LR News History - Legit Reviews

Legit Reviews News History

AMD Dragon Logo Made Public - The Replacement Platform for Spider

AMD has kept the logo for the Dragon platform very quiet lately, but they recently posted pictures of a banner online that clearly shows the logo. For those that don't know about the Dragon platform it consists of a processor, motherboard chipset and graphics card that have been tuned to give you a better user experience. To be more specific the Dragon platform is a combination of an AMD Phenom II X4 processor, Radeon 4800 Graphics cards and an AMD 7 series chipset based motherboard. This platform is an update of the Spider platform that AMD launched a year ago to the month. The AMD Phenom II X4 processor is built using AMD's new 45nm process technology and as a result has 30-50% better power consumption and higher clock frequencies. If you haven't heard about the clock frequency improvements yet be sure to check out this article we posted yesterday afternoon.

The dragon is a legendary creature of which some interpretation or depiction appears in almost every culture worldwide. The physical description and supposed abilities of the creature vary immensely according to the different cultures in which it appears. However, the unifying feature of almost all interpretations is it being a serpentine or otherwise reptilian monster (or at least possessing a serpentine/reptilian part or trait), and often possessing magical or spiritual qualities.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 21, 2008 - 09:02 AM

Google Archives LIFE Magazines Photos

On Tuesday Google launched an online TIME magazine photo archive, adding millions of previously unreleased images for public viewing. They have scanned 2 million of 10 million photos so far and are planning on adding the remaining 8 million in the next few months. You can see the images directly via the online archive, or alternatively include the tag "source:life" on a regular image search to only see results from the TIME archive.

We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 21, 2008 - 08:42 AM

November 21 News from Around the Web

XFX GeForce GTX 260/216 Black Edition Review @ motherboards.org and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

So there are really two takes on this card today. The XFX GTX 260 216 Black Edition is the fastest available GeForce GTX 260 card on the market with a clock speed exceeding the reference clock speeds by 90 MHz. At this moment the price point on the card is $299 after a $30 Mail in Rebate from Newegg. The obvious competition at the moment is the ATI HD 4870 cards and the performance spectrum is interesting on both. The higher clock speed versus the standard GTX 260 cards allows for near GTX 280 performance levels, which is quite an achievement from a gamer's point of view.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 21, 2008 - 07:31 AM

Micrsoft Lets Zune owners Keep Songs

In an effort to boost the popularity of their would be iPod killer, Microsoft is letting owners who subscribe to their digital music service keep up to 10 songs each month forever.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Microsoft, seeking to boost the popularity of its Zune music player, announced a new subscription offer on Thursday that will allow users to keep 10 tracks a month permanently.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 04:31 PM

Obama’s FCC Transition Team Co-chair a WoW Player

The co-chair of President-elect Barack Obama's FCC transition team is a World of Warcraft player. Kevin Werbach is not only a legal expert from the Wharton School, but he is an experienced WoW player. Werbach's WoW experience is an obvious plus to most of those reading this, since online gamers have a major stake in the current Net Neutrality issue.

Last week, President-elect Obama appointed Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, and Susan Crawford, who teaches communications and Internet law at the University of Michigan, to co-chair his FCC transition team. In preparation for his incoming administration, the two, both seasoned Net Neutrality advocates, will be tasked with providing information on U.S. government Internet and telecom policies, along with advising on budgetary and personnel matters.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 01:09 PM

GTA IV: The Last And Damned DLC Coming February 2009

Rockstar Games Announces today its First Episode of Downloadable Content for Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned. Prices still haven't been announced, but the Los and Damned will debut worldwide on Xbox Live in February of 2009.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, will be coming to the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system via Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network. Available exclusively on Xbox LIVE worldwide on February 17, 2009, The Lost and Damned will feature all new content and is the first of two episodes announced for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 01:01 PM

Viruses Beware! Microsoft Announces Free Morro Antivirus

You'll have to wait until the second half of next year but Microsoft promises comprehensive PC protection for free for XP, Vista and Windows 7 users.

Microsoft is getting serious about global security, offering a free anti-malware package code-named Morro that has been specially designed for low cost PCs in developing nations. The software will be available in the second half of 2009 and will provide 'comprehensive protection' from 'the majority of online threats', including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 12:51 PM

Apple In Talks To Offer More DRM-free Music

With sites like Amazon offering a large number of DRM-free music titles, Apple is looking to expand its selection to help compete. We are slowly seeing the shift of legally downloadable music from protected to unprotected due to growing customer dissatisfaction with the confines of Digital Rights Management.

Citing "two music industry sources," CNet News.com claims the talks with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG are still in the preliminary stages with nothing finalized, though one label is reportedly leaning towards an agreement.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 09:34 AM

PC Magazine To Stop Printing Hardcopies

After 27 years, PC magazine has finally decided to make the move to digital publication only. While no specific reasons for the move are cited, the current economic downturn and the recent push to "go green" by many companies are probably big factors in the decision. If you are a current subscriber, you'll begin receiving the issues via email.

Starting in February 2009, PC Magazine will become a 100-percent digital publication. So, in addition to our popular network of Websites, which includes our centerpiece, PCMag.com, as well as ExtremeTech, blogs like Gearlog and AppScout, and audio and video content that includes PCMag Radio, Cranky Geeks and DL.TV, we'll offer PC Magazine Digital Edition to all of our print subscribers. The PC Magazine Digital Edition has actually been available since 2002. So for thousands of you, the benefits of this unique medium are already clear. And those benefits will continue to multiply in the coming months, as we work hard to enhance your digital experience.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 09:25 AM

November 20 News from Around the Web

Thermalright Ultra Extreme Copper CPU Cooler Review @ [H]ardOCP and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

Thermalright Ultra Extreme Copper CPU Cooler Review - Did you think that you already owned the biggest baddest air cooler in the world? Well you are wrong. Soon a few thousand of you will get the ability to join the Ultra Extreme Copper Club. Size does matter, and even more so, what you're made of.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 08:30 AM

Verizon finally has its answer to the iPhone

Looks like those that have avoided the iPhone but wanted its features now have an option with the new BlackBerry storm available exclusively through Verizon with a 2 year contract.

On Friday, Verizon will be the first and only wireless carrier in the U.S. to offer Research in Motion's new BlackBerry Storm. The device, which costs $199 with a two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate, is the first phone that could give Apple's iPhone--offered exclusively on AT&T's network for the same price--a run for its money.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 08:12 AM

S3 Graphics Launches Next Generation Chrome 500 Series DirectX 10.1 Graphics Card

S3 Graphics today announced its next generation Chrome 500 graphics processors, building upon the success of a product family based on the most power-efficient GPU architecture on the market. Today's users will now be able to enjoy the latest Blu-ray playback, streaming HD video, DirectX 10.1, and OpenGL 3.0 applications on Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms. Pictured below is the S3 GChrome 530GT, which looks close to what my old GeForce 2 MX looked like nearly 9 years ago.

S3 GChrome 530GT Video Card with DirectX 10.1

"S3 Graphics has built upon the success of the Chrome 400 Series with another GPU line that fulfills user demand of a superior visual experience and product that extends beyond just graphics," said Dr. Ken Weng, GM for S3 Graphics. "Our latest Chrome 500 supports features that surpass those found in higher end products, like high quality HD video support. This truly is a power-efficient multimedia / multi-application processor that delivers."

Posted by | Thu, Nov 20, 2008 - 07:36 AM

Corsair Memory Powers "World's Fastest PC"

YOYOTech, with the help of Corsair Memory, has once again captured the crown of "Worlds Fastest Computer" by out performing the Sun Microsystems UltraSPARC 8-core beast by 50%. The YOYOTech machine used 9GB of 1866MHz Corsair Dominator triple-channel DDR3 memory which is Core i7-optimized to smash the SEPC CPU2006 world record.

The YOYOTech Fi7EPOWER MLK1610 claimed the performance crown from the previous record holder, an exotic 8-core Sun Microsystems UltraSPARC processor based system, outperforming it by 50%. The Fi7EPOWER MLK1610 uses the latest Intel(R) Core i7-965 Extreme Edition processor, which features an integrated, triple-channel DDR3 memory controller delivering incredible memory performance when partnered with triple-channel DDR3 memory.

Posted by | Wed, Nov 19, 2008 - 03:38 PM

NASA Tests Deep Space Networking Using DTN

NASA tests deep space networking to a craft 20 million miles from Earth.

NASA Successfully Tests First Deep Space Internet PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has successfully tested the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet. Working as part of a NASA-wide team, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth.

Posted by | Wed, Nov 19, 2008 - 08:20 AM

VIA Launches VIPRO Touch-Screen Panel PC

VIA Technologies today announced the VIA VIPRO VP7710 touch screen panel PC, a full featured, entirely fanless panel PC suitable for intelligent display applications in demanding environments. Rugged, stable and flexible, the VIA VIPRO is the first in a series of advanced display technologies from VIA.

VIA VIPRO VP7710 touch screen panel

Using a combination of heavy steel and aluminum, a vibrant 10.4" TFT display is housed in a solid chassis that provides ample shock and vibration protection. The touch screen itself conforms to IP65 standards, making it resistant to both water and dust. Installation via wall, table, panel or VESA mounting options means the ultra thin VIA VIPRO can be installed easily in a variety of positions where its wider than normal viewing angle makes it visible to all. The VIA VIPRO is the first in a series of cost-effective, intelligent touch screen panel displays from VIA.

Posted by | Tue, Nov 18, 2008 - 09:23 AM

November 18 News from Around the Web

Find reviews from around the web by visiting our forums! The following is from PCSTATS' Asus EAH4850 HTDI/512M/A Radeon HD 4850 Videocard Review:

"In this review PCSTATS is going to toss a bunch of benchmarks at ASUS' EAH4850 HDTI/512/M/A videocardv and find out if it has what it takes to enter the hallowed halls of history with the likes of the Geforce 8800GT, ti4200, Radeon 9800 Pro and X1950 Pro.... the md-range videocard hall of fame. The Asus EAH4850 packs a single Radeon 4850 'RV770' GPU running at 625MHz under the hood, and 512MB of DDR3 RAM running at a smooth 1000MHz."

Posted by | Tue, Nov 18, 2008 - 07:26 AM

Spansion Files Patent Suit Against Samsung

Spansion wants to block U.S. sales of iPods, BlackBerry gadgets and other devices because memory chips made by Samsung Electronics and used in those products allegedly violate Spansion patents. For those that didn't know, Spansion is the Flash memory venture of AMD and Fujitsu, and the largest company in the world dedicated exclusively to developing, designing and manufacturing Flash memory solutions.

"Spansion has patents that are fundamental to flash memory. Samsung itself has cited these patents many times in its own patent filings, underscoring industry acceptance of the fundamental nature of Spansion's (intellectual property)," Robert Melendres, Spansion's general counsel, said in a statement. Samsung declined to comment. Spansion filed complaints with the International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware. The company is asking for damages and for the court to ban sales in the U.S. of products with the affected Samsung chips.

Posted by | Tue, Nov 18, 2008 - 06:44 AM

Compro Introduces PCI Tuner Card--VideoMate M800

Multimedia products and graphics card maker Compro Technology announces availability of the VideoMate TV Ultra PCI Tuner Card. Featuring 3D Y/C separation, remote controlled computer power up, Power Up Scheduling, and ComproPVR software, VideoMate TV Ultra brings a superior video experience into your life by combining an exceptionally clear picture, powerful remote control functions, and personal digital video recording (DVR) functionality in your PC.

Compro VideoMate M800 PCI Tuner Card

At its introduction VideoMate TV was praised on Internet forums for its high quality picture. VideoMate TV Ultra adds an NEC 3D Y/C separation and noise reduction chip found on expensive, high-end television sets. The 3D Y/C separation chip provides sharper details and more vivid colors compared to standard comb filters found in most TV sets and TV cards. The included Tweak Y/C utility lets users fine tune the Y/C separation function to best match the type of programming they watch, providing better picture quality than high-end TVs. The 3D Y/C separation and video noise reduction functions can also be used when transferring video from videotapes.

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 10:55 AM

AMD Fusion processor now pushed back to 2011

I missed this one last week, but it seems that one of the many updates that came out of AMD's Financial Analyst day was that the company's much-discussed Fusion CPU+GPU hybrid processor will not appear until the company transitions to 32nm technology. That means no Fusion CPUs until 2011 at the earliest.

The Shrike platform, once planned to be some sort of next-generation Shanghai + integrated GPU on 45nm has now been canceled altogether. Long-term, AMD still claims to believe in the power of Fusion—just not on a 45nm process. This may be disappointing news to some, but it's probably a good move for the company. It was never very clear how AMD was going to economically deliver an integrated GPU on 45nm, even if it went for two separate dies on the same physical packaging. A Fusion part needs to be cheap enough that OEMs prefer it (as opposed to an integrated GPU + discrete processor), while simultaneously performing well enough to make customers want it.

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 10:27 AM

AMD Phenom II X4 940, 920, 925, 910, 810, 805 Processor Names Leaked

Internet rumors have revealed a new naming scheme for AMD's upcoming Phenom II processor family. It includes Phenom II X4 900, Phenom II X4 800 (Deneb), Phenom II X4 600 (Propus), Phenom II X3 700 (Heka), Phenom II X3 600 (Rana) and Phenom II X2 200 (Regor) CPUs. Deneb is a 45nm quad-core desktop version of Shanghai and both of them are based on K10.5 architecture. The new processors are rumored to have 512KB of L2 cache per core and 6MB of shared L3 cache. Interesting rumors floating around on the new Phenom II series and for a Monday morning it is fun to read and think about.

AMD plans to introduce 8 Deneb processors in Q1 2009:

Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition - 3.0GHz

Phenom II X4 920 - 2.8GHz

Phenom II X4 925 - 2.8GHz

Phenom II X4 910 - 2.6GHz

Phenom II X4 810 - 2.6GHz

Phenom II X4 805 - 2.5GHz

Phenom II X3 720 - 2.8GHz

Phenom II X3 710 - 2.6GHz

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 10:12 AM

Intel mulls extended life-cycle for socket 775-based processors

Intel is considering extending the life-cycle of its socket 775-based processors to 2011 and is expected to let these CPUs cover the entry-level segment, according to sources at motherboard makers. Currently, Core i7 processors use the new socket 1366, while in the third quarter of 2009, Intel will launch Nehalem-based mainstream desktop PC processors based on socket 1156.

If socket 775-based processors do get extended to 2011, 4-series chipsets will also need a longer life-cycle, therefore Intel is planning to make some modifications to its 4-series chipsets including boosting the G45's image processing performance, and adding Post Processing and Report Mode technologies to boost the chipset's image quality and add support of 24Hz monitors. For the G43 chipset, Intel will improve memory slot support from two DIMMs originally to four and increase capacity from 8GB DDR2 and 4GB DDR3 to 16GB DDR2 and 8GB DDR3. G41 chipsets will see the addition of an HDMI port, as well as support of the ICH7 southbridge and RAID.

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 09:54 AM

Mushkin Announces Triple-Channel Memory Kits for the Intel Core i7 Platform

Mushkin today announced the release of its triple-channel memory kits designed specifically for the new Intel Core i7 platform. The flagship offering of the new memory kits is the XP3-12800 7-8-7, allowing end users to extract higher performance at 1600MT/s than competitors’ products while staying within safe operating voltages. The new triple packs are immediately available at mushkin.com in 3GB (3x1GB) and 6GB (3x2GB) kits.

“We’ve worked diligently to create parts for the Core i7 platform that push specifications to unprecedented levels while maintaining the high quality and reliability standards of our existing products,” said Brian Flood, director of product development for Mushkin. “Our triple-pack customers will be rewarded with the utmost reliability from our standard rated products, and greatly increased performance from our high performance line.”

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 09:24 AM

November 17 News from Around the Web

ECS GF9300T-A Review @ OCC and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

"There are some mainstream motherboards on the market that overclock very well. The GF9300T-A is not one of them if you are using a 1333 FSB processor. With limited overclocking options in the BIOS, its very difficult to push your components higher than 1333 FSB. With that said, I gave it my best shot. The board did recognize the E8600 and set its speed correctly but the Mushkin memory was automatically set to 800MHz. There is no CPU voltage adjustment in the BIOS, so pushing the processor past stock speed did not provide stable results. Attempts to get the memory to its rated 1000MHz resulted in data corruption and led to an operating system reinstall. While I was eventually able to push the RAM to 900MHz, I would not recommend overclocking this board with its limited headroom and the lingering possibility of data loss."

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 08:51 AM

Intel Inside More than Three Quarters of The World's Fastest Supercomputers

More supercomputers than ever are using Intel Corporation processors, according to the latest TOP500 list. The high performance computing (HPC) community is especially enthusiastic about quad-core Intel Xeon processors which are driving the research and analytical capabilities of more than half the systems on the list.

The 32nd edition of the TOP500 list shows that 379 of the world's top 500 systems, including the third-fastest system in the world, now have Intel inside. According to the list, Intel is powering 49 systems in the top 100. Systems using Intel Xeon quad-core processors dominate the list, holding 288 spots. Using reinvented high-k metal gate transistors, Intel's year-old quad-core 45nm Intel Xeon processor 5400 series is used in 222 systems, including 32 powered by low voltage variants.

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 08:14 AM

System Builders Choose ATI Radeon HD 4800 Video Cards

AMD today announced high-performance PCs from a wide array of leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators (SIs) are now delivering immersive game play thanks to the ATI Radeon HD 4800 line of graphics cards. The ATI Radeon HD 4800 series is available in numerous configurations, including systems based on AMD Phenom X3 and AMD Phenom X4 processors as well as Intel Core i7 and Core2 processors.

To date, the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series has sold nearly two million units. The momentum continues with a growing list of high-performance gaming systems announced by OEM partners including Acer, Fujitsu Siemens, Gateway, HP, and Medion. In addition, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Velocity Micro, Maingear, CyberPower, iBuyPower, Commodore Gaming, ExtremePC, Biohazard, Puget Systems and many other system integrators have announced systems shipping with ATI Radeon HD 4800 series graphics.

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 08:12 AM

Unlicensed Music "Shared" Worldwide on P2P Networks in 2007

The value of unlicensed (in some cases known as pirated) music trafficked on P2P networks in 2007 was US$69 billion, according to new MultiMedia Intelligence research. This value should not be viewed as lost revenue, but rather the result of multiplying the number of unlicensed music tracks (not purchased) transferred over P2P networks globally by a fair market value per track.

A US$69 billion figure is staggering to contemplate, but it effectively illustrates the impact of piracy on the music industry," according to Rick Sizemore of MultiMedia Intelligence. "It is important to note that piracy has expanded well beyond music. Content owners of TV episodes and full length movies are seeing a growing impact. This is precisely why efforts from groups like the DCIA and those related to digital fingerprinting (e.g. MySpace and MTV) are vital to foster a 'safe' environment - one conducive to growth and maturation. With an ever burgeoning flow of content over the digital pipes, the need for efficient distribution becomes all the more vital and we would be remiss to think of P2P exclusively as a tool for pirates.

Posted by | Mon, Nov 17, 2008 - 08:10 AM

Dont expect to get your MIRs anytime soon

Continental Promotions Group, one of the biggest suppliers of mail in rebates, currently owes consumers at least 9 million dollars to consumers, but supposedly doesn't have the cash to pay all that off.

We have it from good sources currently that CPG owes consumers somewhere in the neighborhood of $9M to $12M worth of rebates. The problem here is that CPG currently only has about $3M in cash to cover that $9M-$12M in rebates owed to the consumer. Where that money has gone to is anyone’s guess and we will leave speculation up the law enforcement authorities and the courts

Posted by | Sat, Nov 15, 2008 - 12:36 PM

Apple Rumored To Launch Aggressive Black Friday Sale

With the economy struggling and consumer spending down, this may be a very interesting holiday shopping season. Early releases of Black Friday ad information have been common and now rumors have surfaced that Apple will offer some deep discounts on one of the anticipated shopping days fo the year.

With Black Friday sale information from rival PC vendors beginning to leak online, experts at Barclays Capital say they expect Apple to counter the promotions with a more aggressive than usual one-day sale, offering deep discounts on a number of Mac models. The Friday immediately following the US Thanksgiving holiday has long been known as "Black Friday," as it represents the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season, or the day when retailers hold massive sales in hopes of steering their (red) losses into (black) profits.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 10:43 PM

iPhone Voice Google Search?

iPhone apps are all the rage and everyone is out to make the next top app. Speculation is rampant, especially in the eve of a software update for the iPhone. One such rumor surrounds Google and the ability to search via voice commands.

Expectations are mounting that a Google iPhone app will drop later today, bringing with it a minor revolution in how we conduct web searches. While it’s unclear whether this will be a new app or an update to the exiting Google iPhone application, it will support voice searching, allowing you to speak what you want to find into the iPhone’s microphone.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 10:34 PM

Obama to deliver weekly YouTube address

President-Elect Barrack Obama will be delivering his weekly addresses via both radio and, for the first time ever, internet video.

The tradition of the president addressing the public directly via radio dates back to President Franklin Roosevelt's "fireside chats" in the 1930s. Archived audio recordings of all of President George Bush's weekly radio addresses can be found at the White House Web site.

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 05:12 PM

Hardcore Computer Unveils Affordable Liquid Submersion PCs - Reactor

Hardcore Computer, Inc. announced today the unveiling of more affordable versions of its total liquid submersion PC, Reactor, which was launched last month to critical acclaim. The new models are set to broaden the range of high-performance, liquid cooled PCs into more markets across the globe. All Reactor models are available for sale now through the company’s web site starting at $3482.00 according to what we configured on the site today.

Hardcore Computer Reactor Liquid Submersion PC

Designed for hardcore computer users such as gamers, graphic artists, audiophiles, industrial designers, engineers, medical imaging technicians and military technologists, all Reactor™ models include five industry firsts for a desktop system:

--Hardcore Computer’s patented total liquid submersion cooling

--Dual additive and redundant, board-edge connected, 650 Watt power supplies provide up to 1300 Watts

--Creative X-Fi 7.1 surround sound embedded on the motherboard

--SATA ports surface-mounted to the back of the motherboard allow for three solid-state drives to create an ultra-fast RAID 0 array

--Two truly hot-swappable external hard drives

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 03:26 PM

November 14 News from Around the Web

Sans Digital MobileNas MN4L+(B) Four Bay NAS Review @ Tweaknews.net and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

"Overall, the MN4L+ is a pleasure to work with. It does exactly what it should do which is to provide a stable and effective way to store files. This model in particular would be a great introductory NAS for someone new to RAID or network storage since setup is easy and the feature set isn't overwhelmingly long."

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 10:21 AM

Massive spam decrease as McColo hosting is taken offline

Earlier this week McColo Corp., a hosting provider in Northern California, was forcefully taken offline after discoveries by the computer security community that it was a major host of organizations allegedly engaged in spam activity. In the days after the volume of spam sent dropped by a considerable amount.

Unfortunately the spam servers will undoubtedly re-locate, and ramp up production even more, so enjoy the lack of spam while it lasts.

In the afternoon of Tuesday 11/11, IronPort saw a drop of almost 2/3 of overall spam volume, correlating with a drop in IronPort's SenderBase queries. While we investigated what we thought might be a technical problem, a major spam network, McColo Corp., was shutdown, as reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday evening.

Washington Post

Posted by | Fri, Nov 14, 2008 - 09:20 AM

Hercules Delivers XPS 2.150 Multimedia Speaker System

Hercules, the computer DJ and entertainment specialist expands their successful XPS branded multimedia speakers with the new XPS 2.150 Multimedia Speaker. This modern system delivers performance and style with a black high gloss finish and subwoofer at a great price. These speakers were designed for a contemporary home and will be available just in time for the holiday gift giving season with an MSRP of $69.99. In case you are wondering this is the same Hercules company that used to make GeForce graphics cards nearly a decade ago when the GeForce MX series was all the rage.

Hercules XPS 2.150 Multimedia Speaker System

Based on the results of extensive consumer research, Hercules has created a system that reflects the evolving consumer tastes for design and finish as well as quality sound. Hercules developed the speakers to be competitively priced while at the same time delivering on style and audio quality. Components used to manufacture these speakers were hand-picked and of superior standard, in order to guarantee optimal sound reproduction and well-balanced bass, medium and treble sound emission – perfect for music and video games.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 13, 2008 - 03:06 PM

ATI Released Catalyst 8.11 Video Card Drivers for Download

ATI has just released Catalyst 8.11 for Windows Vista, Windows XP and Linux platforms on http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html. This driver looks like it a must for anyone with a Radeon HD 3000 or 4000 series card and playing Far Cry 2 or Stalker Clear Sky as it does improve game performance by a fair amount.

Stalker Clear Sky: Performance increases between 6%-18% on single card configured systems when using the ATI Radeon HD 3000 or ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products. Performance increases between 10%-30% on CrossFireX configured systems using the ATI Radeon HD 3000 or ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products.

Far Cry 2: Performance increases between 5%-10% on single card configured systems when using the ATI Radeon HD 3000 or ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products. Performance increases between 8%-14% on CrossFireX configured systems using the ATI Radeon HD 3000 or ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series of products.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 13, 2008 - 10:13 AM

November 13 News from Around the Web

Thermaltake Xaser VI Case Review @ motherboards.org and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

Thermaltake has delivered a full-tower case with the features and looks one would expect from a higher priced model. Thermaltake has delivered on its promises of a great case with plenty of expansion room for those 4 dual slot video cards you are hankering to buy. The only negatives I have found on the case are the high price and the I/O cable length which are minor quibbles on a case that delivers for the person wanting high-quality components and a case that will hold anything you could possibly want in a computer system. For those reasons I give the Thermaltake Xaser VI an Editor's Choice award as it definitely is worthy of praise. His case is a big one and if you are looking for plenty of expansion and good looks, this is a case well worth looking into.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 13, 2008 - 08:28 AM

AMD Announces Quad-Core AMD Opteron 'Shanghai' 45nm Processors

AMD today announced widespread availability of its 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor, delivering up to 35 percent more performance with up to a 35 percent decrease in power consumption at idle. With IT decision-makers looking to do more with less, the newest Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor can help drive data center efficiencies and reduce complexities with innovations that offer superior virtualization performance and increased performance-per-watt.

“Flawless execution in bringing the 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor to market early results in new performance leadership on x86 servers,” said Randy Allen, senior vice president, Computing Solutions Group, AMD. “In concert with our OEM and solution provider partners, AMD is addressing the need for enterprises to focus on their bottom line while giving them the innovations they need to build for the future. This enhanced AMD Opteron processor represents the most dramatic performance and performance-per-watt increases for AMD products since the introduction of the world’s first x86 dual-core processors by AMD nearly four years ago. Simply put, the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor is the right technology at the right time.”

Posted by | Thu, Nov 13, 2008 - 06:48 AM

AMD Announces Free AVIVO Video Converter For Radeon HD 4000 Series Owners

AMD today announced that starting next month, the company plans to release for download a free ATI Catalyst driver update that instantly unlocks new ATI Stream acceleration capabilities already built into millions of ATI Radeon graphics cards. AMD says that the Avivo Video Converter will make high-definition video conversion up to 17x faster, which is awesome and free.

The next ATI Catalyst release is version 8.12. AMD has begun distributing a beta version to its hardware and software technology partners for testing, with the final version scheduled to be released for download on or around December 10. Once installed, the driver package automatically turns on the ATI Stream acceleration capabilities within ATI Radeon HD 4000 series graphics cards. This will have the immediate effect of allowing any ATI Stream-enabled application to run faster, with no special effort required by consumers to enable this technology. As always, expert users will have the ability to customize their ATI Catalyst driver install options.

Posted by | Thu, Nov 13, 2008 - 06:45 AM

Video Games prosper inspite of financial meltdown

Videogame sales continue to rise in Britain and the U.S despite economic meltdown. Since September, sales went up 15% in Britain and 1/8th of a percent in The United States.

In a sign that the industry is prospering despite global financial woes, the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd. and Enterbrain Inc. report said that videogame sales grew by 15 percent in Britain during the period and eight percent in the United States.

Posted by | Wed, Nov 12, 2008 - 02:20 PM

MSI announces new GX630 gaming notebook for only $799

MSI Computer announced the newest addition to it Gaming Notebook Series – the GX630-028US this afternoon. The new GX630 SKU features the new AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor and are available now in time for the Holiday season at all of the top retailers.

MSI GX630 gaming notebook

At just $799.99, the GX630-028US is an incredible bargain when you consider all this notebook is packing – NVIDIA GeForce 9600 graphics card, 4 GB of DDR2 Ram, a 250 GB SATA hard drive, a 15.4 WXGA glare LCD, Bluetooth, 802.11bgn modem, and a 2.0M webcam. And like all the MSI Gaming notebooks the newest GX630 features exclusive MSI Turbo Drive -engine Technology, allowing user to overclock the notebook up to by as much as 15%, and the MSI ECO Engine which allows users to alternate between 5 different operating modes to conserve battery life.

Posted by | Wed, Nov 12, 2008 - 02:01 PM

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