Mobile Multiscreen computing from Sapphire

Subject: Displays | February 8, 2012 - 04:06 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: sapphire, VID-2X

You are probably familiar with the Lenovo ThinkVision, an external monitor easily added to a laptop to give you multiple working screens.  Sapphire offers a similar product with a big twist, the VID-2X is a small self contained device which will allow you to connect two 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 monitors via DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, or Dual-link-DVI depending on the model you buy.  Instead of being forced to use a small external monitor the VID-2X allows you to choose the monitors you will output to, as well as either cloned or stretched displays which gives you a lot more flexibility.  You'll have to visit Overclockers Club to find out how well it works.

"With many in the industry projecting a sharp decline of desktop PC sales over the next few years, an external portable solution for laptop and netbook users on the go may find it a product that will handily fit into their carrying case and very useful for sales presentations, or to just make their tasks easier with increased screen estate. The idea of reduced toggling between multiple open programs and applications is also very appealing as well. As an avid user of a multiscreen desktop setup, I can attest to how much more easy and enjoyable the access is in day to day computing, project management, and content creation software settings.This product would also seem to hit its stride in board rooms and businesses."

Here are some more Display articles from around the web:

Displays

• HIS Multi View+ Sound Adaptor @ Funky Kit
• Club 3D SenseVision CSV-2000D USB to DVI Graphics Adapter Review @ eTeknix
• ASUS VG278H LCD Monitor 3D Vision-2 Kit @ Benchmark Reviews
• AOC i2353Ph - IPS for a nice, low price @ AnandTech

Thank you Bethesda; how about some attributions Steam?

Subject: General Tech | February 8, 2012 - 02:50 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, skyrim, elder scrolls, mod

Attention (PC) Skyrim fans, Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN has some great news!

High Definition Textures have arrived for Skyrim via Steam.  The download is just over 3GB and contains .BSP files which is the file type Bethesda in general and Skyrim in particular store their textures.  This is rather handy as two mods which already add high definition textures do so via a new folder called Textures under your Skyrim folder.  This means that the mods do not interfere with the official HD download as far as crashing the game, however more investigation is needed to discover how the mods interact as far as texture rendering priorities as well as determining which gives you the best looking textures.

Just download it via Steam and ensure that you enable it via the Data Files option on your Skyrim launcher.  While you are clicking on that download you might notice a link to something called Steam Workshop.  This leads you to a section of Steam where you can download mods for Skyrim via Steam which can be applied to your game though it does not necessarily replace Nexus Mod Manager.  When you have clicked on the mod then the next time you launch Skyrim it will run a check and synchronize your game and the mod.  The mods can be enabled and disabled just like the HD textures via the Data Files portion of your Skyrim launcher.

The addition of official HD textures and supported mods is a brilliant move by Bethesda and Steam and the PC gaming community wholeheartedly thanks them for this wonderful addition to the game.  Many PC users initial experience with Skyrim was not positive, especially those using AMD graphics cards.  The patches to Skyrim and AMD's drivers have finally fixed most performance issues users experienced and with the addition of PC specific improvements and mods Bethesda may have gone a long way to wooing back those users who were initially unimpressed with the game.

Along with these additions does come a plea to Steam.  You may notice negative comments underneath the mods which you choose, such as "It should say "Stolen by: Manic Zombie" The uploader gave no credit to the author of this.".  This is very unfortunate for the brilliant mind that decided to model mudcrabs with a monocle and top hat as the number of users of this mod will soar but the modder themselves are doomed to obscurity.  It could be that Manic Zombie was indeed the original modder as the Japanese site links to a download on Skyrim Nexus that he posted.  If Steam is going to offer mods the modding community would greatly appreciate it if Steam researched the mod to ensure that the submitter is indeed the actual source of the mod or at least has the modders permissions.  The "Report" button is a great start but in order to help attract game modders to Steam, reassurance that they will get recognition for their mods would go a long way to bringing even more modders into the fold.

"The long-awaited Skyrim Creation Kit is out, and it’s come with the rumoured High-Resolution Texture Pack all the kids wanted! The game’s also 33% off on Steam in the US and UK at the moment, if this is what you were waiting for."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Unstoppable Gorg Review - The Aliens Are Coming! @ Techgage
• Need For Speed: The Run PC Review @ eTeknix
• Paradox Hint At Three New Games, Revealed Next Month @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Microsoft Flight release date pinned down @ Hexus
• PC Gaming - What to expect in 2012 @ eTeknix
• Soul Calibur V @ HEXUS
• NFL Blitz 2012 Edition PlayStation 3 @ Tweaktown
• SOULCALIBUR V Review @ HardwareHeaven.
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 (XBOX 360) Review @ HardwareHeaven

An academic collaboration leads to a GPU/CPU collaboration

Subject: General Tech | February 8, 2012 - 12:13 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gpgpu, l3 cache, APU

Over at North Carolina State University, students Yi Yang, Ping Xiang and Dr. Huiyang Zhou, along with Mike Mantor of Advanced Micro Devices have been working on a way to improve how efficiently the GPU and CPU work together.  Our current generations of APU/GPGPUs, Llano and Sandy Bridge, have united the two processing units on a single substrate but as of yet they cannot efficiently pass operations back and forth.  This project works to leverage the L3 cache of the CPU to give a high speed bridge between the two processors, allowing the CPU to pass highly parallel tasks to the GPU for more efficient processing and letting the CPU deal with the complex operations it was designed for.  

Along with that bridge comes a change in the way the L2 prefetch is utilized; increasing memory access at that level frees up more for the L3 to pass data between CPU and GPU thanks to a specially designed preexecution unit triggered by the GPU and running on the CPU which will enable synchronized memory fetch instructions.  The result has been impressive, in their tests they saw an average improvement of 21.4% in performance.

"Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new technique that allows graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs) on a single chip to collaborate – boosting processor performance by an average of more than 20 percent.

"Chip manufacturers are now creating processors that have a 'fused architecture,' meaning that they include CPUs and GPUs on a single chip,” says Dr. Huiyang Zhou, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who co-authored a paper on the research. "This approach decreases manufacturing costs and makes computers more energy efficient. However, the CPU cores and GPU cores still work almost exclusively on separate functions. They rarely collaborate to execute any given program, so they aren’t as efficient as they could be. That's the issue we’re trying to resolve."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Laser boffins blast bits onto hard drive at 200Gb/sec @ The Register
• Intel admits Haswell uses transactional memory @ SemiAccurate
• Nvidia and Rambus bury the hatchet on patents @ The Inquirer
• Don't panic? Windows 8 and the "ribbonification" of Explorer @ Ars Technica
• DIY Solid State Tesla Coil @ Hack a Day
• Brice from Arctic reveals all in exclusive @ Kitguru
• Instructables Giving Away $50,000 3D Printer @ MAKE:Blog

Increased Hard Drive Write Speed and Density - Using Frickin' Lasers

Subject: General Tech, Storage | February 8, 2012 - 11:34 AM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: laser, hdd, Hard Disk

The big hoopla as of late has been wrapped around SSD's and flash memory technology, with constant die shrinks promising cheaper and faster solid state storage for your PC. Everyone seems to be slowly forgetting about good old HDD's, but spinning rust may have some life left after all.

A team of scientists formed iron and gadolinium into a series of alloy 'nanoislands'. These are basically isolated mini magnets. Each one carries a magnetic charge. Normally you would write to materials like this by hitting them with a much larger magnetic field (i.e. from your HDD write head). This team had a different trick up their sleeve - don't bother with the bigger magnet, just hit it with a burst of heat and get it to change state on its own.

Picture a sling shot, stretched out, and frozen in a block of ice. If you melt the ice, the rubber band will just snap back to its unstretched state and stay there. The same kind of thing happens when you heat a magnet - it becomes demagnetized. Now imagine if you could melt the ice, but flash freeze it while the rubber band has extended in the opposite direction. You've reversed the direction of the sling shot. Pull off the same trick with a magnet, and you can flip its poles. The trick is finding just the right length of time to heat the magnet and catch the 'flip' on the other end of its resonance. This team appears to have figured it out, and the magic number (for their material) is 60 femtoseconds. They can heep hitting the same spot repeatedly, and each time causes another flip in the poles.

To back this down into typical computer terms. A 1GHz CPU clock triggers every 1.00000 nanosecond, and 60 femtoseconds is 0.00006 nanoseconds. Ultrashort Pulse lasers have been around for a while. One was even used on my eyeballs a few years back. These pulses are so fast that the biggest issue would be getting information to the laser fast enough. The straight line theoretical speed of this technique ranges in the Terabytes per second, with densities limited by the capabilities of the nanotech used to create the islands.

To be clear, this isn't the first time heat or lasers has been used in magnetic media. TDK pioneered Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording tech years ago, but that tech is only heat *assisted*. This new breakthrough is writing, with heat, without the magnet at all. Now the only trick is figuring out how to read such a high density of tiny written bits. Since the laser writes much smaller than a magnetic head could accomplish, we might see a reversion back to optics for the reads.We're not sure how long before this technology appears on your desktop, but what we can say is that magnetic storage is not dead yet.

David Hewlett Joins PCPer for an Evening

Subject: Editorial | February 8, 2012 - 10:10 AM | Josh Walrath
Tagged: Ryan Shrout, podcast, PC Perspective, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, David Hewlett, Allyn Malventano

The Feb. 8 PC Perspective show on TWiT will feature special guest host David Hewlett.  David is most famously known as Dr. Rodney McKay from the Stargate television series (one of the few actors to actually show up in all three series).  He also directed, produced, and starred in the indy hit, "A Dog's Breakfast".

David is a self-proclaimed nerd and geek with a keen interest in technology.  In his misspent youth he would build his own computers and attempt some assembly coding (with limited success).  After achieving much greater success in the acting world he switched over to Macs once they adopted their current Unix/BSD based operating system.  A proud owner of a Macbook Air, iPhone, and iPad, 

Current interests include the new "white space" wireless technologies, iPad in schools, and new distribution models for TV and film through primarily online media.  David has also started a new web series with his sister, Kate Hewlett, called "Assassidate".  Currently one episode is online and the next two are in production.

David will be sharing his opinions and insights on the changing focus of technology in an increasingly mobile and connected world.  He will be piping in on several of our articles, especially that of AMD's changing focus for their upcoming products.  He might even chime in on the plight of Matthew in Season 2 of Downton Abbey.  That's just the way he rolls.

So join us all at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT at http://live.twit.tv (or just use the widget below!) on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 for this very special show!  DH-Day -1!

You can follow David on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dhewlett.

Day[9] of Reckoning International Stream Event

Subject: General Tech | February 7, 2012 - 06:39 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: day9

Wait, it's not Funday Monday -- why is Sean "Day[9]" Plott dicking around? Should this not be the day where he teaches us to be a better gamer? For the release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Day[9] and Felicia Day (henceforth referred to as Felicia Day[9]) are streaming the game for the internet to see. If you are considering purchasing the game, or you enjoy watching a videogame adventurer occasionally run around in his boxers -- tune on in.

Felicia Day[9] and friends fun-time variety show!

The event originally started as Day[9] streaming launch-day play. During his preparation, he asked a few people if they wanted to play with him. Currently there are about a dozen internet celebrities playing in several countries. 38 Studios, the developer of the game, also caught wind of the event and offered prizes for viewers such as game codes and a giant swag hammer.

Fair warning, language is not exactly for a general audience.

NZXT reveals a full Hale hand of PSUs

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 7, 2012 - 05:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: PSU, nzxt, modular psu, HALE90-750-M, HALE90-1000-M, HALE82-850-M, HALE82-750-M, HALE82-650-M, 80 Plus Gold, 80 Plus Bronze

X-bit Labs collected five PSUs from NZXT's HALE82 line including the HALE82-650-M, HALE82-750-M, HALE82-850-M, NZXT HALE90-750-M and HALE90-1000-M.  All of the PSUs are rated at least 80+ Bronze with the HALE90 models reaching 80+ Gold ratings.  This is a definite boon for those who plan on running the 1000W model.  All are 12V PSUs, with an internal converter to provide 3.3V and 5V, which means that these PSUs can provide in the neighbourhood of 99% of its maximum amperage to the 12V line to keep those GPUs fully fed.  Head on over and read through the whole review or else choose the PSU with the wattage appropriate for you to examine.

You can also catch Lee's thoughts on the 850W version in his latest review.

"Today we are going to talk about five power supply units from NZXT ranging in capacity from 650 W to 1000 W and certified according to 80 PLUS Bronze and Gold standards."

Here are some more Cases & Cooling reviews from around the web:

CASES & COOLING

• PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W PSU @ Funky Kit
• Enermax Platimax 1200 W @ techPowerUp
• Thermaltake Smart 630 W Power Supply Review @ Hardware Secrets
• ThermalTake Smart 430W @ Funky Kit
• Thermaltake Smart Series 730W Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
• Thortech Thunderbolt Plus 850W PSU @ Hardwareoverclock
• Thermaltake Dr. Power II ATX Power Supply Tester Review @ Tweaknews

Archos looks to grab some tablet market share

Subject: Mobile | February 7, 2012 - 01:05 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: archos, 101 G9, Android 3.2.1, honeycomb

The new 10.1" Archos 101 G9 sports a 1280 x 800 multi-touch capacitive screen and runs on a 4 core ARM cortex A9 @ 1GHz as well as 512MB of RAM which should be powerful enough to output 1080p video via the HDMI port.  There will also be two more models with faster processors and more RAM which should arrive to market in the near future.   The biggest change to this generation of Archos tablets is the bundled 3G stick which extends the networking capability of this device to include Wireless N, Bluetooth and cellular networks.  At $320 it is a little more expensive than some of the competition so head over to Hardware Heaven to find out if it is worth the extra money.

"Archos are back with an updated "Gen 9" version of the 101 Android tablet. Featuring Android 3.2.1 and updated specifications can it offer something worthwhile in an ever more crowded market?"

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• ASUS Transformer Prime @ Guru of 3D
• Sony VAIO VPC-F23BFX Review @ TechReviewSource
• External Graphics: The Way Forward For Gaming Laptops? @ eTeknix
• Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon Bag Review @ Real World Labs
• Powerbag Backpack Review @ TechwareLabs
• Monaco Extreme Charge Review @ TechReviewSource
• Vaja Libretto Limited Edition iPad 2 Case Review @ Madshrimps
• Cooler Master Choiix Power Fort 5600 @ LanOC Reviews
• Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (Verizon Wireless) Review @ TechReviewSource
• Stem TimeCommand Audio Alarm Dock for iOS Devices Review @ Legit Reviews
• CPU Idling Problem In The Apple iPhone 4S @ TechARP

Have HDD prices started to come back from the stratosphere?

Subject: General Tech | February 7, 2012 - 11:55 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: hdd, thailand, flooding

TechSpot did some number crunching to develop the chart you can see below which tracks the price of HDDs from September, before the flooding in Thailand straight through to last week.  The spike upwards as stock and manufacturing capability was destroyed is easily noticeable but then the pattern starts to fragment.  The Green lines from Seagate and WD seem to have the most resiliency, being among the first to start decreasing in price and the only ones with a still declining price.  The large drives, such as the 3TB Barracuda not only declined to reduced their price but are actually getting more expensive.  The mobile side of the market is also covered though it does not seem as hard hit as their desktop cousins.  They didn't collect data on Enterprise drives, which are few and far between for anyone looking to grow their data centre, since it is the mobile and desktop HDDs which interest most readers.  Check out the numbers here.

"The hard disk drive supply chain was hit hard late last year when a series of floods struck Thailand. The Asian country accounts for about a quarter of the world's hard drive production, but thousands of factories had to close shop for weeks as facilities were under water, in what is considered the world's fourth costliest natural disaster according to World Bank estimates. That's on top of the human cost of over 800 lives."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Adobe adds Flash sandboxing to Firefox @ The Register
• GK110 tapes out at last @ SemiAccurate
• Fabless Works for AMD @ SemiAccurate
• Nouveau Project Reverse-Engineered NVIDIA OpenCL Driver @ Phoronix
• Vendors dropping ultrabook prices in preparation of second-generation models @ DigiTimes
• TRENDnet TEW-692GR 450Mbps Concurrent Dual Band Wireless N Router and TEW-680MB HD Media Bridge @ X-bit Reviews
• eTeknix Tech Review Of 2011
• Corsair Vengeance M60 FPS Gaming Mouse Contest @ Legit Reviews

MAINGEAR Updates the TITAN 17 17 notebook with the power of Intel Core i7 3960x

Subject: Mobile | February 7, 2012 - 11:44 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: titan 17, maingear, gtx580m, 3960x extreme edition

It will cost you a fair amount but MAINGEAR has assembled an awe-inspiring 17.3" laptop.  Go full out and you will have Intel's fastest processor, a pair of GTX580Ms in SLI and 32GB of DDR3 in quad channel!  Plus you get Jagged Alliance Back in Action and Batman Arkham City tossed in to sweeten the pot.

Kenilworth, New Jersey – February 7, 2012 - MAINGEAR, an award-winning PC system builder offering custom desktops, notebooks, and workstations, has updated the TITAN 17 high performance desktop replacement solution with all new aesthetic features while still maintaining top of the line performance forPC gamers who want to harness desktop-like power wherever they go and creative professionals that can work on site with no loss in productivity.

The TITAN 17 features support for both the latest Intel Core i7 3930K and the Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition. With fast, intelligent multi-core technology that accelerates performance to match your workload, it delivers an incredible breakthrough in gaming performance. For both gamers and demanding users, the Titan 17 capitalizes on a dramatic leap forward in processing technology to provide all the power you need for even the most advanced games and applications.

Constantly looking to push performance boundaries, MAINGEAR’s TITAN 17 features the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M, combining the power of DirectX 11 and NVIDIA PhysX technologies. The GTX 580M can also be configured in SLI offering up to 2x’s performance scaling on today’s hottest PC games. The TITAN lets you play games the way they’re meant to be played without having to worry if your video card is up to the task.

The updated TITAN 17 also features support for the Quadro 5010M, featuring up to 4 GB of graphics memory and 384 CUDA cores. Built on the innovative NVIDIA Fermi architecture, the latest Quadro mobile graphics offerings integrate high performance computing capabilities with advanced visualization, transforming your TITAN 17 into a mobile super computer.

Gamer and PC enthusiasts on the go will never have to compromise with the TITAN 17. This powerhouse notebook can be customized with up to 32GB of DDR3 memory with speeds up to 1866MHz, two hardwired USB 3.0 ports, up to three SSD or SATA HDD’s with hardware RAID support, and even when fully loaded; it keeps the option for an optical drive. As the power of the notebook will allow user to do more faster, the TITAN 17 also offers a full size illuminated keyboard and numeric pad.

The MAINGEAR TITAN 17 is currently available for pre-order and is offering free shipping along with the highly anticipated legendary game: Jagged Alliance: Back in Action and Batman: Arkham City PC games. For more details visit: www.maingear.com/titan17.

Technical Specification:

• Video Card: up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI with 2GB GDDR5 or NVIDIA Quadro 5010M with up to 4GB GDDR5 Graphics memory
• Display: 17.3” (16:9) Full HD (1920x1080) LED-Backlit Display with Super Clear Glare Type Screen
• Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K Processor (3.20GHz)/(3.80GHz) in Turbo Mode, 12MB L3 Cache, LGA 2011 or Intel Core i7-3960X Processor Extreme Edition (3.30GHz)/(3.90GHz) in Turbo Mode, 15MB L3 Cache, LGA 2011
• Memory: Up to 32GB Quad Channel DDR3 – 1600/1866Mhz
• Optical Drive: Up to Blu-ray reader/8x Multi Combo (BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
• Hard Drive: Up to 3x 600GB Solid State Drive or 750GB 7200RPM SATA 2.5
• Network Adapter: Bigfoot Networks Killer Wireless-N 1102 supports 802.11a/b/g/n
• Keyboard: Illuminated Full size isolated keyboard with Numeric Pad, 6 instant buttons for Volume up, Volume down, Mute, Wi-Fi On/Off, Bluetooth On/Off, and Camera On/Off
• Audio: Built-in High-Definition Audio Slots: One ExpressCard 54/34 Slot and Built in 9-in-1 Media Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)
• Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home, Professional or Ultimate 64-Bit
• Battery: Removable Polymer Smart Lithium-Ion battery pack
• I/O Ports: 1-HDMI 1.4a out, 1-DVI-I out, 1 Display Port 1.2, 2-USB 3.0, 2-USB 2.0, 1 IEEE-1394b Fire Wire, 1-S/PDIF out, 1 RJ-45 LAN, 1-eSATA Port (powered USB 3.0 (AC/DC) combo)
• Security: Kensington Lock and fingerprint reader Dimensions: (W)16.5" x (H)2.2" x (D)11.3", 12.13 LBs with battery pack
• Price: Starts at $3,499

“The new MAINGEAR TITAN 17 offers the best in desktop replacement versatility.” Said Wallace Santos, CEO and Co-founder of MAINGEAR Computers. “With the power of the latest Intel 2nd generation Core I7 Extreme Edition desktop processor, dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580Ms in SLI and with the option to use Quadro 510M graphics, this system caters to anyone looking for the ultimate mobile powerhouse.”

PC Perspective Office Tour - Feb 6th, 2012

Subject: Editorial | February 6, 2012 - 11:00 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: pcper, office tour

Since we started talking about plans for the brand new PC Perspective office on the podcast I had some requests to keep readers in the loop as to how construction and installation were progressing.  While I forgot to take a video before the walls came down, Ken and I stopped running Cat 6 cable long enough to take a short video and walk you through where we stand today.

You won't see much but some networking, drywall, ceiling and electrical work being done but if you want an idea of how the process is all starting, this is first look at our new studio and testing office!

If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

NVIDIA Kepler Graphics Cards Lineup Leak To Web

Subject: Graphics Cards | February 6, 2012 - 06:23 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: nvidia, kepler, graphics, gpu

Although there were quite a few rumors leading up to AMD's Radeon 7000 series launch, the Internet has been very quiet on the greener side of the graphics market. Finally; however, we have some rumors to share with you on the Nvidia front. As always, take these numbers with more than your average grain of salt.

Specifically, EXP Review managed to uncover two charts that supposedly detail specifics about a range of GeForce 600 series Kepler cards from the number of stream processors to the release date. Needless to say, it's a lot of rumored information to take in all at once.

Anyway, without further adieu, let's dive into the two leaked charts.

From the chart above, we can see the entire lineup of Kepler cards from the NVIDIA GTX 640 to the dual GPU GTX 690.  The die size in the higher end GeForce cards is approximately 50% larger than that of the AMD Radeon HD 7970, but not much bigger than that of the GTX 580.  If only we knew the TDP of these cards!  In the next chart, we see alleged performance comparison versus the AMD competition.

If these numbers hold true, NVIDIA will handily beat the current AMD offerings; however, I would wait for reviews to come out before making any purchasing decisions.  One interesting aspect is the amount of GDDR5 memory.  It seems that NVIDIA is sticking with 2GB frame buffers (or less) per GPU while AMD has really started upping the RAM.  It will be interesting to see how this affects gaming in NVIDIA Surround and/or at high resolutions.

What do you guys think about these numbers, do you think Kepler will live up to the alleged performance scale figures?

ASUS Xonar Essence One, not all ears need apply

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2012 - 05:03 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: audio, asus, Xonar Essence One

The Asus Xonar Essence One is an external soundcard and DAC designed specifically for use with high end earphones.  This is designed for use by people with very discerning ears, if you are not much of an audiophile or only use $50 headphones you will be missing out on the benefits Xonar Essence One offers.  If you are quite willing to discuss the merits of unbalanced and balanced outputs however this device is worth investigating.  The quality parts contributed to the premuim price of $600 but they also raised the audio quality enough for the ears of the Kitguru reviewer who highly recommends this for professional musicians and audiophiles.

"Today we are looking at the latest ‘audiophile’ grade Asus Xonar Essence One external soundcard and digital to analogue converter. The Essence series of products have targeted the enthusiast and audiophile user now for some time, using high grade components such as BurrBrown DAC chips. Today we analyse the latest Xonar Essence One from ASUS in a very challenging environment, paired up with a flagship, limited edition Valve/Tube CD player and award winning Audeze LCD2 headphones."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner

• Westone 4R In-ears @ techPowerUp
• NuForce uDAC-2 Digital-to-Analog Converter Review @ TechwareLabs
• Thermaltake Tt eSports Shock Spin Gaming Headset @ Pro-Clockers
• Arctic Living Audio Relay Wireless Media Extender Review @ eTeknix
• SteelSeries Sibera v2 – Natus Vincere edition @ XSReviews
• Microlab M700 2.1 speakers @ XSReviews

Origin PC Now Offering Frostbyte 360 All In One Liquid Cooling System

Subject: Cases and Cooling | February 6, 2012 - 02:49 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: water cooling, triple radiator, origin pc, liquid cooling, hsf, cpu block

Origin PC has started offering a unique water cooling solution called the Frostbyte 360. The self contained water loop includes a CPU water black, pump, tubing, and a triple 120mm radiator. The company claims that the new cooler has allowed their overclocking teams to reach overclocked processor speeds of 5.2 GHz on their systems. Kevin Wasielewski, the Origin PC CEO and co-founder has stated that the Frostbyte 360 is "a maintenance free liquid cooling solution, Origin PC customers can enjoy top-end CPU performance at a fraction of the cost."

Although his claims that "traditional" watercooling systems for extreme overclocking required hundreds in not thousands of dollars of components is a bit extreme, it is a hobby that can get expensive.

Especially if you are only interested in cooling a CPU, the various "all in one" solutions like the Corsair Hydro series and the Antec Kuhler series can be a viable option. What is interesting about the Origin offering; however, is the inclusion of a triple 120mm radiator in the loop, which is more than the competition and should be plenty of radiator space to keep your processor nice and chilly even when overclocked.

According to Origin, features of the new Frostbyte 360 water cooling system include:

• Micro-channel copper CPU block
• 360mm (3x120mm) high efficiency copper radiator
• Embedded temperature sensor measures copper surface temperature accurate to within 1°C
• Factory sealed, maintenance free operation
• Silent pump
• Lightweight
• Thermal resistance as low as 0.085 C/W
• 1 to 3 year warranty on PCs that include the new cooler.

Currently, the new Frostbyte 360 sealed loop water cooler is available in Origin PC's Genesis series computers, which start at $1,599 USD and can be added to the computer in the configurator.  UPDATE: The Frostbyte 360 is not sold as a standalone product; however, current and previous Origin PC customers can purchase it as an upgrade.  It will be interesting to see if the the company will take on the Corsair and others more directly by selling the Frostbyte 360 cooler itself to customers.  Although not expandable like a traditional water cooler, it is also less costly and should not require any maintenance for at least a few years.  Would you be interested in using one of these 360 rad sealed loop coolers in your builds?

Cooler Master's expanding Storm now features the Xornet gaming mouse

Subject: General Tech | February 6, 2012 - 02:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: input, gaming mouse, cooler master, CMStorm, xornet

The CMStorm Xornet attempts to give you the performance of a full sized gaming mouse in a form small enough to be easily portable.  It still features the 2000 DPI Storm Tactical Optical Sensor that its bigger relatives sport as well as programmable buttons.  Red & Blackness Mods had some trouble getting used to the shape of the mouse, it is smaller lengthwise but much taller than other mice in the CMStorm lineup.  If you find yourself on the road and in need of a gaming mouse, for $30 CoolerMaster might have the perfect solution.

"Corsair has recently entered the mouse/keyboard gaming peripherals market and decided to make a good impression. The M90 mouse features multiple programmable buttons for RTS/MMO gamers, contains an aluminum chassis for increased durability and comes with the Avago Technologies ADNS-9500 LaserStream Gaming Sensor."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Corsair Vengeance M60 @ OC3D
• Thermaltake Azurues Gaming Mouse @ Pro-Clockers
• Roccat Isku Keyboard @ Rbmods
• Cyborg M.M.O. 7 Gaming Mouse Review @ HardwareHeaven
• CM Storm Xornet Gaming Mouse @ Rbmods
• SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse Review - Legendary Edition @ Legit Reviews
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