 driver. The results are a little dissapointing, coming on the heels of the 8.12.
"Every now and then graphics card makers claim that their products perform better with the new driver versions. We decided to find out how true these claims actually are." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legion Hardware | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Thermaltake MeOrb is perfect for those with space issues, either due to a small HTPC case, or simply a motherboard whose layout leaves little space around the CPU socket for a king sized heatsink. At only 106.8mm x 94.6mm x 47mm and a measly 258g
this cooler is dwarfed by the reset of Thermaltake's heatsink lineup, but it should not be underestimated. In the tests Legion Hardware ran, the MeOrb managed to beat a stock Intel cooler in heat and in noise.
"Those looking to build a small HTPC or even a mini-ITX computer that has a fair bit of guts for taking on more demanding tasks, are going to face the issue of keeping it not only cool but also quiet. The Thermaltake MeOrb has proven to be good at both cooling powerful processors and doing so while making very little noise. More importantly, it does all this while measuring just 47mm tall." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
AMD hasn't been holding up their end of the fight recently, and as they can't manage to pick up nVIDIA, Intel has decided to take on any comers. The recent battleground has been to make the smallest possible system, a special niche that was the exclusive territory of VIA. That hasn't stopped Intel's Atom smashing into the market and making the netbook popular. Now they are setting their sights on Microsoft and the Linux community by developing Moblin, their own mobile OS. You can find The Inquirer's reaction to the newly released alpha here.
"INTEL HAS proved itself to be pretty good at building netbook platforms, so it's decided to have a go at building netbook software too. Most thightops sold today come with either a Linux-flavoured operating system (OS) or, for those prepared to splash out some extra cash for Bill's retirement fund, Windows XP. But with Windows 7 on the way, Intel is proving a little impatient waiting for XP to fizzle out gracefully, and is coming out with its own Linux based OS - Moblin." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Icrontic | Subject: Memory
Has playing with BIOS options got you scratching your head as to why manually setting your RAM's speed and timings causes eternal reboots, but setting the options to something called SPD fixes your posting problems? Icrontic would love to shed some light on your confusion, by explain just what Serial Presence Detect is, why the JEDEC is very important to tweakers and just why CPU-Z doesn't seem to report your RAM going the speed you though it should.
"Icrontic.com has a guide we think might be beneficial to your readers. Ever day we see countless people asking the question "Why does my new memory show up as PC2-6400 in CPU-Z? Did I get ripped off?" on our forum and others. Here's the answer to the question so novice system builders can understand SPD and save us all from heartache and drama." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AMD | Subject: Graphics Card
Highlights of the Linux ATI Catalyst 9.1 release include:
Full OpenGL 3.0 support
This release of ATI Catalyst provides full OpenGL 3.0 extension support. The following is a list of OpenGL 3.0 extensions added in Catalyst 9.1:
New Features Hybrid CrossFireX support for Linux
Support for new Linux operating systems
MultiView support:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Ars Technica | Subject: Case and Cooling
The Zune has picked up a pretty bad rep with almost no effort, perhaps as a result of that unique brown colour choice, perhaps not. However you look at it, most people have assumed it is inferior to the iPod without ever trying it. That is not to say that the Zune is able to compete with Apple's players, but for the sake of argument Ars Technica decided to try it out. The killer app behind the iPod is iTunes, as the Zune Marketplace is for Microsoft's Zune. Check out the review to see if Microsoft offers a comparable service, or only a little competition to keep the 500lb gorilla.
"Given its poor sales numbers, we can safely say that most of Zune's critics have never used the device, and even fewer of them have really spent any serious time with Zune's online music store. But we have used it, and, what's more, we like it. iTunes Music Store could learn a thing or two from Zune Marketplace, and if Microsoft does end up dropping Zune then the digital music ecosystem will be worse off for it. We reviewed the original Zune in 2006, the Zune Flash in 2007, and the 3G Zune released last September, and in this review, we'll take a look at the software side of the Zune experience. By the end of the review, we hope you'll agree that there's more at stake in the survival of Zune than just another Microsoft vs. Apple platform war." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclock3D | Subject: Motherboard
Motherboard makers are in for a bit of a tough year, thanks to Intel and AMD moving the memory controller on die, and taking away the most individualistic
component of most chipsets. The plethora of models that most companies offered previously had varied controllers, or paths to the controllers; now it is solid state capacitors, 8-phase power and intricate cooling over the motherboard components that differentiate the various models. A perfect example is the DFI X58 T3eH8 Ultra reviewed at Overclock3D, which straight out of the box offers very similar performance to any of the other X58 boards they compared it against. On the other hand, take a look what happens when they start to overclock it.
"Being an Ultra, the T3eH8 is being touted as a flagship model with all the premium additions you would expect from a top end motherboard. On-board switches, a plethora of jumpers, Bernstein HD Audio, Volterra Digital PWM as well as support for CrossfireX and Tri SLI are just some of the massive array of features this board has to offer. Being an overclockers board it goes without saying that it should be well cooled. True to form, DFI have once again outdone themselves with some jaw dropping heatsinks ensuring the board is cooled sufficiently even under heavy overclocking conditions." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: General Tech
That popular new kid on the browser block, Google Chrome, has had a little of it's shine knocked off thanks to a clickjacking vulnerability recently discovered. Following the link [H]ard|OCP will bring you to the Bugtraq page and a proof of concept for the vulnerability. Unfortunately, the link does not lead to a solution or workaround, Google is still working on that.
"The Google chrome browser is vulnerable to clickjacking flaw. A clickjacked page tricks a user into performing undesired actions by clicking on a concealed link. attackers can trick users into performing actions which the users never intended to do and there is no way of tracing such actions later, as the user was genuinely authenticated on the other page." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Case and Cooling
The best way to judge a power supply before you plug it in is to tear it apart and look at all the naked components, exactly what was done by Hardware Secrets in the first part of their Enermax Liberty ECO 500W review. This 500W PSU is billed as an "Eco" model, implying at least some energy savings, belying the PCI-E power connector. During testing the model managed between 83.6% to 89.1% efficiency, a fairly respectable rating. The price and the performance put this PSU at the top of it's class as far as Hardware Secrets is concerned.
"The new Liberty ECO series from Enermax comes to replace their popular Liberty DXX series, featuring a modular cabling system, 120-mm fan, active PFC and labeled at 40º C – i.e., the manufacturer guarantees that the unit can deliver its labeled power at this temperature. The main problem with the Liberty DXX series was efficiency, which dropped below 80% if you pulled more than 60% the unit's maximum load. Since we had already reviewed Liberty DXX 500 W it will be really interesting to review Liberty ECO 500 W to see how this new version compares to the old version. Is Liberty ECO 500 W a good product or has the same efficiency issue as Liberty DXX 500 W? Can it really deliver 500 W? Check it out" Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Phoronix | Subject: Mobile
As is their wont, Phoronix went out and picked up a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 and removed the installed WinXP SP3 and replaced it with Ubuntu 8.10. Thanks to the steady evolution of Linux, the laptop and all of it's accessories worked perfectly, much like the Samsung NC10. The Samsung was used as the comparative model in their benchmarking, and the IdeaPad fared fairly well. There was a feature included that impressed them, as well as a few qualities that they thought could be improved upon; which you can read about here.
"While there are many different netbooks on the market, one of the models that has been selling quite well and is popular with many enthusiasts is the IdeaPad S10 from Lenovo. The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 can be customized, but is equipped with an Intel Atom N270 processor, a 10.2" anti-glare display, and Broadcom 802.11b/g WiFi. In this latest Phoronix article we are looking at the Lenovo IdeaPad S10 along with providing some Linux-based benchmarks." Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: bit-tech | Subject: General Tech
The Tryanid are already here! If you bought the Dawn of War: Soul Storm expansion you could have played yesterday, everyone else can pick up the multiplayer demo via Steam today. bit-tech did pick up the multiplayer demo early enough to test it, and give you some insights into the Humans, Orcs, Eldar and Tyranid. The learning curve is steep, as the designers have broken away from the major base building focus of most previous RTS games, as well as keeping the pseudo-RPG elements in the later Dawn of War series.
"What I’m trying to say here is that Dawn of War 2’s multiplayer beta is, at the moment, very, very inaccessible for the uninitiated. While the full game’s single player campaign will no doubt familiarise you with the myriad array of abilities you can wield and expect to have wielded against you (and their appropriate counters) going in cold without any real tutorial is more likely to turn players off than get them interested in the full game. Getting whupped by more skilled players over and over again is not a good advertisement. The use of four armies so different from each other provides yet another obstacle for the uninitiated, and just when you think you know everything that the Tyranids might throw at you, you play a match against the Orks and are faced by a completely new set of units and challenges." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Inquirer | Subject: General Tech
Virage has been a fair sized name in Intellectual Property in the semiconductor business, a gripping and exciting business for lawyers and accountants, but not really the target of much attention for enthusiasts. A deal between Virage and AMD may be worth more than a glimpse, as it could change the face of the market a bit by introducing a new player. Virage has a solid ability in R&D, but no physical product for sale and no experienced infrastructure get products into the channel. AMD has a large channel, but R&D can be slow, especially developing both CPUs and GPUs. This deal would allow AMD access to the more focussed R&D of Virage, while allowing Virage to make money selling product that has gone thorough AMD's stringent manufacturing and testing process. More at The Inq.
"Virage and AMD will start by collaborating on a gen-2 PCI-Express interface, an HDMI/DisplayPort interface, and a MIPI core, all of which will come in either 65 nm or 40 nm flavours and were developed for internal use by ATI. Virage will purportedly take the cores - designed for standard bulk CMOS - make them commercialisation-ready as for-sale third-party IP and then market them" Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Big Bruin | Subject: Graphics Card
Owners of the HD4850 that have set up a CrossFireX system had a nasty surprise when upgrading to the new 8.12 Catalysts. The lucky ones only saw a drop in performance, the unlucky ones became plagued with BSODs. AMD has since released a hotfix for affected users, which Big Bruin has installed and tested. The performance gain is not awe inspiring for those who could still use the card; the total lack of BSODs will certainly cheer up others however.
"ATI has recently released a hotfix to their Catalyst Driver version 8.12 intended to improve DirectX10 performance in multi-core CPU systems and to resolve BSOD issues using dual ATI Radeon HD 4850 in CrossFireX configurations. With a HD4850x2 in hand, I had to see if the 10 -25% performance increase in some applications was indeed possible." Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: GALAXY Technology | Subject: General Tech
Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong January 27, 2009 - Galaxy Microsystems Ltd a leading global manufacturer of graphics accelerators, today announced that it has shipped product to Best Buy. Galaxy graphic accelerators will be available in top-selling stores immediately.
"Galaxy has private labeled for years for many of the US graphics companies and now they are excited to offer their superior quality, great service, and aggressive prices under their own name. We feel the partnership with Best Buy will allow millions of people to see the value of dealing with a tier one manufacturer", stated Ric Lewis, US sales. This partnership with Best Buy provides consumers the opportunity to acquire Galaxy products at affordable prices that were only available through the channel to VAR's, Etailer's, and System Integrators in the United States and Canada. Galaxy provides a 2 year transferable warranty and 800 tech support. About Galaxy Founded in 1994, Galaxy has grown exponentially in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, China and Europe. After years of private labeling for many tier one brands in the US; in 2007 Galaxy entered the US etail and channel market. As consumer demand increased Galaxy entered the retail space in 2009 to help further distribute their aggressively priced high quality cards. For further information about Galaxy, visit http://galaxytech.com Here are the available cards at BestBuy.com - they are low-end products for now.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: The Tech Report | Subject: Case and Cooling
It's not that you should not run out and buy four 32Gb Intel X-25E SSDs and a high end RAID controller; however unless you are running a multi-user database, you might feel like you are wasting your money. The Tech Report can show you exactly why that is in their testing, both real-world and synthetic benchmarks. For sustained writes, these drives in a RAID 0 are untouchable. For load times and booting, they don't even hold the top spot.
"Intel's X25-E Extreme SSD is easily the fastest flash drive on the market. Heck, it's just about the quickest 32GB you can plug into a SATA port. Read on to see what happens when you hook four of them up to a hardware RAID controller in a striped array." Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Slashdot | Subject: General Tech
The biggest problem about multi-core processors is the high amount of heat that can be produced in small areas, like the interconnects; as evidenced by the 2lb slabs of copper and model helicopter rotors we strap to them to keep them cool. Intel in cooperation with several other research groups have discovered a way to incorporate TECs inside the actual chip packaging. The idea is to target the hot spots on processors, as opposed to housing the entire chip on a TEC, which may keep costs down as well as energy consumption. The article Slashdot links to does describe the process of integrating this new technology in current CPUs as "prohibitively expensive."
"Researchers at Intel, RTI International of North Carolina, and Arizona State University have made ultra-thin 'micro-refrigerators' for computer chips. The device uses a thermoelectric cooler made from nanostructured thin-film superlattice that can reduce the temperature by 55C when a current passes through it. In testing, it reduced the temperature on part of a chip by 15C without impairing its performance. The researchers say the component could be particularly useful for cooling hot spots that frequently occur on multi-core chips." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Western Digital | Subject: Storage
LAKE FOREST, Calif. - Jan. 27, 2009 - WD (NYSE: WDC) today announced the first 2 terabyte (TB) hard drive - the world's highest capacity drive and the latest addition to WD's popular, environmentally friendly, cool and quiet, WD Caviar Green hard drive family. This new 3.5-inch platform is based on WD's industry-leading 500 GB/platter technology (with 400 Gb/in2 areal density) with 32 MB cache, producing drives with capacities of up to 2 TB. "While some in the industry wondered if the end consumer would buy a 1 TB drive, already some 10 percent of 3.5-inch hard drive sales are at the 1 TB level or higher, serving demand from video applications and expanding consumer media libraries," said Mark Geenen, President of Trend Focus. "The 2 TB hard drives will continue to satisfy end user's insatiable desire to store more data on ever larger hard drives." WD Caviar Green is one of the most successful product lines in the company's recent history with its third-generation GreenPower technology, now providing 2 TB of proven reliable storage for today's high-resolution files and graphics. WD Caviar Green drives are designed for use in USB/FireWire/eSATA external hard drives, desktop computers, workstations, and desktop RAID environments. "Saving power without sacrificing storage capacity is what consumers want, and what many businesses are requiring today. With the launch of the new WD Caviar Green 2 TB hard drive, customers receive the additional capacities needed to operate today's highly advanced programs and high-resolution digital files while using less power than typical drives with similar performance and capacities," said Jim Morris, WD senior vice president and general manager of client systems. Rock Solid Mechanical Architecture, Cool, Quiet Hard Drives
Availability and Pricing
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MSI | Subject: Mobile
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA - January 26, 2009 - MSI Computer, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, is pleased to announce the newest addition to its Gaming Notebook Series - GT627. The new GT627 is the first in the MSI Gaming Notebook series to feature the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS graphics processing unit (GPU). This revolutionary GPU delivers blazing-fast mobile gaming and supports NVIDIA CUDA technology enabling MSI customers to experience the wide range of CUDA-based applications-such as heart-stopping GPU-accelerated game physics and video conversion. The GeForce 9800M GS also saves power and increases computing efficiently by handling video decoding, allowing the CPU to focus on other tasks. "We are excited to offer the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS GPU in the GT627 Gaming Notebooks," said Andy Tung, Vice President of Sales, MSI US. "This GPU will allow us optimize performance and deliver unparalleled graphics for gamers on-the-go." "Whether viewing or editing photos, finding directions, playing a game, or watching a hi-def movie, the MSI GT627 with the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS GPU runs silky smooth, with amazing visuals," said Rene Haas, General Manager of the notebook business unit at NVIDIA. " With the GeForce 9800M GS handling the graphics, video and physics acceleration, MSI customers will be ready for the visual computing movement." MSI has also equipped the GT627 with a spacious 15.4" WSXGA (1680x1050) LCD, 2W internal speakers, and weight cartridge laser mouse to enhance the mobile gaming experience. The GT627 also features MSI's proprietary Turbo Drive Engine, which can overclock the notebook's Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (Penryn, FSB 1066) by as much as 15% at the touch of a button when in AC mode. When on the go, users can conserve the GT627's battery by taking advantage of the MSI's Eco Engine technology to switch between five power settings to ensure efficient power consumption. MSI housed the powerful GT627 in its stylish anodized brushed aluminum gaming case. This solid enclosure features stamped aluminum sheeting in both the LCD lid and palm rest for increased protection and durability. However, despite the reinforced casing and a 6-cell battery, the GT627 weighs just over six pounds making it one of the most portable gaming notebooks in its class. Additionally, MSI also included an 802.11 b/g/n wireless modem and a Blu-ray player to make it a true mobile entertainment center.
UncleBob | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: Editorial
Last year (or so...) I had been publishing a series of interviews. Questions are all the same, for Moderators, Members, etc. Well, I got too darn busy and fell off...but the interviews are back by popular demand. We'll start with some I had backlogged. Then we will move on to the newest ones. If you want to be interviewed, or know someone who does, PM me, UncleBob. With that out of the way, grab your favorite beverage, a snack and enjoy an Interview with Moderator TheGlassMan
I was asked to restart this and I can't believe it's been so long since
I fell off the face of the earth with this! This interview was done
last year and the member has since been completely corrupted...he is
now a Moderator.
This is about Bill, a fella I owe a debt of gratitude to for his efforts, friendship and support in helping get through some tough times in Chaintech, a company who has now completely dried up leaving no support, except a few of us and some stalwart members. Here ya go, number 28 in the series: TheGlasMan OK, by now you know the drill: Hi there. Let me take a minute to introduce myself. I'm Uncle Bob, a Mod here at PC Perspective. We will be running a series of articles within the forum that will be called Mod Interviews. I ask revealing, embarrassing, stupid, probing questions of Mods and hopefully you get to laugh with us at ourselves and in the process get to know some of us better. Beware, not all the Mods are as forthcoming as you may like, I do my best to uncover the truth, but haven't always hit the mark!
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Case and Cooling
Not only is the Prolimatech Megahalems a mouthful to try to say, at 790g and 130mm x 74mm x 158.7mm
it is also a tight fit in a lot of cases. In [H]ard|OCP's testing they found that it's maximum fan speed of 1600rpm couldn't tumble the 120mm TRUE completely off of it's cooling throne but many would happily sacrifice a couple of degree of heat for 10dB less noise. The lower price may also attract more customers, assuming one can find it for sale.
"Prolimatech may be a new name to many computer hardware cooling enthusiasts. It is a new company with a lofty goal. Prolimatech claims to have built a CPU cooler worthy of taking on the King of the Hill in what it calls a Megahalems. We see if that is so on a new LGA 1366 test setup." Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Tech Spot | Subject: Processor
The arrival of the Phenom II X4 940 heralds a slew of overclocking articles
as tech reviewers try to figure out just how hard AMDs new line can be pushed. TechSpot limited themselves to air cooling, which meant they topped out at a hair over 3.6GHz. As with previous AMD chips, it is the Black Edition CPUs and their unlocked multiplier that the dedicated overclockers are going to want to grab. AMD may not have taken the performance crown from Intel, but their performance per dollar has increased incredibly.
"Just two weeks ago AMD launched their new Phenom II X4 processors. As we learned in our review, the flagship model also known as the Phenom II X4 940 performs on par with its Core 2 Quad competition, which comes as great news for AMD who was severely lagging behind Intel before this launch. Now, when it comes to overclocking, it's not how far you can increase the clock speeds that matters the most, but rather how well the processor scales and therefore performs once overclocked. We will find that out as we push the Phenom II X4 940 through a series of tests running at 3.60GHz. It'll also have to face some fierce competition from a range of Intel Core 2 and Core i7 processors. And of course, we'll illustrate you on what was involved in getting this overclock out of the Phenom II X4." Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: General Tech
It certainly seems counterintuitive, but there is now such a thing as an entry level SLI machine. The ASRock N7AD-SLI Socket 775 nForce 740 SLI Motherboard can give you the base of the system, and a pair of 9800 or 8800 cards can give you some nice performance. On the other hand you may have a better experience with a single higher end card, but that wouldn't give you much in the way of bragging rights. Think Computers were satisfied with everything but the CPU socket placement, which could cause problems with larger heatsinks.
"nVidia, for one, has developed a new chipset for the LGA 775, the nForce 740i SLI. They took the bridges c55 + MCP51, used in the nForce 650i chipset, and built around it a platform for an entry-level SLI motherboard, to complement the nF 750i SLI and nF 790i SLI boards. Our friends at ASRock are the first to build a motherboard from the 740i SLI, the N7AD-SLI. They also have launched their new quick-boot system, ASRock Instant Boot, on this motherboard. Read on as we look at this latest offering for the LGA 775 processor." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: Memory
Legit Reviews shocked themselves with the results of their testing 12Gb of RAM set up in triple channel. Six 2GB memory modules at 1600MHz with 8-7-7-20 1T, and only 1.6V, pushing the kits harder resulted in 1700MHz with 8-8-8-24 1T. Check out their full review to see the incredible bandwidth benchmarks that these modules can handle.
"Armed with two Corsair DOMINATOR 6GB 1866MHz CL9 memory kits with the AIRFLOW fan I set out to see how easy it would be to run 12GB of memory on an Intel Core i7 desktop system. These TR3X6G1866C9DF memory kits retail for $449 each and are fastest Core i7 triple channel memory kit that Corsair has to offer. Since these kits go through the tightest screening and binning at Corsair I figured that a pair of these kits should provide not only the best chance at getting 12GB of memory running, but also the best performance should overclocking be in order..." Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Extremetech | Subject: General Tech
ExtremeTech sacrificed the last week playing a through a long list of games on the Windows 7 beta. A lot of the features, like Game Explorer will be familiar to Vista users. One big difference is that just about every game they tested work perfectly, or with a minimum of problems. They even go fairly far back into the past, resurrecting games you may not have thought about in years, which you can still play on Windows 7.
"Will Windows 7 run your games? The short answer is, mostly, yes. We just spent the last week installing and running through 22 different games, of varying ages, going back as far as Quake II. We also ran some of the newest, hottest titles, including several using the Games for Window logo program, which is supposed to be a sort of "Good Housekeeping" seal for PC games. If the game has the Games for Windows logo, so the thinking goes, then it should at least install and run properly." Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective Forums | Subject: General Tech
It seems amazing that the memory of one bad occurrence
can stick in the memory and be pulled out years later to refute current fact. You still run into claims that VIA chipsets are horribly unstable and inefficient and that ATI drivers are bad. In the Processor forum, an old video of Tom's has reared it's head in a thread talking about how AMD chips have a higher failure rate than Intel. Thankfully, the fellows here on the forums set the record straight.
You can get even more straight talk from Ryan, Josh and I in the newest PC Perspective Podcast, just over an hour of the latest and greatest tech news, and a little on the sad news about the state of the IT industry which we have seen over the past week. The Windows 7 beta is still the topic of choice in our Windows forum, where quite a few members are trying it out and sharing their experiences and fixes. Among the various comments and suggestions is advice about "trying on a tux over your street clothes". In The Lightning Round, as you might have suspected, you can find a lot of buzz about Obama and what his Presidency may mean for America and the rest of the world. For those who are looking for a little something new there is the Hot Deals forum, or if you only want something new to you then try the Trading Post. Where ever you do choose to go, make sure to have at least a little fun this weekend, but save some energy for the following Sunday.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Think Computers | Subject: System
Building an HTPC can lead to frustration as you realize a mATX board might not offer all of the connections you desire, or when the video card you want to use is a 1/2" inch too long to fit inside the HTPC case you picked. The nMEDIA HTPC 2000B can solve any spacial difficulties, it will fit a full ATX board in it's 17" x 6.3" x 15.4" casing, though you should still think small for your heatsink. Think Computers like this casing a lot and recommend that anyone buyig the case should spend the extra $35 to pick up the optional LCD screen.
"Looking for a case with a lot of features? Or how about one that actually supports the motherboard you really want. Standard size ATX motherboards and power supplies fit no problem inside of this HTPC case. An optional LCD display can even be purchased for those out there wanting that extra zing to their case. Two panels hide the multitude of external uses for this case. Keeping a slick design and multitude of features this case manages to keep surprisingly cool and quiet. Read on further to see what all this HTPC case has to offer." Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Intel Press Room | Subject: General Tech
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 23, 2009 - Intel Corporation today announced that Craig Barrett intends to retire from active management and his role as chairman and member of the board of directors in May at the company's annual stockholders' meeting. Barrett joined Intel in 1974 and has served in many capacities including CEO from 1998 through 2005. In recent years, Barrett has been active in Intel's World Ahead Program bringing information technology to emerging economies and has been active in issues as far ranging as education, health care and U.S. competitiveness. Barrett is the current chair of the U.N. Global Alliance for Information and Communications Technology and Development. Commenting on his 35 year career at Intel, Barrett noted that he was fortunate to have been able to work side by side with industry legends Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore and Andy Grove. "Intel became the world's largest and most successful semiconductor company in 1992 and has maintained that position ever since," said Barrett. "I'm extremely proud to have helped achieve that accomplishment and to have the honor of working with tens of thousands of Intel employees who every day put their talents to use to make Intel one of the premier technology companies in the world. I have every confidence that Intel will continue this leadership under the direction of Paul Otellini and his management team." "I want to thank Craig for his 35 years of tireless efforts on behalf of Intel," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "His legacy spans the creation of the best semiconductor manufacturing machine in the world, leading Intel for seven years as we emerged into a global powerhouse, and most recently as our industry's senior statesman and ambassador who has advocated the benefits of education and technology as forces for positive change. He has been my colleague, supervisor, mentor and friend for these 35 years. I wish him the very best as he moves on to the next chapter in his life." Intel also announced that independent director Jane Shaw, who joined the Intel board in 1993, has been elected by the board of directors to replace Barrett as non-executive chairman beginning in May. Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom. |
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