Featured Reviews
Spire Coolgate 2011 CPU Cooler Review
The Spire CoolGate 2011 universal CPU cooler is a towering direct contact heat-pipe solution based on the gate-duct airflow principle. The base has 4 direct touch heat-pipes that make direct contact with the CPU for better heat dissipation. Read on to see how this small CPU Cooler performs on our Intel Core i5-2500K powered test system to see if it is right for you.
Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Case Review
The Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Full Tower chassis is designed for enthusiasts that want a large case with all the bells and whistles. The Overseer RX-I has a black exterior and interior with blue LED accents for a timeless look. Features of the case include USB 3.0 ports, tool-free hardware installation, a hard drive docking station and advanced cable management. Read on to see if this full tower case is right for you!
Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1866MHz CL10 Laptop SODIMM Memory Kit Review
Corsair Vengeance series laptop memory upgrade kits are designed to unlock the full performance potential from you notebook. We take the Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1866MHz CL10 memory kit and put it to the test in our ASUS N56VM notebook with Intel Core i7-3720QM quad-core Ivy Bridge processor! Read on to see how easy it is to install this memory kit and to see how it improves overall system performance.
Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme CPU Cooler Review
Designed for low profile cases, the slim ZALMAN CNPS8900 Extreme offers high performance cooling at a low noise level. This CPU cooler uses an ultra quiet 110mm PWM fan with two Direct Touch heatpipes that attach to aluminum fins to dissipate heat effectively away from your CPU. Read on to see how this direct touch heatpipe cooler performs on our Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge processor!
Corsair Vengeance C70 Military Green Case Review
Today we are looking at the newest midtower chassis from Corsair, the Vengeance C70. The Vengeance line is made with gamers on the go in mind and the Vengeance C70 features handles, all steel construction, and military styling. Join us as we see what Corsair is bringing to the table with the Vengeance C70.
AMD Trinity A10-4600M Laptop APU Review - Piledriver Arrives
AMD has been talking about their 2nd-Generation A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), codenamed “Trinity”, for well over a year. This week it shouldn't come to a surprise to any of our faithful readers that AMD has finally launched this new APU! Read on to see how the AMD A10-4600M processor performs against notebooks powered by the Intel Ivy Bridge processor and AMD Llano APU!
Intel Core i7-3770K 'Ivy Bridge' Overclocked Benchmark & Temperature Performance
The Intel Core i7 3770K quad core processor from Intel is the latest and 'greatest'. Though, rumors are abound that despite the smaller manufacturing process the 'Ivy Bridge' 22nm processors run hotter than the previous 'Sandy Bridge' processors. Today we are going to look at the temperatures, power consumption, and an overclocked comparison between 'Sandy Bridge' and 'Ivy Bridge'!
Legit News
Skyrim v1.6 Update To Add Mounted Combat
Fans of Skyrim have been clamouring for the ability to fight while mounted sat atop a horse and Bethesda Game Studios have listened to them. This means that the upcoming version 1.6 patch will add the feature, for free. It's not clear when it's going to be released, "As far as release on other platforms, we’ll let you know when we have more information", so console gamers have an indeterminate wait, but the beta version of this patch is available right now on Steam for PC gamers. To get it, simply configure the Steam client to opt in to running beta clients and the game will auto-update.
There's a whole slew of fixes too of course, including things like fixing a crash with summoned creatures/NPCs, a crash with lighting, AI pathfinding optimizations and general stability and memory optimizations among many more.
DOWNLOADING THE BETA UPDATE ON STEAM
If you opt into the Beta, be sure to back up your saved games or simply be careful not to overwrite your existing saves. If you decide to opt out of the beta program, your old saves will still work with the current release of Skyrim on Steam (v 1.5).
- Log into Steam
- Click on Steam in the upper menu
- Select Settings
- Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.
- A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.
- Select OK.
- Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.
If you decide you don’t want to run the Beta anymore, redo steps 1 – 4. At the drop down, select NONE – Opt out of all beta programs. Let Steam restart, and Skyrim will automatically update itself back to the latest released version.
To provide feedback on the beta update, use our beta forum.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 07:55 PM | Comments
Details of Dell's Windows 8 Tablet Leaked
To no-one's surprise, Dell is working on a Windows 8 tablet for release later this year, like every other PC manufacturer out there. However, details of the upcoming Dell Latitude 10 have now leaked out. Basic specs are a 10.8" overall size, dual core Atom CPU, Intel IGP, 2GB RAM, up to 128GB SSD, TPM module, optional fingerprint reader/smartcard reader, WLAN + Bluetooth, 2/4 cell battery options.
I have left the capacitive touch display's specification last for a reason: at 1366x768 (16:9 aspect ratio) it's going to compare very poorly with Apple's 2048x1536 (4:3 ratio) Retina display in its latest iPad, as the difference is very obvious with just one glance. PC makers are going to have to up their game if they're to compete against that. The tablet is due for release around November, so there's enough time to fix this significant shortcoming. There's no pricing information at this point.
A key feature of the tablet will also be a removable battery that will come in two flavors. We are hearing that the smaller battery will get 6-8 hrs of battery life and the larger battery will get 10-12 hours.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 07:03 PM | Comments
Lian Li Announces Three Ultra-Compact Cases for Smartphone and Tablet Users
Catering for the smartphone and tablet market, these Lian Li cases are designed as personal data storage hubs for all your mobile devices. The PC-Q02 & PC-Q03 cases have no fans, thereby keeping noise to a minimum, but are designed for good airflow through them. The PC-Q03 has no PSU, but the PC-Q02 and PC-Q16 come with a 300W 80 Plus certified SFX PSU.
The PC-Q02 is designed for personal data storage and supports a mini-ITX motherboard. It therefore has lots of space for data drives, sporting one 5.25" slim-type external bay, while the floor can hold either two 2.5" drives or one 3.5" drive. The case has no fan. Suggested price: $149.99
The PC-Q03 is designed for enhanced graphics and supports mini-ITX and mini-DTX motherboards. It can hold a graphics card up to 180mm (7.08") in length. The PC-Q03 also has HD audio ports on the front panel in addition to the two USB 3.0 ports and has no fan.
The PC-Q16 is designed to hold as much storage as possible, meaning it can hold one 3.5" drive, along with an optional 1-bay to HDD SATA hot-swap backplane. It can also hold three 2.5" drives, below the 3.5" bay. Hard disc drives get hot, so this case sports a 140mm fan at the front to keep them cool.
The Lian Li PC-Q02, PC-Q03, and PC-Q16 take advantage of the increasing efficiency of small form factor motherboards and progressively cheaper hard drives, and are able to hold the essential storage hardware in a small form factor. They also have high-quality features that are to be expected from Lian Li including: elegant brushed aluminium frames, easy-to-remove pop-off panels, USB 3.0 connectivity, rounded yet stable aluminum feet, as well as many tool-less features to make installations and upgrades easier. These three chassis also all have a dual LED power button which turns blue when on and glows red while reading.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 06:15 PM | Comments
Xbox 360 4GB & 250GB Sales Ban Moves Closer
A patent dispute started by Motorola in November 2010 against Microsoft has moved a step closer to banning Xbox 360 4GB & 250GB models in the USA, after administrative law judge David Shaw ruled in favour of Motorola over patents relating to secure wireless communication and transmission of video content between controller devices and game consoles. As the consoles are not made in America, the judge has made an initial recommendation that the International Trade Commission (ITC) should ban their import.
In its defence, Microsoft said that banning Xbox 360 sales would be against the public interest. However, Shaw rejected that arguement, finding that there is a greater public interest in enforcing intellectual property rights over any economic impact for consumers. Also, Microsoft had not demonstrated to him that the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles wouldn't be able to meet demand, even though that would leave customers with only two options to choose from.
Note that a public version of Shaw's initial ruling has been delayed until all the interesting proprietary bits that we'd all like to see are redacted. Shame.
Motorola filed its initial complaint with the ITC in November 2010, claiming that the Xbox used Motorola-developed technology that allows set-top boxes to decode transmissions between its Droid2 and DroidX mobile devices.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 03:30 PM | Comments
MyDigitalSSD Introduces Bullet Proof 3 SATA III SSDs
Established in 2008, MyDigitalSSD has spent the past four years making flash-based devices for the consumer market. It looks like MyDigitalSSD is starting to make a marketing push into the 'DIY' and enthusiast sector and is releasing a new SSD series called Bullet Proof 3. The Bullet Proof 3 (BP3) SATA III 2.5 inch solid state drive that uses a Phison S8 controller with Toshiba Toggle 2.0 NAND flash chips. The drives are available in capacities of 64GB ($110) to 512GB ($530) and have a sequential read speed of up to 500 MB/s with a write speed of up to 320 MB/s on the 128GB and larger drives. The 4k random read is 16,000 IOPS and the 4k random writes are 46,000 IOPS. Looks like a pretty solid SATA III drive and we hope to get one in to review for you as we have never worked with or used and MyDigitalSSD products before.
The acclaimed Bullet Proof and Bullet Proof Pro series solid state drives are MyDigitalSSD’s best SSD upgrades for the money. Each incarnation continues to push the boundaries of processing speed, power, reliability, and space, providing read/write speeds up to 270MB/s with storage capacities ranging from 8GB to 512GB. The Bullet Proof series of SSDs are consistently reviewed as some of the greatest solid state drives on the market.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 02:42 PM | Comments
May 24, 2012 News from Around the Web
Microlab SOLO7C Review @ Vortez and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
The speakers on test today are a little different. The Microlab SOLO 7C is a set of stereo floor standing speakers tailored more for the living room space than your average PC desk, but whatever your usage scenario is intended to provide a more fully rounded audio experience than the standard PC or Television set-up.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 12:26 PM | Comments
BitFenix Unleashes The Prodigy mini-ITX PC Case
BitFenix today launched its latest PC case creation - Prodigy. The first mini-ITX chassis designed with enthusiasts in mind, Prodigy is set to turn the mini-ITX chassis market on its head. With support for long graphics cards, tower coolers, and even watercooling radiators.
Designed by BitFenix from the ground up, Prodigy embodies everything BitFenix – robust functionality, revolutionary new materials, and timeless design. The subtle curves and clean lines on the outside speak the same BitFenix design language that has catapulted BitFenix into the hearts of enthusiasts everywhere. The chassis is suspended by two handles on the top and bottom that are crafted with BitFenix FyberFlex Composite – a revolutionary new material that is very flexible yet offers incredible strength. These handles, coated in our SofTouch Surface Treatment, are not only a convenient way to carry Prodigy, but are also an extra level of shock protection during transport. Two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports are provided on the outside for fast file transfers, while the brushed aluminum BitFenix logo on the front ties the entire design together. Available in Midnight Black or Arctic White, Prodigy is not just a PC case, but a work of art. Sliding off the side panel reveals the Prodigy's true talents. The modular BitFenix FlexCage houses up to five 3.5" HDDs or 2.5" SSDs, making Prodigy an ideal candidate for a home server, HTPC or NAS. Remove the middle portion of the FlexCage, and Prodigy can accommodate long graphics cards up to 320mm in length, making it ideal for a pint-sized gaming powerhouse. Need even more power? Remove FlexCage and the ODD bay all together to make room for a thick 240mm water cooling radiator. Prodigy accommodates standard ATX power supplies, and a specially designed side SSD mounting bracket that enables users to install up to five SSDs, even with the FlexCage completely removed! Featuring multiple installation options, Prodigy is the most flexible mini-ITX chassis on the market, bar none.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 11:51 AM | Comments
Corsair Components Postpones IPO
Corsair Components is postponing its planned initial public offering of stock, citing market conditions. It initially filed plans for an initial public offering in 2010, hoping to raise as much as $86.3 million for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures and possible acquisitions. Earlier this month, it said it intended to offer 6.9 million shares at a maximum price of $14. Chief Executive Andy Paul said the company intends to re-launch its IPO when equity market conditions improve. After the whole Facebook IPO fiasco last week it would be tough for any company to be the next tech company to go public!
"Our business is growing, and is generating increasing profitability and cash flow," said Paul, adding that the company has sufficient capital to allow it to continue to invest in the brand strength, products and personnel.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 11:29 AM | Comments
AT&T Validates NVIDIA Icera Modem Chipset For LTE Network Use
NVIDIA today announced that the NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE multimode data modem chipset for tablets and clamshell devices has been tested and validated for operation on the AT&T 4G LTE network. Together with its multimode radio transceiver, the chipset offers 4G LTE at category 2 data rates (up to 50 Mbps) as well as 4G HSPA+, 3G and 2G compatibility. In the case of this AT&T certification, LTE is supported on bands 4 and 17, HSPA+ on bands 1,2 and 5, plus GSM/EDGE on bands 2, 3,5 and 8. This solution requires the use of two chips; Tegra and the SOC data modem. NVIDIA has plans for an integrated Tegra and Icera SoC – codenamed Project Grey – that is coming in 2013 and targeted at the mainstream LTE market. And in case you were wondering the NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE multimode data modem chipset does not support CDMA2000, so sorry Verizon and Sprint users. The somewhat slow adoption of quad-core processors like NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 has been blamed on the lack of LTE Network connectivity, so getting this AT&T qualification could lead to more NVIDIA Tegra design wins.
“Validation with AT&T is an achievement that paves the way for NVIDIA Icera-powered LTE devices on the AT&T network through this year and next,” said Stan Boland, senior vice president of Mobile Communications at NVIDIA.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 11:22 AM | Comments
ECS Motherboards Are Stable Marketing Push - ECS Nonstop Technology
Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has developed a new motherboard testing regime that is far stricter than common industry standards to ensure the companies motherboards are as stable and reliable as it gets. ECS is calling the testing 'Nonstop' and only some ECS motherboards are able to become ECS Nonstop certified due to how touch the 72-hour test is. The boards that are Nonstop certified include these models: X79R-AX, X79R-AX deluxe, A990FXM-A, A990FXM-A Deluxe, A75F-A, H61H2-A2 Deluxe, Z77H2-AX, Z77H2-A2X, and Z77H2-A2X deluxe. All future ECS Black Series motherboards will adopt ECS Nonstop Technology.
Every ECS Nonstop certified motherboard must survive the Super Marathon 3X Stability test, a military level assault course of tests that checks and stresses critical components to ensure that they are up to ECS standards. The Super Marathon Stability Test is aptly named, because each board runs through the testing cycle more than 30,000 times in the course of a strenuous 72-hour workout. This testing regime is devised and guaranteed by more than 30 professional ECS testers. In addition, every Nonstop certified board must undergo the Sahara Severe Test: a 50°C severe environment test. Running at 125 percent higher than standard high temperature tests, the Sahara Severe Test checks every boards' ability to keep working flawlessly – even when handling supremely demanding computing tasks under the most extreme environmental conditions. Only those boards which can pass the Super Marathon Stability test and the 50°C Severe Environment Test while still delivering the flawless, glitch-free high performance that ECS expects are ultimately awarded Nonstop Certification and allowed to reach ECS customers.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 10:17 AM | Comments
Spire Introduces Star LED Fan Series
Spire today introduced the Star LED PWM series of case fans. Spire is making them available with either RedStar and BlueStar LED lighting and in 80mm, 92mm and 120mm fan sizes. Spire believes that these UV-Reactant fans will me a great addition to any PC. The 120mm version has a maximum airflow of 51.12 CFM, spins between 600 and 1200 RPM and uses 1.32 Watts of power. The noise level is said to be between 10 to 23 dBA. Spire even sleeved the 4-pin cable for better airflow and looks, so these look like very nice fans and are backed by a 3-year warranty. The Redstar 120 LED PWM fan below is available at $12.99 (sleeve beating), $14.99 (ball bearing) or $19.99 (nano bearing).
- Special fan blade shape and spokes design, ultra silent operation
- 4 fire-red LED’s installed
- Superior airflow and High air pressure
- PWM automatic fan speed control as a standard
- Sleeved wires for better airflow, and neat appearance
- 4 PIN PWM (2510) connector for mainboard
- UV-Reactant
The Spire Star LED fans are high quality, LED colored and silent cooling fans for the PC gamer and PC enthusiast. Based on the original Star fan blade design these new LED series are destined to be a big hit. Top of the line components and features are applied to build these powerful LED fans. This version of the RedStar LED fan features PWM which automatically controls the fan speed, according to the computers temperature. This ensures that the fan is a quiet as possible at all times and automatically adjusts to meet your systems cooling needs. To make the Star fan series extra silent we have included 4 rubber anti-vibe mounts to install the fan and stop any fan vibration.
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 09:31 AM | Comments
Corsair Announces SSD Upgrade Kit for Notebooks
Corsair today announced the immediate availability of the Force Series 3 SSD Notebook Upgrade Kits. The kits, available in sizes of 120GB and 240GB, provide users with an easy, affordable way to upgrade their laptops to a solid-state drive (SSD) for improved performance, battery life, and reliability. The kit includes a USB-to-SATA cable and easy-to-use migration software for transferring existing operating system, application, and data files from an old hard drive to the new SSD. The new SSDs come in a slim 7mm high case designed to fit in even the most space-constrained laptops.
"Laptop owners have become more aware of the performance, power efficiency, and reliability of SSDs but many have been put off by the complexity of moving their existing data," said Thi La, Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair. "The new Force Series 3 SSD Notebook Upgrade Kits simplify the data migration process, making upgrading to an SSD easier than ever."
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 09:17 AM | Comments
HP To Cut 27,000 Jobs With New Restructuring Plan
Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday that it is slashing 27,000 jobs in a widely expected maneuver aimed at slimming down the company. The company expects the layoffs, which amount to 8% of its worldwide workforce, to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion by the end of fiscal year 2014. The company is offering an early retirement program, so the total number of employees affected will be impacted by the number of employees that participate in the early retirement plan. Shares of HP jumped by nearly 11% in after-hours trading as investors cheered the company's restructuring efforts and positive outlook.
“These initiatives build upon our recent organizational realignment, and will further streamline our operations, improve our processes, and remove complexity from our business,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long term health of the company. We are setting HP on a path to extend our global leadership and deliver the greatest value to customers and shareholders.”
Posted by | Thu, May 24, 2012 - 07:53 AM | Comments
Eugene Polley Dies at 96; Inventor of The TV Remote Control
Eugene Polley, inventor of the TV remote control, died Sunday at age 96 in a hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois. He was an accomplished inventor that worked for Zenith Electronics from 1935 to 1982. He changed the lives of hundreds of millions around the world with the creation of the first wireless TV remote in 1955. The world would be a different place without our beloved clicker! Eugene Polley holds his Flash-Matic television remote control in the image below. He said that his remote was “The greatest thing since the wheel.”
Polley long felt he was denied proper credit for the remote control, said his son, Eugene Polley Jr. The remote he invented used a beam of light directed at sensors in the corners of the set to change channels or turn the picture and sound on and off. A year later, another Zenith researcher, Robert Adler, a Viennese-born physicist, developed the Space Command remote. The Space Command relied on a series of high-frequency chimes that keyed a sensor to change channels. Both devices had drawbacks, but Adler's design was embraced by Zenith. Today's infrared signal remotes, however, have more in common with Polley's device, Taylor said.
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 02:34 PM | Comments
RunCore Launches Xapear SSD w/ Remote Data Deletion & RFID Protection
RunCore today announced the launch of their Xapear Solid State Disc drive. RunCore’s Xapear is a smart USB 2.0 connected SSD solution with RFID protection, allowing you to split your data into a freely accessible partition, and a hidden partition that only becomes accessible by applying a special RFID key to your SSD. The Xapear also offers remote data destruction by simply sending an SMS over your GSM enabled mobile device to the integrated GSM receiver, which then will immediately start overwriting all your data and thereby deleting all previous content. After successful data elimination the SSD’s GSM will send a confirmation SMS to your mobile device.
The Xapear comes with two RFID keys, that will be initialized by the users themselves. After this initialization users can use a “public” and a “hidden” partition and define their respective sizes. In regular use the “hidden” partition cannot be detected by others, only once the RFID key is being swiped over the Xapear SSD itself will the “hidden” partition appear. After another swipe this partition will disappear again. GSM communication is provided for by an integrated SIM card. User then can link this SIM card one specified and self-defined mobile phone. Only this pre-defined mobile phone will be able to detect drive access. Furthermore, the mobile phone can remotely send a data deletion command to the drive, telling it to overwrite all data, rendering it impossible to recover previous data.
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 02:16 PM | Comments
Diablo III Sets PC Game Launch Record
Blizzard Entertainment today announced that as of the first 24 hours of Diablo III's release, more than 3.5 million copies had been sold, setting the new all-time record for fastest-selling PC game. That number does not include the more than 1.2 million players who received Diablo III as part of signing up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass promotion. Altogether, more than 4.7 million gamers around the world were poised to storm Sanctuary on day 1 of Diablo III's release -- representing the biggest PC-game launch in history. As of the first week of the game's availability, that number had already grown to more than 6.3 million.
"We're definitely thrilled that so many people around the world were excited to pick up their copy of Diablo III and jump in the moment it went live," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We also regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience when they did so. I want to reaffirm our commitment to make sure the millions of Diablo III players out there have a great experience with the game moving forward, and I also want to thank them for their ongoing support."
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 02:09 PM | Comments
IHS Predicts HDD Capacity Will Double By 2016
SSDs may be the fast and cool storage devices to own, but hard disc drives are not becoming obsolete anytime soon, due to their shear amount of storage capacity which SSDs can't touch. Technology research company IHS predicts that HDD capacity will approximately double by 2016, bringing us 8-10TB drives, up from today's top end 4TB drives. This is due to the continued increases in areal platter density which is currently at around 750Gb per square inch, to around 1700Gb per square inch by 2016 using the current Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology. This will be great news for applications where lots of storage is vital, such as scientific uses, cloud services and thousands of episodes of the latest vacuous pop talent show in super-high 4K definition, among other important applications.
However, PMR is starting to approach its limits, which is slowing this growth rate, otherwise much larger drives would have been predicted by 2016. Enter new kid on the block, Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology. This is currently in prototype form, with the main disadvantage holding it back being that the HDD manufacturers haven't yet found a way to implement it cheaply enough in a mass market product. However, when this problem is cracked, then 30 to 60TB drives would be within easy reach, which represents capacities 10 to 20 times of what they are today.
"The rise in areal density will pave the way for continued growth of the HDD industry," said Fang Zhang, analyst for storage systems at IHS. "Densities will double during the next five years, despite technical difficulties associated with the perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology now used to create higher-areal-density hard disks. In particular, growth opportunities will lie in applications associated with mass enterprise storage requirements, gaming, and in digital video recorders (DVRs) where massive capacity is required to store high-definition video."
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 01:43 PM | Comments
May 23, 2012 News from Around the Web
Asus Z77 Roundup @ LanOC Reviews and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
When doing all of our Ivy Bridge launch prep we spent a LOT of time benchmarking and testing a whole collection of boards. You guys have seen our reviews of the Intel and Gigabyte boards. When it came time to write about the four different Asus Z77 boards I realized that most of you are not going to want to read through a lot of information that we would cover over and over on each review. We decided to roundup all four of the boards and cover them together. This way we can get to the point a little quicker, saving you time, as well as giving us a chance to talk more about the differences between the variety of boards that we tested.
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 10:41 AM | Comments
Seagate to Acquire Controlling Interest in LaCie
Seagate and LaCie today announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. Seagate has offered to purchase from Philippe Spruch, LaCie’s chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, all of their shares, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie. Following receipt of governmental approvals and the close of this transaction, Seagate would commence an all-cash simplified tender offer to acquire the remaining outstanding shares in accordance with the General Regulation of the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). This deal values LaCie as being a $186 million company.
Seagate has offered Mr. Spruch and his affiliate €4.05 per share in cash, minus a potential adjustment depending on the cash and debt position of LaCie at closing. This price may be increased by a possible price supplement of 3% in the event that the threshold of 95% of the shares and voting rights of LaCie would be reached by Seagate within 6 months following closing, resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of €4.17. Without the price supplement, the offer currently values LaCie at an approximate €146 million, or $186 million total equity value, including acquired net cash of approximately €49 million, or $65 million, as of March 31, 2012. The €4.05 per share price represents a premium of 29% to LaCie’s average closing stock price over the 30 trading days ended May 22, 2012.
Posted by | Wed, May 23, 2012 - 09:01 AM | Comments
AsRock Starts Selling Intel Q77 Chipset-Based Q77M vPro Motherboard Before Chipset Is Released
Intel's Q77 chipset, aimed at "professional" business applications is due to be formally launched in a week or so. However, this hasn't stopped AsRock from starting to sell their Q77M vPro mATX motherboard that's based on it.
Looking at the feature set, the board is clearly oriented for business use, since it comes with things like vPro for remote control by an administrator, a TPM module and a DisplayPort connector instead of HDMI, although it does support SLI & CrossFireX, which is usually something that gamers would use. It also has a gigabit network port and a Realtek AC662 audio chip delivering 5.1 channel audio and a UEFI BIOS, as well as 100% all solid capacitors, which should help with reliability. It comes bundled with Intel's Small Business Advantage software, which is designed to reduce the amount of IT staff needed to manage the computer.
It has five main features, with three aimed at increasing security: a software monitor that helps keep critical security software running by monitoring it at the hardware level and alerting the business if there has been an attack; data backup and restore, which provides reliable after-hours backup of critical data using the local maintenance timer to remotely power on the PC and a USB blocker, which lets businesses control access to their infrastructure, preventing unauthorized USB devices or file imports or exports on company PCs.
It also has two productivity related features: PC health center, which can schedule and perform PC maintenance tasks after hours so as not to interrupt employees' work. It works even if the computer is powered down, as long as it is plugged in and an energy saver so that businesses can save energy by scheduling PCs to power-down at the end of the day and turn on before the work day begins―ready for employees as they arrive in the morning. The motherboard is already on sale at around US$125 (S$160) which is quite expensive for a product in this class, especially as boards with better features are priced rather lower.
- 100% All Solid Capacitor Design
- Supports DDR3 1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory, Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB
- 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slot, 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 Slot
- Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX and CrossFireX
- Supports Intel® HD Graphics with Built-in Visuals
- Multi VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and DisplayPort
- Intel® PCIE Gigabit LAN
- 5.1 CH HD Audio (Realtek ALC662 Audio Codec), Supports THX TruStudio™
- Supports ASRock XFast RAM, XFast LAN, XFast USB, OMG, Internet Flash, UEFI System Browser
- Supports Intel® vPro Technology, Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Small Business Advantage, Intel® Smart Connect Technology, Intel® Rapid Start Technology
- Free Bundle : CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, ASRock MAGIX Multimedia Suite
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 06:09 PM | Comments
Samsung Galaxy S III Now On Sale - In Dubai Only
The much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone has now gone on sale - but only in Dubai for now. The customer who bought the one shown in the photos below, apparently in Dubai, paid AED2499 ($680 approx) for it. So, for those champing at the bit to get one, it goes on sale in Europe on May 29 and the USA on June 1.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 04:48 PM | Comments
Microsoft Revamps Multi-Monitor Support For Windows 8
It looks like Microsoft wants to revamp and improve multi-monitor support with their release of Windows 8. They decided on this course of action after seeing the data collected through the Windows Feedback Program showing 13% of desktop and 5% of laptop users utilizing two monitors. After seeing those numbers they started looking at their own setups at the office. With those numbers and their own experiences in mind they set out some goals they wanted to achieve when it comes to people making use of multiple monitors with Windows 8:
- Make the desktop a more personal experience. Perhaps the most personalized feature on the desktop is the ability to customize the desktop background. We set out to make this a great experience on multiple monitors too.
- Improve the efficiency of accessing apps across monitors. In Windows 7, the top request from people using multiple monitors was to improve the taskbar efficiency.
- Improve the efficiency of accessing system UI. In Windows 7, you could only access the Start menu on one monitor. With the introduction in Windows 8 of new UI that puts controls at the edges of the screen, we wanted to make sure that it’s still easy to access Start, the charms, the clock, and your recently used apps from every monitor.
- Allow side-by-side Metro style and desktop apps. You can launch or move a Metro style app to any monitor, side-by-side with desktop apps on another screen.
We recognize that a key value of using multiple monitors lies in the desire to increase multitasking. This is especially true of those of you who spend time arranging your desktop windows to maximize the available real estate across multiple displays. Speaking firsthand, most developers and testers at Microsoft have a multi-monitor setup in their offices, walking through the hallways one sees a wide range of monitor configurations from 2 to 4 or more monitors among the engineering team. This affords two important scenarios. First, developers can use a tool like Visual Studio on one screen and have the running/debugged program on another, or they can add an additional monitor and reserve it for side tasks such as email or web browsing.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 03:11 PM | Comments
Diablo 3 Accounts Hacked, Looted Like Demon Corpses
Seems Blizzard's Diablo 3 is the new game to hack and its only been out for one week. The issue is widespread enough that is has happened to a writer over at Eurogamer. Christian Donlan apparently had his account hacked, hilariously enough the conversation with the hacker was captured by review editor Oli Welsh also from Eurogamer. (shown below) This is but one case however, it seems a multitude of reports are popping up about Diablo 3 accounts being hacked. Blizzard's only option currently has been to roll back a user's characters to a time before they were hacked, the fix of course isn't perfect, as progress is still lost. Blizzard has even gone so far as to offer an authenticator which should have provided further security, but it seems to have failed as accounts with it enabled have still been compromised. Sad as it is, accounts are being hacked and stripped of all items, gold, etc and it's becoming a severe issue. Let's hope Blizzard can crack down on the problem before they release the real money auction house, as when that happens the problem could escalate to unprecedented proportions. Blizzard has yet to respond to reports on the issue.
One theory suggested by players on the Battle.net forum revolves around hijacking session identifiers, which would allow hackers to take over accounts without alerting Blizzard's authentication server. Again, this remains unconfirmed.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 02:36 PM | Comments
MSI Debutes Z77A-GD80 Motherboard With Thunderbolt
MSI today announced the Z77A-GD80 mainboard, which just happens to be the world's first mainboard with Thunderbolt support. The Z77A-GD80 is equipped with the newest Intel Z77 chipset with support for the new generation 22nm processors, and is equipped with the newest Thunderbolt transfer interface. With Thunderbolt, external device connectivity problems faced by high-end users are alleviated such as: poor data transfer rates, every device requiring an independent connection port, and transfer speed dropping low when sending and receiving files simultaneously due to lack of bandwidth, etc. The all new Thunderbolt transfer technology provides an extremely large bi-direction 10Gbps bandwidth, which allows simultaneous connection of high resolution monitors, storage devices and even a graphics card. 8-channel audio signal is also supported, allowing multiple devices to be connected via a single cable.
The MSI Z77A-GD80 features the newest and fastest external connection technology – Thunderbolt. It provides two-way bandwidth that reaches as high as 10Gbps and can also provide electric power for external devices. HD video content can be transferred within only a few seconds! The two-way and independent bandwidth design allows users to send and receive files simultaneously through the Thunderbolt interface and not reduce the respective transfer speed. Additionally, only one cable connection is required from the computer to other external peripherals such as high-resolution monitors and large capacity external storage devices. 8-channel audio signals are also supported. Compared to the traditional interface which requires one connection cable to connect each device or multiple external hubs, Thunderbolt can increase convenience and ease of connectivity, fully meeting the needs of professionals and high-end users.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 01:25 PM | Comments
Team Group Announces Team Vulcan Series Overclocking Memory - 8GB Modules
Team Group today announced a series of memory modules that have been designed for overclocking called Team Vulcan. Team Group says this memory series was named after the god of fire in Greek mythology and they offer Team Vulcan kits in speeds ranging from 1600MHz to 2400MHz. Team Group also announced they they are also now offering a single 8GB memory module for overclockers made from eight 512MB memory chips. This means on Intel X79 boards that have support for 8 memory modules that you can run 64GB of memory! Team Group is offering kits with 8GB modules in speeds of up to 2133MHz, which is really fast for that density!
Named after the god of fire in Greek mythology, the Team Vulcan is the combination of high-end craftsmanship and top-notch technology. The short version heat sink of Team Vulcan prevents difficulty in installation due to large and bulky heat dissipation device of motherboard. The arrow-shaped opening design helps increase heat dissipation. In addition, the explosively red color combined with diamond cut pattern not only shows great texture but also the crazy sensation of over-clocking speed. Made of chips from major manufacturers, Team Vulcan passes series of harsh testing and verification procedures which have proven its stability and durability. Currently, DDR3 2400 CL10, DDR3 2133 CL11, DDR3 1866 CL9/10/11 and DDR3 1600 CL9 are available to cover the mainstream Dual- and Quad-channel specifications that pretty much satisfy the demands of players of all levels.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 11:16 AM | Comments
Intel Previews 1Gbps DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Internet Gateway
Intel previewed its first DOCSIS 3.0 cable gateway solution that is capable of 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) by bonding 24 DOCSIS 3.0 channels together (up from eight bonded channels in a typical deployment today). The Intel Puma 6 technology solution will help enable service providers to meet consumer demand and offer new services while extending their extensive network investments. A test program by South Korea’s SKbroadband is targeting production deployment of 1Gbps in 2013.
“We continue to lead in DOCSIS technology, and are now providing cable gateway solutions with 1Gbps capability,” said Alan Crouch, general manager of Intel’s Service Provider Division. “Service providers can now deliver on consumer demands for higher broadband speeds, supporting a proliferation of new devices, services and experiences.”
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 11:05 AM | Comments
Killer Wireless-N 1202 Wireless Cards Now Available in Alienware Laptops
Qualcomm Atheros today announced that Alienware will be the first to launch the Killer Wireless-N 1202 high-performance Wi-Fi module with Bluetooth on the Alienware line of high-performance gaming laptop computers. The high-performance 2x2 802.11n MIMO Wi-Fi module with Bluetooth is designed to provide improved performance and advanced control by automatically classifying and prioritizing gaming, video and audio network data to provide a superior, uninterrupted online entertainment experience.
“Alienware continues to be the leader in performance laptops and we appreciate that its customers are used to getting the best gaming experience possible,” said Mike Cubbage, director of business development, networking business unit, Qualcomm Atheros. “The Killer Wireless-N 1202 will continue the tradition of delivering a superior gaming and real-time communication experience for Alienware laptop users by providing the best in online application performance, intelligence and control to ensure that critical online applications get the bandwidth and priority they need, when they need it.”
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 10:50 AM | Comments
VIA Launches $49 Android PC w/ ARM 11 Processor - APC
VIA Technologies today unveiled the $49 APC Android PC system. Powered by a WonderMedia ARM 11 800MHz processor, APC integrates memory, storage, and a full set of consumer I/O features in a small footprint Neo-ITX motherboard that can be connected to a TV or monitor. The Neo-ITX form factor is new and the board measures just 17cm x 8.5cm and can be housed in any standard Mini-ITX or microATX chassis.
- Optimized Android OS
- HD TV support
- Hardware acceleration of the most demanding video formats
- VGA and HMDI display ports
- Four USB 2.0 ports
- One microSD slot
- One 10/100 Ethernet port
- Audio-out/ Mic-in
- VIA WonderMedia ARM 11 SoC
- 2GB NAND Flash
- 512 DDR3 SDRAM
- 15W power adaptor
"APC brings the familiarity and convenience of Android to the PC at a $49 price point that will open up exciting new markets and applications," said Richard Brown, VP of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "Like a bicycle for your mind, APC will enable more people than ever before to explore the vast online universe."
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 08:15 AM | Comments
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare Now Available For PC Gamers
Remedy Entertainment has finally released Alan Wake's American Nightmare for PC gamers! Alan Wake’s American Nightmare is a stand alone spin-off adventure featuring a thrilling pulp action story mode and an all new “Fight till Dawn” arcade mode. Alan Wake’s American Nightmare has also been revamped for the PC with stunning high-resolution graphics and enhanced PC features.
Here is the official Alan Wake's American Nightmare Launch Trailer!
The single player campaign comes from the darkest corners of the ‘Night Springs’, a Twilight Zone inspired fiction. American Nightmare is an exaggerated and gritty rendering of that world – where the horrors of reality have the all too easy habit of coming true. When Wake becomes stuck in the alternate shadowed world of Night Springs, he must hunt down his evil double, Mr. Scratch, to find answers. A supernatural serial killer, Scratch is fixated on Wake’s wife, Alice, and even more horribly, Wake’s demise. To survive and thrive in the darkest of nights, Wake must learn to control reality itself and unravel the secrets of Night Springs with a trusty flashlight by his side and whatever weapon he can find.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 08:05 AM | Comments
PQI Announces Wi-Fi Memory Card - PQI Air Card
PQI launched the Air Card Wi-Fi Memory Card today. The PQI Air Card uses a is a traditional Class 10 microSD memory card that fits inside an SD adapter that has Wi-Fi built-in. The end result is a wireless memory card that allows for "instant sharing" anytime and anywhere without the need for annoying wires or a PC card reader. You can then wirelessly transfer images and movies to a device of your choice thanks to the PQI AirCard+ app that works on both Apple and Android devices.
When combining the PQI Air Card with the latest digital cameras (DSC/DSLR), you can instantly upload files to your preferred cloud storage service. The Air Card is the only product that features both Wi-Fi connectivity and a microSD card slot with up to a 32GB capacity and Class10 support. It supports the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n interface. Simply insert the PQI Air Card into a digital camera memory card slot to automatically turn on the Wi-Fi along with the camera. This simple technology can also automatically connect to the PQI "AirCard+" app (available in the iOS App Store and Android’s Google Play) on smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices for instant file sharing with up to three simultaneous connections.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 07:56 AM | Comments
Q1 Graphics Shipments Decline 3.38% Over Last Year
Jon Peddie Research today announced the companies findings when it comes to estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers' market share for Q1'12. The research firm discovered that AMD was able to grow shipments over last quarter by 0.3%, in a down quarter. Intel slipped 1.3% and NVIDIA declined 4.5% from the last quarter. Although this did not shape up to be a great quarter for the suppliers, it actually wasn't as bad as it could have been. Jon Peddie Research found that shipments during the first quarter of 2012 behaved according to past years with regard to seasonality, declining from the previous quarter; however, this quarter's decline (of 0.8%) was less than the ten-year average of 3.1%. If we use graphics as an indicator, the industry seems to be recovering from the floods in Thailand. Jon Peddie Research uses both discrete and integrated graphics (CPU and chipset) for Desktops, Notebooks (and Netbooks), and PC-based commercial (i.e., POS) and industrial/scientific and embedded to come up with these figures.
The quarter in general:
- AMD had a gigantic increase in shipments of its desktop APUs of 84% and a modest 2.6% decline in notebook APUs.
- This quarter, Intel celebrated its ninth quarter of shipping its Embedded Processor Graphics CPU-EPG, a multi-function design that combines a graphics processor and an x86 CPU in the same package. These devices include the Core i series, and Atom processors in PCs. Intel's desktop EPG shipments had a very strong double digit growth of 18%, and Notebooks showed a more modest 2.1%. Combined with a decrease in overall IGP chipsets shipments, Intel came in for the quarter with a -1.3% drop from Q4.
- Nvidia shipments dropped 4.5% from last quarter, partially due to the phase out of IGPs. The company will no longer report IGP shipments.
- Year to year this quarter AMD shipments declined 1.2%, Intel shipped 4.67% more parts, Nvidia slipped -26.3% in the overall market as company withdraws from the integrated segments, and VIA saw their shipments increase by 51% over last year and 148% over last quarter.
- A little over 123 million graphics chips shipped, down from 124 million units last quarter, and down from 126 million units shipped this quarter a year ago.
- Discrete GPUs increased 2.7 % from the last quarter but were down 11% from last year for the same quarter.
- Ninety three percent of Intel's non server processors have graphics, and over 79% of AMD's non-server processors have integrated graphics
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 07:45 AM | Comments
NVIDIA GeForce 301.42 WHQL Drivers Released
This morning NVIDIA released GeForce 301.42 WHQL Drivers for both desktop and notebook users! The NVIDIA GeForce 301.42 WHQL drivers offer numerous performance enhancements over GeForce 296.10 WHQL drivers, so if you haven't updated your drivers recently you are in for a treat. These drivers support all the new GeForce GTX 600 'Kepler' series cards as well as older 400 and 500 series products. You can download the new drivers here.
Increases performance for GeForce 400 Series and 500 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. GeForce 296.10 WHQL-certified drivers. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 570/580:
- Up to 23% in Just Cause 2 with SLI
- Up to 21% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Up to 17% in StarCraft II with SLI
- Up to 14% in Far Cry 2 with SLI
- Up to 9% in Bulletstorm
- Up to 7% in Civilization V
- Up to 6% in Deus Ex: Human Revolution with SLI
- Up to 6% in Dragon Age 2 with SLI
- Up to 5% in Metro 2033 with SLI
- Up to 5% in Total War: Shogun 2
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 07:34 AM | Comments
May 22, 2012 News from Around the Web
Icy Dock MB994SP-4SB-1 Full Metal Quad Bay 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Backplane Review @ eTeknix.com and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
Icy Dock and hot-swap bays go together like icing on a cake, so lets take a look to see what the MB994SP-4SB-1 has to offer.
Posted by | Tue, May 22, 2012 - 07:05 AM | Comments
Ubisoft Releases Burning Building Trailer For Far Cry 3
Ubisoft have released another teaser video to tempt people to buy Far Cry 3 when it's released in September, just in time for the back to school season, guaranteeing that legions of students will be playing this at home instead of doing their homework...
This one shows our protagonist fighting his way through a huge building set completely ablaze in order to save a damsel in distress called Lisa, who is trapped inside. The three minute video is very good and we won't spoil it by describing what happens. Note how the flames are rendered, which look and move in a surprisingly realistic way, helping to give the impression of searing heat.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 07:48 PM | Comments
Overkill Has Cool Blend of PAYDAY and Left 4 Dead In The Works
Following various recent hints dropped into PAYDAY The Heist, Overkill Software's Game Director, Ulf Andersson, has announced that his company are currently collaborating with Valve to produce a game that's a blend of PAYDAY and Left 4 Dead, "We are working on a very cool blend of PAYDAY and Left 4 Dead. I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done".
He hasn't said anything other than this tantalizing statement, so we'll just have to wait a little longer to see what Overkill come up with. One thing we know though: Valve have not put out a bad game yet, so this collaboration is likely to produce something wicked that lives up to the hype.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 06:15 PM | Comments
Ubisoft Launches Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Commander For Facebook
Today, Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Commander, an isometric tactical combat game, is now available to play on Facebook. Head to Facebook if you'd like to try this game out.
“We are taking the popular Ghost Recon franchise and bringing it to platforms that allow players of all skill levels to enjoy at their leisure, on the platform of their choosing,” said Chris Early, vice president of digital publishing at Ubisoft. “This is the basis of our companion gaming strategy that Ghost Recon Commander exemplifies so well.”
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 05:14 PM | Comments
Leap Motion Releases Super Accurate Kinect-Style Motion Sensing Device
Microsoft's Kinect motion controller initially for the Xbox 360 and now also the PC, has been very successful and shows how computers can be controlled by gestures rather than just with the traditional keyboard and mouse. This success hasn't been lost on competitors, who are now starting to make similar products. Enter Leap Motion's Leap controller, an affordable $69.99 device that the company is starting to take pre-orders for. If you pre-order a unit, you'll be waiting a bit as they aren't going to ship until December 2012 or January 2013.
Unlike Microsoft's Kinect, the Leap tracks finger movements with precision down to a 100th of a millimeter, allowing precise interactions with the computer, on the same order as using a mouse. In fact, the company makes the bold claim that with this device, one can "say goodbye to your mouse and keyboard." That remains to be seen. The company's About/FAQ page is here. Note that as of this writing, Leap Motion haven't revealed the specifications of the device or gone into any significant detail into how it works. The video below demonstrates what the device can do and does look impressive. However, it would probably be wise to wait for a review or two before spending hard cash on a new, unproven product from a new company.
"It was this gap between what's easy in the real world but very complicated to do digitally, like molding a piece of clay or creating a 3-D model, that inspired us to create the Leap and fundamentally change how people work with their computers," said Leap Motion CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald. "In addition to the Leap for computers, our core software is versatile enough to be embedded in a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, cars and refrigerators. One day 3-D motion control will be in just about every device we interact with, and thanks to the Leap, that day is coming sooner than anyone expected."
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 05:10 PM | Comments
iBUYPOWER Announces Dual-CPU Professional Series Workstations
iBUYPOWER announced two updates to their Professional Series workstations this afternoon. iBUYPOWER is launching the Professional Series P900DX, the most powerful update to their Professional Series workstations. In addition, iBUYPOWER is also announcing the availability of the new Intel Xeon E3-1200-V2 CPUs on Professional Series P500X Workstation PCs.
The new P900DX features two of the latest Intel E5 Xeon processors with up to 8 cores per CPU. High memory capacity and 3rd Generation PCI-E combine with increased processing power in the new P900DX workstations to deliver performance for the most intensive CAD simulation tasks. Professional Series P900DX workstations start from $3,699. The updated P500DX workstations feature Intel Xeon E3-1200-V2 CPUs, which features increased performance at lower power consumption for a more efficient workflow. Professional Series P500X Workstations start from $1,229.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 04:39 PM | Comments
Rumor: NVIDIA To Recall All Kepler 600-Series Cards Due To Fatal Hardware Flaw?
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported this situation. We would like to apologize to NVIDIA and any of our readers that were mislead or misinformed. Below is the updated news post.Is there a fatal hardware flaw in all NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670/680/690 'Kepler' graphics cards? There have been rumors coming from various sites today that something might be going on. A site called pnosker.com says they have have information from from TSMC that says the "chips may be suffering from serious performance degradation over long periods of heavy load", therefore, NVIDIA may be recalling all of their Kepler cards due to this issue.
We have never heard of Patrick Nosker or pnosker.com before and this story sounds a bit off as how would he be getting inside information before larger publications? The site later reports that this is their first time ever citing a source and that they don't even have an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. It doesn't sound like this source has any merit. We have NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, GTX 680 and GTX 670 video cards here running on our test machines 24/7 for longer than a month and have had no failures.
NVIDIA was asked if they were having any Kepler issues and they denied that they will be recalling any cards over a hardware issue. NVIDIA's Bryan Del Rizzo stated that "There is no truth to this". Case closed
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 04:18 PM | Comments
Google Chrome Beats Out Internet Explorer To Become World's #1 Browser
It's been a while coming, but it would appear Google Chrome has secured its place as the number one web browser in the world. According to StatCounter, Chrome overtook Internet Explorer during the week of May 14th to May 20th, where it rose to 32.76% against Microsoft's 31.94%. Granted Chrome slipped a bit this week, dropping to 31.88%, however it still retained a greater market share then Internet Explorer, which has dropped even further to 31.47%. It seems this time Google's web browser will retain the crown, unlike our previous report where it only managed to last a day at the top. That said, Chrome has a long way to go when it comes to catching Microsoft's Internet Explorer in the United States, where Google's has 23.83% of the market versus Microsoft's 37.81%. Only time will tell if Chrome will retain the title of number one browser in the world, but from the way things appear this time it might just stay that way.
Despite its worldwide success, Chrome still has a ways to go to catch Internet Explorer in the U.S. In fact, StatCounter's data shows that the week Chrome overtook Internet Explorer, Google's browser held just 23.83 percent market share, compared to Microsoft's 37.81 percent. Chrome's success appears to have come in large part from Europe, where the browser outpaced Internet Explorer by more than 1 percentage point.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 03:08 PM | Comments
Nexus Release Thrio 310 Mid Tower Case
Nexus has released their Thrio 310 mid tower case, which aims for a high end look and features at a budget price of around $59 / 46 Euro. It features noise absorption material made of dense foam, toolless drive installation clamps and the bottom mounting for the PSU has soft foam bumpers to absorb vibration and noise. The side panels are easily removed with thumbscrews and the case comes with a 120mm fan, plus space for three additional fans. It has a black interior, three external 5.25 inch bays, 8 internal 3.5 inch bays, 7 expansion slots and front ports 3 x USB2.0, 1 x USB3.0, 1 x mic, 1 x audio. It's compatible with ATX and mATX motherboards. Size: 468x180x430mm (DxWxH). The technical data sheets can be downloaded here (1.27MB PDF).
We already preinstalled one of our excellent silent case fan, a 120mm fan is fitted as air outtake. Some isolating padding where the PSU is placed prevents resonance. And there are ventilation holes to mount the PSU upside down, so the hot air of the PSU will not get inside the case at all. The rubber feet keep the case elevated from the floor to make smooth airflow possible and to eliminate resonance.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 02:58 PM | Comments
Warren East CEO, ARM Expects To Gain 20% Of Notebook PC Market By 2015
Warren East, CEO of ARM, has brazenly stated that he expects his company's processors to eventually take 10-20% of the notebook PC market by 2015. He also expects that the impact ARM will have on the PC market will be far greater than competitor Intel when it pushes into the smartphone market. East, while forecasting 10-20% market share for ARM, expects Intel to only gain 5-10% of the smartphone market. Still, this isn't the biggest prediction East has made, apparently last month he went so far as to predict that the embedded processor market would dwarf that of mobile device chips, with billions of chips shipped per year by ARM in just a couple more years.
While East forecasts 10 to 20 percent market share for ARM notebooks by 2014 or 2015, he believes Intel-powered smartphones will only capture about five to 10 percent of the smartphone market. Intel-powered handsets have only recently begun to enter the market, but more are expected to emerge in the coming months.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 02:20 PM | Comments
Facebook Shares Fall Below $38 IPO Price
Facebook (FB) shares sank on Monday without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors down 25 percent from where they were Friday afternoon. Facebook's market debut Friday suffered some hiccups, with trading on the Nasdaq delayed for a half hour and issues with traders' orders. The stock closed Friday just a few cents above where it priced Thursday night, when many investors had hoped for a big first-day pop. The shares opened Friday at $42.05, and fluctuated throughout the day before closing at $38.23. Facebook is currently trading at $34.72. It looks like the insiders made a ton of cash, but the investors who are probably Facebook users lost a lot of money so far on this IPO.
"At the moment it's not living up to the hype," Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago said, adding that some people may have decided to hang back and buy the stock on the declines.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 12:28 PM | Comments
Thermaltake Makes Gaming Mouse With Detachable Fan
Tt eSPORTS has laucnhed world’s first gaming mouse with detachable fan! The Thermaltake BLACK Element Cyclone gaming mouse is the real deal. It is a true gaming mouse that eliminates the issue of having a wet gaming palm. The BLACK Element Cyclone edition gaming mouse and its detachable fan-device allows gamers to attach the fan to gaming mouse when gaming. The little fan spins at 6,000 RPM and is rated to push 2.7 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) of air across your hand. With the fan spinning that fast you'd expect it to be loud, but Thermaltake said the noise level is just 21.7 dBA.
The BLACK Element gaming mouse was then created to overwhelm e-Sports community with its two additional features: muscle power and visual effects. Its unbeatable 6500 DPI laser sensor engine and 5 amazing vibrant color choices to match gamer’s preferences, are still exciting the e-Sports community and highly praised by media. In 2012, Tt eSPORTS proudly presents the BLACK Element Cyclone gaming mouse, an innovative gaming product that re-invents the mouse design. The Cyclone edition allows gamers to enjoy the same strength, same comfort, and same visual characters from its predecessor BLACK Element, but with extra cool when gaming. A true manifestation of dedicating the best gaming product development for the e-Sports community, Tt eSPORTS BLACK Element Cyclone edition is comfortable to grip and allows you to grip it while gentle breeze flowing from your fingertips to your heated palm, slowly cool down the temperature.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 11:42 AM | Comments
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
AMD today launched the AMD Embedded R-Series accelerated processing unit (APU) platform. Designed for mid- to high-end graphics-intensive applications such as digital signage, casino gaming, point-of-sale systems and kiosks, as well as parallel-processing-intensive applications spanning medical imaging and security/surveillance, the AMD Embedded R-Series APU combines the new “Piledriver” CPU architecture, an evolution of the “Bulldozer” architecture, with discrete-class, DirectX 11-capable AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics in a heterogeneous multicore embedded processing platform.
“AMD pioneered the embedded APU to offer our customers a high-performance, power-efficient, small form-factor embedded processor,” said Buddy Broeker, director, AMD Embedded Solutions. “With the AMD Embedded R-Series, we are taking our APU technology to the next level. By leveraging its seamlessly integrated heterogeneous system architecture, developers can tap into a high-performance and efficient parallel processing engine to accelerate their graphics- and compute-intensive applications, all while using industry-standard libraries such as OpenCL and DirectCompute.”
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 11:33 AM | Comments
Intel LGA1155 mATX Motherboard for $14.99 Shipped - ECS H61H2-M2
We normally don't post up hot deals on the front page of LR, but some deals are just too good to pass up. We ran across a micro-ATX Intel LGA1155 motherboard this morning that costs just $14.99 shipped after rebate! The board is the ECS H62H2-M2 and Newegg is practically giving it away. Newegg has ECS H61H2-Motherboard for $54.99 - $10 off w/ promo code ECS521 - $30 rebate = $14.99 with free shipping. The board is in-stock right now and the rebate is valid until 5/30/2012. Not a bad deal at all for a board that has some pretty decent features and would make for a great budget build. This board doesn't feature USB 3.0 or SATA III, but at $15 who cares!
High performance ECS Motherboard H61H2-M2 supporting latest socket LGA 1155 Intel 2nd Generation Core i7 / i5 / i3 Processors. It Features Intel H61 Express chipset with SATA 3Gb/s and digital output delivers smooth blu-ray and HD video playback for the best visual experience.H61H2-M2 is the best choice for family and commercial use.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 10:24 AM | Comments
New Teaser Trailer Released For Skyfall - James Bond '007' is Back!
The first teaser trailer for Sam Mendes’s “Skyfall,” the upcoming James Bond film featuring 007 is here! Returning as Bond, James Bond, Daniel Craig plays a word association game with a bearded psychologist at the beginning of the trailer. To “country,” he replies “England.” To “murder,” “employment.” And to “Skyfall,” Bond answers “done.” Check out a glimpse of the 23rd James Bond adventure below.
Skyfall is the twenty-third James Bond film, produced by Eon Productions for MGM, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Sam Mendes, it features Daniel Craig's third performance as James Bond and Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the film's villain. The film is due to be released in the UK on 26 October 2012, which includes IMAX venues.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 10:16 AM | Comments
KINGMAX Launches ED-07 USB 3.0 Flash Drive
KINGMAX recently launched the Elite Series USB 3.0 Flash Drive, ED-07. The KINGMAX ED-07 is a very fast USB Flash drive with sequential read speeds reaching up to 170MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 40MB/s. The KINGMAX ED-07 measures in at 37 x 12.4 x 4.26mm (LxWxH) and is available in a number of capacities ranging from 16GB to 128GB. KINGMAX believes that since Intel Ivy Bridge processors are now available in the market, that USB 3.0 peripherals will become more and more popular. Could 2012 be the year for USB 3.0 flash drives?
ED-07 USB3.0 Flash drive is light and portable, with housing of two colors: slivery grey and water blue. It includes capacity of 16GB/ 32GB/ 64GB and 128GB, providing a variety of choice for consumers. Elite series highlight its style of sophistication and calmness, and the appearance of simplicity is particularly suitable for people who value most of high quality. The housing of ED-07 is made of aluminum alloy case with anodized coating, giving ED-07 shining surface and properties of corrosion resistant. ED-07 also has cap design with tail-attached function to avoid the loss; attaching a string to the niche at ED-07’s tail makes it an easy-to-carry accessory.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 10:02 AM | Comments
TP-LINK’S New AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter
TP-LINK today announced its new AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter, providing industry-leading performance, hassle-free set-up, for an instant, secure high-speed network for the home or office. The AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter provides high-speed streams at up to 500Mbps on a line length of up to 300 meters, creating an incredibly fast, robust network. At these speeds, the AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter delivers the performance required for fast, whole home or office solutions to connect all network compatible devices from HD video streaming, online gaming, VolP or any other bandwidth intensive applications. The AV500 Gigabit Powerline Adapter is being sold under part number TL-PA511KIT for $89.99.
- HomePlug AV standard compliant, high-speed data transfer rates of up to 500Mbps
- One Gigabit Ethernet Port; built-in QoS provides networking flexibility and stable HD video streaming, online gaming capabilities
- Plug-and-play setup; no configuration required
- Patented Power-Saving Mode automatically reduces power consumption by up to 85%
- Up to 300 meter (984 feet) range over the household power circuit
“Our flagship Gigabit Powerline Adapter transforms your home or office power outlets into a high-performance network with no need for new wires or drilling,” said Howard He, Product Engineer of TP-LINK USA. “With our convenient network at 500Mbps, the Gigabit Powerline Adapter will transmit multiple HD video streams to every room or office, making it an exceptional choice for an easy-to-build multimedia network.”
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 09:55 AM | Comments
ARCTIC Releases Accelero Xtreme III Video Card GPU Cooler
ARCTIC just moments ago released its new graphics card cooler, the Accelero Xtreme III. It is capable of cooling the world's fastest single GPU powered video card along with dozens of other models. With three 92mm ultra-quiet PWM fans (0.5 Sone) and five heatpipes with an 83-fin heatsink, the Accelero Xtreme III provides an optimal cooling capacity of up to 300 Watts in total silence. The Accelero Xtreme III is available now and comes with a six-year limited warranty and a MSRP at $119.95 or 90.41 EUR, excluding VAT.
- Max. Cooling Capacity 300 Watts
- Heatpipe Ø 6 mm x 5
- Heatsink Material Aluminum fins x 84, thickness 0.3 mm
- Fan 92 mm, 900 - 2,000 RPM (controlled by PWM) x 3 fans
- Bearing Fluid Dynamic Bearing
- Noise Level 0.5 Sone
- Current (per fan) / Voltage (per fan) 0.12A / 12V
- Power Consumption 4.32W
- Dimensions 288 (L) x 104 (W) x 54 (H) mm
- Net Weight 653 g
Accelero Xtreme III offers the best cooling solution for the fastest single GPU graphics cards in the market, and it is extraordinarily quiet too. Its up-to-date mounting mechanism and heatsink design makes it compatible with a wide range of graphic cards. It comes with a comprehensive set of 31 RAM and VR heatsinks to cool all the components surrounding the GPU. The package also provides you with our award-winning MX-4 thermal compound to enhance the GPU’s thermal conductivity.
Posted by | Mon, May 21, 2012 - 05:50 AM | Comments
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