Legit Reviews News History
ATI to be first with DirectX 11 - NVIDIA Coming Soon After
ATI demonstrated its first DirectX 11 beta hardware and has decided to call its whole DirectX 11 generation Evergreen. The first card is up and running and it was demonstrated a few weeks ago at Computex in Taiwan, doing tessellation. It seems that Nvidia is also working hard to launch its first DirectX 11 in this year. Rumors are floating around that NVIDIA is planning to launch video cards that support DirectX 11 in late Q4 2009. Looks like it will be a rush to get them out the door before the end of the year if the people creating the rumors know what they are talking about.
Many people were reporting that Nvidia's high end GPU, something that we all call GT300, might be delayed for early 2010. Well we can tell you that this won’t happen, but we strongly believe that Nvidia cannot make it in time for the Windows 7 launch. ATI has every chance to launch its DirectX 11 before Nvidia. Nvidia will come just a month or two later, but still in 2009.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 26, 2009 - 10:08 AM
Web slows after Jackson's death
The internet suffered a number of slowdowns as people the world over rushed to verify accounts of Michael Jackson's death. Search giant Google confirmed to the BBC that when the news first broke it feared it was under attack. Millions of people who Googled the star's name were greeted with an error page rather than a list of results.
"It's true that between approximately 2.40PM Pacific and 3.15PM Pacific, some Google News users experienced difficulty accessing search results for queries related to Michael Jackson and saw the error page," said Google spokesman Gabriel Stricker. It was around this time that the singer was officially pronounced dead. Google's trends page showed that searches for Michael Jackson had reached such a volume that in its so called "hotness" gauge the topic was rated "volcanic". The BBC news website reported that traffic to the site at 0400 BST was 48% higher than average.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 26, 2009 - 09:56 AM
Upcoming Nvidia Graphics Cards Will Get DirectX 10.1
Nvidia's GT200 generation will get a 40nm refresh, and from what we hear, the new chips will all become DirectX 10.1 compatible. This refresh should be coming in end of summer or early September time and naturally, 40nm means higher clocks and less thermal dissipation.
This comes a few years too late as ATI has introduced its first DirectX 10.1 capable chips in the summer of 2007, but knowing Nvidia, they will be able to convince the market that DirectX 10.1 time is just happening. Nvidia will also preach that it will take a while until DirectX 11 hits off and they are probably right about that one. We've heard GT210 and GT220 brands associated with the new products.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 26, 2009 - 09:54 AM
Intel Rumored to Launch New 34nm Nand SSDs in Two Weeks
Rumors are growing louder that Intel will be launching new SSDs based on the firm's 34nm NAND chips within just a couple of weeks. Previous reports had said Intel planned to come out with its new 34nm flash memory drives in Q4, but that timetable has been nudged up.
We've been told that with these new 34nm NAND SSDs, users can expect higher performance, higher capacities, and most importantly, lower prices. Amongst the 34nm offerings hot off the production line will be a 320GB drive, plus 160GB and 80GB capacity too. But there very well could be more. Our sources tell us new capacities will be big enough to replace the HDDs in most, if not all laptops. Intel is said to be really optimistic about SSD prospects in 2010, especially considering the smaller and cheaper process node along with SSD specific optimizations built into Windows 7.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 26, 2009 - 09:48 AM
June 26 News from Around the Web
Coolermaster Sileo 500 Chassis Series Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
Stating the obvious here, computer cases are unique in their own ways. Some aim to be flashy and decorative, and others aim to be quiet and reliable. There are some products out there that are a mix of these qualities, decorative and quiet, for example. Also, people know of the different sizes of cases. I know most people out there have a certain preference. There are full towers, mid towers, and mini towers. Some are made up of steel, aluminum, and a mix of both. With this case, I would categorize it as quiet and reliable. The Sileo 500 Chassis Series by Cooler Master is the product I have for you. Cooler Master’s Sileo 500 Chassis Series is aimed to be quiet and reliable. It is a mid tower case, with it being silent as you go about your life, surfing the internet or doing your work."
Posted by | Fri, Jun 26, 2009 - 08:35 AM
Corsair Launches New 128GB and 64GB Performance Series SSDs
Corsair today announced two new products in its Performance Series SSD family: the P128 and P64 high-performance solid-state drives. Building on the success of the award-winning P256 SSD, the Corsair P128 delivers the same 220MB/sec read speeds and 200MB/sec write speeds as its higher capacity cousin, at a lower cost. The P64 is one of the best-performing, lower-density SSDs available, with read speeds of up to 220MB/sec and write speeds of up to 120MB/sec. Both drives utilize the same cutting-edge technology as the P256, including a sophisticated Samsung controller IC with 128MB of cache memory and NCQ support to deliver class-leading, stutter-free performance. Be sure to check out our review on the Corsair P256 SSD.
“The high performance of the new Performance Series solid-state drives, combined with the inherent reliability and stability of flash technology, make them ideal for both new system builds and upgrades of desktops and notebooks,” said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair. “These drives have also been extensively validated in a wide range of popular notebook computers, which means that you can upgrade with absolute confidence.”
Posted by | Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - 02:44 PM
Porn Comes to the iTunes App Store With Hottest Girls Application
Apple has finally allowed pornography into the iTunes App Store. The application, called Hottest Girls, costs $2 and includes “2200+ images of topless, sexy babes and nude models”. This is certainly an interesting move from Apple.
Four photos are shown on screen at once and tapping one will pull a full sized version from the server. From here you can look at it or save it to your photo-roll. There is no slideshow to display a progressive striptease of the same model, so you are limited to one picture at a time before you have to navigate back to the main screen, which shows a lack of understanding as to how a porn app should work. You could of course just use the application for downloading and view the pictures later in the Photos application.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - 11:08 AM
Microsoft sets Windows 7 pricing - $319 for Ultimate
Microsoft on Wednesday announced retail pricing for Windows 7 that's at or below comparable Windows Vista prices, while also offering a chance for people to preorder the software at a substantial discount. From Friday through July 11, consumers in the U.S. will be able to buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 Home premium for $49 or Windows 7 Professional for $99. That offer is good for both XP and Windows Vista PCs, regardless of whether someone has been trying out the pre-release version of the operating system.
When boxed copies of Windows 7 go on sale on October 22, Microsoft plans to charge $119 for Home Premium, $199 for Professional and $219 for Ultimate. The Home Premium upgrade is down $40 from the product's original price, although the Vista product had already gotten a price cut along the way. The Professional and Ultimate versions are priced similar to where Microsoft was with Vista. The upgrade prices apply to those moving from a previous version of Windows to Windows 7, but only those from Windows Vista will be able to upgrade without doing a clean installation of the product. The full versions of Windows 7--the editions for those without a copy of Windows--will be priced at $199 for Home Premium, $299 for Professional and $319 for Ultimate. The Ultimate and Professional editions are again on par with their Vista counterparts, while Home Premium is down from the $239 that Microsoft had charged with Vista. Microsoft also plans to offer the operating system in an easier-to-open box.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - 11:03 AM
AMD aims to gain back 15% share of notebook market
AMD has set an internal guidance to gain back a 15% share of the global notebook market, according to sources at notebook vendors.
The company's next-generation Tigris platform has already landed orders from Hewlett-Packard (HP), Toshiba, Acer and Asustek Computer, with notebooks to launch in Asia in September 2009, followed by North America, Europe, the Middle-East and Africa in October.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - 09:40 AM
June 25 News from Around the Web
In-Win X-Fighter AL-13 Series Case Review @ motherboards.org and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
In Win set out to design a unique solution on their X-fighter case and it shows in the design and features of the case. The X-Fighter looks sort of like a spaceship but does not look like the ships we come to expect from the Star Wars universe like the X-Wing and TIE fighters. In terms of cooling the case has adequate cooling with a front fan, a rear fan, and a GPU cooling solution. The X-Fighter is available online for under $100 USD and sports high end features like the I/O area having e-SATA, Firewire, four USB.20 port. The inclusion of anti-shock drive rails is another high-end selling point of this case. Overall this case has potential for the end user, especially if you are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 25, 2009 - 08:31 AM
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Announces New Fab 2 Executive Team
GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the appointment of Norm Armour as vice president and general manager and Eric Choh as vice president of operations to lead an expanding team dedicated to developing Fab 2, the company’s next semiconductor fabrication facility, or “fab,” at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. Once constructed, Fab 2 is expected to be the world’s most advanced semiconductor foundry, creating more than 1,200 new direct jobs plus an additional 5,000 spin-off jobs in the region.
“Norm and Eric bring a wealth of semiconductor manufacturing experience to GLOBALFOUNDRIES and will play critical leadership roles as we build and operate the most sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world,” said Douglas Grose, chief executive officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. “With a wealth of industry expertise in fab build-out and global operations, we now have the leadership team in place to create a cluster of semiconductor manufacturing and technology innovation in upstate New York that will bring the next wave of chip innovation to the marketplace.”
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 02:19 PM
ZeniMax Media Acquires id Software
ZeniMax Media Inc., parent company of noted game publisher Bethesda Softworks, today announced it has completed the acquisition of legendary game studio, id Software, creators of world-renowned games such as DOOM, QUAKE, Wolfenstein, and its upcoming title, RAGE. The acquisition by ZeniMax Media joins together two of the finest, most respected videogame developers in the world, combining the first person shooter (FPS) expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game (RPG) developer Bethesda Game Studios – creators of the 2008 Game of the Year, Fallout 3, and the 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks will publish the titles of id Software other than upcoming releases previously committed to other publishers. I sure hope this doesn't impact Quakecon 2009 as I already bought my plane tickets!
This puts id Software in a wonderful position going forward,” said John Carmack, who will continue to serve in his current role as Technical Director. “We will now be able to grow and extend all of our franchises under one roof, leveraging our capabilities across multiple teams while enabling forward looking research to be done in the service of all of them. We will be bigger and stronger, as we recruit the best talent to help us build the landmark games of the future. As trite as it may be for me to say that I am extremely pleased and excited about this deal, I am.”
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 12:48 PM
OCZ Announces Turbo Vertex MLC SSD Coming Soon with 278MB/s Read
One of our readers directed me to a thread over at OCZ this morning where it seems that Tony from OCZ has announced a new Turbo Vertex Series is about to launch. Tony confirmed that the new 'Turbo' drives will feature up to 278MB/s read and 213MB/s write speeds thanks to using hand picked MLC Nand Flash and controllers. He also goes on to say that it will be around 10% faster than Vertex and 10% or so more expensive. The drives should get to OCZ next week, so expect more information on this new series once Tony posts more information up about it!
No internal raid, hand picked Controllers and hand picked nand, dedicated FW. Drives should come into OCZ next week...then ship to stores. i have asked for 1x120 for me to show you here.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 12:15 PM
SanDisk Unveils World's Fastest 32GB SDHC Card - 30MB/s
SanDisk Corporation today introduced the fastest 32-gigabyte (GB) SDHC card on the market. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card at up to 30 megabytes per second (MB/s) read and write speeds combines industry-leading performance with massive storage capacity, helping digital photography enthusiasts utilize the advanced features of today’s DSLR cameras. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card adheres to the SD Association’s new Class 10 specification, which exceeds requirement for today’s high definition (AVCHD) video recording. The card offers a sustained write speed fast enough to ensure high-definition video recording and capacity capable of storing 160 minutes of full HD 1920x1080 pixels at 24Mb/s data transfer rate. For that performance you will have to pay a high price though as we'd expect something like this to run around $399. The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will be shipping worldwide to major retailers in August.
“The market for entry to mid-level DSLR cameras is growing, and SDHC is becoming the de-facto card format for these devices,” said Susan Park, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. “Our card’s 32GB of storage and up to 30MB/s read & write speeds enable DSLR users to shoot without worrying about storage or speed limitations. SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards provide consumers with a more enjoyable user experience, letting them focus on what is really important – the images that they are capturing.”
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 12:05 PM
WD Announces newly redesigned My Book World Edition II dual-drive network storage systems
WD today introduced its newly redesigned My Book World Edition II dual-drive network storage system in capacities of up to 4 TB. With the double protection of two Mirrored (RAID 1) drives and continuous backup software, the My Book World Edition II network storage system provides an extra-safe place for users to back up and store the data and digital media from all the computers on their network in one central location. Be sure to read our review on the 2 TB version of the My Book World Edition II dual that we posted this morning!
“Families have more and more digital media like movies, photos and music to store, share and protect. Having two drives inside the My Book World Edition II network storage system, instantaneously and automatically duplicating data, offers consumers the peace of mind of double safe, real-time protection of their valuable content,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “Families can relax knowing their valuable media is backed up while enjoying the ability to stream their content to a plethora of different devices from PCs and Macs to PS3s, Xbox 360s and the latest connected TVs.”
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 11:43 AM
June 24 News from Around the Web
NZXT Cryo S Review @ OCC and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
"The NZXT Cryo S notebook cooler is a very well made laptop cooler that does its primary function well, while also providing several secondary benefits - such as the USB hub on the back, and the added benefit of having a keyboard that is tilted as to improve ergonomics. While the cooler didn't pack as large of a punch as its bigger brother, the Cryo LX, it is also quite a bit smaller, and perfectly fits my 15" MacBook Pro. This isn't really a cooler that you would take on a trip with you as it is rather large and bulky, but this is a problem that most people won't be affected by. As seen below, I have given the Cryo S our gold medal, which is one away from our highest award. This is due to the fact that on some laptops, especially Macs, the power provided by the USB ports cannot match the power drawn by the fans, meaning that the only option is to plug the cooler directly into the wall. Other than that one issue, this is an excellent cooler that will have a place on my desk for a while."
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 07:50 AM
IBM 'Roadrunner' Holds World's Fastest Computer Crown
IBM's "Roadrunner" supercomputer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory held on to its title as the world's fastest computer, followed once again by Cray's "Jaguar". IBM's "Roadrunner" has held this title since June 2008!
The biannual Top500 list, released Tuesday at the 2009 International Supercomputing Conference, also saw two new systems enter the top 10. Both systems -- the IBM BlueGene/P called Jugene and the Juropa, which is built from Novascale and Sun Microsystems Sun Blade x6048 server -- were at Forschungszentrum Juelich in Germany. The Jugene achieved 825.5 teraflops and the Juropa 274.8 teraflops. A teraflop is a trillion floating point operations per second. But the IBM Roadrunner remained the king with 1.105 petaflops. The system became the first to break the petaflop barrier in June 2008. The Cray XT5 Jaguar system at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was a close second at 1.059 petaflops. A petaflop is a quadrillion floating point operations per second. IBM's Jugene entered the top 10 as No. 3.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 24, 2009 - 03:38 AM
Matrox Graphics Unveils Triple and Quad Monitor DisplayPort M-Series Graphics Cards
Matrox Graphics today announced the availability of the Matrox M9138 and Matrox M9148 DisplayPort graphics cards. Expanding the M-Series product line, these new triple- and quad-monitor cards offer a remarkable 1 GB of memory, and with support for independent or stretched mode at resolutions up to 2560x1600 per output, users can drive business, industrial, and government applications on an exceptional multi-monitor platform.
"The first generation of Matrox DisplayPort graphics cards bring a tremendous amount of flexibility to today's DisplayPort users," says Samuel Recine, Director of Business Development, Matrox Graphics. "Not only can users choose any combination of pivoted, independent, or stretched displays, but also have the opportunity to combine two M9148 cards in a single system to drive up to eight DisplayPort or DVI monitors."
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 11:38 PM
Apple Fixes MacBook Pro SATA Throttle
Apple issues a firmware fix to enable 3Gbps SATA II speeds on the new Macbook Pros which had been mysteriously limited to 1.5Gbps SATA I speeds. This is important if you decide to drop a shiny new SSD in there.
In an apparent response to user complaints, Apple Inc., today released a firmware upgrade that it said fixes an issue with the drive interface in new MacBook Pros. Apple said the MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 fixes a problem reported by "a small number of customers" using drives based on the latest SATA specification with the new MacBook Pro line, released this month. But Apple warned that it has not shipped drives operating at the higher-speed specification, saying, "While this update allows drives to use transfer rates greater than 1.5Gbit/sec, Apple has not qualified or offered these drives for Mac notebooks and their use is unsupported."
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 01:27 PM
Intel and Nokia announce strategic relationship for Mobile Products
Further uniting the Internet with mobile phones and computers, Intel Corporation and Nokia today announced a long-term relationship to develop a new class of Intel Architecture-based mobile computing device and chipset architectures which will combine the performance of powerful computers with high-bandwidth mobile broadband communications and ubiquitous Internet connectivity. This is clearly big news as it is not every day someone says they are coming up with a new "platform" for mobile products beyond existing smart phones, netbooks and notebook computers. Part of the deal is that Intel can now license Nokia's 3G HSPA technology, which could conceivably be combined with Intel's existing PC chipsets.
"This Intel and Nokia collaboration unites and focuses many of the brightest computing and communications minds in the world, and will ultimately deliver open and standards-based technologies, which history shows drive rapid innovation, adoption and consumer choice," said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel Corporation senior vice president and general manager, Ultra Mobility Group. "With the convergence of the Internet and mobility as the team's only barrier, I can only imagine the innovation that will come out of our unique relationship with Nokia. The possibilities are endless."
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 11:00 AM
ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Seashell Has 10.5 Hours of Battery Life
ASUS today announces the availability of the long-lasting Eee PC 1005HA Seashell in North America. The new model is the first Eee PC to offer over 10 hours of battery life for true all-day computing. The 1005HA, which is the successor to the award-winning Eee PC 1000HE, also boasts all-new Eee Docking software in addition to an elegant design inspired by the graceful curves of a seashell, making it attractive, fun to use, and highly portable.
The 1005HA is the most energy-efficient Eee PC yet, thanks to the ASUS-engineered Super Hybrid Engine (SHE), LED-backlit display and Intel Atom processor. These technologies combine to allow the 10005HA to run all day long, lasting up to 10.5 hours on a single charge. The 1005HA also features a user-replaceable battery and an upgradeable RAM slot.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 10:50 AM
Active Media Products Introduces Predator GT SATA-II SSDs
Active Media Products, manufacturer of unique USB drives including the Obama drive, today introduced the new Predator GT series of 2.5-inch Serial ATA solid state drives that support outrageously fast data transfer speeds and include a Flex-fit adapter bracket to facilitate mounting in 3.5-inch drive bays. Pricing on the S64G-25P 64GB Predator GT SATA-II SSD w/ Flex-fit 3.5-inch bracket is $199.95 and $369.95 for the S128G-25P 64GB Predator GT.
The Predator GT is immediately available through Amazon and other online resellers in 64GB and 128GB capacities. Predator GT SSDs are based on a new 8-channel controller and employ a beefy 128MB SDRAM cache to reach blistering fast speeds. The 128GB model supports sequential write speeds up to 200MB/sec while the 64GB drive supports sequential write speeds up to 120MB/sec. Both models are capable of sequential read speeds up to 220MB/sec and 0.1ms access times.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 10:43 AM
Build Your Own WiMAX Network - Just need a Tortoise Transmitter and a Manitowoc Crane
If you happen to have a crane and some extra cash laying around it seems you can now purchase and setup your own WiMAX transmitter with the Tortoise. Tortoise is a portable, rugged, high-power transmitter system composed of dual independent, transmitter modules giving the user freedom to transmit on any 2 unique frequency bands simultaneously without the need for expensive and bulky additional transmitters. The only down side to the transmitter is that the crane shown in the pictures is not included!
Tortoise features two dynamically controlled Class A amplifiers for the cleanest signal output and VSWR protection. Tortoise features built-in thermal overheat protection circuitry with quad cooling fans to ensure against overheating during operation. Remote adjustments include power level, channel or frequency assignment and transmit On/Off via USB, RS-232 and Ethernet from anywhere. An optional WiMAX OFDMA MODULATOR allows Tortoise to simulate WiMAX base station transmissions complete with adjustable step sizes, channel bandwidth and user settable ID Cell, Segment and frame lengths.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 08:50 AM
ZOTAC Announces GeForce GTX 275 Video Card With 1792MB of Memory!
ZOTAC has announced the latest addition to its GeForce GTX 275 line up this morning - the new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 275 1792MB. The new graphics card pairs the award-winning GeForce GTX 275 graphics processor with 1792MB of video memory for enhanced performance in the latest 3D games and applications.
Packing 1792MB of screaming-fast GDDR3 video memory, the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 275 1792MB is ready to take on high resolution gaming with resolutions up to 2560x1600. An ultra-wide 448-bit memory interface ensures communications between the video memory and graphics processor occur at lightning-fast speeds for vivid and realistic visuals. The 1792MB of video memory is paired with 240 blazing-fast stream processors ready to take on the latest DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.1, NVIDIA CUDA and PhysX enabled 3D games and applications.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 08:38 AM
SSD penetration rate in notebooks to be about 1.5% in 2009
Solid State Drive (SSD) has been the killer application in NAND Flash market due to higher content per system consumption and more popular applications. According to DRAMeXchange, SSD market penetration rate in standard NB market will be estimated to be 1%~1.5% in 2009 and will be below 10% in low-cost-PC segments since HDD is still adopted as the mainstream storage devices.
Higher price has stumbled the extensive application and deeper market penetration for SSD. Given the fierce upward pricing trend for 16Gb and 32Gb in 1H09, extensive market acceptance for SSD has been postponed due to the higher cost and profit margin decline. Demand is estimated to be less optimistic compared to the previous forecast in 2009. PC vendors are more cautious and conservative toward SSD development even though Microsoft has made some adjustments for SSD optimal application (TRIM) in the brand-new Windows 7.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 23, 2009 - 08:18 AM
OCZ Launches Sabre Gaming Keyboard w/ Smart OLED Technology
OCZ Technology Group today announced the highly-anticipated Sabre OLED multimedia keyboard for advanced gaming and customization complete with intelligent management software. The Sabre’s unique combination of user-friendly functions, durability, and personalization features is the answer for serious gamers and professionals seeking improved productivity and competitiveness. OCZ informed Legit Reviews that the Sabre OLED keyboard would have an MSRP $199.99. Not a bad priced considering the very first full OLED keyboard, the Optimus Maximus keyboard, runs $1692.31!
The sophisticated Sabre is OCZ’s first foray into premium-level peripherals and features ultimately limitless options for customization. The nine dynamic OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) user-programmable hotkeys help manage time and efficiency while surfing the web, gaming, emailing, and CAD applications or any avenue the user sees fit. The unique OLED keys can convert any digital image or text into distinctive icons, reminding the user of the personalized shortcut. Additionally, the remaining keys are backlit with glowing amber LEDs and blue side lighting, perfect for users that prefer darkened rooms or gamers frequenting LAN parties.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 06:17 PM
AMD Phenom II Black Edition TWKR Edition Processors!
AMD dropped off some fresh TWKR Black Edition Phenom II chips over at MainGear PC a couple weeks ago and it seems they have posted an update about these new mystery processors. AMD didn’t tell them much about the new mysterious CPU other than it should overclock really well and are essentially hand picked and binned Phenom II X4 955 processors. Our sources inside AMD informed us that these TWKR edition processors are meant for extreme overclocking as the core of the CPU has high leakage, which is what is more desirable for overclocking. These high-leakage chips are best used with LN2 and phase change cooling in order to reach their full potential. No word on pricing, but we can expect these to be priced more than the Phenom II X4 955 if they come out retail and those processors run $245 shipped.
As I was getting ready to post this information up this morning, I received an e-mail from AMD informing me that disclosing information detailing the speeds and test results of the TWKR chip would be in violation of our mutual NDA. I apologize for this teaser post instead. It seems that AMD does have a plan for this product after all. I will be able to disclose a full report after June 30th. What I can tell you is that the TWKR chip does OC beyond the limits of the 955 BE cpu.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 03:54 PM
Seagate Introduces New BlackArmor Products
Strengthening its external storage portfolio for small business Seagate today announced three additional BlackArmor product offerings: the BlackArmor NAS 220 storage server, the BlackArmor WS 110 external drive workstation and the BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive. Joining the existing network attached storage line up – the BlackArmor NAS 440 and BlackArmor NAS 420 storage servers – these new solutions share the same suite of robust backup applications for business professionals and home office use.
With features like automated full-system backup and SafetyDrill+ software , a bare metal recovery feature, the BlackArmor family of storage solutions delivers enhanced data protection. Since BlackArmor external drives automatically create an exact copy of everything on your PC, SafetyDrill+ software is ready to restore your entire system if a data disaster such as a virus attack, hardware failure, or PC crash were to occur. SafetyDrill+ software comes preloaded on all BlackArmor products and does not require any additional installation. For increased data protection of backed-up files, the software also features an AES 256-bit government-grade encryption.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 03:09 PM
Kingston HyperX 1600MHz Kits Available With T1 Heatspreaders
Kingston Technology Company today announced it is shipping its HyperX 1600MHz triple-channel kits with the high-profile T1 heatspreaders. The 1600MHz frequency is a sweet spot amongst gamers, and combining it with the popular T1 heatspreaders gives enthusiasts a performance advantage through improved heat diffusion while overclocking and gaming.
The new 1600MHz kit (Kingston part #: KHX12800D3T1K3/6GX) is available now for $155.00 (U.S. MSRP). It joins a growing family of HyperX memory solutions that employ the T1 heatspreaders which are made of heavy-duty aluminum with extended fins. Other T1 kits include triple-channel DDR3 (2GHz, 1866MHz) and dual-channel DDR2 (1066MHz, 800MHz).
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 10:29 AM
Walton Chaintech Announces APOGΣΣ Pronto eSATA Drive
Reacting to users’ demands for portable, high speed storage, Walton Chaintech has announced its new APOGΣΣ Pronto eSATA drive. Modeled after APOGΣΣ’s award-winning SSD design, the Pronto uses the eSATA port instead of the USB 2.0 port for its file transfers. When we reviewed the OCZ Throttle at the beginning of the year we found that eSATA Flash drives were much faster than USB 2.0 devices.
The APOGΣΣ Pronto eSATA has dualistic connectors, supporting both the eSATA and USB ports. This flexibility allows users to use the Pronto as a simple high capacity storage device, while also supporting read/write speeds of 90/50MB/s respectively, about three times faster than conventional flash pen drives. Available in 32G and 64G capacities, the Pronto supports users to store a multitude of different file types, from multimedia to office documents or any combination of both.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 10:22 AM
Construction begins on World's first spaceport in New Mexico - Spaceport America
For everyone looking to hop the next commercial flight to space, your departure gate has finally been announced. Almost two years after the first plans were announced, construction has finally begun on Spaceport America. The spaceport, which will serve as the launch and landing pad for Virgin Galactic flights, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and represents the first serious commitment of infrastructure to manned commercial spaceflight.
Currently, Virgin Galactic only has two space ships, so it will probably be sometime before the facility experiences O'Hare and LaGuardia level traffic. So now might be the best time to sign up for a flight, before Spaceport America starts experiencing the soul-crushing delays that keep John Grisham, Hudson News, and Brookstone in business.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 09:39 AM
Microsoft confirms Nvidia 'Tegra' chip for Zune HD
Microsoft has confirmed that the Nvidia "Tegra" chip is inside the upcoming Zune HD, a big win for Nvidia. This was reported earlier at Engadget and follows reports earlier last week. Legit Reviews got some face time with Tegra one year ago this month, so be sure to check out our coverage of Tegra here.
Tegra is the first processor Nvidia has built for power-frugal handheld devices, a major departure from the large, power-hungry graphics processors that it sells to the gaming rig and workstation markets. The system-on-a-chip (SOC) uses less than 0.5 watts of power, an attribute the main Tegra processor inherits from its power-stingy ARM parentage. (And a tiny fraction of the 50-watt-plus ratings of the chipmaker's desktop graphics silicon.) The defining feature of the Tegra SOC, however, is the Nvidia GeForce graphics chip.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 09:27 AM
QNAP Intros the First 2.5-inch SATA, 8-bay, Intel Atom-based SS-839 Pro Turbo NAS
QNAP Systems, Inc. today introduces the SS-839 Pro Turbo NAS, the world's smallest 8-bay, Intel Atom network attached storage solution supporting eight 2.5-inch hard drives or solid state disks (SSD). Targeted at business users who require a storage solution of high performance, stability, scalability, low noise and low power consumption, the SS-839 Pro adopts low power Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU, disk on module (DOM) architecture, and 2GB DDRII memory. The total storage capacity of the NAS is up to 4TB.
"The SS-839 Pro is the 8-bay variation of QNAP's previously announced SS-439 Pro Turbo NAS. It is also the smallest 8-bay NAS in the current market with up to 4TB storage capacity. The NAS features low operation noise and low power consumption. When running 8 hard drives, the SS-839 Pro consumes almost 60% less electricity than a general 8-bay, 3.5-inch SATA NAS. It is definitely an ideal storage solution that largely reduces the electricity expenses of the business users", says Celia Lee, Product Manager from QNAP.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 09:07 AM
June 22 News from Around the Web
Antec Easy Swap Hard Drive Caddy Enclosure Review @ Hi Tech Legion and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!
"The Easy SATA Hot Swap Hard Drive Caddy by Antec is what we have today. Antec’s Easy SATA Hot Swap Hard Drive Caddy is a hard drive enclosure for SATA drives. The convenience of this product is aimed for anyone that has extra internal SATA hard drives. The enclosure is designed to slip into an available 5.25" drive bay on your computer case, and you plug in the SATA cable to your system, and just slide in a hard drive to the available slot. Pretty straightforward, and convenient."
Posted by | Mon, Jun 22, 2009 - 08:08 AM
Deal Of The Week - eVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 for $130 Shipped
Dell has a heck of a sale going on the eVGA GeForce GTX260 Core 216 896MB PCI-Express Video Card right now for those wanting a new graphics card. The card is normally priced at $199.99, but after a 25% off discount code and a $20 Rebate the total comes to $130 with free shipping. Be sure to read our review on the eVGA GeForce GTX 260 here!
The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 from EVGA brings you the graphics card technology from Nvidia. Engineered for the enthusiast your system will be able to handle the latest games, high definition digital video, and Windows Vista with aplomb. The features of the GTX 260 Core 216 896-P3-1255-AR include the 55nm GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 (576MHz clock) chipset, 896MB of 448-bit 1ns GDDR3 memory with a 999MHz clock with an effective rate of 1998MHz, 1242MHz Shader Clock, 216 processing cores, PCI Express 2.0 compatibility, Dual DVI-I connectors, 111.9GB per second memory bandwidth, 2nd Generation NVIDIA unified architecture, Full Microsoft DirectX 10, NVIDIA 2-way and 3-way SLI ready, NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, NVIDIA PhysX Ready, NVIDIA CUDA technology, and OpenGL 2.1 support. Built for Microsoft Windows Vista. This product comes with a lifetime warranty.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 19, 2009 - 07:37 AM
Nokia's Self Charging Phone Harvests Ambient RF
The folks over at Nokia now have a prototype cell phone that will make good use of the ambient RF energy from various sources to charge to power the phone. The concept is based off of work done by Nikola Tesla many years ago.
The system collects energy from ambient radio waves emitted by antennas, TV masts, Wi-Fi transmitters, and the like. This might all sound uber-scientific, but we've been using this technology for years. Have you ever exited a store, only to hear the beep, beep, beep of an accusing alarm system? Many retailers use radio frequency identification to prevent theft and track inventory. Like RFID tags, the Nokia phones would catch radio waves across a range of frequencies, harnessing them for power.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 19, 2009 - 07:24 AM
Thecus Introduces 5-bay N5500 NAS Device
Thecus Technology has proudly unveiled its most advanced five-bas NAS unit yet – the N5500. Building off the success of the Thecus N5200, the N5500 incorporates the latest Thecus innovations for unrivaled efficiency and data security. Some of the new features include new functions such as Dual DOM and AJAX web interface on the N5500. Thecus claims the N5500 is ideal for both home and business use due to the vast numbers of features on this NAS.
First and foremost, the N5500 is engineered to store your data and keep it safe. The N5500 is equipped with five hot-swappable SATA 3.5” hard disk bays for a whopping 10TB of total storage capacity. To protect this data, the N5500 lets you choose from a wide selection of RAID modes, including RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and JBOD. The N5500 also supports multiple RAID volumes, enabling you to choose the right combination of RAID volumes for your network, and if you ever change your mind, the N5500 also features online RAID expansion, online RAID migration, and auto rebuild for maximum flexibility. In fact, the N5500 is the only storage solution on the market that can be configured as a NAS, a DAS, or an iSCSI device! A powerful Intel CPU and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports with load balancing, failover, and link aggregation with 802.3ad, the N5500 lets you access your data quickly and reliably.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 19, 2009 - 07:18 AM
Samsung TL320 12MP Camera with OLED Display Begins Shipping
Samsung packed the eye-catching TL320 camera with features designed to keep you shooting. There's the 3" OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) viewscreen, a first on a compact digital camera. This display gives you a super-clear, colorful view when framing and reviewing your shots. It's also easy on the battery, so you can spend longer taking pictures between recharges. Plus, the TL320 has two cool analog gauges on the top, for keeping an eye on both battery life and memory card capacity. Those gauges, together with the durable brushed metal body, give this camera an appealingly vintage look and feel. The best news about this camera is that it is finally in stock and being sold at your favorite retailers for $329.99 shipped.
Samsung packed the eye-catching TL320 camera with features designed to keep you shooting. There's the 3" OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) viewscreen, a first on a compact digital camera. This display gives you a super-clear, colorful view when framing and reviewing your shots. It's also easy on the battery, so you can spend longer taking pictures between recharges. Plus, the TL320 has two cool analog gauges on the top, for keeping an eye on both battery life and memory card capacity. Those gauges, together with the durable brushed metal body, give this camera an appealingly vintage look and feel.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 19, 2009 - 07:13 AM
MAINGEAR Unveils Luxury Gaming PC for the Living - Axess HD Gamer
MAINGEAR Computers announced today the Axess HD Gamer, a luxury gaming PC that brings high end gaming to the living room. Built into a sleek, low profile, aluminum HTPC form factor with an acrylic trim, the Axess HD was designed to integrate seamlessly into any home theater set up with existing A/V components. The base price is $1,799 and it goes up from there.
The impressive list of hardware for the Axess HD includes a powerful Core i7 processor combined with dual 9800 GT video cards in SLI to deliver a stunningly visual1080p experience. MAINGEAR also teamed up with NVIDIA to integrate GeForce 3D Vision so that gamers with Mitsubishi DLP’s or Samsung desktop LCDs can experience an unparalleled 3D gaming experience. MAINGEAR further enhances the luxurious home theater gaming experience by being the first company to offer the Phantom Lapboard, a unique keyboard that liberates users from desktop settings through an innovative 360-degree rotating design. The Axess HD Gamer also offers cutting edge media center capabilities including 7 channel pre amplified audio, Blu Ray and DVD Movies, Music, Home Videos, HD TV, Internet TV, based on Microsoft® Windows® Vista Home Premium which also provides access to Netflix’s online streaming through the Media Center interface.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 18, 2009 - 01:53 PM
NZXT Announces Availability of the Cryo S Notebook Cooler
NZXT today announced the immediate availability of the Cryo S, a high performance notebook cooler built with thick, brushed aluminum, with two adjustable 120mm fans that provide powerful cooling to any notebook up to 15 inches. The Cryo S is available now in America from Newegg.com for $49.99.
The Cryo S features a rubber finish that lifts the notebook up slightly to remove heat pockets and enhance airflow. Just like its award-winning big brother, the Cryo LX, this cools not only the fan vents, but it removes heat from the entire notebook case which is crucial for high performance gaming making the Cryo S best in its class for effective notebook cooling. It can be powered via USB or the included AC adaptor and provides two additional USB ports to give users even more options for media, storage and input devices.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 18, 2009 - 01:46 PM
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