Featured Reviews
Will Current Performance Memory Kill New Intel Core i7 CPUs?
ASUS recently started sampling their Intel X58 Express based P6T Deluxe motherboard to partners and reviewers and it seems to have started a fire storm thanks to one little label on the board. With sites across the internet jumping on the band wagon in an attempt to get traffic by striking fear into enthusiasts we clear the air and tell things how it really is.
Lian Li PC-A7010 All Aluminum Full Tower Case
Today Legit Reviews is looking at the PC-A7010 full tower case from Lian Li. Lian Li is known for there high end all-aluminum cases and the new PC-A7010 is no exception. The Lian Li PC-7010 features a SATA Hot Swap HDD Cage, which means you can enjoy the 'plug & play' with SATA hard drives, to make your life easier! Read on to see why Lian Li is considered to be one of the best for high end cases.
ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe Motherboard Review
ASUS builds on the success of the M3A78-T by adding a new south bridge to a new board called the M3A79-T Deluxe. How will the new SB750 south bridge and the tried and true 790FX northbridge perform? This motherboard supports AMD Socket AM2+ multi-core processors and with Phenom processors dropping in price this platform is looking solid. Read on to see if the under-the-hood upgrade does anything for performance!
ASUS My Cinema U3100Mini USB 2.0 Digital TV Receiver
With the laptop market growing daily, the developers at ASUS figured that the time was right to bring a USB 2.0 digital TV receiver to the market. With the ASUS EeePC doing so well it makes sense that ASUS bring a product like this to market and just by looking at the pearl-white ASUS My Cinema - U3100Mini you can see for certain that the EeePC was a key influence.
Foxconn Digital Life ELA P45 Motherboard Review
Every day there's a good chance you use a Foxconn manufactured product without knowing it. The last two enthusiast boards from Foxconn were phenomenal but Foxconn is trying a different route with the Digita Life ELA P45. Instead of overclocking they are targeting the multi-media crowd. Read on to see how Foxconn manages to switch things up.
Yubz Talk Mobile Bluetooth Handset Review
The YUBZ (Why You Busy?) Talk Bluetooth headset is far from your average wireless mobile phone headset. This Bluetooth headset comes with the iconic handset shape and classic handset experience, but with the twist of being wireless. If you like attention and want to be the talk of the bar, just bring one of these in with you and you'll have all the attention you wanted.
Legit News
Thecus Unleashes N7700 7-Bay NAS Server
Beginning with the venerable N4100 to the legendary N5200, Thecus NAS devices have established the company as a worldwide leader in digital storage. Today, Thecus is proud to release details about its latest NAS breakthrough – the N7700. Bringing together the cutting-edge technology and years of NAS experience, the N7700 is an enterprise class 7-Bay NAS server that makes no compromises.
To address the needs of business, the N7700 comes with a few more outstanding features. The N7700 supports iSCSI initiators, making it easy for users can centrally manage and deploy storage for their entire network. In addition, the N7700 is also stackable, enabling users to connect their unit with up to five additional N7700s and manage them via a master system. To manage all of that storage, users can look forward to multiple RAID modes on the N7700, including RAID 0, 1, 5,6,10, and JBOD. What’s more, the N7700 also features RAID expansion and RAID level migration, which means that users can add larger hard disks to available slots and join an existing RAID without having to power down the system, cutting productivity-killing downtime to zero.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 03:23 PM
October 10 News from Around the Web
The Overclockers Club posted their review of the XFX 9800GTX+. Find this and other reviews from around the web by visiting our forums!
"Since this card higher speeds from the start I had to wonder how much was left in the tank. As it turns out the tank had some gas left. I kept bumping it up and up until I hit the wall on the core and then the same with the memory. Then I had to find the best combination of the three clock speeds. Once I reached about 840-850 MHz on the core I was getting crashes, so I used RivaTuner to unlink and back down the shader cores a touch to move the bar a little higher. This yielded an increase on the GPU core of 123MHz and a final speed of 863MHz. The shader core clock increased by 235MHz and 150Mhz on the memory. All pretty substantial increases on air cooling. Speaking of cooling the stock cooler does a great job cooling this smaller core."
Posted by | Fri, Oct 10, 2008 - 07:22 AM
Asustek planing touch panel Eee PCs
Asustek Computer is planning to launch touch panel Eee PCs in the first quarter of 2009, which the company expects will help drive sales further, according to Samson Hu, general manager of Eee PC business at Asustek. The company has not yet decided details of the models which will be updated but will reach a decision based on market demand. The company expects to showcase the products during CES 2009, Hu noted.
Hu also revealed that Asustek will launch dual-core Atom-based netbooks as soon as Intel begins shipping the CPUs. However, Intel has not yet confirmed a date on when this will happen. In addition to touch panel and dual-core Atom-based Eee PCs, president, Jerry Shen, revealed that the company will also release a model priced less than NT$10,000 (US$307) during 2009.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 11:04 AM
AMD Says Manufacturing Deal Does Not Violate Intel Processor Patents
The day after AMD announced a significant deal that will spin off its manufacturing facilities into a new joint venture company, AMD is defending its licensing agreement with Intel. In the wake of the deal, Intel said it would review its processor licensing agreement with AMD to ensure the deal does not violate any patent agreements. An AMD spokesman said the deal does not impact the chip licensing agreement with Intel.
A few hours after the announcement, Intel made a statement that it was investigating whether the new company violates a chip licensing agreement it has with AMD. Specifically, the agreement allows AMD to use Intel’s x86 chip instruction set and in return, AMD pays Intel a royalty. The next day, Oct. 8, AMD fired back and charged that the new company does not violate any previous agreement with Intel.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 09, 2008 - 11:03 AM
Toshiba Announces Satellite E105 notebook at Best Buy
I just got word from our friends at Toshiba that they have announced a brand new freshly designed Satellite laptop PC — the Toshiba Satellite E105, developed in collaboration with Best Buy and its customers. The Satellite E105 is one of the first products to be offered under Best Buy’s exclusive Blue Label program. With a starting price of $1,249.997, the Satellite E105 is available Best Buy retail stores nationwide or online.
“Toshiba’s aim is to produce high quality laptops with features that consumers look for, and our combined effort with Best Buy has helped us further realize this goal,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. “The Satellite E105 is a special laptop, and we are delighted with the result and the opportunity to bring this impressive machine to market.”
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 02:14 PM
Foxconn Announces G45MG GREEN Series Motherboard
Foxconn just released their G45MG motherboard based on Intel G45 Chipset. This is the second model launched in their GREEN Series. Not only does this model brings users high multimedia performance (BlueRay, HDMI, Integrated Graphics X4500, Dual DDR3, and more), but combined with Foxconn's properietary 3G Technology (energy efficient features),an average PC system will have a power savings of more than 68% depending on PC usage. The Foxconn G45MG GREEN series motherboard should be available around end of October to early November in North America.
The G45MG is a highly capable integrated HD graphics platform, ready to play Blu-Ray and HD DVD content without upgrading the onboard graphics. The integrated Intel GMA 4500HD graphics processor not only includes encoding/decoding technologies for HD video, but also provides DirectX 10 graphics for the latest games titles. With 3.0X the 3D performance of the Intel G33 chipset and and 1.7X the 3D performance of the Intel G35 Express chipset graphics, the list of playable games has grown significantly, saving many home users the additional cost of installing a dedicated graphics card.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 12:34 PM
Google launches AdSense for Games
If Google's entry into a field of advertising doesn't legitimize it, nothing can. And that's why the in-game advertising industry just got a huge shot in the arm. On Tuesday night, Google announced the beta launch of its new AdSense for Games program, the search giant's first foray into the video games market, and the long-awaited answer to the question of what the company planned to do with AdScape Media, which it bought for $23 million in February 2007.
According to Christian Oestlien, the senior product manager for AdSense for Games, the program's beta launch will focus on the placement of a variety of forms of ads in Flash-based casual games and some larger titles. In the beginning at least, Oestlien said, Google will work with partners like PlayFish, Mochi Media, Demand Media and Konami. The latter, Oestlien said, would use AdSense for Games to place ads in well-known titles like Frogger and Dance Dance Revolution. And among the initial advertisers participating in the program are eSurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 10:20 AM
Kingston Launches 32GB DataTraveler 150 USB Flash Drive
Kingston Technology announced today that they are adding a new high capacity 32GB USB drive to its product line. The DataTraveler 150 (DT150) USB Flash drive allows users to conveniently combine work-related content and personal digital content on the same drive with plenty of room to spare. Users can now transport and share entire libraries of music, photos, large business documents, and even video without ever having to change USB drives or search other portable storage devices containing specific content. The MSRP on the 32GB DataTraveler 150 is $139 USD and should be shipping now.
“The new DataTraveler 150 has broken through storage barriers by allowing users to store all their digital files ― business or personal ― all under one roof,” said Mark Akoubian, Flash business manager, Kingston®. “As file sizes increase especially with content such as music and photos, the need for small form factor storage drives with high capacities will continue to go up. The DT 150 certainly addresses those needs today.”
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 08:38 AM
Gelid Solutions Launches Silent Spirit CPU Cooler
Thermal Solutions specialist GELID Solutions launches its first CPU Cooler of its SILENT product line. The Quad heatpipe CPU cooler “Silent Spirit” uses 4 sintered high performance heatpipes for optimum heat transfer from copper core to aluminum fins. The fins are built in a unique architecture to ensure an equal air flow distribution to the heatsink. The “Silent Spirit” cooler will be available in November 2008 and has a MSRP of $35 USD or Euro 23.
This Top-flow cooler “Silent Spirit” follows an open frame structure concept whereby both design and dimensions have been improved to eliminate humming and buzzing noises while maintaining a compact overall size. Precise software calculations were made during the development stage to simulate both airflow and cooling performance in order to create a prototype that would live up to the expectations of a true silent aficionado. In order to cool down the Northbridge heatsink (chipset) and surrounding voltage regulator module close to the CPU, the heatsink has been tilted specially to an angle for this purpose.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 07:53 AM
OCZ Finally Launches NIA 64-Bit Beta Drivers
The OCZ Neural Impulse Actuator has been out for seven months, but just now has OCZ released 64-bit drivers. Late last night I got an e-mail from one of the engineers at OCZ giving me the good news and I thought I'd pass it along this morning. If you need them download them here. Make sure you get both the 64-bit beta driver and the 64-bit beta driver patch. For some reason there is already a patch for something that was just released last night. I'm not even going to ask!
“Advances in hardware and software allow today’s games to offer consumers an exceptional entertainment experience, and we wanted to take the next step by immersing gamers into these environments with the innovative new NIA,” stated Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. “The NIA radically changes the ways that gamers can interact and control elements within games, and can be configured in a matter of minutes for any game that is already published or will be released.”
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 07:45 AM
October 8 News from Around the Web
Synology DS408 4-Drive SATA RAID Gigabit NAS @ Benchmark Reviews and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
As a network administrator for several small and medium businesses, I am used to seeing pedestal servers with expensive Windows Server edition Operating Systems running for the sole purpose of serving files out to the workgroup or domain. Such environments has made it necessary to look for money-saving opportunities in the office environment. A few years back Network Attached Storage server hit the scene with a price tag comparable to the alternative, but the NAS products offered in today's market are far superior and cost far less than before. Synology has pioneered the NAS server into mainstream, and now offers devices to fit every range and environment from home to enterprise. Benchmark Reviews has the good fortune to performance test the 4-drive SATA Disk Station DS408 RAID NAS.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 08, 2008 - 07:43 AM
Super Talent Launches SSDs for Asus Eee PCs
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced a new line of mini PCI-Express SSDs, available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, that were designed explicitly for the Asus Eee PC. The drives will not be in full production till next month and the MSRP will range from $53 to $149.
Super Talent Director of Marketing, Joe James mentioned, “It’s a natural extension of our SSD product range to offer SSDs for popular netbook brands. Solid state storage is ideal for entry level mobile PCs”. These mini PCIe SSDs are sampling now, and will be in mass production in November.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 01:48 PM
Nvidia can't shake MacBook, chipset unit rumors
Nvidia has become a Silicon Valley hot spot for rumors. One is tied to an analyst downgrade Monday, the other to the rumored Apple MacBook refresh. An analyst rekindled speculation Monday that the world's largest graphics chip supplier would sell off its chipset business, while rumors persist that the company would play a larger role in an expected refresh of the Apple MacBook.
Nvidia shares fell Monday after a Pacific Crest analyst issued a negative report on the company's prospects. In the report, the analyst said "our checks confirm" that Nvidia will exit the chipset business next year. Nvidia chipsets--sometimes referred to as MCPs--serve as supporting silicon for the company's graphics processors. In the past, Nvidia has denied that
Posted by | Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 09:16 AM
Ford feature will let parents set limits for teens
So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor will give you the power to do something about it. The company will roll out a new feature on many 2010 models that can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, using a computer chip in the key.
The feature, called "MyKey," will be standard on an unspecified number of Ford models when the 2010 cars and trucks come out late next summer. The feature will spread to the entire Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup as models are updated, spokesman Wes Sherwood said. Ford arrived at the 80-mph limit even though freeway speed limits are lower in most states because it wanted to leave a margin in case an unusual situation arises, Buczkowski said. In some states, freeway speed limits are above 70 mph, Sherwood said. "Just lopping it off at exactly 70 mph was felt to be too limiting," Buczkowski said.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 09:11 AM
October 7 News from Around the Web
SilverStone ST60EF 600 Watt Power Supply Review @ Ninjalane and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
In today's world 600Watts may not sound like much but it is really more than enough power for the average user and there are several aspects of the SilverStone ST60EF that help to reinforce this
Posted by | Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 07:41 AM
AMD to Spin Off Manufacturing Operations and Forms Capital Region Plant with ATIC
AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi today announced the creation of a U.S.-headquartered, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing company to address growing demand for independent, leading-edge foundry production capabilities. The new global company, to be temporarily called “The Foundry Company”, will serve this need by combining advanced process technology, industry-leading manufacturing facilities and aggressive plans to expand its global capacity footprint. At the same time, the Mubadala Development Company will increase its current investment in AMD to 19.3 percent on a fully diluted basis. Mubadala, an existing 8.1 percent AMD shareholder, will increase its stake to 19.3 percent of outstanding AMD shares on a fully diluted basis. This will be accomplished through the purchase for $314 million of 58 million newly issued AMD shares and warrants for 30 million additional shares. Mubadala will also have the right to appoint a designee to AMD’s board of directors.
AMD will contribute to The Foundry Company its manufacturing facilities, including two fabrication facilities in Dresden, Germany, as well as related assets and intellectual property rights. ATIC will invest $2.1 billion to purchase its stake in The Foundry Company, of which it will invest $1.4 billion directly in the new entity and the remainder will be paid to AMD to purchase additional shares in The Foundry Company. The Foundry Company will also assume approximately $1.2 billion of AMD’s existing debt. ATIC has committed additional equity funding to The Foundry Company of a minimum of $3.6 billion and up to $6.0 billion over the next five years to fund the expansion of The Foundry Company’s chip-making capacity beyond the manufacturing facilities initially contributed by AMD. These funds will be used by The Foundry Company to proceed with capacity expansion at its fabs in Dresden, Germany, including an upgrade of one of its fabs to a state-of-the-art facility, and begin construction on a new state-of-the-art facility in Saratoga County, New York, subject to the transfer of previously-approved New York State incentives. The New York facility is expected to create more than 1,400 direct jobs, and, through its operation, to generate an additional 5,000 jobs in the region. Once operational, the New York facility will be the only independently-managed, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing foundry in the United States.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 07, 2008 - 07:12 AM
Kingston Technology Introduces Limited Edtion Black HyperX Heatspreaders
I just got word that Kingston is shipping a HyperX DDR2 1066MHz memory kit with a special, limited-edition black heatspreader. This part is available exclusively at Newegg.com, and is U.S. only. The Kingston MRSP is $123, but Newegg.com has them priced lower at just $67.99 after a $20 rebate offer. The price is right, but the 7-7-7 timings are not the best in the world.
Available for Kingston part # KHX8500AD2K2/4G, the black heatspreaders show off Kingston's enthusiast memory in a new light while guaranteeing the same thermal performance benefits as the famous signature blue heatspreaders. The promotion is for a limited time only and available while supplies last.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 06, 2008 - 01:09 PM
Asustek shipped 700,000 Eee PCs in September this year
Asustek Computer shipped around 700,000 Eee PCs in September this year, a new monthly high for the company. Total shipments for the third quarter reached around 1.7 million units, and since October and November are traditionally peak months, the company expects fourth-quarter shipments will maintain at a similar level, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.
Currently, Asustek's Eee PC gross margins are between 15-20%. But since Acer has started to increase its netbook shipments, market watchers expect Asustek to adjust margins down to around 15% in oder to counter. However, the company denied the speculation saying margins will remain steady and that shipments of 10-inch Eee PC models will start to pick up in the fourth quarter, added the paper.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 06, 2008 - 09:41 AM
Belkin CAT6a Cabling Enables 10-Gigabit Ethernet Network Performance
Belkin today announced its ETL-Verified CAT6a cabling solutions, designed to enable 10-Gigabit-per-second connectivity in the data center and throughout a structured cabling system. The solution links 10GBase-T networking equipment using Belkin CAT6a patch cords, patch panels, keystones, and bulk cabling. Belkin's CAT6a end-to-end solutions pass all TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10 requirements in both channel and permanent link configurations, including alien crosstalk, return loss, insertion loss, propagation delay, and delay skew.
Belkin's release of our CAT6a structured cabling system is another important step in our 25-year tradition of providing organizations with reliable standards-based connectivity solutions. By complying in full to the final ratified CAT6a standard, Belkin's CAT6a system assures data communications professionals reliable performance in the high-density and high-performance computing applications that demand CAT6a performance.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 06, 2008 - 09:40 AM
Slower growth expected in tech industry
Lower prices on consumer electronics may help carry the tech industry through a difficult holiday shopping season. But analysts believe corporate spending on computer servers, PCs and business software is entering a period of slower growth that will last well into next year.
With banks failing and the stock market in turmoil, holiday shoppers may be nervous about spending too much on laptops, mobile phones or video consoles, analysts say. And businesses and government agencies — which spend three times more on technology in this country than individuals spend on consumer electronics — had delayed some purchases even before the chaos on Wall Street. In recent quarters, the tech industry has seemed immune to the larger economic downturn, as major companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle reported soaring profits and double-digit revenue growth. But industry analysts say the impact has only been delayed, not avoided.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 03, 2008 - 09:53 AM